South Africa, January 2012

I'm going to the Rainbow Nation! On January 23rd I will be leaving for what I suspect to be Washington DC and then heading to South Africa on the 26th. I haven't yet officially accepted the invitation since there are some questions I need the the answers to first, but at this point I don't see myself turning things down. Anyway, I was really excited to receive the invitation and am even more thrilled with my HIV/AID Prevention and Mitigation position.

Figured I would post this up, it will be the first entry to show up on peacecorpsjournals.com as a South African entry, and I am hoping to be able to contact some of my fellow volunteers before we leave. If you have also received an invitation for SA Jan 23rd please comment!!!!

Much love to everybody,
Claire

South Africa

I, Claire P., am accepting my invitation to serve as a HIV Prevention and Mitigation Volunteer for the United States Peace Corps, to depart January 23rd, returning March 30th 2014. 

My Invitation Came

The invitation came and is right now sitting on my kitchen counter. I'm not opening it until my Mom and Dad get back, and I invited my cousin over too. As much as I want to open it (and believe you me, it took all my strength to not rip the thing open right on the porch) I want to share the experience with my family, and not just be by myself and the dog when it happens. I am SO thankful that I had a sub job today, because waiting a few hours is going to be unbearable enough.

Will post again in a few hours

Oh My Goodness,
Claire

Finger's Crossed

Within the next week I will know where I am going for Peace Corps, and I know until then it will be a constant checking of the mail to see if the invitation has arrived yet. After poking around wikki I am pretty sure that I will be heading to either Zambia or South Africa.

So I have been doing a little bit of research in order to get a head start on getting to know these countries. To my shock I discovered that South Africa is one of the countries in which PC has you live with a host family for the entire duration of your service. This caught me off guard because the only other country I had heard in which that happens was Kazakhstan, and I kind of thought it wasn't something that happens a whole lot. To be honest, I am not sure what I think about this. Its not something I am going to get super worked up over until I get the invitation but it would definitely change up my mental picture of what service is going to be like.

It surprises me that PC does this at all to be honest. It seems like it adds one more variable that could go wrong into the equation. What if a family and a volunteer don't get along? Is there a possibility to change? I have heard many a horror story about bad home stay families within the study abroad community and it just worries me a bit.

But again, this really only applies if I end up going to South Africa. Zambia has an independent living situation and this may be a bump I don't even need to go over.

Just some thoughts, cross your fingers for me, can't wait to get the big white envelope!!!

~Claire 

It's in the Mail!!!

I received the following this afternoon:

Greetings from the Placement Office!

I just got the green light to move forward with your invitation.  There is now a Health extension program open, and I am sending you an invitation packet to the address we discussed.  It is departing mid- to late January for Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on HIV prevention and mitigation.  You should receive the packet in 7-10 business days. 

After reading through your invitation materials, please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.  Otherwise, please follow the detailed instructions in your invitation packet on how to accept your invitation.

Congratulations!

Best,

Kristen

Wow, here we go!!! I'm so excited, and after cross referencing Wiki, I think there are only two countries that fit the MO. That being said I am also keeping in mind that there may be countries leaving in January that wiki doesn't reflect since there has been a bit of a freeze with invites. I'm so overwhelmed and excited right now that there are no words. :) 

More to come soon!

~Claire