First month update / what a typical PST day is like for me.

I'm still alive, as is this blog. I've been in Togo a month.  The good news is that I've finally been able to purchase a data plan. The bad news is that I still don't have internet access for my computer so posting photos and videos will be impossible until them. 

From what I've been told in Togo there are two ways of accessing the internet. The first is to buy a dongle from the phone company that connects to your phone data plan (I purchase the largest plan at 1.5gb. That covers most messaging and browsing. I doubt I'll be using Netflix anytime soon). 

The second is to visit a cyber cafe. Unfortunately, while in training this will be impossible since Sunday (my only day off) the local cyber cafe is also closed. 

For those that are interested in what Pre Service Training (PST) is about you've come to the right place. 

PST is a 3 month language and cultural "boot camp". You are placed with a family who will cook three meals a day for you and be your source of language and cultural training after hours. 

For me, my typical day is as follows:

6:00 wake up

6:20 bucket shower #1 (most families have a backyard well as a water source)

7:00 daily malaria Meds (this is very, very important)

7:10 breakfast (this varies by family. I always have an egg dish waiting for me with some tea)

7:30 traveling to the trainers house for class

8:00. Class (the can be a whole day of language, workshops or a mix of both)

12-12:30 lunch

12:30-17:30 class

17:50-  dinner, bucket shower #2 and homework. 

PST days are jammed packed and usually run as a well oiled machine. I consider this to be a stress test of sorts fortunately nobody has ET'd in my group yet. 

This upcoming Friday should be an exciting day. I don't want to say too much in case it gets pushed back but I'll be uploading another post soon. 

First week Summary

Since I have very limited internet this post will be the sum of the last week, rather than observations as they happen. I hope to be able to upload a few photos and videos if my current bandwidth allows. Also, please excuse any grammar mistakes or typos I may make. I assure you they are only there for you to find since I don’t have spellcheck.

After a 14-hour flight, I finally arrived in Togo. The first thing I noticed about Togo is that everyone ride around in a Moto and that people hangout and chat in areas with little to no light since electricity is a scarce resource in some areas.

My host family is a large group of varying ages, from infant to my age. Students in Togo are taught English, so the older kids do have a good grasp on English for when my French escapes me. In this last week, we’ve been focusing exclusively on Eve greetings since roughly half the population speaks it. While French is the official language, many people in the last few generations may have limited French abilities (so we have that in common). What has impressed me the most so far about Togo’s education system is that most teens and young adults have a phenomenal grasp on more advanced math. Algebra, trig and stats are done easily and frequently by the kids.

For the juicy stuff, I have no wifi in my house, one small light in my room and take two bucket showers per day. When I moved in I found this large flat spider on my wall. I’ve tried to kill it around a dozen times, but it always seems to jump out of the way of my shoe just in time. A few nights ago, it somehow got through my mosquito net and bit my hand (not poisonous) as if to let me know it can get to me whenever it wants. We’ve seemed to make a truce and stay out of each other’s way, so I now have a roommate for the next three months.

My training compound in the city has been around for a few years so seeing a “Yovo” (foreigner) isn’t unheard of, the host families, including mine take great pride in showing up off around the city. Greeting and small interactions are a fact of the Togolese culture can take some time even with very little French so going to the market or running an errand does take a little more time. Overall the people especially the little kids seem very happy that I’m able to say Hi, how are you in French and a bit in Eve.

Most of the other trainees tell me that very few people seem to be able to pronounce their names. However, since Dominick is close enough to Dominique I haven’t encountered the person yet who can’t say it in French correctly.

The first week has definitely been hard at time for various reasons, but I’ve been told training is the hardest part of the 27 months. Togo has a large group of 3^rd year volunteers so it seems the country grows on you.

That’s all for now and hopefully a lot more after my three-month training period.

Photos will hopefully follow tomorrow.

Oui, it's time Togo.

After a very quick day training inside a hotel room in Virginia, it's time to depart to places unknown.

Stay tuned!

