It's official!

I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer. I don't think it's hit me yet that this dream I've had for 10+ years has finally come true… that after 2 years of applying, waiting, accepting, packing and going through training… I am finally a Volunteer! In the Peace Corps!  It's surreal, exciting and unbelievably satisfying, to say the least.  

This past Friday, July 15, 42 Trainees took the oath (the same oath that the President takes!) and became official Peace Corps Volunteers! I thought I would be so excited when that day came, but it was actually a little bittersweet. I adored my host family and wasn't ready to say goodbye to them, and I certainly wasn't ready to say goodbye to my roommate, who has become my closest friend here. To go from being with someone 24/7 (literally) to not seeing her at all, and not knowing the next time I will get to see her, is really hard. I think this is why the Peace Corps doesn't let Trainees live together… you form this instant, abnormal, possibly unhealthy attachment to someone – and then they rip you apart! I already miss her. So much. 

Tears aside, the swearing-in ceremony went well. We all said our farewells and then our new directors and/or host families drove everyone to their permanent sites. Luckily my director was able to drive his car there, otherwise I wasn't sure how I was going to get all NINE bags across the country (not all of it was mine, and most of it I have acquired since I got here… sleeping bags, water filters, mosquito nets, etc...so don't judge!). 

I have just finished unpacking in my new home, and am feeling pretty good about everything. For the most part though, I'm just happy PST (pre-service training) is over. That was the most intense, stressful, exhausting 11 weeks of my life and I'm not sure I could have done it much longer. Every day was spent learning the language, preparing for and conducting community projects and trainings, working on reports, studying for tests, finishing homework, and trying to spend time with our host families. There was never a dull moment, that's for sure, and a few times I wasn't even sure how we would get it all done. But, we did get it done, I passed my language requirement – and now the fun starts!

For those who don't know… I got the job and site that I wanted! I now live in Kvareli in the Kakheti region (Eastern Georgia), which is a small town in a quaint little valley, tucked into the Caucasus Mountains. The mountains are so beautiful, the lakes are amazing (and the President likes to vacation at one of the lakes all the time; in fact, his helicopter just flew over my house an hour ago), the vineyards are endless, and we have the best weather… it snows in the winter (but not too much), it's hot and dry in the summer, and the fall is incredible. We also have the best fruits and veggies, and it's only 2 hours from Tbilisi, which is where all the fun happens on the weekends!

So the reason I came here… to work… I will be working for a non-governmental organization (NGO) that focuses on tourism, specifically wine tourism. I'll mostly be working in a winery, helping them with marketing, exporting, and grant writing (and, you know, conducting a few wine tours and tastings). I'm really excited about my job, and can't wait to become a Georgian sommelier!

For the next two years, I'll be living in this fabulous house with my host grandmother who is 64. She's so wonderful and also happens to be a fabulous cook. It's just the two of us in this big house, so I'm enjoying some much-needed peace and quiet (never mind the roosters in the front yard who seem to be in competition with each other 24 hours a day). I have a great view of the mountains, and several apple and plum trees in my yard. And yes, I have a shower with hot water, and a flushable toilet! It's a really good situation and I'm excited to see where the next two years takes me!

As for what's next… well, your guess is as good as mine. I think I start work tomorrow. I think I have to conduct a few trainings next month. I think I have a Georgian tutor lined up. I think I’m going to Batumi on the Black Sea in August for a few days. I think I’m going to Turkey in November. Truth is, I really have no idea what's going on or what's being said 95% of the time. I just smile, nod my head and hope for the best. That's life in the Peace Corps and I couldn't be happier!

A quick glimpse

For those who want a glimpse into my awesome new life, you can check out a few photos that I just posted. I included some photos in my village and Lagodekhi, which is where I job shadowed a few weeks ago. Me mikvars sakartvelo (I love Georgia)!! :-)

6 weeks down, 5 to go!

