WEBVTT - How the Peace Corps Works 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.840 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:07.560 It's ready. Are you welcome to Stuff you should know 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:16.360 from House Stuff Works dot Com? Hey, and welcome to 0:00:16.400 --> 0:00:20.279 the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant. Yeah, 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:22.520 there we go. We were caught off guard by guest 0:00:22.520 --> 0:00:25.599 producer Casey. He gave us the Caseys the man the 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:28.440 quick punch. What's it called the quick punt? The haymaker. 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:31.800 The Haymaker's what we're calling it now. At least he 0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:35.000 was like, we're recording. Yeah, He's like, okay, we're rolling 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:38.720 be funny monkeys. It's rather than start over. I did 0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:42.680 my cheeks afterward. All right. It's unusual. It's an unusual 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:46.239 reversal of order, but we're gonna have to go with 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:49.440 it because we are low on tape. No one's gone 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:52.080 to Staples, so we just have to use this one. 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:54.480 We can't record over it again or else it'll snap. 0:00:54.600 --> 0:01:00.160 That's funny. That used to be an issue. Yeah on something. Uh. 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:03.320 Now there's an abundance of everything. We have all supplies 0:01:03.400 --> 0:01:07.440 out the yin Yang remember that ad for e trade. 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:10.760 He's got money coming out the wazoo. It was like 0:01:10.800 --> 0:01:13.759 this e er team who were like hustling this guy 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:17.200 in a gurney to the to the emergency room and 0:01:17.280 --> 0:01:18.920 they're like, what's wrong with them? And they're like, he's 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:20.920 got money coming out the wazoo and it was coming 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:26.640 out of his his bottom. That's good his bottom, Chuck, Yes, 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:29.479 I think we should say that. Um. This is a 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:36.360 special uh episode dedicated to the countless Peace Corps volunteers 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:38.440 who listened to Stuff you should Know and who have 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:41.080 written in over the years to say, hi, you guys 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:49.600 who were my best friends in you know, Benine, Turkmenistan. Um, yeah, wherever, Yeah, 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:53.480 and uh, we're finally doing that episode how Peace Corps works. 0:01:53.840 --> 0:01:55.640 We've had quite a few right in over the years 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:58.520 and they're all super nice folks and uh it seemed 0:01:58.560 --> 0:02:01.160 to really be enjoying their time wherever they are. Yeah, 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:07.800 they're there. Um, goodhearted hustlers is how I would describe them. Really. Yea, 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:11.440 as of right the second Yeah, all right, so um, 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:14.160 let me take you back a little bit, chuck. Right, 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:15.519 I don't think we need to go on the way 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:18.720 back machine. Not far, but it's not that far back. 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:25.919 But we're just gonna go to UM. October nine, Chile night, Uh, 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:30.800 two am. And in ann Arbor, Michigan, at the University 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:35.960 of Michigan, a young senator named John Fitzgerald Kennedy was 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:38.600 working the campaign trail as his father worked to buy 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:43.320 votes in other states. And he gave a little impromptu 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:46.720 UM speech again at two a m. And at the 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:49.000 University of Michigan. I'm prepared for marks in front of 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:54.360 ten thousand UM wolverines, and he said, Chuck, as follows, 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:57.520 how many of you who are going to be doctors 0:02:57.680 --> 0:03:01.679 are willing to spend your days in Ghana ERA? Technicians 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:04.600 or engineers? How many of you are willing to work 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:07.600 in the Foreign Service and spend your days and your 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:11.760 lives traveling around the world ERA. On your willingness to 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:14.440 do that, not merely to serve one or two years 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:17.639 in the service, but on your willingness to contribute parts 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:20.560 of your life to this country. I think it will 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:25.160 depend the answer whether a free society can compete. So 0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:27.960 I pressed their own button. I accidentally pressed the