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.