MOROCCO!!

September 13. Staging.

September 15. MOROCCO!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

R.

Ruth and the Tortured Phone Call

It's been a long while since my last post, mostly because there's not been a whole heck of a lot of movement when it comes to Peace Corps things (as a side note, I'm also the only one who even knows about this blog as yet, so who's counting?) But, wheels are finally in motion. Yippee!

For a departure date in August, I was expecting to have heard something mid-June, which came and went. I spoke with my PO's assistant in DC and she told me to check back at the end of June. Still no word. In early July I was out of town, and upon getting back, decided I would lay off the pestering for a couple of weeks so that I didn't really annoy them. And then I got an email from my placement officer, requesting a final phone interview. July 16th.

So, July 16th, 1.30 pm, sweaty palms and all, I spoke with my PO, who had a number of questions, along the lines of how my volunteering had been going, how friends and family were feeling about my application, and what my motivation for applying was. Then some specific questions about my application, departure dates (mine changed during my application). Then, I was asked how I felt about a region different from the one I was originally nominated for - the Middle East, instead of West Africa. Obviously the placement that I was originally nominated for with the mid-August departure date had gone to someone else, but my PO had something else in mind for me, and was trying to suss out whether I would accept if it were offered to me. I did manage to find out the departure date, which would be the second week of September.

And apparently I was full of the right answers that Friday! I was told that I could expect to receive an update in the "next week or two." Come Tuesday (7/20) morning, I wake to a waiting email that my online toolkit/application status has been updated. I login, and the only thing I see is "Congratulations! You have been invited to become a Peace Corps Volunteer." But no concrete details. But yay!

I have a hunch which country I will be placed in, and doing some sleuthing online has reinforced that - I've found that peacecorpswiki.org is a great resource for finding staging dates and cities, and the country welcome books. Trying not to get too excited until I have a piece of paper in my hand, but I can hope.

Alors, the point I'm at now is that an invitation has been sent out, on July 19th, but I have to wait until that fateful package reaches my mailbox to find out where and exactly when. There's nothing like leaving those little details out to make a girl nervous. To the point of even bothering to call FedEx to see if they have a package scheduled to deliver to my house. I feel a little stalker-ish.

I called my friend in upstate NY, who promptly made up a song (and I imagine a dance, too) on the spot, and she followed it up by emailing me the most amazing picture ever, which I will post when I find out what my country is. (The picture is based on my hunch-country, so I'm not going to post it unless I'm right.)

Just a LITTLE bit more waiting! (And then my brain will most likely explode with a) fear and excitement at the same time and b) a list of a million things that will need to get done before leaving.)

Fingers are still crossed - just have to make it through the next couple of days. Until then... let the speculating begin.

R.