Vintage PC

June 30, 2013 

Dad, if you're reading this, you would be so very proud of your networking protege of a daughter. This weekend we celebrated Peace Corps' 50th Anniversary in Panamá, so to celebrate a bunch of RPCV's (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers) came back down to Panaland to take all of us broke Azuero volunteers out to lunch and drinks to give us a chance to chat and make connections to people who have returned from their lives in the Peace Corps to have successful careers. When we showed up, we didn't know exactly what to expect because we didn't know how many RPCV's would actually show up, if any but either way we were guaranteed a free meal, so we were buzzing with excitement. We got there only to find out there had been a miscommunication and the vintage volunteers were told to come at 1pm instead of 11 soooo we just hung about for a couple hours enjoying each other's company and catching up on some much needed volunteer gossip. One by one the RPCV's began to show up it seemed as if nearly all of them were from the same group from GROUP 15-17.... from the 1960's!!!! This was mind blowing to me. They were all cracking jokes with each other and goofing around as if no time had passed at all, it was a pretty magical thing to see, and it also confirmed that Peace Corps will provide you with some of the most lasting friendships you will ever make in your life. It was Awesome. For the first 45 minutes or so we mixed and mingled asking the vintage volunteers about their stories, what there service was like, what they've done since and how PC has changed their lives. Every single one of them is doing something impressive or did something impressive with their lives after Peace Corps. it was more than inspiring. Once that portion was done lunch was served and like a pack of ravenous animals the room went nearly silent as we shoved massive quantities of food into our mouths. For some reason even though we all eat exorbitant amounts of food and complain about the fact that most of us are gaining weight, any time there is free food available we eat like we've been starving for the last five months. 

After lunch we did a bunch of ice breaker activities to get to know one another better and then split into smaller groups to discuss what our ideal life plan would be after Peace Corps to see if there were any potential connections that could provide us with post pc assistance. For my first small group I chose the International Relations group and I am SO glad I did. The vintage PCV in our group had not only worked in the Foreign Service but had worked as a Professor at several universities and worked all over the world only to retire to do work in Senegal with USAID.... so basically exactly the kind of work I want to do. The man was more than impressive, speaking several languages and was so well connected I was a little intimidated by him. I mean for God's sake the man had arrived from Senegal that morning just to hang out with a bunch of crazy PCV's- who even does that‽‽ Most of them didn't have business cards but our Regional Leader promised to send out an e-mail with everyone's contact information. We did the networking thing for another hour or so and then we all meandered over to one of the local bar's for more networking and some adult beverages. This kind of just turned into an absurd event of PCV on RPCV drinking games and absolute lunacy. It was rad.