Two days left in February and not much to report here. The neurotic that I am, I sent an email to our placement officer asking if he had any questions. I've been debating sending such an email for that past week or so -- we were told to keep our unsolicited contacts to a minimum as not only could it annoy the Peace Corps staff, but it could also make you look desperate. Anyways, I sent the email...and got an out-of-office response indicating that our guy has been out since Feb. 13th and he won't be back until next week. Looking on the brightside, I guess this gives me a little piece of mind -- now I won't be checking my phone every 15 minutes looking for a missed call nor will I be a madman dashing through our apartment complex to get to our mailbox every evening. At least until next week, that is...
In other news, my Kindle shipped this week! That's right, Kindle 2 (or K2 for all the cool kids) was officially released this past Tuesday. I jumped for joy when I got the email saying that my unit shipped...until I saw the expected arrival date: March 3rd. Wtf? It takes 9 days to get here from Kentucky? Damn that super-saver shipping! How come I couldn't spring the 6 bucks for 3-day UPS?
Again, looking on the brightside, I guess I have something else to engage my neuroses: constantly checking the delivery status of my Kindle as it makes its way from the Heartland to the Southland. As of yesterday, it's in Chino, CA. Hmm, it could possibly come tomorrow...
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Blarg! (Scott)
The other day I went to check the mail, a seemingly inncouous activity, when I saw something that caused my heart to leap into my throat. Stuffed into our little 4"x6" mail slot was a package wrapped in white paper. I thought, this is it! All the events of the past year and half, all the applications, all the questions, all the essays, all the worrying, everything has led to this moment. With nervous hands I reached for the package, brushing aside the bits of junk mail we get on a regular basis. With the package in my now trembling hands, I flipped it over to read the sender's address and -- drum roll -- let out a groan when I saw it was a stupid mailing from the travel agency we used for our honeymoon. They were sending us an "exclusive" book detailing the 600+ hotels they contract with all over the world. I looked at the first entry, which was the Ritz in NYC, and thought "Yeah, right, like we can afford that!" I tossed the book in the trash and walked away, saving my angst for another day...
Still Here (Scott)
No, I haven't forgotten about blogging. It's just that the little high from hearing from our Placement Officer about possibly leaving in June has already worn off. I'm already back to sitting on pins and needles. As the first week of March (which is when our Placement Officer said he'd get back to us) approaches, I find myself more and more anxious to check our little mailbox every afternoon. It's agonizing how the Peace Corps only hands out little tid bits of information at a time. Blast!
In other news, Ashlee has finished planning our trip to Northern California. She has the most wonderful itinerary planned! In fact, I'm thinking she should abandon her quest to be a speech pathologist and pursue a career in travel planning. Don't travel agents get to do a significant amount of travel to conduct research? And don't they get to bring their spouses along for the ride??
This weekend we're going to get Hamish the ol' Hyundai checked out at the car shop to make sure that he's fit to travel the thousand or so miles we'll be putting on him in the next couple of weeks. In addition to Nor Cal, we're also planning on a trip to San Diego to go to the zoo (and Pizzeria Luigi from Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives!), Havasu, and Las Vegas to see some close family. We are also toying with the idea of making a trip to the British Isles. A few weeks ago Aer Lingus was advertising a deal for round-trip airfare to Ireland along with 7 nights stay and a rental car for a very appealing sum. We're also keen on the idea of making a trip to Edinburgh -- but then again, who isn't? Ah, it's tough to be adults and to have to grapple with the need to be responsible. Ashlee has already told me that if she had her way, we'd spend through our entire savings on travel. Oh, wanderlust!
Wanderlust or just something to keep our minds off of the waiting game we've been playing for the past six months...the game that will (hopefully) culiminate with our invitation for service in the next few weeks.
Sorry for the rambling post.
In other news, Ashlee has finished planning our trip to Northern California. She has the most wonderful itinerary planned! In fact, I'm thinking she should abandon her quest to be a speech pathologist and pursue a career in travel planning. Don't travel agents get to do a significant amount of travel to conduct research? And don't they get to bring their spouses along for the ride??
This weekend we're going to get Hamish the ol' Hyundai checked out at the car shop to make sure that he's fit to travel the thousand or so miles we'll be putting on him in the next couple of weeks. In addition to Nor Cal, we're also planning on a trip to San Diego to go to the zoo (and Pizzeria Luigi from Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives!), Havasu, and Las Vegas to see some close family. We are also toying with the idea of making a trip to the British Isles. A few weeks ago Aer Lingus was advertising a deal for round-trip airfare to Ireland along with 7 nights stay and a rental car for a very appealing sum. We're also keen on the idea of making a trip to Edinburgh -- but then again, who isn't? Ah, it's tough to be adults and to have to grapple with the need to be responsible. Ashlee has already told me that if she had her way, we'd spend through our entire savings on travel. Oh, wanderlust!
