T-34 days!

That's it. I got it. I finally received that last piece of information. The last piece I've told my friends and family members time and time again to wait to congratulate me until I have in my grasp.... my staging email!

Up until this point it's been over a year of vague "nominations" and wishy-washy "acceptances." I held off any celebratory toasts or pats on the back as best I could (knocking on wood when they were unavoidable) because until I had a concrete ticket in my hand I did not believe I was in the clear. (And don't get me wrong, I'm NOT yet in the clear.... where's my wood to knock on?) Anyways, now I at least have proof that (a) it wasn't a fluke Welcome Package I received in the mail 6 months ago, (b) they haven't since lost my application and forgotten I exist, and (c) my name is included somewhere on an detailed itinerary for staging that will begin exactly 5 weeks from yesterday.

Meaning that in 5 weeks from today I'll be cramming  last-minute medical shots, legal forms, and US-related-activities in Philadelphia.

And 5 weeks from tomorrow I'll be boarding a plane to Africa. (Where's that damn wood again??)

Included in some of the PDF attachments is a "Peace Corps/Mozambique Letter for Family & Friends" (any family & friends interested in reading how infrequently I'll be able to contact you and why you should disregard my future rants, let me know and I'll send you it :) Anyways, one super useful tidbit of information: a future mailing address! I'll probably end up getting a local post office box but in the meantime...

letters, packages (padded letters are preferred over boxes), etc can be sent to the headquarters address:

Emily Varanay, PCV

Corpo da Paz/U. S. Peace Corps

C.P. 4398

Maputo,

MOZAMBIQUE

and lightweight/ important/ or DHL items can be sent to this address:

Emily Varanay

Peace Corps/ Mozambique

Avenida do Zimbabwe, 345. P.O. Box 4398

Maputo, Mozambique

258-21-499-082

Care packages are always welcome, though they do recommend not sending anything of value since there's no guarantee it'll actually get to me (and numbering letters! :) 

On the home-front, I finished up work (managed to go through my despedida without tears, don't ask me how), have 2 more weeks of finals (last one due Thursday the 10th), move up to CT morning of the 12th, visiting VA, MA, and NY for a few days here and there, and then STAGING!!! 

But now it's bed time so I can wake up bright and early tomorrow morning to start another 20page paper due next week ... 

-emily

clock is ticking.... slowly

So a week from today is my last day of work, then finals in school, then move up to CT and visit my favorite people in New England, then.... assuming all goes to plan... I leave.

It's funny, people keep asking if I'm scared or nervous, what I expect to eat, if I plan to date, why I don't update my blog more regularly, etc. The thing is, the life this blog was created to document hasn't begun yet. All I can think of is how intangibly far away my trip still is... assuming of course that I leave on the expected date, that they don't decide to revoke my invitation, that all of the 1,001 things that can and very well may go wrong don't.

Right now I'm focused on wrapping up work at the IDB, on finding the last shreds of motivation to focus and write my final papers and projects for my Master's degree, on my friend's baby shower :) , on my friends' birthdays, on several friends' graduations from undergrad and grad schools, on spending as much time as humanly possible with the people I love down here in DC, on scheduling when I'll be able to visit the people I love in NYC and Boston, and (of course) on my family. There's still so much left to be done here that daydreaming about my trip seems like a waste of time!

'course, check back in another 6 weeks when I'm finishing up packing my bags and I'm sure my tone will change ;)

xoxo

em

Pre-packing shout-out

I was pretty darn lucky with the timing of my assignment notification: 1 month before Christmas and 2 months before my birthday ;) Family members and some close friends took notice of the fortuitous timing and used the gift-exchanging opportunity to knock off a good amount of items from my Peace-Corps packing list. I'm talking swiss army knives, legit big scary business knives, phrase books, poetry books, flash lights, head-lights, solar radios, clothes, bags, jewelry and so so much more. Thank you, all of you for (a) helping knock off a few of the 101 items I need to buy for my trip and (b) reminding me of you during those trivial every-day actions like turning off my travel alarm clock or looking up a word in my dictionary :)

xoxo

Assignment Info

Hi

You probably know me if you're reading this so I'm going to skip formal introductions. Also, if you're reading this then in all likelihood you probably know that I'm leaving for the Peace Corps soon (surprise!!) This blog will be my attempt to keep family and friends informed of where I am and what I'm doing for the next few years. I'll try to write every few months and provide an update on some of the more interesting things I hope I'm lucky enough to experience :)

