generaltimeline



			General Timeline of my Peace Corps service

	September 2001 - Mailed my application to Peace Corps the day before the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.
	Fall 2001 - Filled out the next round of applications in October. Had an interview with a recruiter in November and was nominated for service December 11th.
		December 2001 - Finished my undergraduate studies in Psychology at San Diego State Univerity in Southern California and begun the long process (and wait) of medical and dental clearances for my Peace Corps invitation.
		August 2002 - Received and accepted an invitation to join the re-opening group of Peace Corps Macedonia, MAK VII as an Environmental Education & Management sector PCV. The program there, established in 1996 had previously been evacuated in 1999 as well as in 2001.
	November 11, 2002 - Packed up my life and journeyed to Washington D.C. for Staging and met the other 19 MAK VIIs. A few days later we headed for Macedonia.
		November 15, 2002 - Pre-Service Training, where we lived with homestay families in the towns of Demir Kapija, Pepelishte, Rosomon and Gradsko (I was in D.K.).
	January 31, 2003 - We passed our language proficiency exams and received our site assignments! Then came the Swearing-In Ceremony for MAK VII in Negotino, Republic of Macedonia.
	February 2003 - Headed out to site, the beautiful small town of Pehcevo, in the eastern part of Macedonia, and started working at Kladenec Ecological Association with Jasminka & Nikola.
	May 2003 - First vacation out of Macedonia after the 6-month travel restriction - to Bulgaria!!
	December 2003 - Mid-service for MAK VII; I travelled back to the U.S. on vacation for the first time in 13 months.
January 2004 - I returned to Macedonia and happily indulged in Orthodox Christmas holidays and traditions.
	February 2004 - I first started to get sick.
	April 2004 - My first brief medical evacuation to the States, where I spent a couple of weeks in Washington D.C. and came back, again to Macedonia, after something of a fight against The Man to return.
		July 2004 - My second medical evacuation to Washington D.C.
	August 2004 - With only a couple of months left to go in my service, returning to Macedonia wasn't in the cards. I stayed in the U.S. for medical care which I required until June 2005.
		August 22, 2004 - I was medically separated by Peace Corps and attained the status of RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer).
		June 2005 - I traveled to Macedonia on vacation and stayed until late July. During that time I visited some new places in Macedonia with Nikola, as well as Serbia & Montenegro, Turkey and Croatia. I passed through Bulgaria and Kosovo briefly, and visited my sorority sister Charmin for a few days who is in the Peace Corps in Albania as well. Later I continued on to Australia with short stops in Australia and Malaysia. I am currently studying for a Master's in International Relations at Macquarie University in Sydney and am set to graduate June 7, 2006.

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