Now that we're almost finished with PST (Pre-Service Training), it seemed like a good time for reflection. In terms of the process of how I got to where I am now, let's pick up where we left off - receiving the invitation kit.
Next Steps Following Invitation
Within 10 days: Email aspiration statement and updated resume to country desk. Although invitees may feel like they have already provided much of the requested information, none of that will have been provided to the staff in the host country. My understanding was that these documents would basically be the host country staff's first impression, so I tried to be extra thorough about editing and spell-checking.
Immediately: Apply for Peace Corps (no-fee) Passport and Visa. I would summarize the use of the two application forms as follows:
DS-82. This should be used by those who have a valid current passport in good condition that was issued after the age of 16. (The passport must be sent with the form and will be returned at staging.)
DS-11. This form should be used by those who do not have a personal passport, a current passport, or those who plan to travel with their personal passport prior to staging.
Approximately 30 days before staging, received more detailed information about staging, hotel information, and instructions for making travel arrangements.
General housekeeping: Clearance and Qualification - Make sure everything is in order in terms of medical, dental, legal, financial, etc., and provide any requested information promptly.
- Read the Welcome Book, which is specific to the host country, and the Volunteer Handbook.
Pre-Departure Preparations
Packing and re-packing was one of the most time-consuming of pre-departure tasks.
Luggage Restrictions:
- 1 check-in bag measuring no more than 45 inches (standard carry-on length by width by height)
- 2 checked bags measuring no more than 107 inches for both bags combined
- The larger checked bag may not measure more than 62 inches
- Each checked bag must weigh 50 pounds or less
- 1 personal item such as a purse, laptop bag, or briefcase
Future PCVs: Double-check your particular airline's restrictions, as they may vary, and make sure your bags fit within the most restrictive guidelines among the domestic and international legs of your itinerary.*
Or you can just pay the overage fees.
*These restrictions, as with all information discussed here, are subject to change.
My Packing List, more or less:
| Luggage | Clothing and Shoes |
| Backpack | 14 pairs of underwear |
| Carry-on | 7 undershirts |
| Suitcase | 5 pair dress socks |
| Convertible Rolling and Hiking Backpack | 4 pair winter socks |
| Messenger bag | 6 pair regular socks |
| Personal Care Items | 2 sets of long underwear |
| 2 pairs of glasses | 1 fleece |
| All contacts | 1 down jacket |
| 2 bottles of contact lens solution | 1 rain shell |
| 4 toothbrushes | 1 pair of glove liners + gloves |
| 2 spools of floss | 2 suits |
| 2 tubes of toothpaste | 3 dress shirts |
| 1 neti pot and kosher salt | 6 ties |
| 1 dental pick and scraper | 1 pair of jeans |
| 1 deodorant stone | 2 pairs of khakis |
| 2 deodorant sticks | 4 T-shirts |
| 2 travel-size hand sanitizer | 1 dress sweater |
| 1 electric shaver | 2 sets of pajamas |
| 1 razor | 2 belts |
| All razor blades | 5 long-sleeve button-downs |
| Sunblock | 1 pair of earmuffs |
| Mosquito repellant | 1 scarf |
| Nail clippers | 1 pair of dress shoes |
| Baby wipes | 1 pair of running shoes |
| 72 NyQuil gelcaps | 1 pair of cowboy boots (ropers) |
| Neosporin | 1 pair of hiking sandals |
| Antihistamine | 1 pair of winter slippers |
| Linens | Kitchen |
| 1 sleeping bag (approx. 40° F) | 1 can opener |
| 1 sleeping bag liner | Assorted Ziploc bags |
| 2 pillow cases | 1 soft water bottle |
| 1 compressible pillow | 1 set of measuring spoons |
| 1 regular pillow | Electronics |
| 2 flat sheets | Laptop |
| 3 travel towels (S, M, L) | Camera |
| Gifts | Voltage converter |
| Texas-themed keychains, postcards, and pins | 2 plug adapters |
| Bolo with the State Seal of Texas | Rechargeable batteries and charger |
| Book of pictures of Texas | Flash drives |
| Small bottles of bubbles with wands, you know, for kids | External hard drive |
| Miscellaneous | Travel mouse |
| 2 Multi-tools (regular and pocket-sized) | Travel clock |
| Duct tape | Headlamp |
| Tide stain stick | Kindle |
| Various compression bags and sacks | Blackberry |
| Sewing kit | |
| Packable tote bag | |
| Travel clothes line | |
| Sunglasses | |
| Fine-tip pens | |
| Yoga gear: 1 towel, 2 straps, and 3 pair injinji socks | |
Tips for Future PCVs
Things that I didn't need to bring right away or haven't used much:
Extra toothbrushes and toothpaste. There's plenty here in the shops. However, I didn't have time to go shopping in the first couple of weeks, so enough to get by for just a little while would have been fine.
Flat sheets. I hear that these will come in handy if and when you move out on your own, but I haven't found them necessary so far during PST. In all likelihood, your host family will take care of bedding, etc.
