Thanksgiving-ness

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, 6 of us (Tom and Leah, Jessie and I, Sammy, Molly) met up in San Juan for a belated-Thanksgiving celebration. It was decidedly un-Thanksgiving like. This is the first time Jessie and I have celebrated somewhere where it wasn't cold and truly Fall. It was still awesome, though.

We stayed at a cool little hotel that was more someone's really nice house converted. The grounds also had outdoor huts that we would stay at sometime in the future. The coolest thing, though, was that the owner allowed us to cook our own dinner there. We went to the market and bought a couple of already dead chickens, vegetables and drinks...headed back to the hotel and cooked, talked and drank. It was perfect.

I have pictures somewhere...I will try to post in the future.

On Sunday, I tried surfing again. Man is it hard! Maybe someday I will get good at it.

Okay, that's all I have the energy for.

Pis.

All Sworn in and Ready to Go

On November 13, 2009, Jessie, I, and 60-some other trainees from Batch 268 were sworn in as Volunteers. It was fun and exciting, though not necessarily exciting for a blog reader.

The biggest part of the day was that we were sworn in by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. During Counterpart's Conference, which leads up to Swearing In, we had heard that Clinton was in town. There were rumors that she might make an appearance. On Thursday it was confirmed.

I keep trying to think of a way to explain why this was so cool, but as I always remind you, I am not a very good writer. It was exciting to have someone so high up the political ladder conduct something that is so important for our transition from Trainees to Volunteers. By having Secretary Clinton swearing us in, I felt somewhat validated in what we are doing here. Mind you, I don't necessarily feel that I need the validation, but prior to coming here, I was questioned a lot about what the Peace Corps is and how valid a program it is and blah, blah. Maybe this acknowledgment is enough for those naysayers...maybe it isn't.

Here are some pictures (sadly we weren't allowed cameras in the U.S. Embassy, so no Clinton pics).




This is a picture of all the trainees from La Union. These are the people I know best in the Philippines. They represent 3 training clusters (2 Education, 1 CYF). They are scattered throughout Ilokano-speaking Luzon now. It is sad not seeing them regularly.





Here I am with the other 4 CYF Volunteers and 2 trainers that I trained with for 12 weeks. These are the people that I saw every Monday through Saturday (and most Sundays). It will be odd not having them here in Caba with me.

Note, the shirt I am wearing is called a Barong. It is a formal shirt that my host dad lent me for the event. He wore it at his wedding. Pretty awesome, eh?

Ok. That's all I've got for now. Keeping watching Twitter to the right. Also, we have a new mailing address...send us presents. Or send us Amazon.com gift cards to my email address. We have a Kindle now and books aren't cheap!

Pis Out

Training is Done

Week 11
11/01/09 - 11/08/09

Week 11 was our last week of training here in La Union. For most people that means moving onto a different site after swearing in on November 13, but for us it just means starting are permanent jobs here. We are both really excited about it, though it this point there is not much to say. Lots of potential...

This week also had us doing our Language Proficiency Interview (LPI). Jessie is an ace and did just fine. I was nervous because I had a practice interview at the beginning of the week and totally blanked on all that I had learned. That got me reviewing...and got me a little freaked out. Thankfully, I knew more than I thought and did just fine. This morning I briefly talked to my LPI interviewer and she said that I "passed." I will get more detailed notes later in the week.

Either way, training is done now. It's weird, I feel like I have been here forever, but at the same time, everything is flying by so quickly. It has been great, though.

Tomorrow we travel to Manila for Counterparts Conference and then Swearing In.

After this post, I will probably not give weekly updates. I feel like I don't always have something good to say in a given week. I will still update regularly through Twitter, though, so keep looking to the right hand column of this screen!

Pis Out

Back to Training

Week 9
10/18/09 - 10/25/09

After the fun of Manila and Supervisor's Conference, week 9 was a bit boring. It was tough getting back into the language after being in areas where we didn't have much chance to practice. By the end of the week, I felt back up to speed, though.

