In this interview, you’ll hear from Ilana Hirschfeld, a Peace Corps Environment volunteer in Mexico. Ilana shares what daily life looks like, the work being done, and how service has shaped their personal and professional growth. You’ll learn about housing, cultural differences, project work, language learning, and what it’s like to live and work in a new country. This interview offers a real look into Peace Corps service and what future volunteers can expect.
Table of Contents
- Volunteer Experience and Motivation
- Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
- Surprises and Challenges
- Advice and Support
- Practical Tips and Language Learning
- Social Identity
- Impact of Media and Final Thoughts
Volunteer Experience and Motivation
1. What do you do as a Peace Corps Environment volunteer in Mexico?
My role as a Peace Corps Environment Volunteer in Mexico involves a mix of education-based activities and project-based activities. Over the course of my two years as a PCV, I have taught environmental science classes at the elementary school, middle school, and high school in my community and have led various environmental-themed events.
I have also implemented two grant-funded projects, the first focused on bringing water resilience to the local community high school by building two cement cisterns for rainwater harvesting, and the second focused on biodiversity conservation and plastic pollution reduction through the implementation of a mural adorned with plastic bottle caps, a pollinator garden, and an eco-bench (a bench made with plastic water bottles to utilize less virgin material).
My day-to-day is pretty flexible, sometimes teaching, sometimes working on project implementation, other days just writing and doing prep work—something that has both challenged me and given me the opportunity to learn patience and enjoy a slower pace of life. Before the Peace Corps, I was so busy, I hardly had time to just sit down and relax; my service has provided me with the chance to read more, write more, think more, and just generally give myself more time to breathe and appreciate the natural beauty around me.
2. Why did you decide to join the Peace Corps and serve in Mexico?
Prior to the Peace Corps, in 2022, I was studying for my masters and working 30-hours a week in climate communications at a prestigious university. While I loved the work I was doing and thoroughly enjoyed learning about the theory of climate change through my coursework and other assignments, I knew I wanted to get the chance to get into the field and understand how climate change actually affects people’s everyday lives.
A few years before applying, I also had a classmate who was an RPCV from Namibia who had really loved his experience in service. Hearing about his experience and knowing the kind of impact his service had on him motivated me to take a look at the Peace Corps website for possible opportunities that looked interesting to me.
It just so happened that at the time, Peace Corps Mexico had a Climate Change Action and Awareness program that seemed to align perfectly with my wishes: to work with frontline communities facing challenges related to climate change and to improve my Spanish speaking skills at the same time.
Once I received the invitation to serve, it became a no-brainer for me. I knew that Peace Corps Mexico was calling my name, and I’m ever so grateful to have taken the leap and made the decision to apply almost three years ago.
Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
3. What is your housing like in Mexico?
I live in a rural town of about 1,000 inhabitants. The town is located in the eastern-most part of the Mexican state of Querétaro, in a biosphere reserve called the Sierra Gorda of Querétaro. The Sierra Gorda is an incredibly biodiverse mountain range in the eastern part of Mexico that includes a huge variety of ecosystems that span from the semi-desert to the semi-tropics.
While the town is located in the state of Querétaro, the city of Querétaro, where the Peace Corps office is located, is about a 7-hour journey away. After having made the trip so many times in the last couple of years, the trip no longer feels like an eternity, but passes by quickly, so long as I sleep.
Living with a host family
For the duration of the past 2 years, I have lived with a host family in my community. While Peace Corps Mexico volunteers have the option of moving out after 3 months at site, I decided to stay with my host family and live out the authentic multi-generational family experience. I live with the matriarch of a large family in the downstairs part of a 2-story house. Her son, daughter-in-law, and four grandchildren live upstairs. I have a beautiful, spacious room in the house with an incredible view of the mountains and beautiful natural light that comes in through my windows in the morning.
My host mom has seven children, twenty grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and two more on the way. Living with so many people and having so many family members stop by on any given day has certainly been a different experience compared to the nuclear family I grew up in, but it’s an experience I wouldn’t change for the world.
