The "After Shock" Post

Inbox after invitation e-mail and my acceptance.



Now that the shock of receiving my actual invitation has worn off, I can only think of one emotion that describes me-overwhelmed. Applicants go months without hearing anything from Peace Corps, personally I went a little over a month before I heard anything. Still, it can make you resent Peace Corps. Once again, like that crush, they show you no attention and now suddenly you've become interesting and your inbox looks like this:
Even though you want to be like, "I've moved on". You can't because this is what you've invested MONTHS in. So you accept your invitation (whether it be on a date or to the Africa for 2.5 years). Then they become obsessive compulsive and want everything now.



Every e-mail from PC makes me
squeal with excitement.

The amount of e-mails from Peace Corps in my inbox was not really what overwhelmed me. Nor was it the issue of what to do when my lease runs out in July. No, the overwhelmed sensation came when I got an e-mail from MAP, Medical Application Portal. I knew this day would come. I knew there would be more than a handful of tasks to be done. But I didn't know that my hatred for what the biomedical institution has become would engulf my love for PC. I understand that extensive medical information is necessary for a 2 year stay in a country with limited medical resources but I HATE doctors. Nothing against them personally, they just miss a lot because they've been trained to ignore the entire spectrum of human life; therefore, missing very important vital information relating to an illness. I digress. So, in the month of May I will be spending a lot of my days off in doctor's and dentist's offices getting prepped for my service. There will be blood taken, teeth pulled, and immunizations given. If I seem a little testy, it's because I'm being incessantly poked and prodded.
Either way, I opened up my detailed e-mail from MAP and got absolutely lost. The first sentence reminded me that I only have six months left in the states. That's six months to take care of everything I have to take care of. Being the Type A personality that I am, I began to make lists. I would publish it here but it's a long list of things people do not care about. After the nausea wore off and I didn't feel as dizzy, I opened my medical portal to in order to stir up another panic attack. Lists, lists, and more lists of blood work, shots, x-rays, and physicals. Needless to say, it was daunting.

I hadn't been in the Medical Application Portal since my application back in February. Of course, then I didn't have any tasks because I was medically pre-cleared. But this time, low and behold the nightmare that is my tasks tab. Luckily, I have a couple of months to get this all done but still it is a lot. It's around this time that I wish all my med school friends were finished because that would make my life a hell of a lot easier.

The "Invitation" Post

Yesterday, like any other day, I had a plan. I was going to get off work around 2:00 PM, go for my four mile run, get cleaned up, and head for Birmingham for a Peace Corps recruitment event. I was certain the event started at 7:00 PM so I had plenty of time. Around mile 3 I started thinking, "Wow, it's odd for PC to have an event that only lasts an hour". So, still going full speed, I pulled up the e-mail on my phone. 6:00... it said 6:00 PM was the beginning time of the event. I was about a mile from my car and started panicking.

You see, Emily had called earlier last week and asked me to say a few words about my seamless application process thus far, in order to give new applicants hope. I also had a sneaking suspicion that I might get my invite that night. It struck me that Emily would want to make sure that I was at an event, even after I had RSVPd, so I did some research. I posed the question on the Future Peace Corps Volunteer's Facebook page, "Is it possible to get your invitation in person at Peace Corps event?" A few people responded, saying yes but not enough to truly convince me that it was a possibility so I shrugged it off, not wanting to get too excited. I busted through the final mile of my run with the thought of missing my invitation moment fresh in my brain.

I ran home cleaned up as best I could after a killer four mile run and jumped in the car to Birmingham. Everything was going great. I was going to make it to Birmingham in record time. I pulled up to the sketchiest Mexican restaurant I had ever encountered in my life, walked in and it was empty. I almost cried, my heart sank to the pit of my stomach. You remember that comparison I made between the Peace Corps and your high school crush. It happened again. Only this time, the feeling was like when you see your crush with another girl (or guy). Absolutely devastating. I asked the hostess if she knew anything about a Peace Corps group and she shook her head no. Then she piped up, "There hasn't been a large group in here all night." Wait.. is this the wrong place. I looked down at my phone and sure enough it had sent me to Cantina Mexican Grill on the OTHER SIDE of Birmingham. I sprinted to my car and sped to downtown Birmingham to Cantina Tortilla, turns out it was the Mexican place around the corner from my rock climbing gym. Never had I been more irritated with Birmingham's games. I walked in and Emily beamed with delight. She mouthed, "Thank God!" That's when I knew something was weird. It was as if the success of the whole gathering depended upon my arrival.

Emily got up to speak after a member of the GBRPCV (Greater Birmingham Return Peace Corps Volunteers). She had a UPS package in her hands but once again, I shrugged it off. She called myself and a older woman named Mary up to the front. She wanted to demonstrate the difference in Peace Corps timelines. Now, if you've been following me and know anything about the process, you know that I have had a seamless application. It had taken me two months to get where it takes a whole year for most people. Emily looked at us and said, "I have lured you up here under false pretences". That's when I knew that UPS package had our invitations.


Getting my invitation the "old-fashioned" way!
As you can see, I look rough from the nights events.

My knees buckled while so many thoughts racing through my mind. What if it's not Africa? What if it's October? What if it's January? What if they changed my position? Oh my God, it's in my hands. And finally, it has only taken me two months I don't deserve this. The lady beside me, Mary, had waited a year and a half for her invitation. I felt so wrong to have had virtually no wait time. I thought two months was torture but this lady stuck it out for a year and a half AND SHE WAS 60! We both opened our invitations and the first words I read... "Peace Corps invites you to begin training in Lesotho". And I cried. Yes, I cried in a room full of strangers. But each and every one of those strangers understood why I was crying.

