In Search of the Elusive Peace Corps Moment

About the Book

"HILARIOUS!!"
-Kim Brant, Valley Village, California

"The most delightful thing I have read in years, maybe longer"
-Mikk Hinnov, Bridgewater, New Jersey

From the moment the Aeroflot Tupolev-134 hit the tarmac, Douglas Wells knew his life would never be the same. As he stared in awe at the scores of Soviet military aircrafts jammed into the tiny Riga International Airport he was decidedly less sure about whether joining the first group of Peace Corps Volunteers to serve in the former Soviet Union was the best decision of his life or his worst mistake. Was turning his back on a budding career as an accountant to work as an agricultural advisor in Estonia adventurous or foolhardy? And would he ever be able to fit into this totally alien environment? Armed with 100 pounds of luggage, a fishing pole, and a silent prayer, Douglas Wells sets out to find what had been missing in his life for many years, in search of adventure, in search of romance, in search of his "Peace Corps Moment."

In Search of the Elusive Peace Corps Moment ~ Destination: Estonia is an anthology of “fish out of water” stories about a young man from America’s heartland struggling to find a place for himself in post-Soviet Estonia. Motivated by a will to make a difference in the world, he quickly finds out that doing so is much more difficult than he expected. Throughout his frustrations Douglas is able to maintain a sense of humor about the cultural gaps that must be bridged. Whether he is wrestling a prized sheep named Yeltsin, being stalked by an overzealous traffic cop armed with a new radar gun received as humanitarian aid from Texas, or cringing as a reluctant passenger in a car that is being driven 17 miles across the icy surface of the frozen Baltic Sea, Douglas never fails to recognize the irony of each situation, while at the same time laughing over his own angst.

As Wells carries on the search for his elusive "Peace Corps Moment", he stumbles his way into some extraordinary events. He receives a commendation from the Estonian President for having recovered a national treasure that had been lost for 50 years, writes a song that miraculously finds itself in the number 1 spot on the Estonian pop charts, and marries the woman of his dreams. For many people, any one of these events might be considered life-defining, but in the end Douglas Wells recognizes that the true impact he made as a Peace Corps Volunteer extends far beyond his material accomplishments.

About the Author

We all have our fantasies when we are young. We dream about what we want to be when we grow up and how we will became rich, or famous, or somehow change the world. Douglas Wells was no exception. Growing up in Omaha, Nebraska in the 60´s and 70´s, he dreamed of being a rock star and played in countless garage bands. He wrote dozens of songs and made numerous basement tapes, never dissuaded by the fact that no famous rock bands ever came from Omaha, or that the real music industry existed 1,500 miles away. He did his best to ignore his parents’ insistence that he "get a real job" and continued playing and writing songs all through high school.

After graduating from Westside High School in 1981, he had to move out of his parent´s house and that meant finding a job to support himself and his music habit. He went to Dallas, Texas where he worked in a lumberyard by day and practiced in a rental garage by night. After a year and a half of living in abject poverty, his parents finally convinced him to come back and attend the University of Nebraska. Seeing this as another opportunity to continue his pursuit of "The Dream", he studied business to satisfy his parents while putting together another band that he was sure would go all the way this time. Unfortunately, graduation came before the big record deal and once again, Douglas was tossed back into the real world.

He soon found that a Bachelor´s Degree was no guarantee of a good job and after weeks of pounding the streets of Omaha with hundreds of other business grads, he was on the brink of despair. Luckily, his parent´s engineering firm had a need for a bookkeeper so he took the job and spent five years crunching numbers and printing financial reports. During that time, he hooked up with a Country Rock band and so began a double life; bean counter during the week and stage musician on the weekends. But even Douglas´ boundless optimism began to fade after the weekends in the smoky, small-town bars, followed by harsh Monday mornings under the fluorescent lights of the office, began to blur together.

Clearly it was time for a change, but where to go? After many nights spent drinking and brooding, Douglas decided to follow the path of his Uncle, who was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the 60´s. Ever the idealist, Douglas signed up for a two-year stint in 1992 and was assigned to a newly established post in Estonia. He found himself once again searching, this time for the elusive "Peace Corps Moment" that is the subject of this book.

The Peace Corps service on the remote island of Hiiumaa led to two years as a United Nations Volunteer in Estonia´s capital, Tallinn. It was there that he caught the eye of the Estonian Foreign Ministry and was offered a job as an administrator at the Estonian Embassy in Washington. Douglas spent more than a year there while working his way through the U.S. Foreign Service examination process. Now, he is once again overseas in the service of the U.S. State Department.

As a going away present (or parting shot, depending on how you look at it), the Hiiumaa folks created a gently satirical "Douglas Site" at www.hiiumaa.ee/douglas.