Paperwork submitted

To officially agree to the post in Africa, Ken and I needed to send in a bunch of forms. The program director wanted skill code sheets that list the different experiences Ken and I have already with different stuff (healthcare, agriculture, etc) The last form was for us to electronically sign and state that we agree to the post, and are willing to be sent off to the middle of nowhere to live in a mud hut for two years. All of the forms were signed and sent off yesterday afternoon. I got an email from Erin today saying that she would get everything ready on her end and submit our paperwork by early next week. Things are rolling!

Exciting news!!!

So, I finally heard back from Erin today. She called around 1:30 to talk about the Latin American program. So she got word from the program director that they weren't going to allow any sort of flexibility with the Spanish requirement, so I officially turned down that program (Ken and I had discussed this prior, don't worry). Since the Latin American program wasn't really a viable offer, she agreed to resubmit our applications for review. The next review period isn't until late November/early December so we ended our conversation with the understanding that we wouldn't hear from her for a couple of months. Cool, good, this is what I was expecting, but I was bummed that everything was going to be on hold until the holidays.

ONE HOUR LATER, she called back and left a message on my cell phone. I saw that she had called and was really confused because she had just told me that I wouldn't hear from her for months. I listened to my message, and it was her telling me that we are being considered for a program in Africa! That was quick! I don't know the country or specific region, but it is a non-French speaking country and if everything goes as planned we will be leaving in August 2010. Ken will be doing work in agriculture and I will be doing health education with a focus on HIV. To accept the proposal, we have to fill out a bunch of paperwork listing our skills/signing our life away, and are expected to email them back by Friday. I'm so excited about this offer. It is exactly what I wanted to be doing, and where I wanted to be going. I would have gone to Latin America and been excited about the program, but it just didn't feel right. This feels so right it's a little terrifying. It's one of those "Oh God this is really going to happen, do I really want to do this? If I say yes, it's really going to happen, and my entire life is going to change" kind of moments. Terrifying, but exciting and we're going to say yes. So, wish us luck. I'll obviously update with more information as soon as we get it.

A little progress....

So, we're still waiting to hear from Erin about the Spanish stuff, which is frustrating. But, Ken got ahold of someone else in the office who said he would get on her to call us back. Apparently she's been doing a bunch of travelling, recruiting and been out of the office for most of the last few weeks. So it's nice to know she just hasn't been totally ignoring our pleas for information, and good that someone else is seeing that we get out answers.

STILL waiting to hear from Erin

So, I'm getting kind of irritated. It's been two weeks since I asked Erin if we could use some sort of alternate Spanish-learning method, and I still haven't heard back. I've sent her a total of three emails about the situation and nothing. NOTHING. I just want to know either way. If it's a "no", sure I'll be disappointed because we wont get to go to that post and will have to wait for a new assignment, but I want to know. And I feel like I should have known two weeks ago. Grrrr.

Waitin' to hear from Erin

So we are still waiting to hear back from Erin about the alternative Spanish learning options, that we are hoping will be accepted by the program director about the Latin American position. I was expecting to hear back from her today, since the program director was going to be back in the office, but I'm secretly glad I didn't since it was my birthday and we are most likely going to get bad news. Realistically, they are going to want a couple who has much better Spanish skills, and they probably wont go for our Rosetta Stone idea. So when we hear from Erin it will probably be to inform us that our proposal was denied, we wont be going to wherever in Latin America that job was, and that our applications will be held for 3 months until the next review period. In some ways that would be a good thing, because Ken and I are less excited about Latin America than other places, but we really don't want our applications to be held hostage for three months, because that means three more months of waiting before we get to leave. We are already looking at next September, and I would really rather not leave too much later than that. When we first applied we assumed that we would be leaving sometime this fall/winter, not late next summer. But we have faith that whatever is supposed to happen, will happen. Maybe our location isn't ready yet and we need to wait for it. If that's the case, we will. I have so much faith that God is guiding our application process and placement, I'm not worried about it. I want to know where we are going and am impatient about that, but I've never been worried that we are going to be sent to the "wrong" place or a "bad" place. We are going to be sent exactly where we should be sent. We will learn what we are supposed to learn, and do what we are supposed to do. I've been praying a lot about our placement lately and have such a strong feeling of peace and assurance that God is with us, and will be with us wherever we go. I had "He Knows My Name" stuck in my head the other day, and it's one of my favorite church songs, and I was humming the line that goes He'll never leave me, No matter where I go, and it really made me pause. I've never been far away from home, the farthest I've ever moved was to Corvallis. I've never had to think about if God was going to be with me where I was, because I've never been far from home, where I know he's present. But wherever we go will be far, and separate from everything I've known and loved, except for God, because he will be there, just as he is with me now.
So basically, I'm glad I didn't get bad news on my birthday, and I'm glad that God has our backs with this crazy adventure we have decided to pursue.

