John's Next Step

I selected a job as a grocery store cashier knowing that Thanksgiving and Christmas would be busy times – as the week before Thanksgiving was busy.  However, I did have a lot of fun with the customers.  Most everyone seemed to be in a good mood before Thanksgiving.  I was working at one of the better stores who recognize family time is important - the stores were closed on the holiday.  I was sort of surprised on Friday with the number of people frustrated or otherwise not in a great mood.  Hmmmm. Being with part of my family this year was nice.  I’ll likely be apart from family again for the next two Thanksgiving so this one was extra special.  My oldest son and his wife hosted the first dinner for Samantha, Brandon, and I.  We also shared a meal with Brandon’s family in the evening.  Both were very nice. Medical clearance With the holiday – I’ve not made much progress on medical.  I expect to get my eye exam next week and will...

After one receives and accepts an invitation to serve in the Peace Corps there is a wave of emails and tasks to be completed within a certain time.  It is best to get organized and start working on the tasks because some have tight deadlines.  It is also good to re-read the instructions carefully; I’ve already made one mistake. The tasks are divided into medical, legal, training, and administrative tasks. Medical clearance As one will be away for over 2 years and the Peace Corps takes your health and safety seriously, there is a rather rigorous medical clearance.  10% of those invited do not get medical clearance. It will be but over 6 months since I finished my service until I deploy so I will do the whole medical clearance.  In my case that means an initial 23 steps and 62 pages of documentation.  Some of it is just repeating tasks done last time or sending information I already have – such as a copy of my yellow card for my vaccination records. ...

I am excited to report that I have been invited to serve as a Primary English Literacy volunteer in the Eastern Caribbean leaving around the end of May next year.  This is a 2 year position, about 26 months with 9 weeks of pre-service training (PST).   My primary project will be working in an elementary school to help improve English skills.  This will be similar and different from my previous Ghana junior high experience teaching math and computers.  I will research possible secondary projects that might work in the region so I have some options once I get settled and understand the unique situation of my village. While the Eastern Caribbean will have nice tourist resorts and great beaches that will not be where I will spend my time.  Peace Corps is focused on the needs of the local population.  I will have modest living standards but should have water and electricity most of the time.  I’m so looking forward to it.  I will be doing a ...

This post explores my next step – getting a part time job while hoping to return to the Peace Corps within a year. Changes in the computer field I spent about 30 years sitting behind a desk working with computers.  I had a lot of fun most of the time – designing and programming advanced systems, performing software research into real-time databases and machine learning, along with performance analysis and capacity planning.  After two years in the Peace Corps, I was less interested in returning to sit behind a desk and focus on working with computer systems – as much as I like the work and the people – and respect those current doing that important work.  I hope to be able to use my expertise in some future capacity – for the right organization sometime in the future. Finding a job When I returned to the states I was hoping to quickly transition into a Peace Corps Response position that would have already started, but I was not selected.  I now hope to ...