My email to friends and family spreading the news...

In case you were somehow left off of this email chain, I sent out this long and drawn out, yet I hope all encompasing email to my friends and family last week. I have received so much love and encouragement from so many of you, it makes me feel truly blessed. So, thank you, and I promise I will respond just as soon as I get the chance!

Hello all,
*If you are receiving this email and A) don't know who the hell Erin
Flynn is or B) don't really care stop reading now and save yourself
the time and energy! For the rest of you....
I hope this email finds you in good health wherever you are in the
world. For many of you, it has been a long time (probably too long)
since we last spoke. For that, I must apologize. Well, there is no
time like the present to make amends, and I have some news I would
like to share with you all. Some of you may have already heard this,
maybe not even from me, as news has a way of spreading faster than I
can keep up with...
I have been invited to serve as a volunteer of the United States
government with the Peace Corps. I will be departing on June 11th to
spend the following 27 months of my life living in a small country in
Eastern Europe called Moldova. The invitation officially arrived last
Friday and I called to accept the position of an English Language
teacher just a couple days ago. This decision was not an easy one, and
in fact was probably the hardest decision I have ever had to make. You
see, it was never the work or "the call to service" that the peace
corps enacts that had me questioning this decision. As I have come to
realize, I was born to do this kind of work. My heart is steering me
down a path, and although long and perhaps a little bumpy at times, I
know it is leading in the right direction. The hardest part about this
decision, and what will I'm sure be the hardest part of living the
next 27 months of my life, is leaving you all behind. The idea of
missing your weddings, the births of your children, new jobs, new
homes, laughter, smiles, tears.....LIFE!!!! Well, it is almost enough
to send me running in the opposite direction...almost.
Ultimately, I couldn't escape my destiny and I had to give in and
follow my heart. I don't think there is ever a good time to pick up
and leave your loved ones behind for 27 months, so I guess now is as
good as any. I'm sure many of you are thinking oh this is just another
crazy Erin idea, just like picking up and moving to Thailand for 8
months. As my mother said when I told her I was accepted, "I thought
you were just looking for a way to travel the world, I didn't think
you would actually follow through with this!" And don't get me wrong,
for those of you who know, they don't call it the travel bug for
nothing. Once you catch it, I don't think you ever truly recover. And
yes, this will be an amazing opportunity to learn another part of the
world as I will be living there for over two years. Yet, it is so much
more than a free ticket abroad. When I started this process over a
year ago, I'm not really sure that I understood that. I was so eager
to be placed somewhere so I could get out of the craziness that is New
York City, and to hit the road again. Never in a million years did I
think that I would be moving to a former Soviet bloc nation that is
likened to Minnesota in terms of weather for god's sake! If you know
me, you know about my love affair with all things tropical! I pictured
something a little more like a page out of the Thailand chapter of my
life...you know a thatched roof hut on stilts with the waves crashing
underneath your bed when you sleep at night kind of thing. Well, it
took a year and a lot of tough love from the Peace Corps to make me
realize that they are not my travel agent. If I wanted to take a year
off and go travel the world, then that is exactly what I could have
and should have done. As I learned in Thailand, it's not just about
seeing the world. Yes, the people that I have met and the culture and
the customs of every place I have been other than my home have taught
me some of the most important lessons that life has shown me yet. But
it's not only about me. I never have been and never will be the kind
of person who is content spending my life on the beach. It's ok for a
little while, but I need more. I need to know that I am using the
gifts that God and my parents have given me to do my part in making
the world a better place for people who don't have it as good as me.
So, eventually I came to understand what the peace corps is really
about, and once this happened I could have cared less if they placed
me in the north pole! My commitment is to the Peace Corps and to
fulfilling its mission, and I intend to carry out this mission with
all the passion and vigor that I possess. I have known for a long
time now that corporate America was never going to provide me with the
opportunities that I was looking for. I was going about it all the
wrong way. After 5 years of trying, I'm done struggling. Again, I need
more. I now realize that I had to go through the last five years in
order to come to the place I am at right now. I had to try a career in
law. Try and fail at an attempt at law school. Give all of that up and
move to Thailand and become a teacher, only to give all of that up,
and head back to the office life at a financial institution. The
failures and successes of all these years have been many, and I think
that it finally makes sense. For me, a 9 - 6 desk job is never going
to make me happy. Yes, it may make me successful and prosperous, but I
have finally come to understand what success means to me. Happiness.
Fulfillment. A sense of accomplishment. Making a difference in peoples
lives. Out of all the lessons I have learned, I think this is the most
important one.
Ok,ok, I am stepping down from my soap box. When I first started
considering the Peace Corps I attended an information session here in
Manhattan about a year and a half ago. I remember having a
conversation with a friend afterwards who said "don't you think this
is a little idealistic". The answer is yes, I do. I know that I am
being an idealist. But I don't care. I would rather walk around with
my head in the clouds, than with my butt glued to a chair and my eyes
fixed on a computer screen all day. If I am living in a bubble that
needs to burst, I am sure that will happen the moment I step off of
that plane. After all, the unofficial motto of the Peace Corps is
"This is the toughest job you'll ever love." They don't say that for
nothing. In conclusion, I leave you with the facts.
