Wait, what, 76 days until I move to Rwanda?

So tomorrow I will be officially accepting my invitation to serve in Rwanda, and I'm a mixture of excitement, nervousness and anxiousness (emphasis on the excitement though!). Not surprisingly at all, everyone at work has already asked if I've made my excel spreadsheet of tasks to be done before I go; to them I say, you know me too well! I've been known to be a, how do I say this, major excel nerd(?) so it's only necessary that I continue this tradition. It may or may not have a timeline, with deadlines/deliverables. But the scariest part was when I did the quick math and realized I'll be leaving in 76 days. No, not 76 trombones, 76 days. Luckily at that moment I also reminded myself to breathe, so panic attacks and a fainting spell were avoided. Don't get me wrong, you all know how utterly happy I am that this is finally happening, but now that I see everything I have to get done in a couple short months, it will be a race to the finish. Starting with the great dentist search 2K9!! I was informed the one I was planning to go to can't do anymore free exams until February and now I have to scramble to find another (cheap!) one, so wish me luck on that. I'd really rather my savings go towards fun things (like swiss army knives/shortwave radios/tents/netbooks/solar chargers/duct tape..) than cleaning and x-raying my teeth.

I'll post more about Rwanda and the Peace Corps program there soon, promise!

Snow, christmas trees and RWANDA!!

Yesterday. It was only yesterday I woke up to my favorite thing in the world, SNOW! It was only yesterday my roommates and I got dressed in our christmas best (aka ugly holiday sweaters), put our pup, Charlotte, in her santa coat and picked out our christmas tree, walking down U street for 15 blocks caroling and lugging the tree on our shoulders. And it was only yesterday that I got my invitation to become a Peace Corps volunteer!!!! I stood on our front stoop, snow swirling above my head, my roommates grinning (and maybe a bit teary eyed) and taking photos of me as I opened the package. The first word I saw made me scream with excitement: RWANDA!!!!! All I could do for the next 5 minutes was scream and laugh and cry and say oh my god probably a dozen times. My parents got the first call and I couldn't help but remember the time my mother proclaimed the only place she didn't want me serving was Rwanda. As many of you know though, Rwanda has been pretty much my top choice since the program was reopened. I asked mom if she was sitting down, which of course she wasn't, but then it all came out like word vomit. Luckily my parents were excited and supportive (and probably nervous as hell, I just hope there weren't any tears after we hung up the phone) as they always have been my entire life.

So, I'm headed to RWANDA on February 22, 2010!! My program is Health, HIV/AIDS and Organizational Capacity Development (say that three times fast!). I'm excited and nervous beyond words and have a ton of reading to do the next couple of days before I can officially accept my nomination. Oh and do the math, I'll be leaving in 2 and a half months, aaaaahhhh!

Finally, on a corny note, I just want to say thank you to all of you, for your support and friendship and general amazingness. You've kept me sane the past two years going through this process and I'm so utterly thankful.

More to come soon, I'll keep you updated.

And the wait goes on

Good news first: I faxed in the last of my medical paperwork to Peace Corps today! I know, I know, you don't actually believe me. I'm like the girl who cried medical clearance. But this time, I think I mean it. Even though my nurse told me she technically cleared me, I hope this means I can get that coveted letter soon. You know, the one that says you've been medically cleared and will be contacted by a placement officer soon? Nevermind that I've technically already been contacted by a placement officer, but whatever, I crazily anticipate any non-junk real mail, particularly when it's stamped with that lovely peace corps logo.

Speaking of placement officers, this brings me to my bad news: It's been two weeks since I talked to the placement officer. And nada. Nothing. Silence. Sigh. At this point not knowing is worse than knowing that maybe I just wasn't right for the post leaving in February. I realize I have no right to complain considering I put peace corps on hold for the better part of a year, but now that things were moving quickly I was getting super excited. And nervous. And anxious. But now I'm just sitting here. Waiting...

An impending invitation?

I got quite an interesting/exciting phone call yesterday..from a peace corps placement officer! It was like a mini interview, and he followed up on a lot of the same information that I'd given in my original one. Considering my last one was in March 2008, I had a lot to add. He asked a lot about my experiences in HIV/AIDS and it became apparent he wanted to know my work in advocacy/education/community work. Unfortunately, other than ESA and some other short experiences since college, my HIV/AIDS work has been predominantly in higher level, program work. Then he came out with it: he was considering me for a position in sub-Saharan Africa, in NGO/community development focusing in HIV/AIDS, departing mid to late February! Only catch was that the job description wasn't too clear on whether they wanted more program based experience or education/advocacy experience. He's emailing the post to see if I'd be a good candidate and told me he'd call either way; so I could get a call saying "I'm going to invite you" or it could go more like "just kidding, we'll find you something else". I know February is earlier than I was hoping to leave, but I'm more excited than ever! Oh, and I did a little internet searching and it looks like the three programs leaving around that time for Africa are: Namibia, Zambia and Rwanda!! (All three definitely in my top 10 countries) So fingers crossed, hopefully I'll get more info really soon. AH!

Bet you can't say Alpha Thalassemia Minor 3 times fast

Contrary to popular belief, I have in fact been chugging along at working through all the medical paperwork again. And all the effort has been well worth it, let me tell you.

What I've learned:
- Don't put off the medical process, because pretty much all texts expire after a year, and there are even more forms to fill out about what's happened to you the past year. (Where's the box to check labeled "I had a horrible doctor who put me on crazy iron pills that made me sick, and I just really loved my job and my friends and wasn't quite ready to leave"?)
- Mail and email with Peace Corps are actually easier than phone, especially when they have your dad's work phone number listed as your contact number
- I should only give blood out of my hand. Learned this one the hard way
- Abnormal blood results can scare you to death at first; seriously, if your doctor tells you something looks funny, DON'T GOOGLE IT, because it's probably nothing and you'll just worry yourself silly for a solid week.
- Hematologists are cool, but they like to talk alot.
- I have a genetic blood disorder called Alpha Thalassemia Minor (thanks, dad). Basically my red blood cells are smaller than usual, so I have more of them. But, there are no symptoms and it shouldn't have any affect on me volunteering! Interesting facts: it masks itself to look kinda like (get this)..anemia!; it gives me a slight natural immunity to malaria (hey peace corps, look!); and it's mostly found in Eastern Africa (ahem, anything you'd like to tell me mom and dad?)

So what does this all mean? It means one thing folks: medical clearance!

SIKE!

I got a phone call from my peace corps nurse telling me she cleared me, but she noticed after she'd clicked "Qualify" that one of my old tests from 2008 had expired. Luckily my doc could fit me in next Wednesday, so once those come back, I'm all set. No, seriously, this time I mean it...

Let's try this one more time

As you might know (you, of course, being my friends and family who have no knowledge that this blog exists currently), ever since I ran into a wall called "medical clearance" last fall I decided to hold off on peace corps. Well, here I am, almost a year wiser, and changing my mind once again. So I rummaged into one of the boxes I had yet to unpack since our move in May (purposely left packed because of what it contained) and found "it". "It" being the medical paperwork and tests I have to complete before having any chance of doing "the hardest job I'll ever love". So here we go again...