Goodbye XMas, Hello Limbo

You know you are getting old when you are really excited about the socks you got for Christmas. My mom bought me some real high quality winter socks. She told me I will need them where I’m going.  She is worried about me being in cold weather, a valid concern.  I also got a new IPod classic! Mine was four years old and on its last leg.  I had been asking my family for best buy gift cards so I could buy an IPod before I left. My sister gave me a $25 gift card then asked for it back and said she would just buy me the IPod. Big sister of the year award? I think so. So that was my Christmas.  I rang in the New Year with my BFF, my Bro and his fiancé, and a hand full of our friends. Good times. All in all I had a great holiday. It was bitter sweet thinking that I may not be able to spend next Christmas with my family.

In other news, I’m still waiting on that call from placement. That eight week mark is encroaching on me like a flooding river and I’m treading water, hoping that the swelling river doesn’t completely overwhelm the embankment- my preverbal patience, and drown me. OK it is not that serious. That analogy just came to me and I went with it. However, if I am still going to Eastern Europe in March, than I would need to be notified within the next two weeks. I will be ready to leave, but at the same time 8 weeks’ notice seems like such a short time. And I find it funny that my close family and friends ask me – so did you hear from Peace Corps yet? As if it were something that would slip my mind or I wouldn’t call them immediately after talking to placement. lol.

Side notes:

I switched to wordpress from blogspot and renamed my blog I Am Mine (formerly Creatively Maladjusted). I tried to submit it but it is taking a while to show on here, longer than my blogspot one took. Anyone know if there is something special I have to do if I already have one blog on here?

I wrote “here” instead of “hear” twice when writing this entry. I think I need a nap.

Won't be Needing That

My file is complete and sitting on the desk of a placement officer. I’m waiting for her to call me. I’m waiting for that invitation telling me if when and where I will be heading. Not knowing where I’m going means I cannot start buying the things I need and selling the things I don’t.  However my spending habits have changed. Dresses, heels, “going out” shirts, new DVD player, iphone, are things that I probably would be buying if I wasn’t joining the Peace Corps; if I wasn’t going to be living out of a suitcase for 27 months.  Unfortunately, not buying crap I’m not going to need has not helped me save money. Or if it has it has, any savings have been offset by the tragedy that is my car and the medical and dental clearance. I have been trying to find a part-time minimum-wage night job, but it has been harder than I thought. I may bite the bullet and go back to my old stompin grounds – Sonic Drive in, but I don’t know if my old bones can take all that walking. I really want to have plenty of money saved when I go. I want to be able to do some exploring in the region, I want to be able to take a trip or two home, and I owe my parents money.

I was hoping I would know where I’ll be heading before Christmas or at least before the New Year, this is beginning to look unlikely. There are only a handful of working days between now and the 3^rd/4^th of January. Even if they did call, I don’t know what the Peace Corps’ protocol on sending out invitations around Christmas time. Thankfully I will have plenty of sugar and alcohol to ease the restlessness.  

Where You at PO

Hello Peace Corps bloggers and blogger readers. I’ve been reading these things for a while now. I’ve written about my experience thus far (which you can read below) but was avoiding starting a blog on here because I didn’t want to jinx anything (great reason I know).  This is the same reason why I have told very few people about this little adventure I seek to embark on. However, I was contacted by my placement assistant a few weeks ago. She asked for my updated resume and after I sent it she let me know my file was now with my placement officer. So I am feeling slightly more confident. She has had it for almost two weeks; two long agonizing weeks. I was nominated for NGO Development in Eastern Europe leaving in March. According to PC wiki timeline/placement calculator, it looks most likely to Ukraine in late March. Here is to hoping it comes to fruition! With all the waiting in this process, this is the most impatient I have felt. Being in limbo sucks. I need to plan, tell people, get excited, start learning whatever language I will need to learn, join a Peace Corps facebook page. Call me placement.

I'm Healthy, Swear

Two weeks post interview, I received my medical packet. On a first peruse, it doesn’t seem so daunting especially if you have a doctor a dentist and health insurance.  I had just had some dental work done and already had an appointment scheduled. I did have to find a podiatrist because I noted on the physical questionnaire that I had worn orthotics for “flat feet” I really debated on whether or not to put it on the survey, but I went ahead and did it because I have constant trouble with my feet (on the other hand I had no intention of purchasing orthotics). So I went to the foot doctor, was there for about two hours paid $40 co-pay and left with a letter saying – this visit was a total fucking waste of time but thanks for droppin 40 bucks. Just kidding, but you get my point.  But anyhow, after reviewing going over combing over re rereading, I submitted it. It took about a full 7 days for it to be noted on my toolkit that it was received but when it was, it also said I had been dentally approved. Sweet.  I was eagerly anticipating my medical approval when I received an update that I had a hold. Turns out my Donald Trump combover was not so great. I received a letter in the mail that on the TB test which was negative, the nurse only checked the negative box and did not note the size of the non-existent welt(or whatever it is called). So I got that taken care of, sent it back, and was soon medically approved. 

