The title of this blog will become apparent later on, but first a couple of letters of address need to be made, one might call them rants.
Dear Flies in my room,
I think it's so kind of you that you realize I live by myself and you want to keep me company, however, I must refuse your offer of friendship. It's endearing that you at one point in time were perched on my curtain and have now felt comfortable enough to rest on my blanket with me, but I must refuse your offer of love and curiosity. I do not and will not keep food out for you to eat, and if by chance you find a morsel or two, please don't take this the wrong way, but it is not an invitation. I don't know how you are able to grow so large, but I encourage it, as the slower you will fly, and the faster you will die. As I sweep your dead carcasses into the dust pan to later discard into a cheap black plastic sack, I have no sadness for your loss, as it most certainly is no loss to me, unless of course you count me being out one plastic bag at your expense. So, in short, leave. Fly away. Go bother some other poor souls, as here lies a pall stained with the blood of your brethren. Until we meet again.
Your disgruntled landlord,
Jefferson
Dear Spider in my bathroom,
I wish you would come out, as I have a feast for you in my bedroom. I just so happen to enjoy you checking in our unwelcome guests into your soft sticky nest. There is but one exoskeleton I have to pick with you: your shyness scares me. I came into the bathroom for you to scurry off into the corner one day, and I don't want you to be sad or disgruntled because of me. I hope I have done nothing to offend you. On another note, please let me sit on my toilet in peace. Americans like their privacy, and I would rather not get bitten on any account whether it be affection, anxiety, or anger. If I am to be bothered, I will warn you that your free rent will come at a price. So, I look forward to seeing you soon.
Concerned,
Jefferson
Hopefully those letters arrive to their proper destinations timely and appropriately.
So in the past couple of weeks, things have been going really well. I'm writing to you live from my new netbook! My English club is going swimmingly. Russian language is going well, and I have been feeling like I am in the vibe and enjoying life, ALLLLmost to the same level as I was in the States, but of course greatly missing all of my friends back home, American food, and my hobbies.
Also, in regards to my English club, I was on vacation during St. Patrick's Day, however told my group that they should all wear green on that day. I had completely forgotten about it, but then on Monday they showed me a photo of them all wearing green! At first, I couldn't remember why they were all wearing green, but they are just the sweetest group, and I love them very much. More to come regarding all of this.
I had a technology mishap with my camera. It doesn't focus anymore. I will try and fix it, but it looks as though this may be the end.
Last night, I was laying in bed, hungry, but too lazy to get food. So I get up and am walking down the street and I get a vibe that I should go to the store across the street. The store itself is close, but their products are not as good as the store that I was going to. So I go in, and the counter clerk recognizes me, greets me by name and says that he would never forget me. He asks me about school and we chat. Unfortunately, I didn't remember where I had met him much less his name. I found out it's Ismail. I gave him my phone number, and maybe, in the future, we will hang out. Until we meet again my sweets!
-Jefferson
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Scrapple from the Apple
Ok, so yellow cake + chocolate fudge glaze = glorious. There were only a few SNAFUs along the way, but it's the result that counts the most right? I brought some cake for my English club. No one came, so I redistributed the sweets to the Director's cabinet. They really enjoyed it.
Pizza sauce that went with the pizza, also amazing. The pizza crust itself was not one of my best. It could be because I didn't have my dough hooks and mixer for it.
So now I'm eating shishi-bishi. It's a Georgian food that mostly kids like. It's tomato sauce, onions, and eggs all fried up in a skillet. I used the leftover sauce I had for this.
I saw Sherlock Holmes. It was a bootleg copy but excellent quality, and I really enjoyed it! Of course a movie like that isn't going to be academy award winning, but for what it's worth, I think it was done really well. There's a scene about half-way through the movie about some book of witchcraft, and to my surprise there were many language characters: Sanskrit, Hebrew, Russian, and GEORGIAN! Georgian letters in a Warner Bros production! They were nonsensically strewn together, and I'm probably only 1 of 4-5 million people on the planet that would appreciate seeing it!
All other things aside, I have been enjoying my day off from work. I woke up late (8:30). I'm getting old. I'm losing my hair. So, why can't sleeping in mean 8:30? I have yet to read my book, but that's what I plan to do after I'm done listening to Miles Davis.
I would like to shout out to my Megobari! (literally friend in Georgian, but also the name of a project for advice between veteran volunteers and trainees)
PS- I just got bit by my first mosquito of the year! Ahhh... how good it will be to get back on my malaria pill regimen! I also need to put up my nets. Note: only most minority regions and a few other exception communities have to take the malaria medicine, which is very mild and doesn't give you nightmares or any other bizarre things.
Alright, this peach is out of here! I hope you all are enjoying the sunshine and the greatness of life. It's fragile, so appreciate it. Your body is a temple, so worship it.
