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Slaan posted:Also, 40 pounds lost over 4 months... Most of it do to parasites I think. Gotta love the Peace Corps Diet.
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Oct 16, 2012 14:34
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If by 'love' you mean 'oh god my intestines', sure!  About to start a World Map project next week. I'll see if I can't get some photos and methodology up next time at a workstation.
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Oct 16, 2012 16:24
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Just got back from the South Pacific last week... and is reverse culture shock loving me up... How have all you RPCVs coped with reverse culture shock? I feel like i'm just someone to sell poo poo to! PS, Giardia is the best Peace Corps weight loss plan!
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Oct 16, 2012 18:39
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Thesaurus posted:I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean by "a year". The departure dates I see are those that pop up after people receive their invite letters and then report that on the site. So dates and locations for Jan/Feb/March 2013 have started populating in recent weeks. They seem to appear on the site 2-6 months before the scheduled leave date. I was referring to this site: https://www.peacecorpswiki.org/calendar But curiously Ecuador is not listed...anyway I know there is an omnibus coming in January because that schedule is not changing. Ecuador gets new trainees in January and June. Concerning Johnny, most countries never get as many trainees as they ask for, so wouldn't worry that you're in competition for a spot. Think of it this way, the number of people who have jumped through all the hoops that you have are so few that they really need to send you somewhere ASAP. Make sure they've got the right phone number since they usually call you before sending the packet. Also, keep an eye on the mytoolkit to make sure there are no other holds. On a side note, someone please tell me they know who updates this website: https://whatshouldpcvscallme.tumblr.com So I can express my heartfelt appreciation.
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Oct 17, 2012 02:10
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the shill posted:On a side note, someone please tell me they know who updates this website: http://whatshouldpcvscallme.tumblr.com/post/33183677098/when-i-go-to-an-all-you-can-eat-buffet [ASK] Us why the US Embassy doesn't like to invite us to events anymore!
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Oct 17, 2012 02:37
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Moon Slayer posted:http://whatshouldpcvscallme.tumblr.com/post/33183677098/when-i-go-to-an-all-you-can-eat-buffet God that was embarrassing. Hahaha. I can't believe they didn't learn the lesson after K1 at Piper's, and they actually extended the offer to K2 as well. Do you know if K3 was invited?
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Oct 17, 2012 07:31
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Moon Slayer posted:http://whatshouldpcvscallme.tumblr.com/post/33183677098/when-i-go-to-an-all-you-can-eat-buffet It took 3 training groups/years and 2 ambassador changes before they would let us do swearing in at the ambassador's mansion again. Still not allowed to use his pool like we could before or go to the July 4th party. 
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Oct 17, 2012 10:20
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Slaan posted:It took 3 training groups/years and 2 ambassador changes before they would let us do swearing in at the ambassador's mansion again. Still not allowed to use his pool like we could before or go to the July 4th party. Our swear in was scheduled to be at the ambassador's house, but then she was declared "persona non grata" by the president because something she wrote came out on wikileaks. 
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Oct 17, 2012 15:31
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Slaan posted:Spanish is probably a bit harder to get into than other languages just because so many of us Americans speak it as well. But as long as you make it clear you are already quite knowledgeable in Spanish but are willing to go to other places, you have a good chance of going to a Spanish speaking country. A lot of it is due to the fact we get placed in rural areas where the local language predominates; the PC wants to teach you the local language as quickly as possible, because that is what you will use at post. At least from my experience in West Africa. Just like to say, there are a lot of Spanish speakers in China. And you get less than 2 months of language training... due to budget cuts. And all sites in China are not places where the predominant population speaks the standard dialect/language.
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Oct 19, 2012 17:03
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The hosed up thing is that I speak fluent mandarin and could do a lot of good back in the old country, but due to Peace Corps policy I would not be allowed because I was born there and moved here when I was 3 months old
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Oct 19, 2012 17:41
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Peven Stan posted:The hosed up thing is that I speak fluent mandarin and could do a lot of good back in the old country, but due to Peace Corps policy I would not be allowed because I was born there and moved here when I was 3 months old Ehh... the most fluent speakers get sent out to the boonies. You would be surprised by the amount of people who never had Chinese language background over here... (96%).
