[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] The only other thing that was crunchy, which is something I seriously thought about having them send to me but never really was able to follow through. There was a certain time when the flying termites would swarm.

[Assistant] Uh huh.

[User] And they would catch them and then fry them in a pan with some salt. And it was like, this is like potato chips.

[Assistant] Yeah.

[User] I mean, you're eating insects, but let me tell you.

[Assistant] Yeah, it's crunchy and salty.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I mean, you're eating insects, but let me tell you.

[Assistant] Yeah, it's crunchy and salty.

[User] It was crunchy and salty. It was really good. And one time when I was in Mozambique, I actually had peri peri caterpillars. So, you know, I wasn't. I see now, you know, when they do the survivor thing, they have people eat all kinds of weird things.

[Assistant] Yeah.

[User] You know, and that's, a lot of it is mind over matter.

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] It was crunchy and salty. It was really good. And one time when I was in Mozambique, I actually had peri peri caterpillars. So, you know, I wasn't. I see now, you know, when they do the survivor thing, they have people eat all kinds of weird things.

[Assistant] Yeah.

[User] You know, and that's, a lot of it is mind over matter.

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[User] So.

[Assistant] Yeah. And how did you, did you just watch them cook and learn how to cook this stuff or?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] So.

[Assistant] Yeah. And how did you, did you just watch them cook and learn how to cook this stuff or?

[User] Well, I. I had been, I'd been cooking my whole life, so I didn't, nsima wasn't. There was a Malawian woman, girl, who was working in one of the stores in the trading center, and I became friendly with her and asked if she wanted to come and live with me because I had room and I wasn't sure if she traveled to her village and back every time. So she said we had to go to her village and get permission. So we went to her village and got permission for her to stay with me, and she taught me how to make nsima.

[Assistant] Nice.

[User] It was nice. So, um. When I, actually, when I came back to the States, I made some for my, when my daughter was in school, I went to her class and made some for them. But they would, they would cook a lot of vegetables. They would only, they rarely would have meat. Sometimes they would if they had the money because you could buy a little bit of meat in the market. They would just, you know, it's hanging there and flies are all over and they just whack off, put it on the scale, a piece of meat. But we had no refrigeration. So, you know, it wasn't anything that you could keep for very long.

[Assistant] If you got it, you cooked it.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Well, I. I had been, I'd been cooking my whole life, so I didn't, nsima wasn't. There was a Malawian woman, girl, who was working in one of the stores in the trading center, and I became friendly with her and asked if she wanted to come and live with me because I had room and I wasn't sure if she traveled to her village and back every time. So she said we had to go to her village and get permission. So we went to her village and got permission for her to stay with me, and she taught me how to make nsima.

[Assistant] Nice.

[User] It was nice. So, um. When I, actually, when I came back to the States, I made some for my, when my daughter was in school, I went to her class and made some for them. But they would, they would cook a lot of vegetables. They would only, they rarely would have meat. Sometimes they would if they had the money because you could buy a little bit of meat in the market. They would just, you know, it's hanging there and flies are all over and they just whack off, put it on the scale, a piece of meat. But we had no refrigeration. So, you know, it wasn't anything that you could keep for very long.

[Assistant] If you got it, you cooked it.

[User] If you got it, you wanted a small amount because you're going to use it and then that was it. Um.

[Assistant] Now, you said that, you talked a little bit before about where you lived. Do you want to describe that more and what you did for living situation?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] It was nice. So, um. When I, actually, when I came back to the States, I made some for my, when my daughter was in school, I went to her class and made some for them. But they would, they would cook a lot of vegetables. They would only, they rarely would have meat. Sometimes they would if they had the money because you could buy a little bit of meat in the market. They would just, you know, it's hanging there and flies are all over and they just whack off, put it on the scale, a piece of meat. But we had no refrigeration. So, you know, it wasn't anything that you could keep for very long.

[Assistant] If you got it, you cooked it.

[User] If you got it, you wanted a small amount because you're going to use it and then that was it. Um.

[Assistant] Now, you said that, you talked a little bit before about where you lived. Do you want to describe that more and what you did for living situation?

[User] Oh, oh yeah, I didn't. So when I got there and I only had my sleeping bag and, uh, and like the milk crate. I wrote a letter to the district commissioner and I told him what I was doing and that, if possible, I would like some furniture.

[Assistant] Now, this was a Malawian that you wrote to?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] And I just moved the furniture as best as I could. It was crowded, but I couldn't ask them to take it back after I had gotten it. But I learned a lesson about understanding the, the people you want to change and to make it relevant to them, in order to be more successful in getting that change done. So it was an important lesson.

[Assistant] Yes.

[User] I was given a bicycle so we would go by bike at times from one village to another because there was another clinic not too far away. Sometimes we were able to go with the health center ambulance, which was really a jeep. No place that someone could really lie down. But the health center had beds.

[Assistant] Now, how did you learn all the health stuff since you had training interrupted? Did you learn some before?

[User] Well, that's what, when I, when, after we did the little bit of training, when we're all together when we first came in, they sent me to stay for a couple of weeks with a volunteer who was already doing the health in the field.

[Assistant] So that's how you learned.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I was given a bicycle so we would go by bike at times from one village to another because there was another clinic not too far away. Sometimes we were able to go with the health center ambulance, which was really a jeep. No place that someone could really lie down. But the health center had beds.

[Assistant] Now, how did you learn all the health stuff since you had training interrupted? Did you learn some before?

[User] Well, that's what, when I, when, after we did the little bit of training, when we're all together when we first came in, they sent me to stay for a couple of weeks with a volunteer who was already doing the health in the field.

[Assistant] So that's how you learned.

[User] So that's how I learned.

[Assistant] What you needed to do.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] What I needed to know.

[Assistant] Yeah.

[User] Because what we had was very limited knowledge. You know, in training we practiced giving shots on an orange. We never practiced on a person. I was really glad I had the health assistant and I didn't really ever have to do that. I was afraid of hurting somebody or putting it where it shouldn't go just, babies squirm a lot, you know.

[Assistant] Mm hmm.

[User] So, um. That was something that would have been a little more nerve wracking.

[Assistant] What was most challenging about your work?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Because what we had was very limited knowledge. You know, in training we practiced giving shots on an orange. We never practiced on a person. I was really glad I had the health assistant and I didn't really ever have to do that. I was afraid of hurting somebody or putting it where it shouldn't go just, babies squirm a lot, you know.

[Assistant] Mm hmm.

[User] So, um. That was something that would have been a little more nerve wracking.

[Assistant] What was most challenging about your work?

[User]
You know, I didn't find the lack of electricity, I didn't find not having running water as difficult sometimes as learning to deal about the limitations by the culture. But also the conflict because I was white and because I was from the United States, I was treated more like a man than a woman. So I couldn't just always stay with the women and learn what they're doing all the time. And yet I was a woman and some, um. There's a couple incidences that were very indicative of Malawi and culture.

Um, they had the, the president of Malawi, he was president for life. He always spoke in English. He, he had been raised in Malawi, but he had left at one point and gone to England. And because there was two major languages in Malawi, Chitumbuka and Chichewa, he didn't want to be speaking it incorrectly or.

[Assistant] Favoring one over the other?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] So, um. That was something that would have been a little more nerve wracking.

[Assistant] What was most challenging about your work?

[User]
You know, I didn't find the lack of electricity, I didn't find not having running water as difficult sometimes as learning to deal about the limitations by the culture. But also the conflict because I was white and because I was from the United States, I was treated more like a man than a woman. So I couldn't just always stay with the women and learn what they're doing all the time. And yet I was a woman and some, um. There's a couple incidences that were very indicative of Malawi and culture.

Um, they had the, the president of Malawi, he was president for life. He always spoke in English. He, he had been raised in Malawi, but he had left at one point and gone to England. And because there was two major languages in Malawi, Chitumbuka and Chichewa, he didn't want to be speaking it incorrectly or.

[Assistant] Favoring one over the other?

[User] Right. So he spoke in English and had an interpreter no matter where he went in the country. And, um. I forgot my train of thought.

[Assistant] We were talking about you being treated as a man, but there were a couple of instances that showed you.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User]
You know, I didn't find the lack of electricity, I didn't find not having running water as difficult sometimes as learning to deal about the limitations by the culture. But also the conflict because I was white and because I was from the United States, I was treated more like a man than a woman. So I couldn't just always stay with the women and learn what they're doing all the time. And yet I was a woman and some, um. There's a couple incidences that were very indicative of Malawi and culture.

Um, they had the, the president of Malawi, he was president for life. He always spoke in English. He, he had been raised in Malawi, but he had left at one point and gone to England. And because there was two major languages in Malawi, Chitumbuka and Chichewa, he didn't want to be speaking it incorrectly or.

[Assistant] Favoring one over the other?

[User] Right. So he spoke in English and had an interpreter no matter where he went in the country. And, um. I forgot my train of thought.

[Assistant] We were talking about you being treated as a man, but there were a couple of instances that showed you.

[User] Oh yeah. So they had an English the, they had an English paper that, you know, that I could read. And, uh, and it was very interesting. There was a story in it one time where this young girl had gone to stay with her sister, who was married, to help out with the children. And just because in all of Malawian culture, if one family or one family member got a civil service job or some kind of better situation, they were basically kind of required to take in some other family members and help. They, it was kind of a communal pulling up by the bootstraps kind of thing as opposed to everybody, oh, you're out on your own and forget it. And the husband ended up having sex with.

