Officially accepted and process start :)

So Wednesday I officially accepted my invitation which was fantastic :)  I am so excited.  I have started the process too now.  I mailed off my passport application today and the application for my visa for Mali!! I am so excited about all of this.  The information is a little overwhelming at first with all the information they need from us, but it is making me for excited about the entire program :)

Invitation!!

So last week I received my notice that an invitation was sent to me!! I was so excited, I was waiting patiently for like 3 days and guess what I received it today!!! I am going to MALI!!!! My original departure date was suppose to be in December but now I will be leaving January 31st to Mali!! I am really excited, I will be there until April 12, 2013!  It is crazy to think about it, I am actually going to be living in AFRICA, who would have thought when I was growing up, I would be spending time in Africa!  I am really happy for this opportunity, it is going to be a great experience for me personally...  It is such a relief to know that I am officially going and knowing when I am leaving and where I am going.  No more guessing games for me!!

Placement Phone Call

So today started out quite interestingly,

I was on vacation for the past 2 weeks and I was coming back today so I set up my Final Assessment phone call with my placement officer today at 4:00. My flight was suppose to land at 1:45 so that gave me plenty of time to get to my apartment from the airport... Well with the great weather we have here in NYC, my flight was delayed by 1.5 hours, so I didn't arrive until 3:15... Knowing this I called the placement officer a head and told her that I will not be able to have a 4 o'clock call and that it would be better at  5:00.  And I also had my mother email from my email account at home.  Well my placement officer didn't receive either messages so I ended up doing my assessment in a cab home. 

So my Final Assessment came and went, and i definitely did not put my mind at ease...  Everything went very well and she told me that I will receive an invitation however she is not sure if it will be to the December Departure date one yet because there are only a few spots open and there are numerous applicants still, she did say there is another program at the end of January that I am being considered for also.  So basically it is still up in the air... I asked when will I know, she told me that if I do not receive an invitation in the next couple of weeks then to assume that I am leaving at the end of January.  So I am guessing that is when I am leaving... Any opinions??

So I am still hoping for the December Departures since it is to Africa, the 4 that leave in January, 3 are to Latin America and on to Thailand.  They will be great but I was really hoping to be in Africa...

Follow-up discussion??

So I received an email today asking me to create a time where I can have a follow-up discussion to finalize my placement. 

I am currently considering your application for placement. I would like to arrange a 30-minute phone discussion with you to complete the final evaluation of your application. Please let me know a day and time beginning Tuesday, October 5th when you would be available for a phone discussion and the best number at which to reach you. I am available Monday through Friday between 9:30am to 5:30pm EST. 

I am actually nervous about this message, I have not read anywhere on here about a follow-up discussion so I am wondering if she is considering me for a possible later time frame or not :(... 

Does anyone have any insight??  I scheduled my meeting for tomorrow afternoon when I get home from vacation since this is the only time I can think of before I go back to work later this week... 

So I should know something soon... I hope!

So I got home last night and this was in my inbox,

Thank you for your prompt response and submission of your updated resume. Your application will now move on to your Placement Officer Lateefah  for a final review. Should she have any questions for you about the information in your application, she will be in touch with you before determining whether an invitation will be issued to the program you were originally nominated to. If you do not receive an invitation to that program, but Lateefah determines that you are a suitable and competitive applicant for service, she will then work to identify alternate program options for you.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions on the placement and assessment process.

So I guess this means that I am having my final review done, and hopefully I receive the invitation to my nominated program!! I wonder how much longer it will be till I know for sure?

Confusion but hopeful!!

So I just received an email today from the placement office,  the first email that was sent stated that I have passed my medical however it was too late for the program I was nominated for so I need to give them an updated resume and show some flexibility in the region I want to go... so this obviously made me want to cry,  because I really want to do this soon and I really want to go to Africa!!!  Well soon later I received two more emails, one that told me to just send an updated resume before they give it to placement for final review, the email that was sent after said to disregard the first email and to go by the latest email that I have received so I guess that this means my application is headed off for final review :)!!!! So I am not sure how long from here it will be until I hear about my invitation...  I know once I receive one update, it is usually quick to hear a response (generally a day or two later), one could only hope!

Medically Cleared For Reals Now!!

So I received my letter in the mail today at work that stated I have passed my medical clearance.  This is a relief, I am officially one more step closer to getting my invitation, at least I hope so.  So onto placement... I really hope it isn't too long of a process, I give it a month.  I was nominated for early December so I guess that I should hear by mid-October since that would be the 6 week plan that they like to give to people.  All I can do is hope though, I have not read anyone who was nominated for this time so I am wondering if this is a simple estimation...  I checked on the wiki peace corps site and it stated that this particular departure date was for Guinea which  had its operations suspended a year ago from a civil unrest that turned dangerous and caused a massacre.  So patience ones again I call upon you to keep my sanity through the rest of this process.  On a side note, I will be in Las Vegas next week for a weekend then in Florida for a week for my new nephew/god sons baptism, so I will have something to pre-occupy my time/mind with.