So this morning I sat down and looked through every thing I need to do for my medical packet. It's quite a list. It also turns out that the holidays are a pretty awful time to get information together. I need to get my immunization records from the Student Health Center, which is probably closed until mid-January. I need to get the names and contacts of several former doctors and a dentist, but my parents, keepers of my old medical records, are on vacation. I don't think the delays will be too long, but I can't jump right in!

Edit: Things are progressing, thanks to the Peace Corps being the fastest e-mail responders I have ever seen. I will be able to fax my eyeglass prescription form to my optometrist and have it faxed back. Maybe today. Maybe not, there is a pretty good chance that my optometrist is on holiday vacation.

My medical packet was mailed out to me on December 16th, and I received it today, almost 2 weeks later. I have been telling myself I will get through it awesomely and superfast, but it is a lot, and my medical history is scattered over a couple cities in a couple states and I don't have records of it. Time for the fun to start! Yaaay! I am excited to be incrementally closer.

Adventure

A horoscope given to me by a friend that seems very appropriate this year.

Your life story is about to deepen and sweeten and get more interesting - if, that is, you follow the trail of clues into the dark forest, and if, as you travel, you hum songs that are both sad and happy, and if you call on the spirit of your favorite dead person to accompany you. Of course, you're perfectly free to refuse the call of your destiny, and never even take a glance into the dark forest. But in my opinion, that would cheat you out of some profound fun that has the potential to teach you and tune you for many years to come.

dans mon jardin

I had my interview two days ago in Oakland. I was feeling preoccupied with my relationship and stressed about being in a big city, but once the interview started, everything was gravy. My recruiter is super nice and I felt comfortable talking to him and asking him questions. So we talked for a little over an hour, I got my fingerprints done and bam! Done, outta there.

I got an e-mail from him saying that he has nominated me for an Agricultural Extension Program in Africa leaving September 09. I guess all the Health & Science teaching positions have been snapped up, so he wanted to nominate me for something before everything was gone. Who knows if that is what I will do. It is certainly not what I expected, but I am flexible and super excited! He also suggested that I start working on my French again.

I'll be getting more information in the mail next week, and probably soon I will get to start the super-fun medical clearance packet.

One step closer! :)

Received my packet in the mail on Thursday. Applied for my passport on Thursday. Called my recruiter on Friday and set up an appointment in Oakland for next Thursday. Faxed my EMT & CPR certs. Assembling paperwork to take with me to interview (background check, transcripts, loan info, fingerprints).

I am so excited!!!

Just kidding. Waiting is really hard, too.

Zara is Applied

I set myself a deadline of the end of November for applying to the Peace Corps. True to form, I turned it in around 11 PM on November 30th. Huzzah! Unfortunately the PC application website is set to Eastern Standard Time and so the actual time stamp on my application is Dec. 1.

After submitting the application I got to fill out the Health Status Review, where they asked important questions like: "Do you currently have: a missing spleen (due to surgery)?" I guess it is important information, but I appreciate that they specify due to surgery. No missing spleens due to organ theft, or loaning it out. I wonder if before they specified it led people to wonder, "Oh no, what if my spleen is missing?"

I got an e-mail asking for more information about my student loans, which they told me to send to my recruiter. Err, how do I do that? So I got on the Peace Corps website this morning and e-mailed my recruiters office (NorCal, what what). They e-mailed me back in approximately 5 minutes! Maybe less! I need to wait until they contact me to send in the form.

Anyway, the hard part is over. From here on out it's all easy, breezy, beautiful Peace Corps-ver Girl. The hard part being that motivation essay. I wrote over 40 versions, and one rap. I preferred the rap to all the essays. If I don't get into the Peace Corps, I plan on pursuing a career as a rapper.

Word. MC Sykes is out.