soupy says

I received an email request to update my resume from a Peace Corps Placement Assistant today. Since my interview was back in August, it hadn’t been updated since then.

Yesterday I called my recruiter and got my Placement Officer’s phone number. I called yesterday to say hello, and it was obvious that he hadn’t looked at my file yet. Today (before I checked my email), I called again because I forgot to ask, “Is there anything constructive I can do?” He looked at my file and said that, “I’m pretty well rounded,” but if it is possible, to try and get some gardening or environmental experience. He then added, “However, I do know that it is not the best time of year where you live to do this.” Very true. It snowed last night.

However, I checked out some classes that the local nursery offers, and I found a free “Organic Gardening and Composting” class. Score! Of course, I included this in today’s resume update email.

I am medically cleared for the Peace Corps. I love my healthiness.

Now it is time for even more waiting, but I am one huge step closer to the end.

Also, I discovered that one of my co-workers is Samoan. She married a Peace Corps volunteer in the 60s and moved to the states with him. I also found out that if the islanders aren’t swimming, you shouldn’t either. A recent volunteer learned this the hard way.

Edit: Ok, I just found out that a woman (whom I’ve been in contact through the yahoo groups peacecorps2) has been mailed an invite. Why do I care? Well, she has been nominated for the same month and region as me. Does this mean that mine is that far behind? gah.

Update (2/16): The woman who was nominated for the Pacific received an invitation for Africa.

Today I received dental clearance. Yay for healthy teeth and gums.

Today, Peace Corps received* my medical information.

I have tried to write an entry about my frustrations of not being able to plan my life after May, but I simply cannot organize my thoughts. I’m sure this problem will surface many more times in the next few months, and perhaps I will successfully articulate those thoughts at a later date.

*Well, it got logged in the computer today. Since I sent it two weeks ago, it’s probably sat in various in-boxes.

Yesterday I mailed my medical forms to the Peace Corps and started a new job.

My medical labs got in over a week ago, but I ended up needing a dental appointment because one of the required check-ups hadn’t been done since 2004. After my dentist visit, I swung by the doctor’s to pick up my forms, but I discovered that one page hadn’t been signed. I had to wait until the next morning for this signature to be completed. Every form gave me a clean bill of health. I am a healthy girl. It seems that the only way I wouldn’t get medically cleared is that something in the paperwork got messed up. I hope that is not the case.

As for work, I’m back in retail. I needed something that I wouldn’t feel like a total jerk quitting 5 - 6 months later. It’s my first time working in clothing, and it is my first time not on the cash register. It’s my most mindless job to date, but I’m not going to face customer check-out-line-wrath. Although I am working for another mega-corporation, so far, this one seems to be pretty low on the evil scale. The employee benefits are pretty nice (more so if you stick around long term), and they actually believe in good customer service. All this means I am not working for another Best Buy, and that, I refuse to do ever again.

Today, I went to the doctor (well, doctor’s assistant) to get my Peace Corps physical. The nurse had a nephew currently serving in Africa, and she looked over the paperwork and commented how much there was (”a pap smear is required?”). The doctor’s assistant that did the actual physical said she had just done one of these a short time ago, and that she knew “how much work it is!”

After the check-up, I was supposed to hang tight until everything was ready for my blood tests. A short time later, the doctor’s assistant came in and told me that it would be a bit longer. The nurse was on the phone with the lab to see if they could consolidate some of the test tubes for multiple tests. “They want a lot of blood.” When I sat down to get poked, the nurse said, “it’s a good thing you’ve given blood before.” Then during the test, another nurse came by and saw all the tubes and said, “whoa.” Ok, you get the picture.

However, shortly after the nurse started to take blood, I realized I hadn’t eaten since about 11:45 AM, and at that point, it was about 5 PM. Yes, I had given blood before, but the first time I gave, I almost passed out because I hadn’t eaten right before. Uh oh. I was doing ok until the very last tube. I was feeling a little lightheaded, but I knew it was over soon.

The nurse said, “We should get you some orange juice.”
“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.”

