A group of Peace Corps volunteers in Armenia. Photo: Tommy and Georgie

If you’re ready to sign up, pack your bags, and take off on a 27-month assignment, here are five things you should know before you begin the labor-intensive and heart-breaking process of joining the Peace Corps.

1. Be honest with yourself.

Are you really cut out for living in an underdeveloped country on your own for more than two years? Can you handle being surrounded by poverty for an extensive amount of time? Is using a pit toilet (or less) and taking a bucket bath something you can stand?

Have you taken a close look at your skills and abilities? Consider what your strengths and interests are. Just as you wouldn’t be a teacher if you didn’t care for kids in the United States, you shouldn’t accept any position just so you can live and work overseas.

It may take longer to receive an assignment if you have specifications on what you can and can not tolerate or do, but you’ll find a more gratifying experience abroad if you take the time to evaluate yourself upfront.

2. Prepare yourself to adjust to local culture.

Prepare for meetings that begin with prayers, communal food, and afternoons that drift by when there’s work to be done. The world works on a different plane than the United States, so you’ll need to ease your way into a new mindset. Bow your head, wash your hands, and take off your watch.

There’s a reason why Peace Corps service lasts two years. You will spend the first year settling in, and a whole year working on a project. Don’t be surprised if you leave feeling like you’ve achieved nothing. It’s during those long afternoons and your communal meal chats that cultural exchange happens, and that alone meets Peace Corps’ second and third goals of promoting understanding.

3. Understand that poverty is real.

When you visit larger cities in your country of service, you will encounter street kids and poverty. But poverty isn’t limited to the visible corners of the world’s largest cities. The sad truth is that your friends, neighbors, and co-workers will also be hungry and poor. They won’t have money to pay for their kids to go to school or take their babies to the doctor. When drought strikes, their crops will dry up, and they will go hungry.

You, on the other hand, will still receive a stipend and will be able to eat. Try explaining that to your community when you’ve already told them you live at their means and are equal to them as a productive member of their society. You will be asked for money to cover the cost of food, medical expenses, travel, school fees, and more.

Consider your stance on if and what you want to give, even to your neighbors and closest friends. Your actions will follow you throughout the rest of your service.

4. Remember: You are an American.

It may sound strange, but you will try hard to fit in with your community and trying to shed your American skin can be difficult. Despite every effort you make to fit in to the local culture, you are still an American.

Learning the language will go a long way to break down barriers. Dress appropriately and abide by traditional standards and you’ll begin to make leeway. And while you may convince your neighbors that you are just like them, most people you encounter in your host country will take you for another American tourist.

Use these opportunities to be yourself and educate people about what it is like to live in the United States. Tell them about your interests, dreams and fears. Break down the “typical American stereotype” and put a friendly face on what most people only see in movies and read in the news.

In your attempt to fit in culturally, you may also struggle with your personal ideals and values. You might feel like you can’t say “no” because it’s not the culturally appropriate thing to do, but if you’ve been singled out and harassed because you clearly aren’t a local, then don’t act like one. Stand up for yourself and move on. Letting people take advantage of you because you are an American while you try desperately to fit in culturally will wear you down and make you feel used long before your service is over.

5. Realize that you will change.

The toughest job you’ll ever love does not end when you complete your service. One of the hardest parts begins when you step back onto American soil. People will ask you about your service, but two years are not easily summarized in two sentences, and people don’t have the time to hear more than two sentences.

You will also find that not much changed in your absence. People will still throw away food they don’t finish. They will waste water, be consumed with stuff, and care too much about Hollywood. People will expect you to get an apartment, get a job, and get on with your life, but it’s not that easy.

Many Peace Corps volunteers make extreme career choices based on their service, not on the college degree they got before they left. This often means that they’ll return to school or take jobs in low-paying service and non-profit sectors. To former volunteers, this makes sense, but family and friends may scratch their heads in confusion.

Readjustment will take time. Stay in touch with your fellow Peace Corps volunteers and join your local Peace Corps alumni group. The hyperactive United States can be very overwhelming for a person who just spent 27 months living by the sun.

Community Connection:

Not prepared to make the commitment to the Peace Corps? A short-term volunteer placement also requires planning. Read “Five Expectations to Avoid Before Volunteering Abroad” to prepare yourself.

For tips about coping with reverse culture shock, check out “How to Understand (And Beat) Your Homecoming Hangover” or “6 Simple Ways to Beat the Post-Travel Blues.”