Well fed and taken care of
Living with a host family means that I don’t necessarily have the chance to cook for myself—the kitchen is definitely my host mom’s domain. However, I’ve been lucky that for the last 2 years, I’ve gotten to enjoy local Mexican gastronomy and flavors, made lovingly by my host mom who always makes sure that I am well fed and taken care of. Some of the local specialties include enchiladas, delicious chicken soup, nopales (prickly pear cactus), tamales, and of course beans and freshly made tortillas.
While some volunteers opt for independent housing, I’m grateful to have chosen to stay with my host family, to get to know such wonderful people and to be completely immersed in Mexican culture.
4. What moments or interactions stand out during your service?
Some of my favorite moments of service have been the ones I’ve spent with the kids with whom I live. Upon arriving in my community for the first time, I was told my living situation included living with one older woman and her cat. I was not told, however, that the upstairs part of the house was inhabited by four small children (my host mom’s grandchildren) and that they would want to spend all of their time with me.
While initially it did come as a surprise to know that I wouldn’t be living in a quiet, tranquil space as I was used to, living with those four kids has provided me with some of my favorite moments in service, and more importantly, has given me four younger siblings that I never knew I needed.
There are times, of course, when they get on my nerves and I have to shut myself in my room, but more often than not, we get along perfectly well, and I get to watch them play, color, express themselves, and grow.
Living with four children was not something I ever expected would happen in my life, but I am so grateful to have had the chance to play a small part in these kids’ upbringings. I hope to stay in their lives for years to come.
Surprises and Challenges
5. What has surprised you most about living or working in Mexico?
80% believe climate change is real
One of the most pleasantly surprising facts that I learned about Mexico early on in training is that the majority of the population, upwards of 80%, believe that climate change is real and that it is responsible for much of the climatic disruption that we are seeing today. Compare that to 63% of Americans who are somewhat or very worried about global warming, and I was already that much more optimistic going into my work that I wouldn’t have to work to convince people that climate change is real and a threat.
Maybe it’s because Mexico has already faced some extreme consequences of climate change, such as scorching heatwaves and record droughts, or maybe it’s because of the people’s strong connection to the land and dependence on subsistence farming that makes climate change just that much more real for people. Whatever the case, I was grateful to have been able to step into my work knowing that I could pretty much dive right into explaining the science behind climate change without too much skepticism or pushback from my community.
Very welcome in the community
I was also very grateful for the warm reception I received from my community upon arrival. It probably helped that before the pandemic, the community already had a Peace Corps volunteer working and living here, which familiarized the community with our work—something I am very grateful to the previous volunteer for. I also think the Mexican culture in general is a welcoming one, but I’ve truly been touched by the generosity and kindness of the people that I’ve met and lived among for the past two years.
I can also imagine that the community has had such a warm response to us (I say us because for the past two years I have had a site partner) because they hope that people in the U.S. would do the same for their family and community members. I learned pretty soon after arriving that the community relies heavily on remittances from individuals who go to the U.S. to support the local economy and provide families with economic stability.
This pattern of going to the U.S. to work and then returning to the community to live is not one I was completely aware of before moving to Mexico. It really struck me just how much of an interdependence the U.S. and Mexico have—how much the U.S. needs immigrant workers and how much immigrant workers rely on the better wages in the U.S. to be able to afford their basic needs back home—and how amplified that relationship is in a rural community without many other economic opportunities.
Overall, I have been truly amazed by the generosity and warmth of the people I live with, the community’s show of support, and the open reception I have received here in Mexico.
6. What challenges have you faced in your Environment work, and how did you respond?
Awesome relationship with schools
Working in the schools has been a no-brainer for me, as the schools are formally-organized institutions where people seem to be eager to participate in activities. I’ve been able to form relationships with the directors of the elementary school, middle school, and high school, which has provided me with the opportunity to teach and work with students of all ages throughout the community.
