I just want to serve!!

Got a call today from Susan while I was at work.  My heart started pounding.  This is it, I thought.  I'm going to hear where I'm going in February.  This is what I've been waiting for for over a year.

...Wrong.  Yet again, I've learned that wishful thinking is not a good idea with the Peace Corps.  She tells me that the program I was originally nominated for is now closed (a.k.a. full).  Not surprising, considering that I was nominated for it last March (grumble, grumble).  She tells me that this is very common and that what will happen now is that she will transfer my file to someone named Jason, who works more broadly with Community Development placements and he will find open programs for me.  She assures me that the important part is that she has qualified me for service (noted by the 'placement complete' on my toolkit, I guess), and that she's told Jason about my various strengths and her recommendations for my placement.  Jason should be looking to get me placed in the next two to three weeks, she says.

I'll admit that my eyes started welling up towards the end of this conversation, as I realized that getting placed in two to three weeks (probably at earliest) means I'm definitely not leaving in early February.  At earliest, this means last week of February or early March.  Unless of course "Jason" decides to place me sooner than expected- but again, I've learned that wishful thinking is a bad, bad, idea.  I had never let the frustration get to me before this point, but today I cracked.

The positive outcome of this is that once I got home, I got on my computer and starting browsing through other Peace Corps nominee blogs.  As another nominee wrote, I can't imagine getting through this process without the ability to read about other nominees sitting in the exact same boat as me.  I was especially comforted by one nominee who wrote about how she had not "practiced this line."  I'm not leaving in February.  I'm not leaving in February.

I've been building my plans for my life around an estimated departure date of early February since last March.  Admittedly, it's not the end of the world that I might be pushed back 3 weeks or so, but my fear, after reading other blogs, is that this actually means I'm not leaving until, say, June.  I am not mentally prepared to wait that long... I'm living at home with my mom!

Thankfully I have a temporary job position that is way more than I could have asked for. I get full staff-level experience because of their short-staffed situation; I'm doing work comparable to a Project Coordinator.  Also, we are working on a really cool DoS grant that is bringing Iraqi police generals and major-generals to the States for training, and the rotations start in mid-February... so now I might get to meet some of them!

The hardest part of this news, as other Peace Corps bloggers have felt too, is trying to explain to other people what is happening:

Oh my god!! They haven't told you yet??!  That's so ridiculous!! Is this normal?

Yes, it's normal.  I've been warned from the beginning that it could take around a year from application to invitation. 

So you have NO idea where you're going? They can't even give you a hint?

They don't know where I'm going either.  I was nominated to a broad area, Central and South America doing Community Development leaving around late January/early February, and now that's full.  They've also warned me from the beginning that my nomination is not a guarantee.  It's a matter of matching my skills with the availabilities, and unfortunately the paper-pushing in a federal organization with thousands of applications means that it takes a while.

Well my friend's wife's brother's friend was a Peace Corps volunteer... he/she got nominated in February and he/she left that June!  Are you sure something hasn't gone wrong?

I know, it sucks.  I'm qualified for service now (which means they definitely want to send me somewhere) and even before that I became a "valuable asset" once I got medically cleared- only 1 in 3 people who make it to that point get cleared.  Timelines vary a lot depending on the individual's skills and nomination- I was nominated to Central and South America doing Community Development, which I imagine is in high demand so I'm not surprised it's taking longer than average.  If I was an engineer or a farmer with no regional preference I imagine I would be leaving a lot sooner.

But I think my friend's wife's brother friend was nominated to Community Development too.  Yeah, definitely Community Development.

Well, I don't know.  This is just the way it is, but I really want to do this so I'm willing to wait.

What happens if they send you somewhere toooootally random?  I mean, are you sure you want to do this?  It seems like a really hard process.

I don't think the application process is a reflection of what the experience is going to be like.  From what I've heard, Volunteer life is a wonderfully independent experience, where I can basically shape my work in the host country into whatever I think is valuable... that doesn't sound a lot like the paper-pushing of a federal bureaucracy to me.  Peace Corps is the ideal program for what I want to do for the next two years, and the positive side of this waiting time is that I have started to consider how exciting it would be to go to a region outside of Latin America that I know less about.  Okay, maybe I've just gotten more desperate.  But either way, I am still committed to Peace Corps.*

*as long as they send me somewhere warm.