[Assistant] The young girl.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Right. So he spoke in English and had an interpreter no matter where he went in the country. And, um. I forgot my train of thought.

[Assistant] We were talking about you being treated as a man, but there were a couple of instances that showed you.

[User] Oh yeah. So they had an English the, they had an English paper that, you know, that I could read. And, uh, and it was very interesting. There was a story in it one time where this young girl had gone to stay with her sister, who was married, to help out with the children. And just because in all of Malawian culture, if one family or one family member got a civil service job or some kind of better situation, they were basically kind of required to take in some other family members and help. They, it was kind of a communal pulling up by the bootstraps kind of thing as opposed to everybody, oh, you're out on your own and forget it. And the husband ended up having sex with.

[Assistant] The young girl.

[User] With the young girl, and they blamed the girl. It was her fault. So at one time there were two. Mponela was kind of at a crossroads of two different directions coming from Dowa in the east and coming from Kasungu in the north. And there were these two male volunteers who met at my place. They came on busses separately and they met at my place and they, they, they stayed overnight and then they were going to go together on the next day. So when I walked out of the house the next day with two men, it was.

[Assistant] Scandal in the village.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Well, I did have the school that was just down the road about a mile or so. I would, um, visit with them sometimes. They were obviously in the second group because they were teachers.

[Assistant] Mm hmm.

[User] I would see the health volunteers when we had conferences. But travel, you know, was not an easy thing.

[Assistant] Yeah.

[User] The roads were not paved and in the rainy season they, they could be washed out, flooded thing.

[Assistant] Did they have busses for their?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I would see the health volunteers when we had conferences. But travel, you know, was not an easy thing.

[Assistant] Yeah.

[User] The roads were not paved and in the rainy season they, they could be washed out, flooded thing.

[Assistant] Did they have busses for their?

[User] They had busses. But like most of the transportation, that was like Land Rovers and they all had winches on the front so they could pull themselves through the mud and out of places. So sometimes people would wait for the bus. But, you know, it's not like you knew when it was coming. You didn't have cell phones. Nobody could call ahead and say, we're stuck and we're going to be late. They would come and sit and wait for that bus until it came. And sometimes that would be a lot longer than they would have expected.

[Assistant] Was the headquarters for Peace Corps in the country in Doha?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] The roads were not paved and in the rainy season they, they could be washed out, flooded thing.

[Assistant] Did they have busses for their?

[User] They had busses. But like most of the transportation, that was like Land Rovers and they all had winches on the front so they could pull themselves through the mud and out of places. So sometimes people would wait for the bus. But, you know, it's not like you knew when it was coming. You didn't have cell phones. Nobody could call ahead and say, we're stuck and we're going to be late. They would come and sit and wait for that bus until it came. And sometimes that would be a lot longer than they would have expected.

[Assistant] Was the headquarters for Peace Corps in the country in Doha?

[User] Dover? Doha? No, that, Doha is not the right country.

[Assistant] That's not the right word?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Dover? Doha? No, that, Doha is not the right country.

[Assistant] That's not the right word?

[User] I don't think that's, yeah.

[Assistant] Yeah.

[User] I'll have to. Dowa.

[Assistant]
Dowa.

No, that was the regional, that was the regional headquarters for the, for the medical center. But the capital at that time was Zomba. But by the time I left, they had moved it up to Lilongwe because they wanted to bring more paved roads and more modernization further north. So they figured by moving the capital that way, it would, it would do that. Malawi is kind of long and narrow in a way, sort of like New Jersey.

Mm hmm.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I don't think that's, yeah.

[Assistant] Yeah.

[User] I'll have to. Dowa.

[Assistant]
Dowa.

No, that was the regional, that was the regional headquarters for the, for the medical center. But the capital at that time was Zomba. But by the time I left, they had moved it up to Lilongwe because they wanted to bring more paved roads and more modernization further north. So they figured by moving the capital that way, it would, it would do that. Malawi is kind of long and narrow in a way, sort of like New Jersey.

Mm hmm.

[User] And if you look at a map of Africa and the southeastern part, you see this long lake, that's Lake Malawi, and Malawi goes to the side of it and a little bit under.

[Assistant] So was the Peace Corps headquarters in the capital at the time?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I'll have to. Dowa.

[Assistant]
Dowa.

No, that was the regional, that was the regional headquarters for the, for the medical center. But the capital at that time was Zomba. But by the time I left, they had moved it up to Lilongwe because they wanted to bring more paved roads and more modernization further north. So they figured by moving the capital that way, it would, it would do that. Malawi is kind of long and narrow in a way, sort of like New Jersey.

Mm hmm.

[User] And if you look at a map of Africa and the southeastern part, you see this long lake, that's Lake Malawi, and Malawi goes to the side of it and a little bit under.

[Assistant] So was the Peace Corps headquarters in the capital at the time?

[User] In the capital.

[Assistant] And how did you get there when you had those conferences and stuff?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] And if you look at a map of Africa and the southeastern part, you see this long lake, that's Lake Malawi, and Malawi goes to the side of it and a little bit under.

[Assistant] So was the Peace Corps headquarters in the capital at the time?

[User] In the capital.

[Assistant] And how did you get there when you had those conferences and stuff?

[User] We went by bus or hitched.

[Assistant] So you were allowed to hitchhike then?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] In the capital.

[Assistant] And how did you get there when you had those conferences and stuff?

[User] We went by bus or hitched.

[Assistant] So you were allowed to hitchhike then?

[User] Yeah, we were allowed to hitchhike. It was strange to be able to hitchhike in Africa. And then you come home and you can't hitchhike because it's unsafe.

[Assistant] Yeah. Yeah. Did you ever have something that was really frightening happen to you there?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] So that was scary. And then there was some talk that was when the, they were sending rockets to the moon from the United States.

[Assistant] Mm hmm.

[User] And the weather was kind of not normal. So people were saying that the United States was disturbing the moon god. And after what happened to that volunteer, we were concerned about what might happen with the moon shots. So, um, we had had a rainy season that started and then in the middle of the rainy season, it just stopped growing. And in fact, at the farmers market board, they were trying to get them to use fertilizer. And so they had a big sign fertilizer used. But this bunch, no fertilizer here. But because of the drought, the ones with the fertilizer were smaller than the ones without because fertilizer burned.

[Assistant] Burned it.

[User] And they needed to have the rain and they didn't have rain and they didn't have irrigation. So it wasn't a successful lesson that they, they were ended up teaching. So anyway, um, the growing season ended. Whatever the crop was going to be, it was going to be. But now if it started to rain, they would rot. And one of the rockets went up. And it started to rain. And that one was aborted or I'm not, I don't remember exactly why, but it never made it to the moon. And then the rain stopped. I know it was coincidental. It's not causal at all. But.

[Assistant] But to them it was.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] And they needed to have the rain and they didn't have rain and they didn't have irrigation. So it wasn't a successful lesson that they, they were ended up teaching. So anyway, um, the growing season ended. Whatever the crop was going to be, it was going to be. But now if it started to rain, they would rot. And one of the rockets went up. And it started to rain. And that one was aborted or I'm not, I don't remember exactly why, but it never made it to the moon. And then the rain stopped. I know it was coincidental. It's not causal at all. But.

[Assistant] But to them it was.

[User] But to them it was. And we were concerned what would happen if it landed on the moon and all these crops started to rot. Would we again be considered, because we were Americans, part of the, part of the problem? And what, what would we do if, how would we do it if we had to leave suddenly? If we had to evacuate, if our areas became unsafe?

[Assistant] Mm hmm.

[User]
But that never happened because that particular flight never made it for whatever the reason it was. And we never had an incident that close that, that came with the same kind of situation again. So Malawi was never a place where there was normally fear because Malawi never had anything the colonialists wanted. It didn't have wealth, it didn't have diamonds, it didn't have gold. It was very hard to farm because it was, they had to do it on terraces. So it's not like they had this really rich land that was easy where they could have enormous tea plantations or whatever. So it just was not, so they were kind of left alone.

Before they had their independence, Malawi was part of a federation with Northern and Southern Rhodesia. It wasn't called Malawi then.

[Assistant] Mm hmm. Mm hmm.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] But to them it was. And we were concerned what would happen if it landed on the moon and all these crops started to rot. Would we again be considered, because we were Americans, part of the, part of the problem? And what, what would we do if, how would we do it if we had to leave suddenly? If we had to evacuate, if our areas became unsafe?

[Assistant] Mm hmm.

[User]
But that never happened because that particular flight never made it for whatever the reason it was. And we never had an incident that close that, that came with the same kind of situation again. So Malawi was never a place where there was normally fear because Malawi never had anything the colonialists wanted. It didn't have wealth, it didn't have diamonds, it didn't have gold. It was very hard to farm because it was, they had to do it on terraces. So it's not like they had this really rich land that was easy where they could have enormous tea plantations or whatever. So it just was not, so they were kind of left alone.

Before they had their independence, Malawi was part of a federation with Northern and Southern Rhodesia. It wasn't called Malawi then.

[Assistant] Mm hmm. Mm hmm.

