How often does Peace Corps place you exactly where you want to be?

It finally happened. I heard the mail truck roll up to the house three doors down. Then my neighbor's house. Then mine. And then PLOP! Maybe an invite on the porch? Maybe my newest prints? I looked out the window and there it is, the glorious invite kit I've been looking forward to getting since June! I grabbed it, ran to my mom's room, and began ripping it open - feeling like it's the best present ever. And I saw the country name - it's not Paraguay, it's not Zambia, and it's not Uganda - ECUADOR?! Not even in my scope because of my estimation from Peace Corps Wiki. It's not even listed yet (but I had the honor of doing that myself!). So that's it - Ecuador, 2 February 2011, environmental education and awareness.

See, I would have been more than happy to go anywhere Peace Corps wanted me to go, and I would be happy with pretty much any assignment. Really, anywhere, anything. But in the beginning of this application process, I thought a lot that it would be amazing if they sent me to Ecuador. I've wanted to go there for a while - I think mountains, volcanoes, the Amazon, the coast and the Galapagos when I think of Ecuador - but I didn't mention anything to anyone and pushed it aside for another time when I could go myself. What an amazing surprise! And doing environmental education is just perfect.

Good job Peace Corps!

WHOOO!!

What to do while I wait

I've become a post officer stalker. I've been waiting on the couch around noon when the mail comes, eagerly listening for that characteristic drone of the mail truck. Today, because it was so nice out despite the insanely high winds, I sat on the driveway knitting my very first sock (it looks ok, but I'm stuck on the heel now). It was so windy, that at one point I got up to get something inside, and came back to see my skein bouncing down the driveway heading for the road. I had to stop and laugh.

But no luck today, maybe tomorrow.

A week ago, I very suddenly decided to open up shop on Etsy to see if I could sell some prints. There was the dilemma of where to get my prints printed - I'd already been down the road of having my own printer, and I wasn't about to do it again. I tried a local camera shop but their product was washed out and blurry. Finally, a local art shop recommended Diversified Lab, and so I jumped right in. Incredible prices and free shipping, excellent! My test batch arrived in two days, and I loved the results. Problem solved!

So now I have about 40 prints listed on Etsy, most 8x10 but I can now entertain the idea of printing pretty much any size my resolution will allow. I sold one print my first three days of being an open shop to a nearly random visitor, and just sold another two to a very nice person I'd recently met on another site. I'm hoping for more, anything to help pay off the loan I took from my relative to pay for my dental bill. If you'd like to take a look at my shop out of boredom, or if you might even entertain the idea of buying a print, check out Go Volcano Photography here.

It's also just nice seeing my work out there, and I've received nothing but compliments. Feels good :)

Success!!!!

I don't know if emailing them did anything to improve my chances of progress, but I just got an email from my Placement and Assessment Officer - horray! She asked when a good time would be to call me, and I responded that I'm free any time. She wrote back immediately asking for my number, I sent it, and the next immediate response was: "Great. I will call you now." Cue crazy running-around-the housedness. Of course, my phone acted wonky and just gave her a busy signal. But all's well, she gave me her number and I called right away.

The conversation lasted about 20 minutes, and most of it was a discussion of my diet. After talking with other vegans and vegetarians, who have and have not served in Peace Corps, I think I've developed my own beliefs when in a PC situation. I'd really prefer being vegan or vegetarian - and it seems a lot of volunteers can do that based on where they live - but I basically said serving is more important to me than my diet. My supervisor at Alaska served in Senegal, and told me I'd have to be flexible enough to eat something that's been cooked in fish broth, and I know I can handle that. But my Placement Officer said I should probably try eating meat before I leave after explaining her own experience as a trainee. When she first arrived, she was offered meat and got pretty sick for several days since it was the first meat she had in 9 years.

So after that long conversation, she seemed reasonably satisfied. She asked me more questions that were similar to my nomination interview, like if my motivations have changed, how my family is coping, what are my reasons for joining, etc.

And then she said I'm a strong applicant, and she's definitely nominating me for service!

BUT

I have a choice.

The program I was originally nominated for is closed, and she said I wasn't as qualified for protected areas management as other areas...so...it's either:

1) Sub-Saharan Africa - Forestry, leaving in early February

2) Central/South America - Environmental Education, leaving in early February

She described both programs, and then I pretty much stumbled. I had to decide right then. I said both programs and both areas sounded perfect for me, but EE might be a little better fit than forestry, and the idea of Africa really intrigued me. So I asked if she could decide for me. She laughed and said that's often why they rarely give applicants a choice. True enough!

So I was invited. I'll get the package in 7-9 days!

I shifted through Peace Corps Wiki to see what countries are possibilities. It seems like the best I could do was narrow it down to three. These are the countries with forestry/environmental education, and the asterisks are for countries with departure dates in February:

C/SA:
Panama
El Salvador
*Honduras
Mexico
Nicaragua
Guatemala
Belize
*Paraguay
Ecuador
Peru

Africa:
Benin
Senegal
Ghana
*Zambia
Cape Verde
Togo
*Malawi
Mali
Gambia
Tanzania
Cameroon
Niger
Guinea
Gambia
*Uganda

So if you consider early February to be 15th or sooner, it's going to be:
1. Paraguay
2. Uganda
3. Zambia

WHAT WILL IT BE? She mentioned my language skill is important, so could it be Paraguay? Unrelated or not, that's where she served. I have no idea now.