Sitemate or Stalemate?

When you think of the Peace Corps you envision yourself sitting in a hut in the middle of nowhere Africa without another American for 300 miles. Your hair is in dreadlocks and you haven't showered since November. You think it is going to be two years of solitude and reflecting on the meaning of life, your place in the universe and how your life affects everyone around you. At least that is what the hippies in the 60s made me believe. Dang lying hippies! I would never have thought I was going to be in the middle of Central America, listening to Lady Gaga on the street and wondering which other trainee is going to be the person I spend every day with for the next two years. In my program here in Guatemala, they have started placing volunteers with partners. We are assigned a large number of schools, so the directors thought it would be better for us to work in pairs. When I signed up for the Peace Corps, I thought they were going to kick me out of a moving bus, all alone, into a town with one dirt road and say "Good Luck. See you in 2 years." But here I am filling out a piece of paper that may determine who I have to work with for the next 24 months.

It is hard to write down your personal partner preferences on two sheets of paper. I have literally known these people for less than 2 months and they want me to dissect their personalities, strengths and weaknesses. How am I supposed to know who, in a group of 35, I would be willing to put up with everyday? They could seem normal now and turn out to be some crazy Justin Beiber stalker with a foot fettish. How do I know? The trainers decided that the best way to figure this out was to have a site partner speed dating activity. One word: Awkward. We were given a piece of paper and ten minutes to set up dates in 27 slots. I ended up with 25 dates over a span of two hours. Yeah. 25 dates. Impressive I know. In three minutes I was supposed to figure out everyones likes, dislikes, site preferences, work style, shoe size, Jack or Sawyer? etc. It was alot of pressure and pretty much an impossible task. I wanted to use the new pickup line my brother-in-law taught me..."How much does a polar bear weigh? Enough to break the ice. Hi my name is Caitlin." Fortunately for me, I didn't use it. I might have ended up on everyones "no" list. But overall, the dating went well. I didn't find my future husband (sorry Dad), but I did make some decisions on who I couldn't work with.

So the past few weeks, everyone has been trying to act all nice and put on their game faces because they don't want to be stuck with the people known as the "non-negotiables" (people you adamantly refuse to work with). Now this term sounds really mean, but when you think of being in the middle of a small town in Guatemala where the only other English speaker is your site partner, you start to get a little choosy. So everyone is trying to avoid the lable "non-negotiable" by acting social, working hard and putting their best qualities on display. It is a pretty funny song and dance. It makes me wonder who is a big ole liar. I personally am pretty tired of worrying about it. I am stuck with whoever they decide to pair me up with. Whoever the teachers, director and volunteer leaders choose for me is pretty much it. There is no getting out of it. Unless I want to quit and go home, but I think that is a pretty drastic measure. But, if I end up with a "non-negotiable"...then it is a perfectly legit reason to throw my hands in the air and give up. Hopefully that won't be the case.

So the big day is Tuesday the 1st. They are going to sit us all down and read off the names of our partners. I am sure you will be able to hear a pin drop when this happens. Everyone will be holding their breath. What I want to know is what happens if they read off my name and my partner starts crying? How embarrassing and mortifying would that be? I don't foresee this happening because I find myself quite humorous if I do say so myself. But some people may construe my quirky personality as sarcastic and a little weird. If I do end up with someone who is fun and cool then I will let you all know. If I end up with a dud then I will need someone to send me a 2 year supply of valium in the mail. I will be sure to let you know on Tuesday.