The 'Stache

People underestimate or don't give enough credit to all the friends and family members state side who are supporting Peace Corps volunteers.  I know that I wouldn't have made it this far if my support network at home wasn't behind me 100%.  It's funny though- everyone has a different way of showing their support.  Some people promise to read this very blog whenever there's a new a post, others vow to mail care packages to make me feel more at home, some even say they'll come visit me in Uganda.

My younger brother, Grant, is the most unique, of course.  What once started as a joke at the Christmas table has become a quite production.  Grant has vowed to keep a mustache until I come home in support of my Peace Corps service.  I hope I'm not being too hard on Grant here, but I want everyone to be aware that growing a mustache won't necessarily come easy to Grant because his facial hair grows slowly and patchy.  But to make matters more interesting: he is very blonde.  So, once he has his mustache, it tends to look pretty dirty for a while as it grows in or before he uses "Just for Men" to make it a little more bold.  Nonetheless, Grant's going for it.

This morning, the two of us went to "Mr. Balboa," the barber shop on Newport Beach Peninsula who specializes in straight razor shaves.  Grant wanted to do it right by getting an old school shave as his last one for the next 27 months.  Below are pictures to catalogue our adventure.  Did I mention this was done at 8 a.m. so Grant could catch his flight to Australia?  He won't be around for all my final farewells, but he is making his goodbye pretty memorable.

As you can see, he's going to have the dirty look down for sure.  Let me be clear: I never asked him to do anything like this, it was his own idea and willingness to follow through.  It obviously means a lot to me that Grant would wear his support straight on his face.  Besides the encouragement, I'm interested in how he can further bring home my experiences to his group of friends.  As one of the Peace Corps goals, I've been trying to figure out how I'll bring my service and cultural understanding back to the states.  Grant has already been directing people to my blog when they ask about his "Uganda 'Stache," about which he's been telling everybody.

In the end, I want to thank everyone for the never ending support you've all given me so far, and I'm sure I'll continue to rely on you.  But, I wanted to especially acknowledge Grant for his wacky and zany ways.  Aside from all my college friends who I've already been away from for the last nine months (can you believe it?!), Grant will be my first real goodbye.  One week 'til departure, and it's finally hitting me that I'm leaving.