Catherine 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:32.400 Hepburn button. But that was what JFK said, Uh, And 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:37.560 that was the outline that was very good. Chuck, I'm kidny. Yeah, Um, 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:39.800 that was the outline, the initial outline. The first time 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:43.040 you ever spoke publicly about his idea for the Peace Corps, 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:46.320 Mayor Quimby, I wish I could say my favorite line, 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:51.320 shout out which one calm down everyone. I know you're 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:56.240 all frightened and blank. Oh yeah, it was close. I 0:03:56.240 --> 0:03:58.960 almost said it for you, um Sin, since fans will 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:01.000 recognize it and it's pretty will and we have plenty 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:04.440 of those crossover fans. Um. So that was the first 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:06.520 time he ever spoke publicly about what would become the 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:09.000 Peace Corps. Uh. And two weeks later he gave another 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:12.720 speech in San Francisco at the famous Cow Palace. Grateful 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:14.800 Dead played a pretty good show there in nineteen seventy. 0:04:15.600 --> 0:04:18.480 I think the Allman Brothers did too. Yeah. I'm sure 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:23.160 you were there drinking beers at age eighteen. Uh and uh. 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:26.240 After that second speech two weeks later in San Francisco, 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:29.240 he said, Hey, basically, let me know how you think 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:32.599 about this, and he got twenty five thousand letters in 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:36.240 response saying I would do that. So um. One of 0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:39.600 the first things he did when he um gained the 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:44.200 presidency was to sign an executive order saying, okay, now 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:46.880 there's officially a Peace Corps. It was on March first, 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:50.320 nineteen sixty one, that he wrote the executive order and 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:53.640 it was placed into the budget the nineteen sixty two budget, 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:57.480 and Congress passed the budget officially enacting the Peace Corps 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:02.279 by default. Aniversary. Yeah this year it is, isn't it. 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:04.200 I didn't even think about that. Yeah. They had some 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:06.960 you know, the graphics all over the website that didn't 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:11.960 sink in that I was looking at. Yeah. Uh. And 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:16.239 then shortly after that, well, a little while after that, Nixon, 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:20.440 who um JFK soundly beaten that that presidential debate, the 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:24.480 televised one. UM said well, I've always hated JFK. So 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:27.120 I'm gonna take his his little pet project and just 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:29.800 put it over here. And Jimmy Carter came in and 0:05:29.800 --> 0:05:33.040 went and hold on a minute, and he made it 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:38.520 its own independent federal agency with an appointment uh by 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:42.280 the president. And it's part of the foreign aid budget 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:45.880 usually about one percent, right, Yeah, this year it's and 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:48.479 last year I believe four hundred million dollars, which is 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:51.159 not chump change. Not only is it not chump change, 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:53.960 they asked for three hundred and seventy three million, and 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:57.279 they got four hundred millions. Yeah, I didn't know that 0:05:57.360 --> 0:06:01.159 federal agencies got more than they asked for in the budget. Well, Bush, 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:05.440 h W and Obama have both pushed for expansion of 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:07.280 the Peace Corps. I think Bush wanted to double the 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:09.919 number of volunteers. He wanted to double the number of 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:13.279 CIA agents in the field. We'll get to that in 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:16.599 a little bit. Why is Obama want to double it? 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:21.560 I would assume everyone has pure intentions here, goosh, Okay, 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:25.640 maybe not all right. Um, it's been a resounding success 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:28.919 over the last fifty years. Um, there have been a 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:34.800 hundred and ninety three countries, surf chuck, I believe. Um, 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:38.960 there have been more than two hundred thousand volunteers total, 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:44.440 eighteen directors. The guy who's directing now Aaron S. Williams. 