Medical Round 2

The unofficial title for this post is going to be "85%" because only 15% of nominees pass through the medical portion of their paper work the first time without having to submit additional material, and I am now in the 85% that is in Medical Round 2!

I was told that I need a bunch of blood work, which I could swear I already sent to them the first time around and am going to check into again before I go and get more ordered. Since I am a more curvaceous individual I have to put a personal statement in about how I am going to work on getting my BMI down before I leave, and then lastly I missed two lines for my doctor to sign on a form that I must now bring into her. All in all not so bad, and I have the next two months to get it done, but I think I should be able to have most everything together by the end of the week.

On a side note, can I just say that I am mildly insulted about the BMI thing? I completely understand why they are asking and I think someone who is signing up to do a little over two years in a situation where they are not going to be able to live to the standard in which most people are used to, should be in good shape but I had thought that the first form I filled out with my doctor would have been enough. I am a little peeved that they seem to equate weight with "out of shapeness."

I have been on the MSU rowing team for the past three years which means 8, 2 hour practices a week for the entire school year, plus workouts with my local boat house over the summer. Now that I am taking a break from rowing I have joined a roller derby team with practices twice a week plus an "off skate" work out. So at this point you may be thinking: "what is she eating that she is so over weight?" well that is a fun one too! I don't really drink pop at all, which leaves me with a whole lot of milk, water and juice. I can't afford ice cream, so unless I am visiting home I don't really eat ice cream, potato chips, candy, or baked goods.

I will say that I do love cheese, and I know its fatty, and that my portion control could use some work even when I am eating healthy things. I guess its just a bit of a let down that my weight and my fitness are so often not in touch with each other.

Alright, done with the rant, just needed to get it off my chest. I think this is actually a pretty good turn out considering how much paper work they wanted. Much love to everybody, as per usual feel free to comment and fill out the question to the right.

Peace,
Claire  

Medical Review Has Started!

I just love that stomach-dropping-out-of-your-butt feeling when you get the "Your Toolkit has been updated" emails in the morning. Checked in to see what it was all about and, as promised by the pre service nurse I talked to a few weeks ago, my nomination "batch" has gotten to the medical review portion of the process. I freaked out a little when I saw the big red HOLD right next to the medical check mark but the fine print says that, that just indicates that it is being gone over and that if they need any more information they will call or let me know.

So did anyone else wake up to this? I'm super pumped that something is moving in the right direction, seeing as the news that I had missed my originally nominated group was a bit of a downer. On a happy note, I took a one week job as a choir camp counselor for August since I am pretty sure I won't be leaving that soon with all the push backs. I hope I don't end up having to smack myself in the face for that one, though it would be like Peace Corps to offer me a new position after I take a job in August.

Hope this finds you all well, as per usual: feel free to comment and due the little survey thingy on the side bar.

Much Love,
Claire

Africa Juice Q&A

Seeing as I will probably not have any new news to post within the next couple of weeks I thought I would post a nice summer juice recipe from Mali, to you all, with love. The credit to this one goes out to my friend Buddy who served in Peace Corps Mali some years back. If you do not have a food processor I have found that a cheese grater works but is a wee bit messy. The colder the better!!

Lembourouji

(Ginger-Lemon Drink)

recipe origin:   Mali, West Africa

1 to 2 "hands" fresh ginger (about the size of your hand)

1 tiny pinch of cayenne pepper (more for a bigger kick)

1 gallon cool water

1 to 1½ cups lemon juice (fresh or bottled)

1 to 1½ cups sugar

Wash the ginger well.  You do not need to peel it, but can if you like.  Cut off any discolored, rotten, or dried ends.  Pulverize in a food processor until it has the texture of coarse sawdust (should have about 2 to 3 cups worth). Add the ginger, the cayenne pepper,  and about half the water to a large glass jug or pitcher.  Soak for at least 2 to 3 hours at room temperature.  Strain the mixture through a fine strainer, sieve, or cheesecloth into another container.  Pour additional water through the ginger to wash out more of the ginger flavor.  Add enough water to make about a gallon, plus about a cup each of  lemon and sugar.  Stir.  Adjust lemon and sugar to taste.  Chill and serve over ice.

Enjoy!

On a completely unrelated note, I wanted to send out a big shout out to those of you that have been so supportive when it came to the news about possibly being pushed back till January. It was really nice to know I have such wonderful motivators in my life. :)

I also figured I would open up the floor for any questions people might have. I think the blog system that are linked through peacecorpswiki and peacecorpsjournal are great because you can find answers to questions about your own process. If you have a question you think I could answer just comment below and I will post answers sometime soon. I'm also not worried about doing a bit snooping if need be, so fire away!

Much Love,
Claire 

If You Are Going Through Medical, READ!

Ask and you shall receive...whether you want to or not. I sent off the email to placement, as promised in the last post, and was got a reply in quite the timely manner. My placement person let me know that my original nomination project has been filled and then proceeded to forward on an email that is going out to all people who are in the process of clearing their medical portion of their applications. 

Here is the email that they are sending out:

Like all federal agencies, Peace Corps is looking at its operations in light of budget reductions. This will result in fewer service opportunities available overseas in 2011 and 2012.  Unfortunately, it is too soon to tell what impact this will have on the program you were nominated to as Peace Corps is currently reevaluating our needs for the upcoming months.  Please note that these changes may affect your potential placement.  If you are not placed in the program to which you were nominated, your Placement and Assessment Specialist will conduct the final suitability and skill review to determine if we can match you to the next available program that best fits your skills and qualifications.  Please note that this may mean a pushback in departure date, perhaps until January 2012 or later.  We will be in touch with more information should this be the case and anticipate that we should be able to provide you with more information once you have been medically cleared and we have completed the placement review of your file.  Please also keep in mind that a final invitation is contingent upon the completion of a final suitability and skill review.