[User] And Northern Rhodesia became, um, Zambia and Southern Rhodesia became Zimbabwe after independence. And, um. So. And the other countries had more things. They had better wildlife or what, richer soil or minerals. And so Malawi was never really cheated in that kind of a way, the way other people were cheated out of their country's wealth and not getting the fair share. So Malawi was considered the warm heart of Africa. It also had the lake where they had resorts that people came. And after I left, they, they discovered that there were a lot of tropical fish in the lake and it became a center for studying those fish and also I guess probably for breeding them.

[Assistant] Mm hmm. What did you feel was your, some of your accomplishments? What do you feel proudest about?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User]
I did travel when I was there, but not very much. Travel was very difficult. And it wasn't like teachers who had like the summer off and they had a specific time. I did travel once with, there were some missionaries also not too far away. They were from Canada, and I traveled with them to Rhodesia to, um, the falls. I can't remember, Victoria Falls? I don't think that was it. No. There's another falls in, in Rhodesia. And we went there.

And I did travel to a Malawi game park with some volunteers. But it was really after I left my service that I did most of my traveling because health was ongoing. I just didn't feel like we really had vacation and we did go for conferences and things. So and, uh, so it was a little more, uh. It was hard to travel and we didn't really, we weren't encouraged to do a lot of traveling at that time. We couldn't go to South Africa because we were considered too hippie and too subversive to go to, to be allowed to get a visa to go to South Africa and, um. So, so it just wasn't really.

[Assistant] An option for you.

[User] And I didn't feel like I needed it.

[Assistant] Yeah.

[User] You know, they told us we couldn't go home or to Europe and that would have been like weeks, you know, it would be like at least two days each way.

[Assistant] Mm hmm. Mm hmm.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] And I didn't feel like I needed it.

[Assistant] Yeah.

[User] You know, they told us we couldn't go home or to Europe and that would have been like weeks, you know, it would be like at least two days each way.

[Assistant] Mm hmm. Mm hmm.

[User] Or more, a day to get to the capital and then probably two days to get to Europe or something depending on the planes. And our allowance was small. I mean it was, it was really a lot of money if you lived like a Malawian. I managed to save quite a sum because I wasn't in a town and I didn't go drinking and.

[Assistant] There wasn't much of a place to spend it.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] You know, they told us we couldn't go home or to Europe and that would have been like weeks, you know, it would be like at least two days each way.

[Assistant] Mm hmm. Mm hmm.

[User] Or more, a day to get to the capital and then probably two days to get to Europe or something depending on the planes. And our allowance was small. I mean it was, it was really a lot of money if you lived like a Malawian. I managed to save quite a sum because I wasn't in a town and I didn't go drinking and.

[Assistant] There wasn't much of a place to spend it.

[User] And the market, you know, a mango a penny, you know. So my money went really far. Um.

[Assistant] How were your language skills?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Or more, a day to get to the capital and then probably two days to get to Europe or something depending on the planes. And our allowance was small. I mean it was, it was really a lot of money if you lived like a Malawian. I managed to save quite a sum because I wasn't in a town and I didn't go drinking and.

[Assistant] There wasn't much of a place to spend it.

[User] And the market, you know, a mango a penny, you know. So my money went really far. Um.

[Assistant] How were your language skills?

[User] Well, in Malawi they learned English because it had been an English colony, so more of the educated people had some English. So my skills were not as good as somebody who was using them all the time. I was able to communicate all the things that I needed to for the teaching of the, of the health, of the food, and ask people the usual things you do to ask people as you're greeting them. But I, I never really felt like I learned tenses. So if you really wanted to have a conversation with someone who wasn't pretty fluent in English about philosophy, you know, or deep thoughts or. Sometimes I was confused about whether it was past or future that they were trying to tell me. So I would say my skills were passable but not.

[Assistant] And you got by.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] And the market, you know, a mango a penny, you know. So my money went really far. Um.

[Assistant] How were your language skills?

[User] Well, in Malawi they learned English because it had been an English colony, so more of the educated people had some English. So my skills were not as good as somebody who was using them all the time. I was able to communicate all the things that I needed to for the teaching of the, of the health, of the food, and ask people the usual things you do to ask people as you're greeting them. But I, I never really felt like I learned tenses. So if you really wanted to have a conversation with someone who wasn't pretty fluent in English about philosophy, you know, or deep thoughts or. Sometimes I was confused about whether it was past or future that they were trying to tell me. So I would say my skills were passable but not.

[Assistant] And you got by.

[User] I got by, you know, and. I think that people now, when they first go and train and they live with a host family and they really have to learn the language much more, and they're put into learning the language a lot sooner. I mean, we had it in class, but we didn't really have to use it that much until you really get in country. And now you're in country while you're in training and you have much more opportunity to become much more fluid in the language. And of course, it depended, you know, on, on the kind of job you had too I think.

[Assistant] Did you have a, do you have a favorite memory that, that has stayed with you all these years?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I got by, you know, and. I think that people now, when they first go and train and they live with a host family and they really have to learn the language much more, and they're put into learning the language a lot sooner. I mean, we had it in class, but we didn't really have to use it that much until you really get in country. And now you're in country while you're in training and you have much more opportunity to become much more fluid in the language. And of course, it depended, you know, on, on the kind of job you had too I think.

[Assistant] Did you have a, do you have a favorite memory that, that has stayed with you all these years?

[User] I really like the way that they taught you to slow down, to spend time with people. And in Malawi, you wouldn't. If you saw people talking here, you might think, oh, I don't want to interrupt. There you would always not walk behind people because if you walk behind people, you could be trying to hurt them. You need to walk in between people. When you greet people, you greet them with both hands so they can see that you have no weapon, that you're a friend.

[Assistant] Mm hmm.

[User] And people would ask about all your, you would ask about their relatives and you would talk about the weather. And if they were farming, you would ask about their crops. And it's all the kinds of things that bring community, that, that mean, tell you that people matter, that you're not just.

[Assistant] A blip on the, blip on the radar.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I mean, here we rush around so much. People don't always think that you're, you care or understand or know because you're busy rushing from one thing to another.

[Assistant] Mm hmm.

[User] And there was much more about just getting to know one another and helping one another. The, the little girls thought it was funny when I would carry water because I needed a hand to hold the bucket on my head. And they could balance it and do all kinds of things. But you know, they started when they were younger. And you learn something when you're young, you're, it's much easier than when you're older.

[Assistant] Mm hmm.

[User] And so. I think it's just, I don't know that there's really one thing. It's just it was a wonderful experience because I felt that we lived in such a sheltered world view when we at that time. We knew so little about any place else, so little about any other way than the way we did it. And the way we do things is not always the right way. And, you know, it's not always the way that works for everybody. And just because it worked for us doesn't mean it's going to work for someone else. And I think it was a very informative. I felt I learned more than I imparted to them.

[Assistant] How did you feel when it started getting closer to time to leave? How did, was that hard? Were you looking forward to it?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] And there was much more about just getting to know one another and helping one another. The, the little girls thought it was funny when I would carry water because I needed a hand to hold the bucket on my head. And they could balance it and do all kinds of things. But you know, they started when they were younger. And you learn something when you're young, you're, it's much easier than when you're older.

[Assistant] Mm hmm.

[User] And so. I think it's just, I don't know that there's really one thing. It's just it was a wonderful experience because I felt that we lived in such a sheltered world view when we at that time. We knew so little about any place else, so little about any other way than the way we did it. And the way we do things is not always the right way. And, you know, it's not always the way that works for everybody. And just because it worked for us doesn't mean it's going to work for someone else. And I think it was a very informative. I felt I learned more than I imparted to them.

[Assistant] How did you feel when it started getting closer to time to leave? How did, was that hard? Were you looking forward to it?

[User] It was hard. And of course, like I said, I was thinking I was going to get a job. So I was kind of excited and hoping that we could get that resolved. It actually, finally I ended up having to leave the country, and by the time I got a letter that they had it worked out, I had met my husband. And it just, my whole life had changed at that point and it was too late. I had actually bought a backpack to travel home with and it came after I left and followed me from one place to another and finally caught up with me when I got to New York. I was never able to use it the whole time I traveled. And I really always regret that I never saved all the stamps on the package, you know, because I think that would, that would be a good thing to show.

[Assistant] Yeah. Yeah. Interesting.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] It was hard. And of course, like I said, I was thinking I was going to get a job. So I was kind of excited and hoping that we could get that resolved. It actually, finally I ended up having to leave the country, and by the time I got a letter that they had it worked out, I had met my husband. And it just, my whole life had changed at that point and it was too late. I had actually bought a backpack to travel home with and it came after I left and followed me from one place to another and finally caught up with me when I got to New York. I was never able to use it the whole time I traveled. And I really always regret that I never saved all the stamps on the package, you know, because I think that would, that would be a good thing to show.

[Assistant] Yeah. Yeah. Interesting.

[User] In that time, it managed to follow me all across the country. I went, I went from Malawi. I went to Tanzania and Kenya. And from there I went to India because there was someone I had gone to school with who was in the Peace Corps in India, and we traveled around India together and it followed me around India. And then it followed me to Israel because I went to Israel and spent some time on a kibbutz and it eventually followed me to New York. And I just, it was, it was amazing that it made it, that they kept forwarding it. It was just really very interesting.

