43 Members in MAK16 and still growing!

MAK16 - - - The Facebook Group site for Invitees and current PCVs serving in Macedonia has been growing at a fairly regular rate and now has exceeded 40 members. For anyone interested in seeing what this group is about, or wanting to join, the address of the site is:




http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_182678295117094

Other exciting news is that the Peace Corps will have representation in part of a nationally televised 4th of July celebration.

"Welcome America!" is a week long event in and around the historic district of Philadelphia. The culmination of the week long celebration is an Independence Day Parade. This year, the route has expanded, winding through the nation’s most historic mile, featuring over 6,000 patriotic and multicultural marchers, musicians, dancers and floats. All five U.S. military branches will be represented.

Here is a picture of a part of the parade last year as it progressed along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway amid the always displayed flags of many nations.

There will be well over 6,000 participants representing everything and anything related to our country and our relationship with the rest of the world. The Philadelphia Area Peace Corps Association will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Peace Corps and RPCVs, along with Invitees, families and friends, will carry flags representing countries where the Peace Corps has provided services.

The Philadelphia Area Peace Corps Association has been invited to participate in the Welcome America Parade that will go through the historic district of Philadelphia on the 4th of July this year.

As an Invitee to the Peace Corps, I am fortunate in being part of the contingent of RPCVs and Invitees who will represent the Peace Corps in this Parade. I will have the honor of carrying the flag of Macedonia!
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PC Toolkit updated - again

Well, now my Toolkit again appears as it did last April 5th.

So, now I am officially back on track headed toward Staging without any roadblocks in sight.

I am appreciative of the postings from other Invitees detailing resources and packing suggestions. At present, my biggest dilemma is deciding on a camera and a computer. I have a Canon DSLR, but do not think I want to lug that large camera body with two lenses and assorted filters. I think I prefer a pocket-size camera and I am leaning toward a Nikon S9100. In terms of computers, I already have a Sony Vaio laptop, but I think I will want to take something smaller; perhaps a netbook, or even a tablet. Recommendations will be appreciated. I am going to post on the Macedonia Group Facebook site to elicit opinions from other Invitees and hopefully get some recommendations based on experiences from PCVs already in Macedonia.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001762571303

So, for now I am looking forward to joining with other Invitees & RPCVs and participating in the "Welcome America" parade through the historic section of Philadelphia, PA on the 4th of July. Those of us representing the Peace Corps will carry flags of the countries served by the Peace Corps. We have been encouraged to have friends and family members accompany us. It should be a wonderful experience.

What a place to celebrate the PC's 50th Anniversary!

Sunday May 22, 2011:

The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia:

The Philadelphia Peace Corps Association (PAPCA) held a public information display, informational panel presentations and meetings with recruiters

It was an inspirational setting, with many other historical things to see. such a a life-size display of the signing of the Declaration of Independence; we could actually walk among our activists of yore:

The Hall of Flags is certainly a great environment within which to hold this event:

The dispalys of the various countries was spread out adjoining to the Hall of Flags:

It was inspirational for all and especially nice for this Invitee to get to speak with RPCVs among the displays representing their service. Some of the RPCVs came quite a distance to participate. I had a lengthy conversation with one who traveled from Washington, DC to share his experiences in Zambia.

On the 4th of July, Philadelphia will hold a lot of celebrations including a "Welcome America" parade and the Peace Corps has been invited to participate. pass right in front of Independence Hall:

RPCVs and Invitees, displaying countries of PC service will march holding flags representing countries of service and it looks as though I will be the lucky bearer of the Macedonian flag.

Then, a few weeks later I will join the other Invitees going to Staging right near this historical site as we meet and greet each other and prepare for departure for our service in Macedonia. Oh, yeah!

e-mail alert - "Application Status Update"

The e-mail had been sent at 5AM alerting me that I needed to check my toolkit regarding an update to my application status. YIKES! The increasing frequency of blogs indicating problems occurring in the whole application / placement process has caused me to have thoughts I have needed to suppress. So, here it was, something is not going well in the Peace Corps placement process and it has grown to affect an Invitee awaiting Staging.

