Road to COS: Tests are Testing

I got back from Baku yesterday after taking care of several items on a growing checklist of things I have to do before I COS in late November.  This trip, I was able to knock out my COS doctor and dentist appointments and then the final language performance test (LPI).

I’m not a huge fan of visits to the doctor or dentist in the US.  Call it a masculine shortcoming, a lingering distrust stemming from a childhood dentist with large hands, whatever.  Our physicals and dental check ups at MSC (mid-service conference) were less than thorough though, so I wanted to make sure I got myself all checked out this time around.  This meant giving quite a number of samples of various sorts to the doctor.  The dentist went well, though it was decidedly painful, thanks to a certain electric scraping tool that was very unpleasant.  No cavities, so that’s something.

The LPI is a 20-minute conversation to assess our Azerbaijani language abilities after two years.  This is our third testing, the first at the end of training, and the second during MSC.  It’s one of those things that shouldn’t be stressful—after all, we are all able to operate in our communities and get anything we want there—but puts everyone on edge anyway.  There’s something about being graded and ranked that raises people’s hackles, a mixture of wanting to do well and be graded highly and to demonstrate that we’re not stupid, that we actually do know how to do whatever task we’re being graded on.

All the LPIs are recorded, so that the entire language staff can listen and assess.  If anything, I find that to be the most stressful part of the experience.  I’ve just spoken for twenty minutes, and have to wait another few weeks while the staff finds an opportune moment to listen and assess.  At that point, it’s all about the words, and the rest of the conversation goes out the window.  To me, the “um’s,” “uh’s,” and stammers are suddenly more noticeable.  Of course, it's always worse in the anticipation of the thing, and the actual LPI went quickly, and hopefully, well.  I'm currently waiting to hear back about the results, so we shall see.

After all that time spent being prodded and poked, physically and mentally, there was only one way to make up for it all: Baku food.  That’s what it all comes back to in Baku, and it was especially nice since there were a number of other PCVs in Baku for their own tests.  Burgers at Shamrock, funnel cake doughnuts, and a brand new pizza/health spa that opened up around the corner from the PC office.