Nearing the Finish Line

This week has been both busy and stressful for me. With the start of spring I am trying to keep the finish line in sight. In a little less than 6 months my service will come to a close. Last year as my group (AZ 5) felt the pull of Close of Service, I didn’t understand the pressure, excitement and anxiety that were slowly sweeping over them. This year, I finally understand.

I recently received a Small Project Assistance Program (SPA) grant to help purchase resources for an English Language Multimedia Listening Library. Ideally, the goals of the project are to improve students’ listening comprehension skills by providing them with English language DVDs and CDs in a variety of topics which are both educational and entertaining, in order to make them more competitive for study abroad and international work opportunities. With the grant, I’ve managed to procure over 200 used DVDs and CDs thus far for the new multimedia section of our library. This involves a lot of coordination, budgeting, and training of Azerbaijani counter-parts in cataloguing and management of library resources.

In addition to the grant, my host organization has once again passed their grant application for a US Democracy Commission grant. We will be hosting the 3rd annual Youth Civic Leadership Academy at our center this year, which will take a total of 60 students for 7 weeks of leadership, human rights, critical thinking, conflict management and a variety of other courses. At the end of 21 weeks, we will take 20 students to our annual summer Leadership Camp. I’ve been working very hard on transferring the skills and knowledge of how to plan a camp and the academy to my new counterpart. As this is the third year I’ve conducted this academy, I need to ensure that next year it can continue without me being physically present.

This week was also the announcement of FLEX study abroad program participant selection. Ganja was fortunate to have 5 students chosen this year. Four girls and one boy, of which 4 students I have personally worked with in helping to prepare for this program via conversation clubs, FLEX preparation classes, book clubs, interview work shops and various other programs to build up the skills necessary for a study abroad participant. I’m so excited for them, but also nervous at the same time. As in Azerbaijan, it can be very hard for young women to get parental permission to go abroad. Even after they pass the entire rigorous application process, many times parents refuse to allow their children to go. I am just hoping that this year all of the parents will allow their children to achieve their full potential.

Finally, next week on Tuesday morning, Farid and I will have our interview for his spouse visa at the US Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia. This is the last step in the visa process. For those of you who don’t know how hard it is to immigrate to the US, I hope that you will find this enlightening. Our process of application started last August. In order to get just a wedding certificate, we had to collect papers from the US that required an Apostille (like an international notary which makes a legal document of one country recognized in another country as also being legal.) Our wedding date required a one month advance notice, and we had to have current visas, passports, and registration ID cards. After the wedding, then we could take our marriage certificate, and apply with the US embassy for an immigrant visa. This process involved a stack of government forms, lots of translated and notarized documents, and another trip to the capitol. After the initial application, I was reviewed for a criminal background check (yes, me) then we were invited to an interview. However, the interview date had to be pushed back in order to obtain all the legal documents necessary for the interview. We had to acquire a police certificate from every place Farid has ever lived which stated he has no record of any kind; he had to pass a full physical done by an embassy approved physician (which was only located in the capitol city), and had to of course have all his documents translated and notarized in English. In addition to this, we had yet another stack of government forms to fill out to prove that I’m a legal resident of the US, and that I meet the income requirements for applying to sponsor my husband as an immigrant. As a Peace Corps volunteer, we don’t receive a salary, but rather a monthly stipend for housing, food, transportation and other minimal costs. Let’s just say I used to make more in one month than I do in a whole year as a PCV. So no, I do not meet the income requirements. Which means I had to have my parents verify that my home of record is with them, and have them apply their income toward mine in order to supplement mine in sponsoring Farid. With all this complete, we still now have to travel outside of Azerbaijan (as the closest IMMIGRANT visa office is in Georgia) in order to conduct an interview. We’ve been told that the interview could be anywhere from a few minutes to a couple hours depending on your paperwork and their feelings about Farid and my relationship. Needless to say, this process can take a lot out of one. I sometimes feel like a nervous wreck trying to jump through all the hoops necessary just to stay with my husband. There is one thing I can say for sure, the process is so complicated that a couple must really love each other and want to be together to endure and survive something like this. I’m very thankful that Farid has been so patient and supportive while I’ve been going crazy… It’s nice to have someone to balance me out. We will have a final answer by Tuesday as to what comes next. It could be one of three answers. “YES, come back and get your visa tomorrow.” “No, you have been denied.” Or finally… “You need to come back again with _____.” (Fill in whatever documentation or items that they ask for.) So for those of you who know me, I’m in anxiety mode right now, just checking over everything a hundred times, trying to get my marriage certificate translated with my name spelled correctly for the umpteenth time (the most common mistakes are Vatkins, or reversing the A and E in my first name.) We now have less than 89 hours till his interview. So if you’re reading this any time before then, just pray for us, think good thoughts, send good vibrations, or good wishes to us. I’ll let you all know as soon as I have any news (good or bad) regarding his visa.

I know, I know, I know… I really am horrible at updating a blog. Honestly, sometimes I don’t even know how to describe my experiences here. During our pre-service training, one of our staff members described the Peace Corps experience like a roller coaster. Some days are a struggle to get up, but when you’re at the top, nothing can be more exciting. Other days, it’s a frightening fall down hill, and you feel like you’re going to crash when you hit the bottom. Right now, it’s a bit of both for me. I feel like I’m in the final climb uphill, but at the same time falling towards the last crash. I’m going to make a birthday resolution this year. I’m hoping to start updating my blog once a week now that the end of my service is slowly creeping nearer. So I do hope that you will stick with me a bit longer.