A week of in-service training means hot showers, catered food, and close proximity to Mahhala, whose Pick'N'Pay is the best in the country (in my opinion!).o
Check out all the updates from my photo blog: http://785days.tumblr.com
Friday, December 7, 2012
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Placement Ceremony video
This is the video of our placement ceremony on the 27th of July where we found out which region of Swaziland we are all going to. I found out I'll be in Lubombo.
785 Days of Africa photo project
Put my photo project on Tumblr! You can watch me there!
http://785days.tumblr.com/
http://785days.tumblr.com/
Monday, July 16, 2012
Pap is Pap
It's always comforting when your current surroundings remind you of something pleasant and/or familiar from the past. Take for example pap. In the Kingdom of Swaziland, it is the staple of their meals. What they call "pap" here is maize, that is prepared in various ways. It can be made into a sour porridge called ingcwangcwa, a soft porridge that just tastes like gruel, or a hard porridge which tastes like a corn dough. Pap (밥) is also the staple of meals in Korean society. What they call "pap" there is rice, and it is eaten at all 3 meals.
Just little familiarities like that make me smile. There aren't many other similarities in the way of life between here and other places I've lived.
Not having running water is a big one. I'm slowly adjusting to bucket baths, but am still considering chopping my hair off so I wouldn't have to deal with so much of it. Having to boil and filter any water I come into contact with before drinking it has also taken some getting used to, but not as bad as I imagined at first. Red dust is all over the place, and I scrub my feet every night, leaving the water red after. Surprisingly, I've gotten used to it all quite quickly.
Having to wear a skirt every day is also something I've never been forced to do before. It also is another thing that bothers me a lot less than i thought it would. Ive never worn skirts much in the past, but I'm usually ok with it. I thought we'd all look like a gypsy caravan in our thrown together getups, but some girls make it look so cute in the "Swazi female volunteer style". Cute enough to make me want to start a volunteer fashion blog to keep track of all the nice outfits.
My sleep cycle is way off, too. Asleep usually by 8pm, up my 4:30am.
Despite all that, I'm definitely getting into the groove of life here. Tons of cute kids around my homestead to play with, geckos crawling around my walls (self sufficient pets, I say), learning siSwati, a beautiful vista to take in, and 40 awesome people to take it in with. I've been told by the previous groups that it's a miracle none of us have dropped out yet at 17 days. In previous years, at least one person has ET'd (early termination) by this point. I think that's awesome, and I hope w e all make it through training (the first 9 weeks) and integration (the following 3 months). Some days I feel like Maria singing "the hills are alive with the sound of music".
Lastly, a few extra details on my homestead. I live in a very large family right beside a river. There are great grandparents to great grand kids. 2 of the first generation Gama, 1 of their 5 kids lives there, 10ish of their grand kids, and 2 great grand kids. I've so far identified 3 other homesteads that have Gamas living in them around us.
I have my own little two-room on the homestead. The house is a spare house for old furniture they don't use anymore, so it's pretty full. I have a living room and bedroom. There's electricity but no running water.
Taylor is my closet neighbor, and when I'm not chilling with my family, I'm hanging out with her's.
Just little familiarities like that make me smile. There aren't many other similarities in the way of life between here and other places I've lived.
Not having running water is a big one. I'm slowly adjusting to bucket baths, but am still considering chopping my hair off so I wouldn't have to deal with so much of it. Having to boil and filter any water I come into contact with before drinking it has also taken some getting used to, but not as bad as I imagined at first. Red dust is all over the place, and I scrub my feet every night, leaving the water red after. Surprisingly, I've gotten used to it all quite quickly.
Having to wear a skirt every day is also something I've never been forced to do before. It also is another thing that bothers me a lot less than i thought it would. Ive never worn skirts much in the past, but I'm usually ok with it. I thought we'd all look like a gypsy caravan in our thrown together getups, but some girls make it look so cute in the "Swazi female volunteer style". Cute enough to make me want to start a volunteer fashion blog to keep track of all the nice outfits.
My sleep cycle is way off, too. Asleep usually by 8pm, up my 4:30am.
Despite all that, I'm definitely getting into the groove of life here. Tons of cute kids around my homestead to play with, geckos crawling around my walls (self sufficient pets, I say), learning siSwati, a beautiful vista to take in, and 40 awesome people to take it in with. I've been told by the previous groups that it's a miracle none of us have dropped out yet at 17 days. In previous years, at least one person has ET'd (early termination) by this point. I think that's awesome, and I hope w e all make it through training (the first 9 weeks) and integration (the following 3 months). Some days I feel like Maria singing "the hills are alive with the sound of music".