And to really get inspired, real Audrey Scott’s interview with Muriel Johnston, in “Seniors in the Peace Corps.”

Photo: Phillie Casablanca

Throughout its history, South America has been the “X” on the map of the metal mining industry. Multi-national corporations have extracted copper in Chile, iron in Brazil, gold in Ecuador, and other precious metals across the continent, causing intense controversy about environmental and human impacts of the practice.

In recent years, though, mining has been nationalized by various Latin American countries whose political and business leaders recognize that the lucrative practice could help them achieve greater economic autonomy. Decisions to nationalize mining are hardly conflict-free, however. It’s as much the practice of mining as who’s doing it that has caused communities to mobilize in support of anti-mining initiatives, such as El Salvador’s recent nation-wide ban on gold mining.

According to this recent article from the Americas Society, Bolivia is the latest country to be confronting the conflict between the economic lure of and the potential political mire that mining represents. The Americas Society indicated that approximately 5.4 million tons of lithium are buried under Bolivia’s salt desert, representing almost half of the world’s entire lithium reserves.

Lithium is an important ingredient in batteries, and is considered a more attractive metal for battery manufacturing than zinc due to its higher voltage.

Bolivian president Evo Morales has been praised for warding off salivating foreign investors from mining his country’s lithium. He’s also been praised for his long-term plans for the lithium: turning the metal into a usable resource for electric car batteries.

But his plans to nationalize lithium extraction have failed to gain widespread support.

As this BBC report indicates, the salt desert is a pristine landscape; mining would likely have profoundly negative environmental effects on “one of the world’s most unspoiled” places. Lithium mining on the salt flats would also be likely to detract from tourism, a significant part of Bolivia’s economy.

So how does Bolivia negotiate two seemingly competing needs: the need to become economically autonomous, on the one hand, and the need to preserve a pristine place on the other? Share your ideas in the comments below.

Community Connection:

Matador Nights’ editor Tom Gates went to Chile to learn more about the mining industry there. Read about what he learned–and didn’t learn–in “The Battle for Pascua Lama.”

Bolivia’s salt flats topped our list of the world’s most alien landscapes. Check out the photo essay here.

Photo: Seamus Murray

1. Using Urban Space Smartly.

As a city-dweller, I’m always interested in stories about how urban designers, policy makers, politicians, and activists collaborate to think of innovative ways to optimize space, so it’s no surprise that this short piece from The Stimulist about San Francisco turning curbs and other public space into mini farming plots grabbed my attention.

2. Developing Alternative–Real Alternative–Fuel.

In the US, we say we’re committed to developing alternative fuel, but as oil prices soar then drop, soar then drop, our interest in alternative fuel fluctuates accordingly. There are lots of reasons why–not the least being major infrastructural overhauls that would be necessary if we implemented a massive alternative fuel system–but that shouldn’t keep us from continuing research and innovation in this important area.

Over at The Atlantic, correspondent Lisa Margonelli muses about the true economics of conventional fuel (not to mention the environmental economics), and then references a couple articles about the urine-powered fuel cell being developed by researchers at Ohio University. For the quick and dirty lowdown on pee power, check out this article, which explains how a single cow can produce enough pee to supply hot water for 19 houses.

3. Telling “Convenient Truths”: Urban Transportation Reform is Easier Than We Think

I first read about Curitiba, Brazil and its former mayor, the visionary Jaime Lerner, a few years back, so I was excited to receive a screener copy of the documentary, “A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curitiba, Brazil,” by mother-son team Maria Terezinha Vaz and Giovanni Vaz del Bello.

The filmmakers interviewed Lerner and other Curitiba urban designers and planners, all of whom affirmed that urban redesign is a whole lot easier than most politicians and decision makers claim it is. It’s an inspiring model for the most sustainable design for cities, and though it would be naive to think that Curitiba’s solutions are one-size-fits-all blueprints for the rest of the world, there are lots of lessons to be learned from this Brazilian city:

If you’re interested in seeing the full documentary, purchase information is available here.

4. Rachel Maddow Proves Lots of People Want to Make a Difference… They Just Don’t Always Know How.

Last week, popular political TV talk show host Rachel Maddow did a segment on the Iraqi national baseball team (yup, there is one) and its struggle to get basic gear and uniforms. Within 48 hours, the segment had generated enough attention to result in donations that more than outfitted the team and got them fully geared up. The take-away lesson? Lots of people are ready to pitch in to help others– they just need someone to bring an issue to their attention and provide them with the means to make a meaningful contribution.