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:47.479 He is the fourth director to have been a Peace 0:06:47.480 --> 0:06:50.120 Corps volunteer. Back in the day, I figured they all were. 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:52.800 I would have too. Um. One of the more famous 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:55.920 ones who wasn't it was Paul Coverdell. Remember the statue 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:59.200 just behind us. Yeah, it says Peace Corps somewhere on it. Yeah. 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:00.760 You know what I like about the Peace Corps site. 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:03.839 When you're trudging through it is when you see like 0:07:03.880 --> 0:07:06.960 an Aaron Williams or whoever. They have their service in 0:07:07.000 --> 0:07:11.360 parentheses next to their name, like Dominican Republic sixty seven 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:14.560 to seventy was where he was, right, pretty cool? Um. 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:18.840 Probably the most famous Peace Corps volunteers Chris Matthews from Hardball. 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:23.760 He really yeah, he did Swazzi Land to seventy. Well, 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:27.320 I thought you're gonna say, Evangeline Lily, I've lost fame. 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:31.240 Oh yeah, I guess she's But I know Chris Matthews, 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:33.480 I'm not familiar with the other lady. She may be 0:07:33.600 --> 0:07:36.320 the hottest. Which one was she was? She like the 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:40.560 main female lead. Okay, very pretty lady. Um. Although she 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:42.920 was Canadian, she must have gotten her citizenship because you 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:46.600 have to be American. Yeah, that's a good point. Huh. 0:07:46.960 --> 0:07:50.040 Something's fishy that we may have just uncovered in this podcast. 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:51.840 Or maybe she just flashed her smile and they're like, 0:07:52.120 --> 0:07:58.000 who don't care where you're from? So Um, the purpose 0:07:58.080 --> 0:08:00.360 of this, as you said, you you assume every buddy's 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:02.240 intensives are good, and I think that that's a nice 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:06.360 thing to assume. Um. The purpose of establishing the Peace 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:09.080 Corps threefold. It's the type of foreign aid, right, and 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:11.760 we have huge enormous foreign aid packages in the in 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:14.520 the um in the way of like surplus food and 0:08:14.560 --> 0:08:18.760 just straight up money supplies, equipment, weapons, whatever, building things. 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:23.240 But Peace Corps, Uh, it's unique in that it's a 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:26.040 supply of foreign aid in the form of no how 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:30.440 and hands on, get it done. It's like the Toyota 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:35.080 tundra of foreign eight. Give him manifest Josh, and you'll 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:37.200 feed him for a day. And what they say, Yeah, 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:39.160 it's based on this right. Teach him to fish, he'll 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:41.880 eat for a lifetime. Yes, if he, if he, if 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:46.160 he gets good at fishing, unless he sticks, should we should? 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:48.640 We say what Their three part official mission statement is 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:52.320 help the people of interested countries and meeting their need 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:55.920 for trained men and women, helping promote a better understanding 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:58.480 of Americans on the part of the people served, and 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:01.240 to help promote a better understanding of other people's on 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:04.520 the part of the Americans. That's a bureaucratic mission statement 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:07.200 if I've ever heard it is. And I just read 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:09.600 something on NPR from a couple of years ago called 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:12.679 the Peace Corps Blues and the each country has their 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:15.840 own director and the former director and Cameroon said that 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:18.480 he thinks one of the things we're failing on now 0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:22.280 is that a lot of people in these countries don't 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:26.120 realize that it's actually a U. S. Government program. Like 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:28.840 they know they're volunteers, but I think they think it's 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:32.600 some great nonprofit or like a mission group. Yeah, so 0:09:32.679 --> 0:09:34.440 that kind of fails at one aspect of the mission 0:09:34.440 --> 0:09:36.960 statement in his eyes that these countries. One of the 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:39.440 