8 months in...

Again, I apologize for being such a terrible blogger. Does anyone even check this anymore? I'm thinking of trying to write a bit more frequently, so if you do keep tabs on this page at all, let me know.
I just arrived back at my site a couple days ago after a 3 week road-trip. Kristin DeSantis, my long-time high-school friend was here visiting, and needless to say, we made the most of it. My closest Peace Corps buddies, Meg & Mike, spent the weekend of my birthday in Bloemfontien, South Africa with me and then we picked Kristin up from the airport. We rented a car and travelled (google a Southern-Africa map!) from Bloemfontein to Pretoria to Tofu, Mozambique, where we stayed for 4 nights at a beach-front "backpacker's" called Fatima's Nest; by far the most beautiful place I've vacationed at, ever. We rode horses on the beach and in the surrounding villages, played soccer on the beach with the local kids, bought some souvineers at the market, and ate the freshest seafood imaginable. Meg, Kristin and I then continued on through Swaziland, where Kristin was chased by an ostrich, to Coffee Bay, South Africa, where we spent another 3 nights hiking along the coast, getting drum/bongo lessons from our fellow "backpackers," and watching traditional dance. From there we ventured onto Cape Town, South Africa, where we spent the remaining week before Kristin departed back to the States. I recommend Cape Town to anyone who enjoys a laid-back city scene. We shopped at the waterfront, took a day-trip to Robben Island, where Mr. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, took wine tour in and around Stellenbosch, saw 3 movies (we volunteers don't often get the opportunity to sit in a movie theater) and partied it up with the English/Scottish "Lions" fans who were in town for the big rugby tournament. My bank account is empty, we got 3 flat tires and 2 speeding tickets along the course of the trip, but it was all worth it. I feel so lucky to have Kristin visit me here in Africa, and even luckier to have the great parents I have help fund the adventure. Did I mention that we saw zebras, warthogs, monkeys, rabbits, dolphins, and whales too? I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked because my camera kept dying, but there are some posted on facebook.
So, now I'm back in Butha-Butha at my site. There is snow on the mountain-tops... and I'm freezing! It's hard to imagine summer is beginning at home. School doesn't start again until August so I have a good month before any "real" work starts again. I'm in the process of finishing my African Library Project application so I can start building my classroom libraries. In a couple weeks I will be heading down to Maseru to help Meg with some workshops at the College, but for now I will be enjoying some down-time relaxing and reading in my rondavel. PS- Harry Potter 5 is the best so far! ;)
I hope all is well at home. Congats again to Josh and Carla on their new arrival, Connor!... Good luck in Madrid, Cara... Welcome "home" soon, Patrick... and thanks for the legos, everyone who has been collecting and sending; they are so appreciated!
Love you all and I will try to write more often,
Nic.

Lumelang!

Sorry I've been so terrible at blogging. I've found that with such limited time and availability in the internet cafe's here, it's just easier to write mass emails for now. I've also found that EVERYONE reads eachothers blogs here, so emailing and letter writing is a much more intimate way of communicating things I don't necessarily want to share with the entire world. If you haven't been getting my emails I'm sorry... send me your email addresses and I will add you to my list. I have updated my phone number and address there on the right. That will be my permanent address up in Butha-Buthe for the next 2 years. If you look at the map, it's the northernmost district and my village is RIGHT outside the camptown of Butha Buthe. The volunteer who lived in my house (rondavel/round mut hut) previously told me that the camp-town is about a 15 minute walk from my house, which is phenominally close. I also have a water tap right outside my house, which I'm very thankful for. "BB" is also the home of the ski resort and the national park :) I've been uploading photos onto facebook whenever I get a chance, so visit my facebook page if you get a chance. It is absolutely beautiful here; even the "lowlands" are incredible!

Training has been great and my group is awesome. We just returned to the training center in Maseru on Christmas Eve after a 3 week stay in a nearby village called Mokema. I lived with a single mother and her two daughters. During those two weeks I got to practice teach in a preschool for a week (refer to facebook!). The second week we were there we gave workshops to local preschool and primary teachers. The other two preschool resource teachers and I gave a workshop about the importance of Art and another on Literacy. The Peace Corps provided us with a cook-book compiled by previous volunteers so we also spent a lot of time cooking dinner for eachother and learning how to prepare meals. No refrigeration is tough.

