Welcome

Rather than telling the same stories over and over I decided to start up a blog for my Peace Corps adventure. I've already made it through the application and interview process. Despite being late for the interview (which is a story perhaps you should ask Danshults about haha) everything went very well. I recently received my nomination for Health Extension in Sub-Saharan Africa leaving October 2009. I'm very excited about it, SSA was one of my top three choices, im just a bit concerned about the jungle heat! I'm currently going through the medical and dental packet. Today I spent the entire morning driving around Hamden and New Haven looking for medical records. The ped center where I went for my immunizations as a kid no longer has any records and Yale is so huge they are having difficulty locating any evidence of my appendecomy. I am even more convinced now that we need a completely electronic medical record system. Through my search, I found immunization records and latest physical information and have a few requests in with Yale which I'm hoping will produce results. To complicate matters I am in between insurances and 1. cannot make appointments in a timely fashion (which the Peace Corps is big on) and 2. I need to find all new doctors. However, I did have a positive experience today. The ICD has a program that provides free exams for Peace Corps applicants. I found a relatively local member and the receptionist was wonderful! I was able to schedule a 100% free appointment for this Monday and she is even going to go through the hassle of transferring records for me. After my run around this morning, this really made my day. Unfortunately, the medical portion will have to wait until I have insurance next month.

I've had a few conversations lately with people asking if I am nervous. It is much too soon to be nervous about the work, I mean I don't even know where I am going or what exactly I will be doing. It's hard to be nervous with so many unknowns. However, I have had a few sad moments this past week. It's mostly thinking about the important events I am going to miss. We are all anticipating a proposal soonish, if this is true (trying not to make assumptions) chances are I'll miss the wedding. Not just any wedding though, one of the Dons! I will also miss most of Obama's first term, which I'm actually quite upset about. Similarly, I'm going to miss most of my dad's Air Force term and all of his major successes and trips to Maryland. And those are just the big events. When I came home from Australia I had a hard time readjusting. This is about 2 years longer than that, I'm not going to have much in common with my friends. I was thinking, the majority of the conversations I have are the "remember when we...." and they are usually events within the past couple years. I wont be able to enjoy any of the "remember when" moments. Then of course I'm going to miss the Bob kids growing up, something I've enjoyed so much the past 5 years. It is all a bit overwhelming, but I know it is something I need to do and will be worth the homesickness. Looking at the big picture, 2 years really isn't that long I suppose. All the waiting in between stages is what gets me thinking. Once I hear from them again with more information the surge or excitement will come back and I'll be back on the "I can't leave soon enough" mindset.

I'll try to keep this blog updated as I continue through the process. Once I actually get to Africa this will probably be my main contact with all of you so leave me notes. I'll be able to make letters more personal this way rather than writing the same letter to everyone.

Cheers,
Nikki