big deals is for these countries to know, hey, this 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:41.439 is the U. S. Government coming over here and helping 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:44.200 us out. It's your uncle Sam. It's exactly who you 0:09:44.240 --> 0:09:47.520 now owe a favorite to. He has some other problems, 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:49.480 but out with the program now, but I'll go over 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:52.920 those later. So, um, right now, there you have programs 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:56.120 in seventies six countries, but overall, I think a hundred 0:09:56.160 --> 0:09:58.640 and ninety three countries have had programs at one time 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:01.880 or another, including country Choose that don't exist. The first 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:04.800 two to join the program. The interesting countries, as you 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:08.680 mentioned in the mission statement were um, let me see 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:14.120 if I got this right, uh, Tanganyika. Tanganyika, which later 0:10:14.200 --> 0:10:16.679 got together as in Zabar to form what we now 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:22.240 recognize as Tanzania. You knew that? Oh yeah? And Ghana 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:25.400 was the other two who JFK mentioned in his speech 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:29.960 in University of Michigan. So, um, it's had a at 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:34.280 the very least um of widespread impact. We'll talk about 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:37.120 measuring the impact later, but um, let's get down a 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:39.439 new gritty right. I think just what we've said already 0:10:40.280 --> 0:10:42.120 has caused some people will be like, where do I 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:45.960 sign up? Josh and Chucker are endorsing this, so let's 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:48.040 just skip to the end. Well, the first thing you 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:49.640 should know if you want to sign up is that 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:52.240 you're gonna be committing to twenty seven months of service 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:56.360 of volunteerism or a tour. A tour, you're gonna be 0:10:57.280 --> 0:11:00.520 living for free. They're gonna provide your living accommodation while 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:03.840 you're there and give you a small stipend to spend money, 0:11:04.080 --> 0:11:06.480 which evidently though, is more money than most of the 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:08.640 people you'll be helping. Hap That's like that old thing 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:10.719 where if you have a hundred dollars, you can live 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:14.160 for like ten years in Peru or something like that exactly, 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:16.400 and when you come back home they're gonna give you 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:20.760 six thousand dollars two get you back going. You know 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:22.800 that they don't want to leave you broke because you 0:11:22.840 --> 0:11:24.679 haven't had any real work for two and a half 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:27.240 or twenty seven months. So to give you six grand 0:11:27.240 --> 0:11:29.000 to get you going again, put that down payment on 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:34.040 the apartment, yeah, to get you back in and right exactly. 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:36.480 And by the old thing, of course, I mean the 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:42.600 strength of the dollar. Um. So when you are applying Chuckers, 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:46.240 you you start out online. Apparently you can do it 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:49.760 in writing if you like, if you're like an Amish 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:52.640 kid who wants to write, who wants to sign up 0:11:52.720 --> 0:11:55.920 for traditionalist right, Um, But for the most part, you 0:11:56.000 --> 0:11:58.120 do this application online. And I looked at it and 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:02.559 it is extensive. Sure you're all of your education background, 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:05.679 any criminal history, how much you like to drink? Um? 0:12:06.440 --> 0:12:09.319 Oh yeah, any military service because one of the first 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:10.959 things they try to root out is whether or not 0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:13.520 you have any intelligence background. And if you did, sorry, 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:16.080 I wonder when you build that out for the drinking, 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:19.120 if you just put like a lot well yeah, like, 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:22.160 I don't know. There's even a section where they say, like, well, 0:12:22.280 --> 0:12:24.800 let us just define what we mean by problem drinking. 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:26.600 How many drinks per week is one of those, right? 