When we got back to the training center the PC staff asked us what we wanted to cook for Christmas; they shopped for us and got EVERYTHING we asked them for. We spent the majority of Christmas day cooking for eachother and relaxing after a fairly intense Christmas Eve party. Today we're in town food shopping for this weekend. Tomorrow I'm heading up to my actual site so I can check out my new place! Tuesday we will all return to Maseru until Jan 11 for more training and then head off for good.

My fellow Butha-buthe friends and I are already planning a winter (summer there) trip up through Swaziland to Mozambique for about 2 weeks. I can't wait to see more of Africa. Ok, time's up here.

Happy Holidayssss!

Letter for Family and Friends:

Greetings from the Lesotho desk at the Peace Corps in Washington, D.C.! It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to the Peace Corps circle of friendship. We receive many questions from family members and friends about life in Lesotho over the course of the Volunteers’ two years of service, so we would like to offer you advice and assistance in advance.

1. Irregular Communication. (Please see #3 for the mailing address to Peace Corps' office in Maseru, the capital of Lesotho) Mail in Lesotho is fairly reliable. Volunteers find they generally receive mail and packages from the United States two to four weeks after it has been sent. The same is true in sending mail from Lesotho. Of course, there are exceptional cases in which a letter or a package might arrive within a shorter period or be substantially delayed. Some mail may simply not arrive. We suggest that in your first letters you ask the Volunteer to give an estimate of how long it takes for him/her to receive your letters, and then try to establish a predictable pattern of how often you will write to each other. Also, try numbering your letters so that the Volunteer knows if he/she has missed one.

Being a Peace Corps Volunteer is a rewarding experience; however, there will also be times that Volunteers will feel frustrated and they may write home telling of their "war" stories. Letters might describe recent illnesses, frustration with work, lack of resources, information, and infrastructure, etc. While the subject matter may be good reading material, it can often be misinterpreted on the home front. Volunteers have a support network in-country which includes other Peace Corps Volunteers, counterparts and community members at their site, as well as Peace Corps Lesotho staff. The Peace Corps’ highest priority is maintaining the good health and safety of every Volunteer. Peace Corps Lesotho maintains a medical unit with two full-time medical officers, who care for the Volunteers’ primary health care needs. Additional medical services, such as testing and basic treatments, are available in Lesotho and just over the border in South Africa. If the Volunteer is seriously ill, they will be transported to South Africa or to the United States.
If for some reason your communication pattern is broken and you do not hear from your family member, you may want to contact the Lesotho desk or the Office of Special Services (OSS) at Peace Corps Headquarters, Washington, D.C. at 1-800-424-8580, extension 1470. Also, in the case of an emergency at home (death in the family, sudden illness, etc.), please do not hesitate to call OSS immediately, so that a message can be sent to the Volunteer. Use the above number during regular business hours (9:00 am to 5:00 pm Eastern time, Monday through Friday). After hours, or during weekends, the Peace Corps Duty Officer may be reached at (202) 638-2574. Tell the operator your name, telephone number, and the nature of the emergency, and the Duty Officer will call you back.

2. Telephone Calls. Telephone lines in Lesotho are not very reliable. During the pre-service training, opportunities for the trainees to call the United States will be limited. Volunteers may or may not have residential phones; however, some Volunteers choose to buy cell phones, use public phones, or find that a neighbor or the organization they work with has a phone they are able to use to make and receive calls on. They will be able to inform you of telephone numbers where you might reach them once they arrive at their permanent sites.

The Lesotho Desk maintains regular contact with the Peace Corps office in Maseru through phone calls and e-mail. However, these communications are reserved for business only and cannot be used to relay personal messages. All communication between family members and the Volunteer should be done via international mail, personal phone calls, or e-mail. Volunteers may have access to e-mail at internet cafes on a weekly or monthly basis, depending on their location.

