Invitation Information

Ok, now things have settled down a little and I'm still stoked about my assignment. Basically I'll be working in the mayor's office of whatever village, town, or city that I'll call home for the next two years (more on that later). This pic is me before I got my invitation (left, I'm not even wearing a watch) and after I read through it (right). I can't remember now, but I think I was excited. Everyone has been so supportive. I could not ask to be surrounded by more supportive people. Thanks.

I've had about two weeks to think about all of this and I'm more excited than ever. Of course I'm going to miss everyone here, but what is life if not an experience. And I'm going to be experiencing life under conditions that seem alien to everything I've ever known. I don't even know at this point if my site will have electricity or running water. I just keep telling myself, "Self, people have been living like that a lot longer than they haven't."

The people I've "met" online who are also going to Niger all seem like really great people. It seems that we have at least three different groups going: Municipal & Community Development, Community & Youth Education/Development, and Community Health Development/Health Extension. I'm thinking there will be a whole lot of shaking developing going on.

I know you have many questions, because at this moment I'm filled with them. Some how I am able to be at peace with not knowing all the answers to the questions. They will be answered soon enough. I'm hoping this comfort with confusion will help during my time in the Peace Corps.

I will post soon with more information about my program, Municipal and Community Development, and I will update as I learn more.

To whet your appetite for all things Niger, this information is a sample of what comes from the CIA's World Factbook (click to read more):

Location:	Western Africa, southeast of Algeria
Area - comparative:	slightly less than twice the size of Texas
Climate:	desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south
Geography:	landlocked; one of the hottest countries in the world; northern four-fifths is desert, southern one-fifth is savanna, suitable for livestock and limited agriculture

Population:	12,894,865 (July 2007 est.)
Nationality:	noun: Nigerien(s) adjective: Nigerien
Ethnic groups:	Haoussa 55.4%, Djerma Sonrai 21%, Touareg 9.3%, Peuhl 8.5%, Kanouri Manga 4.7%, other 1.2% (2001 census)
Religions:	Muslim 80%, other (includes indigenous beliefs and Christian) 20%
Languages:	French (official), Hausa, Djerma

Government type:	republic
Capital:	name: Niamey time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Peace Corps Invitation

My Peace Corps invitation arrived Yesterday.

My invitation is to serve as a Municipal and Community Development Agent in Niger and staging will be July 24th - July 26th. I'll land in Niger on the 27th.

More details to come, currently focused on more paperwork.

I'm beyond excited right now.

ps Niger is pronounced nee-ZHER ( just think French)

What A Day

Part I

Well, this morning started out great. I got up, showered, breakfasted, and out the door. Traffic was minimal. The sun was shining and I'm sure that the birds were singing. I arrived at work and realized that I had left my cell phone at home.

After a quick panic attack, "What if my Peace Corps Placement Officer (PO) calls today, the one day I forgot my phone?" So, I called Lindsay from my work phone and being the wonderful fiancee she is, she brought me my phone. It's not even on the way. How sweet is that?

Ok, backtrack to Monday. I called the Africa Placement Office to ask if the "closeout out" date had passed on the July invitations. They ask for my name and social security number and tell me, "No, Mr. Jones people are still being invited into that program. Your PO has your paper work and will contact you soon."

A few days go by and now we are back to the present after I receive my cell phone. By the way, William sans cell phone felt very vulnerable. I guess I'll get over that soon--sink or swim. I'm sitting at my desk and I'm thinking, I need to hear something from the Peace Corps today or I might just freak out. It's June 7th and I'm supposed to leave some time in July. So, I call the Placement Office back and spoke to a different person. We go through the name and social security game and then I ask, "When is the last day for someone to be invited to the program I've been nominated for?"

"Tuesday", he responded.

I'm getting a little nervous at this point, "Wow, that's only three business days." We both fake laugh.

He assures me that if I am being invited to the program I was nominated for, I will know soon. Then I get back to work and he gets back to work and that's that.


