Wow I don't leave for another 3 months but I feel like I already have so much to say. I guess I'll start with my timeline of the Peace Corps application.
I submitted my application on October 11
Interview with recruiter on October 25th
Received nomination on October 26th
Received invitation on December 19th
Accepted invitation on December 23rd
I leave April 16th for staging
Normally you hear all about how long and tedious the application is, which it is, but I got lucky. From the day I submitted my application till when I leave will be just 6 months! The average is 9-12 months and most people complain all about the long waiting periods. So I happened to have a positive application process and I feel like I'm in the minority, but I'm okay with that! My good friend Nora submitted her application after she graduated last spring and I'll even be leaving a couple of weeks before her!
I received my invitation while I was on a cruise with my wonderful girlfriend Allison. I hadn't checked my email in a few days and I was expecting my invitation soon since I had just received the email asking for an updated resume and some additional information. From talking with other applicants I knew this meant the invitation was near! We were in Costa Maya Mexico on December 20th the day before the end of the world. We had just gotten back from the Chacchoben ruins and were relaxing on the beautiful beach sipping on some piña coladas. The restaurant had free WiFi and Allison let me check my email on her phone and my invitation was there! I did not want to spend a lot of time reading over everything while on vacation so I quickly found where I was headed. The Kyrgyz Republic aka Kyrgyzstan was going to be my new home for 27 months. My initial response was WTF along with excitement! The Peace Corps has a knack for throwing unexpected things at you and this was one of them. My educational experience along with my study abroad experience all aimed me for Sub-Saharan Africa, but nope Central Asia it would be! Nora also had a similar experience with everything aiming her towards Central or South America, but nope she's going to Georgia. I did a quick google search to figure out exactly where Kyrgyzstan was and to make sure it was not where Borat was from! While initially Kyrgyzstan was a shocker the more I have read and researched the more excited I am. It looks like such a beautiful country, the people are supposed to be incredibly hospitable, and it gets cold! I love all three of those things. More to come about the country in the near future.
The application process was fun and I'm happy a lot of the uncertainty is gone. There is still plenty more of it to come though. Now I get to focus on living my life here in Gainesville and making the most of my remaining time here with my friends, family, and especially Allison.
I submitted my application on October 11
Interview with recruiter on October 25th
Received nomination on October 26th
Received invitation on December 19th
Accepted invitation on December 23rd
I leave April 16th for staging
Normally you hear all about how long and tedious the application is, which it is, but I got lucky. From the day I submitted my application till when I leave will be just 6 months! The average is 9-12 months and most people complain all about the long waiting periods. So I happened to have a positive application process and I feel like I'm in the minority, but I'm okay with that! My good friend Nora submitted her application after she graduated last spring and I'll even be leaving a couple of weeks before her!
I received my invitation while I was on a cruise with my wonderful girlfriend Allison. I hadn't checked my email in a few days and I was expecting my invitation soon since I had just received the email asking for an updated resume and some additional information. From talking with other applicants I knew this meant the invitation was near! We were in Costa Maya Mexico on December 20th the day before the end of the world. We had just gotten back from the Chacchoben ruins and were relaxing on the beautiful beach sipping on some piña coladas. The restaurant had free WiFi and Allison let me check my email on her phone and my invitation was there! I did not want to spend a lot of time reading over everything while on vacation so I quickly found where I was headed. The Kyrgyz Republic aka Kyrgyzstan was going to be my new home for 27 months. My initial response was WTF along with excitement! The Peace Corps has a knack for throwing unexpected things at you and this was one of them. My educational experience along with my study abroad experience all aimed me for Sub-Saharan Africa, but nope Central Asia it would be! Nora also had a similar experience with everything aiming her towards Central or South America, but nope she's going to Georgia. I did a quick google search to figure out exactly where Kyrgyzstan was and to make sure it was not where Borat was from! While initially Kyrgyzstan was a shocker the more I have read and researched the more excited I am. It looks like such a beautiful country, the people are supposed to be incredibly hospitable, and it gets cold! I love all three of those things. More to come about the country in the near future.
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| Chacchoben Ruins |