3. Sending packages. Parents and Volunteers like to send and receive care packages through the mail. Unfortunately, sending packages can be a frustrating experience for all involved due to occasional thefts and customs taxes. You may want to try to send inexpensive items through the mail, but there is no guarantee that these items will arrive. Even though many Volunteers choose to get local post office boxes, you may also use the following address to send letters and/or packages:

Name of Volunteer, PCV
U. S. Peace Corps
P.O. Box 554
Maseru, 100
LESOTHO

It is recommended that packages be sent in padded envelopes if possible, as boxes tend to be taxed more frequently. For lightweight but important items (e.g. airline tickets), DHL (an express mail service) does operate in Maseru. If you choose to send items through DHL, you must address the package to the Country Director, c/o U. S. Peace Corps, 6 Bowker Road, Maseru, Lesotho (the phone number for the Peace Corps office in Lesotho is 266-22-313-871, as DHL will need this information). If you send the item to the Country Director, no liability can be assumed. For more information about DHL, please call their toll free number, 1-800-CALL-DHL, or visit their web site at www.dhl.com . Other courier services may operate in Maseru - DHL is only one possibility.

We hope this information is helpful to you during the time your family member or friend is serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Lesotho. We understand how frustrating it is to communicate with your family member overseas and we appreciate your using this information as a guideline. Please feel free to contact us at the Lesotho desk in Washington, D.C. if you have any further questions. Our phone number is 1-800-424-8580, ext. 2331/2332, or locally, 202-692-2331/2332.


Yours sincerely,

Julie Appelhagen and Seana Lammers

My Assignment

Country: Lesotho
Program: Education
Job Title: Teacher Training Resource Teacher (AA170)
Orientation Dates: November 10-12, 2008
Pre-Service Training: November 14, 2008- January 8, 2009
Dates of Service: January 10, 2009- January 9, 2011

What a day...

I'm in a rush to get to Tori's, but this is what I did today: Woke up, ate breakfast, answered the door, opened my LESOTHO NOV. 10th Peace Corps invitation, drove to Maine with Mom and Paul, and did 3 backflips out of a plane with some dude named Paulo strapped to my back.

PS- Lesotho, known as "the mountain kingdom," was my first choice :) I couldn't be happier right now! More later... someone call my mother and tell her everything's going to be ok?

INVITED!!! :) :) :)

Yesterday I started to get really bummed about not hearing from my Placement Officer yet. I emailed my recruiter at UNH and asked him if he had any advice for me, or if he could think of anything I could do to increase my chance of being invited still. I didn't get a response. Then I called the Africa Placement Office in Washington, DC, and left a message on someone's answering machine- I think his name was Dan? Feeling a little better knowing I really had done ALL I could to get some answers, I "Xed" out of my Peace Corps toolkit, the Peace Corps webpage, and the Yahoo discussion group, and moved onto Facebook. It's about 5:45 pm now and I'm sitting on my back porch stealing internet from the neighbor (don't ask)... and the phone rings. It's a 202 area code. RI? CT? Uhhh... I hate picking up numbers I don't know... WASHINGTON, DC! It was Julie, my PO! I may have stopped breathing at this point, anticipating a long and defeated exhale. She said, "Nicole do you have a few minutes to discuss some things?" Absolutely! She asked me if any of my contact information had changed since I applied, last November. She asked me about my work experience since graduation, whether or not my mom had "come around" yet, how my Dad felt about my service, and a number of other questions I can't even remember. At this point I suspected that she was going to invite me to serve somewhere; I'd read that they call and ask you these questions right before they issue you an invitation, but I still didn't get my hopes up. I'd also been reading numerous articles about nominees being deferred and even rejected due to severe budget cuts and other crap I don't fully understand. She told me that the program I was originally nominated for is still available to me and that my job would be primarily in Early Education, the little kids. I started breathing again. She also mentioned that there was another program going to Africa in November working with deaf students and sh wanted to know if I'd be interested in learning a local sign language. I told her I thought it would be interesting, but that I'd like to stick with my original nomination, if possible. Then it happened: "Ok, do you have any questions? (I don't believe so... say it say it!!!) Alright then, I will be sending yor invitation out via FED-EX right now. Congratulations!" I think I said, "Thank you so very very much." I was shaking and smiling and glad I was sitting alone in the silence of my backyard. I called my dad, went inside the house and yelled "I'm going to Africa! at my brothers, tried to tackle Ryan to the floor (a hug in disguise), called my mom at work (I think she stated crying- tears of joy, i'm not sure), called Frank, texted my 4 best girlfriends, talked to Jill on the phone, and then I was bored. Yes, I'm pathetically over-excited.
Couldn't fall asleep last night and I woke up early this morning. My toolkit (the webpage the PC uses to communicate with us) had been updated over night fro Nominee status to Invitee. Here's what it says:

