Peace Corps Update

It has been a few months since I last posted. I have been busy and just got out of the habit of making the rounds of my favorite blogs on a daily basis.

I am still in the process of joining the Peace Corps. A couple of weeks ago the NY regional office of the Peace Corps nominated me for an assignment in sub-Saharan Africa that would begin in February 2009. I would be teaching math to secondary school students. There are about 50 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the Peace Corps serves in about one-half of them.

I just completed all the medical evaluations with my personal doctors. Medical is the last area to be evaluated. The next step is for the Peace Corps office in Washington, DC to either invite me or say "no thanks". I'm told that they could wait until the last minute to make that decision.

I'm hoping, first, that they approve me and, second, that they tell me soon what country I will be serving in so that I will have a few months to begin learning the language of the people that I will serve. I also hope that it is a language that is taught by Rosetta Stone or Berlitz. I've checked each of them; they teach a couple of the African languages but not all of them.

I also plan to prepare for the teaching assignment by volunteering at my local high school as a tutor or teacher's aide in the math department. I haven't been in a math class in more than 30 years. I'm sure that most of it will come back easily but not all of it, and tutoring will be more helpful to me than just studying with books. The course(s) I will be teaching range from General Math to Calculus.

The waiting is going to be painful. I've never been good at waiting to do something after I decide to do it. Once the decision is made I like to start yesterday. However, the Peace Corps, like the government, doesn't work like that - not even close. So, when something else happens - anything else - I'll post another update.

Peace Corps

I've finally done it!. I have applied to the Peace Corps. I won't know for at least one month whether they will accept me. Most people respond positively to the news; a few think this is further proof that I need a full-time caretaker. I met with my medical doctor yesterday and asked him if he thought that I would be able to handle the challenge. I was glad but surprised that he approved so positively without any qualifiers. I was expecting him to say yes but only if I first lost enough weight to get back inside the normal weight range for my height.

I didn't specify a preferred location so I have no idea where they will send me if they accept me. I won't leave before this fall and perhaps not until next year.

I'm really looking forward to this opportunity to make a meaningful contribution.