Part II

The day goes on normally. I looked through some charts, I entered some data, I took my lunch. After lunch I ran some errands and while I'm in Light Hall at approximately 1:13 in the PM I received a phone call from a 202 area code. Jackpot! Washington DC, PC HQ. I answered my phone and there's no one there. It rang again. "Hello? William Jones, this is your Placement Officer from the Peace Corps." He gave me his name and asked me a few questions about my romantic involvement. Apparently romantic involvement is one of most common reasons people ET (early termination). He lets me know that I will be getting my invitation by FedEx on Saturday or Monday.

At that point all of the heavens rejoiced and all seemed right with the world even if only for a moment.


Part Last

Well, I wish I had more information, but I won't until I receive my invitation packet. Wish good tidings upon the FedEx folk.

Things I am pretty sure it will include:
My invitation (which I must accept/decline within five days of receiving it, no big deal)
Welcome Book(Country information either on CD or an internet link, supposedly very exhaustive)
Suggested packing list
Forms for the no-fee passport and work visa (HOOrah, more forms!)

Things I wish it would include:
A clean up crew
Solar-powered Nintendo Wii
The answer to this riddle


[warning: none of the dialogue presented above is entirely accurate]

One Step Closer... C'mon Left Foot

I knew it was going to be a good day when I woke up this morning. I only hit the snooze button a couple of times, very impressive considering I usually hit it repeatedly for the better part of an hour. I got out of bed around 6:15 and walked to the living room to open the blinds and let the new day's light in. It has been my routine lately to turn on my computer and check the weather and browse my email looking for the words "Peace Corps". Of course I checked facebook too--what kind of self respecting twenty-something would I be if I didn't check my facebook first thing in the morning to see if anything happened while I was sleeping. Ok, enough about facebook and how it's more important than "real life". I have this glorious little e-mail in my inbox from Peace Corps, titled "Application Status Updated". In the email is a link that sends me to my current applicant toolkit and I find out I have been medically cleared! Sound the trumpets.



No, the email doesn't look anything like the animation above, it's just one little simple line of text.

Needless to say, the first thing I did was call my momma and dad. Lindsay found out shortly after--she would have found out first but she has a big girl job and travels around.

Later this morning I contacted the Africa Placement Office and they needed a couple of additional things. One of which is an updated resume and the second is an additional reference. They were so helpful and very nice. They really took the time to explain anything I didn't understand and.

It took me all of about 10 minutes to update my resume since I sent in a copy before my Interview in January. My good friend and former coworker Luke is going to be providing the details in the fill in the blank reference form. I'm pretty excited because on a "wordsmithiness" scale he's at least a 10. Thanks again buddy.

Thanks for reading and enjoy LOST season finale tonight. Oh, you don't watch LOST, well you should.

No More Needles For Now

Two weeks ago, I received my medical packet and last week I went home to get it all taken care of.

So, to recap my "medical visit" home there was a doctor's visit, dental visit, trip to the health department, and a trip to the cardiologist. Oh, and a return visit to the doctor. There were seven needles total. Not to bad... for the first wave.

Contrary to the title, the needles don't bother me much. It is the waiting to get stuck that bothers me. Once the needle finds its place I always think to myself, "Self, that wasn't so bad". I usually agree. After I received my tetanus booster, I even wanted to laugh. Not because it tickled but because of the mental image I had of the nurse holding the syringe, pulling her arm back and letting loose like she was throwing a dart at this invisible bulls-eye in my left deltoid. Cricket anyone?

All-in-all it was a very productive week. We had to wait a little bit longer than expected for all of the lab tests to run. Since I had already left to come back to Nashville by the time the last results came in, Mom added the lab results to the medical packet and got it in the mail this Monday.

On Wednesday morning at 4:15 (in case you are wondering, no I was not awake) I received an e-mail from the Peace Corps stating that I had been dentally cleared. My teeth rejoiced! This morning at 4:15 I receive another e-mail, but this time it only notified me that my medical packet had been received. I hope this is not like LOST with the reoccurring numbers.

It could be 4-6 weeks before I hear anything about medical clearance, but in the meantime I will find out who my Placement Officer or PO is. This is the person who tells me that I'm going to ________ country and I will be doing ________ job and I will be leaving on ________ date. So, needless to say I can't wait to find out who he or she is.

I slacked off on my French studies last week with the change in schedule and haven’t gotten back to it yet. Maybe tomorrow I’ll start again.

Thanks for reading. I hope to have more soon.