The Gods Must Be Crazy -- Or Maybe It's Just Me

Yesterday, I became a little bit more technology enhanced. I now have two exquisite, robotically machined, computer designed, synthetic teeth in my mouth.

Warning - Brief Mental Tangent

Maybe all of this dental work will have a strange, unexpected side-effect. Maybe I'll find I can read the minds of women if I bite my new teeth together in just the right fashion -- oh ya, that's a left over image from a movie by the road warrior dude.

(Now you know the types of thoughts I live with every day...)

One more dental appointment to go and my teeth are finally ready for the Peace Corps.

I'm really excited to receive my medical packet in the mail. When I get it, I'll take a picture of it and post it (in all it's paperish glory) to this blog. I've never been so excited to receive a bunch of blank forms!

Those 18 Special Little Words

This morning I woke to find one of those wonderful, coveted, automated, Peace Corps status change email messages in my inbox.
Whenever my status officially changes, I get an automated notification from the Peace Corps. This time the notification occurred because I transitioned from "Applicant" to "Nominee". The messages are short and sweet:

"Peace Corps has updated your Application Status account. Log in to your toolkit to see the latest information."

When I logged into my toolkit, I was surprised to find a whole new set of web links available for me (information about timelines, medical and legal clearance...).
When I was given my toolbox, I posted a picture of status screen in my blog. Here to continue the tradition is my new status screen!


I've scheduled my next dental appointment (2 of 3) for Thursday morning at 7:00 am -- I couldn't think of anything better to do at 7:00 am on an Thursday.

Not the Status Quo

I have been nominated. This is a key step that begins my journey through the rest of the Peace Corps process.

I'm finally in the national pool!

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In official terms, I have been nominated for the program:

• Computer Science; number: 163 06 1 B1

What exactly is a nomination you ask?

• A nomination is a recommendation that my application be given further consideration. My file is being sent to the Placement Unit at Peace Corps headquarters in Washington, DC, where several important screenings take place and where assignment matches for qualified prospective volunteers are finalized.

What does my nomination guarantee?

• It guarantees that I have made it to the next step in the Peace Corps process -- any or all of the following can change after nomination: geographic region, type of program, and leave date (oh, and least wanted, potential rejection from the Peace Corps).

So, what's next?

• Now I begin the marathon process of medical and legal clearance. Medical clearance can be a very long process -- 60 days is average! I should be receiving my medical paperwork in two weeks.