It’s
January 13th and Christmas music is still playing in every public
sphere here in Moldova. The holidays don’t end until the 14th, which
is when we celebrate the old new years according to Eastern Orthodoxy (and the
Julian Calendar). All this to say, I am totally justified in getting my
“Christmas/holiday letter” out two weeks after New Years.
The
past six weeks have been a seemingly endless string of celebrations and events.
The past six months have likewise been a non-stop series of new experiences and
unexpected moments. My year in total has been one full of personal challenges,
successes, heartache, and growth.
In
February of 2013, I accepted an invitation to serve in the Republic of Moldova
with the Peace Corps. I spent the following four months both mentally and
physically preparing my life for what two years of service would require. There
are many things that moved me to commit two years of my life focusing on
volunteer work in a developing country. After 16 years of formal education
where I felt like I had been investing in myself and my own future, I wanted to
spend specific and intentional time giving back. Serving others and
volunteering time and skills is not location specific, it’s needed and
appreciated everywhere. I however choose to work internationally given a
deep-rooted desire to learn more about the world through cultural exchange. While
I knew the solitude away from my home and my culture would be trying, I
welcomed the challenge as an opportunity to further develop myself as well as
to see how my comfortable environment had thus far shaped me. I wanted to learn
a new language, to live in and be part of a different culture, and to invest
myself into something bigger than the world I know.
In
many ways, serving in Moldova is not what one would typically envision when
imagining the life of a Peace Corps volunteer. This country is inundated with
Western influences of culture, technology, and expectations. All my students
have their own cellphone, most of them are smart phones. Everyone dresses to
the nines if they’re leaving the house and they love new and flashy clothes.
Titles and certificates mean more than work accomplished and it seems rare to
find someone that has chosen a career simply because they are passionate about
it.
My
biggest challenges in living here have not been physical hardships or a lack of
resources, but a staggering difference in ideology. I struggle to know where I
fit into this changing and developing culture, and have thus spent my time and
energy on projects to empower the people here rather than bring them temporary
physical goods.
I
work with an organization that raises awareness of human trafficking (Moldova
ATIP) and with another organization that helps connect students to career and
skill building resources (Career for Me). I think that helping young
professionals find jobs or careers they love is preventative in human
trafficking, and I want to encourage the youth to seek what makes them happy
over what makes them wealthy. This is a difficult mentality to combat when they
often seek work abroad to support themselves and family. The growth potential
of a career you work for and love verse the temporality of a construction or a
housekeeping job in Western Europe that meets the needs and desires of “now” is
often not considered.
In
addition to the “career mentality”, the family structure also has a very
specific place. It is similar to what the States was in the 1950’s with the man
in charge and the woman keeping house. My impression and interaction with the youth
has shown me incredible strength and ambition in the young women, and I cringe
at the idea of their potential being crushed under outdated social expectations.
I am therefore also working with a mentorship program that pairs young girls
with mentors to help guide and empower them to do something for themselves.
My
primary job here is an English Educator. Despite loving working with my partner
teachers (Oxana and Aliona) and truly enjoying all of my students, I have found
myself far more invested in the other projects I work with. I have however
learned so much through being a teacher. I have really been able to develop my
communication and organizational skills. Creativity has also served me well in
this role. I have been excited to see my students develop more critical thought
through some of my efforts.
All
the projects and hobbies I adopt aside, one of the greatest things about my
Peace Corps experience has been the host family I live with in my Village.
Vasili (Tata), Lilia (Mama), Valentina (Grandma), Sasha (brother), and Andrei
(cousin) treat me like family. Vasili holds no jokes back and Lilia is the
epitome of kindness in a mother. At the end of December, they indulged my love
for Christmas photos and we all had a blast making some last memories in 2013.
While
this letter is a long “Christmas card”, I feel like I have not done total
justice to the time and experience I have had in 2013. I am happy to be a part
of Peace Corps, but I love and miss home dearly and want to share life with
loved ones in significant ways despite thousands of miles of distance. I love snail mail and will always make time
to reply to a message or an e-mail.
Happy 2014!
All
my love,
Larissa Marie
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