Our Peace Corps Application Timeline

When we were in the application (AKA, hurry up and wait) process of becoming Peace Corps Volunteers, we found peoples' personal blogs and accounts of their experiences invaluable. We would check and double check to compare and see if our nomination, clearances and invitations were coming slowly or quickly. We wanted to know what to expect and when, particularly because as a couple the process seems to vary slightly from that of single applicants. So, in hopes to help other current applicants and future Peace Corps volunteers, here is our timeline:

Mar. 30, 2005: Attended recruiting event.

Apr. 15, 2006: Started on-line application.

May 1, 2006: Submitted on-line application.

May 7, 2006: Received reference kit in the mail.

May 14, 2006: Completed and sent in reference kit.

May 17, 2006: Contacted by recruiter to schedule interview.

May 18, 2006: Recruiter received completed reference kit materials.

May 22, 2006: Scheduled interview for July date.

Jul. 25, 2006: Interviewed with recruiter at regional headquarters.

Aug. 16, 2006: Contacted by recruiter to discuss possible nomination.

Aug. 18, 2006: Nominated- TEFL, Sept. 07, Eastern Europe.

Sep. 5, 2006: Received medical & dental kit.

Sep. 27, 2006: Submitted medical & dental kit.

Oct. 16, 2006: Dan- dental clearance; Jillian- legal clearance.

Oct. 27, 2006: Dan- legal clearance; Jillian- dental hold until braces removed.

Nov. 1, 2006: PC Requested additional medical information from Dan & Jillian.

Nov. 10, 2006: Submitted additional medical information.

Jan. 8, 2006: Called Headquarters to inquire about receipt of additional medical info.

Jan. 10, 2006: Resubmitted additional medical information.

Jan. 19, 2007: Dan & Jillian- medical clearance.

Mar. 19, 2007: Placement office requested fax of teaching certifications.

Mar. 20, 2007: Faxed teaching certifications.

May 6, 2007: Toolkit status changed to Invitee.

May 18, 2007: Invitation to serve in Macedonia!

May 22, 2007: Accepted Invitation.

May 28, 2007: Submitted updated resumes and aspiration statements.

Jun. 25, 2007: Submitted application for no fee passports.

Aug. 1, 2007: Jillian- braces removed, dental clearance.

Sep. 5, 2007: Received staging kit.

Sep. 20, 2007: Departed for Staging in Washington D.C.

Sep. 24, 2007: Departed for Macedonia.

Zdravo!

Hello!
Our first week of language, culture and technical training has been amazing to say the least. Although we are exhausted and fatigued from all the stimulation, we are still excited to be here. This post is just a recap of all we have been doing so far:
Language & Culture Training- PC uses an incredible method for teaching language. Our first introduction to the language consisted of basic greetings using a listen and repeat method. And by repeat, I mean repeat a billion times. The Language Facilitators are so patient and supportive that it doesn't even feel like a language class. Another benefit to this approach and environment is that everything you learn you are able to try out immediately with native speakers. We had our first successful conversation in Macedonian today. It went something like this.

Me: Good evening.
Macedonian Lady: Good Evening.
Me: How are you?
Lady: Good, and you?
Me: I am good.
Lady: (silence)
Me: Goodbye!
Lady: Goodbye.

Not bad, huh? Oh, and Dan successfully ordered a bottle of beer completely in Macedonian.
Technical Training- This week was an introduction to what we will be doing as Secondary and Primary English Language Resource Teachers. During our 3 month training period we will learn more about the duties of that position and the methodologies of teaching English as a Foreign Language. It sounds like every site is very unique and that the duties can vary greatly between sites. So, a definitive all encompassing description of the job may have to wait.

Currently, all the trainees are staying at a central "hub" site, but during the remainder of training we will be in smaller "satellite" sites. Tomorrow we will find out our satellite site and therefore will be meeting our host family as well. We are very excited about this and looking forward to a more permanent place to stay. We will try to keep everyone posted as to what we are doing, but it is uncertain if we will have regular internet access. One possible site is rural and has no internet, while the other is more urban and does have internet. We'll find out tomorrow. Until then, Dobra Noch!

Hiking above our training city

We're Finally Here!

We’ve just only wrapped up our first full day in Macedonia and there’s so much to say. The lot of us arrived bleary eyed but pretty much exited out of our minds at the Skopje airport on Monday afternoon. We all piled into a bus and rode down to our training site. Jillian remarked the whole way, “It looks like southern California.” Completely true. The landscape was very dry with small brush, few trees, and small, rolling hills.

We arrived at the hotel in our training site, delighted to be at rest for at least the next week. Within the first hour or so, Jillian and I had managed to blow out our surge protector. Forgetting it didn’t convert the electricity, I plugged it into the wall and pressed, “reset.” There was a pop, the smell of burning hardware, and my arm tingled for roughly 30 minutes. The rest of the night was much more relaxing, featuring traditional Macedonian food and some local wine ($2 a bottle!), and we slept hard, awaking this morning to a full schedule that included a Macedonian dance troupe, our first language lesson (basic greetings, etc) and a scavenger hunt through the city.

The next few days will be more introductions to basic customs and conversation and on Saturday we finally meet (cue: dramatic music) our host families. We’re looking forward to trying out our new language skills on the local Macedonians, who seem to be very friendly and eager to help us as we slosh through basic phrases.

What else would they name the airport?

More pics to come, but the connection is bad...