Events outside of school have been challenging
Participation outside of schools, however, has proven to be one of the larger challenges of my service. On many occasions, my site partner and/or I have organized events in the community and have been met with very low or no participation. Early on, we hosted a very successful Earth-Day event in the community, which was incredibly motivating, but since then, it has been a challenge to gain the kind of turn out that we have hoped to have.
Luckily, as I mentioned before, people do seem to participate in activities related to their schools, whether during the school week and even sometimes on the weekends. A great example of this is the participation I received during the building of the rainwater cisterns at the high school. Parents and students alike participated in the planning process and were eager to contribute to the implementation.
While challenges have arisen, I believe it is up to us as volunteers to figure out what works best for our community and work to best meet our community’s needs.
7. What secondary projects have you worked on during your service?
El Maíz Más Pequeño (EMMP)
Early on in my service, I came across the non-profit organization El Maíz Más Pequeño (EMMP), an environmental non-profit that has been doing interventional work across rural Mexico for the last 15 years, primarily in the Sierra Gorda region. After getting to know the director and sharing about my experience in climate change communications, I began to consult with the organization on some marketing and communications projects to help them expand their audience and gain more visibility.
I’ve enjoyed both using my communications skills to advance the mission of a local non-profit as well as getting to know the director and staff of EMMP over the last couple of years. They have provided me with support and friendship during my service, and I am incredibly grateful to have coincidentally met them shortly after my arrival at site.
Darien Book Aid Plan
Another project I have worked on in service is helping to revive the community library, which is housed at the community culture house. At different points in service, both my site partner and I were given the opportunity to put in a request for books through the Darien Book Aid Plan, a foundation that has a program specifically for Peace Corps volunteers who are working on projects related to literacy or teaching in their communities. Between the two of us, we received about 60 children’s and young-adult books to add to the library’s collection and help improve literacy in the community.
In less than 2 months, the books arrived in almost-perfect condition and the vast majority were in Spanish, as requested. I cannot recommend it enough to volunteers to take advantage of this incredible opportunity and request books for their community.
iNaturalist app
I have also had the chance in my free time to document the vast biodiversity that inhabits the ecosystem my community is located in. Using the iNaturalist app, I have documented over 400 species of plants and animals, mostly focusing my work on insects, and more specifically on butterflies.
The region of Mexico I live in is one of the most densely biodiverse regions for butterflies. Between 450 and 600 different species of butterflies inhabit the region. Over the course of 2 years, I’ve come to identify over 100 species of butterflies in the region. With the photos I’ve taken, I’m currently developing a guide to the butterflies of this region, produced in partnership with my institutional counterparts. I’m super proud that what started out as a passion project of mine will be published and used for future scientific work and possible eco-tourism opportunities.
Advice and Support
8. What advice would you give to a future Environment volunteer in Mexico?
Learn to slow down
As an environment volunteer in Mexico, it isn’t guaranteed that your schedule is always going to be filled with activities. There are periods of time when you may just have to find ways to keep busy and occupied. My biggest piece of advice, especially for us Americans who come from a very work-driven and productivity-rewarding society, is to learn to slow down. Go for walks, read, develop a new hobby, spend time with the people in your community, and keep in touch with your support system back home.
Develop community connections first
Don’t expect work to fall into your lap. Especially at the beginning of service, it is of utmost importance that you find the people in your community who will support you—either with your work or as friends—so that you can find your place in the community and gain people’s trust. Those connections will help you to feel more integrated into the community as well as figure out what the community’s top priorities are, allowing you to start developing projects and learning who the key people in your work will be.
Even within the same sector, every volunteer’s experience is different. Some volunteers in my cohort were set up with direct counterparts in their community and were assigned to specific schools or institutions. In my case, I was introduced to the different schools and institutions upon arrival, but it was ultimately up to me to pave my own path and find the work that made the most sense for the community and for me.
Like anything, it takes time to integrate into your community. Have patience and know that within a few months, things will be running smoothly. It just takes a little bit of time and work.
