My Timeline

We had an open house for some friends and neighbors yesterday night, and as a mini-project beforehand I decided I would type up a timeline of important dates, thought it may be helpful for people looking at applying to see my whole process rolled into one. 

Claire’s Peace Corps Timeline
    -November 15^th, 2010: I start my primary online application
    -December 2010: I submit my application
    -January 19^th, 2011: I submit fingerprints and primary skill documentation
    -January 31^st, 2011: Peace Corps (PC) Interview
    -February 1st, 2011: Nominated for a Sub-Saharan Africa placement with the Health Extension program  to be leaving in the fall
    -February 2011: Receive medical packet
    -April 12^th, 2011: Get all clear from the doctor’s office
    -May 23^rd, 2011: Send all needed paperwork, shots, x-rays and history files into the PC office in DC
    -June 6^th, 2011: PC grants me dental clearance
    -June 7^th, 2011: PC informs me that my original training group for the fall is full and that because of federal budget cuts they are putting all new nominations on hold.
    -June 21^st, 2011: PC begins a medical review of my file
    -June 27^th, 2011: Asked to submit additional paperwork for a secondary medical review
    -July 5^th, 2011: Discover I have a blood clot in my right leg after family vacation
    -July 9^th, 2011: I am told by PC that because of budget cuts I will not be leaving until somewhere around January of 2012.
    -August 1st, 2011: I submit the second round of medical paperwork
    -August 4^th, 2011: I’m medically cleared to serve
    -August 11^th, 2011: My file is moved to the placement office
    -August 21st, 2011: My undergraduate degree in Comparative Cultures and Politics is conferred from Michigan State University. 
    -September 22^nd, 2011: I have my placement interview
    -October 6^th, 2011: I am told that I have an invitation and my kit is in the mail!
    -October 11^th, 2011: I receive my invitation to serve in South Africa as HIV/AIDS Prevention and Mitigation volunteer departing January 23^rd, 2012
    -November 29^th, 2011: I am put on medical hold for a blood clot
    -December 19^th, 2011: I am officially removed from the South African training group
    -January 27^th, 2011: I see a specialist and he clears me to go off meds
    -February 8^th, 2011: I receive word that a second invitation is in the mail!!
    -February 13^th, 2011: I receive my second invitation to serve as an NGO Capacity Building volunteer in Botswana J
    -February-April: Preparation to leave, throw fabulous party!
    -April 10^th, 2012: Leave for Philly

April 11^th, 2012: Leave for Kanye, Botswana to serve as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer until June 10^th, 2014

So there it all is, lined up and pretty. This has been quite the journey and I haven't even gotten on a plane yet!

~Claire

Also, if you would like to have you day brightened, watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBrmaE82uY4&feature=related

It's super cute, and I am really hoping at some point during my service I get to see/ interact with elephants :)

A Million Little Things

I believe I was having a bit of an issue with peacecorpsjournals up until now because this blog was posting under South Africa still. In order to check and see if this problem has been fixed I am going to write a quickly post on all the tiny stuff I am attempting to wrap up before go time.

I have laid out the first round of clothing that I plan on bringing, and I also bought a kitchen knife a few days ago, so here is where the list stands:

-Get the meds that I need to go on the plane without having a blood clot
-Photo copy all of my important documents
-Actually pack the clothing I have laid out and make sure it meets the weight/ size restrictions
-Print out fun activities/ crocheting patterns to do during down time (this is more for once at site and less for during training)
-Sign durable power of attorney to my parents
-Call debit card company and let them know where I am going
-LEARN MORE SETSWANA!
-Buy anything I might need that I don't already have (not thinking there is going to be a lot to do with this one)
-Hugs, hugs and more hugs to damn near anyone and everyone
-Get on the plane

Goodness gracious, and I am sure there are going to be a billion other little things that come up to add to this list, but we will see :)

Much Love,
Claire

Setswana

I realized after I looked back at my last post that I was getting a bit on the depressing side. I apologize, I am doing a lot better and there is nothing like a little time to heal a somewhat bruised heart. Which brings me to the topic of this blog post, language. After hearing about some of the staging of language learning that a couple of my fellow trainees are in I thought it would be a good idea to dive head first into learning Setswana. My goal is to try and get down 20 words/ phrases a day until we leave.

This is going to be my first foray into the weird and wonderful world of learning a language without a teacher or professor there to guide me. I am kind of excited because it means I can learn what I need and not have to worry about going over vocabulary that I don't deem necessary. Then again, as I so recently pointed out to myself, I don't know any native Setswana speakers which means that I may be teaching myself incorrect pronunciation only to show up to site and be corrected. Better to be corrected than to not have anything to correct on though I guess.

Alright, I'm off to hang out with a work friend. Hope this finds everyone in good shape. Much love!

~Claire 

Pre-Departure Stress

25 days until go time and I have to say I am not in the best of mental places right now. Due to some personal matters my stress and emotional anxiety levels have sky rocketed and if you add that on top of the fact that I am leaving in less than a month it equals a whole lot of unpleasantness. I don't mean to freak those of you who may be reading this and are somewhere in your application process, I'm sure many of the people in my training group are doing just fine. My advice for those of you in pre-invitation stages: make sure you have a good handle on your personal life before getting ready to leave. Tie up the loose ends, do what you need to do to keep yourself mentally fit and stable and just be able to enjoy the ride.

On a happier side note, I just finished a book called "Whatever You Do, Don't Run" by Peter Allison and let me just say, if you are looking for some delightful reading about Botswana/ South Africa (though more so Botswana) it is the book to go to! I just bought his second book on my kindle and I have to say that I am so excited about my opportunities to see wildlife in Botswana after reading this. Allison was a safari guide for a bunch of years and his stories are well written, hilarious and mildly informative. :) I suggest all of you pick it up for a spin.

