Happy Anniversary to me...to us! Well at least I think those are the right words for this occasion. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Exactly 6 months ago today, I landed in the country once known as Bechanaland, to begin my Peace Corps training and my 27 months of service. After 3 nights in a cozy hotel in the capital city, all 75 volunteers, known as Bots 15, were piled in two government … [Read more...]
Black History Month
3 days late in launching this but never a dollar short! ;) Black history month is a time to commemorate those who've walked before us and helped to shape America and the world as we know it. This year accounts from black American expats and Peace Corps Volunteers across the globe will be featured here in order to share and highlight the amazing work we are doing … [Read more...]
Setswana
Welcome to Setswana Saturdays! Yup, you read that correctly! Every Saturday this month you will find a Setswana language lesson posted aqui (here in spanish)! Today's lesson: Greetings Greetings are one of the most important tidbits of this culture you need to know before visiting Botswana. If you need help with directions or have a complaint, your voice will NOT be heard … [Read more...]
Three goals of Peace Corps
"Well, what does a Peace Corps volunteer do?" This is usually the question I get when I reconnect with friends I haven't spoken to in a long time. My response: Our main purpose is to promote peace and friendship between host country nationals and the U.S. (Cue puzzled expression) Haha no but seriously, many people in America still don't have a clear understanding … [Read more...]
Botswana First Impressions
Due-me-la! The formal greeting here in Botswana for "hello". It's been 5 weeks and believe me when I say it has been a whirlwind! First Impressions: 1. The weather is very dry and hot. But it gets cold at night as they are still in the winter season. And by cold I mean New England bone chilling cold. 2. Walking in sand is only fun on the beach. Everyday arriving to … [Read more...]
Peace Corps Medical Expenses
O….M….G…!!!! I never thought to look up information about the cost of medical expenses from other bloggers until I started this process. I needed clarification and confirmation that this *ish is real! The stuff no one talks about…medical clearance is EXPENSIVE. Even if you have health insurance. Suffice to say I am completing ALL of my exams in Spain with documents that … [Read more...]
Peace Corps Botswana
Yup….this has been a long time coming for reals! If you're been reading this blog for some time now, then you probably already know about my Peace Corps application. You can check my timeline, I won't recount it here. In April 3 days before leaving for Semana Santa vacation I received my invitation email from the placement office. BOTSWANA I will be leaving in August to … [Read more...]
Peace Corps: January 2014 updates
YAY!!! Getting closer and closer! January 10th 2014: Email that I received legal pre-clearance! January 14th 2014: Email from placement office requesting documents to be uploaded to applicant portal and answers to Health questionnaire. Needed to complete the task in 2 weeks (by 1-28-2014) * So now I know I was nominated for "something health related" after a year of not … [Read more...]
Peace Corps Pre-medical clearance
The last update I posted about Peace Corps was this : June 28th, 2013: Is no news…really good news?…hmmmmm (ponder ponder ponder) nothing So I've been completing my Peace Corps pre-medical clearance tasks while living abroad in Spain. The Peace Corps has been really thorough with the pre-medical requirements. I mean I consider myself quite healthy but they want to know … [Read more...]
Peace Corps Timeline
Part 1 And so it begins: my Peace Corps Timeline January 2013: Started my online application January 28th, 2013: Submitted my application online January29th, 2013: Health history form completed Feb 8th 2013: Online application status updated from submitted to processed Feb 14th, 2013: email from northeast regional office recruiter. The recruiter worked … [Read more...]