5. Matador’s Own Misty Tosh Gets Ready to Expand 4th World Love.

I’m always inspired by Matador members and someone who consistently makes me stand back in amazement is Misty Tosh, founder of the NGO, 4th World Love. If you’ve missed the work she’s doing in Indonesia, check out this article. And then get fired up about her next project: She’s taking 4WL on the road–to Mexico’s Baja California–and she wants you to come along with her! Read up on all the details here.

Photo: thegordons

A few weeks back, our colleagues at Wend Magazine published an article about the “environmental ethos” of craft brew, and as small brewery enthusiasts and environmentalists ourselves, the Matador Team was naturally interested in writer Kyle Cassidy’s observations.

Here’s what Cassidy had to say about craft beer and its low environmental impact:

1. Craft brewers buy local.

“They support their communities by buying fresh local ingredients.” For this reason, the carbon footprint of the ingredients that go into making that unique local brew is much smaller than would be the case for a big brewer who trucks in base ingredients across a larger distance.

2. Craft brewers sell local.

Just as they source their ingredients locally, many craft brewers only sell locally, too. While the decision to sell locally isn’t always or strictly an environmental decision–it’s often one based entirely in start-up/small business economics–it has positive environmental benefits, nonetheless.

Like the local sourcing of ingredients, selling locally means that the factory-to-point of sale path is a short one, requiring fewer transportation resources. Also, brewers can more easily reclaim their bottles, reusing them again and again.

3. Craft brewers connect with their communities.

Because of their emphasis on all things local, craft brewers have a greater tendency than big beer companies to connect with people and issues in their communities.

Craft breweries can support environmental and community building initiatives in collaboration with other organizations and businesses in the area, and have a much better idea about the impact of their operations because their management team doesn’t live hundreds or thousands of miles away.

4. Craft brewers manage their waste effectively.

Craft brewers, according to Cassidy, often enter into agreements with farmers in their communities to dispose of the grain waste in a manner that’s environmentally friendly.

In other locations where such collaborations aren’t feasible, craft brewers are experimenting with using spent grains as a fuel source to power their own operations.

What other reasons can you think of that make craft breweries environmentally sustainable? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Community Connection:

Want to find America’s best beer? Check out Beer Quest 2008: The Search for America’s Best Microbrew.

Still thirsty? We’ve found the 20 Best Beer Towns in America.

Hunting for craft brew abroad? Check out our guide: How to Say “One More Beer Please” in 50 Different Languages.

1. “The idea [behind this series] was to capture the scale of [our] mass consumption. It was the first time I stood in front of piles of the detritus of our mass consumption.” “Cell phones #2, Atlanta, 2005″

2. “Initially, I thought I was seeing the scale [but] in the end, I realized this was the tiny tip of the iceberg.” “Cell phone chargers, Atlanta, 2004″

3. “It was interesting to see the limitations of this series and the photos. [Mass consumption is an] invisible phenomenon– there’s no one place I can go to capture it all.” “e-Bank, Tacoma, 2004″

4. “There’s a hierarchy of activism…. What my work is about to feel these issues myself…. A large part of change is acknowledging feelings we have and connecting with these issues.” “Crushed cars #2, Tacoma, 2004″

5. “[All this waste] is something that’s sort of kept hidden.” “Oil Filters, Seattle, 2003″

6. “I almost felt like a spy. I felt like this was something people needed to see.” “Spent bullet casings, 2005″

7. “80% [of the photos in this series] were ’straight’ photos. As I ran up against these limitations of photography…I started arranging the subject.” “Circuit boards #2, New Orleans, 2005″

8. “I also felt like I aged about five years during this series. Virtually all the photos…required that I trespass. I’d go ask [for permission to photograph these piles of waste] but I’d get all these vague excuses: Homeland Security, insurance regulations…. I think it was really a weird fear about photography and exposure [even though] I offered veto [power], showed them my previous work, and explained I didn’t name individuals or companies. This was about [documenting] a nationwide, cultural phenomenon.” Circuit boards, Atlanta, 2004″

Having run into the “limitations of photography,” Jordan initiated a new series, “Running the Numbers,” a set of digitally constructed photographs that represent the actual quantities of consumed items. “I’m almost done with this series,” he says at the end of our interview. “I’m hoping to return to a photographic project. I’d like to be a photographer again.”