"Congratulations! You have been invited to become a Peace Corps Volunteer. Peace Corps sent you an invitation kit on September 17, 2008. Within 10 days of receiving your kit, please call us regarding your decision to accept or decline our invitation. If we do not hear from you within this period, the assignment may be offered to another applicant."
The following information for Invitees describes what will happen from invitation through departure, along with some reminders and tips.
YOUR INVITATION
Your Placement Officer will send your invitation, which will ask you to serve in a specific Peace Corps country and assignment. The invitation will include a Volunteer Assignment Description, which tells more about what you will do and the country where you will serve, and a departure date. You have 10 days to respond to the invitation. The packet will also include important instructions about providing your Peace Corps Passport forms, your resume, and your motivation statement.
WELCOME BOOK PACKET
Once you accept your invitation, your Country Desk Unit will send a packet of information about your country. It will include a Welcome Book, which contains substantial information and perspective on Peace Corps service in general and on your country in particular. You will also receive, of course, additional forms to complete and return. Please follow all instructions. The Welcome Book packet will arrive one to two months before your departure date.
STAGING / ORIENTATION KIT
About a month before your depature, the Office of Staging will send you a packet of information about your pre-departure orientation in the United States (or "staging"). It will contain instructions on where and when to report, how to make travel arrangements, and reminders about materials you are required to bring.
CONFIRMING YOUR CLEARANCE
In some cases, you may have been asked to complete additional medical or dental work in order to receive final medical qualification. Also, additional information may have been requested for your legal clearance. These tasks must be completed in order for you to depart for orientation.
YOUR PREPARATIONS
Much of your pre-departure time will be focused on making personal arrangements. These include moving, settling financial matters, packing, and providing information to your family and friends. You must read the Peace Corps Volunteer Handbook prior to orientation. In your spare time, you may also want to learn more about your country. You may even wish to attend another Peace Corps event in your area to meet other applicants, invitees, or returned Volunteers.
PRE-DEPARTURE ORIENTATION ("STAGING")
Your orientation, or staging, offers you a chance to meet the rest of your training class. You will spend a day or two together, getting acquainted, learning about the Peace Corps, reviewing important policies and procedures, receiving any required vaccinations, and completing a few more registration forms. Your Peace Corps passport and international tickets will be provided. Then it's wheels up—your class will depart together for your new country and your Peace Corps pre-service training.

...to be continued as soon as Fed-Ex rolls up!...

Waiting for an invitation= watching paint dry= waiting for water to boil= picking my nose = twiddling my thumbs= pulling hair out = you get the idea.

Sooo, the November staging dates are quickly approaching (check out the staging timeline at http://www.peacecorpswiki.org/Timeline). The rule is that your invitation to serve can be recieved as early as 6 months prior to departure, and as late as 6 weeks prior. 6 weeks before the first November staging date to Kenya is 7 business days from today. I have been medically cleared for a very long time and seriously thought I would have been one of the luckier nominees- one who knows where they're going by now. I'm nervous because a lot of the September nominees got pushed back to October and some even as late as next Spring, due to budget cuts and whatnot. The good news is that I've corresponded with a handful of other November hopefuls who are in the same boat. "Misey loves company," indeed.

In more exciting news, I am taking a 2 week vacation to Guyana (South America) on September 24th. My good friend, Kien, is currently serving in the Peace Corps there as an Environmental Educator with a company called Conservation International. Google it; they have an awesome website. Also Google Guyana; they have an awesome jungle :)
For the time being I've been 'sitting the kiddo's in Merrimac in the afternoons and substituting at Atkinson Academy. Elementary is far easier than middle school- who knew!?

Check back soon! And if you get bored click on my cousin Patrick's link over there to the right and read about his new life in JAPAN! <3