Applicant Timeline

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

One Week To Go

Wow. In exactly one week I will be leaving Florida for the next 27 months.  Hopefully I will be able to come back and visit at some point during my service, but you should definitely give me a call before I leave Jax. These past few weeks have flown by! I celebrated my 22nd birthday and have started saying goodbyes.  Tomorrow I will leave Gainesville and spend my last week at home in Jacksonville….. I have sold my car, given most of my clothes to Goodwill and bought all the new clothes I need for Armenia despite the fact that it is impossible to find real winter clothes in Florida.  I look ridiculous in my huge hiking backpack, especially when added to the two suitcases and extra carry on that I will have to transport through various airports and hotels. 
When we arrive in Armenia we will spend 3 days training at a hotel before we move in with our host families.  On June 7th I move in with a host family located somewhere near Nor Hajn.  My mailing address until August 16 will be:  13 Torozyan street, High School, Nor Hajn, 2412, Armenia (just in case you want to send any letters or packages).
I wish more than anything that I had a few more weeks before Armenia.  I’m so excited to for this new adventure, but I still need more time to spend with my family, friends and boyfriend. As far as learning the Armenian alphabet goes, I hope I can study on the plane because learning it here is proving to be impossible.  I’m not so great with languages to begin with, and Armenian is not similar to any other language I have learned. I’ll keep you posted, but I think my success with Armenian is going to make or break my Peace Corps service.       

Sunday, May 1, 2011

One Month To Go

In exactly one month I will be going to Armenia.  On June 1st I fly from Jacksonville to Philadelphia for one day of orientation with the other PC volunteers going to Armenia.  The next day we take a bus to JFK airport in NYC, then fly to Vienna.  We have a 14 hour layover in Vienna so hopefully I will have enough energy to explore the city! That night we depart Vienna for Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. 
In other news, I graduated yesterday from UF! Has it sunk in yet? No. I will be back and forth between Gainesville and Jacksonville for the next month so I still feel like a student. At least now I will be able to focus on learning Armenian and packing instead of studying for finals. PC Armenia sent us a great welcome cd with lots of pictures, Armenian lessons and most importantly advice on how to be successful (survive) the next 2+ years.  
Here is a picture of my family from graduation =)