Wednesday, December 17, 2008

lethargic winter

I haven't written any updates in a while because I've been sort of inactive. Maybe it's the winter's short days or the fact that I've been working hard to keep up with my bills lately, but this winter has left me uninspired and a little lazy.
Anyway, my dad commented that he hadn't seen any new posts lately and I was surprised to know that he checked the blog at all.
So now that I know that someone is reading it, I feel I should make a better effort to update things.

Here is the status:
The ball is still in my court as far as Peace Corps is concerned. I have to complete my medical review before I will get any more communication from them.
My former therapist filled out the paperwork, as she had promised, and sent it to me at the beginning of the month. She basically said that my brain is fine, and that I would be able to cope with any stressful situations that the Peace Corps volunteer experience might throw my way.
Now I need to go to a doctor and a dentist.
I tried to make a dentist appointment last week, but they needed my insurance information and I couldn't find my card. So I wrote to my old job, since I have continuing coverage under them, and asked for a new card. As soon as I get that, I'll make an appointment.
As for the doctor, I will go to urgent care and start on the physical exams and tests needed as soon as I get back into Phoenix. I am up in Rimrock for now, helping my dad build his awesome energy-efficient house and helping my step-mom to make hallacas (a delicious Venezuelan Christmas food).
I should be back in the city tomorrow and I'll go to the doctor on Friday or sometime this weekend.

But for now it's back to work on the house!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

visited therapist today

I visited my former therapist today to have her sign off on my sanity to ensure that I'm mentally capable of handling the potentially stressful situations that Peace Corps service will inevitably present.

I haven't seen my therapist since 2001, my last year in high school, so she had a hard time recalling just what we had discussed in our sessions, other than the obvious issues of my parents' separation and eventual divorce. I reminded her about some other small things, which were typical teenage girl issues.

I gave her the paper work and she seemed astounded at the types of questions she'd have to answer. (Example: what psychotropic medications I had been prescribed, if any, and whether I had ever attempted suicide) She commented that she was surprised at the amount of red tape in this application process and I agreed. But of course the Peace Corps doesn't want to send some unstable or suicidal person to work in a developing country for two years!

My therapist told me she'd fill out the paper work just as soon as she had time, but that it probably wouldn't happen until December as she is incredibly busy at the moment. I told her that was fine, since I probably won't even have my medical and dental appointments for a couple of weeks...
Which reminds me, I need to find a decent/cheap doctor (and dentist) in the area who will do the necessary physical exams and fill out the paperwork rather quickly.

One step closer...

Monday, November 3, 2008

medical/dental packet received

Wow this is even bigger than I thought. I just got a very thorough packet from Peace Corps that I need to have filled out by doctors, dentists, and therapists before sending it off for medical clearance.

On the original application, I answered a lot of questions about my health history, and one of them asked whether I had ever seen a psychiatrist, psychologist, counselor, or therapist in my life.
I did go to a therapist in high school because I needed help dealing with my parents' divorce and some other typical teenage issues. Now I need to go back to this therapist to have her fill out and sign some forms that testify to my mental stability.

I also have to have a doctor sign off on my knee, since I had surgery a couple of years ago.

This might take a while, but I'm determined to get it done as soon as possible.

Friday, October 31, 2008

tentative assignment: teaching in Africa

I got a package from Peace Corps today with a letter saying that I've been nominated for a possible teaching (secondary math) in Sub-Saharan Africa with a possible departure of July, 2009.

The package also contained a bunch of brochures and goodies:
  • a tote bag with the Peace Corps logo
  • two baggage tags with the Peace Corps logo
  • a Peace Corps keychain
How fun!

I'm still waiting on my medical package though.

Woo hoo!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Medical review

I got another email today, saying my application status had been updated again. I checked the online toolkit and it said that they mailed my medical review packet yesterday, so I can start making doctor/dentist appointments.

One step closer...

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

status update


I got an email today saying that my application status had been updated in my online Peace Corps toolkit. I checked it out and I am officially nominated as of yesterday, October 27th 2008!

There are still some more hurdles to jump before I can get an actual invitation, but I am stoked nonetheless.

Next they will send me the medical packet so I'll need to make appointments with doctors and dentists to make sure I don't have any serious medical issues. This could be pricey, especially since I have no health coverage.

Apparently I did pass the legal review, so that's taken care of. (Not that I was worried about it.)

Friday, October 10, 2008

Peace Corps interview today

I submitted my Peace Corps application a few weeks ago (September 20th) and I had my interview with a recruiter today.
I was very nervous at first, but he was friendly and the interview went well. He asked me a lot of questions that I had prepared for by reading other blogs from current Peace Corps volunteers (PCVs) and from returned volunteers (RPCVs). One that was particularly helpful was from this guy John's blog:

http://www.thejohnpark.com/blogger/peacecorpspark/archive/2005_11_01_peacecorpspark.htm
(I actually ended up reading a lot of his entries-- he is now serving as a PCV in Ghana, and has some pretty interesting stories.)

Anyway, I used the list of questions on John's blog to prepare for the interview, and most of the questions were the same.
And I guess I did well because the recruiter says he's nominating me for a position!

I am pretty excited, this is all starting to become real.
The next steps are the medical review and the legal background check-- they took my fingerprints for that today. So I'm pretty much in, as long as they don't discover my dirty past! Haha. Just kidding...