Ah, Peace Corps

I wrote this in word when I didn't have internet so it's out of chronological order.

Peace Corps has changed since we were in Ghana. In essence, there’s much more talking at the volunteers. It’s all bearable, and very earnest. In Washington we had a day with the other volunteers. We broke into teams and drew pictures of threats and expectations.  The artistic abilities of the group varied considerably and some were pretty silly. Under threats there were lots of guns (fear of violence), sick people (hard to draw) and stick people all alone (isolation, inability to learn the language). For opportunities, people drew mountains, happy people speaking Spanish. 
 
WE also had to do skits about situations that real volunteers have faced. One was a volunteer planning a trip to the beach, and inviting colleagues even though they had a deadline that wouldn’t be met. We all agreed that this was a problem. Another was a volunteer holding a party with lots of alcohol, with a female volunteer deciding to walk home in the dark. All agreed that there were lots of things wrong with this scenario. Our skit was about Bob, whose girlfriend wanted him to come home and who was feeling ill and not participating in class. Bob needed to be committed to the 27-month experience and after encouragement from the other volunteers he decided to stay.

 
We finished at six and then met sister Debbie and her husband Ray for a delicious dinner, then went back to the hotel to finish some internet stuff and repack. WE had to gather in the lobby at 1 am, yes, 1 am, for a six am flight. PC said that they wanted to be s,ure that there were not problems getting to the airport. We were all on the bus by 1:45 and at National Airport, the one right in DC about 2 am. Of course, the airport isn’t open at that hour. Nothing opens until 4 am so we all sat around talking in an exhausted way until  then, when we checked in. WE had priority boarding (very exciting), and some of us were able to sleep on that flight and the one from Dallas to Mexico City. When we arrived there, we got on another bus to Queretaro, where we’d be staying.
It was fun seeing the Mexican countryside during what was supposed to be a 45-minute trip. WE went through the city and out the other side, then headed down a smaller road through some villages. The streets got smaller and smaller. At one point the bus had to go backwards and forwards many times to make a turn. Finally we ended up at a dead end, much to the amusement of a number of small boys who watched us. After much discussion, the bus backed up and returned to a point where it could turn around.  More maneuvering resulted in our arrival at the hotel 2 hours after our arrival. A great introduction to Mexico!!
The hotel/conference center was lovely. It was a former hacienda with sections built in 1620, rock walls with slit windows,  crenellated roof, a church and a cloister where the rooms for the couples were located around a courtyard full of flowers. The grounds were immaculate, with green lawns, bougainvillea, and fruit trees. The meeting space was in the former mill, a round room with stone walls and floors. They had hung tarps behind the arched windows that flapped behind all the speakers. Our rooms were comfortable, small and a bit Spartan, but very nice. 

 
During the three days at the resort we did lots more role playing, breaking into groups, talking about our expectations. The program started in 2004 with ten volunteers and ten staff. Now there are about 35 volunteers working. Our group of 39 (or maybe 40; one guy hasn’t arrived yet) will more than double the size of the program. There are twenty plus staff members, plus eight contract language teachers who help with the program as well as teaching us.

 
The trip back into Queretaro was les eventful, and we met up with our host families. We took a tour of Peace Corps headquarters. Each day now we meet at a local university, Universidad Marista, a private Catholic college that teaches engineering, law, the sciences, marketing and educates novices for the convent. It’s very beautiful (a recurring theme in Mexico so far!), centered around a brick and stone building that was a textile factory.  There are many other buildings, with white walls and brown trim around the windows. There are tall trees, green lawns and decorative plantings everywhere.
 
We’ve had several lectures on learning styles, which could be useful for us as we try to work with our counterparts. However, it’s more about us. WE took a learning style inventory, about how we learn as individuals. After plotting our results, we ended up as an accommodator, diverger, converger or assimilator. Everyone could recognize their characteristics in all the categories, but many (not all!) were accurate within our category, for me, as a converger (who knew?). The learning part was really right on – I “perceive information abstractly and process it actively, learn by testing theories and applying common sense. … I have a limited tolerance for “fuzzy ideas”!! However, they then extrapolate the learning style to our leadership styles and say that convergers are rigid and domineering which I sure hope is not true. It’s all interesting in its way. I'll talk more about training later.