It's hard to believe I've reached the halfway mark of pre-service training (PST). On one hand, I feel like I've already been here a year – but on the other hand, I feel like I just got here a week ago. It's been an interesting and humorous 6 weeks, that's for sure! I can say with 100% certainty, though, that I am exactly where I'm supposed to be, doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. I love this crazy country in a way I can't really explain but I will certainly try…

Georgia is amazingly beautiful, fascinating and bizarre – all at the same time. The people are so incredibly warm and friendly; they're more than happy to invite you into their homes and serve you more food than you could eat in a week (literally). We even had complete strangers offer to drive us to another village, wait for us while we finished our errands, and then treat us to lunch. That's just the way they are here! 

As for the country itself, it's absolutely breathtaking. As one of my fellow trainees put it (while looking out of the window on our bus), "it's like we live in a postcard." And it's true… everywhere you look is beautiful – and I've only seen two towns! I can't even imagine how the rest of the country looks, especially during fall. I promise to post some photos soon so you can see what I mean. 

And my life… well, there really is no way to describe what my life has been like for the past 6 weeks, or how amazing the Peace Corps' training program is, but I think 'surreal' sums it up. I'm incredibly happy and I laugh to the point of having tears in my eyes pretty much every day. I've made some great friends already, and my host family is quite possibly the best family in all of Georgia. I have a host mother and father, and three host sisters (20, 18 and 14) who are awesome. I really couldn't imagine a better family than mine! I still wake up most mornings and think, "I can't believe I live here!"

It hasn't all been sunshine and happiness though. I actually started out in another village, living with another family, and unfortunately had to move out due to an incident with my host father. My host mother was away for the evening and he had been drinking… you do the math. But the Peace Corps responded immediately and removed me from the situation before it escalated. I was devastated at first because I had to move out of my village, away from my friends, and basically start over. 

But it all worked out in the end! Not only did I end up with an amazing family, I'm also living with another trainee who has become a wonderful friend. It's very rare for two trainees to live together (the PC wants you to integrate with your family, not hang out with your American friends) but there were no other options. So now I live in Kvibisi, which is about 5 minutes outside of Borjomi, with my friend Rachael. It's a picturesque little village, complete with meandering cows, roosters and pigs. I've only lived here for 4 weeks but I know I'm going to be sad when I have to leave (which is in 5 weeks…yikes!).

Kvibisi

As for pre-service training (PST), well, it can easily be described in one word: intense. We have Georgian language class 6 days a week, from 9am-1pm, and by the end of the morning, your brain literally can't absorb any new information. But it really is a huge testament to the PC's program when you consider how much Georgian we have learned in just 6 weeks. We know about 40 verbs and are now working on past tense, a million or so nouns, adjectives and adverbs, and can create fairly complex sentences. For example, we can describe our daily activities (in complete sentences, mind you) and talk about our favorite fruit/vegetable/season/sport/color/etc. We can tell you about our families, our homes, our jobs and how we prefer our coffee. Or if you want to know what we did last week, we can tell you that too! It really is crazy how much we know already. After language (and lunch), we have business training from 2pm-5pm. Then we have homework, practicums and projects we have to work on – plus spend a few hours hanging out with the family – so it's usually 11pm by the time we crawl into bed. 

Georgian language class!

I did have the opportunity to take a short break from all of the training recently and job shadow a current Volunteer. I ended up traveling about 5 hours east to a town called Lagodekhi, which is really close to the Azerbaijan and Russian borders. It was nice to see how Volunteers live after PST, what "real" Georgia is like, and what kind of jobs they have. It sounds like I'll definitely be doing a lot of grant writing, conducting trainings and possibly teaching English. Or, if there's something else I want to do in my village, I have the option of taking on secondary projects. I'm excited to find out where exactly I'm going to be living for the next 2 years and what I'll be doing. The anticipation is killing me! We find out this Monday (June 13) so fingers crossed that I end up somewhere good!!

Living in Georgia is certainly going to be interesting and challenging at times, but so far I'm enjoying every minute of it. I've honestly laughed more in this past month than I have in the past few years – it's the best feeling. Plus I LOVE my fellow trainees, our country director and the PC staff. I feel like I really hit the jackpot. Awesome friends, awesome staff and a gorgeous country filled with warm, welcoming people. What more could I ask for?!

Life in Georgia

I don't have a lot of time, but I wanted to let everyone know I'm alive and happy here in Sakartvelo! Life in Georgia is interesting, to say the least, but I'm enjoying every minute of it and couldn't be happier with my decision to join the Peace Corps. 

