Invitation Received...and I'm waiting again

At long last I have finally received an invitation. It arrived on Saturday and I got to pick it up and open it on Monday. I was too anxious. The only program I could see on PC wiki leaving for C/SA in late February was Honduras. This country has a 27month home stay. I cannot tell you how disinterested I am in a mandatory 2 year home stay. It may be the best thing ever but could, so easily, be the worst. It didn't take long for me to figure out my placement. The packaging wasn't quite perfect and I could see some of the invite letter through the envelope window. The words 'invite' and 'Rica' could both be seen. Hmm. I wonder what that could be? Perhaps, Kazakhstan Rica...or Bolivia Rica. Nope, neither. It was Costa Rica!! I know, you guessed it right. So did I. Kind of made opening the package a little anticlimactic. I was still very excited though. I've been to Costa Rica and loved it. I had no reservations about going back. On yesterday I emailed my acceptance and I'm waiting again. Waiting for it to be February 20 when I'm on a plane to staging. Departure is 8 months later than planned and I'm doing TEFL in stead of business advising but I'm ok with this. I will just be patient and work on my aspiration statement and getting a new passport. I've decided to only be patient until December though. At that point, I'm going to quit my job and bum around for two months...assuming that I can afford to be a bum for two months.

Medical Packet Sent

I have just dropped my medical packet into the mail. For the life of me, I cannot figure out what has taken me so long to get everything done, signed, and sent back. There was really no reason for delay. Please folks, don't be like me. Send things in quickly. I had to get a reminder email from the medical office stating that my paperwork wasn't received yet. My only hope now is that my packet will mysteriously be over-nighted to the PC office and land on the top of the stack. I am quite ready for a placement.

Nominated

I am able to deliver both good news and an optimistic view today. I had an interview scheduled this afternoon at the university. My recruiter was not able to make it to the campus but arranged this morning for the interview to be conducted via webcam. I still put on a suit and looked as presentable as I would have in person. I wore white socks though, just because I could and they're more comfortable. It lasted about two hours and went well, in my opinion. It was very beneficial to be familiar with the questions found on the Peace Corps wiki site.(Thanks Christina if you should read this) I understand that you may be nominated for placement a few days after the interview. However, my recruiter let me know that I would be nominated immediately after the interview. That made my day. Next, I should be receiving an official placement. The recruiter is aiming to get me into Latin America this July.

Anxious

So I've submitted my PC application. I have received everything from the PC and returned it all. I believed that I would beat the system. All that I had to do was let my references know what was going on and then they would submit a reference letter not more than 30 minutes after receiving an email. Never have I been so wrong. Two of my references took care of business quickly. One other, didn't quite take care of business. Thats ok, I had a 'savior' reference who swooped in like a mother eagle protecting her young...maybe that analogy didn't make sense. But the fact still stands that I had someone to help me out on very short notice. Aside from that I had to answer some questions about my health that lets the PC know that I'm not sickly. So long as I don't come down with typhoid or ebola at this point, I should be good to go. I also got fingerprinted at the campus police office of the university here to send back to the PC with my packet. The officer asked, 'have you been fingerprinted before?' Uh...? Can you say 'heck no.' Who does he think I am? O well, I guess there are many reasons to be fingerprinted. But, I'm not trying to make it a habit. Last week I got a call from my recruiter requesting that I schedule an interview. Within the next week and a half, I should be walking out of an interview room with my blood pressure through the roof from the stress(not really) and a huge grin on my face. The day after that, I will be staring at my phone and email inbox waiting for some word on what's happening next. I'm going to purchase eye drops and use a few drops every couple hours so I don't have to blink. The next time I sit down to blog, I hope to bear good news or, at the least, an optimistic outlook.

Tectonic Plates Break Apart Creating the Gregosphere

Folks, it's an exciting time in the Gregosphere. Either things will happen to you, or you can make things happen. I have chosen the latter. What am I making happen? I am getting myself outta the country without joining the armed forces. I will accomplish my goal in two simple steps. Step 1. Submit Peace Corps application. Step 2. Leave home country to volunteer in Peace Corps. Why am I still not overseas? I submitted the application two days ago. Ok, so the process takes a little time. But I am anxious to see how things play out. I'm trying to get some things in the works to help my chances. I volunteer teaching English every week and I may be able to work in a pharmacy once a week. That could help if the PCs is looking for someone with a healthcare background. If you should read this and have applied/been accepted: What have you done to increase your chances of placement?