Finally finished with staging! It wasn't too long, and they did a very good job of making what could have been boring information interesting. We leave for the airport bright and early tomorrow morning, so I will post again later! Write me emails! :-)

I finally have something new to post here! I now have an actual time that I'm leaving--how weird.

September 5, 2006

Atlanta to Miami, 7:14-9:03am

September 7, 2006

Miami to Santo Domingo, 10:35- 12:45

Wow, 5 weeks from tomorrow I will be in Miami for staging.

I am officially moved out of my apartment (as of 4am today); after a ridiculously slow and disorganized moving process, I'm just happy it's done. Today is my last day of work (and I'm spending my time updating blogger), and then tonight I am officially moving in with my parents for 5 weeks. My kitties are already over there, along with my stuff. My sister is moving out of her apartment today, spending the night at my parents' house, and then moving to Virginia in the morning.

Lots of things are changing, but none of it seems real yet. It feels like the world is moving and changing around me and I'm just sitting here and watching things move. Even though I'm one of the ones doing the moving. That makes no sense.

Anyway, we're supposed to get our staging packets about a month before we are supposed to leave, so I'm thinking any day now. I hope it comes before I go to Ohio. Maybe flight reservations will make it seem more real :-).

During the moving process I packed my "Peace Corps stuff" in the luggage that I will be bringing. Seeing as how I wasn't really going for neatness or efficiency, it seems like most everything that I want to bring will fit, but I really need to sort through all my stuff, get it (and myself) organized, and get rid of some more stuff. A part of me tells me that I don't need to keep all these things, and then another part of me reminds me that if I get rid of all of it, then I won't have any stuff when I get back! So far I've been siding with the first me. The cruel irony would be if I ended up ET-ing (early terminating, i.e. quitting) very early on, and I will have gotten rid of all of my stuff for like 2 months worth of training. Ha! Let's hope that doesn't happen, for more reasons than that one. Either way, when I get back I will have a reasonably clean slate as far as stuff goes, and that's good.

It looks like I'll have a fairly busy month "off." For the next few days I want to sort through the stuff I brought home and hopefully get rid of more things. On Friday night Katie will probably come and hang out until Saturday. On Sunday morning my mom and I are leaving for Ohio, where we will visit a host of relatives. We'll get back on the 12th; on the 15th I'm taking Justin to the aquarium for his birthday, and I might go again within that couple of days with my brother, before he starts jury duty. And then from August 18th through 22nd I'll be in Florida with Jason. After that it's crunch time--I need to sell the car and the computer. That's probably about when all of these people who want to throw parties will throw parties that I will be required to attend. :-) Hopefully I'll have a decent amount of time to hang out with friends, too.

So that's the update. Now is probably not the best time to be writing an update, as I am going on 2.5 hours of sleep, but hey, incoherence is just a part of my charm!

Edited: March 28, 2006 (yeah, to add more stuff)

This is looking pretty long...I guess I should pare it down a little. Luckily a lot of the things are small.

Clothes

-Bras/sport bras-Underwear-Socks-Pajama pants/shorts-Tank tops/halter tanks-Work shirts (button-down, nicer t-shirts/sleeveless)-Sweater-Light jeans-Linen pants-Skirts-Bathing suits-Chacos-Tennis shoes-Hiking boots-Dress sandals-Rain coat (rain pants?)

-Hat-Lots o' bandanas

Toiletries

-Multivitamins-Prescriptions (3 months or 6 months?)

-Dr. Bronner's-Potion 9-Hairbands-Shower caps-Facewash-Face spot treatment-Deoderant-Toothbrush-Toothpaste-Floss-Lotion-Face lotion-SUNBLOCK-Aloe-Razors-Baby oil-Emergency roll of TP-Wet wipes

-Make-up (liquid powder and mascara)-Mirror-Nail kit with good tweezers-Q-tips-Wide-tooth comb-Straightening iron?-Insect repellant with DEET-Super-towel-Hand towel-Beach towel

Tools

-Duct tape-Zip-lock bags-Tool kit-Batteries/solar charger-Flashlight(s)-Headlamp-Radio?-Rope/bungee cord?-Wall hooks-Scotch tape-Sewing kit w/safety pins

-Multi-tool/Swiss Army knife-Can/bottle opener-Locks-2 Nalgene bottles-Power converters (w/surge protector and/or power strip?)

-Gardening gloves

Stuff

-Paper-Envelopes-Pens/pencils-Stamps-Updated address book-Journal-Teflon pan-Potholders-Measuring cups/spoons-Homestay gifts... (T-shirt from The Grill, bubbles, GA baseballs, etc.)