Wanderlust or just something to keep our minds off of the waiting game we've been playing for the past six months...the game that will (hopefully) culiminate with our invitation for service in the next few weeks.
Sorry for the rambling post.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Pearl of Wisdom (Scott)
Just a quick pearl of wisdom from a friend, "Now is always the right time." The greatness of this piece of advice is that it cuts both ways: (1) it is never too late; and (2) quit putting something off and do it now!
Another pearl from this particular friend, "Live your principles."
Another pearl from this particular friend, "Live your principles."
Monday, February 9, 2009
Kindle 2! (Scott)
I just got the good news today that Amazon.com has launched the Kindle 2 -- their second generation reading device. If you read my previous post, you might remember that I placed an order for the Kindle a couple weeks ago. Since I haven't received my order yet, I have been automatically upgraded to the Kindle 2! Awesome!
Among other improvements, the Kindle 2 has a sleeker design (about the size of a magazine), a crisper display, longer battery life, and more storage (it can hold about 1,500 books). There's also a new "read-to-me" feature where the Kindle will actually read the book to you. I'm not sure how practical this is, but it sounds interesting.
Here's the Kindle's website if anyone wants more info: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00154JDAI/ref=amb_link_83626371_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=gateway-center-column&pf_rd_r=1MV1FNXAQ97MBVJTH6HE&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=469548931&pf_rd_i=507846
Anyways, I'm pretty excited -- it looks like my order is still set to ship the first week of March.
In other news, Ashlee and I had a great weekend. We finally got to see Milk (the movie with Sean Penn about the life of Harvey Milk), which was a great movie and a very inspiring but tragic story, and we attended an "open and affirming" church in Irvine that had a very up-lifting message. We also celebrated Ashlee's birthday two more times -- at her dad's in the morning and her mom's in the evening. Yep, that's right, we ate chocolate cake twice in one day.
Now it's Monday...
Among other improvements, the Kindle 2 has a sleeker design (about the size of a magazine), a crisper display, longer battery life, and more storage (it can hold about 1,500 books). There's also a new "read-to-me" feature where the Kindle will actually read the book to you. I'm not sure how practical this is, but it sounds interesting.
Here's the Kindle's website if anyone wants more info: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00154JDAI/ref=amb_link_83626371_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=gateway-center-column&pf_rd_r=1MV1FNXAQ97MBVJTH6HE&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=469548931&pf_rd_i=507846
Anyways, I'm pretty excited -- it looks like my order is still set to ship the first week of March.
In other news, Ashlee and I had a great weekend. We finally got to see Milk (the movie with Sean Penn about the life of Harvey Milk), which was a great movie and a very inspiring but tragic story, and we attended an "open and affirming" church in Irvine that had a very up-lifting message. We also celebrated Ashlee's birthday two more times -- at her dad's in the morning and her mom's in the evening. Yep, that's right, we ate chocolate cake twice in one day.
Now it's Monday...
Thursday, February 5, 2009
What is the Peace Corps? (Scott)
It just occured to me that some of you who are reading this blog may not be familiar with the Peace Corps. You might even be like some other people I've talked to and have the Peace Corps confused with Green Peace. No, Grandpa, Ashlee and I will not be boarding some tiny ship in the South Pacific to trail and document a Japanese whaling fleet. Sorry, Green Peace, I don't mean to sound offended. I've got nothing against you -- although the volunteers that you post outside of the 24 Hour Fitness at Triange Square can be a bit aggressive, but as Ashlee says, I digress.
So to answer any questions, and to allay any fears, here's some information on the Peace Corps. Just a word of warning, the following information was pulled directly from the Peace Corps' website (http://www.peacecorps.gov/). Considering the very tersely worded warning from the legendary investigative journalist Izzy Stone ("Governments lie.") it is wise to bear this disclaimer in mind when reading this post.
The Peace Corps is a federal government agency established under JFK in 1961. Since its inception, over 195,000 volunteers have served in 139 host countries around the world. Here are some other quick facts and figures:
- There are currently 7,800 volunteers serving
- 60% of volunteers are female and 40% male
- 94% of volunteers are single and 6% are married
- The average age of a volunteer is 27 (Although with the Baby Boomers retiring, the Peace Corps is actively recruiting "mature" volunteers in its 50+ campaign -- the oldest current volunteer is 84).
