Nakhvamdis PST!

Week 12 and that’s a wrap! Pre Service Training (PST) is finally through. I’m convinced that the relative speed of time is determined by your unit of measurement. When you count by weeks, like I have been, things move a lot slower. Now that I’m a full-fledged volunteer I get to start counting by months (24 to be exact- mark your calendar Mother) and July 2017 is sure to sneak up quick!

A lot goes into ending things, so let me give you the highlights from the end of training:

The first thing that we needed to wrap up were classes, those went away with little fanfare. I will miss having language classes, because now I am on my own and how much I learn will be entirely up to me and the effort that I want to put into studying. Aside from the structured learning opportunities, I am also going to miss the wonderful staff of trainers that came together for these three months. Peace Corps Georgia only has 3 American staff members aside from the volunteers. Most of the staff who have helped us during training only work for these 3 months. Many of them spent their weeks with us and only went home to visit friends and family on the weekends. Several took leave from others jobs even. PC Georgia really did a fantastic job putting together our teachers and trainers.

My farewell to classes however wouldn’t be complete without mention of the (somewhat dreaded) LPI (language proficiency interview). Part of our training requirements is to reach an intermediate low level of language proficiency. This test was PC Georgia’s way of determining that. The format is a simple 20 min recorded conversation with a staff member. It really isn’t anything to be nervous about. I happened to be late to mine, and ended up speed walking to the school which meant that I was hot and sweaty the entire time. It is really hard to look calm, cool, and collected when your body decides to turn on you and make you look rushed, hot, and messy. Despite my literal hot mess of an appearance, the test went fine. Given that it is a conversation I should’ve tried harder to steer it towards safe topics, but somehow I was getting asked about the socioeconomic problems in India and I was toast. I’m just not up to date on contemporary issues in India with my Georgia vocabulary, sorry! In the end there is nothing to worry about, I passed at the intermediate-mid level and couldn’t be happier.

Given the somewhat serious and important nature of our LPI exam, you would think that studying would have taken up most of our free time, but I say unto you NAY! Why would we spent time on important matters when we could fill it with more frivolous pursuits such as the new off off off Broadway musical hit, Skrease! (If you can’t tell that is just the musical Grease with Skra, my village, worked into the title.)

On the night before swearing in the trainees and staff all gather for a farewell dinner and they are invited to prepare a skit or other entertainment offering. We have known about this for weeks (11 to be exact) and yet had had the hardest time coming up with ideas. Finally one day over lunch the idea was formed. I then spent that same evening rewriting the lyrics to 7 of Grease’s most familiar hits. After sharing them with my clustermates, Jim and I reworked a couple songs and then we ready to go. We spent 2 days practicing and memorizing music and lines for our big PC debut on Thursday night. This was definitely as important, if not more, than studying more Georgian.

Farewell dinner with Naili and clustermates

The dinner came and everyone got all dressed up. We gathered in a local restaurant and had a great time. Near the end we took our places on the makeshift stage and gave everyone a performance they were hardly expecting. It was a great time! We all forgot lyrics, tunes, and parts but that hardly mattered in the end. My only regret is not getting the whole 7 minutes of it on film. (For your pleasure I’ll include all the lyrics below) 

Last pic as trainees!

That dinner really marked the end of our time in PST. That night I went back to Skra, participated in a feat (of course), gave my family some presents, packed my belongings, and went to bed. In the morning I said my good byes to my host family loaded up my stuff and was off to Tbilisi for the swearing in ceremony. The events of yesterday are still mostly a blur. We arrived on our marshutkas. Were ushered into the auditorium. Scurried around to change into our dress clothes. Practiced a few things. Had some pictures taken. Took our seats. Then the ceremony started.

Classic swearing-in pic

The moment before swearing in

The actual ceremony was nicely down and pretty short and sweet. I joined some other trainees and sang the Georgian and US national anthems, next the Country Director gave some remarks followed by the ambassador who also administered the oath which we repeated to become official volunteers. Following the official oath taking, we had a pinning ceremony, a few volunteers spoke, and then we took our seats in the audience and watched a team of Georgian dancers present some (incredible) dances. After the ceremony there was a small reception which also served as a place to say our good byes to our host family members who had some to support us, fellow trainees who have been our constant support for 3 months, and finally meet up with our new host families who had come to bring us back to our permanent sites. It madness. There were people and emotions everywhere. I found my host mother and said my good byes, wished my friends luck, changed out of my dress clothes, met up with my host father and new counterpart, and made my way out and onto my next adventure. 