Pizza sauce that went with the pizza, also amazing. The pizza crust itself was not one of my best. It could be because I didn't have my dough hooks and mixer for it.
So now I'm eating shishi-bishi. It's a Georgian food that mostly kids like. It's tomato sauce, onions, and eggs all fried up in a skillet. I used the leftover sauce I had for this.
I saw Sherlock Holmes. It was a bootleg copy but excellent quality, and I really enjoyed it! Of course a movie like that isn't going to be academy award winning, but for what it's worth, I think it was done really well. There's a scene about half-way through the movie about some book of witchcraft, and to my surprise there were many language characters: Sanskrit, Hebrew, Russian, and GEORGIAN! Georgian letters in a Warner Bros production! They were nonsensically strewn together, and I'm probably only 1 of 4-5 million people on the planet that would appreciate seeing it!
All other things aside, I have been enjoying my day off from work. I woke up late (8:30). I'm getting old. I'm losing my hair. So, why can't sleeping in mean 8:30? I have yet to read my book, but that's what I plan to do after I'm done listening to Miles Davis.
I would like to shout out to my Megobari! (literally friend in Georgian, but also the name of a project for advice between veteran volunteers and trainees)
PS- I just got bit by my first mosquito of the year! Ahhh... how good it will be to get back on my malaria pill regimen! I also need to put up my nets. Note: only most minority regions and a few other exception communities have to take the malaria medicine, which is very mild and doesn't give you nightmares or any other bizarre things.
Alright, this peach is out of here! I hope you all are enjoying the sunshine and the greatness of life. It's fragile, so appreciate it. Your body is a temple, so worship it.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Privet iz Batuma
So the past couple of days, there have been some events that remind me I'm in Georgia. There's a satellite on my balcony. It's not mine. Point 1. Point 2: A man from somewhere in my apartment complex knocks on my door saying that he needs to fix said satellite and continues to work on it for 2 hours. Next, I had a pole on my balcony for bringing in the clothesline that I think the man working on the satellite stole when I wasn't looking. Why?
The water guy came by my apartment this morning at 9:30. He said I owed 13 lari (roughly 8 bucks) for 2 months of water usage. I had no money to pay him and so I called my landlord on my way to the bank because I think he was trying to charge me for 2 people. I woke her up, so she said she'd come over. She arrives to tell me that I don't need to worry about paying for water, to not open the door if he comes back, and if I run into him on the street to tell him I'm a guest and don't know anything. My neighbor tells me for one person is only 1.5 lari (.88 cents) per month. There are 3 ways you can look at this scenario, possibly more, but all seem pretty sketch.
Three non-working days this week: Easter Monday, Hareba (the day where Angel Gabriel visited Mary to tell her she had a bun in the oven) and Friday a memorial day for people killed for protesting: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, respectively. What are the chances of children coming to school? Yep. Pret-ty slim.
I went to Batumi this past weekend. It was beautiful! I had a really great time. Everyone said we went off-season, but it was awesome! There were no tourists, and it was overall a great time. I envy the volunteer that gets placed there! (Sidenote: Batumi was not opened up for volunteers to travel to until not too long ago, but after sites had been determined, so this next group has a chance to get placed there). Batumi has many great restaurants, an awesome boardwalk, running paths, right on the Black Sea, close to other historical sites, location in a temperate rainforest, (as a result) diverse plant-life, and the only down-side is that it's hella far from Tbilisi (an overnight train or 8 hours by Marshrutka, which for some other PCV's is not far at all).
Very shortly, I'm going to embark on the making of a yellow cake with chocolate fudge glaze. I'll let you know how it goes! That's about all that's new! Take care and I love you guys!
The water guy came by my apartment this morning at 9:30. He said I owed 13 lari (roughly 8 bucks) for 2 months of water usage. I had no money to pay him and so I called my landlord on my way to the bank because I think he was trying to charge me for 2 people. I woke her up, so she said she'd come over. She arrives to tell me that I don't need to worry about paying for water, to not open the door if he comes back, and if I run into him on the street to tell him I'm a guest and don't know anything. My neighbor tells me for one person is only 1.5 lari (.88 cents) per month. There are 3 ways you can look at this scenario, possibly more, but all seem pretty sketch.
Three non-working days this week: Easter Monday, Hareba (the day where Angel Gabriel visited Mary to tell her she had a bun in the oven) and Friday a memorial day for people killed for protesting: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, respectively. What are the chances of children coming to school? Yep. Pret-ty slim.
I went to Batumi this past weekend. It was beautiful! I had a really great time. Everyone said we went off-season, but it was awesome! There were no tourists, and it was overall a great time. I envy the volunteer that gets placed there! (Sidenote: Batumi was not opened up for volunteers to travel to until not too long ago, but after sites had been determined, so this next group has a chance to get placed there). Batumi has many great restaurants, an awesome boardwalk, running paths, right on the Black Sea, close to other historical sites, location in a temperate rainforest, (as a result) diverse plant-life, and the only down-side is that it's hella far from Tbilisi (an overnight train or 8 hours by Marshrutka, which for some other PCV's is not far at all).
