Patiently Waiting...

I'm about a month and a half away from my orientation in Washington, D.C. and I could not be more excited! Since my last blog I've spent a lot of time reading about Bulgaria and the Peace Corps experience in general. With my invitation kit, I received a Volunteer Handbook that I am supposed to read before heading to D.C. and it has really explained a lot about what life will be like once I begin my pre-service training.

When I arrive in D.C. on the 19th, I will meet the other trainees in my group. I just received an e-mail stating that there will be approximately 70 of us that will make up the 25th group that has served in Bulgaria! At orientation, I will get acquainted with the other volunteers and also the Peace Corps staff that will be with us during training. This will be a very important period as I will be spending a great deal of time with these people during training and will likely keep in touch with them throughout my two years of service.

Once arriving in Bulgaria, I will spend 4-5 nights at a hotel in Sofia where training will officially begin. I will then move into a home with a host family who I will be living with for the duration of my training period. I just filled out a "survey" listing my personal interests and hobbies in order to help the Peace Corps Bulgaria staff match me with a family. I can't wait to get there and meet them!

That's all I have for now, check in again soon!

The Journey Begins!

Today, I officially accepted my invitation to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bulgaria! It has been such a long waiting process, but has finally paid off. My assignment is secondary English education - so I will be teaching English as a secondary language to children ages 8-19.

My placement officer sent me a great deal of information about my assignment and country, and I am very eager to learn all I can before I depart for orientation on May 19. Here, I will meet the other members of my training class and receive my passport and Bulgarian visa. From there, I will fly to Bulgaria with my training class to begin an intensive 10-week pre-service training program. The training will include Bulgarian language study, community skills, health and personal safety, and technical training. I know it will be a difficult process, but I cannot wait to start learning!

I will be posting updates here and there before my departure, so stay tuned :)