One highlight of this week was that it was Jessie and my 1-year legal anniversary. We had two weddings last year. There was our ceremony in Mexico with all our friends and family in February of 2009. Prior to that, though, we had a secret legal wedding on October 18 in front of a judge in Chicago. It was a really fun experience for us. Since getting here, we have been telling people that that is our anniversary date.

Our host parents decided to have a party for us. It was really great. A lot of the other trainees came by. They got us a fried pig's head. It looks a lot more exotic than it tastes. It was really quite delicious. We loved the whole day and appreciated what our host parents did for us.




We also were able to come back home to our beautiful sunsets. We are very fortunate that we can witness this kind of beauty every night (though we don't take advantage of it every night). We certainly haven't gotten tired of that!





Okay, I will try and shoot my last blog out soon to be all caught up.

Pis

Our Unsurprising Site

Week 8
10/11/09 - 10/18/09

Week 7 and Week 8 really ran together since I was gone for part of both. After the street immersion in Manila, the CYF trainees met up with the rest of the Luzon trainees in Education and Coastal Resource Management (CRM) for the Supervisor's Conference in Cavite.

Supervisor's Conference is exciting for all the trainees because on the first night, we get to find out what our permanent site is going to be. Also, as the name implies, we get to meet our supervisors for our permanent site. For Jessie and I, a lot of the excitement was deflated by the fact that we were already pretty sure where we were going to be. We ended up being right.

A lot of hints had been dropped throughout training that our permanent sites were going to be the same as our respective training sites. There is nothing inherently wrong with either of our sites. In fact, our training sites are awesome. The town we are living in is awesome. Our host family is awesome. BUT, when everyone else is finding out about their cool new regions and new work sites...when they go to visit their site and get a parade and see new sights...it is really easy to be jealous. We weren't jealous of their specific sites, we were jealous of the new experiences that they had that we don't get.

This was a couple weeks ago, though. Now, that jealousy has faded. We are excited about staying here. We are excited that we don't have to pack up our lives again and haul them off to a new place. We are excited that we don't have to wonder whether or not we will get along with our new host family. We are content. And, now we have all these new places that we can visit where are friends are!

So, that was Supervisor's Conference. Not exciting for us, but great for everyone else.

It was great seeing all of the other trainees who we haven't seen since Initial Orientation. We will get to see them again when we swear in too. More places to go visit!

Alright, I am almost caught up with the weeks. Boring week 9 to come soon!

Until then...Pis Out (ps - "Pis" = phonetic spelling of "Peace" in Philippines)

Week 5

09/20/09 - 09/27/09

All is well here.

Week 5 kind of blew, though. I lost my wallet and was dumb enough to have my new Peace Corp issued atm card with the pin number in it. I am normally not a moron like that, but I had just gotten it and thought I would be hitting an atm soon to change the pin number to something memorized. So, whoever found my wallet also found an atm and cleaned out my account. Fortunately, it wasn't tied to my U.S. accounts. Just the money that Peace Corps gives us was lost. Still, it was really upsetting.

Then, on Wednesday (10/23/09), I had a day-long flu. It came and went quick...body aches, digestive problems, fatigue. Then Thursday, I woke up and felt just fine. Weird.

Things got much better on Friday. A bunch of Peace Corps Trainees from the various clusters in my area met up and went to a resort to have a few drinks by the beach. It is really nice to be able to connect with other trainees on a semi-regular basis. It is a good way to decompress from the week.

Sunday (09/27/09) may have been my best day since arriving here. My host dad's family owns land with a fishing pond (like a mini fishery) not too far from us. He coordinated with all the host parents and set up a day for the volunteers to fish. They made us all fishing poles for us, cleaned and prepared the fish we caught, and made other food for us. We had tons of neighborhood kids hanging around us, playing and practicing their English. I am really not doing the event justice with this description. It was awesome though. I posted pictures on Facebook. Check them out.

Okay, I am being lazy about writing, so that is all.

We find out our permanent site this Sunday (10/04/09). Can't wait!

Pis Out

Week 4

09/13/09 - 09/20/09

All is well here.

I was trying to think of a theme for this week's post, and I drew a blank. It's not that there is nothing to write about. There is plenty. It is just the problem of trying to focus my thoughts on things people might find interesting.

