Jefferson Peaches

Nature, Wrapping It Up, and Letting the Good Times Roll

2011-05-27T21:31:00.001+04:00

The internet and I have had a curious relationship ever since I arrived to Georgia. Never has such a significant part of my income taunted me for internet access yet only in small quantities (1 gb or 5 gb with Georgian mobile provider - Magticom). Before Georgia, I don't think I ever appreciated the ability to have unlimited access to the internet. In America, you do generally pay a good bit more for access, but after reading an article from the technology editors at The Economist, most people only use a small amount of bandwidth. They were discussing that one major internet provide company (can't remember who) is going to charge more for people who use beyond something like 140 gb of bandwidth. They said that people should pay for what they use, and things like this are turning the internet into a measured consumable product. A forecasted downside of this new trend is that innovation through technology and internet-accessible resources would be limited. The internet has come a long way simply because there haven't been limits placed on it.

This brings me back to Georgia. When we first arrived, the "obscene" amount of money we paid for internet was able to provide unlimited internet access. The USB-wireless technology was released in 2007 in Georgia and limited in 2009 (still in the midst of an economic crisis). Their justification was that it was to model after companies like AT&T which limit bandwidth consumption on their 3G devices. While internet access is available in unlimited quantities with the land-line based DSL and cable internet providers, Georgian mobile companies, such as Magticom, may be making major money in the short term, but I don't think that the Georgian economy or people can support such an expense in the long haul. Of course, there's the actual cost, but there's also potentially lost innovation. In Georgia's developing economy, it needs all the innovation it can get.

I have found in general in my business-sense observations in the former Soviet countries, that there's this grotesque misconstrued version of capitalism. Capitalism in America does have its dark side, of course, but in Georgia for example, businesses and some people catch hold of all of the darkest side of capitalism and run with it. There was an article (most likely sure through Fortune Magazine) saying that Georgia is one of the best places in the world to start a new business. A friend of mine claimed that it's because there are no regulations. I'm neither here nor there on this, I personally think capitalism and a free market keeps things competitive, however, without the guiding hand of regulations and monitoring, dishonesty and (in some cases) corruption brew easily. Whether it be an individual language tutor charging outrageous prices for poor quality lessons in the capital or a private school like St. George's School in Vake (calling them out again) running a money machine and providing poor to no education at all. In general, people in Georgia think: if you pay more, it's better. To a degree, this also exists in America, but with the long-standing record of scams and scandals in the past, most experienced eyes in America can recognize this before.

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On a not serious note, you've probably been wondering what's going on with me. :) Well, I have been continuing my IT classes in the IDP settlement, and today I'm finishing my last class. It has been a good, but challenging time. On the surface, my kids are normal Georgian kids, just like any other classroom. However, the trauma many of them and their families suffered from being uprooted from their homes and transplanted elsewhere with essentially nothing has taken and will take its toll. Some of the kids have told me to "go f*** yourself" (in English, ages 10 and 11) and another 10-year-old girl told me in Georgian to "go to hell" when I asked all of them to remain quiet. I think the parents in this settlement have this overwhelming sense of apathy towards parenting and their children's success. As a result, most of these kids have no idea about what respect for teachers or discipline are. I'm kind and encouraging, but tough love comes out when they misbehave. I started with 30 students. Through my "tough love" principles, I will finish this 3-month project with 10 or 11. The 10/11 that will finish are really good kids. They still misbehave, but I've been able to make progress with teaching them computers and about life. Next Friday, we are going to have an open-house/ceremony for the parents to come in and see their children's work, have refreshments, and students will be presented with certificates and a flash drives for completing the course successfully. The NGO liaison and someone from Peace Corps are coming as well to give it more officialness. The 10/11 students are really excited, and I am too!

One thing that really bothers me in the center I teach in is that there's an art teacher who teaches on the same days as me, yet he rarely comes. The children don't really have any activities to do and they look forward to any courses or classes. They wait eagerly for him to get off the bus with me and are disappointed when the bus drives away. Then when he will come some days, they are all excited and forget that he never came the last time. They are just so happy to see him and have something interesting to do.

I had a similar experience in my town when I was taking dance classes. The dance teacher commuted from Tbilisi, and he made the children feel bad when they had trouble learning the dance steps with a, "I came all the way from Tbilisi to watch this!?" I know there are aid workers in the NGO like the one I'm teaching through that are amazing, but it makes me upset to experience a neglectful attitude towards the emotional well-being of children especially and other groups that need the most support.

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Ok, so I tried to steer away from the serious. Maybe this next try'll be more successful. :)

In the beginning of May, I went with my primary counterpart to her village in Eastern Kakheti for the "7-days after Easter Festival." I had gone the previous year, and having already met these people the year before, it was comfortable with so many familiar faces around. I took it easy, might have gotten some form of parasite (currently dealing with), and just overall relaxed. We went to "Nekresi" Church in the region of Kvareli (nearby) which was perched on the top of a mountain.

Photo #24 - Nekresi in the Mist - A steep walk or short car ride up the
mountain is worth it to check out this quaint church remodeled from the
sixth century.

I love this particular area in Kakheti, because it's truly beautiful and calm. None of the street noise from my town/apartment.

Photo #25 - Village Views in Chikaani - Just beyond this lush greenness
lies Dagestan and Ingushetia. It's hard to believe how small (and beautiful)
Georgia is sometimes.

After arriving back in my town at 3 am from the village, as we stopped over in Tbilisi at midnight to make achma (Georgian lasagna without meat or sauce), I continued on with May. I have been reminded this spring about the insane number of holidays, and as a result, a lot of class time has been interrupted. I and several other volunteers greeted the new group of trainees in late April at the airport. 43 arrived and I think only 1 so far has dropped.

Then not too long ago, I went out to help the trainees with cluster mentoring in one of the villages. They had to create and implement lessons with a counterpart at the village school, and I observed and gave feed back, also answering any questions along the way that they might have. I stayed with a trainee I'll deem "Good Aura" (as she is also referred to by villagers). It was really good to hang with them. It was different from when I did cluster mentoring last year. The Georgian that I speak, which is by no means perfect, did evoke the sort of "Oooo - ahhhhh" effect I've witnessed before. And! it was a great experience. The town was cold and one of the trainees' host family members commented that the town is just cold in general, year round. However, it was beautiful. Take a looksy:

Photo #26 - Village Views, Borjomi Region - An afternoon coming back
after observations, I noticed the view. These are some lucky trainees. You
can't get much more beautiful than this for a training site.

In other news! I was busy missing school with helping out with training, that I worked extra hard to catch up. I missed the senior class's "Last Bell/Call" performance due to the IT trainings, but half of the graduating senior class went out of their way to invite (and take) me to their banquet. I had only taught them for the past school year, whereas the other half I taught for the full 2 years, yet wasn't invited to anything. O well! Can't win em all, eh?

Photo #27 - 12b Banquet Entrance - As the banquet began, teachers were
seated at one table, students at another, and parents at another. Teachers
cheered on the fancily clad seniors getting ready to take their seats.

Then, the next day, there were transport troubles for 2 trainees who came to my site for job shadowing, due to the government shutting down regional transportation to/through Tbilisi to prevent the number of protesters who were scheduled to arrive to try to get the current prez to resign/ousted. Nevertheless, they made it. They observed one class because of 12th graders taking their cumulative final exams preventing some students from going to their main class rooms. Many students came to school and left shortly after seeing the blockaded hallways. Then the next day, due to scheduled protests in Tbilisi the following days, the trainees left. While they were here over the weekend, I did introduce them to some of my close Georgian friends in town. We went to Dmanisi to try to catch a glimpse of the "first Europeans" - Zezva and Mzia. That's right! They were Georgians. Dmanisi is an ancient settlement and archeological site.

My friend Nona is pregnant with her first child, and I was so surprised on the ride back from Tbilisi when she asked me to be the baby's godfather if I will be in Georgia. If she's serious, I would be thrilled. I have no god children as of yet, and it's such an honor to be asked to be someone's child's godparent, especially in Georgia, as it makes you a member of the family. She said in partial jest that anything her child does, good or bad, she can blame on me. I'll keep you updated on that front. She knows that she will have a boy, and her and her husband have decided to name him Saba.

ANNNND... finally. This past Tuesday, we finished reading "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," and we had a chocolate potluck party and watched the film (original version) to celebrate. Everyone brought in something chocolate. I made m&m cookies and fudge. I think everyone had been so busy cooking their dessert that when it came time to eat it among all the other chocolate dishes, everyone felt nauseated. :) It was a really great experience.

Photo #28 - Charlie's Chocolate Factory Party - Here is a glimpse of most
of the dishes. If you'll notice, we did interrupt the chocolate with bananas
and Turkish delight to create some balance.

It always feels good to finish a project you've been working on for a while. After the IT presentation of certificates next Friday, I'll be officially done with that project. I think I'm going to start preparing to retake the GRE. I was notified that I got a job offer with American Councils' FLEX office in Ukraine for the fall as a recruiter conducting interviews and testing for potential exchange students. In addition, I booked my flight home to America, am planning a cruise to the Bahamas or something with my best friend, and before flying back planned a trek across Georgia with some soon-to-be RPCVs (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers) from Ukraine who are coming to Georgia. I am feeling fantastic about life, and hope the same can be said about you! :)

Criticism - Death of the Modern Friend

2011-05-14T21:15:00.001+04:00

So, after some reflecting on a marshrutka, I came to a realization. In Georgia, and you could even expand this to life in general, it can be difficult to maintain friends. In my control, I'm willing to go out on a limb and narrow to 2 things: 1) I'm overly critical of others 2) Those I'm not critical of feel as though the expectations of a friendship with me are too high. I've been trying to put a finger on this for quite some time. In Georgia, it's more apparent, as there are simply less people to be friends with. I'll make some general observations, some of which you might be able to identify with or already knew, in which I hope not to bore you. ;)

So, in life, let's say you find someone you connect with. First scenario: you spend time together up until a certain point, and you criticize them or a choice they've made, because as their friend, you care about them. Then it's either received well, but often it isn't. Some examples, "he/she's not good for you," "you really hurt my feelings when...," "you should really be more careful," "I wish you wouldn't say...," "I kindly disagree with you on...," etc, etc. The fact is: most people can't take criticism.

Second scenario: you spend time together up until a certain point, and you criticize something in the environment around you. Most likely, it's a person that triggers an undesired effect. Some examples, "Can you believe what he/she's wearing," "I thoroughly disagree with his/her moral beliefs," "Can you believe him/her?," etc. etc Your new found friend hears something, and it connects with some part of his/her self that he/she admires, values, or identifies with. An argument might ensue, or your new found friend might have just made a mental note about you. Maybe that person is disgusted with how critical of a person you are of others. They might also worry, "When will I be criticized?" and come to the conclusion, "I just can't live up to their expectations."

I can say while I've definitely been the criticizer that ends a friendship more often than I'd like to admit, I've also experienced the above scenarios as the offended friend which is why I feel that I understand them. So then, friends, you have 28 people in your cohort of Peace Corps. Do you criticize them? Is it worth the risk of finishing your 2 years with only maintaining contact with 1-2 other people?

I think it also could bubble over into an employer-employee relationship. Everything goes well and everyone is happy until you give a piece of harsh, real criticism, call it feedback if you like. Maybe it's true, but how many people would admit being accepting and open to truth?

That's where I think we bubble down our pool of friends to the "5 Good/True Friends." Everyone says you can really only count your true friends in any lifetime on 1 hand. They are your most valued, loyal and trusted friends. I can say people that I consider my true friends are ones that I can criticize. While there still may be an argument, I know that we'll come out of that argument just as strong as before. I know that I can go to Peace Corps for 2 years; they'll support me through the tough times; and be there for me when I get back.

Have I met any "True Friends" in Peace Corps? And I can answer honestly by saying, "I think so." Time will tell of course. Geography and situation can have a lot to do with creating and keeping true friends. The people in Peace Corps, and in my group especially, are people that I've been through a lot with. I have been extremely critical of my colleagues, and I thank those who took the heat. I thank my "True Friends" back home that take the heat and have done so during our relationships. I consider myself very open to criticism, so feel free to leave it/deal it out any time. My advice to you is, be ready to take it.

I would rather be open, honest, and communicate fully with those around me, than put up a front and give a false smile. I'm a very sincere person. Know that if I'm smiling at you, I mean it. As far as a friendship with me is concerned, if I'm your friend, you meet my expectations. I know that no one's perfect, nor do I expect them to be. If there's criticism involved, we can hopefully resolve it and move on. I use criticism as a tool to keep the relationships around me honest, sincere, and healthy.

I know there may be some flaws in my logic, this entire blog might be written off as too juvenile, or you just don't care. However, human relationships are ones we spend our entire lives trying to understand. I just felt to need/want to get these words out there. Love you guys, thanks for reading.

Photo #22/23- Zambakhi aka Iris Iberica

2011-05-03T03:37:00.002+04:00

So, just this past week, I was making my routine trip to the village to teach computers. The kids this time were not-so-nice which prompted me to cancel their class. What brightened my day most was this: on the way back the bus driver said a flower was in bloom this year, and we should stop and pick some up. I had Flap as a visitor, and so in maintaining my "machismo" position in society, I asked her to do the pickin.

Getting back on the bus to continue our journey, the driver told us this variety of flower only blooms in the mountains of the Caucasus (and Persia), and in Georgia, only blooms once every four years. It was such an odd surprise! It's seriously such a gorgeous flower, and I would like you to imagine a field of them covering the landscape. I didn't have my camera with me at the time, so it doesn't hurt to brush up on your visualization skills. Without further ado:

Photo #22 - Iris Iberica (side view) - Simply Exquisite. By
far, this is the most beautiful/exotic flower I have ever seen.

Photo #23 - Iris Iberica (aerial view)

Hold Your Horses for: Celebrations, Conferences, and Competitions

2011-04-30T08:30:00.002+04:00

Dear readers,

I slipped again, what can I say? I feel like apologies go unneeded, because I’m sure I’ll lapse again in the future. My momma always used to say that you should only apologize for something once and never do it again, otherwise you don’t mean it. It’s life.

So March was an insane month. I’ve said it, and I’ll say it again. It finished, however, some of the to-dos are still lingering. I would prefer them to get cut off before the end of April so we’ll see what I can do.

I spent today sobbing over “Fried Green Tomatoes” (1991) and oddly a few scenes from “Julie and Julia” (2009). I really enjoyed them both. I think I may have solidified a new quote into my vocabulary, “The secret’s in the sauce.” Overall, I really enjoyed “J &J.” I think it gave me the motivation I need to finish this cookbook I’ve been working on. I can’t promise it’ll be as amazing as “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” (1961), but it’ll do. The movie really touched home with the point that in my mind I start developing all of the projects, but so many of them go unfinished. I’m going to try to remedy this. I have to say that I was upset in Julie and Julia that it doesn’t seem as though the two of them ever patched things up in the end or before Julia Child passed away. It’s not always necessary to have a happy ending, but it would’ve been nice.

So I think I’ll catch you up to speed with what I’ve been up to these days. So all of April, I took a “staycation,” however I didn’t really stay anywhere. I at least got the energy to get back on my feet from March. 2 days a week I’ve continued my computer class in the IDP village and continuing the book club reading of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” with my adults on Wednesday nights. The Fair Elections Center I used to hold it in is in a transition period, so we did this last Wednesday in the English Cabinet in my school. What lasted for so long as 12 people in my group has the past two weeks dwindled to 4. Nothing lasts forever I guess.

I spent this past weekend through Tuesday in Borjomi for Passover with a dear volunteer I’ll call “Harucet.” I got to know this person much better and truly enjoy their company. Harucet organized the Seder for their English club and family. I was invited and helped to prepare the dishes as well. I’ve been to many a Passover Seder in my day, but this was the first one I helped prepare. We made traditional dishes (and then some) and set up the table with all the symbolic elements for the guests and retelling of Exodus. I myself am spiritual, but it was such an experience. Harucet did an incredible job at the reading, and we even had some Pre-service Training staff join us for the dinner. It was one of the most special nights I’ve had in Peace Corps for sure.

En route to Borjomi, I made a stop at the Bude (Buddha? Buda? Meh?) Bar in Tbilisi. I had heard many things about it from couchsurfing listservs, and it was an experience. I learned some interesting yet inappropriate phrases in German and Chinese.

The second weekend in April, I went to Telavi and fooded it up with the Telavi quad. INCREIBLE! (it was) Worthy of note: we made baked buffalo wings with bleu cheese sauce, a scrumptious salad (real lettuce!) with caesar dressing, and a warm flourless chocolate cake with caramel sauce. All of it was from scratch, and all of it was amazing. Note: Someone also pointed out recently that I use that word (amazing) a lot and that is because life. Is. Amazing.

The first weekend in April (April Fool’s Day! And etc.) I went out West for the 4^th Annual Baghdati English Language Competition. We had about 100 students in attendance from 8 schools. There were some snags with minor things, but compared with last year it went so, so, so smoothly. I believe everyone had a great time. With the help of all the volunteers helping, I had so much fun putting all the pieces together. Thanks to all the guys who volunteered! It seriously would not have gone so smoothly without you. A HUGE thank you also goes to the elementary school I correspond with back in the US. They sent so many prizes that made all of the kids winners (Cheesy but true).

Photo #16 - We Are... Your Friends - Students created posters for the
elementary school that donated prizes for the event. Even though there
were a few spelling errors, the heart is all there.

Speaking of which, I have discovered the joy of popping popcorn over the stove. It’s so easy, and the taste is so much better. Here’s my recipe (also appearing in the sooner than never cookbook):

- 2 tbsp oil

- 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels

- Salt

Directions: Place the oil and 3 kernels in a pot with a lid enough to hold a large bag of popcorn over medium-high heat. Heat the oil and three kernels until the 3 kernels pop. Remove from heat. Add the remaining kernels and cover. Roll the kernels around in the oil and wait 30 seconds. Then return to heat, occasionally rolling the kernels around to keep from burning. It will pop soon. As soon as popping stops for several seconds, remove from heat, add salt as desired, and enjoy.

It’s really simple, but for those who haven’t tried it: give it a go!

Ok. Now let’s jump to the end of March. Twas Novruz Bayram. Novruz, in many Muslim traditions is the celebration of the New Year. As I live in an Azeri (Majority Muslim) community, it’s kind of a big deal. It was a fun and long day. I had guests in from out of town, and the main event was that the Georgian President was coming to my town. I had my municipality’s flag hung out on my balcony. I thought it was oddly fun at first, but continually had government representatives yelling at me to fix the flag. It wasn’t as carefree as I originally had thought.

Photo #17 - Novruz Parade From Balcony - People marching up and down
the streets with the pride of the municipality blowing in the wind before
Misha's (the president's) arrival.

The day started with a small parade, followed by a concert where famous pop-singer “Manana” performed. Manana and Saakashvili (Georgian Prez) appeared at almost the same time, so attentions were divided. I like to think for fun pronunciation purposes, Manana is Azerbaijan’s second-rate Madonna. Manana’s Georgian, but she is more popular in Azerbaijan than she is in Georgia.

The video below is a street performance of local Azeris celebrating the holiday with impromptu traditional dancing and music:

Anyways. The Azerbaijan President was also scheduled to come, but it didn’t work out. Azeris and Georgians united across town in the days before to prepare for their arrival. I’ve never seen such large-scale, last-minute preparations. They cut all the limbs off of all the trees lining the road. They also painted the bases of the trees white. They painted the trees by actually slapping paint onto them with a straw broom. I guess I understand that phrase now. (slap some paint on it) I’m sad that the trees will not be leafy and green any time soon (no branches), but optimistically, there should be a lower amount of bugs this year given that they have one less home, although currently, my kitchen is plagued by mini manbugs (ugly lady bugs).

During Novruz, I was rather disappointed with how they handled it. The prejudice became very apparent between a few of the police in dealing with Azeris. I had all sorts of things in my pockets, and I slid on through the security check point, even though the metal baton went off as it glided over my pockets, but Azeris searched by the prejudiced police had everything searched. This is a similar situation to what you might see in the US, and it could’ve been worse. I was just disappointed in seeing some police officers behave that way.

Photo #18- Novruz Parade Close-up - The group of locals dressed up as
pirates in Mardi Gras fashion marched up and down the main street in town.
While not traditional, this event was rather festive.

My friend who documented the event for a peacebuilding publication was told by Saakashvili’s police detail that they did not have authorization to document the event, because my friend mentioned that they were a journalist, whereas, I myself could’ve taken pictures (as people actually were) with no problem. I’m such a fan of freedom of the press in America.

It’s good that the Georgian President came out to Marneuli for this special holiday for minorities, but I overheard several people comment that they wished it wouldn’t have been so much about Saakashvili. They felt that it really took something away for what should’ve been a full focus on a festive traditional holiday. I guess it’s a delicate balance.

After the public celebration, everyone goes to their home or home of a family member to have a family celebration until (and after) sun down. I was invited over to one of my bookclub student’s houses. I went with a new friend of the journalist I met at the public celebration. From the day, and days leading up to it, I learned a lot about the interworkings of Azeri culture and their responses to foreigners and gender roles/limitations. My student really blew me away with some amazing desserts that she had spent 2 days making. It was incredible. Unfortunately, I had to leave soon after my arrival, as it was in a village, and I had to get back to my apartment before transportation discontinued for the day. Usually, Azeris will jump over a bonfire after dark. From what I gathered, the belief is that when you jump over the fire, all of the negative things (problems, worries, etc) you have drop in to start the New Year cleansed. They refer to it as a New Year, because it is the day that the hours between light and dark are in balance. Overall, it was a great experience with great people.

Photo #19 - Girls with Wheatgrass - These group of little girls carrying
wheatgrass to symbolize new life just finished opening for Manana with
Azeri and Georgian traditional dances.

I hustled after Novruz to Tbilisi for our Close of Service (COS) conference. I was on the COS conference planning committee, and did a couple sessions. I could’ve done a better job, but hey! It was my first time doing this. Usually, volunteers do not take a major role in planning sessions, however, (in my opinion) due to budget cuts, we did. It’s basically a conference on how to adapt to the US when we get back. We talked about reverse culture shock, had a professional panel come and talk to us, had a surprise* and also had some press opportunities. Our surprise was that we were invited to meet with the Prime Minister of Georgia (aka second in command/VP)! It was nuts, so we met with him, and the most shocking was that he asked us how he could improve their country. We gave some feedback. I was one of the few to voice their opinion. I basically mentioned the problems with schools in minority areas: not having enough space and problems with language/integration. Schools are very much ethnically segregated—Azeris in one, Georgians in the other (for example). Of course my school is 50% Azeri, but that’s due to overflow, but within the school there’s further segregation. I said that schools should just be schools, not Azeri, Armenian, Russian or Georgian schools, but just schools. Also, language of instruction should be Georgian, but there has to be a system in place to make it happen. Also, ethnic minorities should be able to retain their languages and cultures. It’s another problem in the US, but one that I feel that they at least address. Here they offer Georgian (ethnic) teachers pay incentives to go to Azeri schools, but it should be the other way around, too. There should also be pay incentives and a system for Georgian teachers to learn the minority language. Georgians are always saying to me how amazing it is that I speak Georgian after only 2 years. Well. Why not learn a minority language for them? It would help with integration and regional job opportunities. I know there’s a lot of disagreement about this, but those are my thoughts. I think our feedback was well-received by the Prime Minister.