The hardest part about answering these questions is that they come from people who care about me and just want to express their frustration that Peace Corps isn't giving me the attention they think I deserve.  I want to be annoyed at this questions (actually, I am annoyed) but I try to remind myself that they come from a place of caring.  The problem is the daily question-and-answer sessions feel like mild humiliation, where I repeatedly say things like "maybe by my birthday... maybe by Thanksgiving... maybe by Christmas... any day now..." only to set up myself and those close to me for more waiting...  And more skeptical looks and comments, which only increase my feeling of alienation from people who don't understand why I'm doing this.

Again, I want to express my thanks to all the other Peace Corps nominees who have candidly shared their experiences on blogs.  I would be so lost without the stories of others, and it reminds me that I'm not being screwed over and I'm not slipping through the cracks.  I hope we all continue to grow in our ability to practice "patience," as the Peace Corps placement office likes to remind us :)

DC Schools Take Center Stage

Had the privilege recently of attending the "East Side" Poetry Slam competition, an event put on by DC Scores. As I have mentioned before, I volunteered with them this past summer to gain more experience for my "youth outreach" nomination with Peace Corps.  This past summer was SO fun and this event was incredible.  It is no exaggeration to say I've never been to an event like this before.  I wish the video captured how packed and energized the auditorium was, but you at least get a sense of the quality of the performances.  I had a pretty steady stream of tears coming down my eyes because I was so happy to see these kids so confident and proud of themselves.  Oh, and the interim DC Public Schools Chancellor was there to hear this politically charged performance!

So close, I can almost taste the unpurified water...

So last week I got an email from Susan at the Peace Corps, wanting to set up a phone call to "check that my application was up-to-date and complete."  When I told my mom this, she screamed, "YES it's complete, are they kidding?!" but I'm now used to my mother having much more extreme reactions to the Peace Corps (waiting) process than I do.  I guess that's natural.

Got the call from Susan last Thursday while I was at work, and this phone call ended up being basically an hour long intensive interview.  Lots of hard questions about specific situations and what I would do, about specific skills and experience that I have, and about my expectations of Peace Corps service.  Hard questions but I was glad that they asked them, and more than anything I was just glad to feel like I was in the last step of this process!

One of the interesting things she said is that there was a real possibility of me going to a non-Spanish speaking country, because the broad area I was nominated to was "Inter-America Pacific," which includes all Latin America and the Pacific Islands (and maybe Asia?)  But anyway, I went to a Peace Corps event in DC tonight and after talking to my recruiter, turns out I'm still nominated specifically to Central and South America.  Not a guarantee, but a hut on the beach in Fiji is looking unlikely (sorry Fran).

The event tonight in DC was focused on questions from parents of Peace Corps volunteers, so I went with my mom (would have loved to have brought my dad since he has had less day-to-day contact with me and my PC process, but he couldn't come).  They showed a video about Peace Corps' Legacy in anticipation of its 50th Anniversary in 2011 (the year I'll be leaving!), and I thought I would share.  Hope you like it :)

Microlending in India

The New York Times published an article yesterday that I would call "fascinating" if I didn't find that word so vomit-worthy.  You can read the full text here. 

Of special interest is the comparison of microlending in India to subprime mortages in the U.S:

"...But microfinance in pursuit of profits has led some microcredit companies around the world to extend loans to poor villagers at exorbitant interest rates and without enough regard for their ability to repay. Some companies have more than doubled their revenues annually. 

Now some Indian officials fear that microfinance could become India’s version of the United States’ subprime mortgage debacle, in which the seemingly noble idea of extending home ownership to low-income households threatened to collapse the global banking system because of a reckless, grow-at-any-cost strategy..."

I knew before about the unethical policies of some microfinance institutions (MFIs), described above, but had never put the problem in such a relatable, American context.  The comparison makes a lot of sense, and it is pretty sobering.