Nice Shirt (The Interview)

I was extremely pleased to have gotten an interview so quickly given all I had heard about the length these things take. I think it helped that I had gone to meet him and that I had returned everything so quickly. But there I was, two weeks after submitting my application, on the way to Dallas at 6 in the morning. Because it is a 5 hour drive, I drove in a t-shirt and shorts with no make-up on, figuring I would just get ready there. I made good time. Got to Dallas about 1 ½ before my interview. I drove by the offices, so I knew where or park, then I proceeded to look for a Starbucks to hang out. I didn’t find one. Instead I drove way out of the way got stuck in some traffic then it was time to get ready. I pulled into a Hilton, I wanted a nice bathroom to change in and nice hotels have nice lobby bathrooms.  I changed my clothes, some nice grey slacks and a pink/magenta top. I had put a lot of thought into. I wanted to be comfortable, young and professional, pretty not sexy, jewelry and shoes classy not gouty or ostentatious. I felt my selection meet those parameters. So after I changed my clothes I began to put on my make-up starting with liquid foundation. Well when I went to pump some onto my sponge it somehow managed to squirt it all over my shirt! Liquid Foundation!  On My Shirt! MY ONLY SHIRT! My attempts to clean it off were futile. Perhaps it would not have been so bad if I was in my car where I store to plenty of shirts shoes and what not, but I was in my dad’s car and the only thing I had in there was the Real Madrid T-shirt I had driven up there in. I proceeded to finish putting on my makeup. I didn’t really panic, I just did not have time, my interview was in 30min. I decided to just wear the T-shirt. The other shirt would have been too distracting and just ridiculous. I explained what had happened. He told me it was “very peace corps”, I’m not sure he believed me or maybe he thought I could have solved the problem a different way, I don’t know. Either way, I was embarrassed.

So they say the Peace Corps is unlike anything else, unlike any other job or volunteer organization. So far I have found this to be true. It is a combination of the fact that it is indeed a government organization – a bureaucracy, the type of investment they make in their volunteers, the length of the program, where you are sent – the mental and physical demands. It is just strange, as was the interview. It goes against anything you were ever taught about in HR/management class. It is very personal. You are asked about how your family feels, what privacy means, drinking, religion, life thoughts and crap like that. But at the same time I get the feeling the interview process is where they weed out some of the crazies and morons. But we had a nice conversation. By the end of it, he told me I would be nominated and asked what area I would prefer, Eastern Europe or North Africa. I chose the former. When I left I had my first, of what I’m sure will be many, mini panic attack.  What did I get myself into? Am I really ready to leave for 2 years? Do I seriously think I can learn a new language that is not Spanish or French? There is still so much to do after the interview, but it was just that much closer, I had to be that much surer.

So I’m joining the Peace Corps

So I’m joining the Peace Corps. If all goes as planned, I will be heading to Eastern Europe in March. My interest in the Peace Corps was first peeked when watching Shallow Hal. I figured hey, if Gwyneth Paltrow in a fat suit can find love, so can I. That was a joke. I became interested about two years ago, before finishing grad school. I had done minimal research - I knew you get sent somewhere for 27 month and you get a stipend (in lieu of a salary). I began the online application which is extensive, to say the least. I was working on it off and on for a few weeks but eventually I put it on the backburner because I wanted to finish grad school first.  At the time I think all I had was by exit paper to finish but I really had no idea when I would complete that task. I realized it was a bad idea to get a head of myself; I needed to concentrate on the task at hand. When I did eventually complete my program and received my degree I had pretty much said F it to the Peace Corps. I decided to apply for paying jobs and apply I did – for over 20 positions. Majority of the places I applied for were international NGO’s or non-profits.  For some I was under qualified, some over and some I was exactly what they were looking for. I had one interview (most places I applied for had a high volume of applicants and said they only responded to top candidates).  I think lacking in international experience/educational background and language skills was my down fall and that recession thing.  Peace Corps seemed like a place I could get both. I revisited the application. I completed all of it within a week except for the personal essays which I put off for about a month or six. Writing those things is incredibly frustrating. One may think the parameters make it easier but it doesn’t.  Those things request sincerity in a contrived manner yet to be successful you need to be tactical. I prefer to be deep and personal in a more organic way.  But finally, in the second weekend of August, I wrote the essays completed and submitted the application.

So I thought. I did not receive any conformation that they had received my online application and letters of recommendation. It turns out I had overlooked/misunderstood an aspect of the online application. The problem was easily solved, although I had some serious communication problems with the receptionist at the recruiter’s office. But crisis averted and a few days later I received a packet requesting transcripts, fingerprint cards and some other legal stuff, all of which had to be submitted before my interview could be scheduled. In the packet was also a letter from my recruiter. I noticed he was going to be the one hosting the information session here in San Antonio that week. Although I had already been to one, I decided to go and meet him ahead of time, so I did. Nice guy. Within a couple of days of receiving the packet, I returned it. It arrived a few days later in Dallas and then my recruiter called to set up an interview – in Dallas. Next week will be my interview.