Take in all the training, but humor the trainers when necessary. Remember that although you are a representative of your country, you do not have to defend policies with which you disagree. Don’t let them wash you out just because you have your own definition of patriotism. Smile and pretend that you agree with everything they are telling you to give yourself the best chance of getting through training.
Don’t be afraid. Get to the country to which you are assigned and begin asking questions. Determine for yourself where you want to go and what you want to see. If there is a village off the road and you want to go there, take a student or local friend and go there. Don’t stay where you are assigned without scoping out the locale and people around you.
Be open. Listen to others and find out what they really believe. If they have been taught by missionaries to behave a certain way in front of white people, only to revert to tribal beliefs when they are with their own kind, find out what those beliefs are and suspend your prejudices.
Be careful of hanging out with your own people too much. You are in a foreign culture. Don’t insulate your experience by getting drunk night after night with people from the States. Remember that you learn a lot more by letting go of your insulation.
Suspend judgment until you’ve been back for a while. For years after your Peace Corps experience has ended, waves of memories will reveal intense new meanings to your existence. Let it all happen.
