-Note:: This entry was written on June 14, but was not posted until a couple weeks later. see next entry for more up-to-date information.-
So the past couple weeks have been pretty significant. Two weeks ago Tuesday, I got a call and email from my placement officer. Unlike the medical clearance office, this guy worked quick. IMMEDIATELY after I was medically cleared, he sent me an email with an 'unofficial' invitation to serve in Benin. The deadline for him to send out the invitation was the next day (6 weeks before the departure date). Last week, I officially accepted my invitation, and I am now officially a Peace Corps Volunteer! I guess. (I will feel more legit saying this once I am actually sworn in).
The assignment is to serve as a Community Health Advisor, with an emphasis on maternal and infantile health and nutrition. And, as per usual in Africa, to help with Malaria and the AIDS/HIV epedemic. I was told I need to apply for a visa and a new no-fee (govt. worker) passport ASAP. I have yet to do that, as I am awaiting the mail to deliver my birth certificate from my mom. Hopefully that will get done in time since a falure to get this passport in time will result in me not being allowed to go.
July 14-16 is my staging date, where I fly into Philidelphia where I meet the rest of my Benin group and listen to a couple lectures about being a Peace Corps Volunteer. Then on the 16th I say goodbye to the US of A and jet over to Porto Novo, Benin to begin training.
In terms of employment: back in September when I was looking for jobs, me and my employers had an understanding that my employment was to terminate in mid-June. Since one of my jobs is at an Elementary School, this is still the case. My private employer (the real estate broker), upon hearing about the ambiguity of my departure date circa about a month ago, agreed to keep me through the summer. However, once I told her I was leaving in July, she changed her mind and decided it would just be easier to have me cease employment with her mid-June again. So long story short: I am ending both of my jobs at the end of this week. This seems pretty exciting to me, because it will give me a solid month to relax, live up some of our first-world comforts, and enjoy the So-Cal sun while I still can. But more importantly, it will also give me a decent amount of time to camp out in the UCLA libraries to study French, Benin, and infant mortality rates.
Despite my excitement of my month-long guilt-free vacation, I am felling pretty stressed out with all that I have to do from now until I have to leave. There is a whole packet full of paperwork I need to do. I have to cross my fingers that the visa and passport will be ready. I have to take several last-minute trips with friends. I need to buy supplies. I need to make travel arrangements. I need to apply for credit deferments and insure my posessions I'm bringing to Africa. I need to find a subletter from July - Sept. I need to watch the rest of the episodes of Lost I havent seen yet. So much stuff to in only 4 weeks - stressing me out. But at least it's finally happening.
So the past couple weeks have been pretty significant. Two weeks ago Tuesday, I got a call and email from my placement officer. Unlike the medical clearance office, this guy worked quick. IMMEDIATELY after I was medically cleared, he sent me an email with an 'unofficial' invitation to serve in Benin. The deadline for him to send out the invitation was the next day (6 weeks before the departure date). Last week, I officially accepted my invitation, and I am now officially a Peace Corps Volunteer! I guess. (I will feel more legit saying this once I am actually sworn in).
The assignment is to serve as a Community Health Advisor, with an emphasis on maternal and infantile health and nutrition. And, as per usual in Africa, to help with Malaria and the AIDS/HIV epedemic. I was told I need to apply for a visa and a new no-fee (govt. worker) passport ASAP. I have yet to do that, as I am awaiting the mail to deliver my birth certificate from my mom. Hopefully that will get done in time since a falure to get this passport in time will result in me not being allowed to go.
July 14-16 is my staging date, where I fly into Philidelphia where I meet the rest of my Benin group and listen to a couple lectures about being a Peace Corps Volunteer. Then on the 16th I say goodbye to the US of A and jet over to Porto Novo, Benin to begin training.
In terms of employment: back in September when I was looking for jobs, me and my employers had an understanding that my employment was to terminate in mid-June. Since one of my jobs is at an Elementary School, this is still the case. My private employer (the real estate broker), upon hearing about the ambiguity of my departure date circa about a month ago, agreed to keep me through the summer. However, once I told her I was leaving in July, she changed her mind and decided it would just be easier to have me cease employment with her mid-June again. So long story short: I am ending both of my jobs at the end of this week. This seems pretty exciting to me, because it will give me a solid month to relax, live up some of our first-world comforts, and enjoy the So-Cal sun while I still can. But more importantly, it will also give me a decent amount of time to camp out in the UCLA libraries to study French, Benin, and infant mortality rates.
Despite my excitement of my month-long guilt-free vacation, I am felling pretty stressed out with all that I have to do from now until I have to leave. There is a whole packet full of paperwork I need to do. I have to cross my fingers that the visa and passport will be ready. I have to take several last-minute trips with friends. I need to buy supplies. I need to make travel arrangements. I need to apply for credit deferments and insure my posessions I'm bringing to Africa. I need to find a subletter from July - Sept. I need to watch the rest of the episodes of Lost I havent seen yet. So much stuff to in only 4 weeks - stressing me out. But at least it's finally happening.
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