I could talk about food, but I haven't been keeping good notes on the dishes I have been eating. Or taking pictures of the food I have been eating. Bad Scott!!!

Maybe weather. I can always talk about the weather.

It is hot as hell here! I don't know what the temperature is (you can use weather.com for that), but I sweat a lot. If you look at pictures, you can see how hot I am. The word in Ilokano is napudot (nah-poo-dote).

Some people bath a few times a day and change their shirts often. The Filipinos in my town (not sure about elsewhere) think that have a wet back will give you pneumonia. If that were true, I would always have it. Ha! I also don't bother with the shirt changing because that just makes for more laundry. I do take a second bath in the evening sometimes, though.

It was a good idea getting synthetic tech-type shirts. They, at least, dry really quickly. The couple times I have worn cotton t-shirts, I have been drenched for the entire time I had the shirt on.

In the afternoon and night, it usually rains. This is rainy season, after all. It cools the air a little bit, but also adds plenty to the humidity. I fear for my electronics. Who wants to mail me some silica gel packets?

Actually, who wants to mail me packages in general? They have flat rate boxes. I'll give you the address if you email me. Come on!!

Oh, one more thing about the rain. It makes the spiders come inside. They are huge and fast. They don't bite, but that doesn't make them any less horrifying.

Okay, this post was weak. Sorry.

Peace Out

Week 3

09/06/09 - 09/13/09

All is well here.

Let's talking about grooming and hygiene...

On Taking Baths

Jessie and I take what are known as Bucket Baths. It is exactly what it sounds like...well, unless you are imagining us sitting in a bucket. That would be weird. Basically, we have a few gallon bucket and then a large ladle called a tabo. The bucket is filled with water out of the faucet (for some they have to fill it at a water pump). The water is not warm. It is actually quite chilly. That is usually a good thing because it is so hot here, though that first splash of water over the back is usually terrible.

My technique...the bucket is full, the tabo is floating in the bucket, and I am squatting down in the shower in front of it. I then take a tabo full of water and splash it over me. Repeat, until completely wet. After that, I soap and shampoo up. I usually do this standing because my legs fall asleep if I squat too long and there is nothing more awkward turtle than being naked, soapy and unable to stand back up. When I am feeling all nice and clean, I crouch back down and begin rinsing off.

So, how does this rate compared to a normal shower. Well, it is quick and efficient. I feel good about not wasting water. The cold water certainly wakes you up in the morning. That said, there is something special about standing under a streaming of piping hot water and daydreaming (I do lots of thinking in the shower). No daydreaming in front of the bucket. Maybe when I get home, I will be more water conscious...limit myself to a water wasting dream shower only once in a while.

On Haircuts and Facial Hair

I haven't done either since getting here. I am debating just letting it grow until Swearing-In in November. That might make me look like a gross hairy man, though. Maybe you all can tell me as you see pictures posted. :-)

On Pooping

They do, in fact, have toilet paper here. I use it. I plan on using it for the foreseeable future. The plumbing in this country wasn't designed for flushing toilet paper, though. You have to throw it all in the garbage. They generally don't supply toilet paper in public toilets (or you have to pay for some). I also bring some with me. Also, a lot of toilets here, while being normal toilets with tanks, don't have plumbing to fill the tank. You have to flush the toilet by filling a bucket of water and pouring it down into the bowl. That is no big deal.

Okay, so why am I talking about this? Well, there is another cleaning yourself technique that I am very scared of. Lots of volunteers have tried it and don't seem to mind it. It involves using the tabo (ladle, see above), and even some soap, to basically give yourself a butt bath after using the toilet. I am primarily afraid of it because I did an already-clean simulation of the technique before using the bucket bath one day and I can't manage it without getting water everywhere. Imagine being in public and walking about with wet pants, feet and maybe even the back of your shirt. That is not a problem that anyone in this country seems to have...but I am apparently a disaster like that. Haha.

Alright, you now know more about my self-cleaning habits than you probably wanted. Sorry.

Anyway, I hope all is well in the States.

Peace Out

Scott

Week 2

08/30/09 - 09/06/09

All is well here. We have now been living with our host family for a week. It feels like longer. That is not a bad thing. It's just that time is so different during this whole experience.

