August 18-August 29
When I arrived in Azerbaijan I said everyone should do this. I would no longer make such claims. For instance, it is important for a PCV not to be too much of any one thing. If an individual is too much of any one thing they risk not being able to bend when necessary. In my opinion, PC is all about bending. It's not about life being "fair" to anyone in any place at any time in any sense of the word.

Training is quickly coming to an end and our swearing in as PCV’s looms ever nearer. We’ve had out site visits. We know what our communities look like, we know who we’ll work with, for the most part we know where we’ll live. We know the theories and we know the requirements.

More than ever we are beginning to understand what it means to make this commitment and though we could never know what our experience will be, the probabilities are finally beginning to come into focus.

Next week is our final language proficiency exam. The following week we will be given a total assessment of our commitment and must demonstrate our ability to reasonably take care of ourselves for the next two years. Do we know how to keep ourselves safe from medical and physical danger? Do we know whom to call? Do we know what we can and cannot do? When can we leave site? When can we go on vacation? When can we MOVE OUT?

At the beginning of September we will say goodbye to our host families, our houses and local friends and embark on a journey that will surely change us. Some of us will be alone, some will have PCV’s near by. Some will go north, others will go south. Our training wheels will come off and for the first time we’ll apply the concepts and language skills we’ve spent the last 2 ½ months cultivating.

Yaxşı Yol!