Photo #20 - The Round Table of Le Prime Minister - Usually government
officials meet in this room, but just a few minutes after these seats would be
filled by the warm bodies of Peace Corps volunteers and the Prime Minister
of Georgia.

AND right from the COS conference, I bounced across town to the FLEX (Future Leaders EX-change) alumni training—“FLEX-ability” where I trained 15 (5 Armenian, Azeri, Georgian) alumni on themes of Project Design Management for 4 days. There were 3 groups of 15. The other 2 trainers were also Peace Corps Volunteers, but 1 from Azerbaijan and 1 from Armenia. Our group thought of doing a trash clean-up for (most of them) their first project to help in creating a volunteer culture among youth in the Caucasus. Amazingly, FLEX alumni from Armenia and Georgia were already able to pull of this project. My Georgia group additionally wrote up their project proposal and submitted it for a grant. It’s amazing to give a group some tools and guidance to see what they can create! My group was awesome and we had so much fun!

As a sort of team-building exercise, we had to do a skit (video-taped) of our region for the next year’s future FLEX students to watch at their orientations, like a travel promotion of sorts. Since the South group was full, I was with the Western Mountains. I was so lucky, because I couldn’t have worked with a more amazing group of alumni for this. We were really goofy and had a great time. For our skit, we made “videos” within the skit for a couple to watch. Since we were short-staffed, I was the travel agent and acting in some of the “videos” (skits within a skit).

Photo #21 - Mt. Rushmore Cover Band - For the FLEX-ability conference,
this was a scene from our skit acting out the tourist destinations for the
Mountain-West Region of the United States.

Final note: Not long after FLEX-ability, I went with my anime watching partner to McDonald’s. We ate our meal and wanted to play “Phase 10.” We deal our cards and a female manager angrily comes up to us and declares in English, “CARDS NO!” I ask in Georgian, “Why?” She responds with a sneer, “Because.” I’m sorry, and I’m learning that it’s a cultural no-no to play cards in public, but McDonald’s should be an exception. It’s already a wonderful place (service 1000% better than in America). Why the hell did this floozy ruin our good mood? It was the cold slap in the face that we were in Georgia. A note for this woman (but more for my own satisfaction): "Because" is not enough justification for some rule. It is not a satisfactory cover-all explanation, unless you’re 5. It’s irritating, and I’m boycotting the Rustaveli McDonald’s until I get over it. I wish she would’ve come up to us calmly and said, “Excuse me, but it is not allowed to play cards in our establishment. I didn’t make the rule, and I’m very sorry.” I would’ve been pissed anyways, but at least it wouldn’t have been personal.

Alright folks! Thanks for your patience and hopefully this wasn’t too much! xoxo Until next time!

Time Flies Talking with Princesses

2011-03-19T00:25:00.007+04:00

For some people, they might say every week is the same, but if you pay attention to the subtle details no matter how mechanically you operate, every day/week is different, whether it be from the progression of friendships/conversations/work or whatever. Well this week took the cake for different.

On Monday, we had our usual semi-annual VAC (Volunteer Advisory Council) meeting in Tbilisi. It was earlier than usual though, 10 am, which required me being at the marshrutka station to get to Tbilisi at 7:30, and waking up at 6:00 to be awake enough to put in my contacts for being up so early. In Tbilisi, I have never seen people move so quickly in the metro. I guess I’m never there in the early morning rush where people are trying to get to work on time? I didn’t think people rushed to get anywhere in Georgia… you learn something new every day.

I met up with an elven friend for lunch, who conducts teacher training workshops in my region through a US embassy-funded/managed program. We had wonderful discussions, and before you knew it, it was time to get back to my site. I almost missed the last marshrutka. Whew! Totally lucky. I was freaking out worrying if I had been stuck in Tbilisi.

Tuesday was pretty normal. I did a presentation for St. Patty’s Day for Thursday. The kids really liked it, and I gave out green shamrock bracelets (sent to me by my AMAZING class in Tallahassee! :))

Wednesday, I taught in the IDP village and returned to meet a PCV in town for a meeting with IREX the next morning. I have my book club (Currently reading: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) on Wednesdays, so we met and it went really well! Something seemed really odd to me though. You know how in college, people will stay after and talk with the professors about various things? Well, that’s now me after our book club! It’s very curious and feels strange to me, but I’m glad to be appreciated/valued on that level of respect.

St. Patrick’s Day threw me for a loop. We had our meeting with IREX to discuss civic education projects in several regions and our experiences with it in Georgia. Afterwards, getting to school, the students had skipped school for the day. I went to tell my director that I wouldn’t be at school next week on account of 2 conferences, and met 2 very different and interesting people:

1. Princess- That’s right. I met a princess. She claims to be the last remaining heir (granddaughter) of the lost Anastasia. She says she wasn’t contacted by Russian authorities until after the fall of the Soviet Union, but she has close contacts with Putin and various other political figures now. She was able to articulate every moment down to the times and explicit travel itinerary of what occurred after discovering that she was a princess. This lady could talk your ear off if you stayed around long enough. She ~~discretely~~ took pictures of me and my friend on her phone while I was talking to my director, but after listening to 30 minutes of her story before being rescued by a school administrator, I requested a photo with her and was shot down. Sorry bloggers! Another time.

2. College administrator- She is the one who rescued us from the princess. (Is that really how it’s supposed to work?) It turns out she’s opening a campus branch for a professional skills college in my town. She wants me to teach there after I finish Peace Corps. She offered to find me a good apartment and pay me a fair salary. She wants to create an incredible reputation for the college’s English program. She is pretty determined, but we’ll see. It’s always good to have back-up plans, and I’m flattered by the offer.

We departed and later showed up at the center where I hold the book club for an afternoon viewing of “Matilda” (1996), to watch a movie based on another Roald Dahl book. The students really liked seeing the similarities in style between the two. Everyone was sporting their green, and they put together a small party to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Then, they presented to me several bags of groceries from everyone to show their appreciation for me helping and teaching them. I was really touched and surprised. I don’t think anyone has ever done anything like that for me. Also, I have had a low balance on my bank account recently, as inflation prices have made some of the food products double, and I just felt like it was like God/karma/a higher power knew that and was helping me. I was wonderfully surprised. And so comes to an end, what was the best St. Patrick’s Day I have ever had.

Photo #15 - St. Patrick's Day Fiesta - While not too much, these goodies

made for the perfect St. Patty's Day snacks. Note: I love the walnut shaped

pastries on the far left. They are filled with caramel and sooo scrumptious.

Today, I taught computers again in the village. We had a new student join us, and he corrected my Georgian while speaking, and my little students (circa age 10) all jumped in and defended me. I teach in Georgian. It’s not perfect, but they understand me. The little kids are so eager to learn. I asked this group of kids last week what was something positive in their day and again later for my book club. Maybe half of the group answered that that class was the highlight of their day. It’s not the first time I’ve heard that before, and I’m so grateful that I am given an opportunity to offer a course/class/something that the students can look forward to.

So Monday is Novruz Bayram, the Azeri celebration of spring and the New Year. Novruz, as a Muslim holiday is also celebrated in many other countries. A famous Azeri pop singer, Manana, is coming, along with the Georgian and Azeri presidents to my town! They’re doing a sneak-peek at the new sports complex, funded by the Azeri government, along with celebrating this holiday. They have been trimming all the trees, repainting road markings and anything else that needs painting, and cleaning. Slowly, my town is getting a little facelift. I talked with one of my students, and I’m so stoked to possibly get a membership to this new gym, if it will be affordable!

Side note: An interesting misperception I haven’t thought about since I was a kid: hamburgers, in fact, do not contain pork. They are safe to eat for Muslims. :) I had to explain this to several of my Muslim students recently.

There is only so much time in a day, and I’m glad to say that I feel like I’m maximizing it. Happy Novruz to you all!

Pearls of Wisdom and Women's Woes

2011-03-14T02:27:00.001+04:00

DISCLAIMER: READER DISCRETION ADVISED. THIS POST CONTAINS SOME THEMES INAPPROPRIATE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN. PLEASE BE AWARE AND TURN AWAY IF THIS IS YOU.

I just had a really great conversation with my mom about relationships between other people (coworkers, friends, supervisors, mentor-mentee relationships, etc). It was really refreshing, and definitely made me feel good about the decisions that I have made in my life. In regards to behavioral change and personal growth, my mom said, "You know, growing hurts sometimes and isn't always easy." I could only think about the countless number of times where I have made mistakes, said the wrong thing, or just flat-out failed at something. They've all been learning experiences for me, and so I can't regret them. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and, in the case of a relationship, the mistakes you make weren't meant to work out with those individuals in particular, but rather to prepare you for some relationship down the road. Also, I feel like (once again for those who believe in it) a higher power, albeit God/god(s), will show you these paths and give you these opportunities to make mistakes, and it's up to you to make them. I constantly am telling my students with English that if they don't make mistakes now, how can they become better?

In short, conversations/encounters I have been dwelling on in things I shouldn't have said, actions I shouldn't have done, and/or just wondering why for SOME reason people drift apart under certain circumstances have all already happened. There's no sense dwelling or regretting on them, but instead how will those encounters influence who you will become tomorrow? When someone does you wrong, an option is to shut down that vulnerable part of yourself so that it will never happen in the future. My mom said, "There's no point in living if you shut yourself down to the world." Instead, a heightened awareness of self and others enables you to see events unfolding and playing the cards of wrongdoing are foreseen rather than by surprise, but the most important thing is to also identify those relationships which can be healthy and connect with these people with similar/harmonious motives/views. These are the people that matter.

---------

As mentioned, I have been doing site visits to advertise and connect with minority schools in my region for placement of the next group of Peace Corps volunteers (G11's,you can thank me later :)) So far, with assistance from some local community members, I have been able to generate 2 school applications. It's not a lot, but I've still got some other irons in fire. In my meetings with the English teachers and directors, we have had some interesting conversations with women, in which I will also regale you with some other stories I have heard in my time in Georgia.

One teacher asks me the usual questions: Do you like Georgia? Do you like Georgian food? Are you married? How much money do you make? How much do you pay for rent? etc. In response to the question about marriage, I replied that I am still on the market *wink, wink* She insisted that I'm such a good boy, that I should stay in Georgia. I asked why, and she responded that it was due to the high rate of divorce in America. If I were to stay in Georgia, logically, I would be able to have a happy, longterm marriage. Several teachers join in this conversation to ask me about divorce rates in America, especially, why are they so high? I responded probably due to the individualism of the culture. I wanted to add that also probably most people's basic needs are met and in striving to meet their other needs, they become overly critical of those they date/marry on their way to self-actualization, however, I was interrupted with the most important reason- "It is because in America, women think they are head of the household. This is the real reason. In Georgia, men are the head of the house. They make all decisions. Our marriages are like stable, well-running governments." "Like unmovable mountains!" chimed in another teacher. "In Georgia, divorce is so rare, and you can say it almost never happens." Not entirely convinced, I smiled and chuckled along, perhaps a little nervous about what to say next. **Note: I have been around the block in Georgia a couple of times, I know that overall in most of the regions, this statement is true. There are of course exceptions, probably most married Georgian women with internet access able to read this. Divorce is quite rare, and most men run the households.

The interesting thing is that (as has been pointed out by many), the women in this country do a large majority of the work. Many men/husbands, unwilling to accept a job not respected for men, will sit at home smoking cigarettes, getting drunk with friends, and/or watching TV while the women do all of the housework while having a full-time job. I admire Georgian women so much for their courage, strength, and drive to keep going. I have shadowed a Georgian woman who is a teacher in another region for one week, and I was exhausted. This is how she and so many other women in this country live their lives.

Another regional/village mentality, most likely mentioned in an earlier post is that many women desire these male chauvinists and see them as ideal husbands. "We don't want momma's boys! We want REAL men!"

Another trouble faced by both men and women in Georgia is access to educational materials about reproductive health and birth control. (Not only in Georgia but in many other parts of the world) Women who use birth control are considered loose women. In an HIV/AIDS health training I participated in, one man said, "Women who want an HIV/AIDS test are not loyal to their husbands. If they only have relations with one man, why do they need it?" ***Note: Pregnant women or people about to undergo major surgeries are required by law to have HIV tests to determine measures to take afterwards. All blood donated in Georgia is also tested before transfusions are given. However, it is common practice for men to go to prostitutes on a regular basis for services that "good women/wives" are not expected/socially permitted to perform. In Georgia, the HIV/AIDS epidemic's most at risk group is IV drug users, however, according to research from the Georgia HIV/AIDS institute, this is shifting to cover larger populations. Most people have never had an HIV/AIDS test so it's unclear in projecting infection rates/numbers.

Something else that is misinformation is that people also believe women who buy/use tampons are also loose or that tampons may take your virginity. In several recent surveys, 70% of the Georgian men tested said they would not marry someone who is not a virgin. I'm regurgitating a lot of information from other articles, but this "sexual asymmetry" or perception of is created as a result. There are ads in newspapers for cosmetic surgeries for women to have their virginity restored. It's true that reputation is everything is Georgia.

A friend of mine was teaching a graduate level course at a well-known university in Tbilisi. One day for their assignment, somehow the students got on the topic of the reproductive system. My friend was shocked to discover that, for example, the women (graduate students) could not explain ovulation, fertilization or any processes related to giving birth connected to reproductive organs. My friend brought in diagrams for the students the next class to teach full-grown adults, for the first time, about their bodies.

In doing a teacher training in the fall of 2010, I taught a session on incorporating health topics in the classroom. I mentioned that at first, it's good to start off with light topics like the damage/dangers of smoking and move across a wide-range of topics, incorporating parents and school administrators for support. I mentioned that one of the benefits of talking about health issues is that it makes the teacher someone the students can talk to that they might feel ashamed to talk about with their parents. As the session went on, and we talked about reproductive health in the classroom. ***Note: Currently health classes are not a part of the education curriculum in Georgia. There have been some pilot programs, but nothing has really gone full-scale.

We debated whose responsibility it is in discussing this topic: parents? teachers? both? doctors? who? Then, I threw out something controversial- I asked, "What would you do/say if your student came to you, as another female, and said she was pregnant and wanted your advice?" The response: outrage. Comments like, "You cannot understand our country!" "This never happens in Georgia!" "This is not America!" etc.etc. The teachers took complete offense. Well, I have another story for you.

This may be rare, but here goes. One of the other volunteers had a 13-year-old student give birth to a child in the school bathroom. Her parents didn't notice, apparently. I have to say this is a failure on the part of the parents and the school. The school should be a comfortable place for the students. Can you imagine how scared this poor girl must have been, giving birth on the bathroom floor? or what it must've felt like to hide this from everyone? She went through this whole thing most likely alone, or at least not of anyone who could've been emotionally supportive to her needs. The volunteer asks the co-teachers who were at the training, "So now, what would you do if she had come to you for support?" Response: they would have taken her to and told her parents. That is exactly why she didn't. If I've heard about it once in two years, it means it does happen. **Note: Georgian media has discussed this as well as various NGOs. Abortion is Georgia's most common method of birth control. I'm pro-choice personally, but careless abortions like this make me sick to think about.

So the argument is: if you teach it in schools, the schools could be responsible for increased sex among the student body. For a culture centered around religion, the church is not for this. However, I think it's clear that sex is happening in these schools already, and students should know the myths and truths about what will happen to keep them from making bad decisions down the road.

Big Teisti for One

2011-03-04T20:35:00.003+04:00

Nothing is more depressing than eating by yourself in a fast-food restaurant full of families, friends and lovers. You might be thinking they are cheap boyfriends to take their honies to a fast-food restaurant, but as was probably mentioned in previous posts: McD's is the place to be. So I sit down with my "beeg teh-ee-stee" sandwich with two chairs at a table that bairly holds my tray. Then a man comes up to me and says, "I'm taking these." So I'm now eating alone at a tiny-tiny table that looks even more lonely with no-one else at it.

As others have noted, the people and service at McDonald's in Georgia are great. They greet you when you come in. They are constantly cleaning the bathrooms and tables. They'll even continually mop the floors when people are tracking in mud on a rainy day. After you get your food at the register, they always smile and say a "bon apetit" of sorts.

In being alone, I am looking around at all the people around me. I see 2 friends/lovers eating. The guy has a blank stare towards the girl while she texts on her phone for 20 minutes. Rude much?

Then I see a mom sitting at a table with her kid. The kid is playing with his happy meal toy and the mom has this blank-minded look of despair on her face. You can see her glancing around and either wishing her husband could've come out with her and the kid or that she had a husband to help out with the trouble of raising a child on her own. She goes to get two ice creams and proceeds to eat the ice cream in such a melancholy way that suggests she is trying to fill some void in her life.

Another 40'ish old lady is sitting at a table with her mother. She could have sat across the table from her mom, but instead her mom seems to be having trouble eating from the shakes, so she is helping her with her food.

I feel that so much of this country tries so hard to maintain a facade of happiness, even in the most wealthy of places. Of course there are people who are generally happy, but it's comparable to the number of people who have PhD's in America. I was thinking about this. Take my neighbors, for example. I laugh a lot in my apartment (and in life in general), whether by myself talking to friends on facebook or skype, or when I have company over. I always think (these walls are paper-thin and I know they can hear me). After a good laugh, I always have a shudder of guilt that I'm disturbing someone. I have never seen my neighbors truly laugh on the countless occasions I have lived next door to and interacted with them. I can hear them put a coat on a coat-hanger, but I never hear them laugh. Sure, every now and again, they'll have a good chuckle, but it still seems artificial.

I can count on my ten fingers of people I know who know how to truly enjoy life out of all the people I've met. It makes me sad. If anything it motivates me to prove as a source of humor or relief from life for them. I don't doubt that life in this country is easy for anyone, but you have to learn how to enjoy it. I never thought about this in America, but I think this principle could also be applied there.

I officially taught my first full day with the IDP kiddos in the village I will commute to twice a week for three months. These students are so quiet and well-behaved compared to my average school students. In part, this silence comes from fear, mistrust, and low-self esteem. Some of them are just fine, but they have all been through the traumatic experience of having been kicked out of their homes and relocated to an unknown territory. Their parents in most cases don't have jobs and even more so, have a difficult time getting up in the morning at the thought of being in the middle of nowhere and expected to start over from nothing. Sure they have financial aid in place, but they really need emotional support. I am somehow going to make these computer classes interdisciplinary in developing growth of their self-esteem. For example, one girl was so shy she spoke in a voice that was almost inaudible. When she didn't know where the keys were on the keyboard, she looked like someone who wanted to cry but had no tears left. She easily clammed up, and there was so much dirt on her hands, I wondered if her parents didn't use her for labor or if even she didn't have any parents. Today affirmed that this is an area I can have a great impact. Even if what I'm teaching them they'll never use, at least I have a chance to encourage them to keep on keepin' on.

Footprints - Treading Lightly?

2011-03-01T23:34:00.010+04:00

Hello all! I'm bringing you some substance in this one. A lot of this may be clear, but if there's anything that wasn't, feel free to comment or comment anyways! :)

So, I was looking on the recruiting website for English teachers to come to Georgia. On their website, they have information for prospective applicants for their program. I found some statements interesting and others I would like to know more about, were vague, or were just plain wrong. I have done some heavy recruiting in my day, and it seems like they could do a better job. I emailed them saying that I could help them to improve their website, at no cost, of course, to make their website information about Georgia more clear and attract the people who would be most likely to have a successful time in Georgia. I received no response.

Disclaimer: I love Georgian people and culture, and I mean absolutely no insult in questioning the following statements. Also, in no means am I directing this towards any English teacher in Georgia. I am a supporter of and believer in (the potential for) this program, as long as the organizers continue to listen to feedback and criticism to make changes to positively affect the experiences, future and present, of its participants.

On food....

" Often dishes are made with nuts but they also use locally grown spices like coriander and saffron and garlic and peppers but a meal is never complete without some form of bread and often various cheeses."*

"Often called Georgia Pizza, Khachapuri is so good. Kababi's are divine and Mtsvadi melts in your mouth."

On medical care...

"Medical facilities in Georgia are very similar to most public medical centers in any developed country in the world."

On host family selection...

"They are selected from a great number of applicants."

On cost of living...

"It should be noted that an average public school teacher will make less than $300USD per month and that many of these teachers are able to live well, support themselves and their families."

On Georgia's background...

"September 2009 was the first time foreign teachers began teaching in public schools."

"Mountains, seaside, countryside and rolling hills and grapevines are among some of the options you have in terms of locations in Georgia to teach."**

On the culture (this is all there was)...

"The country of Georgia is located at the crossroads of Asia and Europe and Georgian culture has evolved over thousands of years. Georgians are renown for their love of music, dance, theatre and cinema."

On education...

"Classes are small, students are respectful and the schools are generally modern and well equipped."

ANNND

(some) Marketing slogans:

"Summer in Georgia. Get a tan. Make a difference. Why not?"

"Discover Jazz with the Black Sea Jazz Festival in Georgia!"

*I am interested in which dishes use coriander and saffron?
**and... and? AND I teach on grapevines all the time. (this was just a catty one I thought I'd mention)

As those of you who have read my blog before, I have overall had a good experience in Georgia in the time I've been here. Given the above information (and seriously): Am I in this country? I realize I am in a minority area, but I have lived and taught in other parts of Georgia.

Georgia as a country deserves more than to be treated like an "almost new" apartment/house for sale with "charming wildlife," "intimate kitchens," and "cozy bedrooms" in the "paradise escape just steps away from the city."

Should this recruiting company change its slogan from "Placing Teachers First" to "Giving Grossly Inaccurate Information?" I am thinking of three possible scenarios as to why this happened: someone is not doing their fact-checking; this recruiting company is stretching the truth/completely fabricating things; and/or these people have just completely over-generalized an entire country. I believe there are people (like myself and my colleagues) who want to teach in a developing country. I know the goal of recruiting is to get people to sign, but if someone wants a developing country experience, and they don't do their research, they would most likely move on to the next teaching opportunity. Also, I feel that this information could mislead those coming through this company. There are wonderful English teachers who adapt, do their research, and are realistic, but I think you can still market to people and be successful by giving a realistic perspective right from square one.