She then went on to say that it is very likely that my region will be changed and there is even a possibility that my actual sector (health extension) will be changed depending on where there are spots and what my skills are. 

So you know all of that calculating, and trying to figure out where I was going and when I was leaving...yeah...that was a big waste of time. I have to say though, I'm not insanely surprised, based on what I have been hearing around/ reading on other people's blogs. The budget cuts have made for some serious changes, and I am kicking my own butt right now for not turning in my medical paper work sooner (though in all honesty I don't know if it would have made a difference.)

But let us not dwell on the negative but highlight the positive! I get to have that "where am I going to be going in the world" feeling again, since the placement officer said there was "a large chance" that my region location will be moved. Another positive note is that last I checked I am qualified for health, community development and education, so there is a chance that I may be placed more quickly due to this, since I am more able to fill a position than someone who is only cleared for one of them. 

Please do not take this the wrong way, I am not happy about the idea that me not going to Africa or being moved from the health sector are now all major possibilities. Health sector was actually my top pick for jobs, and though I really do mean it when I say I would go anywhere, I decided on an internship and a thesis topic based around the idea that I should learn more about Africa in order to prepare for my placement. But I don't think there is any use crying over spilled milk, and it didn't even cross my mind that I would pull out until someone asked. I have every intention of being a Peace Corps volunteer, whether it happens now or in 7 months or in a year. 

I would encourage those of you that are going through medical right now (since the email included will only come to you after you have been cleared since it is from the placement team) to talk to your placement and pre-service people and also to think about the opportunities you might have that will enable you to fill any extra time IF you don't leave in the fall or early winter. I would also encourage you to stick with it; if you have wanted it this much this far, a few months aren't going to be anything. 

For now I'm going to sit back and wait to hear from medical, continue working on my thesis about AIDS in Uganda, hang out with the wonderful ladies at my internship and love life for what it is right now, and the possibilities that the future holds for me down the road. :)

Love and Smooches, 

Claire   

Medical Clearance Snooping

Hello Everyone!

I spent half of yesterday reading over a bunch of people's blogs and realized that I am probably below average when it comes to bugging either the pre-service nurse or the pre-service office as to the status of my application. Taking that into mind, I shot off an email! I basically asked if there was any new information on when I would be leaving and/ or cleared, if I was still good to go on the original timeline of my nomination, and if I was going to be informed if there was any sort of hold up on my group due to budget cuts and whatnot.

I received an email back saying that my nomination group was slated to have the medical clearance processed by the end of June and that I should be hearing back from the office within the next four weeks. The person then directed all of my other questions to the placement office (whom I will be emailing in a second.) This part about my group being process at the end of June reminded me of an earlier email I had received from the placement office that I got in reply to a message I had sent about needing extra time to fill out additional paperwork for some failed medical tests.

The email had off handedly mentioned that, at the time, the group being processed was for people leaving between April and June; the email was sent in March. Taking this into account, I should still be good in my thinking that I will be leaving in August or September (though I am now thinking that a September date is probably more likely) since it seems that processing for placement and medical occurs about 1-3months prior to departure.

I thought this would be especially helpful to post for those of you out there that sent in your medical paperwork early and are wanting to kill the nice Peace Corps nurses for not clearing you sooner since you have been waiting for months on end. I have also heard from multiple people that the offices are under staffed and that is why everything takes so long, but I am starting to think that, that is probably the response they give you when they don't want you to bug them any more. Eh, what do I know?

So thats about it for new information for the day, I will let you know once I get an email back from placement assuming it has any new information. Also, please, please, please feel free to comment or answer the question to the upper right of the screen. The more connected I feel with other nominees/ invitees/ volunteers/ RPCVs the happier I am, and it doesn't matter if we haven't met, or if we will never meet, I would love to hear from you!

Hope all is well,
Claire   

Dental Clearance and Doubts

Got my dental clearance! So even if all goes to hell, my teeth are still good to go to Africa without the rest of my body if they so choose. This was actually really surprising considering that I had received the email about government mail taking up to 10 days to be processed only to get an update on May 26th that they had processed my packet, and on the 27th had given my pearly whites the go ahead. So now I am just waiting on the rest of the medical to come through.

On a different note: a thought crossed my mind this weekend that I had not previously given myself the time to really take into account. I have been functioning under the idea that I am going to be leaving in August or September; this was based on a few different things and you can follow all of these events in older blog posts if you wish. Firstly, when I was nominated I got a "File/ Case Number" and when I did some poking around on the internet I figured out that two of the numbers correlated to a Summer departure period that runs from June-September, and since I had marked that I couldn't leave until August 1st, this leaves me with these two months. By using this date I cross referenced with www.peacecorpswiki.org to figure out my short list of Zambia, Rwanda, Uganda and Botswana (and a recently added Namibia.)

But what if all of this is totally wrong? Maybe the reason my medical guy said I was still on a good time line is because I had missed the original nomination date? Maybe with the new budget cuts the program I was nominated for has been cut? What if they just changed me around? Then again, isn't it better to think I am leaving sooner than I actually am so that I am ready to go as opposed to not being ready enough?

I think the real thing I need to be keeping in mind is that I don't know anything for sure, even with all my calculating scheming and whatnot and that I should not be let down or disappointed if for some reason stuff does not work out the way I thought it would. Thus I continue to tango with the most frustrating part of the Peace Corps application process, and I hope you are having a better time dancing with whatever you are dealing with than I am.

Much Love,
Claire