But if the life will not be easy, it will be rich and satisfying. For every young American who participates in the Peace Corps—who works in a foreign land—will know that he or she is sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace."
50 years after
JFKs tragic death, his vision lives on and I’m so honored to be a part of it! Tomorrow
I begin my journey as a Peace Corps volunteer teacher in Uganda…. FINALLY!
Pre-departure:
The Saga
For those of you
who are new, you just don’t understand; my journey to the actual journey, at
this point, is comical. Long story short I’ve wanted to join the Peace Corps
for a while and I applied in February… of 2012.
Things seemed to be going just fine. I interviewed and was accepted on
the same day that June. I was told, via
e-mail, shortly after that they planned to send me to ‘sub-Saharan Africa’ in
Spring of 2013 to teach math (!!!!), and I was to complete my medical clearance
through their brand new online portal.
It sounded great, Peace Corps is going digital, but little did I know
that this would be the ultimate test of my commitment to volunteer with this
program.
To sum it up, I
spent 10 months in this medical approval labyrinth, getting nowhere. I uploaded all my physicals, dental exams, prescriptions
history, mental health check-ups, etc. to the online site, by fall of
2012. I then sat waiting for months
without any updates. I would email
whomever I could to check in from time to time but still nothing. Friends, Family, co-workers, everyone
constantly asked for updates, but I had none. I even asked my
not-so-thrilled-about-this-adventure-Mother if she sabotaged my acceptance!
June 2013 came
around and I was beside myself; I’d been waiting for a full year without any
news.
At this point I called every
number I could find related to Peace Corps, and I actually got the ball rolling
again, so I thought. A really nice lady
at the D.C. office made my case her priority, and out of sheer sympathy for
making me wait so long said I’d have an offer within a few days. This was great, I was refreshing my e-mail
while on hall duty during finals week (when I should have been grading finals)
in anticipation of my official offer.
Then I got it! But when I read that I’d be in Jamaica, teaching English,
leaving in March 2014 I ran to a co-workers office in tears (thanks Jen!). Did I really just wait 12 months for a
position that I had fewer skills for in a place that I hadn’t researched and
though about? It was clear, that this wasn’t meant to be; I decided that I’d waiting
this long, I can continue.
Again, I called
every number I could find and I was continually told that my ‘medical needs’
were limiting my options. This lead to a
confusing and in retrospect, hilarious, conversation with a PC nurse. I mean, yeah, I only have one kidney, and I
take the occasional Xanax, so what could be holding me back? Come to find out,
somehow it was noted in my medical file that I needed to see a dermatologist
once a month….. WHAT!? I’ve literally never been to a dermatologist!? So of
course I wasn’t getting placed, that’s an impossible request.
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| Left: Roomie/BFF Right: Adorable kiddies I nannie for |
So that was
cleared up and that same lovely lady continued to make my case a priority. The
twist is that (refusing the wait around anymore) I moved to the city for the
time being and was working as a nanny for a lovely family. So OF COURSE I was
notified of my dream PC placement not 2 weeks after I moved down there. I was to
leave for Uganda in November to teach math & SpEd!!!!
You’re probably
thinking to yourself, “Okay great Rachel, you had to wait a while and some
stuff got messed up but you’re in, you got this!” NOPE. The government shutdown. It shutdown a week before all of my final
paperwork was due. The final paperwork
that ensures I have seat on the planes to Uganda. The final paperwork that informs the medical
teams over there of my history. The
final paperwork that verifies that I am Peace-Corps-worthy-eligible to teach
math and SpEd. To say the least I was in shambles. Peace Corps employees in D.C. couldn’t go to
work, and the site I needed to upload all this paperwork to was shutdown, I
seriously thought I wasn’t going to Uganda. I was sending e-mails to ANYONE at
2 in the morning because I couldn’t sleep.
If I was unable to go because the government was shutdown I would have
lost it!
ALAS, I get a
phone call from D.C. at 9am a few days after the panicked 2am emails. Another amazing lady went into work during
the shut down because a few people were in the same boat as me. She saved me from almost losing my cool and
helped me get all my paperwork to the right people.
It’s actually
happening!!!
So here I am,
mere hours from heading down to Philly for a quick 24 hour intensive staging program
from which I go to J.F.K airport (very fitting) to start the 20+ hour journey
to Kampala, Uganda!
I can’t post this without thanking everyone who’s supported me throughout this pre-journey. It means so much to me how so many people from every part of my life have been there for me and my parents. I truly think that my parents are the bravest people for letting me go through with this (although I don’t remember asking them, it was more me straight up telling them). But that is what makes them so great. I tend to do what I want and they have always supported me. Having both of them show so much love and concern make me feel like I may actually be able to change the world. Mom & Dad, Ang & Joe, you don’t know how much everything you do for me means to me. Your warm hearts, humor and unconditional love made me who I am today!
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| You can always tell a Milford Man, Steve. |
I also want to
give a shout out to my brother and sister.
You two have shaped who I’ve become and I thank you. Steve, you’re always my reality check when my
mind dreams maybe a little too big.
Thanks for always bringing me back down to earth. & thanks for
making me look cool because I’m related to you!
Joce, you are my best friend and you always brighten my day. I really don’t know how I’m going to live
without your quick wit, lack of emotions, or our binge eating when we’re
together!
If I thanked
everyone whom I appreciate and/or helped me get to this awesome point in my
life I’d have to publish a book. If you’re
reading this, you’re probably one of them so give yourself a high five, I’m forever
grateful!
Lastly: What I’ll
Miss (materialistic
version):
1. Food delivery2. Hulu+ & Netflix
3. Exercise classes, mainly Soul Cycle & Baptise Yoga
4. J. Crew Style guide
5. Saunas
6. Twitter
7. Online Banking
8. Smoothies
9. Target
10. Weekends/summers at Oceans Edge Resort
Welp, that about
does it for this post. I hope to contribute to this as much as I can over the
next few years. I really look forward to your comments. Tell me anything & everything. Also, there is no such thing as a stupid
question. This whole thing a little
complicated and constantly changing so chances are someone else is thinking the
same thing.
Be well, I miss
you all already!
Rachel