Departure Day

Thirty nine years ago, I left my family, friends and neighborhood, with a one week old college diploma, on a bus to Ft. Dix, New Jersey to learn how to become a soldier “Greetings. You are hereby ordered to report for induction into the Armed Forces of the United States…” was the salutation that every draft eligible young man dreaded to receive, and I had received mine several months earlier. I carried no baggage or belongings, as directed, and wondered how much longer troops would be active in Viet Nam.

Today, I again left my family, friends and neighborhood on another adventure, but this time I am fortunately going as a volunteer in a somewhat different capacity with a considerable amount of baggage and belongings. Many of the things I finally squeezed into two fifty pound suitcases didn’t even exist on my first adventure: then: the Internet, Skype, laptop computer, digital camera, LED lights, Gortex, Thinsulate, wrinkle-free pants and shirts, fleece jackets, and multi-blade razors. What a difference almost forty years makes.

We left for the Manchester airport at 5AM so I could catch a 7:15 flight to Philadelphia. My two sons, Christian and Jesse, accompanied Lee and me and were planning to go to their jobs later in the morning. It was nice having them at the airport. They were able to mock my not-the- right –shade-of blue blue jeans, my hiking boots that I had to wear into order to put more stuff in the suitcase and meet the luggage weight restrictions, and my low- maintenance short haircut. My confidence in how I looked was bolstered to an all-time high.

With the exception of minor weather delay, the trip to Philly went smoothly and was uneventful. I am sitting in the lobby of the hotel, writing this log and trying to kill three hours until our first meeting. No rooms are ready for occupancy, so no freshening up until later on this evening.

Departure Day at The Airport

Neighborhood Team

My Support Team

Everyone I know has been so supportive and has assured me that I have nothing to worry about regarding Lee’s welfare or the security of all my stuff that I am not taking with me. Going away for two years has some advantages, one of them being lots of partying.

My family had a get together at my brother’s. Attendance was almost perfect. One mother, three brothers, three sisters-in-law, one sister, one brother-in-law, one niece, five nephews, two nephew-wives, two sons, and one-son special girlfriend all showed up. One sister and brother-in-law with whom Lee and I had just spent a few days with and couldn’t break away from their busy restaurant, one niece in Texas, one nephew who is spending a semester in India, and one nephew away at school I Pennsylvania had legitimate excuses for not attending. I am the oldest, with of course the exception of my mother, and in my opinion, the wisest, best looking and least conceited member in the family. So I was positive that the gathering was not to celebrate the fact that I would be out of the USA for two years but that they truly would miss me and wanted me to be safe and healthy. They presented me with an IPOD so that I could blend in with today’s generation of twenty-somethings and have earphones draped around my neck as I accomplished my daily tasks. I was able to install my Macedonian language program on the IPOD so I can now practice my language skills anywhere. I also installed my only two music albums – Perry Como and Slim Whitman – so I’ll have enough music to listen to for the next 27 months. It was a wonderful day.

Lee and my neighbors also threw a going away party for me. Andy and Mary, Dave and Sue, Bob and Kathy, Bill and Marsha, and Brad and Kristin put on a fabulous cookout (notice I put all the husband’s names first , even though , with the exception of Andy, the women did all the planning, setting up, decorating and cleaning up. It’s a cultural thing). The yard was decorated with red and yellow streamers and the tables with red and yellow tablecloths and napkins (red /yellow = colors of the Macedonian flag). Andy had procured a Macedonian flag on eBay, which he hung prominently in the family room and he played the Macedonian National anthem for us , which he had downloaded off iTunes (I just realized as I was typing this that many companies today capitalize the second letter of their companies logo) . It was a great gathering and I really appreciated all the effort that was put into it. My wife did a yeoman job celebrating my departure. Hmm?

The only problem with all these going-away parties is that I am now committed to staying away from Chelmsford for the next 27 months. If for some reason my tour is cut short, I’ll have to hide out in Europe until January of 2011.

It is now D-Day minus 5, so I will continue on my quest to fit everything I think I’ll “need” into 2 suitcases with a 100lb. limit and a 107 inch total dimension (H+L+W) + (H+W+H).

