A little hiccup

Today was a little bit of craziness. I awoke to a phone call from my mother telling me that she received something in the mail from Peace Corps. My great excitement (anticipating that it was my placement) was deflated when I heard I had not passed the medical section of the screening. I had to show something about my "environmental allergies" and I had some sort of positive for Hepatitis. This didn't seem good.

In terms of environmental allergies, I was pretty sure this aroused due to the fact that I listed I took Claritin but I never went to a doctor about it. All I have to do for that is have a doctor write down that I have seasonal allergies, shouldn't be a big deal. The Hepatitis thing on the other hand was sort of a big deal.

I have to get more bloodwork done because I was reactive for the Hepatitis B Core AB (whatever that means). I then was worrying because as of soon I will no longer have adequate health insurance. But when I called the College health center they said they could do the bloodwork tomorrow for me, which was quite nice. They didn't seem to understand why I would need a second test and they thought being reactive meant I had the Hep B vaccine back in the day. However, the Peace Corps folk said that it could mean I was exposed to Hep B at some point. So tomorrow I'll go to the Health Center, get even more blood drawn, and send that away. Then hopefully they will mail me a copy of the results at home. I will then have to bring those to a doctor back home to look at and fill out the form for me.

Someone once made the analogy between the Peace Corps application process and the actual PC experience. If you can't make it through this process, well then you might not be cut out for the actual service. But I know I can make it. It is a long, hard, complicated road, but I want to perservere. All these little hiccups along the way show my desire and drive to be a part of the Peace Corps. I'm glad I called the office the other day; I think that jumpstarted my screening. Now I can send back my info, and maybe it will spark them to give me medical clearance quickly, especially if I return the forms quickly. Then perhaps, hopefully my PLACEMENT will come.

A tiny note

I talked to my medical person at Peace Corps today, because it's been over 6 weeks since they received my medical packet. They said they are still working on approving people who plan to leave in the summer; so I probably won't get medically cleared for another 3-4 weeks. Then after that I still have to wait for my invitation. On a side note, I've been reading lots of other people's blogs who are in Peace Corps currently or about to go and it really makes me excited.

I am posting this picture just to test the picture uploader and see how it works out. I wonder if I'll have internet where I am. I also wonder if I'll be able to put my digital pics on to a computer or if I will just have to leave them on my camera the whole time. It would be quite nice if I did get to at least upload them to a computer and then perhaps store them on my USB stick or something. (And in case you were wondering, this picture is from the tulip garden down the street from where I live in Baltimore.)