Jay Girl and the Peace Corps: Round One

The Peace Corps application is in! I am very excited. Much thanks to the friends and family who reviewed my application materials. The part of the whole process that amused me the most was that I had to check "yes" on the following question: "Is any member of your family involved in intelligence activities of the US government?"

I do have an uncle who was in the CIA and another family member is currently in the CIA. Living in DC, there is a degree of intrigue and mystery around the CIA and spies in general. For example, scene: Starbucks. Young woman steps up to the cashier. "I would like a latte, please." Cashier: "Sure, one latte coming right up." Young woman notices a mysterious ear piece behind the cashier's ear. Could she be... a spy?

So I am being a bit dramatic, but in DC you never know what someone knows, who they work for, or what level of security clearance they have. Maybe a friend of yours says she works at a boring company out in Northern Virginia or is going to Russia on vacation. But who's to say that "boring company" is not the CIA or that Russia vacation is not a top-secret work trip?

But, being that the Peace Corps is a government office, checking "yes" alerted a staff member to let me know they had to first determine if this distant relation to a family member involved in intelligence activities made me ineligible for the Peace Corps. After 5 emails with 3 staff people and 2 phone calls, the Peace Corps and I have worked out that, in fact, according to MS 611, I do not have a family relationship that makes me ineligible for the Peace Corps. Good news!