Lastly, a few extra details on my homestead. I live in a very large family right beside a river. There are great grandparents to great grand kids. 2 of the first generation Gama, 1 of their 5 kids lives there, 10ish of their grand kids, and 2 great grand kids. I've so far identified 3 other homesteads that have Gamas living in them around us.
I have my own little two-room on the homestead. The house is a spare house for old furniture they don't use anymore, so it's pretty full. I have a living room and bedroom. There's electricity but no running water.
Taylor is my closet neighbor, and when I'm not chilling with my family, I'm hanging out with her's.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Welcome to Swaziland
Just checking in so that everyone knows I arrived safely. Loving Swaziland so far. The country is beautiful. Nights are hoodie weather and days are tshirt weather (it's winter here). The people (volunteers, staff, and Swazi people) have all been great so far.
The training center is definitely luxurious by Swazi standards. Lauren and I are sharing a room. There's nice, soft beds. We have hot showers AND heating for nights. We move into villages on Monday, but I'm looking forward to the transition.
Here's a short rundown of how we got here:
Tuesday (June 26) began with mom giving me a ride to Center City (Philadelphia) at 9am. I spent the morning chilling with volunteers and meeting people as they've arrived from the airport. At 2pm, we started staging, and went straight to 7pm. There was a lot of info, and a lot of get-to-know-you stuff for the volunteers. At 7:30, they assigned 6 group leaders and I was one of them.
I went with a few others down to South Street for my last pizza fries at Steaks On South. The others got cheese steak. I was in bed at 10:30pm and back outta bed at 2am. By two, we had to be packed and ready to go. 2:30am, we were on the bus, and off to JFK airport and arrived around 4:30am. All along the way, us group leaders were counting the others to make sure everyone was there because no staff took the flight with us. Check-in didn't start until 7am, so we were just chatting, playing games, and sleeping in front of the South African Airlines check-in counter.
The flight was at 11:15am and took 15 1/2 hours. We arrived Thursday (June 28) morning and were met by local staff and a couple current volunteers. The only stops on the bus ride were lunch at Steers (the South African McDonalds) and the South African-Swazi border. We arrived at 6pm with enough time to check-in, eat dinner, and pass out.
The past two days have just been non-stop health info, country info, and language instruction. We're all exhausted, but enthusiastic! More to come later.
The training center is definitely luxurious by Swazi standards. Lauren and I are sharing a room. There's nice, soft beds. We have hot showers AND heating for nights. We move into villages on Monday, but I'm looking forward to the transition.
Here's a short rundown of how we got here:
Tuesday (June 26) began with mom giving me a ride to Center City (Philadelphia) at 9am. I spent the morning chilling with volunteers and meeting people as they've arrived from the airport. At 2pm, we started staging, and went straight to 7pm. There was a lot of info, and a lot of get-to-know-you stuff for the volunteers. At 7:30, they assigned 6 group leaders and I was one of them.
I went with a few others down to South Street for my last pizza fries at Steaks On South. The others got cheese steak. I was in bed at 10:30pm and back outta bed at 2am. By two, we had to be packed and ready to go. 2:30am, we were on the bus, and off to JFK airport and arrived around 4:30am. All along the way, us group leaders were counting the others to make sure everyone was there because no staff took the flight with us. Check-in didn't start until 7am, so we were just chatting, playing games, and sleeping in front of the South African Airlines check-in counter.
The flight was at 11:15am and took 15 1/2 hours. We arrived Thursday (June 28) morning and were met by local staff and a couple current volunteers. The only stops on the bus ride were lunch at Steers (the South African McDonalds) and the South African-Swazi border. We arrived at 6pm with enough time to check-in, eat dinner, and pass out.
The past two days have just been non-stop health info, country info, and language instruction. We're all exhausted, but enthusiastic! More to come later.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Current feelings =)
"My boss fired me today. But it's okay, he's an alpha-gazelle, and I'm a lion. He just couldn't handle me." - quote from random guy at a house party in Seattle.This quote is totally how I feel right now. A lioness about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. All the alpha-gazelles around me lately who've been asking me if I'm scared about Africa (um... why would I move there if I was scared?) or the ones who've been making rude comments........ step out of my way, please. I'm coming through.
