"Congratulations! You've been invited to serve...."

INVITED!! Well it finally happened….I’ve been invited to serve in the Peace Corps! After 8 months of filling out endless amounts of forms, having seven viles of blood drawn, a few shots, and countless hours of waiting, I received a packet in the mail on Saturday, February 7, 2009 that will forever change my life.

I actually knew the Peace Corps had mailed the invitation packet on February 2nd, which caused me to speed home every night after work to check the mailbox. On Saturday the invitation finally arrived and I swear I would have kissed the mailman if he’d been around. I jumped in my car to head straight to Harrodsburg to share the news with my family and as soon as I ripped open the packet I saw the words…. “Congratulations! You have been invited to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mauritania.” “Where the hell is that” was my first reaction (and many of yours)…..second reaction was to call home.

My brother answered the phone and upon sharing the news he immediately found our family atlas and searched for this unknown country I was about to move to for 27 months. He went on to open our encyclopedia from 10 years ago only to find 1 page dedicated to Mauritania. Within 2 minutes he had determined that over half the land in Mauritania is actually the Sahara desert and it is bordered by Morocco and Algeria to the North, Senegal to the South, Mali to the East and the Atlantic Ocean to the West. Honestly I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry so I’m pretty sure I did both on the drive home.

Over the next four months I’ll be sharing more details as I prepare to leave Kentucky for a few short years. If you’re interested in keeping up with me as I make this journey across the pond bookmark this blog and come along with me.

My hope is that this blog will be an opportunity to share my candid experiences, frustrations, joys, ups, downs, twists and turns as I figure out how to pack 2 years worth of clothes, toiletries, necessities, and food in 2 suitcases and then figure out how to make a home in a country thousands of miles away from my family and friends. For now I’m headed to Barnes & Noble to buy some French and Arabic conversation books…..boy I wish I would have listened more in Ms. Dean’s class.

Quick Facts

· Program/Assignment: English teacher to secondary level students
· Dates of Service: June 14, 2009 – August 19, 2011
· Training: June 16-August 20, 2009 in Rosso, Mauritania
· Official country name is The Islamic Republic of Mauritania
· Capital is Nouakchott
· 27th largest country in the world
· Independent from France in 1960
· Climate is mostly hot, dry and dusty
· Population is about 3.3 million people
· 100% Muslim, mostly Sunnis
· Diamonds and gold are a natural resource (Hat tip to Mills for this one!)
· Arabic and French are the official and national languages
· Same time zone as London – 5 hours ahead of Kentucky time (Thanks Kenny!)
· Potential health risks…well there are several (Thank you Chris Bostick)

Stay tuned….more to come!

(PS: for those of you who are just finding out through this blog, I apologize. I wish I could have told everyone face to face, but it just hasn't been possible and I really didn't want to share until I knew I had been invited. Hope you'll forgive me!)