Wishing and hoping and waiting…
I started this update yesterday morning at 6am but then the rest of the day took over. My online “teach the teachers” course with MSF is twice a week at 5 am (due to the time difference in Brussels), so I was up at 4:30 am. I then had to hop to Chapel Hill to cover a shift at that Planned Parenthood clinic. The good news is that my HR application finally was submitted which means the visa process can start! The bad news is that I am still awaiting my departure date… of course there is a hiccup to this. Turns out the hiring manager is confused about the position and thought it started in March and was only a six month assignment. My recruiter and I were under the impression it was a 12 month assignment and started ASAP. Thankfully, she is advocating for me in the background and hopefully it will get sorted. It is complicated by time zone differences.
Our icy snow that fell in NC…Nina and I both come alive in the cold weather!
Nik came home from Orlando yesterday. It is good to have her back; every day together is more and more precious. I will be leaving Sunday for my trip to Maine to see family. Speaking of precious time, Nina and I have been very busy with hiking, cuddling and vet check ups. She is about to turn 12 and I am going to need her to really give me at least 4 more years. She had some weird liver levels at her annual visit and I convinced them to check her early so I could have the results before I leave. Luckily they were completely normal. Nik and I had also noticed her eyes had more of a cloudy look to them. Turns out she has lenticular sclerosis, which is a degenerative disease. Right now it is not affecting her vision, but it could in the future. She is still such a puppy in the snow; it is hard to believe she’s the old lady that she is.
Nina at the vet, being oh so brave. She’s come a long way!
I’m in Winston Salem today, covering a shift. This is supposed to be my last Planned Parenthood shift, but I am treating it as any other day because knowing me, there will be a delay or something on my departure date and I will be filling in again. I will say, every time I hear more about this assignment, I get more and more excited. One of the people taking my online class is a colleague on the mission and we were able to talk on whatsapp yesterday. I asked her the most important question: How’s the coffee situation?! She assured me it is fine but she was excited to learn I was using precious real estate in my luggage to bring my french press so we can make cold brew. I don’t drink alcohol, so this is my one vice.
Fingers crossed my departure date gets figured out soon!
