Quick--Top 3

If you could choose 3 Peace Corps countries to be placed into, where?

Sara answered in .5 seconds: 

• Romania
• Moldova
• Ukraine
  

I think I would choose: 

• Armenia
• Romania
• Mongolia *tough decision b/w Cameroon & Mongolia*

(I'd also really like Jordan, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Philippines, Samoa, Benin, Malawi, Burkina Faso, Macedonia, Albania, Peru)

6-wk's

With the 6-wk rule and today's date being July 24th the remaining possibilities are: Panama, Guatemala, Philippines, Belize, Dominican Republic, Eastern Caribbean, Nicaragua, Peru, El Salvador, Macedonia, Ukraine
(most likely in bold)

yeaaaaaah, and other than those listed--its only Africa & Pacific leaving that I've found invites and nominations for....I haven't seen any other regions after September....uhhhhh its REALLY not looking good right now....

Talked To My PO

I called IAP today and got in contact with my PO, Amanda, right away. Despite the news, she was absolutely great with everything. 

She said that unfortunately, my program filled up right when I was medically cleared, so she would have to start looking at other placements. She asked if I was open to different regions, and I said I was absolutely open to all the other regions, even different work areas if that would help at all.  I also told her that I wasn't sure if she knew, but I am expecting a TEFL certificate and First Aid/CPR certificate in a couple weeks in case that helped my placement at all. She thanked me for being so open to everything.  Amanda said that my file was in her priority stack, and since I have a medical restriction, its even more prioritized than the others.

WOOHOO PRIORITY FOR ME.

I also asked about the 6-week rule rumor, and said that if possible, I was willing to leave slightly under 6-weeks. She said that the 6-week rule is indeed true, and they try to stick to it strictly and never invite people after 6-weeks.  Of course, we've all seen people get invited under 6, but usually its the people in the most need and stuff--ie. program got canceled, they are a couple, medical botched up and they actually can't go there...you know, stuff like that. I'm sure that's not something a PO will tell you, that there are exceptions, they don't want that officially out there and everyone flooding them to leave tomorrow.

Anyway, I'm on my POs super priority list. She said to call back Friday if I haven't heard by then, and she gave me her direct line. WOOHOO!  Back to semi-square one on the nomination front though.

Nomination: Unknown.

Oh Invite, Where are You?

Okay, really getting nervous, PO...PO...where are you and where is my invite? Nerves are kicking in!

Little Update

Well isn't today just the day of information!

I got an e-mail from Cali today 1/2way imploring me to get online. Obviously she had some PC news. She called IAP today to see if she could get any e-mails from others going to Guatemala since she has found absolutely no one else. Poor girl! Somewhere in her brilliant mind, she thought to ask what other programs are being sent to Guatemala this time around. They said the 2 programs are Municipal Development and Sustainable Agriculture. 

So looks like I most likely won't be heading to Guatemala either. Belize still seems to be the most likely option, always has. At the same time it looks more likely that I have the potential of being pushed back to September. The options there are Peru, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. I'd love any of those countries. I'm pretty sure all those have Youth programs, thought I'm not sure which are sending Youth there this time around.

Suppose you'll have to stay tuned to find out the glorious invitation information! (which by the way, I'm not too much closer, but am a little closer, to obtaining!)

Calm

I've been trying to calm down. :) Today was much needed I think. I worked out, tried to tackle the crazy animals again, and went to my grandpa's to swim and sunbathe. Of course, if you know me I don't tan or burn so I'm just as pale as when I started.

Last night I tried to refocus and get excited again. Looked at some more things I may need for the Peace Corps, which I've been putting on my Amazon Wish List. You may notice a new found collection of Pink Ribbon stuff I'm putting on there. A very good friend of the family that I've known nearly my whole life has a rare type of breast cancer that she found out about around this time last year. She's doing all right. But my family has since taken to whole-heartedly buying anything Pink Ribbon.

I also updated the country list that Bailey and I did. I'm glad to see some new countries in September like Nicaragua and El Salvador! At this point, any country seems so beyond great. My most likely regions still are probably Latin America and Europe and both of those are great with me. Both are extremely different and both have amazing perks. We will have to see. The August/September Latin America countries I could go to are: Belize, Guatemala, Panama, Peru, El Salvador, and Nicaragua! WOW. The August/September Europe countries I could go to are Macedonia and the Ukraine. Countries in July that I still could ever so slightly possibly get are Bulgaria and South Africa.

Little things of note:

• My Justin is out in San Francisco for some WWDC action. I wasn't able to make it out this year :( I miss him!
• My mom said she might pay for a plane ticket for me to fly to NY to visit my friend Reena whom I haven't seen since June 21st last year.
• The dog was standing on the side of the couch, super excited, when suddenly she plummeted off. THUD. It sounded like a dictionary dropping on our wood floors. She was completely stunned for a second and when she finally moved she came over to me and whimpered.
• Shoot, better go dry my bangs since my sister is coming back in for the shower

So really, I'm trying to calm down about medical a little. It'll happen when it happens, I'll go where I go. It may be August but it could be July or September. Yeah? So while I'm still slightly constantly thinking about medical, I've tried to breathe deep and relax. It'll happen.