[Assistant] Now, it sounds like everything at home had pretty much changed by the time you got back. Your mom had passed. Your dad was remarried by that time.

[User] Right.

[Assistant] So he might have been in a different home. You know, what was it like coming back?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] In that time, it managed to follow me all across the country. I went, I went from Malawi. I went to Tanzania and Kenya. And from there I went to India because there was someone I had gone to school with who was in the Peace Corps in India, and we traveled around India together and it followed me around India. And then it followed me to Israel because I went to Israel and spent some time on a kibbutz and it eventually followed me to New York. And I just, it was, it was amazing that it made it, that they kept forwarding it. It was just really very interesting.

[Assistant] Now, it sounds like everything at home had pretty much changed by the time you got back. Your mom had passed. Your dad was remarried by that time.

[User] Right.

[Assistant] So he might have been in a different home. You know, what was it like coming back?

[User] Well. When, when I came back, I, I was coming back with my to-be husband.

[Assistant] So you met him traveling?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Well. When, when I came back, I, I was coming back with my to-be husband.

[Assistant] So you met him traveling?

[User] I met him traveling. I met him at Ein Gedi in Israel. Ein Gedi is where water comes out of the desert and makes some pools.

[Assistant] Nice.

[User] And that's where I met him. And I had been on the kibbutz for a while and picked oranges and worked in the kitchen and did all the things that we were supposed to do. It was another interesting experience of a different kind of way of life, a more communal kind of way of life. Um. So. But I do remember when I came back to New York, the first two things I said were, everybody here speaks English and the buildings are so tall. You would think, you'd think I'd never been in the United States.

[Assistant] Or a city.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] And that's where I met him. And I had been on the kibbutz for a while and picked oranges and worked in the kitchen and did all the things that we were supposed to do. It was another interesting experience of a different kind of way of life, a more communal kind of way of life. Um. So. But I do remember when I came back to New York, the first two things I said were, everybody here speaks English and the buildings are so tall. You would think, you'd think I'd never been in the United States.

[Assistant] Or a city.

[User] It was really, it was really funny. But, um, when you get used to traveling and not knowing the major language and you feel. One of the places I went to was Zanzibar on my traveling. And now, after being able to get around in Malawi by being able to speak, now I'm traveling and you don't know the language. And I, I ran into someone who was from Malawi. It was like, oh, how wonderful, I can talk again. And we, they invited me to their house to have tea. And it was, it was really, it was, it's so much fun because you feel like I can communicate.

[Assistant] Yeah.

[User] But there's so much you can communicate by the fact that you want to, by miming, by using the few words you have if, if you want to try. Yes, it's not going to get down to the deep issues and they're not going to be clear. But there's so much that you can, can learn.

[Assistant] Mm hmm. Mm hmm.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] It was really, it was really funny. But, um, when you get used to traveling and not knowing the major language and you feel. One of the places I went to was Zanzibar on my traveling. And now, after being able to get around in Malawi by being able to speak, now I'm traveling and you don't know the language. And I, I ran into someone who was from Malawi. It was like, oh, how wonderful, I can talk again. And we, they invited me to their house to have tea. And it was, it was really, it was, it's so much fun because you feel like I can communicate.

[Assistant] Yeah.

[User] But there's so much you can communicate by the fact that you want to, by miming, by using the few words you have if, if you want to try. Yes, it's not going to get down to the deep issues and they're not going to be clear. But there's so much that you can, can learn.

[Assistant] Mm hmm. Mm hmm.

[User] So.

[Assistant] So you're back in New York, you're with your husband-to- be.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] But there's so much you can communicate by the fact that you want to, by miming, by using the few words you have if, if you want to try. Yes, it's not going to get down to the deep issues and they're not going to be clear. But there's so much that you can, can learn.

[Assistant] Mm hmm. Mm hmm.

[User] So.

[Assistant] So you're back in New York, you're with your husband-to- be.

[User] Yes.

[Assistant] And what happened next for you guys?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] So.

[Assistant] So you're back in New York, you're with your husband-to- be.

[User] Yes.

[Assistant] And what happened next for you guys?

[User] Um. Well, um. We actually got married pretty quickly. Well, actually we tried to get married on our way home. But in Greece there was some, you had, I think they only had religious ceremonies. Or they needed something from a rabbi back home, or whatever it was we couldn't do it. And then we were in Germany and you had to post something for two weeks and we weren't going to be there for two weeks. So the easiest place to get married was in the United States. You only have to get a license and in three days you can get married. So we got married by the justice of the peace. But then we wanted my father to be able to have a ceremony and have the family. So they did plan that in Chicago and we had gone there, but we, when I came back we lived in New York.

[Assistant] Mm hmm. Mm hmm. And did you work in New York or? You know, what was your next step as far as?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yes.

[Assistant] And what happened next for you guys?

[User] Um. Well, um. We actually got married pretty quickly. Well, actually we tried to get married on our way home. But in Greece there was some, you had, I think they only had religious ceremonies. Or they needed something from a rabbi back home, or whatever it was we couldn't do it. And then we were in Germany and you had to post something for two weeks and we weren't going to be there for two weeks. So the easiest place to get married was in the United States. You only have to get a license and in three days you can get married. So we got married by the justice of the peace. But then we wanted my father to be able to have a ceremony and have the family. So they did plan that in Chicago and we had gone there, but we, when I came back we lived in New York.

[Assistant] Mm hmm. Mm hmm. And did you work in New York or? You know, what was your next step as far as?

[User] Oh, I did, uh.

[Assistant] Did you go to school?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Um. Well, um. We actually got married pretty quickly. Well, actually we tried to get married on our way home. But in Greece there was some, you had, I think they only had religious ceremonies. Or they needed something from a rabbi back home, or whatever it was we couldn't do it. And then we were in Germany and you had to post something for two weeks and we weren't going to be there for two weeks. So the easiest place to get married was in the United States. You only have to get a license and in three days you can get married. So we got married by the justice of the peace. But then we wanted my father to be able to have a ceremony and have the family. So they did plan that in Chicago and we had gone there, but we, when I came back we lived in New York.

[Assistant] Mm hmm. Mm hmm. And did you work in New York or? You know, what was your next step as far as?

[User] Oh, I did, uh.

[Assistant] Did you go to school?

[User] No, I didn't go to school. I did go to work. I did some volunteer work at the Museum of Natural History. And I. Then I also started to work for Women's American Art, which is an organization that does work to help women learn skills and get education so that they can better themselves.

[Assistant] Did you feel like your Peace Corps experience helped with that?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Oh, I did, uh.

[Assistant] Did you go to school?

[User] No, I didn't go to school. I did go to work. I did some volunteer work at the Museum of Natural History. And I. Then I also started to work for Women's American Art, which is an organization that does work to help women learn skills and get education so that they can better themselves.

[Assistant] Did you feel like your Peace Corps experience helped with that?

[User] Well, what I did there was not any of that kind of planning. I was just, you know, a clerk.

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, yeah.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] No, I didn't go to school. I did go to work. I did some volunteer work at the Museum of Natural History. And I. Then I also started to work for Women's American Art, which is an organization that does work to help women learn skills and get education so that they can better themselves.

[Assistant] Did you feel like your Peace Corps experience helped with that?

[User] Well, what I did there was not any of that kind of planning. I was just, you know, a clerk.

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[User] And then, um. After Laurie was born, I, uh, I stayed home for a while. And then I started to work for H&R Block and, uh.

[Assistant] So you didn't stay with anthropology?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] But it was interesting. So yesterday, actually I think it was this morning, they were talking about how many positions in the Foreign Service, the diplomats, are not career people, but are donors.

[Assistant] Hmm.

[User] They said more than usual, but they said in the past it had been like a third, and now it's almost a half.

[Assistant] Wow.

[User] So I'm thinking, gee, I didn't know that. You know, if I had known that, but um. I think I would have liked to have been in the Foreign Service. But, you know, I never, by the, by the time I got back to the United States to really kind of follow through on it, my life had changed. So it just wasn't, wasn't where we were headed.

[Assistant] Is there anything you want to add that I haven't asked you about?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] So I'm thinking, gee, I didn't know that. You know, if I had known that, but um. I think I would have liked to have been in the Foreign Service. But, you know, I never, by the, by the time I got back to the United States to really kind of follow through on it, my life had changed. So it just wasn't, wasn't where we were headed.

[Assistant] Is there anything you want to add that I haven't asked you about?

[User] Um. The, uh. It was. I, I did do some traveling also. You know, it was interesting. We had tried, I had read some other people at one of the hostels and we were going to try to climb Mount Kilimanjaro because we were told, it's just a path. Just follow it up. So.

[Assistant] You're young.

[User] We tried. We, we. But they said, you know, at about, you know, a day's walk there was some kind of place you could stay overnight. Well, we never found any place to stay overnight. And we ended up spending the night outside, you know. And in the morning we decided too many things looked like paths to us. And we obviously didn't take the right one and we should go back down the hill. And when we, we were very glad we did because that night when we got back down the hill, they said last night there had been lions roaming and but we could have been somebody's dinner.

[Assistant] Yeah, that's what I would worry about.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] A little bit. Some will be surprises so.