What the article doesn't talk about are the good works of many MFIs around the world that extend loans, with interest rates, that are ethical (and it's fine that the NYT didn't talk about them, since those organizations have received plenty of attention over the past few years).  It's often said that poor people don't want charity, they want dignity- and they are often very willing to pay interest for it (and with higher payback rates than traditional loans in the Western world).  So, I like the idea that there is void to be filled between non-profit and for-profit.  As some of those close to me know, I am interested in a career in "corporate social responsibility," specifically because I think everyone in the world would benefit from more ethically-driven companies.  Many MFIs have hit this "sweet spot" already- between "charity" to the poor and exorbitantly charged loans, and I hope that we continue to see an increase in socially responsible business in the mainstream.  In the meantime, this article serves as an example of what happens when we lose that balance.   

I came across a great quote on this topic just now on Kiva's site:  "It is true that programs serving very poor clients are somewhat less profitable than those reaching better-off clients, but this may say more about managers' objectives than an inherent conflict between serving the very poor and profitability."

This is the heart of what I want out of a career.  I want to be involved in business that provides a social service that I really believe in.  And I believe that employees are happiest when they believe in their work as well.  At the same time, I have not been impressed so far with the non-profit sector; as a generalization, I think the grant process is inefficient and inept at quality assurance.  So I think that socially responsible business has potential to be extremely successful in ways beyond the "bottom line."  Here comes that terribly overused word: sustainability.  I think that businesses, in the long run, and perhaps in immeasurable but crucial ways (such as employee satisfaction and local & worldwide reputation) are better off when they consider policies beyond making that extra dollar.  And I think that the world's poor are better off when they interact with efficient organizations that rather than simply provide free services, are truly invested in ensuring the success of their programs because of a profit motive.

I've got a lot to learn when it comes to business, but that's what I inherently believe and I hope that I can prove it true.

Sorry for the spin-off from the original purpose of this post, which was that I highly recommend the above NYT article.

On that note, off to GMAT studying :)

Eurotripping, cont'd

train from Warsaw to Krakow

I made it safely back to Washington, DC this past Thursday and somehow managed to get through a full Friday work day without any jet lag!  Here are my final updates from Krakow and Prague, again with positive and negative highlights. 

Krakow, Poland
-/+ Didn't leave a lot of time to buy tickets for our train from Warsaw  to Krakow, so while my mom stood in an impossibly long line, I tried to buy tickets through a self-service machine which had no English option.  I am extremely proud of myself for getting through the system almost all by myself in Polish, especially when I had to make choices between options that looked like "vmkelra;jfiew," "qreowfvkldasjf," or "vmkljfwow."  I admit, some nice businessmen helped me choose the number of seats, but I still am quite proud.
+ Were very willing witnesses to a nice English bloke's Stag Day.  For those who haven't had the privilege of seeing one of these, it's the British equivalent of a bachelor party which often involves dressing up a to-be-wed friend and parading him through a large city, embarrassing him as much as possible along the way.  We found this lovely boy doing cartwheels, lunges, and handstands in the central town square.
+ Very, very pleasant city that was totally walkable from one end to the other.  I can see now why people say it will be the "new Prague," but I actually think it is the much better laid out city of the two.
- Would have loved to experience the bars and clubs here, since it seemed to be a very active, young social scene.  From what I could see, the city as a whole seemed many times younger than Prague.
+ Finally got a Doner Kebab, which my friends from studying in Spain know all about!  I love these things, which are basically the late night food/meal on the run of choice across a lot of Europe.
 

congrats on your marriage, dude.

part of the town square

the Wawel Castle, from the river

Also visited Auschwitz-Birkenau which is about an hour bus ride from Krakow.  I don't think "highlight" is the best way to describe it, but it was definitely a once in a lifetime experience that I am thankful for.

