And so it begins...

Approximately one month away from my departure to Rwanda, and I have the blog up and running!

So... just a little background here... in March of last year, I began the process of applying for the Peace Corps. I was unsatisfied with my job and the direction my life was taking. I simply was not meant to sit behind a desk all day and live within the confines of Corporate America. No thank you, needed to move on and contribute to the world in some way. So, after some research (and some time spent hounding my poor recruiter with numerous e-mails) I decided the Peace Corps was where I needed to be.

After finishing the application process (forms, essays, recommendations, interview, etc.), and some more time spent hounding my recruiter, I was nominated to an Organizational Development program, Eastern Europe, departing June 2010. After a bit more research (gotta love the internet and the network of current and future Peace Corps volunteers!) I determined that my nomination was for Moldova. So, I started planning for cold weather, and reading up on Moldova. During this time I also learned that the Peace Corps quite often changes everything about your nomination prior to inviting you to serve in the Peace Corps (the invitation makes the placement official). But... I continued to plan.

Surprise, surprise! January of 2010 I received a phone call from my placement officer... asking if I would be willing to leave a bit earlier and go to Africa! Well, of course I would! So a couple of days later I have an invitation in hand to leave for Rwanda, staging February 22nd, working in HIV/AIDS organizational capacity development.

Time to rethink all that preparation for the cold weather...

So I'm in the process of preparing to leave for 27 months, which includes packing everything I need for 27 months into 80 lbs of luggage. So I'm kind of busy, and a little nervous, but very EXCITED!

More to follow...