The Cost of Volunteering

Life is full of opportunity costs, both obvious and hidden. Joining the Peace Corps brings a slew of blanket decisions that you'll need to weigh. Hopefully, this post will help you ID some of them.

The tangible:
Loss of income for 27 months. Even if you work a minimum wage job, you'll be losing 27 months worth of income. Since most PCVs are recently out of college this means delaying financial independence by at least that long and having to deal with a little over two years worth of loan interest.
While this sounds a bit frightening the potential upside outweighs the cost. Depending on your choice of career, the NCE and/or the experience can directly lead you to a better job or even a career. If you don't believe this would apply to you it at least is something that would stand out on a resume.

The medical clearance process.  Even with good health insurance, this can be very costly. Without it, it could realistically price out many would-be volunteers. Fortunately, I've had no real medical problems or additional paperwork apart from eye exams since I wear glasses. Depending on your health history you may have much more tasks than average. Since this process is fairly in-depth, I will be doing a separate post dedicated to the medical clearance process.
Healthcare costs are rarely cheap and the Peace Corps will make sure you are fit in every way possible prior to clearing you for service. For instance, many countries require a Yellow Fever vaccine. The Peace Corps subsidizes this cost by refunding up to $150 dollars. However, In my case as with other volunteers, these vaccines can only be obtained at limited travel clinics thus raising the price due to lack of competition. Even with the refund, I paid roughly thirty dollars out of pocket. Another potentially costly procedure(s) is the blood test. Along with a set of routine blood exams you should get every year during your physical, the Peace Corps may ask that you obtain specific depending on where you will be going. A blood test can be very expensive. In my case, the pre-insurance total was around $2,500, post insurance its around $500.
The benefit to this process is you will find out if you're healthy or not. Most of the required tasks are exams and procedures you will most likely be having within a year. The cost is only really felt due to the short window of time you have to complete the tasks.

The intangible:

This should vary from person-to-person. Below you will find what I've been told by volunteers who are currently serving. I hope to eventually update this with my first-hand experience.

Separation from family and friends. This shouldn't come as a shock since you know that joining the Peace Corps means leaving the United States for 27 moths. Yet knowing this and living it are difficult. I as other have experienced a taste of this when leaving for college. While many of the modern day conveniences mean never being too far away from family and old friends, this most likely won't be my case in Togo.




Did I miss any? Let me know.

Application Timeline

Each applicant may face different timelines. However, for those that are interested below, you will find my timeline.

Finished application:                                       July 23, 2016

Placed under consideration for Togo:               July 27, 2016

Interview request (Togo, EGE)                         August 02. 2016

Interview                                                        August 17, 2016

Invitation                                                         August 19, 2016

Sent in legal kit                                               August  29, 2016

Legal clearance granted                                  Janurary 10, 2017

Medical clearance                                           March 15, 2017

Total time start to finish:                                     10 Months 

Hurry up and wait!

While my first official blog posts are months away. I felt like sharing the concept I'm sure you are or will be familiar with very soon. I've officially entered the 'Hurry up, and wait' stage. The last two things that are keeping me from saying I AM going to Togo versus saying I'm going to Togo* are the background check and medical clearance.

I sent my fingerprint cards and information a few months ago, as of yet I've heard nothing, although from what I read in this case the adage 'no news, is good new' seems to be the case. For the medical tasks, you are given 60 calendar days to finish a variable to do list in on physical paper, scan it and submit for review. Luckily even with the holiday season, I've finished 15 days before the deadline.

Now I'm waiting for a Peace Corps Nurse to review my paperwork and inform me of any form mistakes or new additional paperwork I need to complete. I'm unsure how long this will take since you aren't given an ETA, hopefully, it's soon but I have a sneaking feeling that I'll need to wait the extra 15 days before my information gets added to the large stack of others' medical histories in need of review.

As I said this has been a classic example of hurry up and wait. Hopefully, soon I'll be cleared and ready Togo (sorry about the pun, couldn't help myself.)