My Wife

Most people are somewhat astonished to learn that I am heading off to Macedonia for 27 months without my wife, Lee. It’s not like we planned it to be this way. She initially brought up the idea of joining the Peace Corps upon my retirement from teaching. She believed it would be an opportunity to serve together to use our experiences (she a journalist, me an educator)to perhaps make a little bit of a difference somewhere.

We went through the procedures as outlined on the Peace Corps website. We filled out the online application as a couple; we were invited to an interview and apparently convinced them we would not kill each other during 27 months of relative deprivation and we were nominated for a position in Eastern Europe. We completed our medical and dental evaluation; we got the required immunizations; and then we waited for an invitation. We read everything we could get our hands on regarding the Peace Corps, started to learn Russian, made preliminary plans for taking care of our home, and we were totally psyched.

To our great disappointment, we learned shortly after Christmas that she had been refused the medical clearance we thought would be a formality at that point, and we were both rejected from serving.

We then executed Plan B, which was to find positions as a couple with VISTA or AmeriCorps within the USA. We soon found out that unlike the Peace Corps, which places you in a position, the other volunteer agencies merely provide listings of positions throughout the country to which you apply on an individual basis. We were unable to find two positions at the same location.

Plan C was to get our ESL certification and teach in one of the many English language schools overseas. The hustling to get students, the visa requirements, the tutoring schedule and, most importantly, the fact that we would most likely be teaching only students whose families could afford to pay for lessons eventually turned us away from that path. While it would have been a great adventure, we still hoped to reach people who lacked the resources to help themselves and truly needed our assistance.

So after months of investigating alternatives to the Peace Corps, we had to concede that, for the time being at least, there are limited opportunities for couples to volunteer together. As the leading edge of the Baby Boom, we have always been the ones to come up against expectations that no longer fit our circumstances, and this seems to be another case of it.

Then one morning, Lee, putting aside her own disappointment and, to be honest, a bit of anger over being rejected despite the full support of her personal physicians, suggested that I reactivate my application as an individual. She did it because she knew it was important to me, how disappointed I was, and how difficult it would be for her to have me moping around the house for the next 30 years.

She reminded me that our sons and my family are nearby and that our wonderful neighbors and friends are all readily available to assist her if she ever needs help or companionship. She confessed that she really can mow lawns, shovel snow and rake leaves. I had been deceived for 34 years.

She will stay home and bang on currently locked doors until she has made the powers that be understand that a wave of civic-minded boomers will soon be retiring and looking for meaningful volunteer work—and that a large percentage of them would be in pairs, be they married couples, partners, or just friends.The Peace Corp, she said, understands what other agencies may not: that at 25 we are ready to take on the world single-handedly; by 50 we realize that nearly everything is better when it’s shared.

With her assurances and heartfelt blessing, I reactivated my application and three weeks later was invited to serve a tour in Macedonia. Thank you again, sweetie for giving me this opportunity. I love you!

It is now D-Day minus 8, so I will continue on my quest to fit everything I think I’ll “need” into 2 suitcases with a 100lb. limit and a 107 inch total dimension (H+L+W) + (H+W+H).

Here We Go – The Birth of a Blog.

As I understand it, there are approximately 8000 Peace Corps Volunteers stationed around the world in 2008. The average age, as I understand it, is 26. About 6% of the volunteers have ripened to the age of 50. I am one of those 6%’ers.

The intent of this blog has several purposes. My horrendously slow keyboarding skills would prevent me from responding individually to my family, relatives, and friends on a scheduled basis. A regular account of what’s happening will keep those who are truly interested, informed. I can therefore offend no one for failing to respond to an e-mail.

A second purpose of this blog is to report a Peace Corps experience through the eyes of a senior volunteer or as I like to refer to us , as a LEEP (Life Experience Endowed Person)**. Being in the vanguard of the baby boomer generation (Class of ’46), my expectations, concerns, frustrations, and perceived successes will most likely be different from those of a 26 year old. Perhaps other LEEP’s contemplating volunteering will gain some insights by reading about my experiences.

Another reason for writing this blog is to educate readers about the people of Macedonia as I am learning about them. Let’s face it, how many Americans could tell you where Macedonia is located?

Finally, how cool is it to say, “Check out my blog”.

It is now D-Day minus 11, so I will continue on my quest to fit everything I think I’ll “need” into 2 suitcases with a 100lb. limit and a 107 inch total dimension[ (H+L+W) * 2].

**Please let me know if you can come up with a better acronym.