My first post!

Welcome to my new blog. This is my first post about my Peace Corps experience, which I hope will commence soon with an actual assignment and departure date. If all goes well, I will continue to write about my experiences for the duration of my 27-month assignment, or for as long as we'll have each other.

With my corporate career soon behind me, I look forward to the next chapter as a Peace Corps volunteer. It has been 14 months since I submitted my application. Now I wait for an assignment. I could depart in as soon as a month, or not until sometime next year. It looks as if my wish for some down time between my Sept. 1 retirement and departure has been granted, which gives me time to paint, read, work out, sleep late, finish cleaning my closets, or just zone out on my patio if I want to.

Friends familiar with the Peace Corps warned me that the application process was long and tedious. But the reality has far exceeded my expectations, from reams of required paperwork and medical and legal reviews, to the interminable waiting for word on my status. I have had decades of experience learning how to hurry up and wait; this has got to be excruciating for someone in their 20s.

I was nominated in July 2009 for a business development position working with artisans in Morocco or Jordan, with a September 2010 departure date. Although I was apprehensive about an assignment in the Middle East, I was excited about the prospect of working with artists. Plus, the nomination was necessary to advance me to the next step: the medical review.

I was checked from stem to stern and I have an "all-clear," with two medical limitations, one or both of which disqualified me for Morocco and Jordan. The placement officer said there were many other countries where I was medically qualified, however, and added teaching English as a second language to business development as potential assignment areas.

For some reason that probably makes sense to the U.S. Government, the placement officer couldn't share the list of qualifying countries. I found a Wiki site (www.peacecorpswiki.com/timeline), a grassroots effort to fill in the blanks by people such as I who are hungry for information but can't find it through official Peace Corps resources*. As nominees receive their letter of invitation -- the final assignment notice everyone hopes for -- they populate the Wiki site with their assigned country and departure date. The site lists the remaining countries where volunteers are being deployed through the end of the year. There may be other countries not listed; the site is only as accurate as the people posting the information. Although the rule of thumb is six-weeks departure notice, one month is a possibility.

So here I sit, poised with catcher's mitt on, ready to find out what's in store. But for now, my first agenda item for Wednesday, Sept. 1 is: "Sleep late -- presenter: Donna"

I'll post another entry when I have Peace Corps news to share.

Until then, Peace!

* The Peace Corps does provide excellent information on the volunteer experience, as well as countries served, types of service, the application process and other information. To learn more visit http://www.peacecorps.gov/.