thank you for the timeframe.

it's been a while. i went on vacay with the fam and fall classes just started. and i am turning into a lazy b. anyways, my master's international liaison sent me an email on aug. 18. i know that was a good minute ago, but she wrote me asking for me to get confirmation that i am still a student in the mi program. i emailed my program director, but everyone that works for my program just resigned and it apparently takes her months to respond to any emails. so i'm still waiting on that. in other news....this is what the bottom of her email said:


In the meantime, I will pass your file onto a Placement Officer for further review. You should be hearing from our office in the next 2 months regarding placement.

say what?! peace corps has given me a timeframe. now the question is...does that mean they will be contacting me in the next 2 months, or inviting me? i'm trying not to look too much into this, either way it is nice just to know my file is being pushed forward.

i have been thinking about pc a lot lately (and having some pretty crazy nightmares) and i will probably post something about all that soon. but for now, back to homework.

so long medical labyrinth.

i have medical clearance! this may end up being a lengthy post, so i decided to post the important info up front. i recognize that most of ya won't make it to the bottom.

on wednesday i called my doctor to make sure they faxed the info over to the pc office on thursday like they told me they were going to do. i was a little nervous since my toolkit hadn't been updated. as i suspected the dr.'s office completely forgot. & they left it at their other office (apparently there are two?) so they would have to wait to fax it until the morning. I called again the next day at lunch and they had forgotten again! so i made them put me on hold while they did. [side note: the peace corps has brought out a crazy side of me i didn't know existed. i am typically the definition of laid-back.]

friday morning i woke up to the toolkit update i had been expecting. the hold on my account had been removed. exactly the same way it happened the last time. i was assuming that now that they had all the info i would hear from them with a decision in the next two weeks. on saturday morning i woke up to another toolkit update!! they reached a decision and the letter is in the mail. i was totally not expecting that, especially since the work week was over.

todayyy i got an email from the placement office! it was the generic letter congratulating me on medical clearance (which i now know i got, even though the letter hasn't arrived), and asking for updated resume and patience. dun dun dun. anywho, i'm stoked just to finally be at this point in the application process.



in other news:

i am currently in my intensive summer courses for my master's international program in ESL. what is awesome about completing three classes for a month that last 6 hours? there are a ton of pcvs in my classes doing the fellows program. they all have great stories to tell, and it is getting me even more stoked about pc service. they are full of advice i.e. make embassy friends cuz they have access to ranch dressing, and awesome tidbits of information. also in my class are a bunch of people with international experience that aren't so fond of peace corps. i can't tell you how many people have told me i am an idealist, and i will just be frustrated because i really can't help. i am mostly trying to stick to the positive folks in my group and avoid the neigh-sayers.

writing an updated resume?
you betcha.

emily

on to the next medical hurdle.

i was right about the letter from oms. it is for me to follow-up with my surgeon. i got the letter in the mail wednesday. it is a pretty detailed form i need the surgeon to fill out. so i called the surgeon the next morning to set an appointment. they could squeeze me in for an appointment in august. the receptionist was very nice though, and said she would call if there were any cancellations. i was just about to call oms to see if there were any plan b's when my surgeon's office called me back. they are going to have me fax them the forms and fill them out and then I can pick them up, no appointment necessary. yay! I faxed the form in yesterday afternoon. now i am just waiting on the surgeon's office. i know it will take them a while, but at least it won't be august.

even though i'm still waiting, it is kind of nice for the waiting to be on my end for a change. i like knowing what exactly i am waiting for and where in that process i stand. it is like the window on my end is crystal clear. i can see everything that is happening. the window on the peace corps' end is like stained glass. i can vaguely see where i'm at, but no details. even so, i still love to look.

enjoying the clear view,

oh, lovely to hear from you.

i heard from the placement office for the first time. i'm pretty excited about that. my master's international placement liaison sent me an email on monday. she requested an updated resume, a confirmation on my availability, my transcripts from my master's program, and the number of semesters i will have completed by the time i will leave. pretty standard email from what i have been gathering on the pc journals. slightly different with the mi stuff. she acknowledged that i hadn't been medically cleared yet, but that she wanted to go ahead and get the info already.

