FAQs

I can’t believe I leave home in less than two days!

Every time I talk to someone, I have the same conversation, so I thought I would fill some frequently asked questions.

1.      Are you so excited?

Absolutely! It’ll be amazing!

2.      Are you nervous?

Yeah, I am. It’s kind of a big deal.

3.      Aren’t you scared?

This is kind of like the last one, but sure I am. Don’t plan on letting that stop me though.

4.      But aren’t you SO excited?

Yes. I am. Thank you for asking… again.

5.      You’re going to lose a lot of weight, aren’t you?

I honestly don’t know. They say women typically gain weight in the Peace Corps, but with the sudden loss of Chipotle, Buffalo Wild Wings and McDonalds from my diet, anything is possible.

More importantly, is it weird that I’m slightly offended people keep asking me about this?

6.      I hear the men are gorgeous. Is that true?

At this point, I haven’t actually ever been there, but I’ve heard the same rumors and done the same Google searches as you J

7.      You must be really, really, really excited. You are, aren’t you?

So excited! For the 400^th time today, I’m excited. Can you not tell? I’m screaming at the top of my lungs, clearly excited! Now stop asking, people!

8.      Think you’re going to cry when you leave?

Think that’s kind of a weird question (I even had a stranger ask me this)? Besides, it’s too late. I blame my ten year old cousin, Dylan, and his rib crushing bear hugs.

9.      I wish I would have done that when I was younger, or I could never do that.

I know these aren’t questions, but they are a pretty common point of conversation that I still don’t know how to answer. I could say, sorry I’m living you’re dream, or yeah I’m living the life you wish you could if it weren’t for kids, bills, careers, etc. When someone says, “I could never do that,” I feel like the translation for that is, “Girl, you don’t even realize how crazy you seem right now.” I just don’t know a polite way to respond.

10.   How long are you going to be gone?

27 months. I realize some of my friends and family members aren’t so good at math because I had several people answer, “What? That’s got to be like… 3 years!” And I realize maybe I shouldn’t leave because my services as a teacher might be more needed here.

The last four months has been a never ending cycle of these questions, and I can’t believe I’m done answering them and I’m really, truly, undoubtedly going on Wednesday! 

Medical Clearance (or Fingers in Funny Places)

Coming in to the application process for the Peace Corps, the part that scared me the most was getting medical and dental clearance. When I read blogs from other volunteers, it was a subject that seemed woefully under addressed, and I didn’t know what I was getting into. It’s not like I have any pre existing conditions that I thought could prevent me from serving. In fact, I had no medical history at all. I never had a physical or a dental check up.  I didn’t need one. Those things can be expensive, and since I’ve always been healthy, I never bothered. However, as soon as I accepted my invitation, I was rushing to navigate my way through scheduled appointments and trying to figure out how to pay for all of it.

I am pretty lucky I came across some useful resources. The first thing I did was get my dental exam. There is a group of dentists out there in the wide world who all agreed to offer free exams for future volunteers (http://www.usa-icd.org/projects/peace-corps/CO.html). I expected an office that is offering any free services to be busy, and most likely understaffed. To my surprise, they fit me in right away, and it was one of the nicest offices I’ve ever been in. The staff was also very friendly, but a little confused about me. You tell a dentist (or even a receptionist at a dentist’s office) that you’ve never seen a dentist before, and they don’t know how to respond. They approach you like a child who was raised by wolves. Like at any second I could bite off his fingers. Luckily, despite my horrific neglect, my teeth were fine.

I even came across a clinic with employees who helped me figure out how to apply for Medicaid. I was so blessed to suddenly be able to afford most of the other medical assignments.

Peace Corps required I get a ton of vaccinations (Peace Corps doesn’t require you get a lot of travel vaccines, but they require that you prove you are up to date on childhood vaccines; I wasn’t). They also asked for about half a dozen blood tests, a PAP smear and an eye exam. I had to get one of my blood tests redone because my platelets were high, but apparently they are always high. Then I was done. :) 

I wanted to discuss the whole medical clearance process for anyone out there getting ready to start, but I realize my view is a little skewed because of my total lack of experience with health care. Overall, I just feel exhausted by the whole thing. I’ve had a stranger’s fingers in basically every hole in my body. I’ve been stabbed by needles over 30 times (now I know that I have hard to find veins, and I was shamefully behind on my vaccines). My insurance constantly surprised me by what it did cover and what it did not. Mostly, I was just stressed and embarrassed because I had no idea what I was doing at any point. I didn’t even realize I was going to need to pee in a cup at the physical! It all just felt awkward and foreign.

As strange as it all was, I’m DONE! The last obstacle to my service has been knocked down. I have 28 days until I leave Denver for staging, and then Samoa!

Crazy!