Photo #14

2011-02-28T23:35:00.001+04:00

Photo #14 - Lemon Square - An impulse lemon buy led to this late-night
creation! By far, the best lemon squares I have ever had. Recipe coming
soon in the new cookbook.

English Party! Photos #11, #12, and #13

2011-02-28T14:43:00.002+04:00

We had a party on the last day of my English class at the Youth Center in my town. After I taught my students how to use an iPod, we had people DJ'ing hits, like Justin Bieber's "Baby."

Photo #11 - Cheese! Last Day Party - These are half of my students
from the class I taught at the Youth Center.

Photo #12 - Pot Luck in Georgia - Each student brought something
for the party! Everything was so delicious.

Photo #13 - English Forever - One of the kids' moms made this cake. :)

The Boom Like I Do

2011-02-24T00:05:00.003+04:00

DJ hit the music!

Ok peoples. I'm gonna talk about my clothes and how they are failing me in Georgia.

Currently wearing: ripped-knee jeans, underwear separating from the elastic, and an undershirt that has a hole in the collar

I probably wasn't going to take most of my clothes back with me to America, but I had hoped they would have lasted me until the end of the road... So far, I've mostly just thrown away socks with holes in them. Hand-washing your clothes takes its toll. The dilemma is: should I sew them back together again or no? In the mean time, they'll sit in the corner of my room.

Where did the last month go?

1. Angry birds

2. Anime

I’m pretty sure that’s what happened. I had an awesome Banjo player staying at my apartment for a couple weeks, which was fun. He opened my eyes to angry birds, and I’m basically like a pro now. For those who haven’t played it, get into it. I can now put “Angry Birds” physicist on my resume, because things that happen in that game are not explainable in real life.

Speaking of real life, I refuse to admit that my day-to-day is real life. I am essentially living in a game of angry birds. I throw birds at pigs who don’t want to learn before they can sabotage the spoils of my labour. That’s right. I’m spelling words with extra “u”’s now. I actually typed favourite and colour the other day by complete accident. I’m composing this in MS Word right now, and I love that it recognizes those words as spelling mistakes.

So where does the boom come from? Well, friends, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride through the beginning of April, and I’ll tell you why. I finished my minority/community integration project at the youth center teaching English to about 20 kids for three months this past week. I was contacted by FLEX/ACIE to help with a FLEX alumni training in late March. I agreed and have been learning about what exactly I’ll be doing. I will be working with 2 other PCVs from Azerbaijan and Armenia teaching project design principles and each of us will work closely with 15 alumni for 13.2 hours over 4 days of instruction. The goal is for the alumni to develop and implement a project after the training. So I have to submit a request for materials and adapted lesson plans in the next 2 weeks, do some more research, practice my stuff, make flip charts and power points.

Then, I’m helping with the Peace Corps Close of Service Conference. This seems at this point to be a smaller commitment, but still exciting! 5 months or so more to go! I’ll try not to be too obnoxious about how happy I’ll be. I just see myself feeling accomplished at having made it through 2 years of ups and downs in this program.

I am also continuing my conversation group/book club at the Fair Elections center in my town. It started off with 3 people and has ballooned (and capped by me) at 12. We are reading Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and I really enjoy discussing it with the group! It meets at 6 in the evening, and we have Azeris, Georgians, Russians, and Abkhazians in our group. They each have their own spark, and I always leave feeling refreshed.

I am also still making progress in gathering the Peace Corps cookbook. It’s gonna be good ya’ll! I’m sorry to those waiting that it’s taking so long. Hopefully I can get it out before March’s craziness hits and April’s new volunteers come.

I am helping with site selection for minority schools in Kvemo Kartli for future volunteers. I am going out to some villages next Tuesday to check out prospects for the G11s. I also am kicking off a new project next Wednesday where I’ll be teaching IT and resume writing skills to 2008 IDPs (Internally Displaced Person/People) in a village on the border to Armenia. I had the meeting there today, and I have hopes. They say there are 60 people from 10-25 years old who are interested. I’ll hopefully take 20-30 of those on over a couple hours twice a week. Ready for the kicker? I’m gonna teach these kiddos in Georgian. It’ll be the real test at how well I’ve learned the language. Here’s to hoping for some good English speakers in my classes to help. ;)

What else? I am organizing the Baghdati Language competition. I need to get that ball rolling soon, so those helping in that boat reading this, I’ll be sending an email out soon. The Baghdati/Kutaisi/Imereti kids are so amazing. I love working with them. According to the resource center director in my town, there is no such thing as a bad student/child, only bad teachers. Food for thought. I do agree that teachers are pivotal in motivation/success in school, but parents, administration, and institutions also are critical. Cheesily enough for non-atheists, we are all children of some god(s), so that statement argues that no one is bad. The blame has to go on someone. I love working with motivated students.

I have another English language group (more grammar and test-taking focused) in the mix, and while they are motivated, I’m trying not to encourage them too much until I knock out some of these other events. It’s looking like my PC experience is going to go out with a bang! Loves it.

The Missing Piece

2011-01-26T16:19:00.000+04:00

Currently listening to: A charming “La Cucaracha” car horn playing on the street

Okay, so I would like to give a few words out to the folks who might be reading what it might be like to be a Peace Corps Volunteer or the G10’s that are hanging on, getting ready to begin their second year. I have discussed these ideas with some other volunteers, and it seems to be a shared feeling.

Over the course of my service, I have taken a decline in health, deserted my close friends and loved ones from back home, and had days where I wonder why I’m doing this to myself. It’s been freezing cold, swelteringly hot, and filled with problems and poor conditions.

Hopefully, you’ve kept reading for this: it’s all been worth it. I wasn’t able to say this really until the past couple of weeks. I have been able to help a girl by coaching her through an application process that might land her a fellowship for graduate study in the United States. We’ve met often, and I can say that our relationship is a friendship that I haven’t had to force. Most times, I feel like I’m struggling to make things happen, make progress, and motivate the people around me. While I definitely feel that it was not an “all-for-naught” situation, it’s been tough. I have tried so hard to make true friends in my community. Either they are too busy or just caught up in their own stuff to be able to invest into a friendship with someone new. This was the missing piece. Most volunteers in the past have said this feeling usually happens around 1 year into service. So what if it took me an extra 6 months?

Then, this past weekend, I was having a meeting with a new organization leader in my community. We’re talking, and I was using her center as an office. I would work, and we would talk, and this went back and forth between working and talking. Then, the organization leader’s friend comes in and joins into our conversation. We had such an amazing conversation about gender. Her friend has some very traditional views about marriage, but it was just a great conversation to have. Then, the org leader mentioned that I could use her space for anything. She mentioned, “I would love to start a small English discussion group for practice.” I said, “Awesome! I have some other people I could invite, if that’s okay?” She said, “Sure. When can we meet?” I answer, “Hmm…” She responds, “How about the 2nd? Does 6:00 pm work okay?”

I was flabbergasted! It just fell into place. So now I have a new conversation group. It will be informal discussions. She said she could distribute any articles, poems, etc I want to discuss before our meetings to read in advance. I have such a good feeling about this. I am just so pleased to find people who are already motivated and just wanting to learn.

I also received news this past Monday that I was not selected to continue on with the State Department, after an extensive review of my personnel file. I was kind of bummed, but I know when one door closes…

I now have a comfortable friendship with one of my counterparts at school. We go to the school “cafeteria” and I eat khachapuri (cheese bread) and drink soda, while my counterpart usually just drinks coffee. It’s nice to have some hang-out time. She’s very busy and has a family, so we rarely will hang out outside of school.

I got my new schedule for this upcoming semester. Best possible last semester: I only teach at school Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays!! That’s right suckas! I have 2 extra days off. I have long days on the days I do work, but it still makes it worth it. Those extra days will give me time I need to devote to other projects and community organizations.

I’m gearing my noggin up for a huge job application spree to take place in mid-spring, to prevent a possible spring-cleaning of my bank account when I get back to America… cheesy…

So, I have been journaling with my students I teach at the youth center, and I want to share with you some of their entries (from 2 different female students):

1. Topic: If you could be anyone else, who would you be and why?

If I could be anyone else, I would be a boy. I will say about my town and about my choice, because in my town for girls, life is not good. If I would be a boy, I would be popular, very beautiful, free, and without complexes. I would stay with my friends watching TV, going around the world, and when I would want, go and do what I want. Also, I would help who needs help. I would be a champion and a leader in sports, in life, and of course in my own world with my own rules. My decision would be always to try. I think it’s all I need: to live as a boy.

2. Topic: What is the most important thing you will ever do?

I want to be a lawyer, and I will work for Georgia. I want to be beautiful, kind, and generous.

From the bottom of my heart, I care about these kids, and I only want the best for them. We have 10 lessons left in their program. I have noticed a huge transformation in their writing ability, self-esteem with speaking English, and critical thinking skills. They have so much potential.

The Peace Corps’ motto: “The toughest job you’ll ever love” is starting to fill out. In the beginning, it was no doubt the toughest job, but that I’ll “ever love” is becoming more real as the days go by.

Photo #10- Pleasantries at Mtatsminda Park - I didn't get a chance to ride
the ferris wheel, but I want to in the future. The TV tower in the background

is Georgia's Tour D'Eiffel. Location: Tbilisi, Georgia

"The music is all around us, all you have to do is listen."

2011-01-13T16:48:00.001+04:00

Dear Readers,

My sincerest apologies go out to all of you waiting for something fantastic to appear. I can't guarantee this'll be fantastic, but it'll do my little piggies.

The ups and downs continue, each week leaves me with the feeling like I've just gotten off of another of life's roller coasters. As with other volunteers, I take a breath out of the exit and go back through the turnstiles. Whether you are on vacation or not, every day is different. Being aware of this here, I wonder what and how I'll feel going back to the US or onto my next venture.

The cold came suddenly to my community, and before you knew it, you could see your breath in my room. The hot water stops working, and I only have ice water to wash my clothes and dishes. The days will tick by and it'll be warm before I know it.

I have been watching tons of movies, thinking about what's to come, what new shenanigans my students will pull, what lives I'll touch in the next 6 months, what my life was like before Peace Corps, and what happiness lies tomorrow and beyond. I have a good feeling and that's what I'm putting my laris on.

Recently, through film and real-life situations, I'm noticing so many people that are just trying to find their path. Some are just pacing and waiting and others have completely wandered away. To that, I stress the importance of being in touch with your emotions and reflecting. Granted, sometimes I reflect a little too much, but self-awareness can go a long way. Sometimes emotions just confuse everything. To that, I say, "Shake it off, and stare raw reality in the face." What do you see? Tap into your true desires, and go for it. If you decide somewhere along the way it's not for you: don't get down. Just re-roll, and at least you know that one thing is not for you.

I looked back on my New Year's resolutions from 2010.

1. I can say I've done some awesome lessons and projects for my students. (check)
2. I don't think my mental health could be any more clear. (meditating- check)
3. I didn't complain nearly as much as 2009 and before. haha (not complaining- check)
4. I was more proactive about nutrition, haven't really gained that much weight though. (half-check)
5. I was a more active reader. I really enjoyed the reading I did in 2010. (active reading- check)
6. Well... I didn't really get as much sleep as I should have. (full nights of sleep- ehhh)
7. I disappointed people on not meeting my word on 2 or 3 occasions, but overall I think it was a productive year. (meeting my word- 3/4 check)

On my path to a dangerously close approach to perfection, I feel pretty good about 2011. I can't say that I even wish to make any resolutions at this point. I have a plan, and I'll keep you posted.

Here's to another year of good food, friends, life, and success! A (belated) happy new year to everyone!

Photo #9- Sunset in Marneuli-- the Azerbaijan Mountains--
Appreciating the view I can only see once or twice every 2 months.

Ignite Your Light- Baby, You're a Firework

2010-12-01T14:26:00.000+04:00

So I got back from Armenia. I went there for a weekend vacation! My friend, BPRSII, invited me to go. My mission was to get candy for our lovely Safety and Security Officer, but I couldn't find it anywhere! My opinion of Yerevan was that it was awesome! Of course, there were the Soviet-style buildings, but our hostel was awesome. It was filled with Americans, one Canadian, one Slovenian (who liked to take pictures), and one other guy (Hungarian?). The Americans were pretty much all different walks of the Georgian Ministry of Education's Teach and Learn in Georgia (TLG) Program.

note: the Geo. Ministry of Education's goal is to put a native speaker in every school in Georgia, starting off with 1000 volunteers and then going from there. It's sustainability for funding is questionable, but the aim of the program is decent, and the Americans I've met have been pretty cool folks!

One TLG'er in particular, I'll call Crime, has been such a blast to hang out with. We are working on a facebook friend's page together, but facebook doesn't seem to update these pages too regularly... Her and BPRSII have really broken me out of my shell. It's not that I'm a different person, but just that it's really good to find people that are amazing to hang out with. I haven't forgotten about Punishment, who had a scheisty Thanksgiving, for which I am sorry and will make it up to her. Also, I appreciate everyone else who has been sending packages and letters, providing support, visiting my site and/or just reading the ol' blog.

Through some facebook stalking, I discovered christwire.org, a hilarious satire site on radical Christianity (at first I didn't know it was satire: thank you, Johnny-in-5-Years; AND I must say that Katy Perry's new(ish) video "Firework" is pretty awesome. Well done!

I taught my students the lyrics to Wham!'s "Last Christmas" along with the meanings to try and show Georgians that it is NOT a happy song! I went through this discussion many times last year and failed. I wasn't going to be had again this year. Well.... despite knowing the lyrics, the history, and even seeing the music video, my students are CONVINCED it is, in fact, a happy song....

I made Broccoli Casserole for Thanksgiving. Not gonna lie, before I made my first casserole I thought they were a kind of trashy, but after crumbling the last potato chip on top of that glorious glob of thanksgiving goodness, I'm a believer. It was delicious!

In other news, my kitchen runs on natural gas. It had been out for 3 days until this afternoon! I just made a huge bowl of pasta to celebrate.

Last night, to celebrate my day (kind of) off today, I watched "How to Train Your Dragon." It was a lovely Dreamworks film I'd recommend. Tonight I think I'll tackle "Ninja Assassin." In just a few minutes I'll be heading to some festivities for "World AIDS Day." Get out there! Get tested! Use a condom!

Photo 8- Pigs Wrapped in Blankets

2010-11-17T17:24:00.000+04:00

Before (he was cold):

After (nice and warm!):

Cold Harsh Reality and Water for One

2010-11-17T00:27:00.000+04:00

It's a little nippy here at night. I'm writing to you prime time from Georgia. The days have been flying by. I can't say I'm not tired, but things are going well over all. I have been using the few pieces of gym equipment at my SM's youth center I'm also teaching at, which is helping to relieve stress and feel good. I can say without a doubt that compared to this time last year, I'm doing a thousand times better.

In my free time, I've been watching some really good anime's I got from another volunteer. (arigato gozaimas!) The bad thing about getting addicted to a tv show that you like a lot and have every episode of, is that you tend to want to watch every episode and burn through the series. This has led to some sleep-deprived nights for sure.

This past weekend, I was working with some other volunteers on a teacher training sponsored and organized by IREX. It was for teachers of the TEA program (Teaching Excellence and Achievement) aka Georgian teachers who went to America for a short period of time. It's always a great opportunity to work with motivated teachers. I also was able to submit my essays for the state department.

My goal before January is to finish the book I'm reading, so I can start reading some materials to prepare me for a possible interview.

Earlier today, my land lady came over, but I was sleeping. I wasn't going to answer the door, but then she called out. I open the door and see her and another group of people. They were from the water company to verify that I live alone. My town doesn't have running water and people don't pay for water or sewage. The flow of water is also something that isn't controlled. Sometimes I'll walk by and people leave the water running and it will overflow onto/down the street, just being wasted. The neighbors that live above me will leave their pump on, it flows into my apartment and because I don't have a place to collect it, just goes down the drain. It's such a waste. So the city is trying a new program to make people pay. There was a suspicious man who came a couple of months ago, threatening me if I didn't pay him an exorbitant amount of money. Note: he wasn't wearing or carrying anything official that showed he was from the water company. He had jeweled rings on his fingers and had long pinky nails. He said, "I'll turn off your water!" and "You'll be sorry in the end!" So I kicked him out of my apartment. Well, it turns out that he changed the reported number of people living in my apartment from 2 (but really only me) to 5 people. This meant I would be charged even more. The procedure in my town for changing the recorded number in the household has to be done with the water company. They have to come out, then 3 witnesses have to present their passports and sign for it. The only catch is that they don't announce when they are going to come. They came unannounced and expected me to find 3 other people to sign. No one was home, as there wasn't a plan.

Also, it should be noted these women from the water company were quite hostile. They were Georgian and didn't like having to deal with the likes of the minority population here. I said that I would go get one of my friends, and one lady said "She's Georgian, Right?" hoping not to speak with another Azeri. Unfortunately the Georgians I knew weren't home. The 2 women also asked me about where I work, etc. They talked to me in Russian, not Georgian. So then they asked how long I've lived in Georgia. I said for a year and a half. Then, they asked surprised, "And you don't know any Georgian!!?" with looks of disgust on their faces. Of course I know Georgian! I talked to them the rest of the time in Georgian. They thought I was working with another program here, had never heard of Peace Corps, but had made all these assumptions about me. I wish that racial conflict and nationalism in this country wasn't as bad as it is. I have learned the Georgian language and culture to impress other Georgians and because I want to learn it. I am living in Georgia, and I have many Georgian friends. It would be so much easier if I didn't continually get flack for incorrect assumptions. I don't say this as a hasty generalization, and I will say these occurrences are quite minimal compared to my positive experiences here, but they stand out so much more.

I have seen Georgian marshrutka drivers ask Azeri men and women to move to uncomfortable seats on marshrutkas to make room for other Georgians. I have seen the drivers of public transportation ignore Azeris requests to stop the bus or marshrutka even if they ask in Georgian language. I have heard so many people say cruel things about Azeris: they smell, they're lazy, they're stupid, they're only good for cheap labor, etc. They call them Tatars and say that there is nothing wrong with it. Tatars are a Turkic ethnic group that inhabit Eastern Europe and across Asia. Most people aren't educated to know what the actual ethnicity is. There are only 30,000 Tatars living in Azerbaijan (population of 9 million) and only 3,500 in Georgia (Azeri population estimated around 286,000). You can't say they are all Tatars. It's a misunderstanding of cultures, and it's offensive. Would I say that anyone who is East Asian is Chinese? No. This is another common misunderstanding. I realize that I'm being sensitive about this issue, but no group of people likes to be marginalized. Ignorance and racism are huge global problems, but I feel like such a small voice in saying that it's wrong to say something bad about another group or misname them, whereas in the United States, being so culturally diverse, other people would share your opinion. It's really difficult for me to see this. Georgia's motto is "Strength in Unity." What is the implication there?

Of course, there are other Georgians who mostly live in Tbilisi or have left the country before that will agree with me that this is a problem. I don't discount that, but unfortunately this group does not represent the majority of the people I encounter. I realize that this small group of amazing people represent seeds of hope all around the country. Nela nela, Georgia! I still believe change is possible.

So now, after terribly inconveniencing the representatives from the water company, I am registered as one person in this apartment.

Photo 7- High Apple Sky Hopes

2010-11-10T11:15:00.000+04:00

This is 20/20

2010-11-09T15:21:00.000+04:00

I know I have so many other things I should be doing, but I decided to give you a bit of substance.

Weird/Bad habits I've picked up in Georgia:
1. Unbuttoning a button on my shirt and just leaving it there.
2. Sleeping in full outfits/coats (it's cold ya'll)
3. Locking myself in at night (I have metal bars on my door)
4. Swearing. I'm not really as angry as I sound sometimes.
5. Rarely showering (there's not running water in my town).
6. Enjoying being alone. It's all about me.
7. Along with 6, avoiding people walking across town. Never before have a ipod and sunglasses come in more handy.
8. Not answering the door when someone comes knocking. It's probably a bill collector or someone wanting to cause drama. (I pay my bills) Call me!
9. Obsessively checking websites. I mean, maybe I got an email 2 seconds ago? Can't hurt to refresh right?
10. I ignore people when they shout at me on the street. "Hey you! Hey! Foreigner!"
11. I cross 4-lane streets with traffic running full speed on the daily. Frogger FTW.
12. Scowling. It keeps you in control of your social interactions.
13. Wearing slippers inside the house. This is gonna be a hard one to break, but I don't want to catch cold!
14. Wearing a scarf when my throat hurts. I've never done this before Georgia.
15. Analyzing the insect population in my house and the spider-fly-cockroach ratio before I kill them. It's a delicate balance.
16. Putting together hideous color and style combinations for outfits. You have to wear what's clean and you only have 5 outfits, so you gotta keep it interesting.
17. Using a chair seat regularly as a table. When in short supply, make it work!
18. Hoarding plastic bags and usually carrying 1-2 on you at all times. You never know when you might need them/run out!
19. Getting legitimately upset when I see a student text messaging in class. What's the big deal anyways?14-year olds have lives too...
20. Skype. It's great in small doses... but don't overdo it.

If you have done a majority to all of these things you too are assimilated! Congratulations! I realize that if you've never met me, you're picturing this bristling hermit. PS- we got the results back to our language test.

When I came to Georgia 1.5 years ago:
Georgian- Nothin
Russian- Intermediate-Mid

Now:
Georgian- Advanced-Low (I do talk!)
Russian- Intermediate-High

I bought a wool-cashmere coat at the Bazaar I'm loving. I am finishing up my essays for State Department (I passed the Foreign Service Exam!!) My project at my SM's youth center is going well. One of my students asked, "They say love is a game. What do you think?" I responded that in the beginning love is a game, but later it isn't any more. From what I've heard, the game goes away when you get older. My students at the center are awesome. It's great to teach kids that actually want to learn.

I have some good students at school of course, but there are students that you put yourself out there for them, and they shut you down or make you feel small. Generally my reaction is like, "...uhh, ummm, yeah!!! Just kidding! I was totally just kidding! ha...ha.??"

Another volunteer I have yet to mention, but I will call him the Brown Recluse, told his personal philosophy on hanging out with other Americans out of your site: It's just a false sense of happiness. "Once you go back to your site, the happiness goes away. In order to stop yourself from feeling that emptiness, you should just stay put." There were definitely some eyebrow raises, shrugs and ho-humms, but it's food for thought.