- Volunteers are currently operating in 76 countries.
The actual goals of the Peace Corps are relatively straightforward:
1)Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
2)Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
3)Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.
Basically this means that volunteers with a college degree (a liberal arts degree like Political Science qualifies you for anything!) or some sort of specialized practical experience (like running your own business or working on a farm) spend two years living in a remote location in a developing country proving to the local people that, contrary to world opinion, America is not just a nation of self-indulgent couch potatoes. Then, when their service is up, these same volunteers return home and explain to their friends and families that while people in developing countries may speak a different language, practice a different religion, or observe a different culture, they are, in fact, still human beings who have the same hopes, dreams, and fears as us. Have you ever heard of the saying that laughter and tears are universal?
Back to the facts -- volunteers currently serve all over the world: the Caribbean, Central America, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the South Pacific. Volunteers currently serve in six areas:
1) Education
2) Business Development
3) Environment
4) Agriculture
5) Health
6) Information Technology
Different regions of the world call for different volunteers. South America needs agricultural volunteers, Eastern Europe needs business development, and Asia wants Information Technology. And everyone wants teachers -- it's so nice to be in demand.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I will be serving as an English teacher in a secondary school and Ashlee will be working as a health volunteer. As far as we can tell, a large part of being a health volunteer is teaching HIV awareness.
So that covers what the Peace Corps is, where volunteers serve, and what they do. Now on to the question that is probably on most people's minds: what about safety? According to the Peace Corps' website, the organization's top priority is the safety of their volunteers. The Peace Corps professes to go to great lengths to ensure volunteers have the training, support, and information to stay healthy and safe. All locations that volunteers serve in are properly scouted and when it comes to volunteer placement, the Peace Corps considers such factors as access to medical care, availability of communication and transportation, the existence of suitable housing arrangements, and the proximity to other volunteers. Speaking of medical care (this is for you, Annie), the Peace Corps maintains medical teams in every country in which volunteers serve. These units inform volunteers about local health issues and provide them with the necessary medical supplies and vaccinations to stay healthy. If a volunteer becomes ill and cannot be treated properly in-country, the Peace Corps will transport the volunteer to an appropriate facility in a nearby country or to the US.
With all that said, the Peace Corps makes it abundantly clear that the ultimate responsibility for the volunteer's health and safety falls to the volunteer him/herself. Basically the Peace Corp's advice is: "Don't be stupid." Pay attention to the food you eat, the water you drink, and the company you keep.
So that's it -- I didn't mean for this post to drag on so long, and if you kept with me, thanks.
So to answer any questions, and to allay any fears, here's some information on the Peace Corps. Just a word of warning, the following information was pulled directly from the Peace Corps' website (http://www.peacecorps.gov/). Considering the very tersely worded warning from the legendary investigative journalist Izzy Stone ("Governments lie.") it is wise to bear this disclaimer in mind when reading this post.
The Peace Corps is a federal government agency established under JFK in 1961. Since its inception, over 195,000 volunteers have served in 139 host countries around the world. Here are some other quick facts and figures:
- There are currently 7,800 volunteers serving
- 60% of volunteers are female and 40% male
- 94% of volunteers are single and 6% are married
- The average age of a volunteer is 27 (Although with the Baby Boomers retiring, the Peace Corps is actively recruiting "mature" volunteers in its 50+ campaign -- the oldest current volunteer is 84).
- Volunteers are currently operating in 76 countries.
The actual goals of the Peace Corps are relatively straightforward:
1)Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
2)Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
3)Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.
Basically this means that volunteers with a college degree (a liberal arts degree like Political Science qualifies you for anything!) or some sort of specialized practical experience (like running your own business or working on a farm) spend two years living in a remote location in a developing country proving to the local people that, contrary to world opinion, America is not just a nation of self-indulgent couch potatoes. Then, when their service is up, these same volunteers return home and explain to their friends and families that while people in developing countries may speak a different language, practice a different religion, or observe a different culture, they are, in fact, still human beings who have the same hopes, dreams, and fears as us. Have you ever heard of the saying that laughter and tears are universal?