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:29.960 How many sexual partners do you have a night? Any 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:33.360 things that you lie to your doctor about right, Um 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:38.240 there's also any any financial obligations you might have e g. 0:12:38.440 --> 0:12:44.319 Student loans or um mortgages, car payments. Basically, they're like, 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:48.480 you can't just use us to escape your creditors. So 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:50.480 they want to They want to know not not only 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:52.720 like what you have, but how you're going to arrange 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:55.640 to pay them, and any kind of documentation you need references. 0:12:56.120 --> 0:12:58.480 I mean, this is like the first application and it's 0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:01.480 very extensive. We want to weed out as many people 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:05.440 as possible right off the bat, right, and if your 0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:09.080 application is selected, right, they were lucky. First of all. 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:11.640 I think yeah, I would imagine it's a fairly low 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:14.800 percentage because there's just so many um red flags that 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:18.640 they're looking for. So many alcoholics, right, so many problem drinkers. 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:21.319 That's what they call it. Um that that you know 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:23.439 if you if you raise one, they're going to be like, no, 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:26.520 there's ten other people who are applying who don't have 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:28.760 that red flag. So if you make it through the 0:13:28.800 --> 0:13:31.920 initial application process, they're going to ask you to come 0:13:31.960 --> 0:13:37.720 in for an interview and they weed out more people here. Um. Basically, 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:40.760 what they're trying to figure out mainly is if you 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:44.720 are likely to complete your term of service. What they 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:48.320 don't like is people that have to leave. I'm sure 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:51.079 that's highly discouraged to leave the Peace Corps during your tour. 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:52.880 So they want to know if you have like a 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:56.439 serious if you're in a serious relationship. They want to 0:13:56.480 --> 0:13:59.559 know stories about your childhood, where you've motivated others to 0:13:59.720 --> 0:14:04.160 comp fleet tasks. Um, they want to know, um, how 0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:07.240 you how? Yeah, any medical conditions. I think that's in 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:10.000 the initial application. Yeah, but it's sort of like the 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:12.160 army and that you can be denied because of medical 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:15.800 conditions obviously, right. Um. The one of the one of 0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:19.080 the interview questions I saw was, uh, tell us about 0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:22.120 a rule that you have trouble following. And the correct 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:24.960 answer for that is, uh, the rule I have trouble 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:27.880 following is the rule that asks me to stop when 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:33.320 I've done just enough the bare minimum. That's the right answer. Yeah. Um, 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:35.600 would you modify your appearance to fit in with the 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:39.480 local culture, like would you shave your mohawk or take 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:42.480 out your piercings? Or whatever. How will you stave off 0:14:42.560 --> 0:14:45.120 boardom The correct answer to that is an iPod full 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:47.760 of stuff you should Yeah, that's what it sounds like. 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:50.560 So there you go. There's your all your crib notes 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:53.520 for the interview. Yeah, and if you pass the interview, 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:56.840 it gets really exciting from that point because if you 0:14:56.960 --> 0:15:00.720 get an official invitation, it's pretty neat. You get ten 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:05.400 days to decide, and it's fairly vague. Send some guy there, 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:08.800 he's like, come on, come on, because basically they want 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:10.600 to know if you're in for the Peace Corps, not 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:15.280 if you're in to go to Indonesia and teach English 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:20.520 or surf, because exactly there might be other reasons. Uh. 