P.S. Check out my tumblr (http://zaichiki.tumblr.com) for some photo updates!
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
One week left!
I can't believe that a week from right now, I'll be sitting at JFK airport, waiting to depart to Johannesburg airport. That is the first stop in our journey.
So a little update... here's what's going down next week. Next Tuesday morning (the 26th), mom's driving me down to Center City, because staging is in PHILLY! A day of orienting, vaccinations, etc. Then prolly followed by a night of stuffing our faces full of American food (I got S.O.S's pizza fries on the brain) and some sight seeing maybe.
At 2:30am Wednesday (27th), we're off for JFK airport. We'll arrive at JFK around 4:30am. The plane is at 11:15am. We arrive the morning of the 28th in Johannesburg. They'll give us a chance to change into something a little nicer from plane clothes. Then a 4-5 hour bus ride to Mbabane, the capital of Swaziland. So yeah.... about 2 days in transit for that.
At this point, I'm pretty much all packed except for some stuff I'm waiting on from Amazon. I made the stupid mistake of sending it to Normal instead of Philly, so now I had to rebuy everything. They said the easiest thing to do would be to rebuy it, and have the roomies reject the packages in Normal. When Amazon gets those back from there, they would refund me. Also, I'm going to pick up some prescriptions sunglasses today I ordered cause I decided not to wear contacts in Swaziland.
I made some new business cards made up for myself for networking.
Box 2797
Mbabane H100
Swaziland
AFRICA
So a little update... here's what's going down next week. Next Tuesday morning (the 26th), mom's driving me down to Center City, because staging is in PHILLY! A day of orienting, vaccinations, etc. Then prolly followed by a night of stuffing our faces full of American food (I got S.O.S's pizza fries on the brain) and some sight seeing maybe.
At 2:30am Wednesday (27th), we're off for JFK airport. We'll arrive at JFK around 4:30am. The plane is at 11:15am. We arrive the morning of the 28th in Johannesburg. They'll give us a chance to change into something a little nicer from plane clothes. Then a 4-5 hour bus ride to Mbabane, the capital of Swaziland. So yeah.... about 2 days in transit for that.
At this point, I'm pretty much all packed except for some stuff I'm waiting on from Amazon. I made the stupid mistake of sending it to Normal instead of Philly, so now I had to rebuy everything. They said the easiest thing to do would be to rebuy it, and have the roomies reject the packages in Normal. When Amazon gets those back from there, they would refund me. Also, I'm going to pick up some prescriptions sunglasses today I ordered cause I decided not to wear contacts in Swaziland.
I made some new business cards made up for myself for networking.
And lastly, here's my temporary address for the first 9 weeks while we're in training. Send me stuff!!!!
Danni Shtraus
Peace Corps SwazilandBox 2797
Mbabane H100
Swaziland
AFRICA
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Things standing in the way of me and SWAZILAND
Here is a list I compiled on Wednesday of things I need to take care of before JUNE 26, 2012!! If it's been x-ed out, it means I've done it already. Alas, the list is still long.
(updated 5.26.12)
X passport photos
X Send passport app
X yellow fever vaccine
X figure out readings course
X Mideast research proposal due
X Econ Decentralization presentation (4.10)
X Food Justice conference observation paper (4.10)
X Mideast class presentation on Syria (4.11)
X Stats asn 3 (4.12)
X Final report on Poli Sci 2012 assessments
X Food Justice exit paper (4.17)
X Mideast reflection 2 (4.25)
X Food Justice final paper (4.29)
X Stats asn 4 (5.7)
X Mideast final paper (5.9)
X Econ final
X grade papers for Modern Political Theory (5.10)
X capstone topics
X find capstone adviser
• Final grant (5.29)
• Summer Econ final (5.31)
• business cards
• prescription sunglasses
• USP reunion
P.S. Today was a beautiful day! Took these on the quad at ISU.