Prague, Czech Republic
+/- Once you start shopping, it is very hard to stop.  Between the two of us, I think my mom and I bought 12 pashminas.
+ Got to see an awesome art exhibition of Mucha and Dali, two artists that I actually have a lot of interest in.  Bought four postcards of Mucha's series "the Four Arts" that I plan on framing.
+ Took a great tour that included a boat ride down the river
+ I just do not understand how the food is so cheap.  Two three-course meals + bottle of wine was like $40.
- My struggle to find meals not involving mushrooms and red meat continued.  And my mom tried two local dishes (goulash and something else) that she didn't like much.
+/- On the recommendation of a friend, we spent our last night eating at a microbrewery and doing a beer tasting.  The light and dark lagers, wheat beer, and special of the month were good, but others were absurdly offensive to the senses.  Top of that list was nettle beer which was bright green and tasted like grass, followed closely by a coffee flavored beer.  Sour cherry and banana were okay.
- Had a run-in with the transportation authorities.  Mom and I were confused by the "system" of paying for tram and metro rides, so decided to play the foreigner card and just walk on without paying, which is what the majority of people appeared to be doing.  Problem is that fare enforcers can come on the trams and trains and ask to see your ticket.  We had been warned in our hotel packet to be careful of people imitating these authorities and that if you are approached by someone, you should ask to go to their office instead of paying them right there.  We guess we made ourselves easy targets by looking at a map and speaking English, because we got approached on the tram by a guy with a small badge in his hand.  I calmly told him that we would rather go to his office to pay, and he argued a while with us and wanted to just bring us to an ATM.  Obviously this made us more suspicious, and when we followed him off the tram thinking we were going to his office only to end up at an ATM, we were not feeling good about this at all.  He had the same superiority complex issues of security guards in the States and our conversation there included him calling me "woman" and repeatedly telling us that "You're not in the States anymore.  This is the Czech Republic.  I speak English pretty good, yes?  You understand me?"  Eventually a Czech guy by the ATM was brought into the conversation and verified for us that "this guy is not trying to fuck with you, he's real and you have to pay him."  So we paid our ~$70 and continued on with our lives.  Mom turned back as we walked away to see if the guy approached the transportation guy for half of the money or something, but nothing of the sort happened.
+ The city in general was gorgeous and was so well preserved compared to what we saw in Lithuania and Poland, since the city was not significantly damaged during WWII.

The famous astronomical clock in the city square, with moving puppet-like things

The Charles Bridge, originally the only bridge in and out, dating from 1357

view from the top of the clock tower

gorgeous decorations

view from Petrin Park

nettle beer. not so much.

Eurotripping

I am writing from a Bed & Breakfast in Warsaw, on the third of five stops of my two week trip. My graduation present from my mom was a trip of my choice, so after narrowing it down to India or Poland/Lithuania, we chose the latter. I am Polish and Lithuanian on her side, so it has been a bit of a heritage trip, although we weren't been able to bring any useful addresses with us- we just know that her grandparents were from Vilnius and Krakow. We added the other cities for personal interest, and to visit our family friend Jette. Here are some positive and negative highlights so far:

+++ Business Class for IAD --> Frankfurt --> Copenhagen and our return. As my mom said, I feel sorry for people who get to do this all the time! Stuffed myself silly (fo FREE) in the Lufthansa Business Lounge, used the remote to arrange my chair in about 13 different positions before takeoff, and completed one chapter of a Russian language learning program on my personal movie/game screen. Only expression I remember: "Da, bino!" ...Yes, wine! Oh, and enjoyed a three-course meal and plenty of champagne.

Copenhagen, Denmark:
+ Having Jette as a local tour guide
+ Meeting her ex-stepson (son of her first husband), who might be the most beautiful man I have ever seen. Originally from the Faroe Islands. I might move there.
- Didn't get a picture of him.
- Lots of rain.
+ Christiana is so so so cool/funny/unique. To give you an idea of the extreme hippie-ness, the majority of the tenants were originally squatters and they still don't pay rent, there is marijuana grown and smoked out in open (although much less than a few years ago apparently), and there was a "people's liberation" type mural in Spanish on one of the many painted walls. Felt straight out of a 60's LSD trip.