Very shortly, I'm going to embark on the making of a yellow cake with chocolate fudge glaze. I'll let you know how it goes! That's about all that's new! Take care and I love you guys!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Can Daft Punk play in my apartment?
Onions burning in a pan, roll, CRACK, roll, CRACK. 2 eggs make the pan, 2 don't. That was my breakfast this morning. Unfortunately delicious.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Well. This Jack has been very busy the past couple of weeks, hence the lack of postage. Good news: bathin in hot water that is totally functional without problems, seeing friends from home, going on trips to Ukraine + abundance of awesome people. What's next? Going to Batumi today, seeing another part of Georgia! I have some awesome pictures, some people might be eager to see, but I need to first settle down. I miss my site. I miss my apartment. I miss the street noise. I'm looking forward to seeing the group going to Batumi and catch up with them, but also looking forward to the work and projects I have going on in my community.
I got the scedule together for my computer training. I got ANOTHER new schedule. Our school has a new English teacher. Her name is Esma, and she's one of the other English teacher's former students. The old English teacher who quit gave a couple days advance notice before quitting in the middle of the school year. She got a job at one of the local banks.
Tomato jars are difficult to open. I gave one a shot earlier today, and it needs another day for sure. My landlord gave me a little packet for the Azeri/Muslim holiday: Bairam. She's a sweetheart. The package had some hazelnuts and walnuts in it, but alas I have not a nut cracker.
A new "feature" of my computer in addition to it's catching/freezing every 30 seconds, includes sporadic 1 second freezes in between. When will be the day that I press the power button and the operating system won't load? The good news is, thanks to the awesomeness of PJ, I will have a new netbook. If you are an incoming trainee or dear friend of a volunteer coming soon that could bring it from the US in the next 2 months or so, please let me know. It would save me tons of aggravation with customs and such. I can always repay you with love, tender affection, and definitely a tour of Georgia within the limits Peace Corps lets us travel.
The weather here and now is beautiful. I may have mentioned but I hung up some windchimes (I love them) and the feng shui on my balcony is complete minus the Margaritaville tile I have yet to purchase and lay.
That's about all that's new with me. If I think of something new, I will just have to write another blog entry. After 2 weeks, I hope to start some regular regimen for studying for the GMAT. My goal, as mentioned, is too take it by August 6th, and hopefully I can pull off taking it sometime in June, so I can prepare and retake the GRE. Ya'll rock. Ya'll. That's right.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Well. This Jack has been very busy the past couple of weeks, hence the lack of postage. Good news: bathin in hot water that is totally functional without problems, seeing friends from home, going on trips to Ukraine + abundance of awesome people. What's next? Going to Batumi today, seeing another part of Georgia! I have some awesome pictures, some people might be eager to see, but I need to first settle down. I miss my site. I miss my apartment. I miss the street noise. I'm looking forward to seeing the group going to Batumi and catch up with them, but also looking forward to the work and projects I have going on in my community.
I got the scedule together for my computer training. I got ANOTHER new schedule. Our school has a new English teacher. Her name is Esma, and she's one of the other English teacher's former students. The old English teacher who quit gave a couple days advance notice before quitting in the middle of the school year. She got a job at one of the local banks.
Tomato jars are difficult to open. I gave one a shot earlier today, and it needs another day for sure. My landlord gave me a little packet for the Azeri/Muslim holiday: Bairam. She's a sweetheart. The package had some hazelnuts and walnuts in it, but alas I have not a nut cracker.
A new "feature" of my computer in addition to it's catching/freezing every 30 seconds, includes sporadic 1 second freezes in between. When will be the day that I press the power button and the operating system won't load? The good news is, thanks to the awesomeness of PJ, I will have a new netbook. If you are an incoming trainee or dear friend of a volunteer coming soon that could bring it from the US in the next 2 months or so, please let me know. It would save me tons of aggravation with customs and such. I can always repay you with love, tender affection, and definitely a tour of Georgia within the limits Peace Corps lets us travel.
The weather here and now is beautiful. I may have mentioned but I hung up some windchimes (I love them) and the feng shui on my balcony is complete minus the Margaritaville tile I have yet to purchase and lay.
That's about all that's new with me. If I think of something new, I will just have to write another blog entry. After 2 weeks, I hope to start some regular regimen for studying for the GMAT. My goal, as mentioned, is too take it by August 6th, and hopefully I can pull off taking it sometime in June, so I can prepare and retake the GRE. Ya'll rock. Ya'll. That's right.
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