X passport photos
X Send passport app
X yellow fever vaccine
X figure out readings course
X Mideast research proposal due
X Econ Decentralization presentation (4.10)
X Food Justice conference observation paper (4.10)
X Mideast class presentation on Syria (4.11)
X Stats asn 3 (4.12)
X Final report on Poli Sci 2012 assessments
X Food Justice exit paper (4.17)
X Mideast reflection 2 (4.25)
X Food Justice final paper (4.29)
X Stats asn 4 (5.7)
X Mideast final paper (5.9)
X Econ final
X grade papers for Modern Political Theory (5.10)
X capstone topics
X find capstone adviser
• Final grant (5.29)
• Summer Econ final (5.31)
• business cards
• prescription sunglasses
• USP reunion
P.S. Today was a beautiful day! Took these on the quad at ISU.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Bumps in the road: vaccines and capstone options
So I decided to be proactive (haven't sent off my Peace Corps passport details yet, oops!), and figure out where I can get my yellow fever vaccine for around the price Peace Corps will cover for it. Peace Corps covers up to $150, but the local Travel Clinic will cost around $300-350. So it seems like I may have to head out to Peoria for the vaccine. Only problems there is a.) I have to find a way to Peoria which is an hour away when I don't have a car, and b.) they don't want to do the vaccine because their documents say Swaziland is not at risk of yellow fever. So tomorrow I'll be faxing them the Peace Corps documents to them in hopes that they would change their mind and do the shot for me. *breath*
The other issue is my capstone. It's turning into very much the chicken and egg process.
1.) It's hard to pick a capstone topic before I find out what I'm doing in the Peace Corps if I'm meant to relate the topic to my assignment. It's hard to find out my assignment before I go through Peace Corps training. It's hard to do preliminary research on my topic while in the Peace Corps.
2.) I'm encouraged to pick a faculty who I feel will fit my capstone topic to be my advisor. Refer to (problem 1).
3.) Doing youth development, I will most likely need to do an IRB review for my capstone project. It will be hard to do this in the Peace Corps. If I had a professor to be my advisor, they would be able to help me through the IRB process. Refer to (problem 2).
*sigh*
The other issue is my capstone. It's turning into very much the chicken and egg process.
1.) It's hard to pick a capstone topic before I find out what I'm doing in the Peace Corps if I'm meant to relate the topic to my assignment. It's hard to find out my assignment before I go through Peace Corps training. It's hard to do preliminary research on my topic while in the Peace Corps.
2.) I'm encouraged to pick a faculty who I feel will fit my capstone topic to be my advisor. Refer to (problem 1).
3.) Doing youth development, I will most likely need to do an IRB review for my capstone project. It will be hard to do this in the Peace Corps. If I had a professor to be my advisor, they would be able to help me through the IRB process. Refer to (problem 2).
*sigh*
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
"Go slow! You're not in New York, anymore!"
"Go slow." Something that was called to me often during my week long stay on the beach paradise in Caye Caulker, Belize. It was the perfect beginning to my winter break Central America trip, because I'm not the kind of person who's good at going slow. I like walking fast, and I'm always in a hurry to get somewhere, never really taking in my surroundings and enjoying the moment. Learning to go allowed me to stay a few extra days in a town I liked.
And then I came back from winter break this semester, and back into the thick of things. Everything moves so fast. It feels like time has absolutely FLOWN since August when I first became a grad student, and am now just waiting to finish up classes and start my Peace Corps in just three months!It's funny that here in Normal everyone else moves so fast that my friends here think I actually walk pretty slow, talk pretty slow, move pretty slow. But I've been taking it all the wrong way. As if these qualities I've been striving for the past couple years I've now become embarrassed of. While I used to practice talking slower and clearer, and moving slower and more calm, these are things I've once again come to take for granted in the United States.
Well it's not the way for me. In Swaziland, I'm sure things will be a lot slower, and so I wanna start here and now. Focus on stressing less about school, which after the exam this morning, and paper I've turned in this afternoon, I've officially hit the halfway mark. Just a little bit left to go, and it's really not that important in the scope of what's ahead. The next exciting chapter in my life, a new continent to conquer. I just need to concentrate and get it out of the way, and then back to "going slow" for me. =)Friday, March 16, 2012
Sawubona! (hello)
It's official! I got SWAZILAND!!! Now... time to work on my siSwati. =D
The invitation arrived on Thursday when I was in Chicago, and Greg texted me to tell me it arrived at the house. I told him not to open it, but then Buj went to look at it and said that you can see the invitation without even opening it, and it said Swaziland... So yeah, no surprise for me....
The roommate wall of Peace Corps invitation packaging for Buj, Greg, and me.
The invitation arrived on Thursday when I was in Chicago, and Greg texted me to tell me it arrived at the house. I told him not to open it, but then Buj went to look at it and said that you can see the invitation without even opening it, and it said Swaziland... So yeah, no surprise for me....