9. How did Peace Corps training prepare you for service?
I particularly appreciated the training I received both during my pre-service training (PST) and at my early in-service training (EIST). The programming staff put in time and effort to plan relevant field-based training opportunities both at the end of PST and during our EIST (about 3 months after arriving at site).
We were taken to a number of local organizations where we learned about biointensive farming, rainwater harvesting, and biodiversity monitoring—all techniques relevant to our roles as Environment Peace Corps volunteers. While not everything was applicable to every volunteer, there was something for each person to get out of the training, and it certainly helped me to think about what projects I could realistically implement during my service.
Language and culture classes were also incredibly useful for my service, as I not only improved my language skills, but I also learned about the language and culture in a Mexico-specific context.
While training (especially PST) may feel long and draining, it does ultimately serve us well and prepare us to the best of our abilities for service.
Practical Tips and Language Learning
10. What would you tell future volunteers to pack—or leave behind?
I think it really depends on where you end up geographically in your service, but I would certainly recommend bringing clothing for a variety of temperatures. Mexico—surprisingly to some—has distinct seasons, with winter getting pretty chilly into the 40s in some places, and summer being hot hot hot with the months of May and June getting into the high 90s or low 100s, depending on location. I would recommend bringing at least a few sweaters for the cold months and a good amount of light clothing for the hot months. The Mexican sun is very strong, so I would recommend having some UV-protective clothing that can cover you in the strongest sun of the day.
I would also recommend that you bring casual clothing that you can get dirty in. Especially as an environment volunteer, you’re likely going to be working in the dirt a good bit, whether working in gardens, clearing trails in the back country, or even working on construction projects. You never know what kind of conditions you are going to find yourself in, so definitely bring clothing that you wouldn’t mind getting worn out or even ruined over the course of your two years.
Prioritize bringing less formal clothing
I definitely made the mistake of bringing too many formal pieces of clothing, thinking more about PST and the more professional dress code required for the office. You are definitely going to want at least a few nice pieces for things like swearing in and later on community events such as weddings and Quinceañeras, but make sure to prioritize bringing less formal clothing or pieces that can be used versatilely for different occasions.
Most things can be found in Mexico
Also know that it is easy to find most things you are looking for in Mexico, especially in the cities where there are big-name stores like Costco and Walmart and most of the brands we are used to back home. There’s also a lot of great second-hand clothing in Mexico that can be easily added to your wardrobe. Don’t worry about overpacking. Bring the essentials, and know you will likely be collecting along the way.
11. How has language learning been for you in Mexico?
Growing up in a multi-cultural household
Upon choosing Mexico as the country I would serve in, I knew going into my service that I wanted to improve upon my Spanish speaking abilities. I come from a multi-cultural household, with my dad having been born in Panama and having gone to middle school and high school in Mexico City, and so the Spanish language was not unfamiliar to me. Growing up, my aunt and, to some extent, my dad, spoke to me in Spanish, and so I always had a pretty decent understanding of the Spanish language.
That being said, I didn’t have a need to speak in Spanish on a daily basis (my family members being equally fluent in English), and as such, I never fully acquired the ability to speak more than a few basic sentences in Spanish.
Started feeling more comfortable during PST
Coming into the Peace Corps, having some knowledge of Spanish from what I learned growing up and what little I learned in school was helpful. But it wasn’t really until I started living with a host family and taking language classes during PST that I really started feeling more comfortable with speaking and gaining a deeper understanding.
For me, I never found it very helpful to study grammar—in fact, in my mind, learning grammar patterns and vocabulary through rote memorization hardly ever stuck with me. It wasn’t until I became immersed in the language that I slowly started picking up more complex grammar tenses and really started honing my speaking skills.
The combination of language and culture classes during PST and then the pure immersion are the things that have helped me the most in my Spanish language learning journey.
Social Identity
12. How has your personal identity shaped your service experience?
When we start service as Peace Corps volunteers, we are asked many times to reflect upon our personal identities and think about how parts of our identity might serve us or perhaps clash with the culture that we are serving in.
