...et il commence!

So, now that I'm am officially a part of the TAPIF program, this means that I am officially about to deal with the "pain-in-the-assness" that is French bureaucracy!  Today I mailed in the CERFA, which is the form that needs to be filled out so that I can a.) get my work contract and b.) get my visa.  I've already heard horror stories from many about how annoying the paperwork process is, so I have psyched myself to be prepared  for the absolute worst and the utmost annoyance.  But who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and the process will go smoother than expected (but again thats a BIG maybe!).  My only wish is that I get my contract ASAP so that I can quickly move onto another more annoying part of the process!

As excited as I've been about this journey I am about to embark upon, I can't help but feel a sense of fear.  I've only ever been on a plane without my family once but I have never dome anything close to this program before.  Whether I liked it or not, I've always been a sorta home-body, my life so far as always revolved around the same 25 mile radius, so moving to another country with a different language and being expected to hustle like everyone else for a euro...wow, it all seems soo real, almost too real.  I think it just my nerves getting the best of me, especially since my family doesn't yet know, so I'm am worried about their reactions.  I can't wait to get my work contract so that I can start looking for a proper place, not that it's stopping me now, but there are so many options and I can't agree to any of them without knowing where I'm going to be.

Turn that frown upside down!

So as you all are very ware by my last post, I was waitlisted for the TAPIF program.  Of course this sad/ slightly devastating news bummed me out and made me reconsider my whole life for a second becasue i was really hoping to be accepted.

Well, 16 days after that email, I got another email today:

I got accepted to the Académie de Créteil!!!

OMG OMG OMG, soooo excited and I mean really excited.  I was in the library studying when I got the email and I literaly started screaming and jumping up and down, "I'm going to Paris!" "I'm going to Paris!" "I'm going to Paris!" 

Now of course I know Créteil is not quite Paris but it is the Paris region, so there is a possibility that I can live in Paris and commute (and trust me being from MD and having a job in DC I am more than familiar with commuting to work!) 

Whew...so in the meantime I need to start doing research on Créteil, seriously brush up on my French and dust off my teaching skills by volunteering at my old job.

The REAL agony begins now.....

Well, I got the email I have been waiting for for 4 months now and.....

I was waitlisted

When I saw it my first response was *Gasp*.  I couldn't believe it, I felt like I had done everything right and that I was qualified for the program, almost so that I felt kinda insulted by the email.  Well I guess it's better than a flat-out rejection.  So, the real agony begins nows....I will hear a final response as to whether or not there is a spot for me by July 1st.  Great, just what I needed more waiting.  Well, the only thing I plan on doing is to hope for the best, but prepare for the absolute worse.


Well, I'm still pretty bummed by the news and it will probably keep me bummed for the rest of the week.

...in other news, I lost 5 pounds! Random happy tidbit I wanted to share.

tick....tock...

This pretty much sums up how I feel right now.  I've made it nearly to the end of March but when April arrives then the waiting becomes much more painful.  I put my application on the back burner throughout January and February but now, now I the agony of the wait has sunken in, and my patience is truly being test.

I can't seem to focus or concentrate very well.  The rest of this year will be determined by the contents of the email from TAPIF.  For goodness sake, this is a year in France we're talking about! (and yet, Maman très chère is stillclueless about my plans...)

The more I think about how close I am to getting my response letter, the more I really want to do this program.  I need a break from life, the pursuit of life in medicine and well, a break for the good ol US of A.  I've been thinking about what my reaction would be to either response. I mean I honestly don't see myself crying if I didn't get it, becasue hey c'est la vie, things happen for a reason and maybe it wasn't my time (even if I wanted it to be). 

But just it case:

This has nothing to do with travel but......

Rest in Peace

Elizabeth Taylor

Drumroll please....

Well, les résultats sont là!!! 

BOTH jobs were a no-go....so I'm still in the running to go to France!!!

hehehe, I feel like a contestant on America's Next Top Model and Tyra Banks has just given me a big hug! To be honest, not getting either jobs (even the one where the Doc "liked me") is kinda a blessing in disguise.  After the interviews I was puzzled how I was supposed to maintain a full-time job and still finish the rest of the semester AND get an A in both of my extremely hard and exhausting classes.  Oh well, guess I don't have to answer that question!

Now, I sill have to wait to hear from TAPIF.  And my goodness the wait is becoming less and less easy to bear! I just wanna know, am I in or out? (lol, shout-out to Project Runway!) and am I in Toulouse or not?

.....Grrrrrr, I'm getting antsy!

Le carrefour.....

So, I know its been a while since my last post but things have been incredibly hectic these last couple of weeks because of school.  I've had tests, quizzes assignments, everything you can image, due for my 2 (yes only 2) classes.  Within the midst of the hell that is school, I have been patiently waiting for the notification of the TAPIF Program  But over the last 2 weeks a strange thing, some would call a blessing, occured:

So during my lunch break 2 weeks ago, I decided to visit craigslist.org and see what types of clinical jobs were available for students.  Out of all the listings, I narrowed down 2 separate dermatology clinics looking for Medical Assistants.  On a whim, I decided to apply to both.  I sent them my cover letter and resume without giving a second thought.  I didn't think anything of it because I've been actively applying for health jobs since I graduated in May and to no avail, the only thing I could get was a volunteer position in a hospital.  All the others were either no responses or rejected interviews.  So becasue of my new-found discouragement, I pretty much rejected myself and didn't think they would reply.

3 days later....I received a phone call from one of the dermatology clinics and get this, they actually liked my resume and called it "very competitive".  I was shocked! For a while I thought my resume was useless because I had been receiving so many rejections, but I guess it wasn't so bad.  The women asked me to come in for an all-day interview to shadow the doctor and to see if I was a good fit for the office.  You really should have seen how giddy I was during that conversation, all those applications I sent out and finally someone liked me, God is good!  And to add a cherry on this already delicious cake of good news, the 2nd clinic I applied to emailed me requesting for an interview! Two interviews, somebody pinch me, I must be dreaming!

Long story short, I went to the first interview, which ending up being a 9-hour day shadowing the doctor as he saw patients, taking notes, learning techniques and meeting the staff.  It was a truly exhausting day, because I basically had to put my best face forward for 9 hours straight, which ain't easy!  By the end of the day the Doc said he really liked me (yes he liked me, he really liked me!) but I'm supposed to get the final word sometime this week.  The other interview was a no-go.  I made it to the 1st round, but by the next day, they emailed me and told me I didn't make it to the 2nd round, oh well, c'est la vie!

...but the prospects of having a full-time job, and not just that the Dream job I've been looking for to boost my resume for med school and give me more clinical experience, puts me at a cross-roads.  On the one hand, this is the job I have been wanting for a while and I know that I will help me get into med school.  But on the other hand, if I get this job its au revoir to going to France this fall and next year.  Its like I'm so happy and kinda bummed all at the same time.  I know that neither are guaranteed (I mean there's still the prospect that I either don't get into the program or they place in a tiny town- both would suck equally) but I'm going to be optimistic about my future.  But, this is honestly the 1st time in my life that I'm face with a potiential crossroad...