Back to the facts -- volunteers currently serve all over the world: the Caribbean, Central America, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the South Pacific. Volunteers currently serve in six areas:
1) Education
2) Business Development
3) Environment
4) Agriculture
5) Health
6) Information Technology
Different regions of the world call for different volunteers. South America needs agricultural volunteers, Eastern Europe needs business development, and Asia wants Information Technology. And everyone wants teachers -- it's so nice to be in demand.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I will be serving as an English teacher in a secondary school and Ashlee will be working as a health volunteer. As far as we can tell, a large part of being a health volunteer is teaching HIV awareness.
So that covers what the Peace Corps is, where volunteers serve, and what they do. Now on to the question that is probably on most people's minds: what about safety? According to the Peace Corps' website, the organization's top priority is the safety of their volunteers. The Peace Corps professes to go to great lengths to ensure volunteers have the training, support, and information to stay healthy and safe. All locations that volunteers serve in are properly scouted and when it comes to volunteer placement, the Peace Corps considers such factors as access to medical care, availability of communication and transportation, the existence of suitable housing arrangements, and the proximity to other volunteers. Speaking of medical care (this is for you, Annie), the Peace Corps maintains medical teams in every country in which volunteers serve. These units inform volunteers about local health issues and provide them with the necessary medical supplies and vaccinations to stay healthy. If a volunteer becomes ill and cannot be treated properly in-country, the Peace Corps will transport the volunteer to an appropriate facility in a nearby country or to the US.
With all that said, the Peace Corps makes it abundantly clear that the ultimate responsibility for the volunteer's health and safety falls to the volunteer him/herself. Basically the Peace Corp's advice is: "Don't be stupid." Pay attention to the food you eat, the water you drink, and the company you keep.
So that's it -- I didn't mean for this post to drag on so long, and if you kept with me, thanks.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
My Kindle is Coming! (Scott)
I just checked the status of my order and I saw that my Kindle (a birthday gift made possible by my wonderful in-laws -- thanks Dad & Edie!) is set to ship March 4th. For those of you who don't know, a Kindle is a wireless reading device sold by Amazon.com. It's roughly the size of a paperback book and you can download books onto it for a small fee. Using its internal memory (and an additional memory card if I need it) the Kindle can hold hundreds of books. I have been busy browsing Amazon's Kindle Store and I'm excited at their selection. New e-books are about 50% cheaper than they are in paper-format, but I'm most excited about the classics -- you can buy entire anthologies (Shakespeare, Dumas, Twain, Austen, etc.) for about $5 each. At least that is my understanding. I'll let you know how it actually works out when my Kindle is shipped.
My hopes are that this will be the perfect device for me during our time in the Peace Corps -- my only worries are that I won't be able to keep it fully charged and/or that it won't be able to stand the wear-and-tear. Hmm, only time will tell I suppose.
My hopes are that this will be the perfect device for me during our time in the Peace Corps -- my only worries are that I won't be able to keep it fully charged and/or that it won't be able to stand the wear-and-tear. Hmm, only time will tell I suppose.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
First Entry (Ashlee)
Hello :)
This is Ashlee, the other half of the sojourning couple. While Scott has done a terrific job keeping you all up to date about what is happening in the not-to-distant-but-still-not-too-soon future, he asked me to post about the more imminent-and-planned future for your beloved sojourners.
To be quite brief, I am now working back at the doctor's and I'm all the better for it. During my free time, I am reading: Let's Go: San Francisco and Let's Go: California (travel books, which I bought because I like the maps and writing style a little better than Lonely Planet, but I have a feeling we will be becoming Lonely Planet people since Scott bought the biography of the Lonely Planet guy, but I digress...). Suffice it to say, we are throwing caution (and a small chunk of money, like the size of a rather large chocolate chunk) to the proverbial wind and taking a road trip through California in April (as such, we will also be disregarding any traditions on Easter this year...). On the itinerary: Davis (to visit our friend Garrett), Glen Ellen (in Sonoma), San Francisco, Big Basin Redwood State Park (no camping for us yet, though), Santa Cruz, Monterey, Big Sur, Hearst Castle/San Simeon, Cambria, Solvang, and Santa Barbara. By the by, please let me know if you have any suggestions - planning trips is one of my absolute top favorite things to do and any input is really appreciated!
This is Ashlee, the other half of the sojourning couple. While Scott has done a terrific job keeping you all up to date about what is happening in the not-to-distant-but-still-not-too-soon future, he asked me to post about the more imminent-and-planned future for your beloved sojourners.
