28 Days Later

Last time I did a calendar check, I had 8 weeks before staging.

I now have 4 weeks. Three more Saturdays. That’s it.

The end of this week was filled with bits of newsy goodness. Thursday, I found out I’d been (re-)granted medical clearance - so the hand surgery fiasco is officially over - and Friday, I got a “Welcome to Peace Corps Ghana” email from my future Country Director. Today I got my staging packet in the mail: if you, too, know what a staging packet signifies, you understand how excited that made me. I made the “do this 3 seconds after you get your staging packet” call to Sato, which means I finally-for-real-and-true have entered the system that will take me first to Philadelphia, then a few days later to Amsterdam, and finally: Accra.

It’s really strange to have spent the equivalent of an entire semester playing the day-counting, hour-ticking, waiting game to a departure date. When I finally do make it to Philly/Amsterdam/Accra, it will take some time to realize I can finally stop counting.

Here’s to no more waiting.

Med Hold Update

Getting official news from Peace Corps HQ is … difficult. Like pulling teeth. With rusty pliers. While drunk. I’m all for serving with the PC, and I’m still looking forward to June 7th. I’m just saying, this is how things do (will) work. I’m trying valiantly to get used to it.

So in light of that - I’ve finally gotten a definitive answer regarding my medical standing. Up until this point there has still been the possibility of Medical deciding to postpone my staging date (due to the hand surgery). My unofficial word had been saying that wasn’t likely, but it was still a distinct possibility. According to the rumourmill* SOP for PC (woo, acronyms) has always been 6-12 months after surgery before clearance for staging — no matter what the surgery (exception: wisdom teeth extraction). So I’ve been worried.

Today I got a white envelope in the mail. Peace Corps logo for return address, big blue letters saying OFFICIAL BUSINESS. Inside:

In order to remove your HOLD status for continuance of placement and departure for service, you must submit letters of discharge and return to regular activity from both your surgeon and your physical therapist.

SWEET! I already have the required letter from the surgeon; I see the PT next Tuesday for my final session. So knowing how slow things go in DC, I should be fully cleared again by… um… May? Regardless, I am super relieved to finally have some type of answer. I’m guessing if my departure had been delayed/suspended, this is the letter that would have mentioned it.

*The aforementioned “rumourmill” is really the only method of information exchange among PC-hopefuls. As I’ve mentioned before, there’s a freaking huge air of secrecy over all of the official machinations. RPCVs and fellow applicants are essentially the only sources of information available to people in my (our) position. Mailing lists, emails and blog searches helped me a lot during my application, which is why I’m putting all this here now. If I’d gone into the process cold last October, without scrounging for advice each step of the way… I’d probably still be waiting on an invitation. No lie. So all you people who got here searching “Peace Corps Medical” (and holy crap, there’s a lot of you!): hang in there.