With considerable trepidation, I opened my PC Toolkit and found this:

But, how can that be? I received Dental Clearance last August! I have documentation from my Toolkit back in August, 2010:

"Dental
Complete. Peace Corps has completed your dental review. There are no dental holds on your account at this time."

Nine months later I am having second screenings? I waited until 9AM and called the Dental Evaluations Assistant. No answer, so I left a message. Now, over 6 hours later and nearing the end of the PC Headquarters' workday, I have still not received a returned call. I tried another call, but again got no answer.

Just when I was getting really comfortable with my plans and was studying Macedonian history, creating a packing list and studying Macedonian language basics, I find myself back in PC-applicant mode; Anxiously waiting and trying to practice patience.

We must always maintain PMA!
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MAK-16 has been started and is growing!

At the urging of Mary, another Invitee, I have initiated a Facebook Group - - - "MAK-16" which has already attracted some PCVs presently in Macedonia in addition to some Invitees.

To get to the Facebook Group page, highlight the following link, then right-click on it and open the link.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_182678295117094

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April, 2010 - Application submitted - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - April, 2011 - PCA Send Off Event

I have included a Macedonian flag among my desk-top flag display representing my immediate family:

The other flags represent, our American nationality along with my wife's Irish heritage, my own German heritage, my Son-in-law's Guatemalan heritage, and my daughter-in-law's Chinese heritage. I couldn't resist adding the flag of the United Nations.

344 days after submitting my PC application, I received my written invitation in the mail. 23 days after that, I was an invited particpant in a "Send Off Event" sponsored by the Philadelphia Area Peace Corps Association, in which RPCVs (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers) in the Philadelphia area pass the torch to current invitees and nominees. This was an informal evening of mingling and celebrating the legacy of Peace Corps. RPCVs representing each decade of the PC's history spoke about their experiences during their service, following which, there was a candle lighting ceremony acknowledging each invitee and wishing all of us success in our assignments. It was wonderful to be able to meet so many RPCVs and have informal conversations about their experiences. I had the very good fortune to meet another invitee who will be part of the cohort I will be joining when I go to Macedonia. I also met RPCVs who had, or will soon have two tours of service. All in all, an inspiring evening and I left with a heightened sense of motivation and eager anticipation for actually getting into training and settling in to Macedonia.

So, I now have a fellow invitee with whom to correspond and share research information about our assigned country and thoughts about planning as we approach departure.

The next events between now and departure will be a Peace Corps Expo at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on 5/22 and participation in the Welcome America Parade on the 4th of July in the historic section of Philadelphia.

And so a new process begins . . .

An e-mail message was received within minutes afetr I hit the 'SEND' button for my acceptance of the invitation. This e-mail congratulated me for becoming a PC Invitee and, in addition, contained two pages of instruction for things to do between now and departure for Staging. I was informed that from now on, I would need to also be coordinating plans with The Country Desk Unit for Macedonia. This was in addition to and somewhat redundant with the instructions received in the BBP. Never-the-less, time was of the essence for submitting two things; An Aspiration Statement and a re-formatted resume.

I spent this past weekend studying the contents of the BBP and searching the Internet for information on the history and culture of Macedonia, in addition to writing, editing and re-writing an aspiration statement, and thanks to the postings of previous applicants, I had already re-formatted my resume.

My Toolkit has been updated:

Today, I submitted my aspiration statement and re-formatted resume and now must move on to other files and activities outlined in my BBP to complete.

The good part about the long wait until Staging is that I can more carefully plan my packing.

I have a wonderful sense of calm at present, knowing that my files and planning are both being coordinated with The Country Desk Unit for Macedonia. No RAS, no IAA, no CAS; just a pervasive sense of calm, with an overall sense of purpose. So, fellow applicants, TAKE HEART! It get better.

At last, it is time to start the countown clock (!).