-Computer + power cord-CD-Rs-DVDs-MP3 player-Pictures-Planner-Map(s)-Calendar-Books (ACIM, sudoku, crochet, Esperanto, Spanish-English dictionary, other)-Small games-Spices-RANCH DRESSING

-Sheets/sleep sheet-Umbrella-Knitting needles-Crochet hooks-YarnStuff that could possibly be sent later-Straightening iron-Yarn-Knitting needles-Crochet hooks-Spices-Foods-Calendar-Esperanto book-Lotion-Measuring cup/spoons-(more) Ranch dressing

So I promised a description of my invitation, and here it is. I received my invitation packet on Wednesday, March 15, 2006. It took a painful 6 days to reach my house in Athens, GA from Washington D.C.. But it's here and that's all that matters.

Country: Dominican Republic

Program: Healthy Families

Job Title: Community Health/Health Nutrition Extensionist

Dates of Service: November 22, 2006-November 21, 2008*

Orientation Dates: Septemner 5-6, 2006 (Miami)*

Pre-Service Training (in Dominican Republic): September 7-November 22, 2006*

*dates subject to change

Three Primary Goals:

(1) Improving mothers' nutritional practices to reduce malnutrition among children under 5 years of age

(2) Improving reproductive health practices among women in order to reduce the occurrence of breast and cervical-uterine cancer

(3) Educating young people to practice safe sex and prevent HIV/AIDS transmission

Sounds good to me! I'm not yet clear on whether Healthy Families is a program, an organization, an NGO, or what, but I'm sure all of the details will become clearer when I get there. Right now I'm just happy to know. My invitation packet includes my little assignment description, a whole lot of forms (gov't passport, visas, taxes, etc.), a Peace Corps volunteer handbook, and a CD-ROM with more information on the DR. Needless to say, I didn't get a whole lot else done in the day or two after I received the packet.

I have to call my placement officer (PO) within 10 days of receiving the packet to accept (or reject) my invitation. I haven't done it yet, I think because it's just so final. But I have no real reason not to accept the invitation, so I will call on Monday to accept. And that will be that!

The Peace Corps application process is infamous for it's length, vagueness, tediousness, etc. They recommend that you apply up to a year before you are available to leave, and for many people the process takes even longer. Here is a timeline of my application process:

08/15/05--Submitted Peace Corps application and health assessment online

08/17/05--Received call from PC recruiter; discussed next steps in the process

08/22/05--Received fingerprint/background check form. Got fingerprints made and mailed everything back to the recruiter.

08/23/05--All recommendations are officially complete.

08/25/05--Received call from PC recruiter and scheduled interview.

08/29/05--11:30am-interview at the PC headquarters in ATL; 5:30pm-received call from recruiter with nomination (Public health education/health degreed, Spanish-speaking C/S America, September 2006)

09/12/05--Received medical packet and made appointments

09/13/05-11/01/05--Went to 11 different doctor/dentist/opthamologist appointments to complete required medical paperwork.

11/01/05--Made copies and mailed that medical packet to D.C.!

11/08/05--Received dental paperwork back with a note saying that I needed to have a "shadow" drilled and filled.

12/13/05--Received medical clearance!

01/12/06--Received dental clearance

03/08/06--Received placement clearance

03/15/06--Received invitation to the Dominican Republic, leaving September 5, 2006!!!

Hello anyone and everyone reading. This is the journal that I've created to document my experiences in (and leading up to) my life in the Peace Corps.

First, the title. I remember something that my sister said a long time ago..."I can't live my whole live in Spanish!" Well, it looks like that's what I'll be doing for a while. As of September, anyway!

Background

As I was completing my B.A. in anthropology at the University of Georgia, I decided that I wanted to join the Peace Corps. The idea was put into my head by a friend that I met at archaeology field school, Jason, who is now in Bulgaria. Before that I hadn't really realized that it was an option, but the more I thought about it and researched it, the more perfect it sounded. So I put in my application, interviewed, and received my nomination to work as a health extension volunteer in the Middle East/North Africa (most likely Jordan), leaving in June of 2004...

So you may wonder, why am I starting this journal now? What on earth took me so long?! And shouldn't I be done and on my way home by now? Well, I got a little nervous about the whole thing, and let some other nervous people help to convince me not to go. I wasn't positive that that was what I wanted to do just yet, and since I was so young when I graduated (19 years), I seriously doubted my effectiveness as a volunteer teaching women about reproductive health. On top of that, I was in a relationship at the time, and all together these factors led me to decide that maybe that wasn't the right time for that.

So I went to graduate school instead! So I've been back at UGA for the past two years working on my master's. I study health promotion and behavior and work as a research assistant in the field of traffic safety. In August of 2005 I came to the conclusion that I was ready. I had been thinking about the PC again for a few months, and I felt confident that this was the right decision. I submitted my new application in mid-August, but the only person I told was Colleen. I wanted to make sure that this was what I wanted to do so that (a) I wouldn't have to tell people later on that I had changed my mind, and (b) I would be very sure about my decision so that nobody would be able to talk me out of it.

Now it's March of 2006. Seven months later I finally have an invitation in hand. I am going to the Dominican Republic to work in community health; I leave ATL on September 5th and spend two days in Miami for staging (orientation, i.e. shots), and then leave for the DR on September 7th.

So now you know! Coming up: application timeline, and invitation/assignment details.