As soon as she said, “We are all done.” My head started swim. All of a sudden there were five people around me, and the nurse told me to put my head between my legs. Someone else got an orange juice box. I felt a lot better after sitting there for a minute, but the nurse led me into a room and had me lay down while she took my TB test. I was told that all of a sudden my face turned white. As I left the office, the nurse gave me peanut butter crackers. I have to go back Friday to get the results of my TB test, and then I get to go in Tuesday for the much loved pap smear. (I promise I will not go into as much detail describing that visit. ha.)

So, for any potential Peace Corps applicants out there, eat before you go into your doctor’s appointment. You are going to give “a lot of blood.”

Thanks, Uncle Sam!

I’ve been officially nominated for the Peace Corps for over a week. Laziness has preventing me from posting.

I’ve been nominated to leave July 2006 for Community Development in the Pacific Islands.

Yeah, I’m excited. So, what’s next? I need to get medical clearance. PC will send me a packet with forms for vision, dental, general physical checklists and such. Then I send it all back to PC, and they will look it over and give the ok. (This takes some time.) Then, after PC declares me healthy and legally clear (the FBI does a background check), I receive my Invitation. The Invitation is the official acceptance. The Invitation has my official assignment, specific country and leave date. Oh yeah, did I mention there is a 30-50% chance my placement could change? Why? Because all my information gets transferred from my local recruiter to my placement officer in DC. This person looks over my application, interview responses, medical information and decides if my nomination is the best for me. Then, my placement officer calls up the host country and asks if they want me. If they say yes, then, and only then, will I get my official Invitation. On my nomination letter, it says, “Please contact the placement officer if an invitation has not been issued to you by this date: May 21, 2006.”

I had my interview on Tuesday August 2nd. I got stuck in traffic and as I parked, I saw my light rail train leave. Great. I called my recruiter and told her what happened and informed her that I would be late. Here I was, breaking interview faux pas, numero uno. I got off the light rail train at a little after 10. Luckily, the office was just across the street. Then I realized that I had forgotten to double check the office number. Nice job. I walked into the office building and saw a man in a uniform at a desk. I wasn’t told about a man at a desk! I’m still not sure why I didn’t just go and ask him if the Peace Corps offices were in the building. I guess it was just part of my frustration at myself. So, I called my recruiter again, “I’m in front of 1999 Broadway and I can’t find you.” Ah yes, my life is a comedy of errors. Now armed with the office/floor number, I get in the elevator. When I get in the office, the secretary tells me to sign in and throws in, “it’s 10:10 now.” Thanks. Luckily, my recruiter pops out of her office then and is very nice about everything. She says about 1 in 10 applicants gets lost. Nice.

The interview itself was pretty informal as interviews go. I felt comfortable with my answers and in some cases it seemed more like a friendly chat than an interview. The questions ranged from “Why do you want to do the Peace Corps versus all of the other volunteer programs?” to “Are you in a relationship?” to “How do you think you’ll be able to deal with the living conditions?” to “Do you mind being in a society that abstains from alcohol?”

After the interview, my recruiter brought out a list of assignments that matched my requests (and of course, that she deemed me qualified). On my application, I had requested Community Developement in Eastern Europe or Asia. There were no Asia assignments leaving anytime soon. However, there were a few NGO opportunities in Eastern Europe. I wasn’t totally qualified for the NGO assignment, but she was going to try and get me approved via DC. We went through all of the assignments and talked about which ones sounded good etc. After the NGO assignments, the Pacific Islands community development was my next choice.

By Friday I hadn’t heard back about my nomination so I gave my recruiter a call. She said that I couldn’t do the NGO assignments, but it wasn’t a big deal because I could always work with a NGO for my secondary assignment. We went over some of the assignments again, and as soon as she read the description for the Pacific Islands opportunity, I said, “Yes. That is it. It is the one I get excited about.” She said she would nominate me first thing Monday morning.

So that brings me back to the present. Last week, after getting home from work, I saw that my dad had printed off a map of the Pacific Islands with all the country descriptions from the official Peace Corps website.

My interview for the Peace Corps is Tuesday at 10am

I just submitted my Peace Corps application online.