Preface One – The Story

This is my new blog. Welcome.

To put things into context, I’ll be leaving for the Peace Corps in six days. June 23rd to be exact. After a couple days in Philadelphia, I’ll be heading to Azerbaijan, where I’ll spend 27 months (if everything goes according to plan). I frame this as being contextual because this impeding departure is the end of a long process that is the Peace Corps (PC) application process.

I applied around January 4th and had my interview a couple weeks after that. After some follow-up questions from the interview, I got nominated for the North Africa/Middle East program. However, it took me three weeks to complete the medical application, plus some delay from some additional work needed, so by the time the deadline for invitation to the North Africa/Middle East program came around, the program was booked.

This last part is far from peculiar. I guess around 40% of applicants don’t go to the program they are nominated for. I think it’s somewhat like overbooking a flight. You can bank of a couple people not showing up, so sign up some extra people to make sure all the seats get filled.

Either, way I decided to accept an invitation to Eastern Europe/Central Asia, specifically the Caucus region. After some reservations (based on my own stereotypes of what a former soviet union country would be like), I agreed to go, and it turned out that I’ll be leaving for Azerbaijan about a week after I graduated from Portland State University, which was yesterday.