I am going to try and limit the focus of this week's blog. Today, I will be talking about my daily schedule.

My cluster (5 CYF trainees) has training Monday through Saturday. Jessie's schedule is not much different. We have language training in the morning. The language in the region we are in is called Ilokano. We are told that it is nothing like Tagalog. I didn't learn enough Tagalog from Rosetta Stone to make any really strong comparisons between the two. There are some Spanish words (really only nouns) that have made there way into most of the languages in this country. That is kind of nice for learning. We have only been at it for a week, so I don't know much. It is certainly daunting, but ultimately our instructors are all very capable and will do a great job with us.

After language training, we have about an hour for lunch. The other 4 trainees in my cluster go to their respective host family homes for lunch. My host family is about a 25 minute walk away from our training site, so I either bring a lunch or go and visit them at the store they own, which is only a 10 minute walk.

In the afternoon, we have our technical training. This has included lessons on the theory behind what we are doing, documentary and video watching (to see what issues Filipino children face), and visiting our "practicum" site. The practicum site is the facility that we go to once a week to do hands on work with children. Our first visit was last Friday. The kids there are seem really great. They are all boys (young men) who have gotten into some trouble with the law. The facility allows them to get life skills training, counseling, school, and other services. When they have completed enough, they are released and their record is cleared. That is not really the whole story, but should give you a slight sense of the program.

Okay, so that is what my days are going to be like for the next 3 months.

If you want daily updates, check out my twitter page here.

We also went on a pretty awesome hike on Sunday. Here is a picture from the top of the mountain we hiked up:

How Do I Post?

Since arriving, it has been difficult for me to determine what I should post and what I shouldn't post about this experience. I am not talking about what is "appropriate" to post in a blog about the Peace Corps. We discussed blogs and Peace Corps policy during staging and it seemed pretty obvious: don't be an insensitive asshole and save your frustrations for personal conversation. Maybe that isn't obvious for some people in the Internet Age, but either way, that isn't what I am talking about. My problem is: what do people want to hear about? Of course, you could be sarcastic and say, "we don't care what you have to say, Scott." I am sure that is true for a lot of you, but hey, you don't have to read this blog, so that problem is easily solved. My problem is, with all the information and experience that I am taking in right now, how do I pick out the things to write about?

I don't know.

Should I write about really unique experiences that make for funny/interesting stories? Should I share random details of the process for people who are interested in the Peace Corps? Should I just wait until I am inspired to write? I really don't know.

So, after all that, I will share a little story.

Last night I took my first malaria pill. The medicine we are on is supposed to be taken once a week. We take them Mondays because it is easy to remember "Malaria Mondays." The possible side effects include gastrointestinal distress, vomiting, diarrhea, vivid dreams, and psychosis!! How horrifying is that? You won't get malaria, but you could go insane!!

Fortunately, I took mine before bed last night and woke up feeling ok. I also preemptively took immodium for my stomach, so maybe that helped. We are supposed to go to the Mall of Asia today to get cell phones, and I didn't want to feel sick on the bus. Too soon for embarrassing stomach problems.

Okay, that is my one random story.

Everything else is going well. I like my fellow trainees. Jessie and I are excited to find out what our training region will be. I think it will be ok to post about it when we know. If not, you will get a personal email from me about it.

Until then. Peace Out.

Two Weeks!!

I can't believe that I am going to be done with work two weeks from today. After that, it is just a matter of weeks before we go to the Philippines!

If only those stupid staging documents would arrive.

Peace Corps Application Process - Part 12

Tomorrow is the 1 year anniversary of our Peace Corps interview! I can't believe how fast this past 12 months has gone by.

I can't believe that in another 6 weeks, or so, we are going to be departing for the Philippines for 27 months.

I am so excited!

Travel Guitar and Solar Charger

I got my travel guitar yesterday. It is a Little Martin Acoustic-Electric. Here is a picture of it next to my regular acoustic guitar.