Latin America????

Got and Email from Erin!!!


Hi Tyan and Ken,

I’ve just been informed about a potential program for you.

Before having the specifics of the program, I’ve been asked to find out the following information:

* Could you both commit to Spanish study throughout the next year? You would need to have completed Span 202, or the equivalent, by June 2010.
* Would Tyan be able to commit to 60 hours of additional elementary education or youth development work or volunteer experience by next June to be considered for this program? This could be teaching or tutoring at the elementary/middle school level, or perhaps doing work with at-risk youth in a community center setting. Those are just a couple of examples.

I believe that the program they would be considering you for is Agriculture (Ken) and Youth Development (Tyan), going to Latin America, and departing the end of June 2010.

I look forward to hearing from you.
Cheers,
Erin

Ok, so really exciting, but also terrifying. We don't speak Spanish. Neither of us in any way is blessed with extraordinary language learning abilities, and again, we don't speak Spanish. Ok, so we just take classes - but Spanish 202 is the second term, the second year, and we would potentially be leaving in 10 months. Crap. So I talked to Erin (our recruiter) who has to talk to the person who's in charge of the program. Unfortunately that person is out of the office until Tuesday, so we can't get any questions answered until then. Ken and I don't mind studying our asses off but we can't magically get all these classes done in 10 months without some rule bending. I've emailed the evening Spanish 201 teacher at Lane and pleaded our case asking if we can get her blessing to start with 201. I also asked Erin to ask the program director to see if they would accept us studying with Rosetta Stone CDs. They are apparently really good, and we can do it on our own time, and not have to wait for winter break to finish to start the next lesson. But I don't know if they would accept that, we will have to find out, and it depends on how much they want us. I was really panicked when I first got the email because normally if you say "no" to a program offer, you basically are rejected from the Peace Corps and don't get to go at all. So I asked Erin about that, and if we aren't able to get the language stuff in order, will that just screw our potential to go anywhere. Luckily, she said that because what they are asking us to do isn't really feasible using normal routes (taking Span 101, 102, etc.) that she would authorize our applications to be considered again for different programs. However, in the crappy department, our apps would be sent to the "review" pile which only gets looked at quarterly. So we would have to wait another three months before getting a new assignment. Although, the "review" pile gets looked at first (before new applicants) so we would get first dibs the next time around.

So, we may be going to Latin America, maybe not. My gut is saying that we aren't going to go, and that our apps will be held until next quarter. Honestly, I would rather go somewhere else, Latin America just seems much more accessible, and part of applying to peace corps was the desire to go somewhere that we really wouldn't go otherwise. Although I should bite my tongue, because I don't know what's going to happen.
So at this point we are waiting to hear back from the Spanish 201 professor at Lane, and the program coordinator to find out if there are any alternative methods of learning Spanish (like the cds) that would be accepted. Wish us luck.

The two weeks is almost up!

Our recruiter has said that after our paperwork was sent to DC, we should hear about our placement sometime after two weeks. It will most likely be closer to a month to two months, but at minimum two weeks. On Monday the two weeks will be up, and we could get the exciting, life-changing email anytime after that. Very cool! I'm just happy that the minimum wait time is nearly done.
On other fronts - life is good. I got a new job and am working during daytime hours which allows Ken and I to have time together which is awesome. I'm loving my job, and very happy there. Ken's still looking for a job, if anyone hears of something, anything please let us know. Anyhoo, just waiting for news and getting excited. I seriously doubt that we will hear anything for another few weeks, if not a month, but it's cool that it could come at anytime. :)