So I got a call last week from the doctor saying he had good news for me. Seeing as it was my favorite day ever (New Tube of Toothpaste Day!) I figured it would be exceptionally great news. Something like, “Amanda, you just won a new pair of knees!” or something along that lines. Well, he didn’t promise me new knees, but he did tell me that I got approved to be Med-Evac’d to Bangkok, Thailand. I know what you are thinking, and it probably goes something like this- !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And if that is the case, that was my thoughts too. Only that the happy dance that accompanied it was more like a happy hobble followed by an exclamation of pain and a suitable matching grimace. Which reminded me that this trip, that according to the Doc is going to be for something like 4 to 5 weeks, is not actually going to be a vacation. It’s for knee surgery and if I have free time it’s not like I can do much- walking a block makes me cry. (Don’t judge, “Tank” got left behind in the States it seems. I blame the 100lb weight limit…)
So I had a week to get my affairs in order, which included all the normal stuff, talking to work, paying rent, passing off my P.O. Box key to a fellow volunteer to check once in a while, saying some temporary farewells. Then some PC stuff- packing and inventorying my apartment in case of Medical Separation- unlikely, but I still have to be prepared. (And now that Lion King song is in my head…) Saturday was the Winter HIV WG meeting, which meant a day trip to Kiev, and resulted in me being elected one of two c0-presidents. I think my new resolution will be that next time I become president of something; I will make the decision to run in advance of actually becoming the president. Shenanigans! Not that I mind, I am excited to fill this role, and not just because this time it isn’t a highly political, disorganized and disreputable organization. I am excited because I want to work on some bigger HIV projects, and to start doing projects. Yay!
(Which reminds me, the OHALOW PCPP grant is up and online and it is one of the best projects I have ever been a part of and in order for it to be a success again this year it needs your support! Take a moment, check it out, donate if you can, forward the link on to others and we- the kids, the Ukrainian youth volunteers, the hard working partner organization- CCF Solidarity-, the PCV counselors, and me- will be exceptionally grateful!
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=343-303
Home again Saturday afternoon- after getting Ukr’d on the way home. One of my awesome site mate’s and I decided that we would rather get home early and relax then spend the day in Kiev. So we duly head off and get on the bus, where maybe about an hour and a half in, the defogger goes out on the bus and with -16 degrees C outside meant that fog turned to ice. Yup. Who needs to see out the whole windshield anyhow? So while our driver is trying to scrape a small section (maybe handprint size) to see, a good number of fellow passengers decide that it would be prudent to pull over. Which, logically makes sense. But maybe arguing with the bus driver is not the best way of achieving that end. We finally reached the half-way rest stop, and as other buses destined for Rivne arrived, our group started taking over any extra seats. So a delay of maybe 40 minutes meant that our early night home was actually not that early. But home, finally, and safe and sound! All I can say is thankfully I wasn’t alone for that chaos!
When I got home my mission was just to pack and prepare- pretty easy when it involved simply taking the suitcase full of summer clothes and just adding toiletries and candy to it. My fellow site mates and I got together on Sunday night then for a farewell pizza dinner- super yum! Then back to Kiev early Monday morning. Not much to report there- getting paperwork and official stuff done. Though for kicks when I ordered a sandwich without the mayonnaise which earned me some weird looks and questions- “But the sauce is so tasty! Look at it!” Does it have mayonnaise? Yes? Then thanks, but no thanks. Just the pickles, sautéed mushrooms, ham, and cheese for me thanks.
I have an overnight at the hostel, flight out on Tuesday and more news when I get to Thailand. Game, set, match!
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