We also got our Solio Magnesium Edition solar charger. Solar chargers seem to be a controversial topic amongst Peace Corps Volunteers. A lot of message board posts that I have read say that they are useless if you have electricity. My logic, though, is that, hey, you never know when you may be without power. I have read stories about people losing electricity to their town for weeks on end. If that happens, we want to be able to charge a cell phone, or an iPod, or any other gadget we may want to use to keep us connected or make us feel at home. We also want to have that extra juice for long trips or plane rides. Once the solar battery is full, it is good for up to a year without additional charge.

Okay, I think I just became an ad for solar chargers...

I'll let you all know how often I actually use it once we get to the Philippines.

Same goes for the guitar.

Latah.

8 Weeks/12 Weeks to Go

I am going to be done working at my current job in 8 weeks. I can't describe how exciting to me that is right now. I love the work that I do. I love the people that I work with. But after almost 5 years as a public defender, I am ready for a change...

Which leads me to the more exciting countdown. Jessie and I will be leaving for the Philippines in about 12 weeks!!! The time has been moving much faster than I expected, but that is a good thing. When I am not busy and can sit down and think about it, I start to get antsy to leave and 12 weeks seems like forever.

So, what are we doing to get ready for this awesome experience? Well, we have a shopping list of gear/clothing that we need to get. We are trying to balance the things that we actually need with the things we want to bring. For example, I need decent, nice-looking, warm weather clothing. I have lots of t-shirts and shorts, but still need the nicer stuff that I will wear to work. On the other side of things, I also bought a travel guitar (Little Martin). I know I don't need it, but I really want to have something musical with me. Either way, it is fun to go shopping.

Jessie and I have also been working on Rosetta Stone for Tagalog. After not having actively learned a language in over a decade, it actually doesn't seem so bad...but then again I am still only learning to count and say "the boy jumps" so things could get a lot more complicated and soon.

Jessie is leaving for Phoenix in a week to help lead Teach For America training for new teachers. It will be good experience for her and a bit of extra money for us, which is nice. It is also good for me because I have to study for the MCAT, which I am hoping to take at the beginning of August before we leave.

So, we are looking at a very busy and crazy summer. Hopefully some fun will be had too!

Oh, and we still have to pack up all of our belongings and deposit them in our parents basements. Fun...

Peace Corps Application - Part 11

Jessie and I have been invited to volunteer in Philippines!!!

Wait, what happened to Turkmenistan and Central Asia? Let's backtrack a little.

At the beginning of February, while we were in Mexico, Jessie and I were contacted by our placement officer by email. She said that we were still on track to be volunteers but due to the necessity of medical accommodations (probably Jessie's asthma), we couldn't be placed at the location we were originally nominated for. This was fine with me because I wasn't exactly excited about it. Don't get me wrong...I would have done it no matter where we were sent. But let's face it, some places are more interesting/desirable, for some people, than others.

When we got back, I called our placement officer on February 12. She told me that she had a list of countries that could probably accommodate us and had already been in contact with one of them. It was a country in Asia, Jessie was still going to be a teacher-trainer, I was going to be switched to youth development, and we would be leaving in mid-August. Looking at the list of possible Peace Corps countries in Asia (Cambodia, China, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand), we figured it was probably the Philippines because that country's recruits left last year in mid-August and they had the programs were were nominated for, minus the health extension, which was my original nomination.

It turns out we were right! Except we still had to wait a bit...

On March 3, we received an email from our placement officer indicating that we had, in fact, been invited to that particular program. They still couldn't tell us what country, because it is Peace Corps policy not to let you know the specific country until the actual invitation is in your hand. We were super excited, though, and figured that it was a matter of days until we got the invitation.

Wrong.

It didn't land in our mailbox until yesterday, March 18. If you are currently an applicant for the Peace Corps, you know that it can be exciting/stressful to wait for updates and new information. Jessie and I generally didn't have that problem. We knew the process was slow and were really calm about it...until we knew we were getting an invite. We were excitedly checking the mail every day...it was really quite a pathetic sight. I would always call or text Jessie to see if we got it yet. When she said no, I would swear a little bit, wondering what could be taking so long. I know it sounds dumb, but you would understand if you have gone through this. Remember when you were applying for college and were expecting your acceptance/rejection in the mail? Multiply that by 10.

