While some of the other volunteers have been studying Armenian (I know this because Facebook tells me so), I have been practicing a more... tangible skill: becoming accustomed to vodka shots. Apparently it's the drink of choice in Armenia. I've tried a couple so far and I expect it'll get less harsh each time.I'm not going to study the language before I leave. The Peace Corps will be teaching us

In my spare time I've been reading about life in Armenia and the blogs of other Peace Corps people who are in, or were in, the country. These are five of the most surprisingly things I learned:(1.) Traveling to Iran is off-limits to Peace Corps volunteers, the border to Turkey is closed, the border to Azerbaijan is closed and hostile to Armenia. However, Egypt and Prague are popular destinations

It's been a long wait, but I finally received my invitation! I will be an Information Technology Specialist in the Community and Business Development Program, and my country is Armenia.

I depart on May 30, 2009 for three months of training (in Armenia). My official service time is August 6, 2009 to August 7, 2011.

The invitation packet came with booklets of standard PR information as well as forms for a passport, visa and updated resume.

I am currently in limbo between nomination and invitation, and there are a number of things in my way. All of which are currently out of my control.

1.) The first barrier, and undeniably the most common: more paperwork.

I mailed in my medical and dental paperwork on August 5. They began processing my dental file on August 19. A week later, my dental clearance was put on hold and I was sent additional paperwork. I had to get an official letter from my dentist explaining the "occasional TMJ discomfort" he had noted. The Peace Corps paid to overnight the paperwork back and a week later I was dentally cleared.

After that hurdle, I knew my medical file would cause a shit storm of its own.

As I expected, it was also put on hold several weeks later and I knew the culprit immediately. Migraines. Not the "bad headache, oh, I'll just take some Tylenol" kind that some people like to call "migraines". More like the "I need a dark room and absolute silence before my head explodes and brain matter paints the walls," accompanied by high doses of Maxalt or Relpax.

They want me to write up some sort of strategic plan on how I will be able to function and "manage the stressors" of the Peace Corps. I imagine I'll manage the same way I always have: through prescription drugs and a hope that it only lasts 24 hours.

Sure, my preference is to lay comatose when experiencing a migraine, but sometimes that's just not an option. I've gone to classes with a migraine. I've even sat through weddings. The jet lag of every travel experience has always given me a migraine and yet I manage to power through. Not even the fiercest migraine could have kept me from exploring Venice the moment I stepped off the plane.

2.) Georgia and the 2008 South Ossetia War. I was nominated for Eastern Europe - meaning that Georgia could have easily been my new home. But with the Peace Corps' policy of evacuation in the face of "political instability," Georgia is one more country that is unavailable to me. What if that was the one country accepting IT volunteers in June of 2009? How many months will I be delayed before they'll find another country for me? And will it even be in Eastern Europe?

3.) Budget trouble means less positions available.

I like to pay attention to the Google News feed concerning the Peace Corps and lately I've been seeing a lot of stories like this LA Times article: "Budget-crunched Peace Corps cuts volunteer positions: Volunteers who thought their assignment was a sure thing learn otherwise."

This Peace Corps plan of mine has been many years in the making and I'm really starting to wonder if I'll ever see it come to fluition. Perhaps this budget crisis will be resolved by my departure date. But maybe it won't. I can't be delayed. I can't spend my post-graduation time lounging around my parent's house, working some odd job and waiting.

My neat little world of best laid plans is spinning out of control. Without the Peace Corps I'll be just another lost and confused, newly graduated twenty-something.

Today I had my interview via phone. At the end of the interview I was nominated for the Information Technology program in Eastern Europe, leaving mid-June 2009.

The interview was relatively painless and lasted for about an hour. Some of the questions were: Why do you want to join; How does it fit your career goals; How long have you been away from home before; What would hinder you from completing your two years of service?; and the reasons for my geographic preference.

There were also a lot of situational questions (“Describe an experience when you…were in a leadership role, transferred knowledge, worked in an unstructured environment, etc.”).

There was only one spot left for Eastern Europe but thankfully, I managed to snag it. The only other place I qualified for was Sub-Sahara Africa. I’m not wild about Africa and my parents have made me swear I wouldn’t go there. However, who knows what could happen between now and my departure date. There’s a strong possibility that some of us nominated for Eastern Europe could be sent to Africa instead.

I called the police station, but oddly, they don't do fingerprinting. Instead they recommended: the local medical center or a juvenile corrections facility.

However, I later discovered that the medical center only does fingerprinting for the thumb and index finger. Why they're discriminating against the other three, I don't know. If any finger would be rejected, I assumed it would be my thumb, which I inherited from my father and is wide and alien looking.

I was able to be successfully fingerprinted at the juvenile corrections facility and though the police station said it would cost $35, it was actually free.

With the exception of references, my Peace Corps application was completed in January. Recommendations posed a problem because I lacked a decent work reference. I'd worked before, but they were all summer jobs that involved scrubbing dishes or overcharging old people on produce.

So I waited until May, when term would end and I would obtain a job as a stringer for my local county paper. I waited a month before asking my editor if she'd fill out a recommendation form, deciding that it was ample time for her to at least learn my name.

The Peace Corps requires that you submit a recommendation form from: a work supervisor, a volunteer supervisor (I used an unpaid internship as volunteer work), and one from a friend of two years or more.

Currently: my recommendation forms are 2/3 complete. The close friend came through immediately, the work supervisor took weeks and my volunteer supervisor has yet to complete the form.

The second part of the application was the Health Status Review Form. It consisted of several pages of yes or no questions covering everything from whether or not I have braces or glaucoma, or if I've ever had a lung removed.

I received an e-mail from my recruiter several days after submitting my application. She was sending along some additional paperwork. At this point, I was not yet sick of the drudgery that is Peace Corps application paperwork. Quite the opposite, in fact – I anxiously awaited it.

I anticipated answering tough questions, but instead I discovered that the Peace Corps had already mucked things up. They sent a form that asked how I'd manage being a vegetarian in the Peace Corps and another form on how I'd manage without my romantic partner. I had answered "no" to both of those questions on my application, but had received the paperwork nonetheless. I ended up ignoring all the questions and instead, writing "I am NOT a vegetarian" and "I am NOT in a relationship" on the forms in large, annoyed scrawl.

The other forms consisted of my consent to a background check as well as fingerprint charts.

Obstacles on the horizon: getting fingerprinted, and desperately awaiting the recommendation form from my volunteer supervisor.

My work supervisor's response to my asking if she'd fill out a recommendation form for the Peace Corps: "Yes, you can give them my e-mail address, although I am disappointed, I was hoping you would come back to work for us full-time after graduation. Oh well - go save the world."