Thursday, May 22, 2008
Peace Corps: Part of the Neo-Con Agenda
I know that many people label the Peace Corps a bastion of liberal do-gooders who place an conception of the ideal above pecuniary benefits. To those people I say no! I was recently informed that the Peace Corps was nothing more than part of America's "neo-liberal, imperialist agenda" for spreading, what is at essence, capitalist and Western values. So for all those who might role their eyes or cannot relate, just consider the Peace Corps as a PR spin doctor for the US government and volunteers as civil missionaries bent on "saving" the pockets of otherwise egalitarian natives.
Friday, May 16, 2008
First Post - counting down
Hello all,
So this will be my first blog posting on the site intended to keep you all informed of the latest developments in my life. Past blogs of mine have ended abysmally, with very few postings, a result, I believe, stemming from a personal indifference to cataloging my experiences and thoughts on a public medium, and a general feeling that most people with blogs have little to tell other than inconsequential and disjointed ramblings. Well, now I intend to add my voice to this unintelligible choir and recount, as a way to keep in touch while minimizing e-mails as a result of what I imagine will be irregular internet access.
To get started, I suppose I can inform you of approaching dates. On June 27 I will fly to Philadelphia for what is called "Staging," where I imagine I will be told similar lectures to what I was told while in Cairo about representing America and being safe. While I will of course take all information told to me with complete seriousness, I cannot but contemplate the composition of the group, and there subsequent reactions to these lectures. No doubt most of them will be well traveled, and not the type to generalize or sensationalize the region. And judging by the names on the current list of volunteers, and e-mail correspondences, it seems to be a balanced group of people with lots of knowledge on the region, and others with little interaction. I can't wait to inquire into some of the other volunteer's motivations for desiring a posting in the region (if they requested it at all, or perhaps initially loathed the idea).
Anyway, for about two days, I will have a series of lectures, followed by, on July 1 or so, actually traveling to Jordan to begin three months of training, the specific activities of which remain ambiguous at this time. However, in a few weeks I will receive a welcome packet with my flight information, in addition to what I hope is further explanation of details. I know I will be a Youth Development Volunteer, and I have already come across the acronym YD, so I shall assume it carries some level of formalism, and will use it for abbreviation purposes. In these three months though, I am not at all sure where I will be or what I will be doing. I believe some traveling is involved, and know I will be staying with a host family, which should be exciting. But the position itself accords much personal leeway, with one responsibility being teaching English, though I will also be afforded opportunities to develop other activities of the Youth Center I will be working from.
In any event, that is all I have now. Thanks for reading this introductory post.
~Alex
So this will be my first blog posting on the site intended to keep you all informed of the latest developments in my life. Past blogs of mine have ended abysmally, with very few postings, a result, I believe, stemming from a personal indifference to cataloging my experiences and thoughts on a public medium, and a general feeling that most people with blogs have little to tell other than inconsequential and disjointed ramblings. Well, now I intend to add my voice to this unintelligible choir and recount, as a way to keep in touch while minimizing e-mails as a result of what I imagine will be irregular internet access.
To get started, I suppose I can inform you of approaching dates. On June 27 I will fly to Philadelphia for what is called "Staging," where I imagine I will be told similar lectures to what I was told while in Cairo about representing America and being safe. While I will of course take all information told to me with complete seriousness, I cannot but contemplate the composition of the group, and there subsequent reactions to these lectures. No doubt most of them will be well traveled, and not the type to generalize or sensationalize the region. And judging by the names on the current list of volunteers, and e-mail correspondences, it seems to be a balanced group of people with lots of knowledge on the region, and others with little interaction. I can't wait to inquire into some of the other volunteer's motivations for desiring a posting in the region (if they requested it at all, or perhaps initially loathed the idea).
Anyway, for about two days, I will have a series of lectures, followed by, on July 1 or so, actually traveling to Jordan to begin three months of training, the specific activities of which remain ambiguous at this time. However, in a few weeks I will receive a welcome packet with my flight information, in addition to what I hope is further explanation of details. I know I will be a Youth Development Volunteer, and I have already come across the acronym YD, so I shall assume it carries some level of formalism, and will use it for abbreviation purposes. In these three months though, I am not at all sure where I will be or what I will be doing. I believe some traveling is involved, and know I will be staying with a host family, which should be exciting. But the position itself accords much personal leeway, with one responsibility being teaching English, though I will also be afforded opportunities to develop other activities of the Youth Center I will be working from.
In any event, that is all I have now. Thanks for reading this introductory post.
~Alex
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