Wednesday, December 1, 2010

REASSIGNED!!!!

Wow, what a week so far! Guinea was completely canceled, now I'm being reassigned to a totally new region of the world...... ECUADOR, South America!!! THANK YOU, Peace Corps!!! Now, I get to use my Spanish background where I feel 100% more comfortable than French!! And Central/South America was my 1st choice since the day I filled out my application! After feeling tossed around by the government for 1 1/2 years I could not be more excited!!! I knew everything happened for a reason! Wow, what a great day! Also, I'm going to change my blog address for sure now(since I'm not going to Africa anymore) to:

http://HeatherSiegmund.blogspot.com

I was just going to change the address altogether, but I didn't want to lose any of my followers I already had! So in the next few days please check out my new blog. I haven't began designing it yet, but you better believe I will as I am SOOO FREAKING EXCITED about my new assignment!

I am going to very much miss the new people I have already met, but I know everyone will do great no matter where their new assignments are!

On my new blog I will give a more indepth update! But that is all for now! I need to do some intense research about Ecuador! And even though I didn't know anyone from Guinea, I already felt attached to their culture from all the research and preparation I did, and am going to miss and wonder what a great culture I missed out on! But this is for the better, I know it! Talk to you all soon!

Heather

Guinea Program Canceled :-(

Hello all,

I just got word yesterday from Peace Corps that the Guinea program was completely canceled. BOO!Guinea closed their borders due to the political situation from their first democratic election that happened on November 7th.

At first I was upset it was completely canceled because, once again, I was unsure where I was going to be doing my service. But after a few minutes I am extremely thankful to the Peace Corps for looking out for our safety. I have to admit, I was a little timid knowing I was going to be living in a country with an unstable government for over 2 years.

Peace Corps said someone should be contacting me by Friday to place me in a new assignment. The new assignment could be in Africa again or another part of the world. I am soo excited to find out where I'm going next (and hopefully last!) haha. But "It is what it is!"

Patience is a virtue.

Check back soon for an update on where I am reassigned to! Also, be aware that I will probably be changing my blog address to: http://HeatherSiegmund.blogspot.com.

Heather

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Departure Date Postponed

Well, blog readers, my December 2nd departure date has been postponed until, tentatively, Mid-January for precautionary reasons due to the first democratic elections in Guinea. The winner of the November 7th election was announced yesterday, November 15, in Guinea. The Peace Corps wants to make sure no political violence breaks out due to this announcement so they pushed back our departure date 6 weeks for our own safety and so they can keep an eye on the situation. Here is a link to this breaking news that was posted on BBC News:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11762142.

We should know more information on our departure at the end of this week or beginning of next week. We also have a conference call with some Peace Corp employees in Guinea next Wednesday to talk about the situation!

At first I was bummed about the setback, but after thinking about it for a very short minute I was very thankful for many reasons:
1. The Peace Corps does a helluva job looking out for us and our safety, thank you!
2. I get to be home for Christmas with my family :-) Who could be upset about that?
3. I get to be home to celebrate my sister's 21st birthday with her!!
4. I get to ring in the new year 2011!
5. I get to cram some more French studying in.
6. and I get to spend extra time with friends and loved ones!!
7. More time getting together the last few things I need.


So this postponement was a blessing in disguise! :-)
Heather

Thursday, November 11, 2010

21 Days.... Yeah, that's 3 weeks

It's been awhile since I have posted. I apologize. I've attempted to post a hundred times since my last one, but there is so much I could write about that I get overwhelmed and say forget it. So if there is anything in particular you would like me to post about, please feel free to shoot me an email or leave a comment. I would be happy to write about it! And please send me any questions you may have!

Today marks exactly 21 days until I leave for Guinea, West Africa. Am I scared? Hell yeah. Am I excited? YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT! I am way more excited than I am nervous! I've met approximately 14 of 48 people in my training group so far and all of them are AWESOME! I can already tell I'm going to make some life long friends while on this amazing journey. I cannot wait to meet them in Philly on December 2nd!

I guess I could give you all an itinerary of what my next 3 weeks look like and my travels to Guinea:
Today-December 1: STUDY FRENCH!!! STUDY FRENCH!!!
November 15-19: Get the rest of the items on my 3 page packing list.
November 20: My going away party with friends and family
November 22-26: Get some good quality sister time in with Mandi! She will be home from college for Thanksgiving break!
November 23: Celebrate my dad's 50th birthday! :-)
November 25: Thanksgiving!
November 26 & 27: Hit the town with my friends one last time!
November 28-30: Spend time with family.
December 2: Fly to Philidelphia for Peace Corps Staging (aka: orientation). Staging is from 12-7pm
December 3: Get vaccinations, then hop on a bus to JFK airport. Depart for Guinea at 6:05pm.
December 4: Arrive in Guinea at 7:00pm

I will post my packing list I've been trying to dominate the past few weeks so you all can get an idea of the things I am bringing with me on my 2 year journey to Africa!

Happy Veteran's Day to all the women and men who have and are currently serving our country. THANK YOU!!!

Heather

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

I'm Going Where?!?







I received my invitation and welcome packet in the mail yesterday!!!!! I will be departing December 2, 2010 and serving in Guinea, Africa for 27 months as a Community Economic Development Adviosr. I will be doing my 11 week pre-service training in Guinea approximately 60 miles north of the capital Conakry from December 4, 2010 through February 6, 2011. After training I will start my 2 years of service. I will not know what city/town/village I will be doing my 2 years of service until approximately the 5th week of training.


That's all the news for now!

Heather

Photo-the pink country above is Guinea, Arica the country I will be serving in

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Waiting Game is About Over, FINALLY! : )

This is my first post to this blog. I'm still figuring out how everything works in the blogging world. But for now I'm going to give you a timeline of how my application process has went up to this point!

Application Timeline
August 26th, 2009-nominated into the Peace Corps for Business Advising geared toward youth-serving in Central/South America or the Caribbeans.
November 2009-submitted all my medical records
January 2010-dental records were cleared
May 15th, 2010-I was contacted by medical records. They told me I had to get a couple more tests done before they could medically clear me to serve
June 2010-I was medically cleared to serve
June 28th 2010-deadline for program I was nominated into (business advising in Central/South America) Did not receive invitation by then : (
Early July 2010-I contacted me placement officer's assistant. She told me I should hear something within the next 2 weeks. Didn't happen. Called her again after 2 weeks. Told me I should hear something in the next 2 weeks. Didn't happen again. Starting to get anxious.
Aug 5th 2010- I was contacted by email from my placement officer stating I had missed my program deadline (meaning I did not receive and invitation by June 28th) and that she would be contacting me in the next 2-4 weeks to discuss further program options and that I should be flexible on where I want to go and what I want to do since I have missed this deadline.
Sept 1 2010-called placement officer because I had not heard from her. An hour later received an email from her stating she was considering me for a Francophone Sub-Saharan African (West Africa), but all this depended on my willingness to learn French and a final assessment of my application. Set up phone appointment with placement officer to do final assessment.
Sept 10th 2010 8:30am-had phone appt with placement officer. She asked me a few questions regarding my willingness to learn French, told me VERY little bit about my job title, and then went on to ask me a few more questions. At the end of the conversation she told me she was going to be putting an invitation in the mail that day and I should receive it in 2-3 business days.
Sept 14 2010-sitting here, EAGERLY awaiting my invitation inviting me to serve in Peace Corps Africa, which will tell me exactly what date I will be leaving and what country in Africa I will be serving in!

More to come when I get my inviation in the mail! (hopefully I will receive it today!!)

That's all for now,
Heather