Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Moving to a new blog site
Hi friends and family! We recently learned that blogspot is a blocked website in Ethiopia, meaning we can't update this blog in the country. So our blog is moving to www.derekandclaire.wordpress.com. Thanks for reading!!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Travel plans are set!
Hey everyone-
Very exciting news today! We finally got the email we've been waiting for since April from the Peace Corps Staging Unit. So now we know that we are leaving Denver on September 19th for Washington D.C.! Staging begins the next day, where we will learn more about what it means to be a PC Trainee and Volunteer, including how to stay safe and adapt to our new lives in Ethiopia. We will also receive whatever vaccinations we still need while in D.C. This also gives us a chance to meet the rest of our fellow volunteers before the long flight to Addis Ababa on the 21st (we arrive in country on the 22nd). At this point we don't know what the schedule is after arriving in Ethiopia- I'm guessing we will find that out during Staging.
We do know there will be about 3 months of training in Ethiopia, but we don't know where in the country we will be, or even if we (Derek and Claire) will be living together during training. After training we will move together to our site, where we will be living and working for 2 years. There is a chance that we will have more than one site during our tour- some PC volunteers move around as extension agents.
Colorado State will be nicely represented in this PC group- there are 6 of us going! And we know there's a guy from CU too, so there will be at least 7 volunteers from the great state of Colorado! Nice work guys.
Thanks again for your support and for staying in touch!
Very exciting news today! We finally got the email we've been waiting for since April from the Peace Corps Staging Unit. So now we know that we are leaving Denver on September 19th for Washington D.C.! Staging begins the next day, where we will learn more about what it means to be a PC Trainee and Volunteer, including how to stay safe and adapt to our new lives in Ethiopia. We will also receive whatever vaccinations we still need while in D.C. This also gives us a chance to meet the rest of our fellow volunteers before the long flight to Addis Ababa on the 21st (we arrive in country on the 22nd). At this point we don't know what the schedule is after arriving in Ethiopia- I'm guessing we will find that out during Staging.
We do know there will be about 3 months of training in Ethiopia, but we don't know where in the country we will be, or even if we (Derek and Claire) will be living together during training. After training we will move together to our site, where we will be living and working for 2 years. There is a chance that we will have more than one site during our tour- some PC volunteers move around as extension agents.
Colorado State will be nicely represented in this PC group- there are 6 of us going! And we know there's a guy from CU too, so there will be at least 7 volunteers from the great state of Colorado! Nice work guys.
Thanks again for your support and for staying in touch!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
It's Official...
Claire:
The Application Process
Starting our applications for Peace Corps in the fall of 2008, I had no idea what we had in front of us. Derek was very motivated and was ready to send in his app by the beginning of 2009. I was unintentionally drawing out the process for myself, putting off writing my essays mostly- now I think I was stalling because I wasn't 100% sure that I was ready for the commitment. We traveled to Ireland in February 09 to WWOOF (http://www.wwoof.org/) for just over 2 months. After this trip, Derek sent in his app and I had to get mine in shortly thereafter, or his app would be thrown out, since we applied as a couple. Finally, both apps were in and we received our medical paperwork. This process took longer than it should have, mostly because I hate making and going to doctor's appointments (silly, I know). Also, we had to finish planning and take time off for our wonderful June wedding and honeymoon. With a suggestions from PC, we were able to find a physician in Denver (Thank You Dr.Oberler at the VA hospital!) who did both our physicals and blood work for free, as well as a dentist in Fort Collins (Thank You Dr.Pixley at Drake Crossing Dental!) who did our dental exams and x-rays for free. These were huge blessings as our health insurance is minimal at best, and we don't have dental insurance. By March of 2010, Derek had no holds on his app, and I am good except for dental. I needed to get a few fillings and a crown before PC will clear me, but that should be all done in a few weeks.
The Invitation
April 9th, 2010. We thought this day would never come! Derek's brother, Rob, called us with the best news ever-- our PC invitation packet had arrived! The letter said we would begin training in Ethiopia in September!! Unfortunately the packet arrived at Derek's parents' house in Golden, but they brought it up to us here within a couple days. You are not required to accept your PC invitation if it doesn't appeal to you for whatever reason, but it sounded perfect to us! We accepted the invitation within a couple days, and got to work on our updated resumes and aspiration statements to send to the PC staff in Ethiopia. This will allow them to get to know us better and decide where in the country to place us.
Now What?
We have a lot to do this summer to prepare for our new lives as Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs). We plan to get rid of as much of our stuff as possible, so that we don't have a ton of boxes to store. So if any of you need some used furniture, let us know! We'll be living and working in Ft.Collins until at least August 1st, when our lease is up. Not sure what we'll do for the 6 weeks after that, although we do plan to do a bit of traveling to see family and friends before we leave for our PC tour. There probably won't be too many new posts on here before we leave, but I will update on here and Facebook when we have news. Thank You all for your support and interest throughout this process.
The Application Process
Starting our applications for Peace Corps in the fall of 2008, I had no idea what we had in front of us. Derek was very motivated and was ready to send in his app by the beginning of 2009. I was unintentionally drawing out the process for myself, putting off writing my essays mostly- now I think I was stalling because I wasn't 100% sure that I was ready for the commitment. We traveled to Ireland in February 09 to WWOOF (http://www.wwoof.org/) for just over 2 months. After this trip, Derek sent in his app and I had to get mine in shortly thereafter, or his app would be thrown out, since we applied as a couple. Finally, both apps were in and we received our medical paperwork. This process took longer than it should have, mostly because I hate making and going to doctor's appointments (silly, I know). Also, we had to finish planning and take time off for our wonderful June wedding and honeymoon. With a suggestions from PC, we were able to find a physician in Denver (Thank You Dr.Oberler at the VA hospital!) who did both our physicals and blood work for free, as well as a dentist in Fort Collins (Thank You Dr.Pixley at Drake Crossing Dental!) who did our dental exams and x-rays for free. These were huge blessings as our health insurance is minimal at best, and we don't have dental insurance. By March of 2010, Derek had no holds on his app, and I am good except for dental. I needed to get a few fillings and a crown before PC will clear me, but that should be all done in a few weeks.
The Invitation
April 9th, 2010. We thought this day would never come! Derek's brother, Rob, called us with the best news ever-- our PC invitation packet had arrived! The letter said we would begin training in Ethiopia in September!! Unfortunately the packet arrived at Derek's parents' house in Golden, but they brought it up to us here within a couple days. You are not required to accept your PC invitation if it doesn't appeal to you for whatever reason, but it sounded perfect to us! We accepted the invitation within a couple days, and got to work on our updated resumes and aspiration statements to send to the PC staff in Ethiopia. This will allow them to get to know us better and decide where in the country to place us.
Now What?
We have a lot to do this summer to prepare for our new lives as Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs). We plan to get rid of as much of our stuff as possible, so that we don't have a ton of boxes to store. So if any of you need some used furniture, let us know! We'll be living and working in Ft.Collins until at least August 1st, when our lease is up. Not sure what we'll do for the 6 weeks after that, although we do plan to do a bit of traveling to see family and friends before we leave for our PC tour. There probably won't be too many new posts on here before we leave, but I will update on here and Facebook when we have news. Thank You all for your support and interest throughout this process.
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