[Assistant] Yeah. OK, ok. Anyway, so whether we do all the questions, there are 13 questions on the guidelines. So we’ll start with the first one. So the first one to talks about describe your present family, work, residence, interests. That's the first part of the question. So what is your current if you can start about your family or work, what are you doing right now?

[User] So I actually work for the Peace Corps right now.

[Assistant] Yes, OK.

[User] Which is really great. I'm a recruiter, uh, field based regional recruiter for Colorado, and I've been doing that for about three and a half years here. I was a recruiter in New Orleans for one year when I started. So that was pretty exciting. And even before that, I was a campus recruiter, a part time campus recruiter at the University of Colorado Boulder for a couple of years and I was going to school there. And then even before that, I was a student assistant in the campus recruiting office for an additional year. So I been recruiting for a long time, since about 2011.

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, a long time. OK, your family.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] So I actually work for the Peace Corps right now.

[Assistant] Yes, OK.

[User] Which is really great. I'm a recruiter, uh, field based regional recruiter for Colorado, and I've been doing that for about three and a half years here. I was a recruiter in New Orleans for one year when I started. So that was pretty exciting. And even before that, I was a campus recruiter, a part time campus recruiter at the University of Colorado Boulder for a couple of years and I was going to school there. And then even before that, I was a student assistant in the campus recruiting office for an additional year. So I been recruiting for a long time, since about 2011.

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, a long time. OK, your family.

[User] Yeah. So I have a big family. I have two older sisters, two older half brothers who are both half brothers themselves. So that's a long story. And then while my mom is divorced from my former stepfather, I still consider my step siblings as my siblings. So there's two step brothers there and one step sister. So total eight of us growing up. And I’m the second youngest.

[Assistant] Wow. OK, ok. OK. Where do you live?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Which is really great. I'm a recruiter, uh, field based regional recruiter for Colorado, and I've been doing that for about three and a half years here. I was a recruiter in New Orleans for one year when I started. So that was pretty exciting. And even before that, I was a campus recruiter, a part time campus recruiter at the University of Colorado Boulder for a couple of years and I was going to school there. And then even before that, I was a student assistant in the campus recruiting office for an additional year. So I been recruiting for a long time, since about 2011.

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, a long time. OK, your family.

[User] Yeah. So I have a big family. I have two older sisters, two older half brothers who are both half brothers themselves. So that's a long story. And then while my mom is divorced from my former stepfather, I still consider my step siblings as my siblings. So there's two step brothers there and one step sister. So total eight of us growing up. And I’m the second youngest.

[Assistant] Wow. OK, ok. OK. Where do you live?

[User] Currently I live in Wheat Ridge in Colorado, that's a west suburb of Denver, and I've been here for about a year now and in Denver for about two years.

[Assistant] Ok, what are your interests, Cedar?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I love multimedia. I love digital media, photography, video, audio. I was an audio video specialist in the Philippines and I've been, I got started in 2004 with video recording skateboarding.

[Assistant] Recording skateboarding?

[User] Video recording skateboarding. So I started skateboarding when I was 16 and one thing that I instantly found love with, it was just the artistic side of it, the photography, the video. And it always just seemed so amazing. And so finally, when I was in college, when I was 24, I finally bought a video camera because I wanted to sort out the tricks that I was doing. But then I quickly fell in love with the video camera, kind of more than the skateboard.

[Assistant] Ok, OK.

[User] And then when I went into the Peace Corps, well Peace Corps is a great subject material for video photography. And so that side of me really took off and I got involved in a lot of multimedia projects within the Peace Corps and then again in Peace Corps Response. And now I do it kind of do it on the side as a side gig when I'm not recruiting.

[Assistant] Good. OK, I see. You know, you, as you know, joined the Peace Corps 2006. OK, so another part of this first question is the year before you joined the Peace Corps, what was your life like then? For instance, that could be a long winded answer, or if you to just think of it in terms of other experiences that were relevant to becoming a Peace Corps volunteer.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Video recording skateboarding. So I started skateboarding when I was 16 and one thing that I instantly found love with, it was just the artistic side of it, the photography, the video. And it always just seemed so amazing. And so finally, when I was in college, when I was 24, I finally bought a video camera because I wanted to sort out the tricks that I was doing. But then I quickly fell in love with the video camera, kind of more than the skateboard.

[Assistant] Ok, OK.

[User] And then when I went into the Peace Corps, well Peace Corps is a great subject material for video photography. And so that side of me really took off and I got involved in a lot of multimedia projects within the Peace Corps and then again in Peace Corps Response. And now I do it kind of do it on the side as a side gig when I'm not recruiting.

[Assistant] Good. OK, I see. You know, you, as you know, joined the Peace Corps 2006. OK, so another part of this first question is the year before you joined the Peace Corps, what was your life like then? For instance, that could be a long winded answer, or if you to just think of it in terms of other experiences that were relevant to becoming a Peace Corps volunteer.

[User] That's a great question.

[Assistant] Or your childhood, your education.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] And then when I went into the Peace Corps, well Peace Corps is a great subject material for video photography. And so that side of me really took off and I got involved in a lot of multimedia projects within the Peace Corps and then again in Peace Corps Response. And now I do it kind of do it on the side as a side gig when I'm not recruiting.

[Assistant] Good. OK, I see. You know, you, as you know, joined the Peace Corps 2006. OK, so another part of this first question is the year before you joined the Peace Corps, what was your life like then? For instance, that could be a long winded answer, or if you to just think of it in terms of other experiences that were relevant to becoming a Peace Corps volunteer.

[User] That's a great question.

[Assistant] Or your childhood, your education.

[User] Yeah, yeah, so I've always thought of myself as kind of living the Peace Corps life within the United States, even from when I was a child. If we want to go all the way, way back.

[Assistant] If you want to, we can. Yeah.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] That's a great question.

[Assistant] Or your childhood, your education.

[User] Yeah, yeah, so I've always thought of myself as kind of living the Peace Corps life within the United States, even from when I was a child. If we want to go all the way, way back.

[Assistant] If you want to, we can. Yeah.

[User] Just to kind of lay some groundwork, but I was born in a house with no electricity, no running water, out in the woods.

[Assistant] In what state?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah, like I was talking earlier about, you know, the reason I feel like I focus so much on math and science. So it's because it's safe for me, I don’t have to deal with my emotions. And so this is a way for me to kind of forcibly confront my inner self and my inner emotions and all that stuff inside of me that I've been kind of just hiding away from everything.

[Assistant] That's a, if I may say, very interesting answer. I'm focusing a lot on that rawness of humanity. OK, yeah, I know you'll be telling us more in the interview about that. You sort of, you already touched on this a little bit. But I'll ask again, question three, how did you hear about the Peace Corps and what made you decide to apply if you want to add anything else to it? It says here, describe the process, timing. And then did you have a specific country or project in mind?

[User] I applied in winter of 2005, December of 2005, and I just applied on the, I found the website and I just applied to the website and I believe at that time you had to mail in an application or submit, you know, some things online. And so I so I that that was my first exposure to the Peace Corps. I have a vague recollection of maybe hearing somebody talk about the Peace Corps.

[Assistant] You had mentioned a teacher earlier.

[User] Well, there's an art teacher in high school. And I remember that she would you know, in class she would use some African words to kind of keep us quiet or get our attention or something like that. So I have memories of that now. But at the time when I was applying to Peace Corps, I wasn't thinking that, it's only now kind of after being so involved with it that I'm like, oh, yeah, there's a subliminal kind of message.

[Assistant] Yeah. Something saturated in your brain.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I applied in winter of 2005, December of 2005, and I just applied on the, I found the website and I just applied to the website and I believe at that time you had to mail in an application or submit, you know, some things online. And so I so I that that was my first exposure to the Peace Corps. I have a vague recollection of maybe hearing somebody talk about the Peace Corps.

[Assistant] You had mentioned a teacher earlier.

[User] Well, there's an art teacher in high school. And I remember that she would you know, in class she would use some African words to kind of keep us quiet or get our attention or something like that. So I have memories of that now. But at the time when I was applying to Peace Corps, I wasn't thinking that, it's only now kind of after being so involved with it that I'm like, oh, yeah, there's a subliminal kind of message.

[Assistant] Yeah. Something saturated in your brain.

[User] Yeah. Maybe I maybe I went to a presentation and when I was in college, but I don't remember it really kind of standing out clearly it was more just stumbled across the website having that feeling of, you know, searching and then finding this and then applying for it. I applied for AmeriCorps, I applied for Teach for America and I was kind of casting a wide net. So but then Peace Corps got back to me and, you know, just it seemed really exciting and seemed really attractive. And I remember I interviewed at the University of, at Western Washington University, this recruiter in- person interview. And then the application process back then was much different. I just kind of applied and said, I remember I told them, I'll go anywhere, I'll do anything.

[Assistant] Really? You had no specific part of the world in mind?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Well, there's an art teacher in high school. And I remember that she would you know, in class she would use some African words to kind of keep us quiet or get our attention or something like that. So I have memories of that now. But at the time when I was applying to Peace Corps, I wasn't thinking that, it's only now kind of after being so involved with it that I'm like, oh, yeah, there's a subliminal kind of message.

[Assistant] Yeah. Something saturated in your brain.

