As a Peace Corps Response volunteer, I will be expected to hit the ground running. Instead of nine weeks of training, I get three days. (Hopefully, I'll also get a new medical kit--I've almost used up all those little packets of ibuprofin and anti-itch cream from Zambia.)
Also, instead of getting dropped off at a site and spending three months doing "community entry" (meeting people, holding meetings, and figuring out what projects to tackle), I have an actual job, with an actual organization. I've already met my counterpart (via email, soon Skype!) and received a list of tasks they'd like me to complete.
Also cool: I'll be doing public relations (something I actually know how to do!). This is who I'll be working for.
Cool, hey?
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Flagrante curse
The Peace Corps medical clearance process is notoriously onerous. Sometimes it feels like the flagrante curse from Harry Potter, where everything you touch replicates, threatening to bury you in riches.
My medical packet was deceptively thin, just a few sheets of paper absolving me of many of the normal clearances since my stay in Georgia will be so short and since Peace Corps checked me out relatively recently. Because I got away without a dental exam or the multi-page physical, I thought I was home free.
But that short list has turned into an ever-expanding agenda of appointments. My need for a straightforward TB test spawned two more doctor visits (plus a nasty-looking bruise on my arm). The eye doctor didn't dilate my eyes, so he wants me back for a mid-year check next winter. The (just added!) chickenpox vaccine requires a second shot just before I leave the country, which means I'll get conditional clearance and must submit paperwork vowing that the appointment is scheduled, a fax the moment I get the shot, and a promise to bring the official documents in my luggage.
Thanks to Trevor, I have health insurance. Otherwise, I would need to rob Gringotts to afford it all.
My medical packet was deceptively thin, just a few sheets of paper absolving me of many of the normal clearances since my stay in Georgia will be so short and since Peace Corps checked me out relatively recently. Because I got away without a dental exam or the multi-page physical, I thought I was home free.
But that short list has turned into an ever-expanding agenda of appointments. My need for a straightforward TB test spawned two more doctor visits (plus a nasty-looking bruise on my arm). The eye doctor didn't dilate my eyes, so he wants me back for a mid-year check next winter. The (just added!) chickenpox vaccine requires a second shot just before I leave the country, which means I'll get conditional clearance and must submit paperwork vowing that the appointment is scheduled, a fax the moment I get the shot, and a promise to bring the official documents in my luggage.
Thanks to Trevor, I have health insurance. Otherwise, I would need to rob Gringotts to afford it all.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Oops
Yeah, I did it again. One minute I'm idly trolling the Peace Corps Response job listings, thinking there will never be anything I'm qualified for among their bizarrely specific offerings (Swift Water Rescue Trainer??!! Teacher of Stringed Instruments?!?).
The next thing you know, I spy a public relations job, click "send" on my application--and I'm packing my bags for the Republic of Georgia.
OK, there have been a few steps in between.
And I'm traveling without Trevor this time.
But I'm pretty excited to going back into the Peace Corps again.
The next thing you know, I spy a public relations job, click "send" on my application--and I'm packing my bags for the Republic of Georgia.
OK, there have been a few steps in between.
And I'm traveling without Trevor this time.
But I'm pretty excited to going back into the Peace Corps again.
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