Philly

Sweet nizzy!! This morning I received an email from the Peace Corps informing me that I'll be flying to Philadelphia on June 30 for my staging event. 'Staging' is a short, but intense, orientation that I have to attend before I'm shipped off the The Gambia. Lots of administrivia, shots (gotta watch out for rabid monkeys), and other semi-boring stuff to be sure, but I'm super pumped about meeting all my fellow trainees! 

Around lunchtime I set up my flight to Philly with the PC travel office, and I talked to a nice Indian-sounding guy that I could tell was a super funny dude in his native tongue, but the jokes weren't quite ready for American consumption. I'm going to be the American-Gambian version of that guy for the next two years. Apparently, one of my fellow trainees had just booked the same flights that I had, so I'll get a headstart meeting people on the way to staging.

I've only been to Philly once; A road trip with my bro and my friend Joe to see Primus. We drove 11 hours non-stop and waited outside all day to meet the band  (We did, of course). We drove home immediately afterwards and attempted to make it all the way back without stopping to sleep. It worked out fine, until 'BOOM!!!'...... I woke in the back seat with my life flashing before my eyes. It took me about 5 seconds to figure out that I hadn't actually died. "We just hit safety strip on road, we're good." Not according to side of the car. It had a huge gash along the entire driver side. I swear we must have stopped 10 times to take a nap after that, but we made it back. Maybe this time I might see a little more of 'The City  of Brotherly Love' than Primus, and get some sleep to boot.

I've started packing, or rather, buying a bunch of crap and making a big heaping pile out of it. I've got to whittle it down to 80 pounds and 107 linear inches, which is really about 2 small checked bags and a carry-on. I went to Europe for three weeks purely on carry-on baggage, so I think I'll manage.

                                                  

                           

It's really starting to hit me that this all for real. When I first got my invitation, I couldn't get things done fast enough; I was slightly overwhelmed (breath slowly........in......out.......very good).  I've got it all under control now.  

Salalmamleekum (Peace be upon you)

--Stevo

My Application Experience

So.....after all this time (28 years) I have something interesting to talk/blog about! For the next two and a half years, this blog will be my attempt to share my experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer in The Gambia. Hopefully, they'll consist of more than malaria and sunburn. For now, we'll keep it nice and boring and I'll describe how I came to be an invitee.

On April 27, 2009, after 6 months of exercising an amount of patience usually reserved for members of the clergy, I received my official invitation to serve as an Information & Communication Technology Specialist in The Gambia, departing on June 29. Anyone who has seriously contemplated joining the PC knows that the application process isn't exactly like turning in an application to McDonald's. In November 2008, I finally worked up the nerve after mulling the idea over for about a year.

It took about a month for me to get my application filled out, including the essays, resume, and recommendations. The recommendations were tough. I needed a recommendation from my immediate supervisor, whom I swore to secrecy for about 5 months. The man can keep a secret, that's for certain. (Cheers, Greg) As soon as I turned in the application, I had an interview within a week at the regional office in Atlanta. I got hit with a few generic interview questions, but it went well and within another week I was officially nominated for ICT in Sub-Saharan Africa. I received my medical packet a few days later, just before Christmas.

When I'd been told about the medical clearance process by my recruiters, I thought "I'm in good health....should be a piece of cake." More like a canned biscuit after it's been sitting out for a few hours. I had my first appointment on Jan 2; I became medically cleared in the middle of March. I think what took so long was the clinic having taken the wrong hepatitis titer TWICE. Not real sure. By the time it was completed, the folks at the clinic all knew me by name....which wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Upon medical clearance, I completed a computer science skills addendum from my placement officer. On April 8, (my birthday) I was informed via the Online Toolkit that my placement had been completed. I should know any day now, right? For 3 weeks, at approximately 5:45 pm, I opened my little mailbox, sighed, and slammed the poor thing shut. I eventually got impatient, and called the Africa Placement Office wondering when I could expect my invitation. I think I got the standard consolatory email from Peace Corps, which didn't do a whole to make me less anxious. 3 days later, BAM!! One moment, a June departure seemed so far away, but quite suddenly it seemed so soon.

For those prospective volunteers who might have googled there way onto this blog,
know that while the whole process might seem frustrating, the important thing is to stay
positive throughout. I am anxious to begin my training, and learn the true meaning of
patience and determination!

Peace
--Stevo