[User] Yeah. Maybe I maybe I went to a presentation and when I was in college, but I don't remember it really kind of standing out clearly it was more just stumbled across the website having that feeling of, you know, searching and then finding this and then applying for it. I applied for AmeriCorps, I applied for Teach for America and I was kind of casting a wide net. So but then Peace Corps got back to me and, you know, just it seemed really exciting and seemed really attractive. And I remember I interviewed at the University of, at Western Washington University, this recruiter in- person interview. And then the application process back then was much different. I just kind of applied and said, I remember I told them, I'll go anywhere, I'll do anything.

[Assistant] Really? You had no specific part of the world in mind?

[User] Nothing, nothing at all. It was all the same to me. I’d never traveled outside the country on my own at that point. I had gone to Mexico when I was a kid with my parents a couple of times. But when I was like 10 or 11. But I never, I had gone to Canada a couple times, so that doesn't count because Bellingham is like 30 miles from the border. So like every I felt that no matter where I go, I just had this kind of understanding that it's all on some level going to be the same to me no matter where I go.

[Assistant] What will be the same?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah. Maybe I maybe I went to a presentation and when I was in college, but I don't remember it really kind of standing out clearly it was more just stumbled across the website having that feeling of, you know, searching and then finding this and then applying for it. I applied for AmeriCorps, I applied for Teach for America and I was kind of casting a wide net. So but then Peace Corps got back to me and, you know, just it seemed really exciting and seemed really attractive. And I remember I interviewed at the University of, at Western Washington University, this recruiter in- person interview. And then the application process back then was much different. I just kind of applied and said, I remember I told them, I'll go anywhere, I'll do anything.

[Assistant] Really? You had no specific part of the world in mind?

[User] Nothing, nothing at all. It was all the same to me. I’d never traveled outside the country on my own at that point. I had gone to Mexico when I was a kid with my parents a couple of times. But when I was like 10 or 11. But I never, I had gone to Canada a couple times, so that doesn't count because Bellingham is like 30 miles from the border. So like every I felt that no matter where I go, I just had this kind of understanding that it's all on some level going to be the same to me no matter where I go.

[Assistant] What will be the same?

[User] It's all going to be new. It's all going to be challenging. It's going to be a new culture. So no matter where I go, it's going to be challenging and different.

[Assistant] And I assume you welcome the challenge.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Nothing, nothing at all. It was all the same to me. I’d never traveled outside the country on my own at that point. I had gone to Mexico when I was a kid with my parents a couple of times. But when I was like 10 or 11. But I never, I had gone to Canada a couple times, so that doesn't count because Bellingham is like 30 miles from the border. So like every I felt that no matter where I go, I just had this kind of understanding that it's all on some level going to be the same to me no matter where I go.

[Assistant] What will be the same?

[User] It's all going to be new. It's all going to be challenging. It's going to be a new culture. So no matter where I go, it's going to be challenging and different.

[Assistant] And I assume you welcome the challenge.

[User] Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Assistant] You seek the challenge?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Assistant] You seek the challenge?

[User] I was hungry for it.

[Assistant] OK, good.

[User] I was, I was chomping at the bit and as far as the work, again, I was just open to doing any kind of work that they want me to do. Of course it's obvious looking back, that I did math and science, I did science education. Rewind a little bit. I actually applied for or actually got accepted as a math education volunteer. Within that, I switched to science. Um, but of course I did that. I mean, I was a tutor for three years and then I was a math and science major. So now that I am a recruiter, there's nothing else I was probably qualified to do.

[Assistant] But you had said I'd do anything.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I was hungry for it.

[Assistant] OK, good.

[User] I was, I was chomping at the bit and as far as the work, again, I was just open to doing any kind of work that they want me to do. Of course it's obvious looking back, that I did math and science, I did science education. Rewind a little bit. I actually applied for or actually got accepted as a math education volunteer. Within that, I switched to science. Um, but of course I did that. I mean, I was a tutor for three years and then I was a math and science major. So now that I am a recruiter, there's nothing else I was probably qualified to do.

[Assistant] But you had said I'd do anything.

[User] I would have done anything if they wanted me to be a volunteer or environmental volunteer or anything. I was just, I believed in the mission of the Peace Corps and I knew I wanted to get involved with something that I believed in. And the Peace Corps seemed like something that I could believe in. And I knew that from that belief, that faith, I guess in the mission of the organization, I would apply myself to such a degree that no matter what I did, I would just pick it up, learn the skills they need to do, and then get involved with the community. And I knew it wasn't going to be super technical work necessarily. And even if it was, I mean, I just, you know, spent four years studying physics and applied math. I was about as technical as I could imagine.

[Assistant] The physics is beyond me.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I was, I was chomping at the bit and as far as the work, again, I was just open to doing any kind of work that they want me to do. Of course it's obvious looking back, that I did math and science, I did science education. Rewind a little bit. I actually applied for or actually got accepted as a math education volunteer. Within that, I switched to science. Um, but of course I did that. I mean, I was a tutor for three years and then I was a math and science major. So now that I am a recruiter, there's nothing else I was probably qualified to do.

[Assistant] But you had said I'd do anything.

[User] I would have done anything if they wanted me to be a volunteer or environmental volunteer or anything. I was just, I believed in the mission of the Peace Corps and I knew I wanted to get involved with something that I believed in. And the Peace Corps seemed like something that I could believe in. And I knew that from that belief, that faith, I guess in the mission of the organization, I would apply myself to such a degree that no matter what I did, I would just pick it up, learn the skills they need to do, and then get involved with the community. And I knew it wasn't going to be super technical work necessarily. And even if it was, I mean, I just, you know, spent four years studying physics and applied math. I was about as technical as I could imagine.

[Assistant] The physics is beyond me.

[User] But I just thought you no matter what it is, I could teach myself what I need to know.

[Assistant] Ok, all right. First question. What were your friends and family's reactions when you were accepted? For instance, was there any hesitation or reservations on your part? On their part? So how do they react when you were accepted?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I would have done anything if they wanted me to be a volunteer or environmental volunteer or anything. I was just, I believed in the mission of the Peace Corps and I knew I wanted to get involved with something that I believed in. And the Peace Corps seemed like something that I could believe in. And I knew that from that belief, that faith, I guess in the mission of the organization, I would apply myself to such a degree that no matter what I did, I would just pick it up, learn the skills they need to do, and then get involved with the community. And I knew it wasn't going to be super technical work necessarily. And even if it was, I mean, I just, you know, spent four years studying physics and applied math. I was about as technical as I could imagine.

[Assistant] The physics is beyond me.

[User] But I just thought you no matter what it is, I could teach myself what I need to know.

[Assistant] Ok, all right. First question. What were your friends and family's reactions when you were accepted? For instance, was there any hesitation or reservations on your part? On their part? So how do they react when you were accepted?

[User] Everyone was super excited for me. Oh, really very supportive, everyone. And this is my family. I grew up in a very, very liberal, very hippy. My parents were. You know, like I said, I grew up out of the woods, no running water and electricity.

[Assistant] For how long? Without that. Without electricity, you know.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] But I just thought you no matter what it is, I could teach myself what I need to know.

[Assistant] Ok, all right. First question. What were your friends and family's reactions when you were accepted? For instance, was there any hesitation or reservations on your part? On their part? So how do they react when you were accepted?

[User] Everyone was super excited for me. Oh, really very supportive, everyone. And this is my family. I grew up in a very, very liberal, very hippy. My parents were. You know, like I said, I grew up out of the woods, no running water and electricity.

[Assistant] For how long? Without that. Without electricity, you know.

[User] Yeah. Yeah. Well, I was a kid, you know, six when I was six years old when we moved into town. But they've been living out there for, you know, maybe ten years or so on this property.

[Assistant] In a cabin or?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah. Yeah. Well, I was a kid, you know, six when I was six years old when we moved into town. But they've been living out there for, you know, maybe ten years or so on this property.

[Assistant] In a cabin or?

[User] Yeah, in a cabin that my dad built.

[Assistant] OK.

[User] Yeah, they were living off the land. That was their dream. And my mom was a social activist. So something like the Peace Corps just kind of made sense in a way. I don't know. I think I surprised a lot of people because, like I said, I never traveled outside the country on my own before. I was very kind of quiet, reserved person. So something like this was like, I liken it to finding the tallest cliff I can find and then jumping off into a lake. And that was what I was going for. I was like, give me something that I can really just kind of commit myself to.

[Assistant] Ok, did you have any reservations? I think I know the answer, but I'll ask it anyway.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah, in a cabin that my dad built.

[Assistant] OK.

[User] Yeah, they were living off the land. That was their dream. And my mom was a social activist. So something like the Peace Corps just kind of made sense in a way. I don't know. I think I surprised a lot of people because, like I said, I never traveled outside the country on my own before. I was very kind of quiet, reserved person. So something like this was like, I liken it to finding the tallest cliff I can find and then jumping off into a lake. And that was what I was going for. I was like, give me something that I can really just kind of commit myself to.

[Assistant] Ok, did you have any reservations? I think I know the answer, but I'll ask it anyway.

[User] I did not have any reservations. I'm sure there was some fear back then, just not really knowing what I was going into. But I was not, I was not planning to do anything else. I put all my eggs in one basket. The Peace Corps application process was very long before you knew if you were actually accepted and going somewhere so. Well, my friends. Well, you know, I graduated college. My other friends were, you know, getting accepted in graduate school, getting accepted into jobs. And I was still waiting to hear back about the Peace Corps.