To learn more about Jordan and his work, please visit his website.

All photos courtesy of Chris Jordan.

Community Connection:

If you’d like to learn more about e-waste, please read this article from our archives, “The Problem with E-Waste.”

What about fun for everyone? Photo: havenholidays

“A ‘Whites-Only’ Pool in 2009?” That was the subject line of an e-mail that landed in my inbox a few days ago.

According to this story from NBC’s Philadelphia affiliate, black kids from the Creative Steps Day Camp visited a private pool in Philadelphia (having paid over $1,900 for the “privilege”) and were asked by pool attendants to leave because “minorities [were not allowed] in the club.”

Guess the pool administrators forgot to ask the camp leaders the race of the would-be swimmers.

In a follow up story, Valley Swim Club President John Duesler didn’t mention the pool attendants’ remarks, saying only that a comment about the kids “changing the complexion” of the club was “a terrible choice of words” that was “blown out of proportion.”

He added that the real reason the kids were asked to leave was because there were concerns about safety and the total capacity of the pool, though why such problems weren’t anticipated before both parties signed on the dotted line remained unclear.

The club has since invited campers to return, but in the interim, at least one lawsuit was filed and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission opened an investigation, scheduling a visit to the club for the end of this month.

Community Connection:

What’s the most offensive form of discrimination you’ve experienced or witnessed at home or during your travels? What did you do about it? Share your experiences in the comments below.

Photo: MastaBaba

This coming Saturday, Nelson Mandela will celebrate his 91st birthday.

On the same day, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the organization 46664 are inviting people everywhere to honor Mandela’s legacy of social struggle and change by participating in Mandela Day, a global call to service and celebration.

The sponsors of Mandela Day ask how you can spend 67 minutes (representative of the number of years Mandela has been engaged in social justice work) giving back to your community. Their website provides ideas about volunteer opportunities, or invites you to share your own by making your commitment to volunteer public.

New York City is the hub of this year’s celebrations, and if you’re in town, you can stop by Grand Central to take in a powerful art installation or attend a massive concert at Radio City that will feature Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Aretha Franklin, Wyclef Jean, Josh Groban, Angelique Kidjo, and the Soweto Gospel Choir, among many other artists.

Community Connection:

To read about Mandela’s 90th birthday celebration, check out this article from our archives. And to learn more about Mandela’s work–and nine other inspiring people–check out “10 Revolutionary Acts of Courage by Ordinary People.”

Photo: lemonjenny

Last year, the New York Philharmonic made a historic visit to North Korea.

Under the baton of conductor Lorin Maazel, the Philharmonic was received with tears by concert-goers and praise by critics, who called Maazel’s direction and the Philharmonic’s performance “sophisticated and sensitive.”

According to the New York Times’ account of the Philharmonic’s 2008 visit to North Korea:

“It was the first time an American cultural organization had appeared here, and the largest contingent of United States citizens to appear since the Korean War. The trip [was] suffused with political importance since North Korea’s invitation came to light last year. It was seen by some as an opening for warmer relations with the United States, which North Korea has long reviled.”

A broadcast on National Public Radio reported that “a senior U.S. diplomat reportedly told Maazel that the concert ‘could well have done more for U.S.-North Korean relations than 30 years of diplomatic efforts.’”

Now, the Philharmonic may be taking its show on the road again, this time to Cuba.

The Times reported on Thursday that Cuba has invited the Philharmonic to perform in the country that has a proud and diverse musical tradition. Groups such as the all-female Camerata Romeu draw sell-out crowds, despite tough economic conditions on the island:

The Philharmonic, whose administrators traveled to Cuba on Friday to investigate the possibility by visiting venues and speaking with Cuban officials, has already received a license to travel to Cuba and the Philharmonic’s president stated that Vice-President Biden’s office has verbalized support for the trip, calling it an important step in diplomacy with Cuba.

The concert is tentatively scheduled for the end of October.

While no one expects that the Philharmonic’s appearance in Cuba will result in the Obama administration’s overturning of the current US policies toward Cuba, the trip and performance would certainly go a long way toward re-establishing contact between Cubans and Americans outside the direct sphere of politics.

Community Connection:

Diplomacy doesn’t occur just among diplomats. Read more about a citizen diplomacy movement between the US and Iran in this article by Ryan Van Lenning.

Matisyahu rocks the mic. Photo: Daniel Zana

1. Matisyahu’s Music:

“Up next, Hasidic reggae pioneer….”