So a few of you have been badgering me about what exactly I'll be doing etcetera etcetera. I've outlined the extent of what I know below.

The job tittle: NGO Development and Community Healthcare Provider

The job description: I'll work with a non-governmental organization to assist them with training and systems to strengthen and improve their community health and HIV & AIDS prevention, care and support projects and programs. This will range from organizational development, community development, community health promotion and prevention. I'll likely spend equal amounts of time in the office and in the field. Office work will include developing databases, improving monitoring and reporting systems, assisting with strategic planning and proposal writing, helping the organization with legal registrations, and improving financial management systems. I'll also be mentoring or training staff in computer skills, communications strategies, English language skills, etc. Field work will include community mobilization, needs assessments, activity planning, and monitoring, evaluating and building capacity of the colleagues through training. I'll be working in both formal and informal groups.

Who I will work with: orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) and their caregivers, youth (both in and out of school), women (especially pregnant women, widows, and HIV positive women), health center staff and volunteers, people living with HIV&AIDS (PLWHA), and other vulnerable people in the community (chronically ill, elderly, physically disabled, and children under 5).

Languages spoken: I'll learn the official language Portuguese and most likely a local language (there are a bunch in the country, it depends on where you're stationed.)

Time frame: I'll leave the states at the end of May and spend 3 months in Maputo doing my pre-service training where they'll teach me Portuguese, technical skills, Mozambican culture and the country's history. Technical training will include community mobilization, facilitating needs assessments, developing simple projects and action plans, developing educational and training programs, facilitating group discussions, training community volunteers, and learning about key health and HIV&AIDS issues in Mozambique. Language, cross-cultural training, personal safety and security training will also be covered. During this time I'll be living with a host family. In August, if I pass the pre-service training (generally 9 out of 10 applicants pass) then they will assign each volunteer to their specific organization / village. Up until this point I won't know where exactly I'll be stationed or what specifically I'll be doing.... OK, fast forward to August 31st, 2014 and I'm back! (maybe...) (just kidding mom ;)

The country: MOZAMBIQUE! Size-wise, the country is kind of like putting two Californias one-above-the-other. Geographically you have the coast, the high plateaus, and the mountains. Climate ranges from tropical to sub-tropical regardless. Demographically there's 20 million people; the South is more Tsonga populations of Christian religion (mostly Roman Catholic and Protestant) and a patriarchal society while the North is mostly Swahili populations of Muslim religion and a matriarchal society. For all of you that are a little rusty on your south east African history, the country was colonized by Portugal for about 500 years. Come 1964 the country was pretty fed up with their lot so they revolted and gained independence in 1975. Unfortunately, within the first year of independence civil war broke out and it just continued... and continued... and continued until a pretty horrible drought hit in 1992 and the two sides were forced to collaborate. The two sides stopped fighting, shook hands, in 1994 the country held its first peaceful multi-party elections, and by 1995 almost 6 million refugees were back home. Since then their economy has had the highest economic growth rate on the continent.... but is still one of the poorest countries in the world. There's a lot that can be said here with current statistics, but I need to go to sleep at some point tonight and I'm sure you all are wondering when this post will finally finish, so if anyone is interested in knowing more information please comment on the post or shoot me an email!

OK. I hope this has quelled your fears of the unknown for the time being. I promise, it's really not scary or crazy or long - I'll be back before you know it :)

Here's hoping I see most of you before I leave!

xoxo

Emily