I checked my email this morning before going to work. Peace Corps has received my (our) packet(s) and it is "under review". It says they received it yesterday (over a week later???). It goes on to explain that if our scheduled departure is within the next 4 mos, we will be notified very soon, but that if our departure is farther away than that, we will not be notified until closer to that time. I do remember my recruiter telling me that they have departures in February and in September, so I am pretty sure we will not go until September due to having not turned in our packets until now.
I am excited to see some progress and to know that someone is rummaging through all of my personal medical records, hopefully even as I type this :)
Friday, December 30, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Signed, Sealed and probably delivered by now!
We mailed off our packets on 12/19/2011. It has been a week now. I checked out online toolkit with Peace Corps but no update yet on whether or not it has been received. We read our official documents that state it is 1-6 mos after you turn in your packets before you get an official invivation. We have successfully moved into a new apartment and are gearing up for our new year of working toward leaving. We are.....excited, scared and motivated all at once! If you have not checked out all the places we can go in Central Asia, go here:
http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn.wherepc&cid=map
You can also check out videos that others have posted about their experiences and see where they live here:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=peace+corps&oq=peace+corps&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=8046l11968l0l12265l13l12l1l0l0l0l250l1846l0.8.3l11l0
We will keep you updated on this long but rewarding process!
http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn.wherepc&cid=map
You can also check out videos that others have posted about their experiences and see where they live here:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=peace+corps&oq=peace+corps&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=8046l11968l0l12265l13l12l1l0l0l0l250l1846l0.8.3l11l0
We will keep you updated on this long but rewarding process!
Friday, November 4, 2011
Medical packets nearly complete
Post by Jenn:
So, after some waiting and process, we are very close to completing our physical/ medical/ dental evaluations. As a word of caution if you plan to do this, check all your forms before you go to the doctor. Check them before you leave the doctor's office as well. I missed some forms with the doctor. They are simple and can be easily completed, but I will have to wait until next week, as today is Friday. A little preparation could have saved that. We both have our dental exams done. There are a LOT of x-rays to do. We are now waiting on copies of the x-rays and that is done. After all of the currently missing paperwork is done, Joshua will need to complete his physical. Another bit of wisdom is that you can offer to have the Peace Corps reimburse your doctor for your visit if you can't pay out of pocket. They reimburse for men under 50 up to $165 and women up to 40 get $125. This can help if you don't have insurance as well.
It is moving along now. I feel like we are making progress now that most of the appointments have passed and nobody is sticking needles in me anymore. Now that we are almost past this stage, we are now doing finacial planning. We are moving to a cheaper apartment next week to save $200 monthly. They require you to show a plan for how your debt will be paid while you are deployed. You can have your student loans deferred while serving, but all other debt must be paid before you leave or you must show how others can take care of it for you once you are gone. So, we are moving to save money so we can knock out our little credit card balances. I have also started couponing for about a month now and have found that it saves quite a bit of money. So, we are using this tactic to stock up on toiletries and non-perishables to last until we are set to leave in July 2012. The more we are stocked, the less we have to spend on these things and can put even more toward debt. We also plan on selling our car as well, because no one can care for it for 2 years. It is very exciting to start making all these changes as it gives a renewed sense of momentum and purpose. I think of how quickly November came once we started this blog, and realize that July will come quickly as well. It can be scary as we think about this being a major life decision. However, we keep finding new people in our path that reaffirm our decision and encourage us. We will post again when we mail our things and then it is a waiting game to find out our country of service. The wait can be a 4-6 mos wait we have been told. This is why we want to mail things ASAP, so that we have time to prepare before July. Also it gives us time to amend any mistakes or missing information from our medical packets. Will post again soon!!!
So, after some waiting and process, we are very close to completing our physical/ medical/ dental evaluations. As a word of caution if you plan to do this, check all your forms before you go to the doctor. Check them before you leave the doctor's office as well. I missed some forms with the doctor. They are simple and can be easily completed, but I will have to wait until next week, as today is Friday. A little preparation could have saved that. We both have our dental exams done. There are a LOT of x-rays to do. We are now waiting on copies of the x-rays and that is done. After all of the currently missing paperwork is done, Joshua will need to complete his physical. Another bit of wisdom is that you can offer to have the Peace Corps reimburse your doctor for your visit if you can't pay out of pocket. They reimburse for men under 50 up to $165 and women up to 40 get $125. This can help if you don't have insurance as well.