The roommate wall of Peace Corps invitation packaging for Buj, Greg, and me.Saturday, March 10, 2012
Invite......? Am I DREAMING?
So my placement officer said this'd be in the mail mid to late April, but....
SQUEEEEEE!!!!!!!! REALLY??? OMG, I CAN'T WAIT! I won't be back til Friday night.
In other news, I'm in Seattle right now visiting Jamie, a neighbor from Korea.
SQUEEEEEE!!!!!!!! REALLY??? OMG, I CAN'T WAIT! I won't be back til Friday night.
In other news, I'm in Seattle right now visiting Jamie, a neighbor from Korea.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Finally!!!?
Katie, Kate, and I were sitting in the beautiful library 4th floor nook (they have a nice comfy nook with big windows on the four corners of 4th floor) when my phone suddenly rang. I picked it up to see who the 202 number was, and ran to the fire escape as if the place had been set ablaze. It was my placement officer, calling to give me my final interview and see where I'd be going to in the Peace Corps. Originally, he said I'd be good for Southeast Asia or Eastern Europe, but I was secretly hoping neither of those. He was pretty lenient and said he'd let me choose from my options, and unless he called me back chances were that I'd be going to the region I chose. I told him I'd been hoping for something south of the equator, and would take anything there.
"Well, you said you'd be willing to leave after June 30. Are you willing to bump it up 5 days?"
"It depends..........."
"Well I have one in Sub-Saharan Africa that leaves 5 days before."
"/calm/ Really? /calm/"
"Yes."
"Sure!"
So.... here things are. I had no idea where I'd be going only that I knew it'd be Sub-Saharan Africa at the end of June. Oh, and he told me I should receive my invitation either the second or third week of April. Right after we got off the phone, Katie and Kate received the same call. I was so excited for the both of them! Katie is either looking at Eastern Europe or the Carribean. Kate is looking at Sub-Saharan Africa as well (excited!!) but not leaving til September, so not the same place.
After I got out of the class I TA for, I got a call from Lauren saying that she was told her and I are going to the same country! She got some extra details such as it's an Anglophone country, and I'd be doing Youth Development while she's doing Health. YAY! Lauren and I are together!
So I looked online at the Peace Corps Wiki (the Peace Corps equivalent of Wikipedia) to look at their timeline, and the 3 countries around that date are Benin, The Gambia, and Swaziland. Now I'm really hoping it's not the first two, because I don't want to go to West Africa. But I'm SUPER excited about Swaziland, AND it's the only country that has both programs we've been assigned for.
Now... Lauren and I have pretty much accepted that we are going there, googling everything in the world about it and prepping ourselves to learn siSwati. We've also been reading a chunk of Peace Corps blogs about Swaziland. I promised I wouldn't get too excited til I got my invitation in April, but it's hard not to get excited. Both of my roommates (Greg and Ambuj) have now received theirs. They're both doing economic development in the Dominican Republic!! It's awesome that they'll be together like Lauren and me.
Here's what I know so far about Swaziland:
Capital: Lobamba (royal and legislative) and Mbabane (administrative and largest city). The international airport is in Manzini, always important information.
Area of the country: 6,704 sq mi
Population: 1,185,000. Roughly half of whom are married to or sired from the king....... JOKES!! (or is it?)
Official languages: English and siSwati
King with absolute power: King Mswati III (with 14 wives and 26 kids)
It used to be a British colony until 1968 when it gained independence.
Disclaimer: Nothing is set in stone until I get my invitation hopefully by the 3rd week of April. *fingers crossed*
"Well, you said you'd be willing to leave after June 30. Are you willing to bump it up 5 days?"
"It depends..........."
"Well I have one in Sub-Saharan Africa that leaves 5 days before."
"/calm/ Really? /calm/"
"Yes."
"Sure!"
So.... here things are. I had no idea where I'd be going only that I knew it'd be Sub-Saharan Africa at the end of June. Oh, and he told me I should receive my invitation either the second or third week of April. Right after we got off the phone, Katie and Kate received the same call. I was so excited for the both of them! Katie is either looking at Eastern Europe or the Carribean. Kate is looking at Sub-Saharan Africa as well (excited!!) but not leaving til September, so not the same place.
After I got out of the class I TA for, I got a call from Lauren saying that she was told her and I are going to the same country! She got some extra details such as it's an Anglophone country, and I'd be doing Youth Development while she's doing Health. YAY! Lauren and I are together!