Georgian dancers after the official ceremony

That adventure ended up being transporting all of my belongings around the university to get a taxi, and then drop them off at someone’s apartment. I don’t know how those who had more things than myself managed to do it all. Luckily my host dad does not like to take marshutkas from Tbilisi to Poti, so he chose to wait for the night train. I was not about to complain, visions of a crowded marshutka with all of my belongings and 100 other people crammed into it were giving my anxiety.

My afternoon view of Tbilisi

We spent the day at his relative’s house in the hills above Tbilisi, we ate watermelon, they drove me around the area, fed me supper, provided some decent Georgian/English conversation, and gave me a place to rest- I was more than happy with it all. Finally at the end of the day we gathered up all of my belongings and headed to the train station. We got a private 2 person compartment that looked like it was straight out of the late 1980s. You can leave the Soviet Union, but the Soviet Union will really never leave you (at least visually).

Our compartment on the night train

Train rides are always a good time, and this was definitely beat the one I rode in India. After chatting with some passengers, playing candy crush with my dad, and listening to some of this stories, I as exhausted and fell right asleep. The train wasn’t stopping in my city so we hopped off on a station near my house and took a taxi in. At 5:30 am I was laying in my bed, dying from the humid heat, exhausted, and excited to begin my time as a Peace Corp volunteer in my permanent site.

Here are the lyrics to Skrease the Musical!

Skrease!

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Bazaleti aka Summer Nights

Bazaleti had me a blast

Bazaleti happened so fast 

Met a group perfect for me LCF and sopeli

USA drifting away To, uh oh, those skru-uh-mmer nights!

A wella wella wella uh!

Tell me more tell me more

Are there any cute dudes? 

Tell me more tell me more 

What's your favorite new food?

Swearing in, seems far away But, uh oh, those skru-uh-mmer niiiiights!

Tell me more! Tell me more!

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A New Trainee aka Sandra Dee

Look at me, a new trainee
Hardly can say anything!
My Georgian is bad but my LCFs rad,
Ar vitsi kartuli

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Pagharati aka Greased Lightning

Well this disease is automatic, problematic, quite traumatic
Why it’s pagharati!

You drank some sketchy water
and now you’re feelin’ bad, oh no
(Keep hoping, whoa, keep hoping)
You eye the anti-diarreahal
and thing about calling PCMO
(Keep hoping, whoa, keep hoping)
You can't hold it any more
You start runnin' for the door
You know it's not a drill,
Now there's only seconds til', Pagharati!
(Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go)

Shoulda eaten less kninkali
At that supra one night ago
(Pagharati, gakvs pagharati)
Though you having pooped your pants
Is the Peace Corps status quo
(Pagharati, gakvs pagharati)
It looked like cream,
it made me scream,
Pagharati!

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Practicum Wipe Out aka Beauty School Drop Out

Bom ba do ba do 

(do do do do do do do)

Practicum wipe out
You haven't even made week two
Practicum wipe out
aught half day and now your through
Well at least to lunch you get to go,
To eat away your screw up!
Tomorrow you'll have more classes
so try to keep your head up!

Trainee don’t sweat it (don’t sweat it)
Why don’t you give it one more try?
Think what you’re doing (what you're dong)?
The toughest job you’ll ever love! 

You could plan your lessons better
If you used those training tools
Pick up that English book
and go back to Skra school

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Where Will I Go aka There are Worse Things I Could Do

Where’s the site that I will go? 

How much English will they know? 

Will I have a didi school? 

Posh corps dreamin’, I’m a fool 

I just really want to know. 

Where’s the site that I will go?

I could go out to the coast, 

Seaside pictures I would post! 

To the mountains there’s a chance, 

I would learn some Georgian dance. 

I just really want to know. 

Where’s the site that I will go?

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End of PST aka Sandra Dee (reprise)

Here’s the end of PST
Look what Tengo‘s done to me
Hold your head high,
time to say your goodbyes;
Nakhvamdis PST!

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Peace Corps Volunteers aka You're the One that I Want

My vocab words they’re multiplying 

And I’m ready to go 

My host family 's ‘round me crying 

This is terrifying!

You'd better shape up

'cause you need a plan

And this work depends on you

You'd better shape up

You'd better understand

In your site you're starting new

So much left, so much left for us to do!

We're finally here!

Peace Corps Volunteers!

PCVs baby! 

We're finally here!

Peace Corps Volunteers!

PCVs baby!

We're finally here!

Peace Corps Volunteers!

PCVs we're PCVs,
Oh yes indeeeeeeeed
Yeah!