J: Hello everyone! I m Jody! Welcome to American Cafe! Hey Yang Chen, what s that you re reading?
Y: 噢!没什么啦!
J: Let me see.
Y:哎呀,你快还给我!
J: The Peace Corps?
Y: 是啊,我正在看一些关于和平队的材料。
J: You re thinking of joining the Peace Corps?
Y: 哎,你干吗那么惊讶呢?
J: Well, I m not surprised ...Yang Chen, it s really hard work.
Y: 那又怎么样?
J: Don t forget it s volunteer work.
Y: So? 我本来就经常做义工啊!再说了,我现在觉得生活有点平淡,想找点刺激,我想去冒险。
J: Everyone wants excitement and adventure. But before you sign that contract, let s talk to our friends Jen &. Sharrin. They were Peace Corps volunteers for one year in Cote d Ivoire, West Africa.
J: Well, they ran into a little problem in Cote d Ivoire ... something about an attempted coup d etat.
Y: 啊?是真的政变啊?
J: A real coup.
Y:哇,是不是就好像电影里演的那样,有军队,还有人打枪什么的。
J: Soldiers, guns - the whole nine yards. Not really what you would call a safe environment.
Y: 听起来好像很可怕噢!
J: In fact, Jen and Sharrin were evacuated to the neighboring country of Ghana.
Y: 真的啊?她们后来还被疏散到加纳。
J: First let s hear from Jen.
Jen: There was an attempted coup d etat in Cote d Ivoire. Peace Corps, of course, took us out. It wasn t a safe environment. So, we were evacuated to a neighboring country - Ghana. From there we waited about two weeks to see if it would blow over. It turned out it wasn t safe enough. So from there we closed out our service for Peace Corp.
J: Exactly. After two weeks the danger did not blow over. So, Jen &. Sharrin closed out their service with the Peace Corps.
Y: 噢,所以这样她们就提前结束了在和平队的服务。
J: That s right. You know, according to Jen, trouble would pop up frequently and then be fine the next day. But this time trouble popped up and did not blow over. Again here s Jen.
Jen: Problems would pop up but they would be fine the next day. So everyone thought it d be fine the next day. When I left, I don t know what Sharrin thought, but when I left I thought I d be returning back. So, I thought for sure I d be back later on to say "Bye" for good or just to return and finish my service.
Y: Jen刚才说她们当时匆匆忙忙就离开了,而且呢,她还以为她们很快就能再回到科特迪瓦呢。
J: Actually, for both Jen and Sharrin the hardest part of being evacuated was not being able to say goodbye to people and having a lack of closure. You know, a definite ending. Now, let s hear from Sharrin.
Sharrin: I think it was really hard just because I had all these plans and everything for what I was going to be doing. And I didn t say goodbye really to anybody. so, there was a definite lack of closure. And I think that was the hardest part of the evacuation - was just no closure at all.
J: Aw come on! Where s your sense of adventure? I know the attempted coup, the evacuation, not being able to say goodbye to friends - all that would be hard but ...
Y: 等一等,等一等,Jody,我是很喜欢冒险啦!可是这又是要政变,又是要逃难什么的,我可受不了。
J: But think of the all the great memories that comes from being in the Peace Corps. Now let s hear from Sharrin and Jen talk about the rewards.
Sharrin: I think for me it was just the hospitality and the welcoming of the people in the different communities we lived in. Jen: The hospitality was a big thing, but for me it was also really amazing to be able to go through a training period and become conversational in the language and to become independent.
Y: 怎么样?Jody,咱俩一起去好不好?
J: Yang Chen, joining the Peace Corps is a big decision. You really should think about it a little bit more.
Y: Okay, okay,我会仔细的考虑的。不过我确实是佩服Jen和Sharrin.
J: I admire them as well. Thanks for joining us today at American Cafe.