I'm currently living in a small village about two hours from Tbilisi. I spend most of my time (6 days a week) studying the language and the ins and outs of NGOs in Georgia, as well as learning about the culture and how to integrate into our communities. It's truly amazing how much we have all learned in such a short amount of time; the Peace Corps staff certainly knows what they're doing here! 

I should have fairly regular access to the Internet within the next few weeks, so I'll be sure to update my blog with more details and pictures. But for the time being, please know I'm safe and happy!

Walking to school in the morning

Off I go!

It's hard to believe that I'm leaving to start my Peace Corps journey in 4 days! I thought for sure when this time came that I would be a big ball of emotions, but I'm actually not feeling much of anything. I'm not excited. I'm not freaking out. I'm not nervous. I'm not anxious. I'm just kind of… blah. 

I was explaining my total lack of emotions to one of my friends earlier this week and I think he hit the nail on the head. He said this journey is probably so huge and unlike anything I've ever experienced that it's impossible to tie any kind of emotion to it. His prediction: Once I've moved in with my new host family (alone) and I'm sitting in my bedroom after unpacking (alone) and I'm realizing I've actually moved to a foreign country (alone)… then the emotions will appear. I don't say this often, but I think he's right. So I've accepted my lack of emotions, knowing they will show up at some point, and am focusing instead on getting all those last minute tasks completed. 

(Thank you, MCJ, for your insight, support and encouragement. You're awesome.)

Since I can't give everyone a weepy or excited farewell, I'm going to share my list of "what I'll miss most."  I'm not going to include family members, friends or my sweet fluffy babies – that goes without saying. I'm also not going to include modern conveniences like a washer/dryer, hot showers or indoor plumbing – that's just too easy. So as I get ready to say goodbye to the United States and the people I love, I also want to say goodbye to the things I love:

1. Gamecock football
2. Hilton Head, SC (including the beach, the smell of ocean air, the sound of waves crashing, long walks on the beach and choosing which million dollar home I want, shrimp boats coming in at the end of the day, my favorite restaurants, early morning kayaking, and the view from the bridge)
3. Coffee brewed just the way I like it
4. South Carolina peaches
5. The Daily Show
6. The 4th of July
7. High heels
8. English
9. Books and bookstores
10. Condiments

Goodbye, things I love. And goodbye to each of you… my amazingly wonderful friends and loved ones. Don't forget to write! And maybe cheer for the Gamecocks in my absence! 

P.S. All postcards, packages and love letters will be accepted here:

Susan Burkhart, PCT

29a Vazha Pshavela Avenue

0160, Tbilisi Georgia

Do NOT put Peace Corps Georgia in the address, as this may result in delayed delivery or require customs clearance fees. 

6 airports. 3 days.

While I was in Indianapolis last week, I received an email from the Peace Corps letting me know we would be meeting in Philadelphia for staging, and asking us to make our travel arrangements as soon as possible. The Peace Corps pays for all of our flights, and books the international leg for us, so I all I had to do was book my U.S. flight through their travel agency. 

I decided to call right away, assuming it would only take a few minutes to book my flight. I had already looked at flights online and had spotted a lovely U.S. Airways flight departing from Savannah at 8:30 a.m., connecting in Charlotte, and landing in Philly an hour before I needed to be there. Perfect! 

Or not. Apparently flying out of a tiny airport, during spring break, on Easter Monday, after a PGA tournament in Hilton Head ends, does not equal perfect. Every flight was sold out. You can only guess what this means… I'm on the worst possible flight out of Savannah. I'll depart at 6:30 a.m. (which means getting up at 4:00 a.m.), fly to Miami, and then on to Philly. Now, I realize that most U.S. Americans don't, like, have maps* – but I do think most people know Miami is not really on the way to Philly. Oh well.

After 6 hours of flying and layovers, I'll arrive in Philly at 12:15 p.m.; registration starts at 12:30 p.m. Awesome… 15 minutes to gather up my 100 lbs. of luggage, catch a cab and get downtown. Oh, and I'm supposed to eat lunch before registration otherwise it will be 7:00 p.m. before we have dinner. This day is going to be so much fun, I can already tell!

