Bonjour USA

Bonjour!

I just wanted to say that I have arrived safely in Conakry, Guinee and that I have been really busy since arriving. It is quite hot here, but I am really enjoying that part of my short stay in the capital. We have been learning French and today we started on some beginner Susu, which will most likely be the language of our host family.And we will meet them tomorrow! So I will be leaving the capital tomorrow, for Dubreka, we will have a short "adoption ceremony" and then we will go home to live with our host families! I am very nervous, but also very excited.

That is all for now!

Good Bye USA

Happy Thanksgiving.
I will miss a lot. I probably will not post anything else in the US of A.

Engrish

My Peace Corps Application Timeline ( basically)

During the process of my application I was going crazy - reading all the blogs - wondering what my different statuses meant. So this is for anyone else in the application process. I don't remember everything exactly, but I tried. My Placement Officer looked at my timeline and said , "Wow, you just shot through this!" - Like a Rocket

• April 18, 2011 - submitted my Peace Corps applications w/ all certificates, references, and transcripts attached. 
• May 23, 2011 - went for an in-person interview with a Regional Recruiter and was nominated mid- interview. Potential departure date , September 2011 going to Central/ South America. 
• June 30, 2011 - Legally under review and cleared ( 1-2 days)
• July 6, 2011 - Peace Corps received my Medical and Dental packet - under review for Dental.
• July 7,2011- Dentally cleared!
• July 9, 2011 - Medical Hold : said that I should look for a letter for more information and it said that everyone gets a hold while under review. 
• July 10, 2011- Received a request for more paperwork for yellow fever, to get something signed that says I don't have TB, and get my ear cleaned. 
• July 12, 2011- I re-sent my completed Medical Paperwork .
• July 14, 2011- Medically cleared!!!
• July 21, 2011- Received an e-mail from a Placement Assistant asking me for an updated resume and to fill out a more detailed Romantic Involvement Questionaire. 
• July 25, 2011 - I sent all the completed paperwork to the Placement Assistant and was told that I should expect to be contacted by Placement in the next few weeks. 
• July 27, 2011 - I missed a call from the Placement Officer - freaked out !- called back 3x
• July 28, 2011- called the Placement Officer back during my lunch break - did a quick update on my interests, my relationship status, what I have been doing to make myself a competitive applicant- was told that I would receive an invitation in 2-3 postal days and would be going to Francophone Africa -an agricultural program.
• August 1, 2011- Invited to serve as an Agro-forester in Guinea - potential departure date November 28, 2011!!!!

Greatest quote so far on long distance relationships

After reading a horribly heart -wrenching blog about Peace Corps volunteers trying to make it with their significant others....this was the last post. :)))

There's a Colombian saying about long distance relationships: "The greater the distance, the happier the four of you are."