South Africa it is!

I thought I should carve a little time out of my evening to give a recap of the chaos that was yesterday before all my memories of it escape into the recesses of my mind.

Yesterday I had two early meetings, mid-way through the second meeting I got a call from the Peace Corps (I may or may not have saved the number into my phone). I stepped out of the meeting quickly-- it was a placement officer (PO) wanting to do my "final placement" interview. I told her I would call her back.

Fast-forward an unproductive hour because I couldn't focus my mind on anything but PC-- I almost literally ran to my car and called the PO back. Not a smart idea. I was flustered, my mind was all over the place. I assumed it was going to be simple questions-- boy was I wrong. First question: "Why do you want to join the PC?" I stumbled my way through an awkward 10 minute call. At the end the woman told me I would be departing at the end of January working on HIV/AIDS with kids and that I would be receiving my invitation by email by the end of the week. I knew from my excessive internet searching that the only PC departure to Africa in January was to South Africa, I was right. 

I went back to the office flustered and part freaking out. For those of you who know me, I thought the last country I wanted to be in was South Africa. All of a sudden knowing the invite was in the mail made this whole process real, and made me slightly panic. I relied on my dear friends to talk me through the questioning and start to realize the possibilities and what a great opportunity I have been given.

Assuming I wouldn't be receiving my invite for another day I offered to tag along on a 2 hour trip north for a campaign event. On the ride up we stopped at a rest stop to grab coffee and pee. After washing my hands in the classy rest stop bathroom I looked at my phone to see that I had received an email from the PC with the word "invite" in the subject line. I just received my invitation in a rest stop bathroom-- just as glamorous as I had imagined. I sat at a table near the Starbucks waiting for my phone to load. South Africa it is!! The invitation came with 20 + pages of attachments, a welcome book, a super in depth description of my invitation, and security and rules. I scanned through as much as I could in the car but was occupied by work.

Hannah and I had this silly tradition that after we got news of my PC or her Fullbright we would drink a bottle of Strawberry Andre. I had to continue the tradition even though she is already long gone to her Fullbright in Bulgaria. By the time I was heading home from work it was almost 10:30, I stopped at a Hannaford, the only store open and got as close to a bottle of Strawberry Andre as I could. My mind was, and still is in overload. As I read and learn more I promise more updates. In the meantime, I have accepted my invitation and from what I have processed so far, I am over the moon with excitement!!