Another generalized realization I've come to is that many Georgians (who have not travelled outside of their city or country) have a really difficult time making friends. Everyone who is their friend, they have known since they were in the womb. When someone new comes along (such as my handsome self), they don't know how to function. It is my opinion that some Georgians will imagine that you are a member of their family, so that the complexities of processing the stages of friendship are simplified and you are elevated to top status, however, I believe that without that strong foundation, the friendship is a false one, and I'm often left in superficiality. It's something I've been pondering about for a while. Living all over the US, I have been able to make friends in almost any setting. Here, however, few Georgians under the conditions previously stated have such a skill. I can say I have really great friendships with Georgians who have travelled around, but they mostly live in Tbilisi, and I can't see them on a daily basis, as much as I'd like to. Food for thought....

Back to you, Tom.

Photo 6- French Silk

2010-11-09T12:33:00.000+04:00

With new pie pan comes pie... to the MAX! This definitely does not look as delicious as it tasted. Recipe to come in the soon expected revision of the Peace Corps Georgia Cookbook: Simple Satchmeli.

Photo 5- Cinnamon Buns

2010-11-08T14:26:00.000+04:00

Photo 4- Cotton Candy Sky

2010-11-08T02:14:00.000+04:00

The Winter Blues

2010-11-08T01:44:00.000+04:00

The winter slowly grabs hold of the little town in Georgia, chilling its denizens on the streets. The need for a refrigerator becomes practically and temporarily obsolete. The days grow shorter as weariness takes its toll. Men who themselves can’t put food on the table arm themselves to take out the starving dogs in the night. The leaves on the trees begin to change colors and fall below to the women sweeping the streets, leaving patterns swept in the dust. Some trees far away are butchered to form the pile of now decaying wood in the school yard, wet with sap and mildewing from the last rain. The grey sky obscures the mountains in the distance, peeking through the old Soviet buildings. A loaf of bread goes stale as it lies on the paint-chipped window sill with mold growing underneath from moisture and poor construction. Spiders claim space around the apartment, permanently fixing themselves in positions like spindly decorations as they too die from lack of sustenance. The fumes from cheap cigarettes waft in through the cracks in the window, delicately clinging to the walls, adding an extra layer of grunge. Near the door rest one pair of mud-spackled shoes, caked with exhaustion from a long, yet unfruitful trek through the open-air market. The woman in the next room shuts the aging curtains, blocking out the street views and light distorted through the layer of dusty glass, to lie down in her bed, close her eyes, and long for an end.

The floor of the room is surrounded by iridescent faint blue walls. The clay brown planks of slightly marred wood breathe by means of open cracks every few inches. On the floor in the middle of the room stand two aging four-legged chairs, each covered in identical faded sepia floral prints, ripping slightly away from the bottom of the seat. One chair stands sturdily behind the other. All of its facets and grooves remain practical and intact. Its partner is positioned parallel in the foreground at the same unbalanced angle against the floorboards. They are both nestled together by a blanket wrapped around them, damp from a rinse in the murky water inside the wash basin. On the curtain rod hangs a man’s dress shirt, peeking jealousy in the chairs’ direction. On the balcony, a wind chime sings with delight, unaware. Lonely house slippers line the darkened hallway, next to the tired boots, with no hope of company in sight.

Photo 3- My Happy Baby

2010-10-11T01:25:00.000+04:00

This orange delight is a part of the Casa de Jeferson's clothes-that-fell-onto-my-balcony fall collection. The model sporting it shows the baby tee's true versatility. The possibilities are endless. Don't let your child go around dressed in rags. Here at Casa de Jeferson we take fashion seriously!

Photo 2- M&M Cookies!

2010-10-09T11:34:00.000+04:00

Photo 1- Scrabble with the Teachers

2010-10-06T10:00:00.000+04:00

Fall Flavour...with a Dash of Cinnamon Magic

2010-10-05T23:39:00.000+04:00

You’ve been waiting for it! That’s right folks: this would be what I’d like to call a real post (not some of that jibber jabber creative writing shtuff). Since it’s been about a month since I gave you insight into the real life of Jefferson, I’ll begin with the first day of school.

The first day of school was exactly how it went down last year, but more low-key. The music teacher, who I like to think of as a Diva, sang her songs; there were some mini-speeches I didn’t have to take part in; and I definitely felt like the outsider in the whole fandangle. I had one teacher tell me it was about time I started to learn Georgian. It was good to be back to school!

I had my dental check-up and annual medical review. I’m definitely not in the pristine conditions I was when I got to Georgia, but I’ve been able to adapt. I love the doctors and the dentist we had. She was seriously better than any dentist I’ve been to in the US = slam dunk for Georgia.

Our second full week of school we had FLEX (Future Leaders Exchange) Program testing in our school. There wasn’t as great of a show as the previous year, but the FLEX office and peeps did everything in their control to get the word out! We also got a chance to experience the new Turkish restaurant in my town. It’s pretty good, and they deliver!

I had a visit from Punishment, Sidney and Friend this past weekend! We ate hamburgesas for lunch and chili with dinner, riddled with skittles, Lorna doones, Georgian shop pastries, and homemade chocolate chip cookies between it all.

In my lessons I’ve been heavily using the equipment we got with the grant. I’ve been using it to teach American culture and reinforce the skills from my computer training, such as Power Point vocabulary presentations and listening activities with fill-in-the-blank lyrics. I recently used Ingrid Michaelson’s “The Way I Am.” I just got an idea to contrast it with Timbaland’s “The Way I Are” and maybe have them write a contrast essay…. Hmmmm. We’ll see! They are my advanced 12^th graders. My other 12^th graders don’t really know English, so I’m excited to see them make progress!

I’ve had several parents approach me wondering why I don’t prepare their students. They use prepare in the context of me privately tutoring their children, which is highly advised against in PC Georgia. There is a dependence mentality (and partial reality) that children cannot learn unless they have a slew of tutors to teach them after school. I think it’s really sad that this mentality persists, and I wish to change it. Therefore, I tell these parents I have several free opportunities their children can prepare and no one seems to take advantage of them. I offer 1 hour of homework help and 2 hours of English club weekly after school, in addition to their class work they receive. Students don’t do much in or outside class, of course with their being some exceptional students. Overall, my teaching situation this year is looking to be a promising one.

One of the books had the word for AIDS in Georgian, so I took that opportunity to expound upon the theme and do a lesson on HIV/AIDS awareness. It turns out there was recently a public service announcement aired on Georgian TV to raise this issue. Many of my students were open the discussion, which was surprising. I embarrassed myself by accidentally using the slang word for condom, which is often used as an insult in place of the equivalent for moron. Good laughs were had by all!

It’s officially getting colder, and as the heat goes down outside, I’m trying to stay warm with activities. I’m going to be designing a test for a class I’ll be teaching at SM’s Youth Center that will follow with 3-6 extra hours of English teaching per week. I’ve got my usual activities and a few other project ideas in mind. ANNNND I managed to take the Foreign Service Exam!

I have read and heard from many folks you should always follow your gut instinct. I didn’t listen… again. Gahh! I changed a lot of my answers on the test to incorrect ones after some extensive Wikipedia searching recently… I find out in the following weeks whether I’ll move on to the next stage. I don’t think I did terrible, but I had hoped to have done better! I’ll keep you updated.

Spiders, bats, and toilet toiling! Halloween is on its way, and I haven’t even given thought to my costume! Auf Weidersehen mein giblets!

A Call for Requests of the Photo Kind

2010-09-27T01:03:00.000+04:00

Dear Readers,

A real, non-creative update is soon to come, however, I would like to ask for your requests for photos that I can upload. You can be simple,real and/or outrageous in your requests, and I will try my best to fulfill them all. You can send as many ideas as you can think of. I will/may be interpretive in the fulfillment, but will try to get them all. Requests can be commented here, sent through facebook, or emailed to jeffersonpeaches@gmail.com. As time carries on, I hope for this to develop. Ideas are always welcome!

Sincerely,
Jefferson

On Tea

2010-09-23T23:27:00.000+04:00

According to Balti culture, as expressed in Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin’s famous book “Three Cups of Tea,” tea is a catalyst to transform a stranger into a member of your family. From a different cultural perspective, this transformation occurs by means of an alternate medium.

In Georgia, family is united and born from times of unique circumstances, usually over an abundant meal and wine. Tradition and Religion create part of the foundation this culture was built upon. Celebrations of life and mourning of those lost intertwine with these values through the creation and consumption of wine. To an outsider or passerby, wine may seem excessive or unnecessary, however, approximately 9 glasses of wine provide the opportunity to connect friends to other friends, old and new; to family; to peace and the wealth of nations; to the recognition of women, of men, of harvest, of hospitality; to common beliefs and religion; to memories and the past; to children; to our future and to hope. These symbols and spoken words go much deeper than drinking tea to become family in this culture, and the ties you develop can last a lifetime. In my experience thus far, tea in Georgia, and arguably in life, serves a different purpose.

After recently acquiring a French press, I can safely say that it holds 4-5 cups of tea. Sipping tea throughout an evening home alone is quite an experience. When freshly brewed (at optimum temperature), the tea is scorching hot. The experience is indiscernible as your sense of touch is overwhelmed by the white, hot ceramic tea cup teeming with fresh flavors. The golden brim beginning to separate from age perfectly accompanies the dainty dark red design wrapping around the side. A swift brush underneath the cup reveals a hastily scratched Chinese symbol into the wet clay indicating where or by whom the cup was made.

As the tea in your cup slowly cools and readies for consumption, the tea in the carafe continues to steep, darkening as time draws on. You might fall to distractions of obligation and taking brief leaves of absence returning to find a bitter brew. The strength may leave you dissatisfied with your decision to take part in this experience, but if you believe in not being wasteful, you keep drinking. Stronger and stronger the tea becomes, you have already begun to know it well. Tapping out the last couple of dynamic drops, you are left wanting more.

Some may go back for more, may trade in their carafe for a larger one, and/or may decide to purchase a larger cup. A number of people will make their tea with the wrong leaves or will not give it a fair chance, tossing out a batch of unknown outcomes, yet still learning something about their selves. No matter what blend or brand you choose, a nice hot beverage warms the soul. In the moments of silence between the ebb and flow of warmth against your lips can come reflection and balance, as wisps of steam gently rise from the depths of your cup to lazily linger along the surface.

Fast Walkin in the Rain

2010-09-11T14:28:00.001+04:00

Walking in the city during a rain shower can be one of the most liberating experiences. As you take in a breath of nature in the concrete jungle, you look around to notice the people bustling down the sidewalks. There’s one woman up ahead trying to balance the exposed papers in her hand as they become translucent from water droplets and the cheap umbrella that’s too small to cover her tiny frame. The droplets also cling to the tips of her abundant espresso frizz as tiny jewels bestowed to her by the skies. Her olive complexion compliments her temporary gems, and her frantically elegant brown eyes catch yours with a momentary deep focus as she walks by. Your gaze snaps back to the chaos in front of you.

Silver and navy cars speed by tiny pools of water collecting on the road’s surface. Swirls of oil and eroded soil combine to create cloudy creations in the puddles that the wind enjoys to gently ebb upon, occasionally being reset by a passing car. The view around presents a brilliant contrast between the luscious green leaves and the cream-colored concrete structures lining the street. A sense of calm washes over you as you soak in the ambience that cleanses you of worry and woe.

A New Leaf – Turned Over

2010-09-10T16:05:00.000+04:00

The great trip home has been accomplished. I am now sitting in my bedroom in the morning’s twilight hours waiting to greet the sun with my new roomie. He’s a really great guy. I’ll call him Wings to protect his identity. He’s really tiny, with dark leathery skin. He’s a little hairy, but quiet for most of the day. He’s been keeping me up that past couple nights with his little sounds he makes. He’s a homebody like myself, so we should get along well together.

The flight home was pretty rough. I can’t say I’ve ever been that irritable. I had a wonderful brunch at Cracker Barrel with some close friends. My friend bestowed a “silly band” upon me. Apparently, it’s a craze I missed while being in Georgia. Anyways, we were talking over brunch about screaming children on flights. I was surprised I couldn’t say I had really experienced the woes of screaming children during a flying experience… until now. It all started in London – Heathrow. I didn’t have the opportunity to get out of Terminal 1 for my six and a half hour layover there, so I had to occupy myself. I was fascinated by all the authentic English accents around me. Then, I transitioned to people watching with everyone who walked by. There were a couple of people who sat near me that were also clearly alone. I wanted to go up to them and ask them if they wanted to exchange some currency and go to a café. Sadly, I never quite built up the courage to do so.

Eventually, all the people watching and lack of sleep from Tampa kicked in. I close my eyes, leaning on my carry-on with my backpack tucked between my ankles and fall asleep. Screaming twins 1 and 2 start the ambience. I open my eyes and a pair of parents across the way are attempting to gain control over the two. Fortunately, they didn’t stay there too long. With my eyes alternating alert, they close again. A mom with two kids, one older, one younger, sit right behind me. The younger child begins to scream as though he’s being tortured. He keeps screaming and screaming. Not wanting him to get the best of me, I try to keep sleeping. Then before I know it, he comes to the other side and stands right in front of me and screams harder than he had screamed thus far. I’m really irritated, so I get up to relocate and notice the mom is trying to sleep and is ignoring her children. The lack of attention is what prompted this whole fiasco. As a single parent, I think I just wouldn’t fly internationally unless I had a full supply of 5-hour energy, redbull, and caffeine pills.

Once my flight’s gate information pops up on the display, I trundle across the terminal to greet a full room of Georgians and a few Azeris and Internationals. It turns out to get to Tbilisi from London, we were connecting in Baku. Baku is totally on the way, so I don’t mind at all… It’s not like it would put us an additional 2 hours out of the way. So they start to board and I feel like I’m already back in Georgia. There was no line. Then, on flights you are supposed to put your carry-on in the overhead bin and your personal item under the seat. Everyone proceeds to squeeze and cram their over-sized carry-on’s of various shapes into the bins. As the flight is in progress – seat belts come off and we are birja-ing in the aisles. Screaming baby behind me starts. The mom was trying to force the toddler to stop by holding her hand over the kid’s mouth, which only encouraged him. In the moments of calm with the child, he would scream a poorly constructed ABC song… AAA-BBEEEEEE- CEEEEE- DEEEEE- UHH-LAAA – LAAA- LAAA- EXXX- Y- ZEEE- ABC’s!!!! again, and again, annnd you get the point. There were several Georgians who pretended not to understand English with the flight attendants, and then made fun of her in Georgian. Bad parenting, poor sleep quality, and just plain rudeness. Welcome back to Georgia!!

In all honesty, I was happy to get back. I’d also like to add a disclaimer that this experience doesn’t represent all of Georgia, just a few bad experiences that have turned into some pet peeves of mine and not limited to just Georgia.

So I get in a taxi to go to my friends’ house for the night. I negotiated 20 lari for the fare. During the drive, the driver asks me if I’m a spy. No, I’m a teacher… then he begins to talk about how hard the economy is in Georgia, as though I didn’t know having been there a year. Then he talks about how expensive gas is, and how high it must’ve gone since I left Georgia… Ok, buddy I see where this is going. I have him drop me off a little early so as not to get charged more. At the point he dropped me off, he got angry at the 20 lari, I gave him 5 more, and lugged my 90 pounds of luggage the rest of the way, up the hill to my friends’ house. Georgians are talking about how funny I look as I walk by but don’t offer to help.

I spent a really good time at my friends’ house. I got to meet to pretty cool PCVs from Azerbaijan to boot. It’s always good to exchange experiences. We went to a Georgian polyphonic singing practice, where I learned 2 Georgian polyphonic songs. I’m a Bani singer (or bass). It’s the easiest part as well. I love singing and loved these two songs. One was in Megrelian (a much smaller regional language in Georgia) and the other was in Georgian. Then, I get across town very easily thanks to the help of several Georgians to the marshrutka station. On the marsh back to site, I start to lose feeling in the roof of my mouth. Then my face starts to go numb, followed by my arms. This continues until I get off near my apartment. I thank the driver in Georgian, and realized I was slurring and my hearing had been affected. It turns out I had a heat stroke. SO, then I go up and rest the remainder of the day, drinking lots of water per Dr. Marina. I’m fine now, so don’t worry, it must’ve been all the strenuousness of the trip.

It turns out my landlord bought and installed a new couch/bed in my room, washed my linens, and organized everything. She is such a sweet lady! I got to hang out with my site mate that night. And since coming back, I’ve watched (in this order) Prince of Egypt, Hercules, Beauty and the Beast, and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. I love watching feel good Disney and fantasy movies! I’m feeling ready to knock out these last 10 months and school starts soon. I have a lot of good projects planned. You are all welcome to come stay with me here at my site. It’s not the best conditions, but good company is guaranteed.

This Little Rolling Stone Hopes to Roll Back to Jo-Ja

2010-08-29T18:49:00.000+04:00

Since last we spoke, a lot has happened!

In the beginning, I spent some very much needed quality time with two of the most important people in my life: Matt and Christine. We got to hang out, go out to eat, and a few highlights were going to the Bok Tower Botanical Gardens in Lake Wales and eating a Dunkin Donuts Double Down. Note: originally it was supposed to be a Krispy Kreme Double Down, but due to lack of availability of KK, we used an extra DD. This is where you take a glazed donut, cut it in half and use it as a bun with the KFC Double Down.. It's a doozy, but very delicioso.

The botanical gardens were so cool, because the biggest feature is a tower that would be comparable to Sauron's summer tower. Check it out:

Also, I picked up a new bad habit: Second Life. If you are unfamiliar, it is a virtual world where you literally can create a second life for yourself. You apply for jobs (if you want to work), develop skills, make friends (possibly even a boyfriend/girlfriend), build a house, etc. I think most people just use it as a 3D chat option. Let me know if any of you all get this, I'll add you to my friends. It's free to use, and as long as you don't have a dial-up connection, you can probably play too.

I've gone out to dinner with friends, traveled around town, visited my grandma, picked up presents for all my sugar babies back in Georgia! (Hopefully I didn't forget any!)

My grandma has become quite the character since moving into her assisted living facility. She thrives on the social interaction and activities they put together. She was a cheerleader in high school (popular), and now she is able to experience that again. All the denizens of the facility love her clothes the best and are jealous of her, which she also loves. She has her heart set on a man there, and resources to get the DL on his activities. I got her set up on skype yesterday, but I'm not sure if she's quite computer savvy enough at this point to communicate with me just yet.

As mentioned, I packed like a crazy person before my transatlantic flight, and I am still kicking myself for forgetting my camera! Luckily my friend Christine let me borrow hers while she was in town, and she uploaded all the pics on facebook = w00t!

As far as a health update, it has been one huge roller coaster. I've been trying to keep updates simple and to a minimum, so as not to cause you, dear reader, any undue stress. I had a couple of relapses from some lung problems they couldn't diagnose. My health coordinator with Peace Corps has mentioned me possibly being medically separated, my doctor has suspected I had some rare lung disorder I picked up in Georgia, I've been feeling great, and not so great (even lost a full week of consciousness thanks to codeine cough syrup), but overall, my health is improving. I got released from the doctor this past Friday, and I'm waiting to hear from my health coordinator. I'm sad and glad that my vacation days were not spent as much vacationing as they were healing from all this, but I am glad that as of yet, I'm not being medically separated (and would have, had I not used the vacation days).

In my resting time, I was able to reconnect with the internet and max, unlimited bandwidth to download a good amount of movies. I was able to watch seasons 2 and 3 of True Blood!! Awesome series. There was also an article and raucous about the new cover of Rolling Stone being a little too controversial. Parents were calling for it to be deemed a mature magazine cover. Take a look:

Personally, I think it's a hottt cover. Ok, I'm sure a lot of you are thinking it's vulgar and inappropriate. Maybe it shouldn't be next Country Living, but it's not blood to my knowledge. I'm pretty sure it's chocolate syrup. If you haven't watched True Blood, you should check it out. It's a vampire show on HBO.

I've collected a lot of things to bring back, but I think I am pretty sure I am pushing the weight limit! We'll see how that goes. I just want to go back and finish my service. Things I still need to do: go to Harry Potter World at Universal- Orlando!!!

I think that's about all you need to know to get by until the next post. Love you all! Thank you to everyone who has expressed/provided support through all of this. It really means a lot. <-- Cheesy to the max, but it's true. :)

The Sunny Side of the Street

2010-08-02T04:39:00.000+04:00

So, I'm now on a much-needed vacation. About a week has gone by since I left Georgia, and while I miss parts and people, it feels good to be able to relax. I had a bout of illness which landed me in the hospital, but I am out, feeling a ton better. I go in for my check-up tomorrow morning!

I hope to return to Georgia rejuvenated and ready to complete year 2! OMS-Peace Corps (Office of Medical Services) in Washington expressed some concerns about me going back to the same living conditions with the burning trash, exhaust fumes and cigarette smoke of the "big" city... I feel like that could be foreshadowing of some future drama, but it was necessary to tell them about my downturn in health so I could turn it around. My coordinator with OMS is so amazing. I was reminded of a cultural element of Japanese culture where you send gifts to those that help you. It's a great way to show appreciation to those who don't necessarily play a central role in your life but make it easier.

I've been able to spend some time with some of my favorite people so far, which has been good. Hopefully, this week goes better! I can say there are good people, good foods, and good times ahead.

A Bug's Life

2010-07-24T10:22:00.000+04:00

So the cough from all the environmental things feels like it may be getting itself under control. Since I've been told I'm pretty good in the field of talking about nothing, I have a story for you.

The past couple of nights, there have been bugs crawling around on the floor of my bathroom (as if the overpopulation of spiders wasn't enough). I guess you have to figure that something needs to support these spiders if they are going to stay alive. I made the discovery about the unknown bugs when I turned on the light, and there were like 15-20 of them wriggling around on the floor. I freak out, they freak out, and they scatter while I'm attempting to kill them. I never said I was merciful to unknown house guests. This house is one in Georgia that doesn't exude hospitality. So, I think I'm done killing them. They behave like cockroaches, but kill as easily as silverfish. Maybe it's like a hybrid mutation?

So, I notice 2 huge spiders on either end of the bathroom, perched near the floor. I figure I'd let them stay there, because two spiders are better than 20 little unknown bugs. I start brushing my teeth but am careful not to disturb the spiders, as I already had enough spider bites on my legs after my last crusade to take back my apartment (While I had been away in the last month, spiders claimed my apartment. Needless to say, I sustained some injuries.). So I'm watching these two predators, and suddenly along trundles in my periphery of vision a huge daddy/momma big-ass (perdone mon Français) jumbo-nasty unknown bug (at least 50 times bigger than the little ones). I quickly squash this BAMF and leave its corpse there to rot (or until I could collect enough courage to scoop it up with a paper towel).

