Mentors with Mustaches

On June 12 we welcomed in 68 new Peace Corps Volunteers in Moldova. I was selected to be a mentor, so I joined other Peace Corps Volunteers in the capital to welcome them on their first day. I waited at their hotel and we cheered them on as they stepped off the buses from the airport. Seeing them immediately brought back feelings that I had exactly one year ago when arriving in Moldova for the first time. For the past 6 - 12 months, these new volunteers have been preparing to leave their families, friends, and jobs behind to embark on a 27 month adventure on a different continent.

New volunteers arriving in Chisinau by bus from the airport. Day one of their two year service.

Mustache May: For the entire month of May, the guys in my volunteer group grew mustaches to have for the arrival of the new volunteer group to Moldova. My mustache, or lack of, was a joke, but lots of guys had some solid 'staches. Our plan was to play a prank on the incoming volunteers and have them thinking that a mustache is important for community integration in Moldova. As soon as the new volunteers stepped off the bus, the guys started making comments and asking questions about our mustaches. We told them that it is very important to grow a mustache for the villagers to accept them as one of their own. The truth is Moldovan men take pride in being clean-shaven. One guy said to me, "Vince, I'm not sure if I can grow a mustache" as he rubbed his fingers over his top lip.

More hellacious mustaches from our group.

Reflecting back on my past year in Moldova, I can say that so far this has been the experience of a lifetime. Because every day is a new adventure, there are too many stories to write about. I realize that one of the main reasons I left for the Peace Corps was to experience life outside of my comfort zone, to understand more about another culture, my culture, and myself. In Moldova, I see, hear, taste, smell, and feel different things than I did in America. From the language I speak, the village I live in, the people I meet, the food I eat, and the environment I see around me, my life has changed more than ever over the past year. Not only do I understand and appreciate the Moldovan culture more, but I also understand and appreciate the American culture much more than I did a year ago.

After being a mentor for three days and helping the volunteers get to their new villages, I went on a 4 day vacation with 9 other volunteers to Odessa, Ukraine. Odessa is a port city on the coast of the Black Sea and is filled with lots of cool architecture, good food, diverse people, and a nice beach. During the Soviet era, Odessa was sort of a bohemiam town that the artists living in the Soviet Union used as a vacation spot. Even though I speak Romanian in my village, I've been picking up on a little Russian as well, so I was forced to use the little Russian I knew while traveling around Odessa. After seeing Odessa, I'd really like to get to Kiev and L'viv, Ukraine since I live so close.

Opera house in the center of Odessa, Ukraine.

Government building with a few traditional village "babas" (elderly ladies) sitting in the shade.

Us taking a nice vacation in a developed eastern European beach town.