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Oct 19, 2012 17:55
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Is it common to have a final phone interview from a placement officer? A lot of application timelines mention scheduling a phone interview. However, I just received a list of questions from my placement specialist to respond to via email, and I'm wondering if this is the end of the road. Most of the questions were very similar to those that came up before nomination.
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Oct 23, 2012 16:53
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I remember hearing that they were changing the recruitment policies thanks to budget cuts (way to apologize for America Obama  ). Instead of having officers placed locally in each 3-5 state region which travel around to cities for 4-10 interviews in a day (especially for college campuses) they are switching to major regional hubs and telephone/email interviews because they can't afford the travel costs anymore. So unless there are a good 10-20 potential recruits in an area (read: colleges in November) they just use the email questions.I actually had all three. I had a small phone interview before the actual interview where they asked a few minor questions while trying to set up the interview time. And then they emailed me extra questions after the interview to answer for questions I didn't quite nail. But re-reading it, the placement officer is a completely separate person than the interviewer, based in DC. The recruiters say yes/no, and then you answer the same general questions to the placement officer who says region/nation, and then you do it again for your national chair. And then when you arrive at your training site, guess what you get to answer again to find your actual post?  PC has so much redundant paperwork.Basically, rephrase and repeat your previous answers. They got you through before so that is what they want to hear.
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Oct 25, 2012 08:31
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Placement officer said it's too late to be given a January invite, which is when we were nominated for Said we should hear back from her "in a few weeks" and will be looking at a placement for February, March, "or later..." *gulp*. The waiting is brutal. I probably shouldn't have fixated on January... Does anyone know whether TEFL volunteers are used in Paraguay, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, or the Dominican Republic? I am of course assuming that our nomination counts for something and we won't end up in Zambia or something (which would be fine by me, just unexpected!).
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Nov 1, 2012 16:10
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Holy poo poo. Disregard my previous post. Wife and I just got invited to the Dominican Republic as Primary Literacy/Education Promoters in March!
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Nov 1, 2012 22:07
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Congratulations on your invitation. DR seems like a great place to go. I'm nominated for Eastern Europe in March of 2013. I haven't received my invitation yet. However, looking at the unofficial-PC timeline, it looks like I'm going to Ukraine. Super excited. Does anyone have any clue what GD P6 is on the medical? Says I'm missing that and I have 60 days from Oct. 22 to get it turned in. Eek.
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Nov 2, 2012 02:07
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No clue. Call Medical and ask. They've probably gotten that question a thousand times; if its a difficult thing you might be able to get an extension, if not then you should be able to do it quickly or send you a new form over email/fax.Thesaurus posted:Holy poo poo. Disregard my previous post. Wife and I just got invited to the Dominican Republic as Primary Literacy/Education Promoters in March! Eat nothing but pizza, hamburgers and buffalo wings for the next 6 months and gain like 30 pounds. You'll thank me later. 
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Nov 2, 2012 07:58
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i see things posted:Does anyone have any clue what GD P6 is on the medical? Says I'm missing that and I have 60 days from Oct. 22 to get it turned in. Eek. This page has some information: http://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/g6pd/tab/sample We got that test, but I don't remember anything about it other than that it was just one of many vials of blood they drew that day. I think it's a fairly routine lab test that you should be able to get without problem or much delay. Given the number of tests they ask for, I don't think it's uncommon for the lab tech/doctor to miss one. quote:Eat nothing but pizza, hamburgers and buffalo wings for the next 6 months and gain like 30 pounds. You'll thank me later. Yes sir! In the YLLS subforum I can just say that I've started "bulking." The disease induced rapid weight loss will then begin my "cutting" phase. With any luck I'll have like a week where I look totally ripped before my muscles dissolve.
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Nov 2, 2012 16:16
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i see things posted:Does anyone have any clue what GD P6 is on the medical? Says I'm missing that and I have 60 days from Oct. 22 to get it turned in. Eek. It's a kind of enzyme. if you have a deficiency in it you're not supposed to take several anti-malarial drugs. They should have tested for that when they did your bloodwork, if they didn't you'll have to get that done. I think it takes a few days to get the results so try to get that done quick. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose-6-phosphate_dehydrogenase_deficiency
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Nov 2, 2012 17:56
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I'm back from Africa and never got malaria once (I also didn't take my pills because they made me super paranoid!)
