Hey Cool Cats! So passes another day. If I had to label my current mental state, I would say it is positive bewilderment. So far nothing too bad has happened, but just one filled with apprehension of something yet to come. Allow Lucy to 'splain:
1. There's a power strip for my room that is connected to another power strip. I don't know if I mentioned this, but my room is not wired with electricity. One power strip, in order to work effectively, must have a minimum of 220 volts, so there are brown outs in only my room. My family said they were going to wire it in September, but sometimes things run on more of a delay in Georgia.
2. There is a somewhat of an identity confusion and prejudice issue in Georgia, especially in the regions with more of a minority presence. For our first and only example for this entry, we'll look at my site. Unfortunately, because my intimacy with Azeris is not as great as I would like it to be, I really only see this from the Georgian side. Note: I know of course there are bad and good people in any group, race, ethnicity, community, etc. It is my opinion that human nature has more of a tendency to give attention to faults and negative aspects, and by no means am I perfect. For example, I cut hair of volunteers and myself. When this has gotten around town, I had one person today say that I should cut their children's hair because the only salons in my site are run by "Tatars" (an actual group of people, but used derogatorily in Georgia for any non-Georgian. I run into this on a daily basis, and its not just on a community micro-level, but also on country-wide initiatives for integration. It's really good that these efforts are being made, but the process will be slow after the fall of the Soviet Union. I for example among 3 other volunteers are specifically assigned to work in communities where these issues are present.
3. Many of the people I work with have strong personalities. One of the disadvantages of being driven to accomplish a goal is the sometimes result of being overbearing, or having the impatience to process something that doesn't agree with your same line of thought. I say this assertively. This is with anything in life. I'm so grateful to work with such motivated, high(and sometimes over-)-achieving people. This motivation will be what will help change this country, our country and the world (for the better I only hope), but it's still essential to stop and think, "How are/could my actions and words be perceived by those around me?," taking responsibility for any fault you have. I personally try to live these words true to myself as well. If for some reason I ever come across as a hypocrite to my own words, please just ask me to check myself.
4. I am on several committees, and I'm not sure if this is a good thing. I know it's important to be active, but one thing college taught me is to be active in areas that you care about; Your next employer will be more impressed by depth on a certain issue or project than by the breadth of the number of committees you were on. So far I'm heading the teambuilding development for the next group of volunteers; I'm a permanent member on the Volunteer Advisory Counsel and an alternate for the Women and Gender in Development Committee; I'm one of the schedule and curriculum development people for Peace Corps' volunteer teacher training initiative; and Finally, I'm heading the committee for my friend's language competition in her school (Luckily, a short-term thing, but still something nonetheless). In addition to teaching/grading, I'm going to be applying for a grant with my school, I currently correspond with a 5th grade class in Tallahassee (Love you guys!), and I just started an English club (per unspoken request of my students...long story). So I'm going to be prioritizing all of these things, and I think something needs to go. If you disagree, please let me know. They are all great opportunities, but there are only 24 hours in a day, and by no means do I want to burn out this early in the game. Granted: I'm pretty sure I could handle it, so this is definitely an internal battle...we'll see. At the end of the day, I still have time to read and spend time with my friends.
Luckily, I'm still in the Christmas spirit! I made latkes and applesauce today for my host family and me, so maybe I'm more in the Hanukkah spirit?
Also, this is a question to think about and one I, too, have been thinking about: What goes through your mind when you experience something that makes you really happy? How do you process it? Do you ever want to tell someone? If so why? Also, Why do you believe you (or someone else) might get satisfaction from telling someone else? If no one else existed to tell this event/thought/feeling to would it still be the same emotion?
Later Cowboy...
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