[Assistant] What year did you graduate from college?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah, they were living off the land. That was their dream. And my mom was a social activist. So something like the Peace Corps just kind of made sense in a way. I don't know. I think I surprised a lot of people because, like I said, I never traveled outside the country on my own before. I was very kind of quiet, reserved person. So something like this was like, I liken it to finding the tallest cliff I can find and then jumping off into a lake. And that was what I was going for. I was like, give me something that I can really just kind of commit myself to.

[Assistant] Ok, did you have any reservations? I think I know the answer, but I'll ask it anyway.

[User] I did not have any reservations. I'm sure there was some fear back then, just not really knowing what I was going into. But I was not, I was not planning to do anything else. I put all my eggs in one basket. The Peace Corps application process was very long before you knew if you were actually accepted and going somewhere so. Well, my friends. Well, you know, I graduated college. My other friends were, you know, getting accepted in graduate school, getting accepted into jobs. And I was still waiting to hear back about the Peace Corps.

[Assistant] What year did you graduate from college?

[User] 2006 but I so I was just waiting it out. I got accepted into AmeriCorps. I turned it down because I told them I went to hear back about this Peace Corps thing.

[Assistant] Ok, but you did get accepted there.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I did not have any reservations. I'm sure there was some fear back then, just not really knowing what I was going into. But I was not, I was not planning to do anything else. I put all my eggs in one basket. The Peace Corps application process was very long before you knew if you were actually accepted and going somewhere so. Well, my friends. Well, you know, I graduated college. My other friends were, you know, getting accepted in graduate school, getting accepted into jobs. And I was still waiting to hear back about the Peace Corps.

[Assistant] What year did you graduate from college?

[User] 2006 but I so I was just waiting it out. I got accepted into AmeriCorps. I turned it down because I told them I went to hear back about this Peace Corps thing.

[Assistant] Ok, but you did get accepted there.

[User] I did get accepted. I remember I got the envelope in the mail and it was a big manila envelope and it said Cedar Wolf and Peace Corps. And I was so excited. I before I even opened it, I drove over to my friend's house and I got around a couple of my best friends at the time. And we just sat down and we opened it together and pulled out the paper. And it's like, and then this is when I finally found out, oh, I'm going to, what? Namibia, where is that?

[Assistant] You didn’t know where it was?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] 2006 but I so I was just waiting it out. I got accepted into AmeriCorps. I turned it down because I told them I went to hear back about this Peace Corps thing.

[Assistant] Ok, but you did get accepted there.

[User] I did get accepted. I remember I got the envelope in the mail and it was a big manila envelope and it said Cedar Wolf and Peace Corps. And I was so excited. I before I even opened it, I drove over to my friend's house and I got around a couple of my best friends at the time. And we just sat down and we opened it together and pulled out the paper. And it's like, and then this is when I finally found out, oh, I'm going to, what? Namibia, where is that?

[Assistant] You didn’t know where it was?

[User] I had no idea where it was. And so that was super exciting, just figuring out that. But yeah, that was in, let’s see, I graduated in 2006 from Western Washington University.

[Assistant] Where is that?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I had no idea where it was. And so that was super exciting, just figuring out that. But yeah, that was in, let’s see, I graduated in 2006 from Western Washington University.

[Assistant] Where is that?

[User] Washington State, in Bellingham.

[Assistant] Bellingham, OK.

[User] And so I applied December of 2005. I didn't find out I was going to Namibia until probably August or September of 2006. So it was a long process.

[Assistant] OK, I'll be asking more about that when you got to Namibia, I can’t even say it!


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Washington State, in Bellingham.

[Assistant] Bellingham, OK.

[User] And so I applied December of 2005. I didn't find out I was going to Namibia until probably August or September of 2006. So it was a long process.

[Assistant] OK, I'll be asking more about that when you got to Namibia, I can’t even say it!

[User] Just don’t say Nambia!

[Assistant] Namibia, OK. The fifth question, what project were you invited to join? And then there's another part of that question is how did you prepare yourself and others for dislocation? To me, it seems a strange word to use, of entry into two years of Peace Corps service. So we can start with what project were you invited to join in Namibia?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] And so I applied December of 2005. I didn't find out I was going to Namibia until probably August or September of 2006. So it was a long process.

[Assistant] OK, I'll be asking more about that when you got to Namibia, I can’t even say it!

[User] Just don’t say Nambia!

[Assistant] Namibia, OK. The fifth question, what project were you invited to join? And then there's another part of that question is how did you prepare yourself and others for dislocation? To me, it seems a strange word to use, of entry into two years of Peace Corps service. So we can start with what project were you invited to join in Namibia?

[User] So I was invited to serve as a math education volunteer in sub-Saharan Africa. That was what they told me. I remember I told the interviewer lady, I said, I'm not really sure that I can live in the Sahara Desert. And then she corrected me. Well, you know, sub-Saharan Africa means all of Africa, not the Sahara Desert.

[Assistant] Ok, it would be.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] So I was invited to serve as a math education volunteer in sub-Saharan Africa. That was what they told me. I remember I told the interviewer lady, I said, I'm not really sure that I can live in the Sahara Desert. And then she corrected me. Well, you know, sub-Saharan Africa means all of Africa, not the Sahara Desert.

[Assistant] Ok, it would be.

[User] Yeah, yeah. It's like sub Saharan. So like below. So basically I, you know, shows up on my geography. I just thought, oh, I'm going to live in a desert. I don't know if I can live in the desert. She said, you know, Peace Corps is not a vacation.

[Assistant] Yeah. Yes.

[User] And then ironically, I did end up living in a desert country. Namibia has two deserts.

[Assistant] Does it? OK, OK.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah, yeah. It's like sub Saharan. So like below. So basically I, you know, shows up on my geography. I just thought, oh, I'm going to live in a desert. I don't know if I can live in the desert. She said, you know, Peace Corps is not a vacation.

[Assistant] Yeah. Yes.

[User] And then ironically, I did end up living in a desert country. Namibia has two deserts.

[Assistant] Does it? OK, OK.

[User] But yeah, I got invited to serve as a math education volunteer in sub-Saharan Africa. That was the invitation. And then I later found out I was going to Namibia. And then three months into my service, my school actually asked me to switch over to science education. So that's why I tell everyone I was a science education volunteer. That's ultimately what I did, even though I was invited as a math education volunteer. And then how did I get prepared for dislocation? After I graduated in June, my departure was later that year in November. And so I graduated in June and I took the summer off. I went and did a fun kind of Europe backpacking trip with some friends from college, just kind of like little postgraduation fun thing at a friend who was living over in Norway and we teamed up with him. So that was really nice, kind of mini taste, I guess, of what it’d be like to travel abroad. Of course, Europe is very different than Africa.

[Assistant] I would imagine. Yeah.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah. But that was that was nice. And then when I got back, I knew that I was going to once I knew that once I left for the Peace Corps, that, uh, when I came back, you know, I was basically I was leaving my life that I had kind of grown used to, and that when I came back from the Peace Corps, things would be different. And so I made a point to spend as much time as I could with my friends and family, uh, in Washington. I want to spend as much time with them as I could before I left. And so I just I just kind of hung out. I didn't get a job or anything like that, just kind of, you know, had a good time with my friends over the summer and just living with my brother and up in Bellingham and did some research on Namibia. You know what to bring, what to pack. Um, I didn't focus so much on researching, like, the cultural issues and the social issues or anything like that. I guess it just didn't really seem like it would be an issue for me. I knew that going there, I was going to keep a very open mind and just kind of, you know, uh, be prepared to learn about the, uh, the people and the culture. And I got there and not kind of have any preconceived notions or assumptions about the way people were going to be. I didn't I didn't really think about it. I just kind of knew that I would think I would work things out when they happened and take it as it comes.

[Assistant] Good. OK, the second question, these are questions about your training. Um, I’ll start off. Where was your training, about the faculty? It says a syllabus, technical studies, anything you want to answer, reaction to other trainees on this first part of the sixth question.

[User] The training happened in Okahandja.

[Assistant] Could you spell that?

[User] In Namibia. Okahandja is spelled O-K-A-H-A-N-D-J-A.

[Assistant] D-J-A, in Namibia. Is that a big city, small town?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] The training happened in Okahandja.

[Assistant] Could you spell that?

[User] In Namibia. Okahandja is spelled O-K-A-H-A-N-D-J-A.

[Assistant] D-J-A, in Namibia. Is that a big city, small town?

[User] It's uh, it's not a real big city. It's about 40 kilometers outside of Windhoek, the capital city.

[Assistant] Say the capital again.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] In Namibia. Okahandja is spelled O-K-A-H-A-N-D-J-A.

[Assistant] D-J-A, in Namibia. Is that a big city, small town?

[User] It's uh, it's not a real big city. It's about 40 kilometers outside of Windhoek, the capital city.

[Assistant] Say the capital again.

[User] Windhoek.

[Assistant] How do you spell it?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] It's uh, it's not a real big city. It's about 40 kilometers outside of Windhoek, the capital city.

[Assistant] Say the capital again.

