Fears

Since I’ve received my invite there are certain things that have popped into my mind.

1. I hope I didn’t screw up my passport or visa application. I’m usually pretty good at this sort of thing, but when I get nervous my focus on detail gets a little fuzzy. Since I overnighted it to the office I’m sure there’s plenty of time IF I did mess it up, but I’m truly concerned about it.

2. When I go to South Africa I hope I’m not involved in a car accident. That’s been a recurring theme in my reading about Africa. I don’t know the statistics, but the numbers are enough to frighten me.

3. I’m not overly worried about bugs, but I’m concerned about snakes. Yikes. Hopefully I won’t see any of those.

4. Not packing the right things. It’s not like I can go back and get it or get it easily where I’m at.

5. I hope I don’t freak out when I realize I really CAN’T talk to my friends as much as I would like. I can deal with loneliness fine, but I think it’s the lack of control that will bother me the most.

There are positive things that I think about as well:

1. I’ll definitely get a change of scenery.

2. I’m going to be learning a new language! I think that’s awesome.

3. I’m hopeful I’ll teach someone something, and on the other hand I’ll learn new things in return.

4. I’d like to start a club for girls/young women that works on self-esteem and life skills. I don’t know how feasible this is, but it’s something I desire to do.

I’m sure there’s a million other things I haven’t even realized yet.

More about my Invitation

I received my official invitation in the mail yesterday. For non-PC folks, once you receive an invite you have 10 days to accept it or decline it. I will be calling this morning to accept it. I’m so excited!

I’ve been invited to within a community HIV/AIDS outreach program that is located in……………

*drumroll please*

The Republic of South Africa!

I have orientation January 28, 2009 (stateside). After that, I leave for Pretoria, South Africa for training. I’ll be gone for a total of 27 months. I still can’t believe it.

Invited!

It’s official. My toolkit changed today. Now it says:

Congratulations! You have been invited to become a Peace Corps Volunteer. Now what? This Web site is your personal guide to what happens after you have been sent your invitation. Use this site regularly to check your application status, make updates to your contact information, learn more about your assignment area and region, and download information to give to your family and friends.

It doesn’t say where I’m going, or when I’m going yet (it happens this way sometimes). Just the fact that I’m invited has made this day a better one!

All of you that know what I’ve been through this year know that I went through quite a bit to get here. Thanks for reading my blog and being supportive. I’ll post more details once I get them!

Check

I got a check mark pretty much indicating that there are no holds on my placement. For those that aren’t doing the application process for the PC, there is a Nominee Toolkit that each of us has. You get a check mark each time you’ve completed a certain step (medical clearance, legal clearance, etc.) I have ALL of my check marks now. Any day now I should get an invite. I hear that most people don’t even get the placement check mark and that it goes straight to invite. It seems that nominees have different experiences even though we’re all going through the same application process so I don’t really know. Anyhow, I’ll let you know more as it happens!

Placement

I got a call from my PO this morning clarifying some of the things in my file. She asked me about my vegetarianism and what I plan on doing to not become lonely. She also asked me about my tattoos, which I expected, because from what I understand they can be very offensive in some places.

She also asked me more about my volunteering, etc. She didn’t say this outright, but I’m thinking an invite might be around the corner. Then again, I don’t take anything for granted, so right now it’s just wishful thinking. Unfortunately, she also said that I won’t be able to go during the Fall (Oct./Nov./Dec.), and the first possible chance will be in January. It’s not optimal, but seriously, I’m not going to let a couple of months deter me from what I’ve wanted to do for a long time.

She said she’ll be doing a final assessment of my file by the end of this week, and that I’ll probably hear something within the next three three.

I’m just relieved that I’ll finally hear something!

Nervous

Even though I’m seeing lots of invites being announced on PeaceCorps2, I’m also starting to see emails from people that were not invited.

This makes me nervous.

I’ve done everything within my power to try to make myself ‘competitive’ for this process, but I’m afraid it might not be enough. Honestly, I can’t say that I could have done anything more. Some people think, “What if I would have gotten those couple of extra months in of volunteering? What if I would have done X, Y, Z?” I don’t really think it works like that. Personally, I had to work full-time while I was in school (except my last semester), so that didn’t leave much time for interning or a ton of volunteer work. I still participate in volunteer activities, but I’m sure it’s nowhere near the hours that a part-time student/employee could have pulled in.

In approximately two months I should know whether or not I’ll be invited for the program that I was initially nominated for. It’s making me anxious to say the least. I’ve basically put my life on hold just waiting for the POSSIBILITY of getting invited. I hope it hasn’t all been for naught.

I’m still remaining optimistic. After all, this is something I really want to do. Guess we’ll see soon enough!

Birthday

Yay, it’s my birthday. I’m now 32. Whoa!

Anyhow, still no news on ANYTHING. I’ll update once I hear something.

Otherwise, it’s time for me to party like my birthday, because well, IT IS!

Moving update

I’ve moved my laptop to my new digs. I won’t be around much on the weekend, but everything will be back to normal on Monday.

Moving

Hi all,

I will be moving sometime between now and the end of next week so I will not be able to answer any messages between now and then. Good luck to everyone waiting on invites!

Blogs

I think it’s getting to the point where most of us that are waiting for invites are obsessively checking out other people’s blogs to get an idea of who’s been invited, and to where, especially if they are in the same type of program as us. Most of us get the invite ‘emails’ on the PeaceCorps 2 group, but check out the blogs anyway to see what the POs have said, how they said it, how it relates to us, etc. This probably borderlines on a mental illness. LOL!

I hate the waiting part, not because I’m not good at waiting, but since it’s putting my whole life on hold. I’m jobless at the moment, so I’d really like to know when/if I’ll be going. It’d really set my mind at ease. If I’m going, I can figure out a way to budget everything until I’m scheduled to go. If I’m not, I will need to find my next long term job. I hate that my resume is sitting empty, but at the same time it’s hard to get a job when you might be leaving in the next three months.

Some days it makes me want to pull my hair out.