by one of the main restaurant streets by a main canal

entrance way to the former independent republic of Christiana

Vilnius, Lithuania:
- Plane was late and Bed & Breakfast hosts decided we must not be coming, so we were stranded for a while outside on the low-lit street of the B&B at 11pm. Not a comfortable start to our first few minutes in Eastern Europe.
+ Had way more to offer than we expected. St. Peter and St. Paul's Church was the most beautiful church either of us had ever seen, and between the two of us we have seen a number in Europe and Latin America.
+ We were lucky enough to be there on the night of their celebration of their 3rd place finish in the World Championship of Basketball (who knew?). Arrived at the Town Hall Square at around 8pm, celebration started around 9, and the team arrived around 10:30. Despite our best efforts to blend in, we became friends with/the joke of a group of locals who pulled us into their dance circles a lot.
-/+ Failed to get off at the right bus stop for the town and castle of Trakai, so ended up on the side of a random rural street, thinking the next bus wasn't coming for 3 hours. Luckily, we misunderstood the info and one came 10 minutes later. And the castle was awesome- artifacts from the 2nd century onwards.

inside the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul. picture doesn't do it justice.

tell it, brother.

a later highlight of the night was singing "we are the champions."

stranded in rural Lithuania

Trakai

Warsaw, Poland:
+ Our 11th floor apartment has an incredible view of the city, and the B&B staff and guests are very nice and interesting. And it is located on Nowy Swiat, part of the "Royal Route" and one of the prettiest streets in Warsaw- restaurant central.
+ One of these days I am going to figure out how Europeans make their coffee that seems to be somewhere between espresso and our drip coffee. It's delicious. Insights, anyone?
+ Pierogi.
- I don't like red meat or mushrooms, which is making Eastern European menus pretty challenging for me. Apparently "mushrooming" in a very popular sport/pasttime in Poland and Lithuania. I did give in and eat the bacon on my pierogi though, and I don't regret it one bit.
- If you ever come to this city, do NOT bother visiting Praga, the formerly independent city across the water. While Zabkowska Street and the former Koneser Vodka Factory were on the Top 10 of Warsaw, we found them to be very unworthy of that title. We had wanted to find a place to sit and have a "wodka" drink (the factory is supposedly now a museum, but looked more like a deserted warehouse), but could only find one bar/restaurant on the entire main street. The next day, one of the B&B staff said she was shocked that another staffer recommended the area to us, since "the only reason you would go there is if you want to get robbed." Still, one bad sight out of everything so far is totally acceptable.

first pierogi in Poland

original tenant house from the Jewish ghetto

part of the last existing piece of the ghetto wall, with map of original walls and entrances

Lazienki Palace

We've got a few more sights to hit in Warsaw tomorrow and then we're off to Krakow. More updates from there and Prague later!

Peace Corps Process

I'm coming up on my one year anniversary of submitting my Peace Corps application. As you can then guess, it is a very long application process that I have sometimes avoided explaining in detail to my friends and family, both because I often doubt they want to hear it and because it can be stressful just to think about. Now that I'm (hopefully) in the final stage of the process, here's a timeline of how the process has gone for me, which will hopefully shed some light on why I don't know how to respond when someone says, "oh, so you got it? you're in?" You are warned, this is a long post.

October 13, 2009: Submitted my online application. This included lots of background and resume information, two essays, and three recommendations. I thought it was interesting/cool that one of the recommendations had to be from a friend- thank you dearly, Haley Bryant! After pressing submit, it then leads you to a screen where you quickly fill out a medical checklist- Yes, I have had this condition and No, I have not had this one.

November 11, 2009: Received an email inviting me to set up an interview with the UVa Recruiter.

November 19, 2009: Interviewed with Tom. Had to bring fingerprint cards, background check forms, and more forms. Was told at the interview that he wanted to nominate me to community development in a Spanish-speaking country. I was ecstatic for this, since that had been my ideal assignment but I hadn't wanted to get my hopes up. Tom was wonderful and I thoroughly enjoyed the interview, which I suppose is unusual. When I first arrived and filled out more short essays, he skimmed over my application. He looked up and asked, "so, I've got some things to tell you about yourself. Do you want this now or later?" While confused I responded "now," and in one breath he said something along the lines of, "You're a very driven person, a great leader, very intuitive and creative, you're not afraid to jump into a big project and see it out until it's completion but your weakness is that you often shoot before aiming. You tend to get yourself in way over your head but you push though it. Am I on the right track?" I told him my psychologist parents would be very impressed.

