Donayre, who moved from Cambridge to Allston in September, is originally from Imperial Beach, Calif. He joined the Army 19 days after his high school graduation in July 1991. The Army gave him order to his life and the ability to travel. “I started out as at terrible soldier I thought, but perseverance sort of allowed me to become a good soldier at times,” Donayre said. “But even mediocre soldiers can have moments of greatness.” Four-and-a-half years later, he left the Army and went on to receive his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history. In 2003, he volunteered with the Peace Corps and taught English at a university in Moldova, a small country in the former Soviet Union. He chose Moldova in part because his studies had focused on modern Europe and the Soviet Union. Friends describe Donayre as laid back and a good listener to friends. Peter Weldon, one of Donayre’s oldest Army buddies, remembers him speaking like a surfer, saying “dude” a lot. Weldon, who now lives in Virginia, recalled firsthand a lot of Donayre’s stories. The friends still talk frequently. Weldon wasn’t surprised that Donayre decided to go into the Peace Corps. “It was a Rob thing to do. He has his own feeling, kind of an independent thing, like ‘I kind of want to go to the Peace Corps’ and the next thing he’s going to the Peace Corps,” Weldon said. “It doesn’t really make sense to anyone else, but to him it makes complete sense, so he might as well do it.”
Robert Donayre writes "What It Means to Serve: From Airborne Ranger to Peace Corps Volunteer"
Local's book chronicles life in Army, Peace Corps
By Elana Zak/Correspondent
Fri Feb 29, 2008, 09:31 AM EST
Allston, Mass. -
The rain brings back a lot of memories for Robert Donayre. It makes the Allston resident think about his time in the U.S. Army, when he slept outside in the rain in Korea. It also reminds the author of his two years in the Peace Corps, where he was grateful for having a roof over his head and remaining dry.
Donayre, 35, shares what it was like to be in both the Army and the Peace Corps in his memoir, “What It Means to Serve: From Airborne Ranger to Peace Corps Volunteer.” Donayre’s first book ties together his unique experience of being in two extremely different groups, one notoriously liberal, the other known as being far more conservative. The book came out in June.
“When I got out of the Army, I thought, one day I’d like to write about my Army experience,” he said. “But I was really put off by that because there are so many books out there about the Army and Army life, and I’d just be one of the dozen or so. But my second year of the Peace Corps … I just woke up one day and thought I can take both sides, both extremes and combine it.”
Donayre, who moved from Cambridge to Allston in September, is originally from Imperial Beach, Calif. He joined the Army 19 days after his high school graduation in July 1991. The Army gave him order to his life and the ability to travel.
“I started out as at terrible soldier I thought, but perseverance sort of allowed me to become a good soldier at times,” Donayre said. “But even mediocre soldiers can have moments of greatness.”
Four-and-a-half years later, he left the Army and went on to receive his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history. In 2003, he volunteered with the Peace Corps and taught English at a university in Moldova, a small country in the former Soviet Union. He chose Moldova in part because his studies had focused on modern Europe and the Soviet Union.
Friends describe Donayre as laid back and a good listener to friends. Peter Weldon, one of Donayre’s oldest Army buddies, remembers him speaking like a surfer, saying “dude” a lot. Weldon, who now lives in Virginia, recalled firsthand a lot of Donayre’s stories. The friends still talk frequently. Weldon wasn’t surprised that Donayre decided to go into the Peace Corps.
“It was a Rob thing to do. He has his own feeling, kind of an independent thing, like ‘I kind of want to go to the Peace Corps’ and the next thing he’s going to the Peace Corps,” Weldon said. “It doesn’t really make sense to anyone else, but to him it makes complete sense, so he might as well do it.”
Donayre met his girlfriend, Julia de la Torre, while both were in training for the Peace Corps. De la Torre, who lives with Donayre, said that she was surprised when she found out that Donayre had also been in the Army.
“You don’t meet a whole lot of people who had been in the Peace Corps that had been in the Army,” she said. “You almost think you go into the Army or you go into the Peace Corps. You don’t think that you go into both.”
Right now, Donayre is working at the New England School of English, where he teaches English as a second language to businesspeople as well as college-age students. He said he would like to eventually become a high school or community college history teacher.
Both the Army and the Peace Corps are experiences Donayre will never forget. From the Army, he learned to be organized and always punctual. In fact, a pet peeve of his is tardiness. The Army helped him deal with other hardships he faced in Moldova, while both experiences help him living in the United States.
“In many cases, I don’t think I would complain as much as somebody else might,” he said. “But I think it’s funny. You come to Starbucks and somebody is really angry because their coffee isn’t warm enough, and you think about the peasant farmer living in Moldova who’s lucky if they grow enough food to eat for the wintertime. It just puts things in perspective.”
