Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Why I joined the Peace Corps

I guess this will be one of the big questions regarding my trip to Bulgaria. The truth is that there are several why I did it. The first one would have to be that I couldn't get a job anywhere else. Let's be honest: I loved my major, but a bachelor's degree in linguistics without a minor, much less a double major, is not a good starting place.

Next, I have student loans. The PC was a convenient way to defer my loans as they may also pay for 15% per year I serve which means that should I make it to the end (fingers crossed) I'll have 30% of my federal loan crossed out which comes up to more than $3000 I think... It might be closer to $6000...

That brings me to my next reason: Grad School. The Peace Corps has a program where they will pay for a part of your grad school tuition if you enter one of their participating schools. It's not much but I like any help I can get.

Finally (well maybe I might find some other reason later on), I get to travel to Europe! I'm looking forward to all the great stuff from traveling. The jet lag, the cabin fever, the potential Montezuma's Revenge. Don't try to correct me on that last one. That son of a bitch is everywhere. If I could have explosive diarrhea anywhere, it would be somewhere that has a window onto a beautiful green meadow-like vista. That would be awesome and irreverent. Buuuut in Bulgaria, I have expectations of a Communist town house, so to speak. One room studio with a window facing another building. I foresee hanging underwear outside. In fact right now I'm picturing Italian communities in Brooklyn during the 30's with the clotheslines just draped across the alleyways. Please don't try to correct me on that part either. I've never been to Brooklyn.

I plan on posting whatever I can, that is stories, pictures, maybe videos... I'll also be attempting some basic language stuff if at all possible. I'll need all the practice I can get. I hope to hear from you in my comments or via email.

4 comments:

  1. One thing I'd like to apologize for is the somewhat obtuse nature of the comment system. I had no control over that.

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  2. You've been added to my blog list. I expect frequent updates!
    Katie

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  3. I heard there's a strange strain of Iguana Iguana Flu arising in Bulgaria, please be careful!

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  4. snaps for reason number one...that very well might be why i spent all this year in spain!

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