Mom had a night meeting again tonight and rather than sit at home and be lonely, I ended up catching my friend Catie on facebook, and we made plans to go see a movie. We had a great time together! It served as yet another example of how despite long distances apart, it is always so easy to get back into the swing of things. I am really really glad we got to hang out. :)
However, once outside of the movie theater, I discovered that I had three new voicemails. I checked the missed calls list, one voicemail was from my mother, one from an unknown number, and the third wasn't listed on my phone, meaning that I got it when my phone was not in a service area (aka while I was at home).
"PEACE CORPS??????!!!!" was my initial thought.
Heart racing (always does when I think they called me) I dialed my voicemails, punched in my password and listened as the first message came on.
"Hi, this is Brian Purse from the Peace Corps placement office. I was just calling because I have a few more questions I would like to ask you."
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
I pressed "9" to save that message.
Ok, next message.
"Hi, Hayden, this is Laurie with LeadAmerica. Would you mind just calling me back? My number is ------. Thanks! bye."
SHIT. I hope that I still have a summer job....
I pressed "9" to save that message.
..next message.
"Hi honey, it's Mom. I'm driving home on the Kankamangus Highway, I should be home around 10 or 10:30. Love you wuggy."
oh.
I pressed "7" to delete that message.
Poor Catie was driving us home while this whole bonanza went on. "What happened?" She asked me. "Was it the Peace Corps?"
"Well yes. but..."
Explanation:
Brian Purse is a guy who works in the Peace Corps placement office in the section designated to "health extension", which we all know from my previous post is basically like public health, "health advocacy or education depending on where I am placed." Brian Purse, in other words, holds approximately 27 months of my life in his hands. Yes, that's right. He decides my future. It's hard not to beg and plead with this guy to throw me a freaking bone, but I try to be easy going and humorous while still trying to subtlely self-advocate because at the end of the day...it is 27 months of my life.
Anyway, Brian Purse called me a week before my graduation to ask me all the same questions they had asked me in my initial interview, plus more, and asked if I would be willing to do "worldwide service". After asking me for a detailed assessment of every important relationship I've ever had and about every personal detail they could possibly think to poke at, I'm curious as to what else he has come up with. I hope they are not soul searching questions asking for summaries of my hardest experiences and explanations for why they aren't going to affect my ability to serve. I feel like it has to be easier to become the President than it is to become a Peace Corps volunteer. The only problem is Peace Corps volunteers are too chill to battle their way into that political hell-hole.
I am sidetracked.
I don't know what Brian is going to ask me, but I am hoping that I will get a chance to tell him I would like to leave in September.
Next.
Laurie with LeadAmerica. I would usually wait to call until tomorrow, but I know she is married to her cell phone, and she called me at 6pm. It is also the week before staff training, and I know how LeadAmerica functions, so I called her back. Naturally (this is 9pm), she picked up. In a strained and exhausted voice, poor Laurie asked me if I would be willing to work in NYC for second session. My first instinct was, "of course" but before I could get that out (thank god), she mentioned that it would be an 8 day session instead of a 10 day session, and I would therefore be taking a pay cut.
Now let me be frank. I hate NYC. It's disgusting, and when it rains, I get gritty dirt all over my body and that frankly grosses me out. The dorms we stay in at Columbia are so disgusting I thought I would die last year when we had our last conference there. Bugs climb the walls, the heater was busted in the bathroom so you would break a sweat just opening the door, forget using the toilet or brushing your teeth. The rest of the building had no airconditioner and it was August in NYC (HOT). The shower was busted so you would get 2nd degree burns every time you tried to shampoo. I would have to shower dry and just try to rinse out the shampoo without losing my scalp. I eventually resorted to sink showers. The fire alarm in my bedroom was broken and the thing screeched constantly. In spite of all this, the floor had cardboard all over it, and we took the students on trips to Ellis Island and Times Square. You know what that meant? That meant that I had to hustle 20-something little "independent minded" teenagers on and off the NYC subway multiple times. Yeah. That happened. I thought I would die of a heart attack. Lastly, in order to do this, I would have to pack up all my stuff and travel to NYC and then travel back to D.C. afterwards, meaning I would lose my vacation days between sessions. Laurie mentioned there was a chance she would just leave me in NYC for third session.
Regardless, I was going to say yes, and then she said "pay cut", which I just couldn't agree to. I don't know how long I will be able to stay at that job before the Peace Corps ships my butt out. I told her that I hated leaving her in a lurch, and I felt really bad, but I just couldn't take the pay cut. She said she would check and see if they would still pay me a 10 day session amount for the 8 day session of work and I am now waiting to hear back from her. I am really hoping that I don't have to go to NYC because after hanging up the phone I realized that I would miss spending time with my brother, his girlfriend, and my cousin, which I have really been looking forward to.
So now I wait. What's new?
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