October 27 2010 - Cherokee takes a CLEP Spanish exam at CSU, but doesn't pass it by three points.
November 4 2010 - A few days later, we have separate and joint interviews with the fastest typer in the world, our recruiter. Shortly after, we are thrown a curve ball in the form of a nomination to Cambodia in July 2010. We have been hoping for a Latin American placement because it was Danny's area of study, so this is something that will take some getting used to. We are told we will NOT be placed in a Spanish speaking country, as Cherokee's language skills don't qualify. After a lot of talking, we decide to move forward anyways.
Later in November 2010 - We receive information about medical requirements. It looks extensive!
December 17 2010 - After Danny's graduation from CSU, we start our quest for medical clearance. Our eye exams are fine, but Danny has some problems. His teeth need a lot of work: four wisdom teeth and nine cavities. Ouch!
January 3 2011 - The medical part proves the hardest. Danny needs to get a colonoscopy, which turns out to be delightful because the drug they give you makes you do really funny things that you realize were rather humorous after the fact. Everything colon-wise is fine, but a prescription of thyroid medicine is in order for his hypothyroidism. This process, though quickly mentioned, is very arduous and extends all the way into...
March 2011 - We need to get the TSH levels for the hypothyroidism normalized. The medicine is not doing the trick. Multiple doctor visits and countless needle pokes later, it is finally reconciled. Mind you, however, that this is a long and complicated process that doesn't end until we are finally medically qualified on...
June 1 2011 - What a relief! Now for a phone interview. This is where we get to talk to a real person all the way in Washington D.C. Our placement officer repeats some interview questions, and asks us some new ones. We are concerned: will we be done with the process in time to be invited for our July staging date??
June 22 2011 - Interview is fine. Yet, for all the cramming of our lives around the idea that we had to get it all done in time to go to Cambodia, we are informed that we will no longer be considered for that program. So, now, we have to adjust again. We have no idea where we might end up at this point! But the nice lady in Washington encourages Cherokee to re-take her CLEP test for Spanish. This perks our interest, though we have almost forgotten about Latin America, this may mean they are suggesting we might have a chance. However, we have come to expect just about anything at this point.
July 21 2011 - Cherokee re-takes her test (at Front Range Community College thankfully) and passes with flying colors. She e-mails the result in that afternoon and five minutes later. . . we are told to expect a Central/South American Placement!
Our invitation is in the mail. We are dying to know specifics . . . don't these people use e-mail??? Or phones??? We use Peace Corps Wiki's timeline page to try to figure it out . . .
July 27 2011 - Invitation to Paraguay! Big day for us and big decision as well. We wait a few days to be sure we want to do this, then send our confirmation email and we are set. More work to come, but the tension and suspense is a bit alleviated.