THREE PCV STORIES

Some of you have heard these before, some of you more than once, but indulge me.

Story number one: A new PCV finds something floating in his drink so he rejects it and calls for a new one. Some time later that PCV, finding something in his drink, will simply pick out the flotsam and enjoy the drink. Much later, a veteran PCV will see the contaminant, down the drink anyway, and give thanks for the added protein. I only mention this because I picked something from my mouth after breakfast today, identified the probable source, and continued with my schedule. Guess I’m there.

Story number two: Some people see the glass as half full; some people see the glass as half empty. A PCV sees half the glass and says, “Wow, I could take a bath with that”. Although we’ve had our share of bucket baths (in training), we’ve been fortunate to have indoor plumbing since moving to permanent site. But you might have forgotten the hot water heater (the ‘geyser’) was not functioning. My counterpart was instrumental in moving the bureaucracy and we finally have hot water! (A three-man crew came to install a new element. One of them was a hunchback barely four feet tall. He introduced himself as ‘King Size’.) We feel we are definitely part of the Posh Corps now. Most of our acquaintances don’t have running water—merely Peace Corps; and some have neither running water nor electricity—which makes them Hard Corps. We’ve been honored to have overnight guests from the younger crowd in the Peace Corps on a couple of occasions—even before the enticement of a hot shower.

Story number three: We saw signs of rain today—a gentle, Seattle type of rain, but enough to make the ground wet, and we’ve had a couple of warmer days which seems to indicate that summer is coming. The equinox was a couple of weeks ago when our night was the same length as yours, but our days will now begin growing longer than yours. Here in SD that means the approach of Mamba season, and that is one of the reasons we aren’t supposed to be out at night. (You don’t want to come upon a mamba that you can’t see.) So if you’re not part of the elite Posh Corps and you have overnight guests of mixed gender, you will experience a strong bonding among PCVs who will be sharing a common pee-bucket. Posh Corps—Peace Corps—Hard Corps. We’re thankful for what we have.