I AM GOING TO CAMEROON!!!!!!! As an Agroforestry Extension Agent!!!!!

I leave for staging in 5 weeks and 6 days! Wild! I have so much to read right now, then so much paperwork to do. And there is so much excitement!!!!!

Where is Cameroon you ask? It's in Africa! Here it is on this map!













Here is another map of Cameroon! With all 10 provinces! Most of the Agro posts are in the Adamaoua, Northwest and West regions!


Okay! I am going to go read my Welcome Book now and make a grand to-do list!

Another day, another day, another day, another day.

Schedule for the past 4 days. Find some distraction until 4-ish. Anticipate getting invitation in mail. Envision holding a big fat envelope containing my glorious future. Build hopes into towering Jenga tower (more 1 piece layers than 2, it's very tall). Go to post office to check mail. Nothing. Go to housing office to check for non-USPS mail. Nothing.

Look forward to sleeping because it brings the next day closer. Pout, as though that will cause my invitation to travel faster. Act cranky and antisocial. Have friends congratulate and ask about destination and departure date. Thank them and inform them of lack of knowledge.

Blog dramatically.

I know that I should be thrilled right now that I have been invited. It is thrilling! It is what I have been looking forward to for so long! But I just get my hopes up so high everyday only to have them Jenga-smashed. It is, to use a simile and run-on sentence, like I have been flirting with a boy I am head over heels for for a year and he is finally in town and he has told me he will call and every day he does not call. Why does he not call?

As I was walking into work this morning I was trying to think of three things I am grateful for today (I'm trying to be more positive).

1. I am happy that I am healthy and well and have all my limbs.

Then I got distracted.

Then I got an e-mail saying my Toolkit had been updated.

Then I opened a webpage that said, "Congratulations! You have been invited to become a Peace Corps Volunteer."

So I guess I know what three things I am grateful for today.

1. I have been invited to join the Peace Corps!
2. I have been invited to join the Peace Corps!!
3. I HAVE BEEN INVITED TO JOIN THE PEACE CORPS!!!

I had my maybe-final phone interview today with my Placement Officer. I was super nervous. At the beginning my hand was shaking so hard I thought I might drop the phone. But I relaxed and got into my confident "radio" Zara voice. My PO was really nice through-out the interview. She asked me why I wanted to go into the Peace Corps, about my gardening experience, about my French experience, about my family & friends' feelings, about how the Peace Corps related to my life-goals, then if I was disappointed to be nominated for agricultural rather than health (nope!).

Unfortunately, she has more applicants than spots for the Ag program she is trying to fill right now (Cameroon??). So she is doing some more interviews and then will pick the best of us for those spots. Aaah! Direct competition! I hope very much that I get one of those spots, but if not I will know that someone better suited will be very excited to have one. She will be choosing the invitees by next Wednesday (6 weeks before Cameroon staging?!).

If I don't get one of those spots, she said I had the bare minimum qualifications for science teaching, and asked me about my teaching experience. She said that we would talk again if I did not get the Ag invite. So, hopefully, whatever happens, I will get a spot somewhere, sometime, some day.

Til then, j'espère et j'attends.
Z-dawg.

Last time I thought about something besides the Peace Corps (or boys): ... I have no idea. What else is there to think about?

Can't wait 'til Wednesday. And also however long it takes to get to the next step. And the next?