One thing that doesn't come across in the application and interview process is how different Peace Corps is from country to country. The organization sees itself as a singular worldwide agency, and views volunteers in Madagascar and Thailand and Belize as being pretty much the same. Furthermore, when the Peace Corps finally gets to where they can offer you an invitation, it is easiest for them if you accept it and get on the plane without much of a fuss. It can be difficult for them to place people, especially married couples and applicants with medical problems. For all of these reasons, your recruiter will probably not tell you how radically different your Peace Corps experience will be based on the country where you are placed.

Take for example, the Dominican Republic and Haiti, which share the same island. I had a nice long talk with a PCV from Haiti named Rob while he was on vacation in Santo Domingo. The two of us had applied for the Peace Corps around the same time and as applicants had about the same goals and expectations. Yet from the moment Rob's plane landed on the same little Caribbean island where I was, he was in for quite a different ride as a volunteer. To start with, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, whereas the Dominican Republic is on the middle or upper end of the ladder. When Rob came for a vacation on my side of the island, he was shocked by how rich it was. There were paved roads all over the place, and Dominicans driving their own vehicles on those roads while talking on cell phones. Rob saw sections of Santo Domingo and Santiago which looked like Miami. He couldn't believe the luxury some volunteers in the Dominican Republic lived in. He met Peace Corps volunteers who not only had running water in their homes but cable television with CNN and Cinemax; volunteers who shopped at veritable supermarkets and checked their email at Internet cafes. He told me frankly that Haiti was nothing like this, and he was glad to be there and not here on my side of the island. Rob's Peace Corps experience was a lot more difficult than mine, a lot more intense, and the way he described it a lot more rewarding.

Peace Corps is not exactly the same organization from country to country. The Haitian Peace Corps office was rumored to be somewhat easygoing. Volunteers were trained, they were sent some place to work, and that was the end of the story. Rob was on his own, which suited him fine. The Dominican Peace Corps office had many more resources available to them on their side of the island, especially in terms of technology and infrastructure. The Dominican office staff expected to know every single volunteer's location 24 hours a day 365 days a year, to know exactly what she/he was working on at any given moment, and to tabulate every single Dominican beneficiary of a volunteer's work in the two years of service. Do they go over the top? Peace Corps Dominican Republic now issues cell phones to every single volunteer who swears in and expects to be able to reach you on that phone at any hour of the day. The phone comes with a certain number of free minutes every month, so volunteers can talk easily with each other and family back home. Some people like that. But when I'm applying for a job in the United States, if a company tells me they're going to issue me a cell phone that I'm required to carry, I won't take the job. If you're applying to the Peace Corps because you want to get away from technology and bureaucracy and structure, don't come to the Dominican Republic. Go to Haiti. On the other hand, if carrying a cell phone is not the end of the world for you and you think strong organizational support is important, the Dominican Republic is a great place to be a volunteer and the office staff is quite helpful.

There's a certain kind of person who, applying for the Peace Corps, is looking to get as far away from America as possible. To live on the other end of the Earth. Peace Corps is the best opportunity to do so. If you want to live without electricity and phone service, and walk thirty minutes to draw your water from a well, and defecate in the jungle until you build your own outhouse, and go six months without speaking English to anyone, you still can. There are volunteers who do that. There are volunteers living that lifestyle right now. It isn't easy. You will get sick and the nearest person with Western medical knowledge may be far, far away. In my experience, the voodoo priests with the animal skulls don't really work when you've got a parasite in your stomach. You will be in for a lot of pain and suffering. Nevertheless, some Americans are actually looking for this. If you are, tell your recruiter. During the application process, Peace Corps wants to place you not only where you have the right qualifications to work, but where you will thrive and be happy. If you think you have all the requisites to survive two years on a small Pacific island subsisting on rice and fish and reading the same James Michener novel you brought with you ten times because there are no other books, you can say that in the interview. The recruiter will not think you are crazy. They need your type.

There are many excellent volunteers who do not land on the Pacific island but in large cities with public services of all kinds. Don't think for a minute that these volunteers are less worthy or genuine or fruitful by any means. Often, they can accomplish more. I had a conversation with my friend Tico in the Dominican Republic about some of the challenges of his rural community. He told me there were only a handful of youth at his site whom he thought would benefit significantly from his work. It was a small place he lived in. I was envious of Tico's environment because it seemed more classic Peace Corps to me, but was grateful that in my larger town I had been able to teach hundreds of people.

Many volunteers do not want to go someplace primitive. If the idea of service interests you, but the idea of no toilet paper horrifies you, it's all right. Say so to the recruiter. Peace Corps can send you to a country where you don't have to wipe with your hand. Even in a country that is close to the United States in its level of economic development, you can have a valuable and productive service. Sometimes it is easier to work where there is already a certain level of sophistication and development because people are more prepared to benefit from what you have to offer.

Some countries are much harder than others. The early termination rate (volunteers who quit) varies around the world. Some countries are especially more difficult for women. Almost half of the volunteers who entered training with me in Nepal left before completing their service. Of my Dominican Republic group, 90% made it the whole two years. Why was this? If you think living in a Muslim or Hindu country is as easy as living in a predominantly Catholic country, guess again. With the increase in difficulty, you may get a more profound cultural experience, but you also have to deal with more stress.

When you receive your invitation, research the country before accepting. I had a friend named Frank who originally accepted an assignment as a math teacher in Africa. After accepting, he started reading up on his destination and found out the country was entirely Islamic and that the diet consisted of meat, meat and more meat. Frank is a Jewish vegetarian. He wisely telephoned Washington to ask for a different assignment. They sent him to teach math in Nepal, where large numbers of people are vegetarians, and where nobody had even heard of the Gaza strip or the Seven Day War.

Try not to be too choosy. If you're looking for that country which is the perfect fit for you, it's called the United States of America.