Anyway, we are super excited now. We have a packet with all sorts of information (maybe for a future post) and have a lot to take care of in the next 5 months. I will try to post more regularly about that aspect of the process.

Until then...

Peace Corps Application - Part 10

We Have Been Medically Cleared!!

On December 8, 2008, the Peace Corps sent Jessie and I letters in the mail indicating that we are now medically cleared. Jessie's letter is slightly different than mine. She is "provisionally qualified for service that support individuals with asthma." While her asthma isn't particularly bad, she still needs to be in a country where she can get advair, albuterol, or any other meds she may need. We have no idea if this affects our original nomination. I wonder if there are countries that we automatically can't be placed in, or if we just need to be placed in a location that is near a medical facility. I suppose that is a question for our placement officer.

Overall, the road to medical clearance was not terrible, with two exceptions. First, on November 5, 2008, I was sent a follow-up letter from the Medical Office. They wanted me to go back to my doctor because I am overweight and they want to make sure it wouldn't affect my service. Those of you who know me, know that while I am not skinny by any means, I am certainly not dangerously overweight. The problem is, the Peace Corps Medical Office has never met me before. So, they ran my height and weight into a BMI calculator to determine how fat I am. Unfortunately, I scored over a 30 on the BMI scale, which labels me as obese! Now, if you look anywhere on the Internet, you can see that Body Mass Index (BMI) is the most ridiculous way to measure a person's health. It doesn't take muscle mass vs. body fat into account. It is just weight vs. height (with age and sex thrown in for good measure). By the BMI standard, for me to be in the normal weight range, I should weight 155 pounds. I would look anorexic if I did that.

Anyway, after a brief bought of anger/annoyance/amusement, I made an appointment with my doctor to check my fatness and to get some more blood work (I had a couple of slightly out of range liver levels). He said that I am not obese and filled out the form that they sent me. My blood work came back normal. I faxed everything back to the medical office about two weeks after that.

The second issue that Jessie and I had came up about a week ago. You see, Jessie is much more diligent than I am about calling to find out what is going on with our status. Thank goodness for that. When she called to find out if they had received all of our faxes, they checked her file first. Medical had marked her file and said that all faxes were received and they were waiting for my file to be complete. So, they check my file. Medical had marked my file and said that all faxes were received and that they were waiting for her file to be complete! Unfortunately no one had cross-referenced the two files yet, so they were both on hold. Again, good thing Jessie had called in, otherwise who knows how long it would have been before anyone noticed.

Where are we at now? Well, I believe we are now in for a long waiting game. Since we are not set to leave until next September, we really can't get an invite for another 3 months at the soonest (unless they move up our nomination). We could end up waiting all the way up until about 6 weeks before our departure date. So, we have a long way to go. Hopefully the wait is all we have to deal with. If there are budget issues, are departure could get screwed up too. Hopefully we won't have to worry about that, though...

Peace Corps Application - Part 9

I got dentally cleared yesterday. Woohoo!

Medical and legal are next.

I don't have any health problems, but the Peace Corps Yahoo group is filled with horror stories about getting medically cleared. It was also filled with horror stories about the initial application process, and that turned out to be pretty easy. Hopefully they are wrong about this too.

As for legal, well, student loan payment needs to be addressed. That is really the biggest hurdle. It's really just a matter of getting them the right documentation showing that we will still be paying my student loans while we are gone.

Peace Corps Application - Part 7

Ugh, I have been a miserable blogger (with the exception of Twitter). I apologize to any who come to this site hoping to find more information. Also, if you left a message on my blog, I didn't have it set to notify of comments, so I only just saw it. Sorry.

Here's the latest:

Jessie and I received our medical kit from the Peace Corps at the end of August (within a week or two of getting nominated). The packet was comprised of an intro letter and a bunch of forms that needed to be filled out by a doctor and a dentist. Jessie and a few extra forms for her asthma. I had an extra couple questions about my seasonal allergies that I have.

