Integrating as an introvert

I strongly believe in the mission, the importance, the value - of the Peace Corps: To promote world peace and friendship. I have and will continue to devote years of my life to support it in a small way – although the pain and separation from family and friends in the states is not such as small thing.

People of different cultures are deep down the same, but on the surface there are wonderful differences that can be embraced, enjoyed, and perhaps blended to create a better world for everyone. That is the mission and that is accomplished by integrating into the community.

People who know Myers-Briggs personality types can spot me as an INTJ. The I stands for introvert. For me that means that I recharge my batteries by being alone and it takes energy to go out to meet people, to be around a lot of people. I’m a pretty extreme introvert. In a large party I need to get away at times.

And so the first couple of weeks at site is difficult for me as I push to meet and greet as many people as I can. My first 10 minute walk to school took 20 minutes because I stopped to greet and shake the hands of everyone I met. I continue to greet people and stop for a short exchange. This was culturally required in Ghana – here a simple greeting is sufficient, but a quick exchange is better. It is nice to be friendly with others and get quickly integrated. (And at times exhausting – one day in my second week after a party with the teachers and the push to integrated I skipped dinner and slept for 14 hours.)

It was a nice outing with the teachers and staff.

Everyone has their own approach to Peace Corps service. Mine is to quickly integrate into the community, to know and be known. I could have continued to volunteer in the U.S., but Peace Corps is also about creating friendships and peace between people and countries, between different cultures. You can’t do that by always staying in your house or mainly socializing with other volunteers and expats rather than with your community. People notice where your heart is. If you give it to the community then you will experience a much different sort of service.

Mount Carmel Waterfalls

In my second week I walked the 5 miles from Munich to Grenville, stopping along the way at the Royal Mt. Carmel Waterfalls. This was to see the place and the people and to be seen. I did the same thing in the other direction to a river under two miles downhill.  The return trip seemed longer. I wanted people to know that there was a new Peace Corps volunteer in the area. People were very happy to talk, to tell me about things and the place. I might not do the walk to Grenville again, but I’m glad I did it once.

Holy Cross Church

In my second week at Church I was asked to be lector for the first reading the following week – another opportunity to become a part of the community. I’m a practicing Catholic so this also helps integration in this community and it helped in Dominica and Ghana. Not every volunteer practices a religion and going to services is not required, but can be helpful. If I was not practicing I might go to the local services to see and be seen once, but I certainly wouldn’t pretend and go every week.

There are benefits with integrating into the community. First, I get to know the people and they get to know me. Friendly exchanges leading to friendships and better trust and working relationships in the future. Peace Corps is a separation from family and friends, less now with video calling, but still apart. And while I’m an introvert that doesn’t mean I always want to be alone. Integration makes my Peace Corps experience richer. It is also helpful in small ways.

On my first Friday here I met some of the other Peace Corps volunteers in Grenville. I had passed on a couple of beach invites because of my integration efforts and I was eager to see some friends from the training cohort who I last saw before I left for Dominica. Anyway, as we were socializing one of the volunteers said that she needed to get back because the buses to her place stop running around 8pm. This was about 7:30 and I found out my bus also stops running about that time on a Friday night. Surprise!

So, I bid farewell and found no buses on my first evening in Grenville after dark. One was just pulling away towards Munich as I turned a corner. I asked and was told to wait, a bus would come. Not knowing the place, I waited. And waited in the dark. In time a car pulled up and I recognized a man I had met in Munich. He said he noticed me waiting and gave me a free lift to Munich, before returning to Grenville. The people are friendly here, but that might not have happened had I not been friendly and spoken to him in the first place. Once in Munich I met some people, had a free beer as payback for one I had given, and was told by my landlady not to stay out so late because of the buses.

I’ve found that as a volunteer becomes more a part of the community there will be more experiences, such as a friend giving a lift without asking, that deeply enriches the Peace Corps experience. I remember one time in Ghana when I was taking pictures of a funeral and I later heard that some of the visitors complained to the villagers about what the white man was doing. They were immediately rebuked - “He’s our volunteer, part of our family and he can do what he wants.” I might not have heard the story, culturally, but my friend was so incensed by the insensitivity of the comment that he told me. 

It would be much harder for me to handle all the difficulties of Peace Corps service without some level of community integration and new friendships between people of different cultures. Peace Corps is not easy and not for the faint of heart. Take any advantage you can get (including relaxing on the beach).

“Site rat” was a term used in Africa to describe a volunteer that spends most of their time at their site. You can be well integrated and not be a site rat and a site rat and not well integrated. Each site and volunteer is a unique combination. I thought the term was more common, but doesn’t seem to be used in the Eastern Caribbean. I have heard the term Beach Corps as few times.

Easier for me to integrate

I have to work hard at integration. And as an introvert it is exhausting and well outside my normal comfort zone. Still, as an older male it is easier for me to integrate than some volunteers. In some cultures an older guy like me has more freedom of movement than younger, particularly younger female volunteers. Female volunteers who are outgoing trying better integrate might be misinterpreted, based on the American TV image abroad, and receive more unwanted attention (most already get too much of that). So while it is not easy for me, it is harder for others.

Each volunteer is unique as is each site. There is no one size fits all approach. Adjustments must be continuous. There will inevitably be cultural misalignments. Culturally appropriate integration in one place might be taboo or offensive in another. The Peace Corps volunteer at site needs to understand the culture, and needs support for staff and counterparts (trained locals in some things Peace Corps). The volunteer has to adjust at least 95% to the culture they are embedded in and can’t expect most people to understand Americans. In time that can be adjusted as close friendships are developed and the volunteer can be more relaxed. I’m not saying this is easy...

I am saying it is worth it. Promoting world peace and friendship doesn’t happen as much if the volunteer doesn’t integrate. It is a key part of the Peace Corps mission.

Note: There are downsides on putting yourself “all into” a community, “giving your heart to a community”. You can be betrayed by the community or a community member. “All in” can pull you a little from family and friends back home making that separation more difficult as you “go native”. And then there is the separation at end of service or during service. Being removed from a community for hurricane or other reasons and not allowed to return, leaving part of your heart in a place, can be very painful. 

Still you have to keep going in the next community. I love the very friendly people of Munich and I am giving them best I can – no other way for me to do Peace Corps. All in. But for now, during Christmas break – perhaps this introvert will relax a bit. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays...

Christmas weather in Grenada

Love always,

John