A Little Bit of News-More Waiting

Antoine got an email from a placement officer from the business desk yesterday who told him that all business assignments in programs departing September 2011 to March 2012 time frame have been filled.  So that means that it is likely that we won't be departing until sometime between April-June 2012 and possibly even as late as September 2012.  I haven't heard anything yet from my placement officer, but given the news from Antoine, I assume it will be the same news.  We are okay with the time frame and basically we will try to figure what kind of things we can do during the waiting period to enhance our placement profile.

Meanwhile, we are patiently waiting.

No News is Good News We Hope!

Okay, so it is officially over the 4-6 week window when we told we would be contacted by the placement officer to discuss possible program placements.  We recently "pinged" the assistant we have been in contact with just to remind her that we are still here and still interested in serving.  The response was essentially "great-we will be in touch."  So for now we are just trying to practice being patient and flexible, enjoy the rest of the summer, and we continue to follow the blogs of the current applicants and volunteers who are already serving.  At least it is fun to see other folks receive their invitations!

Stay tuned-we will let you know when we have any other news!

Floating...

 

So no news from the placement officer yet.  The email we received on the 5th of July said that it will be 4-6 weeks before our phone interview, so in the meantime we are enjoying our time in Europe and taking advantage of being here to visit some of the tourist sites nearby.  Even though the photo above was taken while we were at the beach on the Atlantic ocean, we are actually in Normandy at the moment.  So a lot less ocean and a lot more happy cows!  Normandy is one of the prime areas in France that produces wonderful butter and cheese, so we are spoiled for choice in terms of delicious dairy products.  I will say it will be hard to give up the choice and variety of foods we have here when we go to the Peace Corps.  I am already trying to figure out how much space I can take in my suitcases for spices and such!

We are going to visit a castle nearby today.  It is called the Chateau d'Anet and was built for Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of Henry II of France from 1547 to 1552.  Here is a link to wikipedia where you can read all about it and a photo of the caste.  Amazing to me that it could be built in 5 years back in the 16th century!

Wikipedia, Chateau d'Anet

Next Steps Next

Just a few days after we received our medical clearance, we were contacted by a placement assistant and asked to submit our updated resumes.  As I said, after months of waiting, all the sudden everything seems like it is on fast forward now!  Although it seems somewhat unreal, it is also exciting to contemplate next steps.  It sound like what happens next from reading other blogs is that we will be contacted by the Placement Officer to set up a time to talk.  At that point, we should have a much better idea of where we are in the process and what to expect next.