Yesterday morning, the bug carcass remained alone on my bathroom floor and the 2 spiders had taken up shop for the night. Then, this morning I wake up thinking, it's about time I cleaned up this murder scene, but only the smoosh-lines of the bug remained. Some creature that lives in my bathroom claimed it for a meal. The question is, was it a spider? or was it a scavenger? Maybe it was the little unknown (possibly cannibalistic) bugs. I'll keep you updated on the hour.

**This has been a Georgian reality check brought to you by jeffersonpeaches.blogspot.com.

Cigarettes and Burning Trash

2010-07-22T20:20:00.000+04:00

OOOOK. This is going to be a mini-rant, and then I'll be done. So I have a terrible cough. A cough that has kept me from sleeping well the last 2 nights. I've been having trouble breathing because they have not stopped burning trash or smoking cigarettes! It doesn't matter what's in the trash, they burn it anyway. Almost all Georgian men (and a lot of women) smoke, so that's unavoidable. What's the result? A horrible cough and poor quality of sleep.

I can't have my windows and doors closed because I don't have air conditioning, and we don't get enough living allowance to keep a fan running all summer. So, I leave my doors open, and in comes the smoke. I'm sick of it already. I'm really glad I'm going to America to get a break from the heat and smoke you can't escape from.

Bimonthly :-\ Update

2010-07-22T13:33:00.000+04:00

All-time highs in temperatures across the globe result in all-time lows in blog posts here on jeffersonpeaches.blogspot.com!

So, after the summer camp from hell, I went to help out for round two of Pre-Departure Orientation (PDO) with American Councils. There was a PDO intermission when we were able to see Hillary Clinton in the flesh! She was running on Georgian village time (even slower than Georgian time), approximately 2.5 hours late. It was a good time though! I got to meet a former PC volunteer and an embassy intern! At the end, I got to ~~bump uglies~~ shake hands with Madame Secretary, who I affectionately refer to as Hillary (we are like bff's). She asked me how I was and before I could answer, a woman of asian decent jumped between us for a picture, scared Hillary and secret service, and Hillary bustled on! I can only hope that next year will bear more satisfying experiences with the Secretary of State. I still need to tell her that we have the same birthday!

Then, post-PDO I finally was able to purchase a refrigerator! It's beautiful and in my kitchen right now, full of food I need to eat before I LEAVE TO AMEREEKA! That's right, I will be on a luxurious summer holiday in the sunshine state, kickin it back with my mom and friends for three weeks. My hope is that I will come back to Georgian in August renewed for the final stretch of the PC Experience.

Since the refrigerator purchase, I have made sweet tea, ice water, hummus, pita, brownies with caramel on top, grilled cheese, okroshka (Russian summer soup), among other various sundries.

Unfortunately, my blog has not been the only part of my life that has suffered. I also have had no energy for my Russian lessons. The truth is, I'm burnt out and need a vacation. Luckily, my hard drive is loaded up with movies to watch in the down time.

Saqartveloa...

2010-07-01T19:02:00.001+04:00

Hello folks! Have I got a vacation idea for you! It’s called: Summer Camp with a private school! You will spend 10 days and 9 fabulous nights in a run-down camp site in the middle of nowhere! Your accommodations include sleeping on a thin mattress pad atop of not one, not two, but twelve glorious wooden bed slats! The best sleep you’ve ever imagined wouldn’t be complete without the decomposing, rock-like pillow. Your meals are fully included! You couldn’t be a full-fledged camper without malnutrition. Meals include: bread, margarine, and honey at every meal! You can expect a few side orders of vegetable borsch, room-temperature fried fish, and cucumber-tomato salad! No matter how much you eat, it will be difficult to break 2000 calories a day! Sounds enticing I know, but wait! There’s more!
This camp of a life-time wouldn’t be complete without a monster helping of disorganization! You will be teaching English classes to 106 5th-7th grade students for 2 hours a day! Students will not want to attend classes and will complain, but you can be guaranteed the camp supervisor will be dissatisfied with whatever lesson you planned!
Around day 6 you can be guaranteed to catch a bout of a burning throat, fever, common cold, virus, cough, or all of the above! Then on day 7, I hope you’ll be able to get some rest because you’ll be going on an excursion in 90 degree weather for several hours! All of our excursion options include a semi-grueling hike if you can fight to get a spot on one of our non-air-conditioned vans. Camp staff like to make it as difficult as possible to make anything work out, as you’ll probably appreciate the struggle you had to go through to get to the end. When you need to leave on day 10, you’ll be lucky if you can get anyone to drive you the 45-50 minute walk to the road to get back home! Sure you’ll be exhausted, but who could turn down this experience!?
A few final notes about this hypothetical experience: the kids are really smart, talented, slightly misbehaved but they’ll love you, the 7th graders will be your favorites, a few of the teachers are nice, the people you go with are great company, but the power may go off every day and the management staff of this school are the most disrespectful, inconsiderate, greedy, irresponsible people you have worked with in your PC experience and continue to amaze you in all negative regards.

The Shadows of Peace Corps Past and Present

2010-06-21T21:41:00.000+04:00

Hey there boo boo! I think I had a picnic basket!

Yes folks, I had several picnics, but before I get to that story, allow me to recant tales of a volunteer lost at sea.

Let's start off with today and I will blend the present into the past.

So right now I'm eating the pretzels I bought earlier today. I just ate a pretzel that had one of the pieces still in it. I never realized that they punch out the holes in the pretzels. Where do all of these pieces go? It's one of the things, like donuts that we can enjoy even if there is something missing from it. I know I could probably google it, and probably will, to find out where they go, but I kind of like living in mystery. One of my recent personal philosophies is finding joy in imperfection. I may have mentioned this before, but I have observed children, tweens, and adults in this country destroying things. But why? Do they find joy in it? But of course, that doesn't give everyone the right destroy anything, just because it's there. I think you should value things that are whole, but the A-type American mentality already values perfection and completeness. But what about incompleteness, imperfection, and making mistakes (like my lack of agreeing parallelism just there)? There should be value found in everything. So what if your counterpart is late? doesn't want to come to class? So what if you make mistakes while speaking? All of these imperfections can of course strive for perfection, but you should appreciate the relative progress and imperfection of things all the way down to spilling coffee on yourself or a cockroach in your kitchen. Because of this, it's difficult for me to accept all of the time and doesn't negate the stress situations can create. For example: the pretzels I bought. One could say a majority of things in stores here for packaged goods are already expired. That beer you're drinking? Yep, it went bad in 2008. Did you pay full price? Will you check the label next time? Yep.

I haven't had electricity for the past couple of days. Right now, my landlord is replacing the electric switch box. There is a live, exposed wire behind the little plastic case in my foyer, I was told not to open. Do I have electricity? Yes. I am happy.

I found a store that carries the extra large version of candy bars for 20 tetri (cents) cheaper than the cheapest store. I'm glad about this. Dr. Marina called this very day to tell me that my town is not a malaria region! Ergo, I don't have to take malaria medicine!

So at the beginning of the school year, I had rocks thrown at me for not answering to a herd of catcalling hoodlums... and now in one week I've had 2 instances of being yelled to by complete strangers. They yell, "HEY! AMERICAN! AMERICAN! HEY! PSSST! AMERICAN!" I'll turn and wave to not get enemies, they'll all bust out laughing and I wait for another day.

Earlier, when I had bought the pretzels and candy bar with ice cold water to sit on a bench before my Russian lesson, the bench I usually sit on to snack was near a car of men hanging out. They all stare at me and laugh, point, talk loudly about me in Russian or Georgian, because I don't understand, and continue to stare. The small town folk in Georgia are not at all subtle about staring. Today, I just wasn't in the mood for it. But, I'm glad I could have that experience.

This weekend was really nice, because I got to spend it with 5-hairs. We hung out, had some 1on1 friend time (my fav!) and I got to meet 5-hairs' host family. They are nice. I like speaking Georgian with Georgians that are sympathetic to foreigners speaking their language. Today I was complimented by a lot of the teachers at my school for my ability to say a couple words. I know when I speak, I sound like a child and make a lot of mistakes, but what do you expect only studying it for 1 year? For some Georgians when you speak, you're a god. Some Georgians don't care one way or the other, and the rest will be more than happy to tell you it's not enough for them. This host family loved speaking with me. :)

Then, last week was the last week of school. I finished my computer lessons today, wrote their final exam, and verified all of their quizzes they had done from the previous module. Last week was so scattered. No children came. Teachers were scrambling to put their grade books into order. And it was HOTTT. I bought a fan. It's a glorious thing when there's not air conditioning. It got up to around 93-94 degrees F, a little taste of what the rest of the summer might be like. It is cool now, with a light breeze. I talked with my neighbor last night, and she agreed to help me redo the balcony with tile.

A couple weekends ago, my shadows came to watch how I live for 3-4 days. I got to know them better, as they were practically strangers. Annnd I have been trying to think of blog nicknames for them ever since. I thought of one, but forgot it, and the other I couldn't think of one. I need time. They are still new, you know! We had a good time. The first night the site mate, his shadow, and me and my shadows all dined together. It was fun! The next night, my friend, Giorgi, and me and my shadows dined together. It was also very fun! Then we went on an excursion with my school for an overnight trip that Saturday.

At first, it was amazing. We were on an air conditioned bus, we had a picnic in the outdoors, and then the real fun began. We went to a church to site see. I sat on a rock which must have had some bugs on it, because I got bit up! After this we went to a park and road the ferris wheel (which I really truly enjoyed). It was a momentary escape. Then the 3 of us, some teachers from our school and the 35 or so other teenagers found a 3 bedroom house to stay the night. There we ate some leftovers from lunch and the teeny boppers popped bottles and wine was flowing! It flowed all night and not many slept. The teachers all slept in one room with my shadows. One of my shadows got sick and was up all night. I was the only person of age who slept with the teenagers. They told me not to fall asleep or they would do something bad to me. They were nice and let me have one of the beds, but they took the bedding off. So I directly ~~slept~~ laid awake waiting for something bad to happen on a metal frame. The students crept in giggling all night armed with toothpaste and shaving cream. It would've been a real hoot if they could cover the American English teacher from head-to-toe in something without him knowing. Knowing this, I was ready. They managed to get a dollop of toothpaste on my ankle before I woke up to tell them to please stop and get out. They would retreat. It was like controlling a tide of disorder, they ebbed and flowed all night, with my words and lack thereof pushing and pulling them away.

The next day, discovering my shadow's illness, we determined they should go back to site early to be more comfortable. I alone remained with the crowd. We toured along from church to church. One of the students bought me a souvenir model of a church that we took a picture at for me to remember. I have it now in my room, and I can't say I'll ever forget their kindness. Another student bought a stick with cherries tied around it with string. It was very beautiful and delicious. We sat on a bench, talked, listened to our surroundings, and enjoyed the cherries. The teachers commented to the English teacher (and my secondary counterpart) who organized the trip that I was not eating a lot and they were worried. My counterpart bought me popcorn to tide me over and satisfy the teachers. Even though I had eaten plenty, I was grateful and touched by the gesture. The students and I played games on the bus, and the students rotated around me, each wanting a turn to hang out with me. This was the first time I had been invited to do anything with my students. I was tickled!

The day finally wound down with another picnic with the leftovers from the day before. We got back that night, and I crashed to a wonderful night of sleep. The next day at school, I eagerly greeted the students. They were with friends who weren't there and wanted to play it cool. I understand that social dynamic and was happy that I could be their friend for a day. I look forward to the next day and the possibility of every day.

With the old and new volunteers, family and friends, my experience is starting to stabilize. I still have rough moments, but I'm feeling good! I hope that anyone having a rough moment out there can take a breath to reflect on the past, exhale to reflect on the present, and pause to think about what and where their next breath will bring them. Thinking of you all. xoxo

Gimme a Big Ole Bear Hug!

2010-06-03T13:32:00.000+04:00

I am forecasting that this will be an unfortunately short post, but I wanted to get something down in writing.

I have 2 trainees coming to casa del Jefferson for job shadowing. They will be my shadows, and it will be a Georgian ol' time. I need to make cake and mop my floors before they get here. We are doing dinner tonight with my SM and his trainee: spaghetti, sauce, salad, garlic bread and cake of sorts.

This will be my second attempt to produce a cake in my giant cake pan. It's double the area of a 9 x 13 but 1/2 the depth, if that makes ANY sense?

There has been an interesting situation with the water: it has not been widely available on the water days due to power outages. If there isn't electricity, I can use my motor to pull water into my apartment, but luckily I was able to get enough today. The bad thing is that my water used to be brown/rust colored. The worse thing is that now it's tinted black. I think it may have something to do with the asphalt they just laid.

I FINALLY dropped off my dress shoes to be repaired at the shoe place, that way I won't have to wear my boots around town as much! WHEW! Then, in celebration of the guests coming, I bought some house slippers for guests when they come over. It's only taken me since February.

I've been having a lot of strange dreams lately (as usual). For example, one of the new trainees who shall remain anonymous was trying to drown people while they were swimming including myself and another trainee saved me (thank you!)! :) Then in another dream, a huge grizzly bear or something invited to give me a hug which I was precautious about, but then realized I wasn't a bear (you know how bears have poor vision) and then I was in danger of being mauled to death. She knew that I wasn't hairy enough to be a bear, and that's what gave me away. SO STRANGE. So any interpretations on those would be appreciated.

Off to make a cake! Until next time!

The Mood of May

2010-05-30T09:51:00.000+04:00

Let's see. You may be wondering to yourself: I wonder what shenanigans Jefferson has gotten himself into lately. I want to share my story, brace yourselves.

Last we spoke, I was mourning the loss of one of the crew. Of the new group, they are still held together like glue. I went on that Friday to Bolo Zari (Last Bell/Call). Little did I know how joyful it would be. They made a shout out to everyone but me. But alas! I am still carefree. I had always known the twelfth grade was not "keen" on me.

Then Flap came to my town for a visit. We made creations of hamburgers right in my only skillet. I made the buns from scratch with some bar-b-q sauce. If only you knew how much this sauce was the boss. There frosted brownies covered in chocolate. Flap was a dear and financed most of this out of her pocket. <3 you girl!

The next Tuesday I had many a meeting. First in the Ministry to give the new GHSEP (Georgian High School Exchange Program) folks a warm welcome greeting. In less than a month, I will be teaching. They will learn of American culture from our knowledge and preaching.

I unfortunately had not time for my Russian lessons due to all the tizzy. But I was able to cram some in after this point upon settling back in my hizzy. My time has felt consumed from all of this GHSEP planning. Had I not been in amazing company, I probably would've spent my time tanning. However, I have not had time to purchase some new tile. I still want to remodel my deck to go the extra mile.

I started lessons of Georgian folk dance. I've thus far gone for two weeks and am giving it a fair chance. More planning came followed the next day by a picnic. It was chill, good to see everyone, and most of all scenic! I stayed the night with my host with the most. I'll call him "Soul Server" because that's what's in him to do. For three days and two nights I crashed at his place. His host mom, most of all, loves his little face. I watched the cluster's classes, and things are coming along well. I didn't want to go back, as I was caught off guard by the PST spell. Georgians commemorate their independence on the 26th of May. With a grand concert and friends, I was was able to celebrate this day.

With Russian and dance, I continue my education. I add teaching computers and English build this conflagration. Walking down the halls of school, I see a running child hit the wall. I tell the nurse she says, "Again?!" and rushes down the hall. So as this month comes to a end, I think only 14 more! And I'll return to you my friends.

Dedicated to the Fallen Blackberry

2010-05-12T23:46:00.000+04:00

Hey dudes and dudettes!

Writing to you live from the Old Testament. You may wonder why? Well, it seems as though the plague of flies has ended, and the plague of moths (?why??) has begun! I was the lord of the flies by no stretch of the imagination, and here I am now: the mothman... What more is to come? I have killed a couple spiders in my bathroom, but I don't feel so bad, because I know there still at least one in there.

I was able to go into Tbilisi yesterday and do a little fix-o change-o on the school's computer purchased with the grant money I applied for. I wasn't exactly provided private transportation, so I am pretty sure I have a bruise on my shoulder from having the CPU strapped to my back, but there's peace of mind in knowing that it is fixed. I also got some important papers signed for the school, and I'm making my director happy = good.

I was wondering why I was starving this afternoon, because I kept forgetting that the gas has been out, but low and behold, around 5 or 6 the gas came back on! Gas + electricity = hot water to do the dishes and hot food. I didn't have anything else I could've made without gas.

While in Tbilisi yesterday, the hours dwindled into twilight and I missed the last marshrutka (mini-bus) back to my site. I go to the PC "guest house" and come across 1 current volunteer and 3 new trainees! I learn that one of the trainees was going home in the morning. 1 was staying in the guest house to get some rest. And 1 was illin, but she's a trooper, so the three of us (2 noobies and myself) set out on the town. I wanted to show the noobies a good time. We went to one of my favorite restaurants (a little pricey), went to get some gelato afterwords, and we went for a little site-seeing tour through some of the more beautiful parts of the capital. It was really glad to get to know the trainee who was illin, she's very cool, and I predict good times will be had yet to come (if that makes sense). However, I was really sad to see the other trainee leave. It's kind of weird how I haven't known her for that long, but yet she left such an impression. One might even say, she integrated.. :) Nevertheless, I think that's a dark cloud hanging over me today.

I am really grateful that one of the trainees, BPRSI, is here. It's a good group of trainees! They all can put a smile on my face.

In other news, my apartment looks like an explosion has taken place and is in need of a cleaning/tidying. My water filter still needs to get replaced, but Rome wasn't built in a day ya know...

Did I mention that today is St. Andrew's Day? I hope you celebrated it well.

One of the good things about "Fallen Blackberry" is that before she left, she transferred a ton of her digital material to my external hard drive. There are seemingly endless hours of media watching ahead of me.

This Friday is my schools "Last Call" or "Bolo Zari." It's where the 12th graders will celebrate their graduation. It's a huge deal that starts around 11 or 12 in the day and goes on for a little while. This Friday is also an important event for FLEX and additionally an afternoon planning opportunity for PDO... I kind of feel torn as to what I should do. Maybe I'll flip a coin? I really do want to stay in my site for more than one week. Possibly on Saturday I'll be giving Flap a haircut. Flap, if you read this... let me know if you're coming.

I want to start baking. I need to begin some emotional eating and baked goods always make me feel better. Emotional eating is better than alcoholism, so I'm supportive of it. Mostly just eating. I love eating. I feel like one of those dogs that stuffs itself when you put any food down. It will eat until it will die and our stipends control when we can eat. Back to earlier, i don't really have anything to be emotional about, but I know I have a lot of feelings in general. Emotions are good, so why not add chocolate chips and eat them?

Tomorrow will be an interesting day: 1)A morning Russian lesson- I haven't done the homework because of preoccupation with thinking, but also I've never had a morning Russian lesson so far in Georgia 2) English club- hopefully students come!!! (I had one on Monday) 3) New private student. It's a dangerous situation to have private students. I've turned down so many parents, and there are so many English teachers that would be pissed about losing the income. Luckily, this girl currently doesn't have a private tutor, but it's something that can upset the community balance. There's a part of me that feels like it's a good thing. This girl is Azeri, one of the minority community. I still have another year here, and in that year, I could really advance her language. She's young and seems really motivated, so it's possible that by the time I leave, she could be prepared to make some great changes in the world. I think of course, this latter vibe is something a little to idealistic, but it's good to have your head in the clouds every now and again. I'll keep ya'll updated.

These are all the things running through my head. I'm off to dream a little dream, so hopefully I'll see you there.

Green peace, sleeves, trees, and... goblins?

2010-05-10T09:58:00.000+04:00

To quickly follow up with where we were last: not spending a lot of money is going well, a few snags in the teacher trainings I have been doing, planning has been going very well for FLEX PDO, and general excitement.

So I have been maintaining an excel file and have put a stop to the drain on my bank account = good. I would never have considered myself a liberal spender, as in America, none of us had such low pay, but that's one of the major components of Peace Corps: to live modestly on host country standards, at least that's my take on things. So the concept of going out to eat really has an impact on your bank account. I'll keep you updated on any additional changes. So far, so good. The best thing that I enjoy, while it may be a time of hardship, is that I have been able to stay financially secure. I don't have to worry about paying for bills, because they are covered from my allowance.

The thought has crossed my mind that perhaps living on my own was a mistake and I should've stayed in a host family, but I would have to be in a house, not an apartment, and, in my community, I have already become associated with 1 host family. It would hurt their and my community image for me to live with a different family, especially given the tensions in the minority town I live in.

Something that I have been reflecting on is that things which bother you, generally will not carry to bother you in the future. There were positions I have been in in jobs, living situations, school, etc that I was very uncomfortable, however, now, they have no impact on me. This helps me cope with some of the difficult situations I go through occasionally here. I know that in the future I will look back and see these things as good memories or something I can laugh about.

Also, we've had some snags with my computer training. I know that they will get unkinked soon, but it's definitely frustrating. Last Wednesday, the CPU stopped functioning. Then Friday, the projector was being finicky. Luckily, on Friday I figured out the real problem was communicating between my laptop and the projector. CPU aside, the equipment we purchased is really quality. Today during a lesson, I used the speakers to hook up my iPod and we did a listening activity.

I have really been enjoying the Economist podcast. It has been keeping me up to date on world events, and their articles go pretty in depth on international issues. I definitely don't want to disconnect from the real world while here.

I am happily looking forward to the day that I can play computer games again. I know this is nerdy, but I miss World of Warcraft. :)

I planned this weekend for the FLEX PDO (Predeparture Orientation) for the kids going to study in US high schools for 1 year! I am very excited for this experience, but I want it to go through without a hitch, which takes a lot of planning. In all, we have 8 sessions to do. We have created the visual aids for 3 sessions, and planned in depth for 2. We will be ready!

I finished my last book in my reading-for-fun initiative and am eager to see what will be my next.

I miss being in my community, and have also been working on creating a balance between my work in my school and my projects. I need to plan for my Russian lessons, computer lessons, regular lessons, and possibly a private student I have been battling to take on from being busy.

I think that's about all! I'm going to Tbilisi this week to meet with a teacher training organization, hopefully to fix the CPU, and I forgot to mention my water filter has been not functioning properly for quite some time, and as it is so big, it's difficult for me to take it to Tbilisi to get it fixed.

Another point I may have failed to mention: I had left my sleeping bag on a marshrutka coming back from the nature hike in Telavi at the beginning of May. I thought it was gone forever. I was shocked when the driver called me to tell me he had my sleeping bag, however it was in Telavi. I had written my name and phone number on the side of the sleeping bag in the identification card space. One volunteer, Fray, à la compagnie de his beautiful wife, Bruyère, picked up the sleeping bag from the marshrutka station and additionally brought it to Tbilisi! I am so greatful, and now have the sleeping bag back in my possession. To be accomplished now are the CPU and the water filter.