Serving as a woman
As an American woman, I feel that my identity has mostly been of service to me and my experiences in Mexico. While Mexico is known to be a very “machista” country, with an unsettling amount of violence against women, I am very lucky to have been placed in a community that seems to hold a high amount of respect for women and where women have equal power as men.
Another factor that I think helped me in my service is that my site partner and I are both women. Unfortunately, I have heard of situations where having a man and woman duo at one site made it more challenging for the woman, as especially the men in the community would give preference to the male volunteer. Being two women in our community makes it a more even playing field.
Serving as an American
Being an American in Mexico, especially in our current political atmosphere, has also been an interesting experience. A lot of people in my community have been affected by the changes in U.S. immigration policy in the last year, and with good reason have had a change in sentiment towards the U.S. I’m happy to be able to show people in my community that even though the government has chosen to perform egregious acts of discrimination, not all Americans are in favor of the actions of the current administration and, in fact, believe firmly in the value and necessity of immigrant workers and diversity among our population.
13. Did your identity lead to specific challenges or situations?
As a Jewish American queer woman
Luckily for me, I haven’t had too many experiences where I felt that my identity had come into conflict with that of my community. However, as a Jewish American queer woman, there have certainly been parts of my identity that I have chosen not to share with my community, less as a security concern, and more as a means of avoiding having to explain to people what different parts of my identity mean.
For one, the community I serve is pretty devoutly Catholic, as most of Mexico is. As a Jewish person, I decided early on that it would be wise for me not to share so much about my religion. Most people in my community, in fact, don’t know too much about the Jewish culture and religion, and for me, it seemed easier not to have to explain my religion, or rather to pick and choose with whom I felt comfortable sharing that part of my identity.
The same goes for my sexuality. I am a member of the LGBTQ+ community; however, much like my religion, I have chosen to keep that part of my identity under wraps.
14. What advice do you have for volunteers who share your identity?
Overall, Mexico is a very accepting and open-minded country. In the cities, people openly express their identities and practice a variety of religions. I think in more rural areas, not unlike in rural parts of the U.S., it can just be easier to keep certain parts of your identity personal or only shared with individuals that you build a strong relationship with.
But of course, do whatever makes you feel comfortable, and I’m sure that will be the best decision for you!
Impact of Media and Final Thoughts
15. If you share content online, how has that shaped your service?
Since coming to Mexico, I have been writing a blog for my friends and family back home. Ilanainthecloudforest is hosted on blogspot.com and has been a platform for me to share updates with my community back home about my experience as a Peace Corps volunteer.
What started off as a weekly email to my friends and family has become a space where I get to process my service and really reflect on the experiences I am having and the memories I am making.
While I no longer write weekly (I write something like once or twice a month), I still find joy in writing about my adventures and receiving feedback from my friends and family back home.
I highly encourage future volunteers to think about documenting their service in some way, both as a memento for them as well as a way of keeping in touch with friends and family back home and sharing your country and community’s culture with people abroad.
Ilana in the Cloud Forest
Ilana is working with local communities to protect natural resources and adapt to climate change. Her projects include environmental education, conservation efforts, and community collaboration to build sustainable futures. Discover inspiring stories of grassroots environmental action and the real impact volunteers like Ilana make in rural Mexico HERE!
16. What final advice would you share with future volunteers?
If you’re at all interested in joining the Peace Corps, join! I don’t think you’ll regret your decision.
For me, joining the Peace Corps has provided me with a whole new set of opportunities, skill sets, friends, and so much more. I’m incredibly grateful to the people who encouraged me to join even when I was uncertain, so I hope this gives you the final push to take the leap and join.
Are you thinking about joining the Peace Corps? If you’re curious about service and ready for something new, apply today. Like Ilana, you can live abroad, work with communities, and grow in ways you didn’t expect.
Apply to the Peace Corps and take the next step.
The content of this post does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, or Mexico Government.
