Page 10 - Pauza Magazine

arts & cultural experiences

When Expectation

Meets Reality

By Nick Motwani, MAK 17

“Where would you be willing to serve?” the Peace “It wasn’t until I physically
Corps recruiter asked me. We were seated in a
cold, and otherwise nondescript conference room landed at Alexander the
in the Peace Corps office in Oakland, California, Great Airport that my ex-
but the warmth of excitement from this question
shot through me like a pinball. I had called in sick pectations took a full 180
from my mundane auditing job in the San Francis-
co Bay Area in order to attend this much anticipat- degree turn.”
ed interview. I had spent over four years crunch-
ing numbers under the hypnotic glow of multiple Once I replied that I’d be willing to serve anywhere
computer screens and I was ready to leave it all. in the world, my recruiter said that there was a very
I was 26, looking for an adventure and was con- high chance I would be sent to Africa. I shrugged
sciously seeking out the toughest job I’d ever love. and told her that Africa would be just fine. I then
thanked her and went home with a spring in my
step, excited for my potential life-changing experi-
ence. During the following months, I scoured the
internet and read blog after blog of current Peace
Corps volunteers. Learning that a high vol-
ume of volunteers are sent to Africa, and
remembering the comment that the re-
cruiter made to me, I focused my inter-
net research on this region of the world.
The first-hand accounts from these blogs,
coupled with my pre-existing notion of the
1970’s Peace Corps culture of being com-
pletely disconnected from the world, molded
my expectations of my inevitable destiny: dirt
roads, a lack of clean running water, a bicycle
ride into town to make a telephone call, dial-up
internet and the general feeling of reverting 50
years is all I imagined. It was the only prospect
I mentally prepared myself for from the time I
applied until the time I received my invitation to
serve in Macedonia, a country I quickly learned
was not a part of Africa (thank you Wikipedia).

One website led to another, and after seeing a
Hertz rental car ad on the fancy Exploring Mace-
donia tourist website, I began to reconstruct my
expectations. It wasn’t until I physically landed at
Alexander the Great Airport that my expectations
took a full 180 degree turn. Upon leaving the air-
port I noticed a sign proudly stating “Welcome to

10 – Pauza Magazine
10 – Pauza Magazine