Sunday, March 23, 2008

good news

So I spoke with student legal services at ISU, and I received good news. He was optimistic that I should be able to get my supervision terminated early. He said that people have to do this for the military, and he thought since I already paid my fine, I should be okay. He wrote up a motion for me to file and I have a new court day for April11 at 10am. So I have about three weeks to wait.

What happens now depends on the Peace Corps. I might not get to go to Kazakhstan because they may not want to wait until April to fill that spot. Or they may hold it for until then. I need to talk to my placement officer, and I'll probably do that around Wednesday. Even if I don't get Kazakhstan, I think there'd be a good shot of me leaving in August-October if I can get this cleared up in April. Although, I really want the assignment I've been given, especially now that I'm having to go through this stuff to get it. Russian would be great to learn and the work sounds like just what I wanted. Plus, I already order Nomad off the internet (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374089/)

Thursday, March 20, 2008

pause

Quick update. I talked to Paul. He was very nice and calm and thorough. So props to him. I am currently in PC trouble. I need to either get my court supervision reduced or be prepared to wait until September when the PC will reopen my file. I would guess that would mean placement between January and March. And anyone that can do simple math would see that would see that would be about 4-6 months delayed. But the Peace Corps isn't going anywhere, and right now neither am I. If I can get this sorted out in the next couple weeks, I might still qualify for Kazakhstan.

1. Meet with lawyer about finding how to get my supervision reduced.
2. Try to get supervision reduced.
3. If yes, awesome!
4. If no, wait.Maybe try to save up some cash and visit Latin America.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Pulled Away

Kazakhstan! Look, I even learned how to spell it. But I might not be going there. Here's the story.... I found out my placement last Monday while I was on spring break. I was raking leaves in Altanta when my mom called to tell me I was going to "K - a- z- a ..." She spelled it out instead of saying it. I was estatic. First, it was definitely central Asia. Second, I knew nothing about the place. Third, I was doing NGO development work. I immediately called some friends between my piles of leaves. But I was nervous to tell everyone. I wanted that packet in my hand personally before I told the world. I didn't want to mess it up. Maybe I had misheard what my mom had said. I don't know. I was going to wait.

So the packet finally came yesterday (Monday). It was in my hands. It was official. It was wonderful. Like any eager volunteer, I rushed to read all of the documents. And then in my handbook, I got to the section on legal status. "Have you been arrested for, charged or cited with, or convicted of any offense by a civilian or military court or tribunal?" Why yes, I have. I received a ticket for railroad trespassing in January and I went to court two weeks ago. I received a $150 fine and six months supervision. Supervision just means if I don't do anything wrong in six months, this goes off my record. It does not show up. So I'm not too worried, since this is not alcohol/drug related or something dealing with honesty. But it then my Peace Corps dreams come crashing down. He hints that this supervision is considered probation by the PC. I have to send him a narrative of what happened and my court documents. That was yesterday afternoon. I didn't hear anything back from him. Then when I wake up at 7:30 this morning, there is a legal hold on my file.

I can think of three possible scenarios, but honestly, I won't even outline them, because they are three possible scenarios and only one of them is correct. I have this bad habit of imagining how things will turn out before they do, even when I can't change them. Its not like I'm planning for three outcomes that are equally possible. In reality, there is one possible scenario. And planning for various ones only fuels my anxiety. So now I'm just waiting for the return phone call this morning.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

In the mail

So I got an email this morning saying my toolkit was updated. I have been invited. I just don't know where. Now I'm just waiting on the mail. And spring break is three days away. And then I leave for Georgia for a week. Luckily my roommate Meg will be in town if it comes, but having it read over the phone will not be as cool as tearing open the packet myself. But it will be wonderfully ironic to get an Eastern European assignment while on my Atlanta spring break trip. And life sure does love irony. :/ A little nervous, overall excited. :)