After everyone arrives and fills out the necessary paperwork, we'll have a 5-hour-long meeting (called staging) to go over expectations and what's next in the process. Our group will go to dinner that night and then we'll finally get some rest. But then we're up early again the next morning to catch our flight out of Philly. Oh wait, no, that's not right… I meant to say… to catch our bus to JFK. Yes, a bus. From one international airport to another. Don't ask.

We'll arrive at JFK around 11:00 a.m., and our flight will depart at 5:00 p.m. It's funny… I've always wondered what one could do at JFK for 6 leisurely hours and now I'll get to find out!

We'll finally board our 10-hour flight from JFK to Istanbul, Turkey, and will arrive at the respectable hour of 1:00 p.m., just in time for lunch! Oh, except it will be 3:00 a.m. East Coast time. We'll have a 3-hour layover in Turkey and then we'll finally board our flight to T'bilisi. Thankfully this last leg is only 2 hours and then we'll actually be in Georgia!

This is going to be the longest 3 days of my life – and I'm already looking forward to it being over. But at least I'm finally getting excited! Having actual flights and agendas makes it all so real and exciting! So the flights are a little torturous… nothing that is worthwhile is ever easy, right? 

So here's to the G11s and our 3 long but worthwhile days of traveling!

* Thank you, Miss South Carolina, for providing endless hours of entertainment that never, ever gets old. For those who missed it, enjoy... www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

Parting is such sweet sorrow...

Less than 3 weeks in our great country and I'm still feeling completely overwhelmed! Luckily I've been able to cross a few items off my to-do list, but there are still a lot of things left to do and a lot of people left to see. 

I just got back from a wonderful yet bittersweet trip to Indiana where I got to say goodbye to a lot of my family members. The trip started with a quick stop in Columbia, SC where I got to drive around my college campus and enjoy a nice dinner at one of our favorite hot spots, Harper's! Although I felt really old around those young college kids (I never thought I would say that!!), it was fun to be on campus and remember all the good times I had at USC. 

Then it was on to Greenville, SC for a quick overnight stay at my Aunt Peg's house, and the next morning we (my mom and I) left for Mount Vernon, IN where I got to enjoy a lovely lunch and visit with my 95-year-old grandmother (my dad's mother). She played the piano for me – without missing a beat, of course – and told stories about my grandfather whom we all miss dearly. She is an amazing woman and it was a visit I will never forget. I also got to see my Aunt Sharon and Uncle Larry, as well as my gorgeous cousin Anna and her two kids, Rachel and Luke. It was a short visit, but I was so glad I got to see everyone.

 

As much as I wanted to stay in Mount Vernon for a little while longer, we had to get to Indianapolis so I could see my mom's side of the family… all 67 of them! (Okay, I didn’t get to see all 67, but my grandma recently counted how many immediate, living, blood relatives we have and that was the number she came up with – my big fat Irish Catholic family!)

My visit to Indy was perfect. I got to see four of my aunts and uncles – Carolyn, John, Joe and Joanne – my cousins Chris and Mike (and his adorable family), and my one-of-a-kind grandma who makes me laugh like no other. I love her sense of humor, her loving nature and her spirit. She's my Kindle-owning, cell phone-carrying, kayak-paddling, hip 91-year-old Gram! And she's not afraid to order a margarita at dinner either. :-) Like I said, my visit was perfect. We had some great meals, great conversations, great laughs, and I finally found some winter clothes to buy!

 

Unfortunately all great things must come to an end, which meant it was time to return to SC and my to-do list. On the way back home, we stopped again at my aunt's house and randomly enough, my Aunt Marnie and Uncle Eddie were passing through town so we got to visit with them too! 

So now I'm back in Hilton Head, working on my taxes and language lessons, and wondering if I'm ever going to be ready to leave. I'm still ridden with anxiety and stress, and wondering when, exactly, the excitement will start to kick in. I mean... I'm joining the Peace Corps! On one hand, I know it's my dream come true, but on the other hand... parting is such sweet sorrow. Especially when you have a family like mine.