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Nov 3, 2012 14:11
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Mauser posted:I'm back from Africa and never got malaria once (I also didn't take my pills because they made me super paranoid!) Would the pills make you so paranoid that you thought taking them would make mosquitos bite you? If so, good call on not taking them!
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Nov 3, 2012 15:48
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Mauser posted:I'm back from Africa and never got malaria once (I also didn't take my pills because they made me super paranoid!) Maybe you're one of the few people who are asymptomatic for malaria 
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Nov 3, 2012 17:06
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They are supposed to switch to different kinds of pills if they make you super paranoid. Malarone(?) the expensive one that PC Medical HQ has to approve isn't supposed to make anyone paranoid. Doxy made me ultra-paranoid but they switched me to Mefloquine and now I'm just paranoid about forgetting my pill day. Slaan fucked around with this message at 15:39 on Nov 5, 2012 |
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Nov 5, 2012 09:31
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Thesaurus posted:Holy poo poo. Disregard my previous post. Wife and I just got invited to the Dominican Republic as Primary Literacy/Education Promoters in March! Congratulations, I was almost positive that you were coming to Ecuador. Two years in the Caribbean! Enjoy it! Mauser posted:I'm back from Africa and never got malaria once (I also didn't take my pills because they made me super paranoid!) Well done. Peven Stan posted:Maybe you're one of the few people who are asymptomatic for malaria They load you up with drugs that clear out your system before you leave because being asymptomatic is actually pretty common. The parasite goes dormant in the liver after you've had it for a while, which will happen if you're taking medicine that masks the initial exposure reaction. Slaan posted:Doxy made me ultra-paranoid but they switched me to Mefloquine and now I'm just paranoid about forgetting my pill day. I think you mean you were on Mefloquine and they switched you to doxy. Mefloquine makes you crazy, doxy just makes you light sensitive.
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Nov 5, 2012 20:28
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Mauser posted:I'm back from Africa and never got malaria once (I also didn't take my pills because they made me super paranoid!) Ya me too, didn't take my Mefloquine for my entire two years of service in the south pacific. Didn't get malaria once but when you stop and think about it, it's pretty drat stupid not to take them and we were just rolling the dice. Especially at the rates I was getting bit every day.
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Nov 5, 2012 20:31
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the shill posted:
Nope, Doxy to Mef. Though it might have been the stress of the first week of training and 3 days of no sleep. They gave us all Doxy the first week while the PCMOs sorted us into Doxy/Mef/Mal groups. I got the ultra-paranoia while I was taking Doxy that first week which went away as soon as I stopped taking it because the Docs said Doxy conflicts with another drug I take. Surprising too, because my family has a history of bi-polar/depression. I should be crazy on Mefloquin.
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Nov 5, 2012 21:31
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the shill posted:Congratulations, I was almost positive that you were coming to Ecuador. Two years in the Caribbean! Enjoy it! I'm positive that we were supposed to be going to Ecuador. For whatever reason we didn't get through the pipeline in time. The placement officer said they are now operating on a 12 week minimum notification for giving people their placements.
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Nov 6, 2012 00:42
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Anyone have any experience with getting organisations such as Engineers Without Border involved within their community? I'm currently an undergrad in EWB and we're working on a project in Kenya. I'm thinking of trying to get EWB into my community or another similar organization. My aim is to keep myself involved in engineering work while I'm there since I'll be teaching math most likely. Also, my application was submitted to Washington DC sometime around the middle of September. Any thoughts on how much longer I'll need to wait for an update?
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Nov 9, 2012 19:31
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"You're Gonna Poop in a Hole," a song about PCV life. Applicants should watch this to counter some of the rosy pictures PCHQ paints of life in PC. It's still totally worth it, but man, some of the poo poo you put up with... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koUWaAr-itY
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Nov 17, 2012 10:38
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Finally got some projects getting set up. The problem is none of them are mine. A grant the previous volunteer put in a year ago only now got approved by this NGO, so I will be working with a random local group I've never met before. A French intern is dumping her work on me once she leaves in December; work I am not enthused about because its with bullshit traditional healers that can "cure AIDS!," and the pedophile high school english teacher is trying to rope me into doing an English club with him. Oh well, better than doing nothing all day for 22 more months, right? I'm sure I'll eventually figure out my own projects to do.
