178. Excuse me, where are you from?

I was in a microbus (has about 20 seats) at the bus station waiting to leave to visit a fellow volunteer’s site.  The bus was almost full.  Two girls around 20 years old get onto the bus and one said, “O my God” in English with an accent.  I look at her and we made eye contact, I think she was a little embarrassed because she knew that I understood what she said.

Even if I dressed like a Moldova and spoke perfect Romanian, I bet that Moldovans would still be able to tell that I was not Moldova.  On that day I was wearing a coat I bought in Moldova but I was wearing an Ohio State beanie and sporting a thin goatee.  The facial have defiantly gave me away, very few Moldovans have facial hair, the majority can grow them but it is not fashionable here.

A little while into the trip the two girls were talking to each other.  I could not quite hear everything, but I think they were trying to guess where I was from/what languages I know.  I heard them mention German and French.  A few minutes after that the one sitting next to me says, “Excuse me, where are you from?” in English.

I told them I was a Peace Corps volunteer from America.  She then said, “O, we were in America this summer.”  I asked where and she replied, “Hersey, Pennsylvania.”  I told her I knew where that I was and want to visit, but I have not yet.  She said that I should visit because it is, “The sweetest place on earth.”

This conversation reminded me of a story I read about how the Hershey Chocolate Company and how it had many foreigners working for them and how they were not paid very well (New York Times Article).  I hope that these girls were paid decent and that the company has fixed these problems.