2/22 -- Placement Acceptance

"The time has come," the Walrus said,

"To talk of many things:

Of shoes--and ships--and sealing wax--

Of cabbages--and kings--

And why the sea is boiling hot--

And whether pigs have wings."

from "The Walrus and The Carpenter"

by Lewis Carroll

The time has come, indeed! I need to recap the past five days before my memory no longer permits me to do so.

Friday: After receiving that ominous e-mail/MyToolkit update informing me that I had been invited to serve in the Peace Corps, I spent the day subbing at FMS. Luckily, I am familiar with this school and the students are generally very well behaved. Had I been at any other school, my distraction would have been a major issue. At FMS, I was able to multitask between daydreaming about which country I'd been invited to and monitoring students. Being at FMS was also nice because I was able to vent to a few familiar faculty/staff faces who knew about my journey with the PC. They sympathized and wished me well.

Because my roommate had informed me that I did receive mail from the PC, I rescheduled my after-school coffee date with Chrysta in order to get home as quickly as possible and open that darn envelope.

I'll be honest. Armenia wasn't my most ideal placement. After reading that, I immediately got online to (1) looked at a map to ensure that I knew where Armenia was and (2) do a search on CNN.com for any recent news stories in Armenia. The rest of my evening was spent doing basic research on the country and riding a roller coaster of emotions. I had good talks with my parents and with Chrysta, both leaving me feeling pretty good about the entire situation.


Saturday: I continued doing research and broke the news to a few other close friends who were almost as anxious as I. The roller coaster continues!

Sunday-Monday: After a discreet suggestion from Mother Dearest, I decided to pay a face-to-face visit to the parentals. This gave us the chance to talk more freely than on the phone and conduct research together. Dad and I also discussed some of the financial steps that must be taken. Sunday night I visited an old friend from middle/high school. She and her folks were impressed and happy at my news. The long drive to and from my parents' town gave me the chance to put my Bluetooth device to good use: I called half a dozen people to share the news, including those who wrote references for me during the initial application phase. Everybody's excitement made me realize that yes, I am going to do this.

Tuesday (today): It snowed a little bit, so no school or substituting possible. This gave me the whole day to relax and, of course, consider my options. I sent an e-mail accepting my placement offer around two this afternoon. For such a big decision, it's a rather short e-mail! I hope to hear back soon so I can start on the next steps, especially the passport application. The passport website indicated that they'll be using new forms starting March 1, so I think I'll wait until then to apply.

My emotional rollercoaster continued today after getting rear-ended on my way home. I guess icy conditions had something to do with it, but it wasn't that cold out when it happened so I think the other driver just wasn't paying enough attention. No major damage was done to my car and none to the other driver's. My life just has a funny way of sequencing major events, especially when my car is involved! Luckily the claims process has begun and I was able to get an appointment at a body shop next week!

Back to PC... At this point, I'm looking for good Armenian dictionaries/language books. I have a feeling that the language is going to be a HUGE barrier and I want to get as much of a head start as possible.  I also am hoping to connect with other people in my group! Expect to see me trolling around PeaceCorpsJournals.com quite a bit looking for other June 1 staging groups! Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller...?