It is moving along now. I feel like we are making progress now that most of the appointments have passed and nobody is sticking needles in me anymore. Now that we are almost past this stage, we are now doing finacial planning. We are moving to a cheaper apartment next week to save $200 monthly. They require you to show a plan for how your debt will be paid while you are deployed. You can have your student loans deferred while serving, but all other debt must be paid before you leave or you must show how others can take care of it for you once you are gone. So, we are moving to save money so we can knock out our little credit card balances. I have also started couponing for about a month now and have found that it saves quite a bit of money. So, we are using this tactic to stock up on toiletries and non-perishables to last until we are set to leave in July 2012. The more we are stocked, the less we have to spend on these things and can put even more toward debt. We also plan on selling our car as well, because no one can care for it for 2 years. It is very exciting to start making all these changes as it gives a renewed sense of momentum and purpose. I think of how quickly November came once we started this blog, and realize that July will come quickly as well. It can be scary as we think about this being a major life decision. However, we keep finding new people in our path that reaffirm our decision and encourage us. We will post again when we mail our things and then it is a waiting game to find out our country of service. The wait can be a 4-6 mos wait we have been told. This is why we want to mail things ASAP, so that we have time to prepare before July. Also it gives us time to amend any mistakes or missing information from our medical packets. Will post again soon!!!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Beginning the physical evaluation process
Entry by Jenn:
So, we both got our medical packets in the last blog. I got my appointments all set up and am now just waiting for it to all happen. I got my labs done today. It wasn't bad. They run a lot of lab work and took a LOT of blood there were 4-5 vials. That's a lot to me because I never get blood drawn. They test for TB, HIV 1, Complete Blood Count (CBC), Hep B surface antigen, Hep B surface antibody, Hep B core antibody, Hep C serology, G6PD, and take a urinalysis. You most recent pap smear for women is also included and must have been done within last 6 mos of labs. I will learn my results in my physical on 11/3. I also have my full dental on 10/26. Then we pack it all up and mail it to DC. Josh is working on setting his appointments, which will be harder because he does not have insurance now that he is out of college. We expect to have it all sent off within the week of my last exam on 11/3. I am still reading my book they sent in our info/ invitation packets. It has great stories and keeps me motivated that I'm doing the right thing because it is what I want to do in life. We will update when more happens!
So, we both got our medical packets in the last blog. I got my appointments all set up and am now just waiting for it to all happen. I got my labs done today. It wasn't bad. They run a lot of lab work and took a LOT of blood there were 4-5 vials. That's a lot to me because I never get blood drawn. They test for TB, HIV 1, Complete Blood Count (CBC), Hep B surface antigen, Hep B surface antibody, Hep B core antibody, Hep C serology, G6PD, and take a urinalysis. You most recent pap smear for women is also included and must have been done within last 6 mos of labs. I will learn my results in my physical on 11/3. I also have my full dental on 10/26. Then we pack it all up and mail it to DC. Josh is working on setting his appointments, which will be harder because he does not have insurance now that he is out of college. We expect to have it all sent off within the week of my last exam on 11/3. I am still reading my book they sent in our info/ invitation packets. It has great stories and keeps me motivated that I'm doing the right thing because it is what I want to do in life. We will update when more happens!
Friday, September 30, 2011
Medical Packets Are Here!!
Entry by: Jenn
So, yesterday we recieved our medical packets from DC. ITt's a pretty thick packet with everything we need for medical, dental and vision exams. There is also paperwork for us to be reimbursed for the cost of having these done. We get $69 for dental, $145 for women/ $125 for men for physical, and $12 for any needed glasses Rx. All other expenses beyond this are our responsibility.
Now the hunt begins for physicians and appoinment dates to get it all done x2 (for each of us). For myself, there wil be an additional pap smear that must be done. It's a daunting task to do so much for two people as quickly as possible. The information pamphlet that came with it states that a medical review can take 1-6 mos after we submit it back to them, depending on the complexity of our medical issues. I have no medical issues, except a sulfa allergy and allergy to cinnamon. Joshua broke his neck in a car accident in 2003, but has no other issues with this. We hope to have no hiccups in the review process. Monday we will start calling doctor offices for appointments. The paperwork states that we can go to any military or government medical facility (like VA) for a free physical exam. Josh will take that route, as I will use my insurance from my FT job.
We will keep updating! Until then we will read our collected short story book provided in our packets. It is a book of short accounts from former volunteers of their time in Peace Corps.
So, yesterday we recieved our medical packets from DC. ITt's a pretty thick packet with everything we need for medical, dental and vision exams. There is also paperwork for us to be reimbursed for the cost of having these done. We get $69 for dental, $145 for women/ $125 for men for physical, and $12 for any needed glasses Rx. All other expenses beyond this are our responsibility.
