Getting into Peace Corps, Shutdown edition
I thought I’d post a brief write-up just explaining what I’ve gone through so far to get into the Peace Corps and where I’m at with my upcoming deployment on January 13, 2019. Upcoming or so I hope.
August 31st, 2018 and I’d just submitted my application to what I saw as a complete long shot of a try for a dream job and big step in my career, being a fisheries specialist in Peru. Soon after, I forgot all about it. Late September and I receive an email telling me I have a ‘preliminary interview’, on October 1st in Spanish about the position. I freaked and spend the next several days reviewing my Spanish. October 17th and I finally hear that I’ve been selected for the regular interview, this time in English which I do one week later, feeling very unsure. Peace Corps interviews involve a lot of hypothetical questions or scenarios, some odd, about what you might do and the interviewer does not give any kind of feedback, she just records your answers.
On November 6th, roughly 67 days after I applied I got the job!
But this was just the beginning. Now commenced the medical evaluations, Peruvian visa applications, Peace Corps passport application, and background check fingerprinting. I gathered all my records, filled out the forms, did a thorough doctors visit and battery of blood tests, got X-ray results from my dentist, got my wisdom teeth removed, all the paperwork, basically. I then crossed my fingers and sent much of it away via a sealed envelope.
Soon after I learned I needed to get some remaining cavities treated by my dentist ASAP and receive rabies, meningitis, and a Hep B booster. I later ended up having to resend my Peru visa application because of a tiny error. Bring on the stress.
I was out of dental insurance money from wisdom teeth removal and needed to wait till 2019. The Peace Corps gave me till January fourth to send them my treatment records. I scrambled to find a dentist near enough to where I could stay who’d be open right after New Years. Thank God for vacationless workaholics! I quickly managed to find one in my home town who would take me. Over the last few weeks I received my vaccinations at a mere cost of $450 and tried to breathe easily while working on more predeparture prep.
Then the government shutdown,
and with it, the Peace Corps offices in charge of deploying us and providing medical clearance. As I write, the government is still shutdown and doesn’t look to be opening anytime soon. What happens next is anyone’s guess but, we’ve been notified this could at least delay deployment and we’ve all been checking in with each other about what comes next.
Even now it’s hard to imagine my new Peace Corps position actually being real, it’s like a haze of mountain on the horizon that you keep traveling to but never feel like you’ll arrive at. But my own mission and drive to serve remains intact and that’s what I’ll be fueled by as I await my fate at the hands of our brilliant political leaders and modern dentistry.