Then apparently the school needs some paperwork to be filled out for the purchasing of the projector or something, which also needs to be done, but frankly, it's not as of utmost importance to meet at this point in time.

Ok well, I've bubbled over some so I might as well continue... I helped my friends Claus and Wilhelmina set the trail for the Hash House Harriers, an international running group that drinks beer after they run. I had never set a trail before ever. They use flour to mark the trails, for runners and walkers. This trail was to be staged in Tbilisi proper. We ran into several cleaning people who believed we were polluting the environment, dirtying their city, and hurting their jobs for being paid. I explained that this was only flour for an international group, and that it was important for the tourism in Georgia. Still, there were some people who told us we were not allowed to do so as it was filth. I mentioned to one lady in particular, among the others, that it would rain and wash away the flour. She posed the question,"But what if it doesn't rain!?" Really? Never rain ever again? Come on lady. Georgia needs tourism, among other things. There really are awesome sights to see, and I personally love Tbilisi. It just baffles me that so many people that day were resistant to the idea of bringing money into their country. Coming down from my mini-soapbox, I can say it was a good weekend.

PPPPPS- It's gonna be a HOT summer!
PPPPPPS- Sorry for there not being goblins. But if it's any resolution to this problem, I had a crazy dream last night? I don't know where the characters were from, but I don't think I made them up. There was this boulder I was leaning on to write some information, and I was writing over this hole that had stuff in it. I apologized (for some reason) to the boulder and stood up. A voice responded,"Don't worry about it!" I look down and see a huge cream-colored snake worming around inside of the hole. I was terrified! Then I jump away and think I see a giant cockroach doing a sideways handstand near one of the holes. The angle of the sun was bad, so I couldn't really tell. I get closer to the rock and it disappears into the holes. There were three to five other holes in this boulder. I go back to doing what I was doing, turn around and see it again pop up. I step closer. It disappears into the hole. This process happens a couple more times, before it pops up again. I get closer and closer, but still can't make out what it is. It's deep black with long and thin whispy hairs on the top of it's black, crisp, shiny, almond-shaped form. I get closer, and it flicks open to reveal an eye, staring with a dead look. It totters to and fro, slowly rising up from the hole. The eye is connected to a wedge-shape, reminiscent of a large slice of deep-dish pizza, with two scrawny, black, bird feet. The wedge opens as a mouth and begins talking. We chat about various things, and this strange creature mentions his friend who used to live in the hole. His friend was very small, doll-like in stature, disfigured by a wrinkled shrunken head, featuring a frozen smile, unnaturally wide, below two beady, cruel, black eyes. The wedge notes that I was lucky, his friend was not living there, or I would have been killed, as the doll-man was crazy and had a machine gun he used to extinguish any one or thing who would approach the rock. Then, as I heard echoes of cruel laughter, a chill washing over me broke me from slumber.

O Happy Day!

2010-05-06T13:42:00.000+04:00

Ok so the blog title may be a little over the top. I would first like to shout out to the new volunteers that arrived last wednesday! Twill be a good 2 years! I am coming up on the 1 year mark since I arrived in Georgia! The summer is coming and all kinds of interesting things are afoot: my computer class I started teaching 5 hours a week, new volunteers and helping out with their training, studying for whatever test I'm going to take (GMAT 1st then GRE again?), reading for fun (it hasn't gotten old yet!), working on teacher trainings, preparing to teach FLEX Pre-departure Orientation (PDO), and maintaining a social life! It's rough.

We are back into feeling like spring time, there was a pretty bitter cold snap that almost warranted getting out some winter clothes, but I resisted.

I would like to point out one thing that makes me a further step Georgian: wearing a scarf when your throat hurts... I think it's a good idea! Ahh! O well, you give a little and take a little I guess.

I'm getting ready also for a fall course: Special topics in strategic and international studies, discussions in English. I will be teaching this course in the international studies center in Marneuli. I will probably spend a good time preparing for this in the summer time.

The months plan themselves, and the weeks are flying by. It's a good feeling. The periods of culture shock and homesickness are becoming less and less, but still exist, of course. I just know that when I get back, I will destroy some American made cuisine.

Also, I talked with my landlord and she said that she will come by next weekend and we will see what we can do to fix the bug migration into my apartment.

I am wanting to go on a hunt for a few pieces of art to slap on these walls to make it feel more comfortable and also some hanging lamp shades to put over these bare bulbs. BUT I must be careful. Recently, my spending has increased exponentially...which is not good on the Peace Corps stipend... :(

That is all my dears.

"Call me Ismail," he says...

2010-04-21T23:31:00.000+04:00

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

Scrapple from the Apple

2010-04-09T20:16:00.000+04:00

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.

Privet iz Batuma

2010-04-08T10:40:00.000+04:00

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!

Can Daft Punk play in my apartment?

2010-04-01T12:37:00.000+04:00

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.

The lights, satisfaction, HOLLYWOOD!

2010-03-08T23:09:00.000+04:00

Another round of Gamarjoba's (hellos) for everyone! (my treat)

How quickly the months plan themselves! So it seems like March as is good as over! New things going on with me: HOT WATER! That's right folks, it's coming and I can (in theory) shower with an overflowing abundance of hot water whenever I want!

Today was International Women's Day, so to all of your international women out there, gilocavt (Congratulations)! Now that I have hot water, I can only pray for a refrigerator. God, if you're listening knock one down and pass it around! (just make sure it ends up with me) Somewhere between the fridge and existence lies a new summer patio, tiled and ready for some intense sun tanning.

So this weekend I made tons of American/non-Georgian food with good company. Friday started off with glazed carrots and rice. The weekend's gluttony kicked off with dessert: peanut butter cookies. The binge intensified with a breakfast of sausages, fried smoked ham, pancakes with maple syrup, fruit, juice, modified latkes and applesauce. A short period of time, then a dinner of velveeta-spicy beef and baked tortilla chips with a spinach salad, carrots and ranch. For dessert, we had chocolate fondue with bananas and cookies. Cinnamon rolls for breakfast ensued today, and beanless chili and chips for dinner. If anything, I am not hungry.

As some of my close ones are arriving from America on Saturday, I need to do laundry and spruce up the ol' apartment. The mirror my Russian tutor gave me is hung in accordance with the tenets of feng shui, and all is well. I still need a table for the purposes of a chopping surface, but other than that, all is well. My wind chimes are mighty beautiful sounding, and I have not yet positioned my bed to be in a north-south position. I'm contemplating it, and will most likely do so for summer.

The only downer in this whole situation has been the time, energy and water availability factor. I was supposed to have hot water on Saturday night, but, as they are still working out all the kinks, I still have not taken a shower, making this the longest I have ever gone in my entire life without a shower. Tomorrow marks 7 days. As long as I have water tomorrow morning, I won't hit 8 days...

In addition to good food this weekend, there was good company, and while I still need to buy a few more pieces of equipment, I am more prepared to host up to 5 people. A Batumi trip seems in order for April, and before you know it, the new volunteers will be here. There's another opportunity for Americans/Brits/Aussies/Canadians and other native Eng Speakers to volunteer in Georgia for one year and teach English: tlg.gov.ge Check it out if interested.

So I saw Star Trek and all I can say is wowowowowowowowow! I really enjoyed it! Then I saw Daybreakers. Daybreakers is not exactly an award winner, but as one volunteer, Punishment, mentioned it would be much better with an appearance from Clive Owen. I missed the awards show, but hope all you Americanos who watched it, enjoyed it.

Annnd, just as I thought spring was upon us, I'm back in my ski jacket around the house. Yep. A cold front swung in. My volunteer, Fiance, mentioned it was snowing in her village! Well, by the end of March this cold business will be done.

Also, I found out I will have free time in Kiev to explore during the four days of training soon, so let me know for sure if you'll be there/are there now!

PS- I found my Russian-English Dictionary. It was underneath my bed. Was I studying one night? It's old and falling apart, but is way more useful than not having one at all. My tutoring sessions last week were all without it!

You'll miss your train, and come stay with me...

2010-03-03T12:25:00.000+04:00

I need to get better about not taking hiatuses (plural also just hiatus, but sounds strange) from my writing. So many great things have happened since we last spoke. Where shall I begin? So due to extreme winds, the wind chimes had to come down. It was bad enough I thought the scrap metal that's holding my balcony together was going to detach and fly through my window, but the wind chimes banging against my window gave an extra layer of creepiness while trying to sleep. It reminded me of being on the urban scene of something reminiscent of the chainsaw massacre. They'll go up again soon. The wind apparently is really strong during that period of time every year! A couple people in Tbilisi actually (I heard through the grapevine) were killed from fallen trees or debris flying around during the intense wind. Brother Wind is good for drying clothes, but bad for pedestrian activity.

In other news, I saw Avatar! Despite some of the bad/critical reviews, I really enjoyed it. No, I did not have the luxury of seeing it in 3D or on the big screen, but it was really good: so good, in fact, I've already watched it twice this week. Other movies on my soon-to-watch list include: Interview with a Vampire, Daybreakers, Star Trek (the new one), and Sherlock Holmes.

The ground here is starting to solidify, and running at the stadium seems as though somewhat realistic in the near future. I need to talk to my landlord about her installing hot water. It's rough living without it and only a small pot. Yes, I know I could buy another one. As my Russian tutor says, "You are the one who punishes yourself." It's all about priorities, and right now there are a ton of initiatives under way. First, our school got the grant for the computer, projector, projector screen, and internet access project I submitted in the beginning of February! It will be amazing, so I need to start the IT teacher training for that. Then, two days ago, I met with the "School-Family-Society" Association for a partnership for projects regarding professional development with teachers in Georgia! It was an extremely productive first meeting where I may (time depending) go to an International Education Conference at Batumi University in May. Also, I was selected as a Pre-Departure Orientation Teacher by FLEX/American Councils to teach students in Georgia going to the US about American culture!! I'm very excited for this as well. It will mostly be a long weekend involvement in June and July, with planning on weekends in-between and a training of trainers in late March in Ukraine. SO, if any of ya'll folks will be in Ukraine during those 4 days, let me know. They said there will be no time to conduct business or site-see, but you never know what could be!

Other projects? Well, I will be missing the Volunteer Advisory Council (VAC) meeting and the Project Design Management (PDM) conference due to the FLEX/Am. Councils training. I will make up the PDM for one day sometime in April. English club will continue as planned; I'm still writing with my 5th graders and teacher in Tallahassee; I need to work on the resource database for the WID/GAD (Women in Development/Gender and Development) committee. I definitely would say there is not ample free time, as I still have 4 language lessons/wk and 16 hours of teaching plus planning time. When am I going to study for the GMAT? I would like to set aside at least 1-2 hours/wk for that (minimum). I almost forgot! I'm also leading the team building initiative for volunteers as well, and unless I'm forgetting something, that's everything I'm doing.

As the new invitees may have heard, our first Volunteer Reporting Form (VRF) is due. It's basically a concrete summary of everything we've been doing the past 6 months. It's usually due every 3 months or so, but you aren't really supposed to do anything but adjust to your community during the first three months.

In all of this craziness, I've been able to maintain my sanity, stay positive, motivated, and I've been continuing to read for fun! Unfortunately, I started 3 books, so I need to power through some of them. Flap, one of the volunteers, started up a book club initiative. The first book they'll be reading is "3 Cups of Tea." I don't own it, but supposedly there are several copies. I don't know when we'll meet for that or how I'll be able to read it in a quick period of time, but if the desire is there, anything is possible.

One of the most positive things, is that I've never in my life been at this level of business with such a calm peace of mind. Alright cool cats, I'm off to start a productive day!

I'm turning this beat around

2010-02-22T00:02:00.000+04:00

Hey all! It's been a while since we've last "spoke," but I am here. All is well but I need to get a rant out of the way first.

Dear Dell,
Your computers are pieces of *insert blasphemy* I will be switching to mac in the near future. The fact is that your parts just don't work well.. right now I have a disk stuck in the dvd drive, and it's very noisy. Maybe you should make your faulty parts silent for the sanity of the people you can dupe into buying your products.

Disappointed,
Jefferson

Okay, so it wasn't that long of a rant, because I'm frankly over it. Now for the positives. I've been getting a lot of press recently. I'm almost desensitized to it all... almost. What has been most exciting was one of the largest news networks in Tbilisi, Imedi, did a segment of foreigners people volunteering/working in Georgia. This station is all over Georgia, and I would like to think of it as a mini-CNN. I choose CNN because I am not crazy about FOXnews... I wrote an email to two of my friends and hadn't spoken with them really since September. I was really shocked by how much I had accumulated in doing while being here! It gives me faith to keep on keepin on.

So my English club is in full swing. All of my afternoons of sitting around waiting for people to show up are over! I'm basically teaching an additional 2 hours a week, but I have faith it will take off the ground! My goal is to make sure it's sustainable by the time I leave. I need to start planting the seeds for that now.

My counterpart had given me two jars of fruit preserves ("muraba" in Georgian). I am feeling lazy, so I've just been eating the preserves. I need to jump in the kitchen and make some real food, which should happen shortly.

My counterpart also gave me some jars of supra food, which I'm almost positive are rotting in the jars.. as I haven't touched them. I'm sure it was good food, but I've been at supras... I know what happens there. That and mostly I just didn't like the types of dishes that were in the jar.

Today I wrote down a bunch of recipes that I can make. I'm hinging my hopes on buying an oven soon. I've been saying I wanted to buy an oven for over a month!

Georgia has been having some stunning weather for close to the past week! Pretty soon I'll be sweating the nights away! I'm so excited! So I'm gearing up for some good things to come. Specifically, I want to buy lawn chairs and start tanning on my balcony. Once I get hot water, I want to run at the stadium and tan every day! The reason for this, is that I have to boil my water to bathe...and I only have a small pot to boil the water which equals only bathing half of your body at a lukewarm temperature.

Here's an idea I have for my English club: recipe exchange! Students have to learn the cooking vocabulary, make something, and bring it in and explain how they made it. I will make something American, and it will be great. Then they can give copies of how to make it to their friends. I feel that the recipes everyone knows how to make are prepared slightly differently that it would allow for learning or at least a good activity for speaking. These are the students I want to see get into FLEX next year!

I downloaded a ton of new-to-me music, which is keeping it fresh en casa del jefferson.

This week kicks of conference week in good ol Peace Corps. Tomorrow is a Ronny's visit before headed to the expo fair hosted for the BSE folks, but of potential interest. Conference week = hotel = hot water = hot shower every day. Should I get my hopes up for a hot shower every day? Should I expect it? No. Chances are, there will be a power/gas outage to heat the water and there won't be enough for all of the volunteers. My only expectation is that I'll be able to take at least 1 hot shower though! If not at the conference, the Peace Corps office has a hot water heater and I can shower there.

Am I hella excited for my friends and her family to come in 3 weeks? Yes. It's good to set/frame rewards for your service here, little and big. If you have big rewards like trips or visitors, it allows you to push through. Apparently our 2nd year is going to "fly" by... if this is true, I look forward to the day. Time flies here of course, but I haven't been whisked away by the winds of time. I'm a leaf waiting to be picked up, watching the world fly by above and around me. You might could say, it just finished raining, and we're all waiting to dry before takeoff.

I put up my windchimes I brought from home. One of them is too heavy and keeps blowing into my window, but the other (from my sister's trip to St. Augustine) is perfect! I've been shifting into the need for having a feng shui'd apartment.

It is so windy!

Wish me luck! I've got you all in my thoughts.

Mr. Frost, Can Mr. Sandman bring me a dream instead? Thanks.

2010-02-09T16:18:00.000+04:00

Hello all!
Allow me to sum up an interesting week/weekend with you. It all started with 3 Lituanian girls: Linka, Inga, and Goertoetoete...wait I'm getting ahead of myself. So on Friday we went to dinner, met up with an RPCV from Kazakhstan we'll call Sperry (protecting names here) who initially went with us for a gelato run (I got caramel almond...mmmm) then we went to a Jazz restaurant as it was another volunteer's birthday, and THEN we met the Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians (who by the way only speak Estonian in their country), and 1 German. Then we cut the Jazz restaurant short to go to a volunteer bar in Tbilisi, super hole-in-the-wall feel, but great time! As the night wound on, it started snowing! A snowball fight ensued and then we caught a taxi back to the guest house, not before stopping to run the taxi through the McDonald's drive thru. What a wonderful night!

The next day after breakfast, another snowball fight unfolded. I was having such a good time. Then reality hit like a bus. I started to feel really sick. No, it had nothing to do with being out in the cold, unless the snowflakes were contaminated with bioweapons. By the way, I was able to notice and appreciate each snow flake's intricate detail that day. So back to feeling awful... We watched the movie Bruno, a real academy award winner, but innapropriately hilarious. Then I knew I needed to work on my grant due in two days, but instead from fatigue (I'm high maintenance, so I easily get fatigued) I passed out. Sunday I went to the Bazar with another volunteer we'll call Kristina. We had many a learning experience that day. First we took the right bus at the wrong time and went an hour out of our way, then took a marshutka to Lilo's Bazar which we thought was the right place, but it turns out they don't sell books there. It was good because we were able to get some personal items. Then we went to Vagzlis Bazar for the books, hastily ate McDonald's and flew home. Kristina almost missed her marshrutka home but her host family's uncle luckily stopped and waited for our marsh to catch up to theirs.

A cold night of bitter cold went by, luckily I was heavily medicated. Then I worked on my grant. Did that all day. Made some mistakes, but whatever, and emailed it in. Then I took two benadryl and passed out. Another cold night of bitter cold went by, luckily I was heavily medicated..luckily. SOO I wake up this morning feeling like a million bucks without the feeling in my fingers or toes and plug in my water motor. My new apartment has a water tank (200 liters) inside the bathroom and 3 days a week, I can refill it so I have water. I do. It's full. I unplug it. Does it turn off? Nope. The valve had frozen open or something. So after several phonecalls, I got ahold of my landlord. I was already in Tbilisi by that time for a committee meeting. She went by and apparently it unfroze and had turned off. Hopefully I have water in it when I go home. If you are thinking, "I would have known what to do," I can assure you there was nothing. No water shut off valve or anything. No neighbor home to help either.

Anyways, so I rush to Tbilisi, excited to take a shower at the PC Headquarters, but late for my meeting. We do the meeting, eat lunch, and I come back. What a beautiful bathroom PC has in their new office! And hot water! So I shave, get in and am showering when, it starts to get a little cold. I had just started a skin exfoliating and hair conditioning (once again, high maintenance, I know I'm ridiculous) when the pleasant experience turns to an ice bath. Another volunteer we'll call Ms. Mack warned me she had only turned on the water heater a few hours previous and it would only be warm, but this water was hot and amazing. That's Georgia for you sometimes though!

With low expectations and karmic neutrality getting me through the days, I'm heading back from Tbilisi to site for...dare I say it? another bitter cold night.

[Rocky song playing in background]

2010-02-03T15:30:00.000+04:00

Sooo... I am proud to say I am in my new apartment. It smells a little/lot like wallpaper glue, but it's so fresh and so clean. clean. I have been so busy this week!

So Monday, I moved into my new place, had to unpack in order to prepare for Tuesday's PC staff visit! :D It was a good time on Tuesday. They also observed one of my lessons, and my counterpart was so nervous, because I don't think she likes that class very much and didn't want anyone in it acting a fool.

Then! The PC visit lasted until the evening, and I'm grateful that I was so stuffed, because I had no energy to cook. So I went to bed, ate the khachapuri left-overs from the previous day, and went to school today. It was an interesting day because I had a meeting with my CP, director, and computer teacher for our grant. So my director is amazing! She's gonna make her end happen! Which will take a lot of work from me. So I will be grant writing all weekend for the deadline of Monday (yes, we are going for this deadline!) So very soon (in 20 minutes) I will have my Russian lesson, which will go until late tonight, tomorrow I have English club and classes and then Friday, we are going to Tbilisi and working on the budget for this project. When will I do laundry? buy groceries? buy necessities? cutesify my apartment? sleep? The answer to all of these questions is hopefully this weekend! We'll see.

ABA("so")! I'll catch you in on some of the less technical details at a later point! Miss you all, even if I've never met you.

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words" -Unknown

Wandering in the desert for 40 days

2010-01-30T20:14:00.000+04:00

So I look American, I don't speak any language other than English fluently, my clothes are "funny-lookin", and I'm a good foot/foot and a half taller than the locals, but other than that I fit in like another pea in the pod here in good ol' Joja. It really makes me feel bad about the times I fawned over foreigners in the States. The reality is that a foreigner has an entire country where they generally fit in. Recently, the celebrity status has been wearing on me. I get stares, catcalls, and an occasional rock or two thrown my way on a daily basis. Ok, so the rock was only a one time thing, it may have been thrown in my direction, but not at me, so I can't really count it officially. The benefits of my celebrity status include: free beverages (coffee, tea, etc.) almost everywhere I go, getting marshrutka rides for free, getting ripped off by marshrutka drivers, and etc.

Also, some movies watched abroad are seen in a different context. For example Disney-Pixar's "UP!" What a great movie! The movie should be called "down" as that's how it made me feel. Leave it to Disney to make me cry! But really, you should see it, it's a good movie.

If someone asked you every day what you will eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, what would you say?

Lessons I have learned:
1. Rice as primary source of food is not just for people on Survivor.
2. Following no. 1, a multivitamin in this country is essential almost year round. (Peace Corps provides this)
3. It is possible to only shower 1 time per week.
4. You can say anything with a smile.

So I found myself at an all women's supra last night. And I learned a few more:

5. Georgian women are warm wives.
6. Georgian women don't like "momma's boys." They like, and I quote, "A man who will tell you to 'Bring me this!' 'Cook me that!'" and etc.
7. Georgian women are tigers in the bedroom (not speaking from experience here).

It was a crazy time! It started off just me and another volunteer and volunteer's host mom and host sister. Then some female neighbors came over. Before you knew it, the wine got busted out and the women were smoking ciggies! Voi la! Supra time.

As I was the only man at the table, I was asked all sorts of questions and given tons of advice. Then they wanted to play the let the man guess our ages game. EPIC FAIL! It was short-lived. My first person to guess was my friend's host mom. I guessed 38. She was 31.

Then I came home, did some facebook stalking, and am about to shower. That is all for today!

Tomorrow I am going to pack for my trans-town migration. I'll have to do so discreetly so as not to stir any household emotions.