- Rechargeable batteries. Before departure, I bought new batteries for my headlamp, watch, and travel clock, etc., so I haven't needed to replace them yet. I expect rechargeables to be useful in the long run, but they could easily be put in a care package later.
- Scarf. Unless you have a favorite scarf that you want to bring, there are plenty to choose from here.
- Dress sweater. I'm not a sweater person, so I have yet to use it.
- Water bottle. So far, using plastic bottles of water I buy at the shops has worked just fine.
Things that I wish I had packed:
- Galoshes! I had read that it gets rainy and muddy in the winter, so I had planned on having a pair sent to me (which I did). However, it can get very muddy here upon arrival in the fall. I survived, but it would have been useful to have made room for them from the outset.
- More floss. Although you can probably find any toothbrush and toothpaste you want, floss is scarce and a little pricey. (The PC medkit has floss in it, but it isn't waxed, breaks more easily than, say, Crest Glide, and is prone to cutting your gums.)
- More plug adapters. It would have been good to bring a couple of extra plug adapters because the electricity is temperamental and much of the infrastructure is old and often poorly maintained. For example, when I plug devices into the wall socket, I often hear (and sometimes see) the sparks continuously arcing between the socket and the prongs of the plug. It looks and sounds disconcertingly like a plasma globe. Minus the protective layer of glass between you and the purple electricity.
Things that I have found remarkably useful or am otherwise glad that I packed:
- Waterproof dress shoes. These Rockports have been a lifesaver on rainy days, which have been quite common. (And, no, I have no affiliation with Rockport or its subsidiaries.)
- Headlamp. Listen to PCV blogosphere on this one. It's not the most fashion-forward of accessories, but you'll be glad you have one when the power goes out. Which it will.
- Packable tote bag. PST, staging, and especially orientation are chock-full of handouts, supplies, and other materials, so it's been useful to have an extra bag that didn't take up much space on the way here. Come to think of it, I could probably use a packable duffel and day-pack, too.
- Travel clothesline. I hang mine in my room, where it can be more convenient to dry small batches of laundry because it is: (1) not an imposition on my host family, and (2) not exposed to the elements.
- NyQuil and antihistamine. It's almost inevitable that you will get sick at some point during your service, and a bit of your preferred cold medication takes up little space.
- Hiking Sandals. These have been invaluable because my tualet-hamam (toilet/bath) is outside in an enclosure separate from the main house. They're easy to slip on and off but have enough traction for various ground/floor conditions.
- Blackberry. I use this extensively to take notes, listen to music, take snapshots, organize to-do lists, calendar deadlines, and keep a list of useful Azərbaycani phrases. And I'm this close to figuring out how to get an English-AZ dictionary on it.
Other:
- Notify credit card companies and banks of travel plans.
- Language: I'm glad that I took the time to learn some basic phrases for greetings and goodbyes, which are very important here, but that I spent the rest of my free time hanging out with friends and family and eating at my favorite restaurants.
- Travel arrangements: Registration for staging was at noon on Thursday, September 22, and the only flight that morning would have been the red-eye arriving at 11 am or something. Luckily, SATO Travel agreed that this would not allow room for delays or other unforeseen problems, so they kindly offered to fly me in (and arrange for accommodation at PC expense) the day before.
- Host Family and Language Questionnaire, which will ask about: (1) any dietary restrictions or allergies that might relate to host family placement, and (2) a self-assessment of your language-learning style and ability, which relates to placement in a language cluster. While PC takes your answers into consideration, they are not determinative and PC cannot necessarily honor stated preferences.
Staging was led by a great team, Hannah (Staging Coordinator) and Jessica (Staging Director).
The agenda was roughly as follows:
22 SEP 2011 - Staging (I don't remember the exact times...)
- 12:00-13:00 - Registration, sign in, receive PC passport (and get personal passport back, if applicable), fill out forms. (This is when we officially became PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees).)
- 13:00-15:30 - Who We Are. What's Expected of You.
- 15:30-16:00 - Break
- 16:00-18:15 - What to Expect. What's Next. Logistics and Conclusion.
- Dinner.
Staging mainly consisted of: (1) icebreakers and general information, (2) expectation management, and (3) logistics.
I. Getting to Know You
The first of many icebreakers involved going around the room one by one, introducing ourselves (name and hometown), and sharing something that we knew (or were excited) about Azərbaycan. The second was filling out a twenty-question trivia/scavenger hunt list to elicit more information from each other, such as, who is vegetarian, speaks more than one language, checked only one bag (go Jeannette!), does yoga, etc. There would be many more icebreakers in the weeks to come, but I'm glad we had a variety of them because they are exactly the kind of activity that could be used to kick off a conversation club or be shared with HCNs (host country nationals) for use in their own projects.
[Sidebar: One thing we learned about ourselves as a group was that there were supposed to be more of us. Apparently, 48 PCTs were expected, but only 44 showed up at Staging. Later, I heard from some very disappointed Azərbaycanis who had really been looking forward to being host families, and I had to explain with my limited language skills that I knew no more about the matter than they did.]