It was a perfect night to memorialize the day I was invited to serve with the United States Peace Corps. I have so many emotions I'm still trying to sort out and I'm overwhelmed with the amount of stuff I have to do but I have great family and friends who I know will help me every step of the way. I will write a post next week about the specifics of my assignments and Lesotho in general

The "23rd Birthday" Post

In honor of my 23rd birthday I decided to compose a list of 23 things I can do and 10 I plan to be able to do by my 24th! Enjoy!

Baby Malia!!

23 Things I Can Do

1. I can touch my nose with my tongue. 

2. I can run a 5K. 

3. I can successfully complete an Ashtanga yoga class without dying. 

4. I can keep an open mind about practically everything. 

5. I can cross my eyes. 

6. I can cook a myriad of foods, particularly of the unhealthy Cajun variety. 

7. I can give you a list of at least 25 new wines I tried this year. 

8. I can proudly proclaim I have a college degree and not be lying. 

9. I can convince strangers that I am fully capable of twerking on the basis of my short hair alone. 

10. I can speak a good bit of Spanish. 

11. I can say I know how to have multiple jobs and maintain sanity. 

12. I can proudly say I am a Peace Corps nominee. 

13. I can tell you where every Publix is in Tuscaloosa and the most efficient way to get there. 

14. I can tell you where I want to be in five years.

15. I can tell you five bourbons I tried this year. 

16. I can touch my toes. 

17. I can tell you the man I'm going to be with for the rest if my life. 

18. I can catch a fish. 

19. I can appreciate the hard work my mother put into raising my brother and I.  

20. I can try new food without squirming. 

21. I can wear heels and not look like I'm in pain. 

22. I can also apply liquid eyeliner.... Or makeup in general. 

23. I can say I am absolutely happy with my life's trajectory. 

10 Things I Want to do Before 24

1. Learn a new language 

2. Fly to a new country

3. Sky dive 

4. Re-read all the Harry Potter Books... Read anything really 

5. Serve in the Peace Corps 

6. Try Pho 

7. Run a half marathon 

8. Do more yoga 

9. Experience as much as possible, say no only to harmful things 

10. HAVE FUN!!

So for what is hopefully my last birthday in the United States for a couple of years, I wanted to do a big blow out but somehow that's not going to work out. So instead, I went to Florence on Sunday and just hung out with my family. It was really awesome and gave me a chance to kind of fill them in on where I am in the Peace Corps process and answer some questions. They are trying to be happy and supportive of me but I can tell the whole situation is just really scary and new for them.

The "Post before the Invitation" Post

I have tried to write this post many times. I have tried to eloquently detail how horrid it is to tell people for months, I don't know what I'll be doing in the fall. Fall apparently has been a great transition moment for me in the past few years. Every year, I would start a new semester at the University. That was my given, my safe haven almost. I had other up in the air situations, like where I might live or work but I always knew that come August I would be walking across the quad to ten Hoor. Needless to say, I had a melt down a couple of weeks ago. I mean, really what am I supposed to do. I'm sitting here waiting on some e-mail that may or may not come telling everyone I love, "Well I'm not really sure what's going to be happening after summer". I began to think maybe I'm doing the wrong thing. I should stop this train of thought and start applying for big girl jobs with desks. I should enter the suit and tie workforce to compete for the corner office with the window. I should resign myself to monotony.

 

... This is how I feel.

Then I got an e-mail. I hadn't heard from PC in what seemed like a while (in all honesty after reviewing everyone else's blogs it had only been a second) and I was beginning to lose sight of what I wanted to do. My Sunday routine had become reading all my favorite blogs and looking at pictures on Instagram thinking, "This could be me but I'll never be good enough". Then heading to yoga to cleanse it all out. I recently got an iPhone and we have a love/hate relationship.  I love everything about it except, I can't get it to notify me about my e-mails like it does text messages. I am certain it is the operator but it leaves me checking my phone every three minutes for even a glimmer of PC mail. I once again refreshed the e-mails on my phone and saw "Peace Corps Placement" shining brightly from the subject line. I couldn't breathe. I didn't know what an invite e-mail looked like but I felt like this wasn't it. But it was communication. It almost felt like in the eighth grade when I had a crush on a boy but it seemed like he didn't know I existed. Then one night I'm on AIM (xselloutkiddx, btw) and he messages me out of the blue sky. This is the one chance I have to coerce this guy into talking to me.

Screenshot of my Placement Questionaire e-mail.

The e-mail introduced me to Ms. Heather Rowell who had been placed in charge of reviewing my application. She needed a couple more items before she could push me forward to the next phase, the invitation. It was a quick survey with questions not unlike the ones from the interview. "Why do you want to join Peace Corps? What, do you think, will be the greatest challenge of service?..." yada yada yada. I literally completed this 30 minutes after I received the e-mail. She replied, "That was fast. I'll try to be quick too. Expect me to be in touch by April 21."

AHHHHHH!!! This means, I could receive my invitation as early as April 21. I have been unimaginably lucky to be paired up with individuals who want to expedite my application on through. My timeline compared to others is so concise with hardly any blank spaces! This also means that October is more of  a likelihood and I feel more compelled to plan for an October leave. It could also mean that around April 21 she'll contact me about a phone interview and then a week later send an invite. Either way, it was nice to hear from PC and it re-ignited that fire in my belly. It reminded me why I'm putting off making money, getting married, and having babies for just a couple more years. Peace Corps is worth it. To some of my family and close friends, it doesn't seem like it. But I know, when they hear of what I'm doing and see the smiling faces of the people I'm helping, they'll be proud.

P.S. PC, just by the way, my birthday is April 15. It would be really cool to hear something around them.