New Invitation!

This story starts about a week back, but I was waiting until I actually received and accepted the invitation before posting about it here. I wanted to learn more about my job and tell all my close family and friends about what happened before blogging about it.

Last Friday, December 23rd, I received a phone call from the Peace Corps. After finally coming to terms with the fact that I might have to wait until possibly September and likely not a Spanish-speaking country, the Peace Corps had to throw me another curve ball. When I got the call, I was extremely confused, since I wasn't supposed to hear anything until after the first of the year. My PO (who is probably my favorite person ever) told me that a last minute spot opened for a Water and Sanitation Engineering position in the Dominican Republic, and that he was going to send me an invitation that day! I was bouncing off the walls I was so excited.

The position sounds absolutely perfect for me. I will be an "Appropriate Technology Developer," which means I will be working on engineering type projects to bring better technologies to a small community. It focuses on community needs in potable water, sanitation, small businesses, and alternative energies (i.e. improved cookstoves, hydroelectic power, and solar and wind energy). I will likely be in a smaller, more rural community, but I am okay with that. The job description perfectly fits my engineering education at Columbia and my future hopes for work in developing counties. I really couldn't be happier!

Another wonderful thing about the Dominican Republic is that I am allowed to move out into my own house after 6 months. While I had accepted the fact that in Honduras I would have to have a host family all 2 years, I am excited for the chance to have my own place, cook my own food, and have some quiet time alone. It should be a really great experience.

Thanks to everyone for all your support during this time. I can't believe I was so lucky to get a new invitation so quickly and one that is so well suited towards my hopes for service. I'll post more about the country and things I learn as I get to them - now I've got reading to do and a Visa application to fill out and all sorts of things!

INVITATION!

And my post is....

HONDURAS!

Basically, it has been the craziest few days ever. Lets start back at Wednesday.

So I had originially been told that January-March invitation would begin going out in late August, early September at the very earliest. Well, I check Peace Corps Journals, Peace Corps Wiki Timeline, and Peace Corps facebook page fairly often. Come Wednesday morning, I saw the first January invites going out. Well, I wasn't going to be left behind - I sent me resume to my Peace Corps placement specialist on Wednesday, with a note to confirm receipt and to let me know if there were any updates. On Thursday I received an email saying my placement specialist had received my resume and there were no updates. I expected I wouldn't hear anything for a few weeks. Well, Friday, my family was leaving to Canada for a 5 day trip. We were going to Toronto and Niagara Falls, which should be a really fun trip. Our flight on Friday had two legs - Jacksonville to Atlanta and Atlanta to Toronto. We had a layover of about 45-60 minutes. Well, who would have thought, but waiting at our gate in Atlanta, I get a phone call from a 202 number. I try to calm myself - its probably just an update about my status and when I should hear an update. Well, this is my approximate conversation:

PO: Thanks for your updated resume!

Me: It was no problem.

PO: So I was looking at January to March placements and I have two programs leaving then. I'm gonna go ahead and invite you to one!

Me: Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

Literally, I was jumping up and down in the middle of the Atlanta airport! He told me 5-10 days for my package to arrive. I can't stop thinking about it all weekend. We land this morning (Wednesday) and my mom calls the USP store. They have my invite. We stop there on our way home. and I find my invitation!

I am SOOOOO excited! The placement sounds AMAZING. I am going to be a Water and Sanitation Engineer. I am probably going to be placed in a larger site (10,000 to 50,000 people) and I will be working with Water and Sanitation Extensionists to work on latrine projects, water distribution projects, and other projects. It sounds so great and I still have tons more to read (as well as my aspiration statement, resume, passport, and etc.) I will post more information as I find it!

Congrats to everyone reading who has their invitations, and good luck to everyone waiting! It will come sooner than you think, and it's so worth all the waiting when it gets here!