IST

IST is one of 3 mandatory trainings after swearing in.  It typically happens after volunteers have been at their site for around 7-8 months.  I remember hearing about it during PST and thinking to myself how far away that sounded but man does time fly. 

Last week my group descended on Durres for 3 days of technical training and PC policy reminders.  I think we were all in need of some time away from site and a few nights at a hotel with hot water and heaters.  Here are some pictures of the conference taken by my amazing friend Joyce, the TEFL volunteer in Delvine. (check out her blog here.)

THE BEACH!!!!

A nice dinner with awesome company.

All of the TEFL volunteers drew a picture that represented their experience so far.

This is Genti.  He is basically our Albanian super hero.

After IST a few of us went to Tirana and had lunch at the Steven's
Center.  It is a cafe started by missionaries and the only place in Albania
where you can find american favorites.  After 10 months a
BLT never tasted better!

So now that we've completed IST we're officially on our way to the half way point.  G16 has already received their invites and their starting to ask questions.  It is really weird to think that we're about to be the 'big kids' in PC Albania but IST really put into perspective how much we've all learned and changed.  So congrats G15.  We made it this far!!