Staging in Philadelphia

I arrived in Philly a day early yesterday since that's the best flight they can get me. My two suitcases were 50.5 and 51.5 lbs but they let it slide yay! It was really heavy dragging them around along with my backpacking backpack that weigh around 10ish lbs. The taxi ride from the airport to the hotel was really long because of the traffic so I was starving by the time I got to the hotel. I had the whole hotel room to myself for the first time ever yesterday since my roommate didn't arrive until this morning. It was peaceful but felt a bit lonely. I met my first Peace Corps friend, Katelyn, yesterday since she arrived early too and had dinner at TGIF.

My hotel room

I found a bus route last night that goes from my hotel to Liberty Bell so I woke up early this morning to go see it with Katelyn since it's on my bucket list (yay crossed off 2 more today!) . We walked around Market Street and also visited Benjamin Franklin's grave at the Christ Church Burial Ground. We barely made it back in time for registration at 12:30 since the bus took forever to come and the bus ride was about 30 minutes. 

Liberty Bell

Benjamin Franklin's grave

Staging is a pre-service orientation to the Peace Corps. This was our agenda for the staging event:

12:30 pm: Registration
2:00 - 4:25: Who We Are, What You Expect
4:25 - 4:45: Break
4:45 - 7pm: What We Expect, What's Next, Closing

It seems long but it wasn't so bad. I got to meet everyone in my group. So there's 26 people in our Moz 20 group and we're all health volunteers. There was a lot of interaction and participation required. We went through the Core Expectations, what Peace Corps is about, what we should do in certain situations, etc. During break I went to Starbucks to get my last cup of coffee frappuccino :( I also got reimbursed for dinner last night as well as $120 to spend while I'm en route to Mozambique. Yay!

Peace Corps Invitee to Peace Corps Trainee now :)

After orientation, we all got food to go and ate at the lobby to bond some more. I ate Chipotle for the last time.. gonna miss it! I just finished re-organizing my two suitcases We're checking out of the hotel in 3hrs (at 2:30 am) and taking a bus to JFK airport. I have a 15 hours non stop flight from JFK to South Africa then 1 hr flight to Maputo, Mozambique. My next post will be in Mozambique! ahh! So exciting!!

Bye for now! Miss you all already :(

My Peace Corps Timeline and Essay

While I was applying for Peace Corps, I read a lot of blogs to see what I was getting myself into and to read about their adventures in Mozambique. Now that I'm about to start my own journey, I decided to make one to keep friends and family updated and also to help future applicants since it helped me :)

Here's my application timeline.. they weren't kidding when they said peace corps application is a long process! 
5/16/12 - submitted application before I leave for Brazil
6/26/12 - interview
7/5/12 - submitted additional forms
7/9/12 - nominated
7/31/12 - submitted health history form
11/6/12 - submitted copy of passport
11/14/12 - submitted updated resume and health sector placement questions
1/15/13 - invitation
4/9/13 - received my final medical and dental clearance
5/29/13 - staging

Here's the essay I had to write about why I want to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer so you guys will have a better understanding of why I'm crazy enough to opt out of this American lifestyle to live in a world of bucket baths, latrines, and unstable/no electricity :P

              I believe my passion for volunteering is best embodied by a quote from Gandhi, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”  I have become so involved in helping others that I have lost sight of my own petty problems and realized that there are global concerns far greater than any of my own.  For the past ten years, I have done a wide variety of volunteering ranging from planting trees and picking up trash to responding to house fires and taking care of patients in a hospital. Aside from volunteering locally, I started volunteering abroad during my 3^rd year in college and loved it. Every break I get from school, I spent it travelling to different countries to volunteer. The whole experience I gain from volunteering abroad became addicting. Unfortunately, I only had 1 week to a month to volunteer each trip because of school.  I’ve been wanting to do Peace Corps for a long time and I believe where I am in life right now is the perfect timing for me to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer.
            My interest in public health began when I took part in a program called Youth HIV/AIDS Volunteer Educator in high school. I was trained to give presentations to students in high school health classes throughout Orange County in order to raise HIV/AIDS awareness. My commitment to advocate HIV/AIDS awareness led me to major in microbiology at the University of California, San Diego, where I had the opportunity to learn more about HIV/AIDS and other health conditions in depth. My volunteer trip to Tanzania gave me an opportunity to interact with the HIV community and see how devastating HIV/AIDS really was. I realized that the stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS often prevented them from getting tested, treated, or to even take the proper precautions. My professional long term goal is to work with health care programs or non-profit organizations to advocate and promote a healthy lifestyle and improve health conditions in underserved communities. I strongly believe that serving for Peace Corps will help guide me turn my passion in helping other into a fulfilling and lifetime career in the end.
            With the experiences I have gain from my volunteer abroad trips in the past 3 years, I am confident in my ability to satisfy the 10 core expectations. Being away from friends and family for 27 months will be emotionally difficult and will be the toughest challenge for me. I know that the living conditions will be different than what I am used to and may be hard compared to the U.S standards. However difficult the challenges will be, the thought of helping others and contributing to making their lives better will help me push forward. I am ready for these challenges knowing that Peace Corps will change my life for the better.