Good things going on: I worked with two of the English teachers on our school's SPA grant for 2 hours on Friday and we are on pace to getting this baby finished in time! I would like to make the first deadline in Feb, even though there's one in March or so for us TEFL folk (thank you for the info Paula and Krisanne!).

May positive energy wash over the shores of your inner minds. Namaste!

Let there be light, peace and quiet

2010-01-28T20:09:00.000+04:00

So, today after a strange dream posted earlier (see below), continued to be strange. So I fell asleep in my contacts, clambered out of bed, splashed some water on my face, ate breakfast, brushed my teeth and scribbled down some of the first steps for the SPA grant I'm gonna shoot to apply for.. eek!

So applying for a grant is a huge process and I feel that getting my cp to do a lot of the work (capacity building component) is like swimming in molasses: you would sink slowly and not get anywhere, not that I know what it's like, but it's how I imagine. I will be impressed if we make the deadline, and if not, we'll have a kickass grant proposal for the May deadline. We set dates over the next week to do some intensive work. Cross your fingers and pray. Then next Friday, we are going to Tbilisi to put together some prices. Later that day we'll do the budget section of the grant to be more detailed.

What else is there you may ask? Our small town will be graced by the presence of Mary and Frank on Tuesday. Mary is second in charge and Frank is the Caucasus Desk Officer for PC, but he's temporarily fulfilling an admin position. Peace Corps wants to show him how we live, so I'll be entertaining as well next week, which I love! They want to meet my current host family, and see where I'll be living.

So I have been holding an English club after school 2 days a week. I have tons of material for the students, but no students are coming... kind of a disappointment, once again slowly but surely wins the race!

So I'm walking home from school, talking on the phone, and this little girl says, "Hello!" and smiles. This is not uncommon, as most volunteers stick out as foreigners like sore thumbs, so it happens everywhere I go. I return hello and keep walking/talking. Then I notice the little girl looks at me adoringly and starts to follow me. She's a little too well-dressed to be a gypsy, not that there are gypsies in my town, but you never know, so I wonder how she must know me. Then she tells me in Russian to follow her to her apartment. I tell Barbara on the phone I have to follow this girl, as I have a hunch it's about my new apartment, and get off the phone. Sure enough, I follow her to my neighbor's house and meet my landlord there. How freakishly strange/cute is that?

It turns out my apartment had finished it's remodeling, I see bars on the door, and am completely shocked! We have tea, and my landlord said she was unable to get ahold of me via telephone, because I had written my number down incorrectly. It's not that I wrote it incorrectly, but she was adding in numbers on her own. Anyways, everything worked out! So she says let's go take a look at the apartment and see what else she needs to bring for me.

She opens the doors, and it was like a dream scene from an underbudgeted Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, minus the camera crew. This apartment was completely different. It blew me away! She had done so much work! All of the major flaws in appearance had been corrected, there was new furniture, it felt like a home. She had even installed the 200 liter tank for water, all it needs is the heater and I can have hot water! She improved the toilet, and it looks like I'll actually be able to sit on a seat! It's perfect, and I couldn't have asked for more, given the circumstances. There's not a refrigerator, but that may turn out to be this apartment's only short coming. I am blown away and thoroughly impressed with this lady. It seems as though I will be moving in on Monday! A new chapter in my life is about to open: the life of a single American male, living on his own! I will be footsteps away from the school. footsteps.

Mr. Sandman... You Know What To Do!

2010-01-28T09:00:00.000+04:00

Hello all!

So I wanted to write a short entry for you before I have to go to school. All has been interesting here per usual. According to my director the repairs for my apartment are done, but when I went by yesterday, there were no bars on the door. Apparently that's only a little thing, however, it was the bulk of the repairs that needed to be done. We'll see when I'll be able to move in.

I had another entertaining dream last night. I was trying to analyze it, and there are so many levels in which it can be analyzed. The bottom line was a Georgian Love Actually, of course the central theme was about getting married vs. finding your true love. The message of the film (in my dream) was to propose when the soon-to-be bride was at her best or "golden." The last scene has the two main characters (myself and a no-name actress who strikingly resembled Fergie) together. The girl comes up to me with the narrator (making his first and last appearance) dressed in a flower-pot dress with arcing pigtails over her head. She says, "I'm golden," shining with a light overhead you might only see on Touched By an Angel. I propose, everyone is happy, and they lived happily ever after.

Then a clip of some show, possibly Entertainment Tonight: "After the break, we'll see what happened to this young couple happily living ever after, and after the happiness left their marriage."

O the webs we weave! Time to get ready for school! Time permitting, I'll continue my thoughts later today! Love you all!

-Jefferson

Changes of Address

2010-01-21T12:02:00.000+04:00

Ladies and Gents! Step right up (or send letters/packages to):

29A Vazha Pshavela Avenue

P.O. Box 66

Tbilisi, 0160

Georgia (Republic of)

That's my new mailing address! Note it, and spread it around to all your friends. The OLD address you may have had is now obsolete... . Of course, make sure you address future packages to yours truly.

In other news, the first day back at school was a bust in terms of attendance. As I was walking to school early in the morning, I was careful not to slip on the ice and mud mixture. I taught 1 out of 4 classes. It was freezing cold. The class's plant died over the three week vacation. It really made rethink my plant decorating strategy. I know now I need to also consider the frost resistancy of the plants I choose. Check.

Then today, my counterpart could not find a babysitter, therefore, we have not class today. I'm hella excited for the new trainees to arrive in April! To all of those reading this, know that I'm aware you're out there! *glares into the depths of my computer screen* Don't be afraid!

On Tuesday night I had a video-skype session with my World Wise Schools Program (WWSP) teacher and class! I have a classroom chock full of 5th graders in Tallahassee, FL I write to! I love all of them, and we got to "meet" that night! They are so adorable! Some of them you could tell were very nervous, but it went well. One of the parents of the kids made khachapuri (Georgian cheese pie) for the kids to enjoy after our session. :D I was truly touched. The mom had been to Georgia before and is apparently a world traveler!

Also, last night I got to hang out with my friend Giorgi and his family! I had not spent quality time with them in a while, and I left in the evening in really good spirits.

There's so many positive things happening in my life I need to be more thankful for! Giorgi's mom, also my Russian tutor, pointed this out yesterday.For a cheesy spiritual aside: I feel like God, fate, or whatever higher power is sending a sign for me to stay positive.

I went by my soon-to-be apartment yesterday, and I could hear my landlord and a group of people working on it! I'm gonna try and haggle for a refrigerator and try and talk her into installing hot water soon, too. There weren't bars on the main door yet, but the effort has been initiated. Who knew bars could bring a positive change? My Russian tutor told me that once I'm on my own, she's gonna give more homework! :D

That's the Jingle Bell Roccccck!!

2010-01-18T14:34:00.000+04:00

Dear friends!

I am writing to you the first entry of the New Year! It only took a couple of weeks. Let me catch you up to speed.. (grab something to hold onto, it will be a doozy) So the past two weeks, I went to Tbilisi and am now vaccinated against H1N1! I'm ready for any viral attacks! Also, I greeted an amazing volunteer back from her globetrotting tour in the States. This past weekend, I passed the time with a couple of homies in Sagarejo and then a belated birthday extravaganza in the hidden village near Telavi. Other than that, I have done pretty much nothing. Granted: I have watched many an episode of Bleach (thank you youtube.com!) I'm currently on 230/257 (yes, I started watching them before I left. And I've dabbled in some studying for the GMAT. I've talked to Monterey Institute for International Studies, and sent a couple of emails. I looked at a new place last week, and I will move out in 10 days, Inshallah. Most of this I've done from the comfort of my own bedroom.

Today, I have enjoyed a few glimpses of our snow/slush falling from the sky. Any snow is better than no snow right?

In other news, I've come to terms with my planning habits (slightly intensified in Georgia). I want to have an awesome costume for the next Halloween. Someone suggested Mick Jagger? I can't say I have the mouth for it, but we'll see. I'm open to suggestions.

Now I would like to take you on a mental tour of my new place. My favorite thing about it is the ample supply of windows. In my soon-to-be bedroom, the entire outer wall is almost entirely window-glass. Yes, it will be cold in the winter, but seeing as I don't have heat at my current place and it looks like there's a slight chance of snow in my room now, I don't think that should be an issue. Next, the landlord is currently in her "10 days" of remodeling. She's going to clean, bring in furnishings, install bars over the front door, do some electrical work, and re-wallpaper the entire apartment. She said she only needs 10 days... hmm

It's a one bedroom apartment. It has one bathroom and a kitchen. When you walk in the front door there's a very small foyer that connects to a hallway that leads to the kitchen (approx 8 feet away). The bathroom is on your right when heading towards the kitchen. Connected to the foyer on the left is the bedroom.

The flooring is red-painted wood floor panels. Nothing is new, but it's definitely livable. Things that are missing: hot water and a refrigerator. Also the water schedule is Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. When I saw the place originally there was not a fridge, but maybe she will bring one?? We'll see. The fact is: I am living in a developing country, and we all can't be so lucky to have water everyday, central heat and air, and all the modern amenities. Especially in Marneuli, people have told me that I'm too picky about what I want to have in a place of my own. I could take this place and make it work, or I could wait. I am choosing to make it work.

After I purchase a few items, I know it will be a place I look forward to come home to. An additional plus is the location. I'm 5-10 minutes closer to a marshrutka station, my school, and the stadium where I can run. Low expectations have definitely assimilated themselves, however, I am actually excited to be moving in/out.

I am most looking forward to having my own place, living somewhere somewhat quiet, and the imminent, soon-to-be eminent arrival of my kindle!! :)))

School starts on Wednesday. It's going to be a ridiculously busy, but amazing spring! Talk to you all soon!

And we’ll tak a right gude-willy waught, for auld lang syne.

2009-12-30T12:54:00.000+04:00

I had a unique experience last night. I have had the first dream in my life, that I remember, where I woke up laughing and not just once, but twice. I usually have off the wall dreams that are almost uninterpretable, such as Britney Spears revealing her greatest secret that she has changed careers from pop star to secretary or when one of the volunteers had a same sex life partner, and they did in vitro fertilization to have a child.

I don't remember what the dream was about, but how often is it that YOU wake up laughing? It must have been really funny, that or I'm losing my mind and edging insanity. I have been feeling really good lately due to being on vacation. There are some pros and cons, for example being around general parent-child disciplinary actions all day is a con, but spending time studying for the GMAT is a pro. This list goes on.

In other news I made the "Vanishing Oatmeal-Raisin Cookie" recipe. It was not as amazing as when I make it in the States, and I had all the right ingredients, but all the wrong measuring equipment. Something has been off lately with my cooking skills. I don't know what it is. Maybe bad mojo is messing with my vittles.... Anyways, my oatmeal raisin cookies, may not vanish unless I make a frosting for them tomorrow, because right now they are oatmeal-raisin muffin tops... Unfortunately not everything I make is amazing, and this is a learning process after being the first batch of cookies I have solely produced in Georgia.

I would like to give a quick shout out to all the mamas out there! For those that provide help and support to their children and children in general. I'm really a kid at heart! It looks as though this will be the last entry of 2009! It's been an interesting year.

Of course, there needs to be the obligatory New Year's Resolutions and goals for 2010:

1. I will try my best to have more creative activities in lessons for my students.
2. I will try to start meditating again.
3. I will try not to complain... as much. There are so many people that have everything in every way worse. I am so fortunate and grateful, I should not be complaining about anything or anyone. In place of complaining, I will try to provide constructive criticisms directly and where necessary.
4. I will try to be more proactive in my nutrition and weight gaining.
5. I will try to be a more active reader, so I only have to read something once.
6. I will try to go to bed earlier so I get more sleep, and wake up feeling more refreshed. It's all about self-control, baby. I should be in bed now, but it's not the New Year yet, and I told myself I'd publish a blog today.... which leads me to my next point:
7. I will stick to my word. Done. If I say I'm going to do something definitely, it will be accomplished. Too many times we lose track of what we say we will do, and as a result we disappoint others.

I think that's a good list. I know I'm not perfect, and I have a lot to work on to become my ideal self, both inside and out. In order to keep these things achievable, it's good to end there. Until next year, my sweets! It's been real.

Ayo Technology!

2009-12-27T23:15:00.000+04:00

So... I'll start off by saying it got really cold. I decided to plug in my heater into my extension cord, even though you aren't supposed to, but there's no heat or electricity in my room, so what's a boy to do? Needless to say, I'm out an extension cord, and I know now that heat is not possible in my current living situation. Again, I was reminded I am in a small town in Georgia. The reason for the melting of the plastic on the extension cord was decidedly because it was made in Turkey. I don't know, it was a first for me.

Other than that, it's been a pretty awesome day: sleeping in late, sparse rations, having the house free, and good company. In other news, Indian food in Tbilisi was great! I don't recommend getting the samosas though, they lacked a certain Indian quality to them. The butter chicken was my fave.

Afterwards we went back to an awesome suite at the Courtyard Marriott for a little social hour. I made a Christmas music playlist and we had gathered ingredients for a pretty decent eggnog. It was a great time with friends.

Lately I've been wanting to sleep a lot. I think this first semester was sort of rough. The spring will be even more busy, but I need my rest for it. Not to mention, the holiday season is coming. I'm so excited for my friends coming in March.

Anyways, so on Saturday, I called it an early weekend and went back to get some sleep in. I put in my shooting range earplugs and completely disconnected in a deep quality nap! mmm so good. It's sometimes difficult to get "peace and quiet" when you live in a compact 2 bedroom apartment with 4 other people and frequent visits from neighbors and relatives. Some technology items such as earplugs, thermal underwear, and certain electronic devices (ipods) are so uncommon that it's assumed you don't own them, or if it's made known the level of understanding for their use is not one that justifies another individual owning them. For example ipod. Unlike most Americans, everyone here uses there telephones as an mp3 player, so having a separate device for music is not logical. I can definitely see their perspective.

My mom in America sent me a snuggie. I was wearing it when everyone got home, and there was definitely an eyebrow raise or two. Also in lines of technology, I'm planning on getting a kindle to gear up reading for summer... Of course after my gmat prep is complete. If you have any hard feelings about the kindles, let me know. I'm open to constructive criticism on my future purchases.

That's all I can think of for now, until we meet again!

Testi da Satchmeli

2009-12-25T10:15:00.000+04:00

It's on like donkey kong people! I have finished my reading for fun book, and now I'm gonna push through this 500 page 8.5" x 12" GMAT study guide. I am gearing up and will say that by August 6, 2009, I will take the GMAT. I will give the ETS and their affiliates 250 of my US dollars and with hope and dedication, ace this test!

I took the diagnostic test to find out what my problem areas were, and it turns out that Data Sufficiency is a weak area for me, who knew? For those unfamiliar with the GMAT, as I was before yesterday, allow me to enlighten you. It consists of three parts: analytical writing, quantitative (problem solving and data sufficiency), and verbal (sentence correction, reading comprehension, and critical reasoning). The writing section gets a score of 1-6, each section is out of 60, but the total grade is out of 800. In order to have a solid chance of getting into a good business program I need somewhere about 700.

In comparison to the GRE, this test actually makes sense and tests the skills you would need to be good at learning about business. So on my diagnostic test, I scored above the usual median of 500, of the 50th percentile at 61%. Pretty good for no studying or any knowledge about the test, I think.

We have three weeks of "vacation" from school where I will gear up for spring, burn through some pages in this book, and reallign my priorities and motivations. I've learned you need to create tomorrow to ensure its success. So I'm really excited!

On a side note, my host dad calls my phone to get in touch with my host mom, since she doesn't have a phone. So I was woken up to him calling, and her coming in to get it this morning. Then, he called again after she was done, she assumed it was for her again and just comes into my room as I'm getting out of my bed in my underwear to answer it. So funny...So in Georgia, it's known that volunteers will experience a lack of privacy, take this for example, but also it's a very conservative culture, and you don't show PDA when dating someone or walk around the house in your underwear. I guess this case was a privacy invasion win, and a conservative value lose.

Last night I made some Ghanaian food: Joloff Rice and Groundnut Stew. Both were my first time making it, so not the best, but definitely not the worst. Next time I make it, it will be on point, since I know now what I need to do. My host family conceptualized Joloff Rice as Azeri Plov and Groundnut stew as Lobio (beans) with peanuts... close but no cigar.

I am off to go to Tbilisi shortly for Christmas Day festivities! Love you all, and Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays if you are not observing Christmas.

PS- When I return from Tbilisi, I'll be kicking off some cookie making extravaganza: oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip, sugar (with maybe some icing), and peanut butter!!! rawr.

The Year of the Moxy

2009-12-23T18:22:00.000+04:00

Today was a character building day. I am looking for an apartment with the help of many people in my community, and I'm not in a hurry, but if there's something available, it should be weighed as an option. I weighed one of my options today. I met the landlord and our amazing Safety and Security Coordinator came out to do an assessment. So originally the rent was $100, which is totally doable, however on the steep end given the stipend we are given to live on the same level of people within the country. It's roughly 167 lari. But after an inspection and very light but thorough critique, the landlord (who didn't speak Russian or Georgian) got frustrated and upped the rent to $200 aka out of my price range. For a mediocre apartment, it's definitely not worth it.

Then, the main event this weekend will be dinner with a small group for Indian. I really love these guys. Unfortunately, as it turns out we will not be doing dinner at the Peace Corps office for very valid and justified reasons. I think there's a movement to have it at the Nika, but my balloon of excitement about the whole thing is kind of deflated... it's weird, but anyways.

Let's see. Today I saw the Georgian comedy "The Trouble of Dorsipan" (or at least that's how I remember it). It was entertaining for me, but my host mom didn't think it was funny. *Let's a little more air out of aforementioned balloon*

My counterpart also it turns out was actually severely confronted for the grades she gives, aka fair grades especially for students who do no work and don't come to class. It's unreal, it got me really upset to see her so upset, so I requested a meeting with the director tomorrow, who is very supportive of both of us. One teacher whose student is in our class said that my CP is a wicked person and wants to hurt the students' futures, and then she proceeded among a group of other teachers that she would not give such low grades again at the end of this semester. This for me is unacceptable behavior and these teachers are wicked for making another person feel so uncomfortable. It drives me up the wall. I'm proud of my CP for the changes she's made professionally and am still excited to work with her. I'm also very fond of my director for her support.

So in good news, I wrote one of the current students in one of the Peace Corps fellowship programs I'm interested because she's in the program I'm interested in, she's a TEFL RPCV, and also she's an FSU alumna from the same program as me! So last night, I got her response, and she's so helpful! Time permitting and God willing, she said she will help me with any questions I might have. Her first email was such a treat.

Things I am grateful for: the S&S coordinator for all of her help, people in my community for their help finding a place, and the volunteers for their support. I'm all about the support baby.

So, that's all for me in the given moment! Until tomorrow...

Fly Me to the Moon

2009-12-20T20:18:00.000+04:00

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...

My Little Drum

2009-12-17T14:56:00.000+04:00

This new schedule of mine wears on the bones. I don't remember the past three days too well, other than that I was very tired. Today is Barbaroba or Saint Barbara's Day... I have never met a Georgian named Barbara... but the day I do, I will laugh.

In other news, I drank some bad compote last night. I almost Poughkeepsie'd in my pants...twice on the way home. It's awful.. It was so good, but it was mixed with some of the local water I think, most definitely.

So it's official! I'm in the Christmas spirit, which is so rare for me. Usually it's like it's another day. So I'm writing this blog to you live from my first English club. 0 students. They are all sick with h1n1 or river flu or something... but really today is a holiday, they should have just canceled school, in mah pinion.

I'm making pizza tonight and going to watch some anime my mommo sent over to me for Christmas! mmm... so delish. It will feel like a normal American day.. I think Thursday is now my favorite day. It's like a personal day before the weekend where I go somewhere, although not sure on my plans for this weekend yet.

I think also, this is going on around 1 week without any freakouts or culture shock... crazy. However, alas, I know all good things come to an end, but this may be a record as of late. I was up late last night looking into different grad programs. There's an MBA program abroad that's really competitive through duke, but you have to get sponsored by a corporation to realistically afford it.. as the tuition is 112,000 per year not including travel costs to each of the 6 international study centers... only in my dreams! But not to fret, I have some amazing realistic options as well.

I'm still learning my students names... eesh I know. I wish I would have been really aggressive with that in the beginning. But it's ok, still many of them don't know my name, and I'm only one new person. whew. I'm commonly called: Jack, Jason, Jennifer and sometimes they get close and will call me Jeffrey.

Anywho, may you all have a glorious day. Christmas is upon us! Stay warm, throw another yule log on the fire, and keep that heart of yours beating wherever you are!

Poem No 1

2009-12-14T23:09:00.000+04:00

Snips and Puppy-Dog Tails

A brown, bristle of fur
Crumples under Filth and Decay.

Soiled, greasy cardboard
Slung around castaway collars
Ignorantly bustle by,
Leaving you lying in inky smutch
Grudgingly halted
On the parking lot of Disrepair.

A replaceable runt.
Within the hazy gloom,
An unnatural soft sky-blue blank stare of lost hope
Frosted by Cold’s long finger
Casts itself on a passerby.

O Tannenbaum!

2009-12-14T21:23:00.000+04:00

Gotta love them fir trees! As I lay nestled in my sleeping bag, I comfort myself with the Vince Guaraldi Trio's Charlie Brown Christmas album. It will very much be a source of calmness during my first Christmas away from home. Yes, I realize I'm talking about this, but unless you haven't noticed already, the twelve days before Christmas have begun! Prepare to be defiled by yet another source of holiday torture via my blog. You may say, "I shan't read this blog," in order to attempt avoiding the inescapable, but in the end you'll be back. Ok, enough with my threats and intimidation. I'm excited. Christmas is in the air. In one of my classes, there is a recording of silent night the student's listened to. If you have access to the tapes, it's unit 7 in the 11th grade's "New Wave."

It's probably the worst recording of Silent Night I have ever heard in my life. The student's laughed at it. I feel like the Christmas season encourages the embrace of jazz, and trust that I have been huggin up on it a lot lately.

One thing I would like to mention for a second is the Georgian news. They don't hesitate to show you anything! By that, and I know you were just starting to feel at inner peace, I mean they show footage of murder and crime scenes. There's no concept of media censorship to the extent of gore anyways. Then apparently, some mother sold her baby to an American couple for 5,000 dollars. First: how awful, and second, can we make Americans who want to adopt internationally look any worse. I just shrank in my chair as I heard the story.

Today passed in the blink of an eye but was very productive. I'll leave you there with a short one and take care!

