Vienna, Austria!

A quick update from the Vienna Airport where we have access to free wireless.

I left Pine City on Friday morning around 4am. Thanks to my lovely parents for getting up early and bringing me to the airport. I flew from Minneapolis to Philadelphia to meet everyone else who is going with to Macedonia. I had planned to meet up with another girl to travel to the hotel together, however her plane was delayed. As I was attempting to find my way to the shuttle, I ran into a girl from Kansas who had lots of luggage and we figured out we were going the same place. We met two other fellow PCT (Peace Corps Trainees) on the shuttle. We had a few hours of training in the hotel (focusing mostly on the Peace Corps Goals and Expectations) before heading out in Philly for dinner and to enjoy our last night in the U.S.

We awoke early this morning to catch a bus to JFK where we sat around for 6 hours until our flight to Vienna. Very little sleep was had on the plane (it was like a sauna in there), but we were fed lots and given free wine.

Our group of 36 is currently sitting in the Vienna airport waiting for our 10am flight to Skopje. Once one person discovered the airport provided free internet, lots more computers appeared and Facebook statuses were updated immediately (gotta love technology).

We have no idea what to expect once we arrive in Skopje, other than we will be getting on a bus and heading to our hotel for the first week.

31 Hours

First of all, after a few days of back and forth, I finally officially obtained medical clearance again. Nothing like doing things last minute!

In only 31 hours I will be leaving to start my journey. It has been a busy few days with packing, packing, and more packing. I finally got my bags to where they should be ok without any overweight charges.

My bags weigh in at:
- Large Check: 50 lbs
- Slightly Smaller Check: 48.5 lbs
- Carry-on-18 lbs
- Personal Item- 16 lbs

I will try to add pictures soon because with the MAK-16s, packing and baggage size was the most hotly talked about topic on our Facebook Group.

For anyone who would like more information on Macedonia, here is the link to the Peace Corps Macedonia Welcome Book

The next time I post, I will probably have started my adventure!

OMS Called....

A new lady at OMS called me today around 1:30 to tell me they had received the information my doctor sent over. Here's the gist of the conversation:

OMS: The medical officer reviewing your file had a few questions he wanted me to ask.
Me: Ok
OMS: Have you ever had a prolonged reaction to any sort of allergen or viral infection in the past.
Me: No
OMS: Oh....
Me: (thinking: crap- wrong answer clearly).
OMS: Ok, well are you going to be able to go see the doctor you saw before?
Me: Probably not. He is 3 hours away.
OMS: Hmmm... Well the Medical Officer saw the numbers from the peak flow test that was performed and he wants it done again.
Me: Ok. I have the peak flow meter with me. I can do that no problem.
OMS: Well, see, the Medical Officer isn't here today, but he really wanted a doctor's follow-up and the same doctor. I mean I can check with him later to see if he will take you doing it at home. Hmmm.... Well, how about this, you give me a call back on Monday or Tuesday and let me know the numbers you got when you did it at home and I will let you know if he is ok with that or if he needs the doctor to sign off on it.
Me: Um, ok, but I leave on Friday.
OMS: Yeah, I see that. Well, let's hope we can get this squared away by then.

So, perfect. Just when I thought I had made it through all of the hoops, this comes up. However, I am choosing to just forget about it now, there is nothing I can do until Tuesday (since Monday is Labor Day), so there is no point in worrying about it. It just may mean six hours of driving for literally a 10 second test that I can do at home.

I get that they need to be thorough and are just doing their job looking out for the health and well-being of their volunteers, but that doesn't mean it is any less frustrating. I guess at least they called today rather than on Tuesday. See...a bright side can be found anywhere if you look for it.

I am going to just forget about it all as much as I can and enjoy my last weekend in Minnesota complete with trips to the Minnesota State Fair, Mall of America, Como Zoo, and a Twins Game. What an eventful weekend it is sure to be.