that got me thinking about the medical clearance. i sent in all the forms they requested a good minute ago. they took the hold off my account and then put it back on. i've heard from others that it didn't take too long after that second hold to get clearance, but apparently that is not the case for me. i then got an email from oms about ten minutes after i sent in the needed info to the placement office.

they said they had sent a letter to my home address, but it had been returned as undeliverable. they wanted me to check the address and make sure they had it right (which they did) or call the post office and see what is up (which i did). the post office couldn't figure out why it had been sent back. figures. anywho,i told oms it was correct and to go ahead and send it again. whatever they did last time seemed to work, so hopefully it will work this time.

i'm frustrated because they sent the letter on june 1 originally. which means whatever that letter holds i could have been working on by now. o well. i just know that letter won't hold any good news since oms hasn't reached a decision about my medical yet. i'm praying it doesn't involve a visit to the surgeon since the last batch of information i sent in had to answer questions about the surgery. i won't get in the surgeon's office for months. at this point i can only guess what will be in the envelope.

playing the guessing game,

medical hokey pokey.

i got a medical hold on my account. and then the letter came in the mail.... incomplete. apparently my doctor and i missed my pulse. it makes sense why oms had to send it back. how could they send a volunteer overseas with no pulse?! i also had to fill in some info on my allergies and follow-up on a surgery i had a year ago. i got this letter on monday. i got into the doctor's office yesterday morning and had everything faxed over in the afternoon. i woke up this morning to a lovely toolkit update. the hold on my account has been removed. i can only guess how long the medical review will take from here. as least now i know they have all the information they need. i think.

in non-pc related news, i taught my last volunteer esl class for the semester on tuesday. my students were so sweet i almost cried! tonight is the end of the year celebration. we are having a giant potluck. my class is making me papusas since apparently it is a sin that i have never tried them. mmm. i have to decide in the next couple weeks if i am going to teach there again next year. i'm pretty torn. I applied for a few paid esl jobs, so we will see if i am lucky enough to get them with the little experience and education i do have.

fingers crossed,

i'm moving on up.

i got a toolkit update this morning in my email. i have to admit that i was puzzled as to what it could possibly be. i sent in the medical paperwork and it was received. i have already been dentally cleared. i'm not nominated until jan-march of 2010. after reading the blurb about only reviewing those departing in the next four months i was surprised to find out my medical is under review! well before time, but i am certainly not complaining. i will undoubtedly have to make some follow-ups with my poor luck, so this will give me the time to do that.

it's a funny thing. i was going through a phase where i didn't even want to think about pc anymore. i knew i had months and months to wait so i had decided to just let it be for a while. i have been focusing on school work and coming up with viable back-up plans for pc. then out of no where i get this little teaser. it's almost pc's way of slapping me in the face and saying, "get back on board". anyways, i'm super stoked that my medical is under review. that's a big ol jump forward i hadn't been expecting, and i am beyond stoked about it. eek!

awaiting the next early morning update,

& there is nothing.

i thought i was getting better at this patience thing. haha. not. i didn't want to post again until something interesting happened in my peace corps process, but my poor little blog just looks so empty and lonely. and so i am writing. but i have nothing to say. other than the fact that i have lost it.

i have poured over countless blogs and wiki pages looking for info. i know i don't leave for a hundred years (at least it feels that way), but i just would love to know what continent i will be in. i feel like it is not too much to ask. the pains of an mi student, a location-less nomination.

any-who...i guess i should just wait. like normal people.

in non-pc related news: i have started subbing and i love it. which is good since i am getting my master's in education. i also teach an adult esl class. love that one too. i also love that i am learning so much in class that i am getting to add to my awesome lesson plans for my adult esl class. i'm pretty sure they're loving it too. i started out teaching straight from the book which was pretty boring for all of us. now i am filled with fun games and awesome activities. yay for learning something in school!

aaanddd...i leave for the beach in 9 days. wooo.