NAMIBIA!

I got my invitation! I am going to Namibia!!!! I will be an English language teacher at the secondary or upper primary levels. That means students grades 5-12.

Here is my timeline:

October 29-31, 2007: Orientation in the U.S. (location tba)

November 2 - December 28, 2007: Pre-Service Training in Namibia

December 28, 2007 - December 28, 2009: Peace Corps Service

YAAAYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A new destination.

Originally, I never wanted to go to Africa. It just seemed like a place I couldn't handle: the sun beating down, me living in a mud hut, riding a donkey to and from work. When my placement officer told me he'd have to find a new location for me, I told him "NOT AFRICA." Then I thought about it for a couple hours and realized how stupid it is for me to pigeonhole the entire continent into an ignorant, stereotypical image. (Orientalism, anyone?) Africa has so much more to offer than that! And if I do end up in a mud hut, so what? One of the reasons I'm joining the PC is to have an adventure, isn't it? So I called up my p.o. and said that if he wanted to send me to Africa, I would give it everything I have.

It looks like I'm going to Africa at the end of October. :o)

PISSED

I called my placement officer today and he said that he's been waiting for my call?! and since I didn't call him, I've missed the deadline for a September departure!

I think it is coming.

I finally spoke to my placement officer yesterday. He told me that being an Asian-American in Eastern Europe would bring me a ton of attention and possibly discrimination, but not to the point of physical danger. Most EE countries are totally homogenous and so any non-white person sticks out like a sore thumb. He told me to think about it and call him Wednesday morning if I don't want to go there after all, and if so he'd try to place me in another part of the world but I won't be able to go until December or January.



I thought about it for five minutes or so and said, screw it! I am going to Eastern Europe in September, period. If it is difficult, fine. I can handle it. That's part of the adventure. It'll be an educational experience for the people in that country.



So tomorrow is Wednesday, and since he won't be hearing from me, maybe that means my invitation will be overnighted to me tomorrow...???

Good news!

I called my screening nurse this morning and she told me that she would be reviewing my paperwork shortly today...and then this afternoon at work someone emailed me asking for my transcript!!...Which is great because that means my file was given to my placement officer, which means that my invitation is coming!!! Wahoo!