Faith and I started talking about the Peace Corps some time ago. We have both met awesome people that volunteered for service. I read up on what was involved with going into service. http://www.peacecorps.gov. I was attracted to being immersed in another culture and removed from my known way of living. I have travel to other countries, but felt disconnected and wanted to pull up a chair and stay awhile. But I had to come back to my known way of life. Faith and I have been camping and caving in small mountain villages in Mexico. I enjoyed the simple way of living and longed for more. I describe this in more detail in my Peace Corps essays.

When we made the choice to go for it, we only had a month to get our application in to be eligible for a first quarter 2007 deployment. We submitted our application, our personal references together, and completed our interviews with our recruiter by January 30th. The experience was a breeze and a lot of fun. I drove up to Dallas from Austin on that Monday. There I had my interview and we called Faith at Kushi Institute in Massachusetts for the couple’s interview. It went smooth as silk. On February 15, I got a call from Peace Corps, they extended an offer. Wow, that was quick. There are a few stipulations. The assignment is for two environmental educators in French speaking Africa. That is far from the Latin America assignment I was geared up for. Since we are needed in Africa, we are going to Africa. Since I have no French or environmental education experience, the stipulations apply. I need to take a college French class and get thirty hours volunteering in environmental education. Faith has a lot of connections so I am working on getting a volunteer gig.

We are very excited to be able to serve in the Peace Corps. Our parents are coming to grips with us leaving the country. My brother is very supportive. It is no secret there is an abundance of disease and poverty in Africa. A Landmark friend of mine has been to Kenya to film documentaries, he is organizing another trip. He really enjoyed it. He told me of many Africans out being cause in their community and making a real difference on a grassroots level. I am looking forward to meeting amazing and power people that are in action for what they want to see in the world. It is going to be a life changing experience.

The next step is to get our medical stuff done and sent off to Peace Corps. We will know more as we progress in the process.

We got our paperwork done. It took a month to get our physicals, teeth and eyes checked out. We are going through the forms to make sure all the 'i's are dotted and 't's crossed. I got my wisdom tooth taken out and Faith got some crown work done. We thought now is the time. We have insurance and money to make it happen.

We have a few questions for our medical doctor before we can photo copy our forms and send a copy to the Peace Corps. We are in the home stretch.