Winding down PST...........

We are still in Pre-Service training (2 weeks to go) and we are being kept very busy by the Peace Corps. As a consequence, we have not been able to post to this blog to provide you with details on the funny, odd and just plain different things which permeate our daily life here in Gori.

Our host family are parents once again. This time to 20 baby chicks. They go along with the 20 chicks that were hatched a couple of weeks ago (actually I think there were originally 25 or so in the original batch, but a stray cat got to a few). We have a constant supply of eggs (K'vertse) which we often cook scrambled or fried. This is a source of great amusement to our family, since Georgians generally take their eggs only one way--hard boiled.

As we noted in previous posts, we have language class 3 1/2 hours each day (a 4 hour class with a 1/2 hour break in the middle), six days a week. We also get lots of homework. It isn't easy (particularly for us older folks). We are taught by an LCF (which I think stands for "language and cross-cultural facilitator") who is assigned to a group of between 4 and 6 people. That means that we have about 9 LCF's for our entire group. The LCF's are all women, in their early to late 20's. Most of them are English teachers in the Georgian school system. The competition to become an LCF for the Peace Corps is intense; there are many more applicants than there are positions to fill. As a consequence, those chosen to be LCF's are GREAT teachers. Not only do they pour their hearts and souls into each day's lesson, they make themselves available for tutoring on an individual basis
whenever and wherever anyone wants additional help. We have taken advantage of the opportunity to receive the additional one on one training on several occasions, but there is only so much language class that one can take in a day! The LCF's work very hard, and they deserve whatever pay and recognition they get for having been chosen as LCFs for the Peace Corps. In little more than a week, we will have our LPI (language proficiency interview), given by an independent tester, to assess our ability to converse in Georgian. If we don't pass, which I think requires a "low intermediate" rating, we will be allowed to continue as Peace Corps volunteers "on probation". That means we will be required to get tutoring in the language at our permanent sites and that we will be tested again in 6 months or so. I don't know (and I don't want to ask) what happens if we don't achieve a low intermediate rating on the follow-up test (we just may be coming home sooner than you think).

We are required by the Peace Corps to be politically and culturally sensitive in our blog postings (the blogs are monitored), so without any editorial comment, I will relate an interesting occurrence we experienced this week. Georgia has just accused Russia of violating Georgian airspace and dropping a bomb near a radar facility located about 15-20 kilometers from where we live in Gori. The bomb did not explode, but it resulted in many accusations and denials which made the international headlines. The day after that happened we were eating dinner with our host family when, all of a sudden, a huge explosion rocked the house and scared the S..T out of everyone. Initially we were told that a bomb had accidentally exploded at an Army base located a few blocks away from our house. However, later we were told that it was the unexploded Russian bomb that the Georgian Army had brought to the facility and detonated. Either way, it made a lasting impression on us.

Ah yes, life here in Georgia is more than somewhat different from life back home. However, the people are great, and we are having the time of our lives so far. Now if we can only get through that LPI next week..........