[User] Windhoek.

[Assistant] How do you spell it?

[User] W-I-N-D-H-O-E-K.

[Assistant] OK. Never heard of it.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Windhoek.

[Assistant] How do you spell it?

[User] W-I-N-D-H-O-E-K.

[Assistant] OK. Never heard of it.

[User] Yes, it’s about 40 kilometers north of Windhoek and it's a small town, has a nice kind of outdoor arts market, but, you know, it's kind of a place that you just can drive through it on your way to the north of the country, which is many hours. And training was very interesting. We lived in the compound, as we called it, dorms or dorms and a big training facility where we are all there together, staying in dorm rooms, sleeping there together. In subsequent years, volunteers would go live with host families during training. But for us, there's about 67 of us total.

[Assistant] In that training group?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] W-I-N-D-H-O-E-K.

[Assistant] OK. Never heard of it.

[User] Yes, it’s about 40 kilometers north of Windhoek and it's a small town, has a nice kind of outdoor arts market, but, you know, it's kind of a place that you just can drive through it on your way to the north of the country, which is many hours. And training was very interesting. We lived in the compound, as we called it, dorms or dorms and a big training facility where we are all there together, staying in dorm rooms, sleeping there together. In subsequent years, volunteers would go live with host families during training. But for us, there's about 67 of us total.

[Assistant] In that training group?

[User] In that training group.

[Assistant] To me that sounds large.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] In that training group.

[Assistant] To me that sounds large.

[User] It was very. Yeah, they broke it up and yeah. Because we were, I guess we were a little bit of a troublesome crowd.

[Assistant] OK.

[User] And yeah, there's about 67 of us. We live in this training facility in Okahandja. And then I remember the trainings where, you know, they were intense in the sense that, you know, it was just full days, Monday through Friday, you know, nine to five kind of thing, going through all kinds of workshops and in these conference rooms with coffee and tea breaks multiple times throughout the day. So we felt like we were, you know, giving tend to. But it was fun. It was so exciting and energetic to be around so many amazing people, the Peace Corps volunteers, as well as the training team, who are mostly comprised of Namibians.

[Assistant] I was going ask. So it mainly were Namibians?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] It was very. Yeah, they broke it up and yeah. Because we were, I guess we were a little bit of a troublesome crowd.

[Assistant] OK.

[User] And yeah, there's about 67 of us. We live in this training facility in Okahandja. And then I remember the trainings where, you know, they were intense in the sense that, you know, it was just full days, Monday through Friday, you know, nine to five kind of thing, going through all kinds of workshops and in these conference rooms with coffee and tea breaks multiple times throughout the day. So we felt like we were, you know, giving tend to. But it was fun. It was so exciting and energetic to be around so many amazing people, the Peace Corps volunteers, as well as the training team, who are mostly comprised of Namibians.

[Assistant] I was going ask. So it mainly were Namibians?

[User] Right, yeah. The training team were all Namibians. And there was some Peace Corps staff, you know, like the medical officer, country director. But the majority of the training team were Namibians.

[Assistant] Who spoke English?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] And yeah, there's about 67 of us. We live in this training facility in Okahandja. And then I remember the trainings where, you know, they were intense in the sense that, you know, it was just full days, Monday through Friday, you know, nine to five kind of thing, going through all kinds of workshops and in these conference rooms with coffee and tea breaks multiple times throughout the day. So we felt like we were, you know, giving tend to. But it was fun. It was so exciting and energetic to be around so many amazing people, the Peace Corps volunteers, as well as the training team, who are mostly comprised of Namibians.

[Assistant] I was going ask. So it mainly were Namibians?

[User] Right, yeah. The training team were all Namibians. And there was some Peace Corps staff, you know, like the medical officer, country director. But the majority of the training team were Namibians.

[Assistant] Who spoke English?

[User] Yeah, Namibia.

[Assistant] What’s the language they speak?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah, Namibia.

[Assistant] What’s the language they speak?

[User] Namibia has about at that time they had, you know, 13 officially recognized languages in the country,

[Assistant] Caramba!

[User] But English was the official kind of language that the country had adopted.

[Assistant] Oh they did?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Namibia has about at that time they had, you know, 13 officially recognized languages in the country,

[Assistant] Caramba!

[User] But English was the official kind of language that the country had adopted.

[Assistant] Oh they did?

[User] Yes, they teach it in schools. There's the largest tribe in Namibia is the Oshiwambo tribe. And so their language is spoken a lot. I'd say the predominant languages are English and Afrikaans, actually.

[Assistant] Afrikaans like Afrikaans in South Africa?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] But English was the official kind of language that the country had adopted.

[Assistant] Oh they did?

[User] Yes, they teach it in schools. There's the largest tribe in Namibia is the Oshiwambo tribe. And so their language is spoken a lot. I'd say the predominant languages are English and Afrikaans, actually.

[Assistant] Afrikaans like Afrikaans in South Africa?

[User]
Yeah, exactly.

Ok, because Namibia used to be colonized by South Africa.

[Assistant] So I didn’t tell you this Cedar, but in my mind I'm thinking now what part of Africa is Namibia? Yeah, you could tell me now?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yes, they teach it in schools. There's the largest tribe in Namibia is the Oshiwambo tribe. And so their language is spoken a lot. I'd say the predominant languages are English and Afrikaans, actually.

[Assistant] Afrikaans like Afrikaans in South Africa?

[User]
Yeah, exactly.

Ok, because Namibia used to be colonized by South Africa.

[Assistant] So I didn’t tell you this Cedar, but in my mind I'm thinking now what part of Africa is Namibia? Yeah, you could tell me now?

[User] Take South Africa at the very bottom and you go up the west coast, on the Atlantic Ocean, it is the first country you get to just above South Africa.

[Assistant] Did it have a different name years ago?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User]
Yeah, exactly.

Ok, because Namibia used to be colonized by South Africa.

[Assistant] So I didn’t tell you this Cedar, but in my mind I'm thinking now what part of Africa is Namibia? Yeah, you could tell me now?

[User] Take South Africa at the very bottom and you go up the west coast, on the Atlantic Ocean, it is the first country you get to just above South Africa.

[Assistant] Did it have a different name years ago?

[User] It used to be called South West Africa.

[Assistant] Oh, OK. That was what it was. It was South West Africa. Geez. When did it become Namibia?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] It used to be called South West Africa.

[Assistant] Oh, OK. That was what it was. It was South West Africa. Geez. When did it become Namibia?

[User] 1990. So it’s a pretty young country.

[Assistant] OK.

[User] March 21st, 1990.

[Assistant] Ok, anything else you want? Before we moved the language training, anything you want to add about maybe your reaction to the other trainees? You already said you had a big group, 67.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] 1990. So it’s a pretty young country.

[Assistant] OK.

[User] March 21st, 1990.

[Assistant] Ok, anything else you want? Before we moved the language training, anything you want to add about maybe your reaction to the other trainees? You already said you had a big group, 67.

[User] Yeah, yeah. I mean, as far as the other Peace Corps volunteers, you know. So the Peace Corps training group, the Namibians, I thought they were great. I love hanging out with them. I actually had a little bit of a crush on one of them. Her name was Annamarie. And I just remember hanging out with her a lot, really nice woman. And we had a good friendship. But then the other Peace Corps volunteers, really amazing group of people. But it was really interesting. I remember having a very difficult time connecting with a lot of them, just like any social.

[Assistant] Can you say why?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] March 21st, 1990.

[Assistant] Ok, anything else you want? Before we moved the language training, anything you want to add about maybe your reaction to the other trainees? You already said you had a big group, 67.

[User] Yeah, yeah. I mean, as far as the other Peace Corps volunteers, you know. So the Peace Corps training group, the Namibians, I thought they were great. I love hanging out with them. I actually had a little bit of a crush on one of them. Her name was Annamarie. And I just remember hanging out with her a lot, really nice woman. And we had a good friendship. But then the other Peace Corps volunteers, really amazing group of people. But it was really interesting. I remember having a very difficult time connecting with a lot of them, just like any social.

[Assistant] Can you say why?

[User] In any social group there's going to be small clicks. So in a group of 67, you can imagine there are lots of little cliques that were starting to form. And I just remember it didn't really seem like I fit with any of the groups and the cliques that were forming and so I would hang up on myself a lot.

[Assistant] How what do you mean hang up on yourself?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] In any social group there's going to be small clicks. So in a group of 67, you can imagine there are lots of little cliques that were starting to form. And I just remember it didn't really seem like I fit with any of the groups and the cliques that were forming and so I would hang up on myself a lot.

[Assistant] How what do you mean hang up on yourself?

[User] Hang out.

[Assistant] Oh.

[User] I just hang out by myself a lot. Yeah.

[Assistant] OK, hang out.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Hang out.

[Assistant] Oh.

[User] I just hang out by myself a lot. Yeah.

[Assistant] OK, hang out.

[User] I hang out by myself a lot and just kind of draw in my notebook or journal or practice my language or hang out with some of the staff like Annamarie. But then after a while there I remember there were two other volunteers, Paul Johnson and, um, this other guy. They were both computer guys, kind of like me. So they were little kind of odd.

[Assistant] Geeky? I'm sorry, I used the word geeky. Cedar didn't use it, but I just started with geeky.