Minneapolis --> Seattle --> Honolulu

Well, this is it. Currently on my flight from Minneapolis to Seattle, and from there to arrive in Honolulu. This has been a long time coming and I can’t believe that it has actually arrived. It has been about two months since the last time that I had blogged. The time has passed with finishing up work at Career Professionals and Rojo, spending lots of time with friends, visiting family, and of course the dreaded – packing!

8 Weeks and Counting!

Well it is officially eight weeks, as of tomorrow, until I ship off to Hawaii to visit with friends and family before I leave for Senegal. Time has absolutely FLOWN by, considering I have been waiting almost a year since I was nominated for this position.

A Simple Update

Things are becoming a little more real, in terms of coping with the fact that I am moving to Africa in six months. I have so much energy inside that has been built up and it is slowing leaking out in the form of stress!! I have turned in so many forms, since the acceptance, with more to do still and it feels never ending. I am trying not to sweat the small stuff, but it's harder than it sounds. Thus far I have sent in my paperwork for my '"passport" (not really sure what type of passport this is considering I had to send my passport in with it, maybe something as simple as a stamp?) and also my Visa.

My Aspiration Statement and Resume

One of the first steps upon accepting a position with the Peace Corps is writing your Aspiration Statement and reformat your resume. These two documents will then be sent directly to your country of service (Senegal in my circumstance). This is the first real information that the country will receive about you and so its important that you include all relevant experiences while sounding intelligent. The following are my answers to the questions for my Aspiration Statement to introduce myself and my experiences. (The interesting part about posting these answers is to see how my expectations and realizations of the experience compare to my pre-service expectations.)

Its Official.... IM IN! HELLO SENEGAL!

This last week has been absolutely crazy! Upon returning from my brothers wedding in California, I came home to a wonderful package from the Peace Corps. I was expecting something, wasn't sure what, because I had an interview with my placement officer on Friday (Nov 4th). She told me that she only had one question for me. At this point I was really nervous, only one question? Well, I can't really afford to mess it up then can I?

Medical Kit Accomplished! (and cleared!)

Alright, its official, I have sent in my medical kit! I was scrambling around on Friday trying to get a Chickenpox shot (Vericella #2) because somehow I missed it while I was getting all my other tests and immunizations in Menomonie. I was told that it will take about 10-12 weeks before I hear anything, which may be the longest 10 weeks of my life! I don't think I would be denied acceptance to be a volunteer with the Peace Corps based on my medical history but you never know.

It's just the beginning...

And it starts now... I am in the middle of my medical clearance in order to be cleared to serve abroad! Of course all of the tests came back just fine, except... the pap! Sorry for my male readers but I am just being honest. That was the one thing that I could not have even imagined would go wrong out of all the tests that were performed! I gave blood, twice, got a Polio and Chickenpox shot, got a TB test, gave a urine sample, took an eye exam, hearing test and pap. Only one test came back and I had to get a follow up exam and test, but it all came out fine!

"We Will Be Friends Until Forever, Just You Wait And See"

It is my last day in Rouen. This past week has FLOWN by! It was filled with last minute shopping, people watching underneath the Eiffel Tower, feeding the swans at the pond in Rouen and just hanging out with the ones we all have grown so close with. We had our last night at Emporium on Tuesday along with every other exchange student. Not everyone is done with their classes so people are still sticking around for another week or so depending on how long they are going tour Europe when done with school.

A Week With My Girls!

After we all got back from the South of France Erica and Sarah still had a week with me between Paris and Rouen. Monday the 12th of May we spent in Paris. We tried to get a lot of the touristy things done but the ATM ate my card so we could not rent bikes. It sucked really bad cause we were all looking forward to seeing the city on bikes since it would have been cheaper and more time efficient.

ROAD TRIP: Nice, Monaco, Cannes, Antibes and Aix-en-Provence

I met Erica and Sarah at the airport when they came to visit me here in France. The first mission that we had while they were here, Roadtrip! It was myself, Erica, Sarah, Kristen, Katie, Danielle, Jess and Cathy. Erica, Sarah and myself caught a train from Gare de Lyon to Marseille and then from Marseille to Nice. We had an hour layover in Marseille so we caught some lunch but of course the train was late so it turned into a two hour delay. When we finally arrived in Nice we caught the shuttle to our hostel and met Kristen, Jess and Cathy.