USA-ICD

I don't want to speak too soon, but thank you USA-ICD for the amazing dental coverage! As I just started to feel so discouraged about the massive amount of money I am going to have to shell out for the Peace Corps Health Clearance process, especially with Dental since no short term insurance would cover it, I found USA-ICD and its network of dentists who would provide the check up process for FREE! How and why didn't I know about this before is beyond me because this deal is unbelievable! I still can't get over it. Had I know about this, I would've gotten my things together/done way sooner.

On another note, 50 days until I leave for VIETNAM!

all these red tapes

I am applying for the Peace Corps. It's a tedious process with a lot of paper works and I have been on it for as long as I have been out of school. My decision for joining the PC was not over night, but once I decided I was/am really excited about it. So far, PC is the biggest decision I have made yet. I feel that everything I have done up until now, living in England for 2 months, wandering Brazil and even my up coming trip to Vietnam have been preparation for this commitment, 27 months in a place that is much newer and stranger than everywhere I have been. I don't want to feel anything but excitement about this decision.

Up until now, everything was going well. I had a good interview. Good placement nomination. Good recruiter. And now I'm in the second to last step, working on my medical and dental history, and I don't know what or why, but I'm starting to feel really frustrated, and scared.

Frustrated because I just want to get this annoying process over with. I have to get a physical exam, and throrough dental exam, and eye exam, PAP smear with all blood work and labs and whatever the fuck to go with it. I don't have insurance because I've been out of school, and looking for an affordable doctor/health clinic to get my stuff done is a whole lot of frustration.

Everything is so expensive, and did I mention that I DON'T HAVE INSURANCE? Before I was out of school, I took advantage of the UCSD student health program and got everything under the hood checked, from head to toes, and now I have to do the same thing again... except for some exams, there is a 6 months limit so most of my exams from the summer isn't valid anymore and I have to redo. PC is going to reimburse me for some of it, but it's really minimal what they are going to give me. I'm willing to pay for all of this, but fact is, I just don't wan to do it.

Scared because I feel that the longer this is dragging out, the less excited I would feel about PC, and I might even get cold feet and back out. I don't want to back out, and I don't want to regret not going, but I am impatient, and I'm afraid that my impatience will lessen the significant of the experience for me. I don't want to have second thoughts, but the more time I have waiting around, the more the inevitable may happen.

And since I just got that job, though crappy, I'm still relieved because I am making some sort of income, and I'm afraid that I'll get too comfortable and forget about PC. I am also scared that it's taking me a long time to get the paper works in and I may lose my spot in the program, and all is gone to naught and it will be too late for me to look for something else.

living by the clock

For about 3 weeks now I've been getting up either before 6 or 8am to go to work. That's right, after 6 months of slumping around, I finally found a "time card clock" job. Tutoring really doesn't count for me because I "work" 2 hours a week.

Anyhow, it's a job that doesn't need a college degree. Hell, I'm pretty sure it doesn't even need a high school degree, but at this point, I can't be picky now, can't I? All I think about during my 8 hours shift 4-5 times a week is that I can not wait for March to come. I only have one more month of rent to pay and whatever money I make from bagging sandwiches will go straight to this (sort of) 10 years in the making trip. It's not like I wouldn't go if I didn't have this job, but earning a few extra bucks doesn't hurt, and it makes my days feel a little less pointless.

flight again

My heart beats fast, and my body is tingling with excitement. My head is rushed, and I feel like jumping.

No, I did not just do a line of coke, but I did just book a ticket for a month and a half in Vietnam.

I've been thinking about/wanting to go on this trip for the longest time. At first I was waiting for my mom to cave and go with me so she could pay for me too (haha) but it's been a few years now and the woman hasn't budged so I'm going with the "sisters are doin' it for themselves" route and putting the damage on my credit card.

Originally I was going to get off my ass and head to South East Asia for 6 months or so, volunteer and traveling so I don't mope around like a sad puppy getting butt hurt over every little things about life, but some changes arose so I had to cut my plan short. Of course I still have not told my mom yet, maybe when I need a ride to the airport...

I was going to wait until mid January or later to buy my ticket after I sort through my physicals and dental stuff but apparently good flight deals don't last very long, especially after New Year. For months, I was eyeing this awesome flight deals from STA for 957 bucks (a real good deal to Asia, especially Vietnam) but as of Jan 2nd that didn't exist no more. So after the initial stages of anger/panic/regret, I poked around a bit more and found an other deal from Air China through Vayama. The price is even cheaper than the other one but I wouldn't say it's a better deal since apparently Air China is like the American Airlines of... well, airlines, crappy services, long delayed hours such as 13 hours flight gap in Beijing.

Well, I pondered about it for a day and decided that I couldn't pass it up so I jumped on it, and here we are. I guess I'll be packing some books and pirated movies to pass the times. I'm trying to see if I could get around to check out Beijing for a little bit but apparently the Chinese government is tough about people wandering around their country. Who knew?

The departure date is 2 weeks later than I have intended, good thing I've just recently found a minimum wage mindless labor job to occupy my time. At least I'll make a few bucks to spend on cheap Vietnamese street food. Down side is, I probably will have to couch surf/commute during that two weeks because I'll be homeless by then.

*the above pic is from my first out of the state flight ever to Costa Rica in March 2009. I didn't have window seat, but still caught a cool pic.