As we got to know each other, we also got to know Peace Corps by going over introductory medical, security, and transportation matters.
II. What to Expect When You're Expecting (to Become a PCV)
The misalignment of expectations and what actually happens is the source of much unhappiness and conflict, whether it's our expectations of others, others' expectations of us, or our expectations of ourselves. Given the magnitude of the PC commitment, it's in the best interests of both PC and the PCTs to clarify expectations, so Jessica's interactive presentations reviewed PC's
3 Goals and
10 Core Expectations and helped us articulate our own goals, anxieties, and plans.
I would characterize many of the anxieties as the flip side of (or capable of being mitigated by pursuing) our goals.
| Common Anxieties | Goals |
| Difficulty with the language | To learn the language (Goal 3) |
| Will my stomach be okay with the diet? | To (learn to) cook my own food / cook for my host family (Goals 2 and 3) |
| Living in a fishbowl | To integrate into the community |
| Gender Issues | To lead by example and/or share the benefits of empowering women (Goal 2) |
| Theft | |
| Squat Toilet | To master the squat (Goal 3?) |
| Homesickness | To make friends with Azərbaycanis and feel at home in-country |
| Can I do this? | To fulfill my PC mission (Goals 1 through 3) |
III. Logistics
Logistics involved filling out paperwork and receiving ATM cards for withdrawing funds to cover meals and incidental expenses during travel and upon settling in.
For our last dinner in the States, a group of us went to the Cheesecake Factory, where I somehow managed to restrain myself and order the grilled salmon with fresh vegetables, which turned out to be a good call since I've seen no signs of salmon here so far (certainly not at an affordable price) and no broccoli. Also, I've heard that the sushi isn't very good because all fish must be flown in frozen. Guess what I'm having when I get back to the states.
23 SEP 2011 - Departure
* 08:00 - Checkout
* 08:30 - Boarding for Bus to JFK
* 17:05 - Delta Flight 72 from JFK to Istanbul.
Before checking out, I enjoyed a last breakfast on American soil for a long while consisting of hearty helpings of oatmeal, bacon, scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, bacon, sausages, roasted potatoes, and did I mention bacon?
24 SEP 2011 - In Transit
* 10:15 - Arrive in Istanbul.
* Quest for wifi.
* 14:15 - Turkish Airlines Flight 334 from Istanbul to Bakı, arriving 19:00 local time.
* Bus to Hotel Bavarius in Mərdekan (suburb of Bakı).
On the plane from Istanbul, it turned out that I was sitting next to an Azərbaycani couple. After a deep breath, I dove into the little Azərbaycani I had learned memorized. "Salam" (Hello) and "Mənim adım Daviddir" (My name is David) went okay, but we didn't get much farther than that. When I tried to explain that "biz Sülh Korpusu Könüllüsüyük" (We are Peace Corps Volunteers (I didn't know the word for "trainees" yet)), they seemed to think I was speaking English and stopped listening after "biz," at which point they helpfully offered that perhaps I was talking about "bizness?" No, I shook my head and gestured to the people around me to indicate that I meant "we," but to no avail. After working out that we could not resort to communicating in any other languages (between me and the husband, we spoke six languages, three apiece, but there was no overlap), we smiled awkwardly, shrugged, and settled in for the in-flight entertainment.
At the airport, we were greeted by the PC welcome team, consisting of staff and current PCVs. Since I was bleary-eyed from having had only fitful, airplane-quality sleep, I don't remember much except for the awesome outfits worn by the AZ8 PCV Welcome Committee: Blue track suit jackets with white, Addidas-like piping emblazoned with the Azərbaycani flag, national emblem, and "AZƏRBAYCAN" in big blue, red, and green letters across the back + matching track-suit bottoms. Undoubtedly, this will become part of my wardrobe before long. (Coincidentally, I would later meet the AZ7 who started this tradition during my site visit, but that's another story.)
On the bus ride to the hotel, Peace Corps thankfully had provided brown-bag dinners. Inside was a sub-sandwich with good-but-indeterminate contents (I remember some tomato (AZ: "pomidor"), water ("su"), fruit ("meyvə"), and a Snickers ("Snikers"), which I managed to save for a good five weeks or so before succumbing to a craving for it. It's not that there are Snickers no here (they're about 65 cents a bar) or that I have a particular fondness for Snickers. I just wanted to see how long I could go without really craving an American food.
Anyway, I don't know about everyone else, but I was dog-tired by the time we settled into the hotel. Nevertheless, I had a fun talk with Josh, Katie, Jim, Xayal, and Emin before hitting the sack. In addition to exchanging the usual background information, we talked about astrology, voodoo, and whether we could drink the water. Somewhat ironically, all the PCVs said that they drink the water, but the Azərbaycanis said they did not.
As I fell asleep, I swear I heard the sounds of drag racing echoing down the street, which had been preceded by a random display of fireworks in the lot that was under construction next door.
To be continued... (Coming soon: Orientation and PST)