To be quite brief, I am now working back at the doctor's and I'm all the better for it. During my free time, I am reading: Let's Go: San Francisco and Let's Go: California (travel books, which I bought because I like the maps and writing style a little better than Lonely Planet, but I have a feeling we will be becoming Lonely Planet people since Scott bought the biography of the Lonely Planet guy, but I digress...). Suffice it to say, we are throwing caution (and a small chunk of money, like the size of a rather large chocolate chunk) to the proverbial wind and taking a road trip through California in April (as such, we will also be disregarding any traditions on Easter this year...). On the itinerary: Davis (to visit our friend Garrett), Glen Ellen (in Sonoma), San Francisco, Big Basin Redwood State Park (no camping for us yet, though), Santa Cruz, Monterey, Big Sur, Hearst Castle/San Simeon, Cambria, Solvang, and Santa Barbara. By the by, please let me know if you have any suggestions - planning trips is one of my absolute top favorite things to do and any input is really appreciated!
And how, may I ask, will you be meeting your fitness needs? (Scott)
Now that we have more of a concrete departure date in mind (June 2008) we have started the process of packing up our life here in Orange County. Among other things, we need to transition out of our jobs and move out of our apartment. We've already gotten the ball rolling.
Ashlee has already left her job as a Service Coordinator (her last day was last week) and she is back working part-time at a doctor's office across the street. She's really happy about this -- mostly because she now gets to walk to work. She's actually working a nearly full-time schedule -- they have her scheduled roughly 30 hours per week.
I've given notice at my work that my last day will be Friday March 27th -- and I couldn't be happier. There's nothing bad about my job -- it's been really good to me, in fact. It's just that it is time to move on and lately, with my foot halfway out the door, it has been difficult to stay focused.
Today I called 24 Hour Fitness to cancel our gym memberships. I wanted to do it early because I know that cancelling a gym membership is notoriously difficult. It actually ended up being sort of comical. It began very straightforward. I called the number on the website and it took about 5 minutes and one more phone number before I got a human being on the other end of the line. I told the person (let's call him Carl) that I wanted to cancel the two memberships under my name effective April 1st (the day we're moving out of our apartment). Carl then asked why I was cancelling, to which I replied that we are moving. Yes! Carl had the perfect response -- "You know, 24 Hour Fitness has locations nationwide. Would you be interested in merely transferring your membership to a different location?" "Sorry, Carl, my wife and I are actually moving out of the country." Oh, there goes that plan of attack -- but wait, "Actually, sir, 24 Hour Fitness does have several locations outside of the country. May I ask where you're moving?" "Asia." Aha! "Great, sir. We've just opened several locations in China. Will that help?" "Not quite, Carl. We're probably moving to a very remote location. Somewhere like Kazakhstan or Mongolia. Do you have any locations there?" "No, I'm sorry. Whoa -- Mongolia, really? And how, may I ask, will you be meeting your fitness needs?" "I'm not sure, Carl, I am not sure..."
Ashlee has already left her job as a Service Coordinator (her last day was last week) and she is back working part-time at a doctor's office across the street. She's really happy about this -- mostly because she now gets to walk to work. She's actually working a nearly full-time schedule -- they have her scheduled roughly 30 hours per week.
I've given notice at my work that my last day will be Friday March 27th -- and I couldn't be happier. There's nothing bad about my job -- it's been really good to me, in fact. It's just that it is time to move on and lately, with my foot halfway out the door, it has been difficult to stay focused.
Today I called 24 Hour Fitness to cancel our gym memberships. I wanted to do it early because I know that cancelling a gym membership is notoriously difficult. It actually ended up being sort of comical. It began very straightforward. I called the number on the website and it took about 5 minutes and one more phone number before I got a human being on the other end of the line. I told the person (let's call him Carl) that I wanted to cancel the two memberships under my name effective April 1st (the day we're moving out of our apartment). Carl then asked why I was cancelling, to which I replied that we are moving. Yes! Carl had the perfect response -- "You know, 24 Hour Fitness has locations nationwide. Would you be interested in merely transferring your membership to a different location?" "Sorry, Carl, my wife and I are actually moving out of the country." Oh, there goes that plan of attack -- but wait, "Actually, sir, 24 Hour Fitness does have several locations outside of the country. May I ask where you're moving?" "Asia." Aha! "Great, sir. We've just opened several locations in China. Will that help?" "Not quite, Carl. We're probably moving to a very remote location. Somewhere like Kazakhstan or Mongolia. Do you have any locations there?" "No, I'm sorry. Whoa -- Mongolia, really? And how, may I ask, will you be meeting your fitness needs?" "I'm not sure, Carl, I am not sure..."
Inauguration! (Scott)
So this is it: the inaugural blog...it better be a good one.
