¿Y Entonces...?

Tomorrow marks my first day of travel for my Peace Corps journey! My parents and I are going to brave the snow and drive to Denver for the night just in time for the football game (Go Broncos!).

Really, Colorado? You had ALL month to snow and you decided to just let your skies open up the day before we hit the road! I know, I know; this is you putting up a fight because I'm leaving. My car put up a fight last week and decided to just break it's timing belt and go to Car Heaven (perfect timing if I may say so myself!).

Monday morning I take my second leg of the trip to Washington, DC. I'm arriving a day prior to the beginning of everything since Peace Corps wants me well rested and set for a full day of Staging on Tuesday.

Wednesday is the big day! We will fly from Washington, DC to Miami and after a 2 hour layover will fly en route to Managua where we will stay until Saturday for a pre-service orientation/retreat. Despite the layover, flying time is roughly 5 hours. Not too bad!

On Saturday, I will travel to my training site (TBD) and meet my host family and on the following Monday, my 11-week Peace Corps training will commence.

I'm still up in the air a little bit of where I'm going and what I'm doing, but I'll be sure and keep everyone updated!

YAY!!!!!

C/S America departing in mid-January to work in programs involving HIV/AIDS, malaria and nutrition*!

I have looked at the Peace Corps Wiki site and it could be Nicaragua (Jan 10), Panama (Jan 10), or Ecuador (Jan 18)!

We we so excited!!!!!

All Evaluations To Become An Invitee: Complete.

Yay! :D

Who’s qualified for Peace Corps service as of today? Who should be getting an INVITATION within the next two weeks?

THIS GIRL!

It was a short interview, maybe 10 minutes, and boy was I sweating “um” bullets!

Questions I was asked:

• You have been actively applying since March. Are you still interested in the Peace Corps? What motivates you to seek a service position as a Peace Corps Volunteer?


• What experience have you gained since applying for the Peace Corps? Have you been in touch with fellow applicants/volunteers?
  


• Often, Volunteers are placed a fair distance from each other when based in rural areas. How would you handle possibly feeling isolated in this situation?


• When is the earliest you available for departure?


• Are you flexible to travel anywhere, even if that doesn’t include your original nomination?


•  Has your email or mailing address changed – or will it in the near future?


• Have you had any legal incidents or changes to your medical status since you submitted their application?


• What has been the response of your family and friends to your decision? How do you feel you will cope with the separation from family/friends for 27 months?


• Can you ride a bike? Can you walk long distances in heat?


• Are you worried about safety concerns?

YAY!!!!!

Booyah.

They’re moving my file quick! Just got an email wanting an updated resume/volunteer experience and my transcript. All she said was to be flexible as to what region and be ready to leave early 2012!

Got the letter in the mail today. Now, off to the Office of Placement!

Please excuse me while I do my happy dance :D

Yay!

Now I’ll be stalking the mailman until I get word.

I received a letter from the OMS today stating that because I was on “menses” (fancy word for every female’s favorite part of the month), my first urinalysis was abnormal and they wanted me to get another test.

Ran down to the clinic I got my first UA at and they recognized me. I told them the situation and without filling out any paperwork/paying a co-pay, they just gave me a cup and sent me to the restroom. I was in and out of the clinic in 20 minutes and got a “normal” UA testing.

Ran over to the FedEx Office, scanned the results and sent them to my OMS RN. Done and done. She’s not in the office until next Wednesday (thank you Out-of-Office Auto Reply), but at least I have it taken care of and can relax on this Labor Day weekend without stressing about it!

Fingers crossed for fast feedback/progress on the application!

Woke up this morning to an email from Peace Corps regarding a new “Application Toolkit Update”:

ANOTHER Medical Hold was placed on my account.

Lest to say I’m very frustrated at this, especially since the hold was lifted last week.

Edit: I talked to someone from the OMS. I have to REDO my urinalysis AGAIN. They’re sending a letter explaining what needs to be done. I’m going to try and get this all done for good before I go out of town for the Labor Day weekend.

Medical hold was taken off of my account, so that’s awesome!

However, there isn’t a check mark next to the Medical Evaluation part of the checklist…so now what?

So my “Medical Hold” was put on because I had to redo some of the original information:

• Polio Booster Immunization


• Urinalysis


• Hepatitis B Surface Antibody results


• Questionaire about TB test results

I got that all taken care of last week and sent it to my RN at the OMS. She said they were moving offices on Monday, so I’m crossing my fingers that I should hear from her that everything is right the second time around and I can continue on with the process.

Send good thoughts my way!

Good things always happen after Peace Corps does their website maintenance!

First, I got the Dental Clearance and after the most recent maintenance, I received a “Medical Hold”, meaning my paperwork is in the hands of a nurse now and I continue to patiently wait to hear something good!

Fingers crossed the only call I get is saying, “Everything seems to be in order and we’re handing your file off to a Placement Officer who will conduct your final interview.”

…or something like that :)

I love waking up to an email from Peace Corps saying that my Application Toolkit has been updated :)

Medical Packet has been received and Dental and Legal Evaluations are complete (“There are no holds on your account at this time.”)

Just waiting for the rest of my Medical Packet to be cleared and then it’s on to the next step! Crossing my fingers!

I had my mom look over the whole packet just to make sure that I got everything I needed.

HOPEFULLY I did everything right the first time and I’ll be getting my Medical, shortly followed by my Legal, clearance ASAP!

It’s GREAT so far! Everyone here at CAP is super nice and very helpful. At the time being, I’m working front desk.

This is going to be the start of a great experience for me! :)

After some research on the Peace Corps Wiki website, it looks like I am probably going to be going to Guatemala or Nicaragua for my service. In years past, the missions leaving in January go to those two Spanish speaking countries.

Cool! 

(I’d have preferred South America, but I’ll take what I can get!)

Now…let’s keep our fingers crossed for Nicaragua!!!

As I was leaving my second to last final today (my LAST is on Thursday), I looked and saw I had a missed call from a number I did not recognize, as well as a new voicemail. 

“Hello, this is Linda calling from the Peace Corps. We just want to congratulate on your nomination to a health extension program leaving in January 2012 in South and Central America!”

YAY!!!

I’m so excited :D

Now the anticipation: What will I be doing? Where will I go? 

Let’s play the waiting game…

hardcorpscarli:

!!!!!!!!!!!

Such a nice thing to wake up to on a Friday morning :D