1+ years abroad

“Whatcha got ain’t nothin new. This country’s hard on people, you can’t stop what’s coming, it ain’t all waiting on you. That’s vanity.” – Ellis in No Country for Old Men

It has now been over a year since I left the greatest city human history has ever seen, Cincinnati, left behind my friends and family whom I have relied on my entire life, and never spent more than a month or two at a time away from, and embarked on this experience. Seeing the new volunteers come in, reminded me how distant that now seems to me. I could really only see slivers of myself in the new arrivals, barely able to remember what it felt like for Moldova to be “new and exciting”. I will admit to a bit of envy. They simply exude hope and excitement because of all the possibilities they think they have, all the challenges they feel they will be able to overcome. They have the luxuries of imagination that come with new beginnings. We all know, however, reality can be a hard task master. Challenges are easier to tackle in theory than practice, and our minds, even those of the most cynical person, always cling to the hope of a better tomorrow. At some point though, it passes you. The opportunities slip through your hands like sand until you are left clutching the few grains that make up your experiences. It’s the essence of Ellis’s message to us. There can be moments that seem filled with boundless potential, but those moments don’t wait on you, and time can move quicker than we think. You have to start making choices, and as soon as you do, all that opportunity that seemed limitless is behind you. The world has moved forward, and all those opportunities belong to another.

I am not really trying to make any point with this post specifically about my Peace Corps experience. It may just be an age thing, though I know I am still a young’n in many of your eyes. It’s just the realization that the sand is starting to slip through my hands a bit. All those opportunities that float around in your head, all those things you could be, could do…they won’t wait forever. That’s vanity.

Anyway, can’t wait to see you all a year from now. 1 year has felt like too much time away, I can’t imagine how 2 will feel.