Hello, my name is Scott and I'm creating this blog so my wife and I can keep our friends and family informed of all the twists and turns that are certainly headed our way during our two-year stint in the Peace Corps.
First, a little about us. We were both born and raised in Southern California and we are recent graduates of UC Irvine. We met while studying abroad during our junior year at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Three years later we were married. Ashlee's background is Psychology & Sociology while I am PoliSci through and through.
We've been kicking around the idea of joining the Peace Corps for a couple of years now -- and we officially started our applications more than a year ago. Our reasons for joining are simple: the world is a big place and we want to see and experience as much of it as we can. We both feel that many of the problems plaguing the world are due to basic misunderstandings -- and we would like to do what we can to clear these misunderstandings away.
Like I said, we've been in the process of applying to the Peace Corps for over a year now. Back in early summer, we received a nomination from the Peace Corps for service in Central Asia beginning in May 2008. It took us several months to complete all the necessary health and dental reviews and now our package is in DC in the hands of our placement officer -- where it has been for a few months now.
We've both been getting a little antsy lately because May is rapidly approaching and we have not had any word from the Peace Corps regarding our placement. Until yesterday, that is.
That's right, yesterday we received a call from our placement officer. He told us that our package looks great and he wanted to know if we'd be able to leave next month! Needless to say, it took us a bit by surprise. Here we were wondering when we'd get the letter hopefully giving us a May departure date, and we got a call asking if we wanted to leave in a matter of weeks!
I explained to our placement officer that we've been planning for a May departure and we'd really like to stay here in California until at least after my brother's wedding in early May. I was worried that telling him no to his March departure date would reflect negatively on us -- but he assured us it wouldn't and he will go ahead and process our paperwork for the next available date after March 29th.
Basically, as it stands, our placement officer is getting our paperwork in order for a departure date in the first week of June. He will not be able to provide us any specifics regarding our location until probably early March. We are still slated for one of four Central Asian countries: Mongolia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Turkmenistan. We are also still set for me to be a secondary school English teacher and Ashlee to be a health volunteer.
So -- we got what we wanted...sort of. We heard from our placement officer and we know that we are still being considered and it sounds about 90% certain that we're leaving in June. Until we get our invitation listing our exact country of service and date of departure, it's still a waiting game...
Hello, my name is Scott and I'm creating this blog so my wife and I can keep our friends and family informed of all the twists and turns that are certainly headed our way during our two-year stint in the Peace Corps.
First, a little about us. We were both born and raised in Southern California and we are recent graduates of UC Irvine. We met while studying abroad during our junior year at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Three years later we were married. Ashlee's background is Psychology & Sociology while I am PoliSci through and through.
We've been kicking around the idea of joining the Peace Corps for a couple of years now -- and we officially started our applications more than a year ago. Our reasons for joining are simple: the world is a big place and we want to see and experience as much of it as we can. We both feel that many of the problems plaguing the world are due to basic misunderstandings -- and we would like to do what we can to clear these misunderstandings away.
Like I said, we've been in the process of applying to the Peace Corps for over a year now. Back in early summer, we received a nomination from the Peace Corps for service in Central Asia beginning in May 2008. It took us several months to complete all the necessary health and dental reviews and now our package is in DC in the hands of our placement officer -- where it has been for a few months now.
We've both been getting a little antsy lately because May is rapidly approaching and we have not had any word from the Peace Corps regarding our placement. Until yesterday, that is.
That's right, yesterday we received a call from our placement officer. He told us that our package looks great and he wanted to know if we'd be able to leave next month! Needless to say, it took us a bit by surprise. Here we were wondering when we'd get the letter hopefully giving us a May departure date, and we got a call asking if we wanted to leave in a matter of weeks!
I explained to our placement officer that we've been planning for a May departure and we'd really like to stay here in California until at least after my brother's wedding in early May. I was worried that telling him no to his March departure date would reflect negatively on us -- but he assured us it wouldn't and he will go ahead and process our paperwork for the next available date after March 29th.
Basically, as it stands, our placement officer is getting our paperwork in order for a departure date in the first week of June. He will not be able to provide us any specifics regarding our location until probably early March. We are still slated for one of four Central Asian countries: Mongolia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Turkmenistan. We are also still set for me to be a secondary school English teacher and Ashlee to be a health volunteer.
So -- we got what we wanted...sort of. We heard from our placement officer and we know that we are still being considered and it sounds about 90% certain that we're leaving in June. Until we get our invitation listing our exact country of service and date of departure, it's still a waiting game...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)