Now the hunt begins for physicians and appoinment dates to get it all done x2 (for each of us). For myself, there wil be an additional pap smear that must be done. It's a daunting task to do so much for two people as quickly as possible. The information pamphlet that came with it states that a medical review can take 1-6 mos after we submit it back to them, depending on the complexity of our medical issues. I have no medical issues, except a sulfa allergy and allergy to cinnamon. Joshua broke his neck in a car accident in 2003, but has no other issues with this. We hope to have no hiccups in the review process. Monday we will start calling doctor offices for appointments. The paperwork states that we can go to any military or government medical facility (like VA) for a free physical exam. Josh will take that route, as I will use my insurance from my FT job.
We will keep updating! Until then we will read our collected short story book provided in our packets. It is a book of short accounts from former volunteers of their time in Peace Corps.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Getting Started
Entry by: Jennifer
We are a married, 28 yr old couple and we currently live in Savannah, GA for the last 2 1/2 years. We are both from South Alabama. We have both applied to the Peace Corps for service as volunteers overseas. We will not dedicate this blog to explaining to you what the Peace Corps is.
You can find that at:
www.peacecorps.gov
This is simply a chronicling of our experience of applying to this organization, being processed through and hopefully being accepted. We then hope to chronicle our 27 mos of service abroad using this blogs.
First, neither of us own passports or have ever left North America. Actually, in our lives of memory, we have never traveled west of Louisiana. We just started taking Spanish I at a local University and speak no other languages. I have a Bachelor of science degree in psychology and a Master of Science Degree in Psychology and am a counselor. Joshua has a bachelor of science degree in English and just graduated two weeks ago with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Film and Television. We have no money to speak of. We share one car. None of our parents completed a four year degree. We are not "special" and have no connections. We do not hate America or any of that other nonsense, as some seem to believe that we are flaming liberals looking to jump ship on you. We just want to help on a basic level and see the world beyond our limited experiences.
Also, our post title is a little misleading. We are actually a little over 2 months into the process. We completed applications online in early July 2011. We then completed FBI background checks via US Mail at the end of July 2011. We had a joint interview on September 2, 2011 in Atlanta, Ga (our closest regional office). We just found out September 16, 2011 that we have been nominated for service in Central Asia. Don't know what countries this includes? Neither did we.
See here :
http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn.wherepc&cid=map
We did not know that you do not know exactly what country you go to upon nomination, so we still do not know everything. There is more process first. Now, we are waiting to receive packets in the mail. These packets will have our medical forms. We must both complete a full physical, dental exam and eye exam, have our physicians sign forms and return to Peace Corps. We then have a waiting game as they process. We are told this will take approximately 4 mos after they receive them. We are told to expect departure September 2012. After they review our medical forms, we will be sent a formal invitation to our specific country of service with job assignments. Jennifer is tentatively set to serve in youth development and Joshua as an English teacher.
We are very nervous and excited. We will continue regular updates on the process and our status. :)
We are a married, 28 yr old couple and we currently live in Savannah, GA for the last 2 1/2 years. We are both from South Alabama. We have both applied to the Peace Corps for service as volunteers overseas. We will not dedicate this blog to explaining to you what the Peace Corps is.
You can find that at:
www.peacecorps.gov
This is simply a chronicling of our experience of applying to this organization, being processed through and hopefully being accepted. We then hope to chronicle our 27 mos of service abroad using this blogs.
First, neither of us own passports or have ever left North America. Actually, in our lives of memory, we have never traveled west of Louisiana. We just started taking Spanish I at a local University and speak no other languages. I have a Bachelor of science degree in psychology and a Master of Science Degree in Psychology and am a counselor. Joshua has a bachelor of science degree in English and just graduated two weeks ago with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Film and Television. We have no money to speak of. We share one car. None of our parents completed a four year degree. We are not "special" and have no connections. We do not hate America or any of that other nonsense, as some seem to believe that we are flaming liberals looking to jump ship on you. We just want to help on a basic level and see the world beyond our limited experiences.
Also, our post title is a little misleading. We are actually a little over 2 months into the process. We completed applications online in early July 2011. We then completed FBI background checks via US Mail at the end of July 2011. We had a joint interview on September 2, 2011 in Atlanta, Ga (our closest regional office). We just found out September 16, 2011 that we have been nominated for service in Central Asia. Don't know what countries this includes? Neither did we.
See here :
http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn.wherepc&cid=map
We did not know that you do not know exactly what country you go to upon nomination, so we still do not know everything. There is more process first. Now, we are waiting to receive packets in the mail. These packets will have our medical forms. We must both complete a full physical, dental exam and eye exam, have our physicians sign forms and return to Peace Corps. We then have a waiting game as they process. We are told this will take approximately 4 mos after they receive them. We are told to expect departure September 2012. After they review our medical forms, we will be sent a formal invitation to our specific country of service with job assignments. Jennifer is tentatively set to serve in youth development and Joshua as an English teacher.
We are very nervous and excited. We will continue regular updates on the process and our status. :)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)