T Minus One Month

Yesterday I booked my flight for staging in Philadelphia. It's real!

I will leave Atlanta at 8:45 AM on Sunday, June 24 and arrive in Philly around 11 AM. A few other volunteers who get in around the same time plan to share a shuttle to the hotel where orientation will take place from noon to 7 PM. We will take a bus to JFK at 9:30 AM on Monday for a 6:15 PM flight to Brussels (7 hours and 40 minutes flight time). After a 6ish hour layover, we leave Brussels for Cotonou and will arrive 6 and a half hours later, at 7:35 PM on Tuesday, June 26 (2:35 PM EST... 5 hour time difference). Yikes.

NextPCVSE

A blurb about Michelle Chirby (a blurby!) was published on a blog about upcoming Peace Corps volunteers from Atlanta. See me here! Is this partially cheating because I was not initially recruited in the southeast? Oh well, still pretty cool!

Departure Date Change

Over the last nine months, Peace Corps has become one of those flakey friends: unreliable, doesn't return my calls in a timely fashion, and usually my schedule has to accommodate hers (yes, PC is a lady - at least 60% of her). But this morning, PC came through for me. While this may be insignificant news overall, I am ecstatic to announce that I will be departing 2 days earlier than initially planned! I will leave for staging (most likely in Philadelphia) on Sunday, June 24. Then on Monday, June 25 I fly to Benin and arrive on Tuesday, June 26. My countdown clock below now refers to the time at which I will set foot onto Beninese soil - even better!

Peace Corps Timeline

Family, friends, and curious strangers:

I am pleased to welcome you to my blog about Peace Corps Benin! For the next 27 months, I will strive to make you feel a part of my Peace Corps experience. Please note that the posts published here concern my own opinions and experiences and are in no way reviewed or approved by Peace Corps. 

With 62 days until departure (see my countdown below!), I'm still in the preliminary stages of preparation: paperwork, research, and too many questions from friends and family that I can't yet answer. To begin, here is how the process has come along so far. Ten months from application to departure - not bad!

8/31/11

Submitted Peace Corps Application

10/19/11

Peace Corps Interview

10/26/11

Received Peace Corps Nomination for Sub Saharan Africa, Environmental Education, June 2012 after a 2^nd interview over the phone with regional recruiter

2/23/12

Received dental and medical clearance and submitted updated resume for placement review

2/29/12

Submitted additional requested materials to Placement and Assessment Officer for final review

3/21/12

Invited to serve as a “Community Natural Resources Advisor” in Benin (June 26, 2012 – August 31, 2014)!

3/30/12

Submitted aspiration statement and updated resume to Peace Corps Benin

4/10/12

Vaccinated for Yellow Fever

4/12/12

Applied for Passport and Visa


5/23/12
Received staging information and booked flight to Philadelphia