So I looked online at the Peace Corps Wiki (the Peace Corps equivalent of Wikipedia) to look at their timeline, and the 3 countries around that date are Benin, The Gambia, and Swaziland. Now I'm really hoping it's not the first two, because I don't want to go to West Africa. But I'm SUPER excited about Swaziland, AND it's the only country that has both programs we've been assigned for.
Now... Lauren and I have pretty much accepted that we are going there, googling everything in the world about it and prepping ourselves to learn siSwati. We've also been reading a chunk of Peace Corps blogs about Swaziland. I promised I wouldn't get too excited til I got my invitation in April, but it's hard not to get excited. Both of my roommates (Greg and Ambuj) have now received theirs. They're both doing economic development in the Dominican Republic!! It's awesome that they'll be together like Lauren and me.
Here's what I know so far about Swaziland:
Capital: Lobamba (royal and legislative) and Mbabane (administrative and largest city). The international airport is in Manzini, always important information.
Area of the country: 6,704 sq mi
Population: 1,185,000. Roughly half of whom are married to or sired from the king....... JOKES!! (or is it?)
Official languages: English and siSwati
King with absolute power: King Mswati III (with 14 wives and 26 kids)
It used to be a British colony until 1968 when it gained independence.
Disclaimer: Nothing is set in stone until I get my invitation hopefully by the 3rd week of April. *fingers crossed*
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Since blogging about the Peace Corps seems so popular... (my timeline)
I have decided to start this blog up again to talk about where I am in my own Peace Corps application process...
So here is my Peace Corps timeline. It's been a LONG ride.
October 1, 2010: Received the application packet from Peace Corps.
November 9, 2010: Peace Corps received my application packet.
November 15, 2010: First interview with regional Peace Corps coordinator.
November 30, 2010: Application withdrawn pending acceptance to a Masters International program since I do not intend to go to Peace Corps until I do the MI.
April 5, 2011: Wait-listed for the Illinois State University's Masters International program.
April 25, 2011: Accepted to Illinois State University's Masters International program.
April 26, 2011: Nominated for Peace Corps.
May 5, 2011: Date my medical kit was mailed to me.
August 18, 2011: Started Masters International graduate program at Illinois State University.
October 25, 2011: Peace Corps received my medical and dental.
November 18, 2011: Rejected from the Peace Corps on the basis of my supposed lack of health.
November 28, 2011: Put together an appeal for my medical.
December 7, 2011: Peace Corps ACCEPTED my appeal for my medical status. =D
December 28, 2011: Peace Corps sent me another email asking me to send more transcripts and details.
January 19, 2012: Was informed by the Peace Corps that my application is in final review now.
February 2, 2012: Contacted by my placement officer with a questionnaire of the kinds of conditions I can handle in the Peace Corps. Submitted answers same day.
That's where I'm at right now... I put June 30 as my soonest available leaving date, but would definitely be willing to leave early if it meant I could go to Tanzania on the June 11 departure. That would be a dream come true.
So here is my Peace Corps timeline. It's been a LONG ride.
October 1, 2010: Received the application packet from Peace Corps.
November 9, 2010: Peace Corps received my application packet.
November 15, 2010: First interview with regional Peace Corps coordinator.
November 30, 2010: Application withdrawn pending acceptance to a Masters International program since I do not intend to go to Peace Corps until I do the MI.
April 5, 2011: Wait-listed for the Illinois State University's Masters International program.
April 25, 2011: Accepted to Illinois State University's Masters International program.
April 26, 2011: Nominated for Peace Corps.
May 5, 2011: Date my medical kit was mailed to me.
August 18, 2011: Started Masters International graduate program at Illinois State University.
October 25, 2011: Peace Corps received my medical and dental.
November 18, 2011: Rejected from the Peace Corps on the basis of my supposed lack of health.
November 28, 2011: Put together an appeal for my medical.
December 7, 2011: Peace Corps ACCEPTED my appeal for my medical status. =D
December 28, 2011: Peace Corps sent me another email asking me to send more transcripts and details.
January 19, 2012: Was informed by the Peace Corps that my application is in final review now.
February 2, 2012: Contacted by my placement officer with a questionnaire of the kinds of conditions I can handle in the Peace Corps. Submitted answers same day.
That's where I'm at right now... I put June 30 as my soonest available leaving date, but would definitely be willing to leave early if it meant I could go to Tanzania on the June 11 departure. That would be a dream come true.
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