Moving Forward

Last Friday I was so frustrated that I called Melissa, my former advisor at the Union and friend who is a RPCV from Guatemala. During the year we worked together, she always talked about how wonderful her experience was and could always counter any of my complaints about Peace Corps. I knew that she would help me remember why I really wanted to serve and she definetly did. It was great to talk after a long time and I was excited to learn she had just sold her house in Madison that day and is moving to Colorado next week! She called me back about an hour after we hung up and gave me a name and number of an official at headquarters at D.C. Turns out he's friends with an acquaintence of hers who recommended I call him. It was the end of the day so I wasn't able to reach him until Monday morning. He was very friendly and concerned about my difficulties in applying. He promised to look into my case and call me back soon. An hour later he called and said that my PO was out until the next day but that he'd talked to her boss and I should be hearing from her soon.

Tuesday I took my final in Environmental Health and was excited to be done with one class as I anxiously waited for a phone call. As I walked home from my class, my PO called and we talked for about an hour. She had tons of questions for me and I felt like I was being interrogated and repeating myself for the fifth time. She had googled my name and was asking me about everything she could find including what she read in this blog and comments I had posted on the Peace Corps Yahoo Group. I am suppose to remember that the internet is the world wide web and anyone can read and interpet anything I write however they want. With this in mind, I want to remind everyone that anything written here unless referenced is only my personal opinion and experiences from my point of view. I have found reading volunteer blogs to be a great resource and also want to share my personal experience.

The next part of our conversation regarded French. In my interview back in April 2007 I said I didn't want to learn French since I already speak English, Spanish, and Swahili and would rather put energy into learning an indigenous language than a language of the colonizers. In Kenya I found that even though educated individuals spoke English, they treated me very differently and respected me more for speaking in Swahili. Well anyways it sounded like I had no choice so I've agreed to start studying French on my own in order to be placed in a West African nation this fall.

She said she was clearing me for placement and I received the toolkit e-mail this morning about this. I should receive my invite soon so I can take care of everything before I leave NOLA.

On another Peace Corps note, my friend Aiesha from Tulane, left yesterday for Swaziland to start her training. I am so excited for her and hope we can meet up sometime in the next 27 months!