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:22.280 So what they do is to give you ten days 0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:24.320 to decide, and they leave it fairly vague. They give 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:28.960 you a probably like a probably not even a country, 0:15:29.040 --> 0:15:32.280 probably like a continent like Asia, Yeah, where we're gonna 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:34.960 send you, and they do detail a little bit about 0:15:35.040 --> 0:15:37.880 what the job you'll have, but they basically want to 0:15:37.920 --> 0:15:39.640 know are you in for the Peace Corps no matter 0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:42.560 where we send you, And if you say yeah, then 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:45.200 you're gonna get your departure date and then that's when 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:48.520 you're gonna get some more specific information. He's like, come on, 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:50.400 high fives. He's like, all right, I'll be back in 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:52.240 like a couple of weeks with their other letter, like 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:55.040 you're going to Turkey, and then he goes, uh, sorry, 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:58.880 no surfing in Turkey, although there probably is, you think 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:03.600 on the Boss verse surfing Turkey. Yeah, alright, surf Turkey. Man. 0:16:04.320 --> 0:16:07.800 You get a little orientation appointment and then you get 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:11.720 sent off to that country for a three month training period. Yeah, 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:15.560 if you're eighteen, if you're a US resident, no upper 0:16:15.600 --> 0:16:19.640 age limit, you can be no depending only really old 0:16:19.760 --> 0:16:21.320 and still go to the Peace Corps. I guess if 0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:23.480 you pass everything no dependence, I just noticed that. I 0:16:23.520 --> 0:16:26.000 didn't realize. I guess they're like, yeah, we want you 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:30.280 to not just abandon your family. That's a nice move. Yeah, 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:32.480 and you have to have a high school diploma, yes, Josh, 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:34.960 and you do need that diploma. And you also can 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:38.040 be married. But it's a pretty small percentage. Think about 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:41.720 three percent or married couples or is it seven percent? Yes? 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:47.320 Seven percent married single. I think it waffles. So um, yeah, 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:49.720 one percent is undecided, and that they will send you 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:52.840 with your married partner. They can there are some assignments 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:54.920 where they'll send both of you to the same place 0:16:55.000 --> 0:16:57.680 to work together, but apparently those are kind of few 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:00.520 and far between. You can't put in for your girlfriend boyfriend, No, 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:02.240 you can't at all, and you both have to be 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:06.240 accepted fully as Peace Corps volunteers who could be sent 0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:08.760 to different corners of the earth. I think they'd like 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:11.400 to help people out there. I'm sure they do. UM, 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:15.440 but you can't have any kids there, and you can't 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:19.520 take your pets, which is not a surprise, a little 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:21.920 field mouse, not a surprise at all. You can't take 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:24.720 your pets. So if you have pets, like you gotta 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:26.639 look at your life. You know, if you are a 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:29.840 homeowner with pets, then you probably shouldn't volunteer for the 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:33.840 Peace Corps. You can volunteer here at home join them. 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:39.280 I don't know a A. But if you are single 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:41.919 and you're living in Brooklyn, you don't have any cats, 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:45.720 and you got time to kill and a in a 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:48.720 heart that wants to serve the world, and you know 0:17:48.880 --> 0:17:54.520 about UM. I don't know repairing motorbikes in Indonesia or 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:56.840 you speak of foreign language. These are all things like 0:17:56.960 --> 0:17:58.879 these hobbies, they really get into that. And it's not 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:00.920 like when you put down your hobbies for a college 0:18:01.040 --> 0:18:03.560 education or a college application and no one really cares 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:05.520 about that. I hate to break it to you, but 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:08.320 do they really do? In the Peace Corps, if you 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:13.000 have skills as a as a gardener, they want to 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:15.560 know about that, or if you were like a landscape 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:18.760 or something like that. Yeah, and what what they're gonna say, 0:18:18.800 --> 0:18:21.800 here are all of our programs. Choose. Then you're gonna choose, 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:23.480 and then they're gonna be like, Okay, no, this is 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:25.560 where we really need you. And they will send you 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:29.240 where they need you ultimately based on your skills, your background, 0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:31.760 your hobbies. You could always get sent where you might 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:34.080 like to go. And if you have know that language, 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:35.920 that's a big leg up in that direction, I think. 