Chirp...Chirp...

Well, PC received our medical packets but since we are not nominated to leave until next June, I don't think we will be hearing anything out of them for awhile. In the meantime, we are leaving West Palm Beach on Saturday to head to Virginia, where we will spend 2 weeks with David's family, and then 2 weeks with mine in Georgia. And then we'll spend 6 months in Switzerland & Africa with Youth With A Mission. I'm hoping winter in Switzerland will give us a little taste of what a Mongolian winter would be like :)

Since it doesn't look like much will be going on with this blog, feel free to follow our non-PC blog (really, we need to consolidate...) at http://davidandnicolealdridge.blogspot.com.

All In

As of today, both David and I have completed everything in our medical review packets, filled out all of our reimbursement forms, and sent everything off to the PC office. It's such a relief to know that everything is out of our hands now, but the waiting game is just beginning. And I hate waiting.

We officially leave for our six month Discipleship Training School (in Switzerland and Africa) on Sept. 24, so here's hoping that we have medical clearance before that...because I don't think we'll be doing anything with it while we're overseas.

Come on Medical Office - let's get this show on the road!

12.

Dear Peace Corps Medical Office,

I would like to know who came up with the magical number of 12 as the amount that I should be reimbursed for my eye exam. I know that you work mostly with people living in various parts of the world, but in case you were wondering, the eye exam I had this morning in the good 'ol US of A ran me $175, which is precisely $163 more than you allotted. Don't get me wrong, I am appreciative to be reimbursed for anything at all, but your estimation is slightly extremely off.

Love,
Nicole

Let's Get Physical, Physical

After going around and around with the people at the VA Center, we finally gave up and scheduled appointments for our physicals at a local doctor's office. I'm sure that we will totally regret this when we see the bill, but we're done! And that is definitely worth something.

So we were poked and prodded but both walked out with a clean bill of health. We went to Quest to get our bloodwork done yesterday and are still waiting on the results of that and some other lab work. I need to get an eye exam and David needs to have an eye doctor fill out his paperwork, but the end of the medical saga is in sight! 

El Sol

David and I each have to get 30 hours of teaching experience before we technically "qualify" for the program that we've been nominated for, so we signed up to volunteer at El Sol, which is a community center for the day laborers in the area.

The idea behind El Sol is brilliant, really. The center keeps laborers (mostly Guatemalan and Mexican here) from waiting to be picked up on the side of the road or at Home Depot and offers them free English lessons, computer access, multicultural programs and breakfast/lunch everyday. It also pairs up workers with employers, which helps with safety for everyone.

Honestly, before yesterday, this wasn't a population I thought much about. There are actually a lot of Guatemalans in Jupiter and I see them all the time but we didn't exactly run in the same circles. I had some totally biased ideas about migrant laborers (especially the illegal ones...which I basically assumed was everyone) but that was about the extent of my knowledge about them.

These little guys have captured my heart though. They work incredibly hard, both for their employers and to learn English (which is tough by the way - try explaining to someone what a "pit" is or what "to dip" means) and are super sweet. I still don't know enough to have much of an opinion on immigration laws but I'm glad that places like El Sol are around to help them and I'm excited about spending more time with them over the next few months.

Dental Clearance

We have dental clearance! Although everyone seems to dread the medical process more, dental clearance is a huge deal for me. My mouth has hated me since the day I was born and I've had all the surgeries, scars and appliances to prove it. I had a root canal when I was a 10, a crown, 4 teeth pulled before I had braces, then years of being a metal mouth, which made glands in my lip swell and have to be surgically removed. And then I had 6 wisdom teeth taken out, not without complications, of course.

I've had annoying jaw problems lately and I've started doing some serious teeth-grinding but the dentist didn't seem to think either was life-threatening, and apparently the PC dentists didn't either. Hooray!

It's a day to celebrate!

Whew!

We have a new nomination! We didn't get any explanation about our other nomination but after reading a few journals about volunteers in Kyrgyzstan and news articles about the ethnic violence there, I'm assuming it may have been part of the reason for our change.

Our new nomination is still for teaching English, but this time it is in Asia with a departure date of June 2011. From the PeaceCorps Wiki, it looks like we will be heading to China or Mongolia....but this time I'm not counting on anything!

Our plans are still up-in-the-air, since this little kink will give us an extra 2 months but we're figuring things out. Right now I just want to get all our medical/dental stuff cleared so we can be ready for whatever comes up. Let the adventure begin!