Jessie made her appointment right away for both. I dilly-dallied for a couple weeks before making mine. My doctor's appointment was on September 25. I was a bit nervous about the whole thing because I haven't been to a doctor in years. It wasn't nearly as awkward as I thought it would be, though. I brought my forms with me, explained the situation to the doctor, and you checked me based on what the forms asked for. No big deal. As far as I can tell, nothing major wrong with me.

What was really miserable, though, was getting a tetanus shot. Do you remember getting a tetanus shot as a kid? Holy crap. My arm was sore for almost a whole week. At its worst, I couldn't raise it above my head. On top of that, I got a flu shot (not required). I was sick the whole weekend after my appointment. I have been told that the flu shot is not supposed to make you sick, but between that and the tetanus shot, something messed me up pretty good.

So, where am I in the process now? I still have to go pick up my forms from the doctor's office. I still need to get my polio booster (they don't do it at the office). I also just found the "Report of Physical Abilities" form that I forgot to get signed (so dumb). Finally, I need to go to the dentist next week to make sure my mouth isn't falling apart. Fortunately, I went to the dentist not too long ago and didn't have any major issues. Hopefully nothing has changed since then.

Coming in the near future...budget crisis and my fears of getting screwed out of an invitation...

Peace Corps Application - Part 6

We got a nomination! Exciting and horrifying at the same time.

On Thursday, August 21, Jessie and I each got a voicemail message from our recruiter. She said that she had an update and and wanted to talk to both of us at the same time. The message gave no indication of whether this was good news or bad news. We were both a little nervous that this could be bad news because the Peace Corps recently changed their policy on placing married couples. They now will only interview a couple after they are already married and won't place them until they have at least a year of marriage under their belts. This change didn't come up until after we had interviewed, so we figured that we would get the benefit of the old rule...but we weren't sure.

On Friday, August 22, I was able to speak with our recruiter over the phone. Turns out, it was good news. They want to send us to a country in Central Asia at the end of September 2009. Jessie would be teaching other teachers, I would be in the health extension. This is exactly what our top picks were. As for the selection of countries, I am not quite as excited.

You see, I have always thought of the Peace Corps experience (and I think most other people do too) as living in a small village in Africa or South America. Despite my knowledge of all the countries that they send to, this is still what I daydream about when I am thinking about what is to come. In my thoughts, I have not considered living in the Central Asian countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (eek!), Kazakhstan (great success!), Kyrgyz Republic, or Turkmenistan. Does this mean that I don't want to go to Central Asia? Of course not! I told our recruiter that I would go anywhere for a reason. Does this mean that the experience will be any less? Nope. It just means that what I have gotten myself into, doesn't exactly match what I was hoping for. I will deal with it.

So, after briefly talking with Jessie to relay the message of our nomination, she called our recruiter to accept the nomination on our behalf. The next step is for them to send us packets for medical clearance. Hopefully we are both healthy!

We'll keep you all posted.

Peace Corps Application - Part 4

Today (July 9), Jessie and I had our interview.  I showed up first at about 12:30.  My interview was about an hour long.  All of the questions that I was asked were listed in the Peace Corps Yahoo group.  I felt prepared.  It seemed that so many of my experiences were drawn from my time at the PD's office.  Our recruiter, Julia, was very impressed that we completed our applications and got all of our documentation in.  She actually mentioned it a couple times.  I asked her if this wasn't common and she told me that I would be surprised.  Hearing that makes me wonder, is the Peace Corps application process that bad or does it seem bad because all of the applicants who write about it are morons who didn't do what they were supposed to do when they were supposed to?

When Jessie showed up at about 1:30, we both got our fingerprints taken.  After that, we did the couples interview which was much shorter than I expected.  Mostly questions about what sort of lifestyle changes will affect us.  When that was done, Jessie did her individual interview.

Before I left, the recruiter told us the next step in the process.  Basically, in the next week or so, she is going to send our files to the D.C. office.  That office will then see if they can match up our skills with any programs.  If they can, they will send the information back to the Chicago office and we will likely get a nomination.  If they don't have any matches this cycle, it will be another 3 months before they attempt couples matches again.  Our recruiter actually seemed quite confident about the process which makes me think that we are not getting "rejected" in any way.  The only question is if we get a nomination sooner rather than later.

Craziness!