Alright, back to St. Patty's Day fun. Hope all is well!

~Claire

Prep, Prep and More Prep

I am officially at 38 days left before it is time to leave for Botswana! I have been trying to tie up as many lose ends as possible within my life seeing as I have the feeling that things are only going to start to move more quickly the sooner we get to go time.

I have taken care of getting the deferments for my student loans and sadly have realized that I am not going to be able to put off accruing interest. What sucks about this is that I am going to come back from Peace Corps and have gained about $2,000 more in interest than when I left. Quick vent: this is not cool, its not even that I am saying as a US Peace Corps Volunteer I deserve to get my loans forgiven, but I certain think that someone that is representing America abroad should not financially suffer for it. Part of the reason I joined PC is because I wanted to serve my country in a way I thought would be possible for me. That is not to say that I am putting even half as much on the line as our men and women fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan. I have only the utmost respect for these individuals because they are serving their country in a way I don't think I have it within me to do. That being said, I am serving my country in a way and I don't think waiving interest on a student loan would be the down fall of our civilization...

Alright I am done, so anyways I put in orders for a ton of different clothing items and finally caved and bought a sleeping bag with my Marmot discount. FUTURE PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS: do not buy things before departure without applying for the discounts listed on www.peacecorpswiki.com, they are going to save you a crap ton of money at the end of the day.

I have now moved into what I like to call "Def Con 2" which means I am undulating between being super pumped to leave and freaking that I am dumb enough to think I can do this. I'm estimating that I will move into Def Con 3 by the end of the week after next and come April I will be in stage 4 only to enter the final Def Con stage somewhere between 7 and 4 days before its time for me to leave. At that point don't expect my posts to make any sense whatsoever. :)

Things are going well though, I am enjoying planning and learning and getting ready for this most excellent adventure!

~Claire

Botswana

Botswana!!! My invitations finally came in the mail and I am being assigned to Botswana, departing April 10th to work as an NGO Capacity Building volunteer :)I'm REALLY happy about this assignment :D

More to come!

~Claire

INVITATION! (again)

As per usual, just when I think I am going to be waiting forever and an ass to hear from Peace Corps, they surprise me and contact me immediately. My new invitation is in the mail and should be here within 7-10 business days!!!

The assignment is for Sub-Saharan Africa leaving in early April, and unlike last time I will not be looking it up on peacecorpswiki. As much as I am tempted I think it will be more fun to open the packet this time around and be completely surprised. I will still be working with HIV/AIDS issues and I could not be more thrilled :)

Thank you all for your support, will let you know when the packet gets here!

~Claire

Information Gathering

I decided last week that I would call the Placement Office every day this week until I got some answers...damnit! I was all pumped up and being assertive and whatnot. Turns out my week long battle for information was more a a one day surge, since I spoke to someone right away and she gave me all the info I wanted.

My placement officer will be contacting me within the next two weeks about getting reassigned since my file has already been "under consideration." They are currently looking at assignments for me leaving within the 3rd or 4th quarter (3rd quarter being April-June, 4th being July-September.) This time around I am not going to be cross checking with peacecorpswiki, because I kinda think it would be more of a fun surprise to not know. I looked at the site once more today and am going to attempt to avoid it until I get a new invitation packet.

Things are looking up!
~Claire

Catch Up

ALRIGHTY! So a ton has happened since the last time I posted and I have an open bit of time so I am going to properly catch everyone up on all my comings and goings.

As you may be able to tell by the fact that I am posting at all, I am not in South Africa with the rest of SA25 right now. After finding the blood clot in my leg and alerting Peace Corps to the fact that I was going to have to continue treatment via medication after my first "check up" scan, they gave me a few weeks to have it cleared and then when it wasn't, they took me out of the training group. I totally understand this decision on their part seeing as a clot (DVT) can lead to some pretty serious medical repercussions and that getting weekly blood tests would not be possible while in the field. It was a really hard day when I woke up to the email from my nurse letting me know that I was being removed, but I tried to stay positive about it and the people in my training group (whom I connected with through facebook) were all really supportive.

So fast forward to a few weeks ago, I went to see a specialist who said he was going to take me off medication to perform the proper tests to see if I am genetically predisposed to clots or if this was just a weird mixture of birth control and a long train ride. If it was genetic I would be done with my Peace Corps journey since the medication that would be required to treat me FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE is on the "no go" list. If it was just a combination of my settings then I could come off medication and be good to go. :)

Turns out I am NOT genetically predisposed!!!! I flipped out, because other than having to wear old person compression socks for the next year and a half, I can be off medication and I have no life restrictions. Shortly after faxing the results to PC medical I was put back into active consideration (I had been on medical hold so long they took me out of the process completely) and cleared once again for Placement!

So that gets us back to right now. I am waiting to hear from Placement at all since I have no idea if I have to re-interview or if they are just going to send me another assignment. I have decided that I will be calling the offices on Monday to figure out what is going on to some degree since I haven't heard anything from them. I'm crossing my fingers to be out of here in the next four months but knowing PC there is going to be some sort of monkey wrench that will keep me here longer. At the end of the day I'm giving them till November 1st to get me out of the country. At that point I will have been in the application process just shy of 2yrs, and as much as I am dedicated to being a volunteer, I will not keep my life in limbo forever.

Much love to everyone, as usual comments are appreciated, and I will try and be more consistent with posting!

~Claire