Top 10 Reasons Peace Corps El Salvador Makes Me Feel Like a Kid Again

10. Telling my host parents where I’m going and when I’m coming back. And having my host mom calling me worried about where I am if I’m not home within 30 minutes of the last bus coming in.

9. Telling Peace Corps specific details of my whereabouts whenever I leave my site and not being able to leave for more than a few days at time.

8. Playing UNO, Barrel of Monkies, and coloring with the neighborhood kids when I get bored.

7. Being forced to eat food I don’t want. (The only thing forcing me is guilt, because it makes Salvadoran women so happy to feed you).

6. Not having shaved legs. (Well, in the campo at least).

5. Going to bed at 7:30. Going to bed at 9 pm feels like staying up late.

4. Having sleepovers with girl friends when we visit each others’ houses. Then trying not to make too much noise at night and making an effort to conceal the boxed wine we’re drinking.

3. Sometimes not understanding big words or what people are talking about (in Spanish).

2. Riding around everywhere on old American School Buses because I am not allowed to drive and listening to the 80s music they blast on them.

1. Sometimes I poop in my pants. (When I can’t make it to the bathroom in time, thanks to amoebas and parasites).

“Wherever you go, there you are.”