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:38.480 But I think you should be prepared to know that 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:41.920 they they may send you wherever. Yeah, that's part of it. 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:45.119 But you're doing this for the love of helping others, 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:48.000 and really it doesn't matter because there's only one race, 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:51.640 the human race. I just think that's really exciting. Yeah, 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:53.280 I did not know where you're going to go, and 0:18:53.359 --> 0:18:55.600 to be I wish I would, I would join, I 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:57.240 would go back and do it all over again. I 0:18:57.480 --> 0:18:58.960 would do it different. I would join the piece for 0:18:59.080 --> 0:19:00.240 for a couple of years. You can of what I 0:19:00.240 --> 0:19:02.200 always think of when I think of the Peace Corps. 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:07.120 I think of um, Julie Haggarty and the League guy 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:09.800 from Airplane when they went and told him, yeah, she 0:19:09.920 --> 0:19:14.000 has a party and he's teaching basketball and Harlem Globe 0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:16.960 Chottera dancing. That was that was different. I was thinking 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:19.560 the discos scene when he was yeah, that's different. Yeah, 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:21.520 but yeah, that's what I think of when I think 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:24.440 of Peace Corps. I think of the Tom Hanks movie Volunteers. 0:19:24.640 --> 0:19:26.120 I never saw that one, but that's where he met 0:19:26.160 --> 0:19:29.120 his wife Frida Wilson. Oh yeah, I guess so, huh. Yeah. 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:32.080 I never saw that because I always hated the Tennessee Volunteers, 0:19:32.720 --> 0:19:34.440 so I refused to see that movie in case it 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:38.360 helped them anyway. Yeah, and I still do right, Oh 0:19:38.480 --> 0:19:41.760 Josh packing, They only allow you to take two bags 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:44.959 for twenty seven months, which doesn't sound like a lot. Well, 0:19:45.000 --> 0:19:47.159 not only that, there's a weight limit, yeah, eighty pounds 0:19:47.280 --> 0:19:49.960 right a k A thirty six point to eight seven 0:19:50.040 --> 0:19:55.600 kilograms for our non imperial measurement friends. So what they 0:19:55.640 --> 0:20:00.600 suggest is take things that you cannot get elsewhere, and 0:20:00.680 --> 0:20:02.520 then when you get there you can buy some of 0:20:02.600 --> 0:20:05.800 the other things, like don't don't bother packing crock pot 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:08.960 because you can get a crock pot in Benin. Yeah, 0:20:09.800 --> 0:20:12.360 or can you Well, there's going to be some other 0:20:12.920 --> 0:20:16.720 cookware that you don't wear. Yeah, it's just stupid that's 0:20:16.760 --> 0:20:18.800 going to take up everything. But they said bring you know, 0:20:19.119 --> 0:20:23.080 bring some good old fashioned American undy's and rain gear 0:20:23.200 --> 0:20:25.280 and hiking boots and stuff like that you probably can't 0:20:25.280 --> 0:20:27.080 get in these other countries. Yeah, so you want to 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:30.480 you want to blow your weight on um, the the 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:32.800 the essentials that you're not gonna be able to find 0:20:32.800 --> 0:20:36.200 anywhere else. Maybe that iPod. They said, you can bring 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:39.520 a laptop. But one thing you're not guaranteed is electricity. Yeah, 0:20:39.680 --> 0:20:42.639 there's a there's a pretty common misconception that it's like 0:20:42.760 --> 0:20:46.800 all thatched huts and no municipal water supply, no electricity, 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:49.160 And that's not true at all. The no thatched hut 0:20:49.240 --> 0:20:51.600 thing is not true at all. The no municipal water 0:20:51.680 --> 0:20:54.639 supply and no electricity. Think, that's extremely true in a 0:20:54.720 --> 0:20:56.800 lot of cases. Well so is the thatched hut here 0:20:56.840 --> 0:20:59.399 and there. Okay, but you can volunteer to go to 0:20:59.440 --> 0:21:02.119 those places. You can you can also be sent to 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:03.960 those places. But you can also say I want to 0:21:04.000 --> 0:21:05.639 go to a place that has no running water and 0:21:05.760 --> 0:21:09.920 no electricity and I want to help there. Um. But 0:21:10.080 --> 0:21:12.600 there are a lot of assignments where even if you 0:21:12.680 --> 0:21:15.480 say no, I don't want that, they'll be like, yeah, 0:21:16.000 --> 0:21:18.600 I think they call those people the hard core yes 0:21:18.880 --> 0:21:21.800 of the Peace Corps, Like you know what I signed 0:21:21.880 --> 0:21:23.679 up for this, send me to the edge of the cliff. 0:21:25.160 --> 0:21:31.159 Here's my iPod. Even that's crazy. Yeah, A lot of 0:21:31.400 --> 0:21:33.560 a lot of these people are teach in these in 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:36.120 like local schools though that you know, they have power 0:21:36.160 --> 0:21:38.720 and water and they're they're more. It's not as third 0:21:38.800 --> 0:21:40.879 world as you might think it is in many cases. 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:44.200