It sounded like the beginning of a bad joke rather than the intro to an upcoming segment of the WNYC radio show, “Soundcheck,” but when Matisyahu started rocking the mic with studio performances of “One Day” and “So Hi So Low,” I was wondering how I hadn’t heard of him before.

Check out these spiritually and socially aware lyrics:

and then go to Matisyahu’s YouTube channel and try to find a single negative comment.

2. Will Allen, Businessman & Urban Farmer Extraordinnaire:

Will Allen teaching urban farming. Photo: mjmonty

I first learned about Will Allen and the work he’s doing in Milwaukee when he was awarded a 2008 MacArthur (”Genius Grant”) Fellowship, and I was happy to see him profiled in this feature-length article in last weekend’s New York Times Magazine.

Allen seems to have the perfect balance of business smarts and hands-in-the-dirt energy that urban agriculture initiatives need if they’re going to have widespread success.

3. Activist Architecture:

I’ve been interested in the role architecture can play in activism, environmentalism, and social change since reading about the late Sam Mockbee in an article in BOMB Magazine in 2001.

Since then, I’ve come across Architecture for Humanity and the group Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility, both of which are fascinating collectives of professionals who are using their skills for socially conscious design and construction.

To really get inspired, check out ADPSR’s Prison Alternatives Initiative, which invites architects, designers, and planners to “not participate in the design, construction, or renovation of prisons.”

4. Farmers’ Markets and “Food, Inc.”

One of my favorite summer pastimes is shopping at my local farmers’ market. This week alone, I’ve come home with bunches of lemon basil, scamps (those are the tops of garlic), lettuce, green beans, sugar snap peas, and peaches–all grown within a 100 mile radius of New York City.

If you’re not near a farmers’ market, though, maybe you’re near a theater showing “Food, Inc.,” a documentary about the production of food in the US. Despite its sobering and seemingly nichy topic, the doc is getting some incredible reviews, praised for helping movie-goers begin to look at their food and their own eating habits more critically.

Here’s the trailer:

5. “Heart of Jenin”:

It’s not easy to watch “Heart of Jenin,” a documentary about a Palestinian man whose son is killed and decides to donate his child’s organs… to Israeli children.

But it’s an important reminder, first of all, to consider organ donation, and, secondly, to try working through our prejudices even in the most extreme and painful circumstances.

You can watch the full video online here.

Community Connection:

Need more inspiration? Check out last Friday’s five inspiring stories here!

Photo: stusev

It was 1992 when the US hip-hop group Arrested Development hit #1 on Billboard’s R&B and Rap Chart and #6 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart with their song “Tennessee.”

I was 15 and dorky and while the black consciousness song “Tennessee” didn’t do a lot for me, I actually liked “Mr. Wendal,” the group’s song about a homeless man who gave the singer cause to ask:

“Civilization, are we really civilized, yes or no ?
Who are we to judge ?
When thousands of innocent men could be brutally enslaved
and killed over a racist grudge.”

“Mr. Wendal” did pretty well, too, reaching the top 10 on several of Billboard’s charts. The group went on to win Grammys for Best Rap Album and Best New Artist; it was also named Rolling Stone’s Band of the Year.

And then, Arrested Development seemed to disappear.

Sebastian Lindstrom caught up with the group recently, interviewing them at a music festival in Essouria, Morocco:

Arrested Development at Gnaoua Music Festival in Essouria from What Took You So Long on Vimeo.

As Lindstrom reported to Matador:

Front man MC Speech is a proponent of “conscious rap” as opposed to mainstream gangster rap. He chooses to write songs with a message to encourage and uplift people faced with… harsh realities….

His music covers many themes he feels passionately about in the US and Africa. He sings about his relationship with God and speaks of incorporating traditional African values into his life. He believes African Americans and Africans can relate to his message of overcoming struggles.

The group is led by elder Bob (”Bob-Bob”). Ishu, a backup singer and dancer, has family in Accra, Ghana. The band is also accompanied by JJ, Tasha, “One Love” and Zay. Each band member gives to African charities of their choice. The group was the first African American group to give to the African National League (ANC) in South Africa and after recently appearing on an ABC program gave to UNICEF in the Congo.

I’m glad to know this group from my adolescence is back on stage… still raising consciousness.

Community Connection:

Read more about Sebastian Lindstrom and the What Took You So Long Foundation in our previous profile of the organization.