Didn't hear from Tom for a long time and was very confused about some "status updates" and lack thereof on my online toolkit. Tried to call him a number of times over winter break with no response. Finally emailed him and received this autoresponse on January 19:
As of January 12, 2010 your new University of Vriginia Peace Corps recruiter will be Jessica xxxxxxx. Please redirect all correspondence to xxxxxxxx@peacecorps.gov Jessica may also be contacted by phone at 202-xxx-xxxx
If you need to contact me personally in regard to the Cameroon Water Project I can be contacted at xxxxxxxx.

January 19, 2010: Emailed Jessica and got a response the next day. She explained:
"You have not received your medical paperwork yet because you have not been nominated. At this point there are no open programs that match your skill set so we will have to wait until new programs open. There is the potential for new programs to open next week, and if that does not happen, new programs will be opening in March. I will keep you updated regarding potential program openings, but until then, just sit tight!"

...lots of more anxious waiting. I guess Tom had said the same thing about waiting for there to be an "opening" for me in community development in a Spanish-speaking country, but I didn't expect it to take this long and had sort of thought from our conversation that I was already nominated.

March 2, 2010: Received a call from Jessica, nominating me! My nomination was to South America, Central America, or the Caribbean (Spanish-speaking) working with at-risk youth, leaving in February 2011. While that departure date was later than I was hoping for, it was better than the alternative I had expected from my conversations with Tom, who had suggested June, July, or September 2010 departure dates. She asked that I continue gaining experience with "at-risk youth" (kids growing up in areas of heavy crime activity, incarcerated/neglectful/alcoholic parents, etc.) until my departure.

Returned from Spring Break to find my medical packet ready to begin. Tried to set up appointments as quickly as possible, since I had been told this is the longest/most "patient" part of the process.

~April 1, 2010: Mailed my completed medical packet. This included full dental exam, lots of immunizations, detailed descriptions of my allergic reactions, etc. Turns out that for every box you checked "Yes" on that quick questionnaire after completing the application, you get an additional form to explain that condition. So this part included numerous doctors visits, phone calls, faxes, and tracking down doctors that I hadn't seen since I was 13.

May 27, 2010: Dental clearance received, which was great, but what about medical? I had been warned this might take a long time... Called the Medical Office sometime around then and asked when they might be looking at my medical clearance. They tell me around August/September, since they put people in priority-order depending on when they are leaving. Basically, I was low man on the totem pole.

June - August 2010: Volunteered with DC Scores camp in DC, thanks to the recommendation from my friend Katie Neal's dad. This organization runs an after-school program during the year for DC Public School elementary and middle school kids and the curriculum is focused on soccer and creative writing. I absolutely loved the camp and the kids and talked with them about the possibility of coming on as a girls soccer coach in the fall.

July 29, 2010: Received a letter in the mail stating that my medical packet was "incomplete" because two lab tests were missing. I eventually figured out that those two tests (which I had included) just needed to be redone because it had now been over a year since they were done in May 2009.

August 13, 2010: Medically cleared!!

August 27, 2010: Legally cleared!

So now my application is officially in the Placement Office. It's a big relief to be medically cleared, because 1 in 3 people who make it to that point (application, interview, nomination) aren't eligible to serve. Basically, think of the number of conditions that are totally treatable in the U.S. (example: asthma) but might be life-threatening in an isolated area with no electricity or refrigerators (good luck finding albuterol). Here's a non-exhaustive list of the conditions that can defer/disquality someone from Peace Corps service.

The Placement Office says they will be reviewing my file in the next 4-6 weeks. I don't know if that means that I will be receiving an invitation then, but I've been sending them updates to my work experience. An invitation isn't guaranteed, but everyone I've talked to has said "not to worry about it" at this point. I hope they're right! The other thing to keep in mind is that I could potentially receive an invitation outside of my nomination, but my understanding is that that's more likely for applicants whose nomination doesn't include a language skill. So I might not end up working in youth outreach, but hopefully will be staying in Latin America.

If you're thinking about applying and have any questions about the process, please feel free to leave a comment.   As long as this process has been, I'm confident it will be worth it because Peace Corps is a great fit for my personality and what I want to do for the next two years.