After you have accepted your invitation, you can begin planning your departure. I accepted my nomination in November 2000, and knew I wasn’t leaving for Cape Verde until the following July 2001. Cape Verde has only one new in-coming group per year. I spent this time working to save up money to travel while I was in Cape Verde, buying things I thought I would need, and spending quality time with friends and family. I emailed some PCVs that were in Cape Verde at that time, but very few responded. PCVs are a mixed bag of people. Some will be very helpful and answer your questions from their host country while in service, and others will see it as a waste of time. I know that I must have been very annoying asking the current PCVs which island was better to live on, etc. They knew that I would never be able to pick where I lived, so they barely even wrote me back to tell me about each of the islands. In retrospect, I see how right they were not to waste their time because there are certain things you just will not know until you reach the country and finish the 3-month training period.