New PO and placement update

I just got an email from the placement desk (same person who requested my resume - APO?) and now have the name, email, and phone number of my new placement officer!

Also included in the email:

The Placement and Assessment Office is currently focused on programs with June-July departures. Your file will most likely be reviewed by your Placement and Assessment Officer in the next 4-6 weeks.

*Hopefully a little earlier*



And also a little tidbit that gives me a pretty good idea that I'm nominated for Uganda:

You are nominated to an Africa program with an early August departure date. If an invitation is issued, Peace Corps is obligated to give the invitee a minimum of 6 weeks notice before the departure date of their program. Invitees for this particular program will be notified by the fifth week in June.

Uganda leaves August 6th this year :)

Placement Officer

Well apparently I have a new placement officer. My old PO apparently left the Peace Corps on April 17th. I only found out because I just sent her an email and got an automated response saying she's left.

Kinda sad :(

So I've left a message with the Africa Desk and I should know who my new PO is within the next business day!

I can't believe

I JUST found this! I'll be downloading a bunch of these onto a flash drive or hard drive before I go!

Project Gutenberg

We have Contact!

Got an email from PC today!

The Placement Office has reviewed my file and wants me to submit an updated professionally formatted resume and fax her my transcript showing I've graduated.

I can receive an invitation without them having the transcript, but I need to submit the resume ASAP.

Once the palcement desk has received my updated resume they will pass my file on to my placement officer for further review. That's when nominees get invitations!

Laptops

I know I'm going to want to bring a laptop to PC with me, if only to type up blog entries before I post them to save time (and money) at internet cafes. I have a laptop now, but it's a nice one and kind of bulky/heavy so I'd like to get a small, cheap one that I wouldn't mind if it got broken or stolen. I've done a little looking around and found these Dell Netbooks that are pretty darn nice!

Wish Lists (Pre-service and during service)

Amazon Wish List



*These are mainly for my own reference*
Coleman (I got an awesome discount code for these guys :) )
Chinkapin X 65L pack
RTX 3500i daypack
Camp shower

REI:
Kelty Cyote 4750 (also at Dick's)
REI Venus 75
Bug Hut

LLBean (duffles):
Carryall Rolling Gear Bag (medium)
Rolling Adventure Duffle (large)

Still waiting

No new placement updates yet. Although Jenna predicted that I'll get my invite on May 6, which would make a pretty good day since I'm going to the art museum on the 6th with some of my students too! I love the art museum - it's one of my favorite places!

When I last emailed my PO with some application/experience updates, she didn't include any invitation updates so I'm going to assume that I'm still on track for a mid-April application review. After my application is reviewed to make sure all my materials are in order, then she'll start looking for placements!

I know of at least one person who's received an August invite (Uganda). She also has *I believe* the same PO - so I'm pretty sure my PO is at least looking at quarter 4 (July, August, September) invites now!