Farm Oasis

Many if not all Peace Corps 'extension' programs ask that a nominee continue to gain experience in whatever field they were nominated for before gaining an official invitation. For me that was at least three months of exposure in an agriculture related field (greenhouse, farming, gardening, forestry, beekeeping, ect.). I graduated from college on May 27th and miraculously the next week started a job at a local organic farm. I describe it as miraculous because I could not have self-designed a better learning, working, thriving, exposure to everything I could have ever dreamed of environment. And it really did fall into my lap.

The farm is certified organic with over 40+ vegetables with many different varieties of each of those types, 10+ different fruits, 15+ herbs, a whole host of critters running around...chickens of all types, alpaca and pygmy goats, cats, and dogs. I could call this my dirtiest summer yet because there was not one day when I came home clean. Tasks ranged from planting, weeding, picking, plotting, trimming, arranging, weeding again for the produce, shearing the goats, trimming hooves, washing and dyeing yarn made from a mixture of mohair and wool, canning jams, cleaning barns, professional goat and chicken catcher, and yes butchering chickens.

Rows of Tomatoes & Bean 

                                                                          Watermelons!!

Sally and Art, the people who make it all happen at the farm, have taught me everything I know about farming and I can't even begin to tell them all that they have done for me this summer. Sally has taught me how to love soil, to love having dirt under my fingernails, to marvel at the small changes in plant growth, to live at a slower and more appreciated pace, to understand the body's craving for colors and nutrition from our food, to appreciate the work we can do and forgive ourselves for the work that doesn't happen, she has taught me the beauty and importance of lunch, and to laugh about the little things. Art has taught me to completely clean a chicken, which in this era is a purposely forgotten life-skill making us vulnerable to large scale chicken industries. He has taught me how to laugh at myself and be critical and analyse topics I once took for granted, to see a gorgeous huge sweet pepper or sweet potato and say "holy shitt would you look at that beauty....isn't that a beauty..."    Haley and Mark have been such pleasures to work with, whether its "diving" into a weed patch with Haley or digging a whole row of potatoes and getting barely a pound with Mark.  Its been a truly amazing summer/fall and I wish it didn't have to end for there is much left to learn.

Patchenheimer/Patchy/Hapatchy, the farm's terror kitten 

                                                              aahh, pretty swiss chard

                                                                  Eat & Buy Local!

Backtracking to the Beginning

And forgotten in the last entry.... I leave for staging, 2 days in the US, where I get numerous injections and get to meet the other people whom I will be serving with on January 4th, January 6th I leave for GAMBIA!!!!

The idea for joining the Peace Corps (PC) began for me in sophomore year of high school when a returned PC Volunteer (PCV) came to one of my classes and told us her story. Which is one of the PC's main goals, to share your story with those in the US to better connect the world.  I don't remember her name or even where she went, but I remember her confidence and how excited she was to share her story with us. I was hooked.

PC journey for me began in January of 2011, when I completed my application. Early March, I had my interview in Boston which went excellently, and was told that I would be nominated at the end of the interview but she was not sure where she would like to nominate me to. I have a background in Spanish but was open to learning another language and although I was highly qualified for community development, I would qualify for the agriculture and forestry extension because of 4-H experience I had when I was a kid, if I committed to gaining at least 3 months of exposure in farming/greenhouse/orchard/forestry work. I decided to commit to the agriculture program because I felt that was where I would be most valuable and needed, plus I just like to make life more interesting and push myself. Thus, I was nominated in March as an agriculture/forestry volunteer to a sub-Saharan french speaking African country leaving in August 2011. Due to various reasons like the extended time of my medical clearance and budget challenges of the federal government, I did not receive an invitation. After more paperwork (paperwork never ends) and emails from the PC describing that my leave date would be pushed off till January at the earliest, I had a phone interview on September 8th where they asked me what progress I had made on my commitment to gaining more agriculture experience and my commitment to learning french, along with general interview questions. Now to describe this phone interview, I was on the highway going to drop off a job application and got the call, pulled over on an off ramp, and had the interview (never thought I would interview on the side of a highway). After learning about what programs were leaving when, I opted to be invited to an English speaking country(just the official language, not the one actually spoken) instead of a french one. A sooner program assisting with deferring my student loans, but that's a whole different story.  I received my invitation packet on September 13th, accepted the 15th, and have started more paperwork, including sending in forms for a visa, a 'PC' passport, updated resumes, aspiration statement, and many others.


Advice for future applicants: when submitting your application they ask you to present every health issue you have ever had. So like a good girl, I did just that, including a broken foot when I was 10. To complete your medical packet you must go back to your doctors and have everything checked up on that you said in your application. Lets just say that my foots been fine for the last 12 years, but I went back to the doctor, who looked at me like I had 4 heads and asked me why I was there, "just sign the form, please & thanks'" which was expensive and unnecessary. So yes, put all medical history that is relevant to your potential job and would need to be checked, that is great and highly responsible. Just keep in mind to be a bit selective if you don't have a bulging wallet.

Hello Invitation Packet

There is much to say as I have waited to start this story until I had officially received my Invitation packet. It 'finally' came, as I believe most nominees would describe the feeling.  I had been religiously stalking the mailbox, but it was silently placed in between my front doors waiting for me when I got home from work. There were many things going through my head and heart as I opened the package and saw the words "The Gambia." The Peace Corps is not to be undertaken without consideration, and through the layout of the application process it makes sure that applicants, nominees, and invitees consider what they are dedicating 27 months of their lives too. I am sure that there will be challenges and great times ahead, moments when I feel utterly stranded, and moments when I am so full of love for the Gambians and the culture. But this is only the starting line and I am so very excited for this newest adventure to begin. 

"Life in the Peace Corps will not be easy. There will be no salary and allowances will be at a level sufficient only to maintain health and meet basic needs. Men and women will be expected to work and live alongside the nationals of the country in which they are stationed—doing the same work, eating the same food, talking the same language. But if the life will not be easy, it will be rich and satisfying. For every young American who participates in the Peace Corps- who works in a foreign land- will know that he or she is sharing in the great common task to bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace. " 

-JFK