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Nov 17, 2012 14:24
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CronoGamer posted:"You're Gonna Poop in a Hole," a song about PCV life. Matt Hardwick, he was in PC Vanuatu with me... actually still is. He's on the 5 year plan, probably gonna live in Vanuatu the rest of his life.
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Nov 18, 2012 02:25
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Winna posted:Matt Hardwick, he was in PC Vanuatu with me... actually still is. He's on the 5 year plan, probably gonna live in Vanuatu the rest of his life. How long can/do people extend? Does it mean you're crazy?
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Nov 19, 2012 19:30
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Third years I think are semi-common, and I've heard of the rare occasions of a 4th year. Never have heard of a 5th year with PC (unless they're staff). I adore that blog so much. God bless whoever started that. We were talking about this one last night: http://whatshouldpcvscallme.tumblr.com/post/35650272874/the-first-time-i-ate-a-local-dessert (We noticed our stories are the same: host family gives us a popsicle, and us thinking it will be amazing, we dig in only to find out that it's made of this super sour milk product and we want to die)
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Nov 20, 2012 01:17
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Just got finished with my interview. The dude said there's a good chance I'll be in community/NGO development. What kind of countries/living conditions can I expect with that?
CAPS LOCK BROKEN fucked around with this message at 18:10 on Nov 21, 2012 |
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Nov 21, 2012 18:05
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3 (out of 18) of the last group extended for a third year. I cant glean any numbers beyond that because last group was the first one (Indonesia is new, started in 61, had to evacuate in 63 and only just now got back) and our group, the second, leaves in June so people are still on the fence.
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Nov 23, 2012 11:53
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Thesaurus posted:How long can/do people extend? Does it mean you're crazy? Apparently South Pacific nations have an unusually high rate of extension. My group of 33, 12 extended. within the the two years I was there I did so with two 4 years and three 5 years. Some people look down on it, like you can't handle reality blah blah blah.
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Nov 26, 2012 01:54
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Really? drat I would never see it that way. I think anyone who extends has more fortitude than I do.
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Nov 27, 2012 00:17
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Slaan posted:Finally got some projects getting set up. The problem is none of them are mine. A grant the previous volunteer put in a year ago only now got approved by this NGO, so I will be working with a random local group I've never met before. A French intern is dumping her work on me once she leaves in December; work I am not enthused about because its with bullshit traditional healers that can "cure AIDS!," and the pedophile high school english teacher is trying to rope me into doing an English club with him. My wife and I inherited a $3500 4H project from the previous volunteer raising pigs with a "young farmers association" she started. I learned a whole lot about pigs and pretty much became the community vet after reading books like "Where there is no Vet." Now, though, we've gotten kind of tired of pigs so we're changing the whole club into an eco club and planting trees with the money. At least in our case, once the grant money was received, the donor couldn't have cared less what happened to it. Zero oversight, welcome to the 3rd world!
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Nov 29, 2012 13:04
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Yeah, I'm actually pretty optimistic about the projects now. The traditional healers project is a mess, but the French girl is now ~*My Girlfriend*~ so there is some positive there. But the well project the previous volunteer left me seems like it will go really well. The ONG was started by a bunch of ex-UN people and the local group that they should hopefully find worthy of funding are actually really well run. I attended a few of their commune-level meetings, which they, *Gasp*, actually started on time! And the project is really well designed too; they are digging a deep well with the Mayor's engineer's help, putting in a motor-pump and installing 2 basins that the women's group can use to hold water for their watering cans. Only $9,000 or so USD as well. Hopefully it will be approved and we can work on it. By the way, what kind of trees did you plant? I've been thinking about doing a tree-planting project myself. Wind-erosion is a huge thing here in the Sahel and so is a lack of shadows to nap under during the mid-day heat. I'm thinking about planting trees with beautiful flowers, like Flamboyants, at the town's schools and down the major roadway. I am hoping that the mixture of beautification and lack of other utility will keep the trees standing. I also just got matched through World Wise Schools to a high school teacher in Atlanta. Also hoping that will end well.
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Nov 29, 2012 17:50
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Just talked to a recruiter. He told me they had community/youth development in mind for me, but declined to say where it was only that the place I was going is probably "not that cold," and that I would leave July 2013. Kinda wish he could be more specific so I could start preparing now, but whatever.
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Nov 29, 2012 20:23
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