***MOLDOVA****
*Note: I am not a historian; please forgive me for any inaccuracies in
this information!
Moldova is a small country situated in the former communist bloc in
Eastern Europe between the Ukraine and Romania. The official language
is Romanian, but Russian is also spoken regularly. I will most likely
be learning both. Moldova as it is known today, did not regain it's
indolence until 1991. As many of the former communist countries, it
has struggled to rebuild itself as a democratic nation. Moldova is in
fact the poorest country in Europe, with a GDP per capita of 812 USD
in 2005. That is not to say that they are not a country rich in
resources. In fact, Moldova was once known as "The garden of the
Soviet Union." As my welcome book states, it is a country with fertile
soils and bountiful sunshine. There are a few major, and several minor
rivers in a country that seems to me to be about the size of New
Hampshire. About half of all jobs and all money generated in Moldova
come from the agriculture industry. I have read stories of vegetable
gardens likened to Garden of Eden and grape vines growing wild in your
front yard. This leads me to what seems to be the second and third
best resources of Moldova - the wine and the people. Apparently, home
made wine is drunk like water every night at a table big enough to fit
one's entire extended family which usually shares one roof, three and
sometimes four generations living together. The only thing that could
outshine the quality of this wine is that of the company. They are a
people who pride themselves in hospitality, which is rare to find in a
country of such poverty. The food apparently is delicious as well. I
like the sound of this and think I will fit in just fine! My mom says
that she pictures a scene out of "My big fat Greek wedding"...you
don't eat meat? Ok - I'll make lamb! I don't think she is that far
off! Other than drinking wine the favorite pastimes are stopping by
and visiting with friends, watching TV, or playing games. As I am sure
there are only so many Russian soap operas I can stomach, I hope that
my socializing skills will serve me well and that I will make friends
quickly.
Ok, now for the logistics. I leave June 10th and spend two days in
Philadelphia at a pre-staging event. Then we all hop on a plane and
fly to the capital city of Chisinau. From there we will be split up
into small groups and head to various smaller towns or villages
throughout the country where we will spend three months living with a
host family during our pre-placement training. For these three months
we will attend extensive language, job, and culture training everyday.
During those three months the Peace Corps staff will evaluate our
skills and personalities in order to properly place us at a school. At
the end of these three months I will be told where my permanent job
placement is, and will head there to begin school on September 1st.
For the first six months (or maybe three I'm not sure) I will be
required to live with another host family. After this time I can
choose to move out on my own if I can find a place that meets Peace
Corps standards. I guess a lot of people choose to stay with their
host families. I am feeling a little old for this, but we will see
what happens. In any event I will officially be sworn in as a
government employee/volunteer/whatever of the Peace Corps right before
I begin my placement. I guess they want to make sure you make it
through the first three months! From then on I will be a full time
teacher. They said they would try to place me with primary school
students, but officially the ages range from 11 - 18. As I said, I
won't know my placement until after the training is over. From what I
understand there are sort of three possibilities. First, I would be
placed in the capital city of about half a million people in a country
of only 4 million with all the modern day comforts of home. Second, I
would be placed in a smaller town, but somewhere that will most likely
have electricity, heat, running water, and a town center. Third, I
will be placed in a village without paved roads, in a home without
running water but most likely with electricity. In the last case phone
and internet access are not guaranteed. The good news is that you can
get anywhere in the country in about four hours, so I will never be
that far out of reach. I'm not sure which option I am hoping for as
each has its distinct advantages and disadvantages. We will see what
happens. The school calendar is pretty similar to what a teacher would
see in the states. Lots of holidays and the summer off, although I
think I have to run language camps or something during the summer and
don't get it off. Plus I get two days of vacation a month from the
Peace Corps. I think I have to wait to use those when school is out of
session although it's not real clear. In any event lots of opportunity
to travel and there are a lot of places that are really high on my
list. My family is happy because they want to plan a vacation in the
Greek Isles.ooh la la! I hope that I will make it back to the States
once, maybe even twice during my 27 months, although I have NO idea
how I will pay for it. It is not cheap! Keeping that in mind, if any
of you are planning major life events such as weddings, bat mitzvahs
or child births, can I ask you to please consolidate these into as
large of groups as possible? If I am coming home I will need to get in
all in!
Alright, if you are still with me, congratulations I am done writing
the longest email I have ever written! I leave you with one last
tidbit of information. I have decided to maintain a blog while I am
away which I will hopefully be able to update on a regular basis. Here
is the link, http://eringoestomoldova.blogspot.com/
I'll probably be writing in it from time to time over the next few
months as I reflect on and prepare for the trip of my life! Check it
out if you can!
Thanks for listening! Much love!
Peace,
Erin