PS- This post goes out to Paula, who is feeling ill. Much love!
PPS- (And you thought it was over... I decided to include an anecdote about firecrackers, since everyone else here seems fascinated by them) Ahem...
So I found out about the firecrackers from a news story on Georgian news. By firecrackers, they sometimes indicate approaching demolition-style explosives. The news showed kids faces that were permanently disfigured by them, and they didn't leave out any details. So having been made aware of the issue, kids began to increase the purchase and detonation of them in our school. I hear an explosion walking down the hall, and just keep walking. It usually comes from within the classrooms, however today a massive one was detonated in the hallway. It even made me jump. Then one male student in the seventh grade proceeded with a repetitive scream of (Vai me, deda! Vai me deda! Vai me deda!...etc.) Translation'ish: O my, mother! I'm like, "You're Georgian, you should be used to this, so cut the dramatics." Seriously, it's not a surprise. They apparently do this every year. I'm even used to it already.

Betty, It's Cold Outside

2009-12-13T18:47:00.000+04:00

So rolls in another week. This past week flew by per usual. I was able to spend time with my friend Giorgi. :) They are really awesome. Then Christmas plans have solidified into an all-out Christmas dinner with Barb and Jim and a dinner at the Peace Corps office. I went to Ronny's on Saturday after our VAC (Volunteer Advisory Council) meeting, and I have to say that after eating there I really like my pizza crust more. I don't know if I'll be able to view Ronny's the same way again. Then we went to Laurenoba for her birthday, also a good time. There was a creepster guy there who was drunk and behaving really inappropriately, and for the first time in my life, I can say that I would have done anything to protect the girls around me. It bothered me so much that someone thought he could do whatever he wanted, and in my opinion the fact they were American girls had a lot to do with it. I know guys anywhere almost can get touchy feely when drunk, but also the perspective here of American girls/women is that they are "easy" sex objects and once again not for all, but for some people. This perception comes from the higher level of conservativeness here comparatively, and as a result it is a short conclusion to make. Also, the patroni system here protects each other, and as long as I'm connected to my community here both of Americans and Georgians alike, I am going to try my best to make sure nothing bad comes to fruition while I'm physically present, especially.

Then, I would like to report that the eggnog was a success! I had like 3 glasses and didn't get sick, and so far as I know, no one else has either! I used Alton Brown's recipe! The store that sells cream here was out of it, but I just used extra milk instead, so it was like eggnog light. I made it for Giorgi and his family. There's a little girl Lizzi, who I've already decided to take home with me. She's really cute, and she liked the eggnog most of all. She likes me because I'm tall and foreign, and also because I know how to make "cocktails" such as eggnog. We didn't have the proper alcohol for eggnog, and hers was non-alcoholic for sure. I think she's like 7-8. I spun her around, played the hang game slaps with her, and tried to copy her every move for a little bit. When it was time for her to go, she asked me if I would be there again tomorrow. She said she wants to come over any day I'm there. She's very shy, and wouldn't leave my side after she got somewhat comfortable with me. When someone would say,"Hey Lizzi, come here!" She would say,"Erti Tzuti!" (One Minute) and ignore it. She's too freakin cute!

Then today, a group of us got some killer Chinese food. mmm.. so good. It's pretty cheap too, which is also a great plus.

Other than that, I'm going through the motions, making it happen. I'm pushing through an amazing book, and am getting the spring primed for what will be extremely productive: teacher trainings, a language competition, PST for G10's, WID/GAD camps, an English club, and hopefully a grant or two for my school!

That's all for now folks, will write you again soon! I know I need to get some more pics up for you guys, and I'll work on that! TTFN

Risky Business

2009-12-10T13:42:00.000+04:00

So, the next day, we all went to the Gelati Monestary where the greatest Georgian King David the Builder is buried. He was a big guy, and apparently also very humbled. On our tour, the guide mentioned that he wanted the people to walk on his grave after he died as a sign of humility. As soon as we were fired up to do some grave dancing, we were then informed he had been canonized, and walked on a Saint's grave is sacrilege. We were too late! We also went to 2 other churches. One used to be the biggest church in Georgia before Sameba and also before it was destroyed (the are rebuiliding it) and then we went to this other church, which pardon my cultural insensitivity, but I cannot remember it's name. Then, we had a good time and danced! We went home the next day and a highlight was that a marshrutka driver stole my headset for skype. It was on its way out anyway, but I couldn't believe that the driver stole it. When I confronted him about it, he got very defensive and then ran off into the bazaar. You would think, if he hadn't stolen it he would've shown maybe a little more concern. So I learned when the driver says, "Can I take that for you?" to say no and not to trust them at all. It was a low-cost small item, but still taught me an even more valuable lesson.

Then this past week has been like the first week of school again, my CP changed her schedule, and as a result all of the teachers' schedules had to change. My director is so nice. Then, it looks like we'll be putting together a grant to improve the English cabinet starting on Monday.

Also, I'm going to be putting together an English club 2 days a week, as I saw it had such an impact when I visited Manana. Other than that, this week has been pretty decent.

So hypothetically speaking, have you ever had a continuous spout of just horrificly blase food? That's where I am right now, and it kind of makes me hate eating. :( Are you starving? Yes. Do you want to eat some fooooood? Hellz no. I'll starve. I'd rather not offend my taste buds. Hypothetically speaking, of course.

So yesterday, my tutor read me the end of one of the short stories I've been reading to the end (I was reading too slow I think), and while I didn't understand every word, I got the gist and it was awesome! Love me some tutoring. In case you're interested it's called "The Basket with Pine Needles" by Paustovski. It's in one of his short story books. The main characters are Edward Grig and Dagni Pederson.

My friend Giorgi also taught me the Georgian card game, 5-card Bura and then a soccer championship game of sorts on the computer. I'm not good at either, but at least I play soccer on the computer better than I do in reality.

Then, let's see. I would just like to give everyone some advice. First, don't hit your kids. I hate seeing/listening to it, not to mention it's just bad parenting. There are better methods of parenting out there. Secondly, don't rush your kids unnecessarily. When they are trying to eat, let them finish. Maybe you should have planned your own time more appropriately so they would have time to eat. That's all for now, more on parenting later.

So my host mom and her friend Lea want to send my mom a package for the New Year. They had planned all these things to send, and said that I would pay for it, since I have so much money. I told them to go easy on their shipment inventory. Among the list was muraba (preserves), fruit leather, churchela, a 1 liter bottle of Georgian wine, a bottle of tk'mali and they still were brainstorming. I told them that 1 letter was 4-7 lari. They said that that was a letter, and THIS is a package. Exactly. So, as it turns out, 1 kilo (2.2 lbs) from Georgia to the States is 90 lari. 3 kilos is 150 lari. I am going to see about getting a different shipping quote from Tbilisi, but we'll see. Also, I'm thinking that since it's Georgian products and the mail system is not so reliable, some things might get lifted....

Also, plans for Christmas include 1)Sleeping in late 2)Going into Tbilisi and 3)Going out to an awesome dinner with Jim and Barb (maybe others). I don't know who's going to be in the country. There's a movement to go to Turkey, another group of people that are going home to see there families for the holidays and etc. Then two other volunteers were scheming a Peace Corps dinner the next day possibly, making it at the PC headquarters' kitchen. I really want to make eggnog, but there is a strong fear of eggs that resides deep within my soul. I would be cautious in the States to make it, but here is even moreso. We'll see, I'm definitely going to make it. Yes, I have looked for recipes for cooked eggnog, but there is an almost overwhelming motion to avoid it. Wish me and my organism luck!

-Jefferson

Pimp My Peace Corps Experience

2009-12-04T15:59:00.000+04:00

Hello! So it's been a while, per usual, but I have honestly tried to get a post up, and finally after a week or so, it has come. So this week, I have been able to and am still enjoying my "vacation" between trimesters. It has been amazing, and karma made sure to even itself before I left. Last Saturday, I was eating my breakfast when I was informed that at 3 o'clock, one of the men from the church would be over. I mentioned I was planning to shower and I think she wanted me to be appropriately presentable by the time he arrived, I guess so I wasn't walking around in my skivvies. So I get on my computer for a little face time on skype and told my friends I needed to pack and shower for my next day's travel. I think I started reading something and/or fell asleep, but by the time I became aware of the time, a few of the church leaders were in our midst. Note: I'm all about Jesus and God, but I shall also remind you these are the church leaders who can look into your eyes and see whether or not your soul is good, which would then be communicated to my host family. Needless to say, it was a little early for Judgment Day, so I stayed in my room. I figured, maybe they will leave soon. O! Was I wrong! They stayed for three and a half hours. During their visit, I was terrified to come out of my room. There were also some people visiting I didn't know at all. I did not recognize their voices. At first, the main religious leader was yelling about religion. I didn't catch it all, just a few words. Then, they began chanting, repeating after the priest and following with "Amin." This went on for quite some time and seemed somewhat like hell, fire and brimstone preaching. After their session, the main leader expressed his desire to meet me. I was like no way! My host mom said I was being rude, but I'm sorry, I have no interest at this point to meet him, especially after my experience at home. By this time, I still had not showered or packed. I ate dinner, showered and went to bed. I never left the house that day. I figured the week has to get better!!

Then, I got on my marshrutka to the west! I originally got out a marshrutka to Kutaisi, but then a Zugdidi marsh driver came and said he was leaving soon and I should follow him, and I'm so glad I did. His marsh was pimped out: it had all interior lcd lights, a full speaker sound system, a high ceiling, an LG flat screen tv accompanied by mini flat screens with a dvd player. This guy does not play when it comes to cross-country travel. All the seats were brand new, too. He had a funny sense of humor and drove fast, my kinda guy.

Then I met Manana in her city centre. The whole experience was just awesome. So in my time here I have observed 3 teachers, helped Manana with her classes and also in the Youth Centre she works in everyday from 1-7 and then I had a teacher training session on critical thinking for 22 teachers in her school. In terms of cooking! Don't even talk about it! Manana is an amazing cook. I've learned several things. I made American-style pizza that rivals Ronny's Pizza in Tbilisi. I don't know if it's Georgia-wide, but Manana taught me how to make 5-minute khachapuri. Also amazing is that Manana translated my whole teacher training. It was awesome. I had this whole powerpoint presentation made when we lost power. We took it to the bank and had to get permission from the bank manager, which was great because we got to meet him. Also this week, we went to one of Manana's students Museums at his house. His father collects old Georgian artifacts: daggers, swords, guns, alcohol, spears, and etc. His collection is very extensive and is looking at getting some historic recognition from the government. Also, his dad shared a 25-year old bottle of dessert wine with us from his collection. It was amazing! I couldn't believe that he shared it with us so freely. Then, Manana's neighbor's daughter, Teona, is a famous soccer player for the Georgia women's soccer team, and is so good that Switzerland is buying her. She will have to learn the language, but she seems pretty stoked about it. What an all-star week I have had! I have been able to see the sights and meet the people. Manana helped me find motivation in what I'm doing in Marneuli and I have some great ideas from her lessons and procedure not only for my counterparts, but also for my school.

Also, one more shout-out to Manana! She's awesome. My favorite story from this week was when we were talking about meat. I said I really only love chicken, and she said that she doesn't really like killing chickens, but if I want chicken she can kill one for me. She said it's sad and especially with all the feathers to pluck. She said that she used to have many chickens, but someone or something has been taking them out of her yard, maybe a hawk or something.

Also, there's a cafe near Manana's school that makes probably the best lobiani I have ever had for only 70 tetri per lobiani. Then today, we went to Kutaisi and took a look around, went to the bazaar and I got a new pair of boots. Once the bruises on my heels go away, I will give my evil shoes another chance. They are so beautiful, I haven't given up hope on them yet.

Finally, I have been able to read before going to bed almost every night this week. It's something I really enjoy, but never really get a chance to do. It makes me look forward to what the summer months will be like.

Tomorrow, we will meet up with a group of volunteers to celebrate LCF Ana's birthday! I'm stoked. We should also be doing some really productive sightseeing. Truly a treat. Another thanks to Ana and Manana!

Love you all!
-Jefferson

I guess it must be a gift from God or something, Hi to the folks!

2009-11-28T00:53:00.000+04:00

So you know when you come in, and everyone's asleep? And you try to be really quiet but end up making a ton of noise? That's the story of my life tonight. I was like a bull in a china shop. I was knockin crap over, drop things, stepping on every loud crack in the floor, accidentally slamming doors, da ase shemdeg (and so on in Georgian). But anyways, I had a great day! I get another week to break out of the mold that is the water-damaged wallpaper in my room, and I'm going to visit our TEFL trainer Manana! I'm super stoked. I'll get to see another part of Georgia and everything! I'm leaving for there on Sunday. Thhhheen, yesterday I had a Dinner of Champions: soggy, greasy potatoes, bread and water. O.K. so I lied, I actually couldn't take it as awful as it was, so I added a little peanut butter too. I'm so glad we had the volunteer celebration last week, because otherwise I might be in a bathtub somewhere with a razor blade. That was maybe more graphic than I would have liked, but you get the point.

So Peace Corps gives us the opportunity during our service to have not one, but two babies! Unless of course you are using fertility drugs or the twin gene runs in your family. That's right! The first trimester of school is over. I think I may be starting to show a little bit. We'll do another check-up after the second trimester. But seriously, our school has trimesters.

I saw Terminator: Salvation....and then I found a dollar! woohoo!

So I decided I was gonna have a fun lesson today in my ninth grade class. One girl comes in and she's like, "I'm sick, can I go home??" I ask, "Have you been to the school nurse?" She says," Ummmm.... I have a doctor at my house, so can I go?" I say,"No way Jose, sit down." She says, "I'll be right back." She never came back... Then another girl (same class) comes in, as earlier she had dropped her purse off. She said ,"I need to get my bag, I'll be right back." I said,"Where are you going?" She smiled and said,"Home," and laughed as she left the classroom.

Those kids really missed out, because we played a really cool game of Uno. That's right, I schooled those kids on that American classic card game. A special thanks to Johnny for the cards and to the folks at Matel for their ingenuity. I'll take Uno over having some laaaame illness any day.

It's cold.

So, Ben's host mom commented today that I have a belly and I'm on my way to becoming a true Georgian. Note: no one in my life has ever said I had a belly. I told Ben, "Maybe I'm not losing weight after all! Unless... it's a distended belly from malnutrition...." I don't hate it! Thank you for calling the Save the Peace Corps Volunteers Foundation, please leave your credit card number, expiration date, and 3 digit security code after the tone.

I'm grateful for the Peace Corps sleeping bags... They are my personal Jesus.

Dilemma: get up and eat some Churchela that's in my shoebox (secret sweets stash) and have fresh sugar on my teeth to rot away my teeth during the night, or.. go to bed with a rumbling stomach? I'll be right back...

...

...

After a few loud floor creaks, 1 accidental/nearly unavoidable door slam, and a little nip of bone-chilling cold, I'm now nestled back in my sleeping bag with two Churchela and a mug of water. Thank you host mom for filling up my water filter! BTW.. in case you were wondering what Churchela is, it's walnuts on a string dipped into a grape juice goo (for lack of a better word) and then dried out for a period of time. Very delicious. They call it: "Georgian snickers." I don't know if I'd go that far, but I do really enjoy them.

I'm excited for what tomorrow will bring to me. Possibly a feeling of freedom? Happiness? Dare I say, englightenment? Only the dear Lord up above knows. So keep those crosses tucked away, and I'll catch you on the flip side.

-Jefferson

Rant-a-tat-tat

2009-11-25T22:33:00.000+04:00

First I will start off with a small rant:

Dear Aldo,
Why do your shoes not like me? I have many friends which love your shoes, and frankly I think most of them are ugly, but I'm glad your shoes make my friends happy. However, not only are your shoes ugly, but they are uncomfortable and kill my feet. Is that why a $90 pair of shoes was marked down to $30? They are completely flat and by no means accommodate anyone who has an arch in their foot. I find myself tripping over things, due to the lack of contour, and the soles are so thin I can feel every rock and pebble I walk on. The reason I chose them was that they are somewhat European and primarily easy to clean. When all is said and done and your shoes have worn out, I will have a permanent scar on the back of my heel from where your shoes cut it away, even wearing the thickest pair of socks.

Yours,
Jefferson

Ok, now that I got that out of the way, I can tell you about all of the positive things happening with me. Really though, I love my Russian tutor, my new friend Giorgi, and their entire family. They are all great. It really is helping preserve and improve my Russian. Maybe someday, I can speak it somewhat fluently. Also, today I got to see a Fulbright scholar who was in Azerbaijan with Peace Corps and now is doing research on the differences between the minority communities and Azerbaijan. Annnd, I'm so greatful to have such a great director. She is truly awesome, sweet, open, and just, in general, great. I feel like any problem I have, I can talk with her about. Sometimes it's awkward, but not to worry.

Also, I learned the word for awkward in Russian. Georgians use it, which means they identify with awkwardness and awkward situations. I thought it was just me, but no. They feel it too = hilarious considering how many Georgians I have most definitely feel awkward. :)

Also, I'm greatful for heaters. While I cannot use my heater, because it is not economical, when I go to school, I am glad they are there. I noticed today that the younger classes love to tend the little wood-burning heaters, due to mild pyromania. So those classes are very warm. :)

With the light comes the dark. Let me shed some shadow for your information. My CP is ab not fab. She is truly a collusive person. She admits to completely fabricating her grade book as well. She either thinks she is successful in using me to reinforce her own laziness, or she is really extremely disorganized. I have not yet come to a solid conclusion on that matter. She was a no-call, no-show on Tuesday, and achieved nothing last week. She still had not yet implemented a lesson plan we designed together, as apparently the students were not there. This is not me talking *pardon my French* shit about her, this is fact. I keeps it real and am just telling it like it is. The work I have done thus far to counter her laziness has been in an effort to a) help the students and b)give her room to grow without feeling confined. I did choose her because she needs the most work of all the teachers in the school. And I've had all of these conversations with her, so it's not anything new to her or to anyone in the school. I like to think of myself as an open, communicative person in contrast to what may seem like a complainer.

All CP's aside, the sitch with the HF seems to be going better. I hate that I have to, for my own cultural integration and general self-preservation, include a fake factor to mirror the interactions with them. Fake it til you make it?

This week, and on a positive, I have yet to be called anything too inappropriate! It's the little things, what can I say?

I was at a supra for Giorgoba (on Monday) and managed to make some pretty significant cultural mistakes. For example, you are not supposed to wear a cross/crucifix that is visible at any point in time. Also, you are not supposed to wear a hat when making a toast (which is every time anyone toasts, and finally, it does not go down well, if someone proposes you make a toast and you fumble or refuse (due to lack of vocabulary and potentially having a foreign language complex). Other than that I was able to redeem myself with a good toast. *Thanks God!*

I also realized that I enjoy the black currant preserves (my favorite!!) because the texture/flavor reminds me somewhat of craisins!! MMM

Also disclaimer: I am grateful so much to have shoes. My old pair of shoes split wide open while I was playing soccer. I kicked the ball, and it was like my shoe exploded everywhere. So had I not had these shoes, my life would be even more painful. I am so grateful as well for the fact they were sent to me and as a gift. They are just painful, but I am still appreciative of them on a great level.

I have to get up early tomorrow to be at the school. There were several students who did not take the test. I gave 1 make-up session and no one from the 12a came. Then, they complained that they will not get points. They are very greedy for points. This of course is a complete generalization. The entire class is not as such. Anyways, they said they want to take the test, but they do not have the test books. So then, I said they should buy them. Then they complained they were too expensive, so I said that I will make my own test for them, and it will be free. Then they said it's too difficult and not fair. Then they asked when they could take it, I said either today at 3 pm, or tomorrow at 9 am. They said that this afternoon was not good for them and that the morning was too early. So I'm like: reality check *snaps twice* You didn't come for the original test or the test make-up session, you rarely come to class, you don't do the homework at all, and you are bitching (once again sorry) and complaining about what's convenient for you, as if I have not been accommodating for you at all. Then, I'm offering you two makeup times, both of which are in my limited "free" time and are inconvenient to me. Mari (my counterpart) also seemed like I was being unfair by her reactions. Give me a friggin' break people, you are ridiculous. And in the end, I'm still the bad guy, because I refuse to let them get a perfect 10 for doing nothing, but complaining about the work they never actually do.

Ok, I'm done, I had to put the lid on that last can of worms. Sorry for the second rant. It honestly came out of nowhere.

On that note, I will be in class tomorrow at nine to represent the interest of education and justice.

Until tomorrow,
Jefferson

A Full Plate

2009-11-22T19:55:00.001+04:00

Well ladies and gents, it has definitely been an epic fail for blog postings as far as November is concerned at this point in time. I apologize about the let down. We had a conference all week last week, and then the first trimester is wrapping up, so I have been grading tests and papers non-stop. As far as my job looks so far, it doesn't seem as though I'll be changing my counterpart. I put a lot of stress on her, so she said she wants to drop some of the classes that she doesn't teach with me. My guess is that she has been focusing all of her energy on our classes and feels lost or drained in the other classes. I wonder how those are going. But, as much as I've been advised to change from her, I'm going to try another trimester and see if I can get some more work done. Once she gets used to planning, I need to get her up-to-par on grading, because it's killing me. I budget around 10-15 hours a week just in grading, and I only teach 15 hours. Then I have 3 hours for planning as well. I hope the students are getting a lot out of it too.

So we had our conference in Bazaleti, which is a popular tourist location in the summer time, but was cold and windy this whole past week. Our room was facing on the lake, so we got all of the winds, which made it sound like our room was haunted. It was moaning the whole time, and not in a good way. Then by the time we left, there was even some snow/ice on some of the mountain tops. It's official! Winter is upon us.

So this past week, we did 2 days of intensive language and 2 days of safety and security. The language sessions for me were 1/2 in Georgian and 1/2 in Russian. The Russian teacher was so much better than our Russian teacher for PST, but draining due to all of the grammar review. Teo, our language and cross culture coordinator, newly returned from maternity leave, was also absent this past week due to what I heard was a death in the family. She organized a lot of the event, and is a pro at her craft. I have only talked to her over the phone so at this point in time, she is a phantasm. The security and such was fun, and then on Friday I led, among some other volunteers, a concurrent session on making American cuisine in Georgia. I felt that it was good, but could have been better, but I'll take the better elements of it with me and consider the bad worth a grain of salt or maybe powdered sugar would be better since its smaller.

On Friday night, we had a Thanksgiving dinner. Many volunteers made dishes or helped with the preparation. I made a last minute savory-spicy pumpkin soup, which was pretty good! It was great to preserve another American tradition.

I stayed overnight in Tbilisi last night and went for some McDonald's today and now I'm back with the host family. So as I was coming home, I smelled this awful chemical smell in the stairwell. I figured my host mom was just doing a deep clean. Apparently, the day before yesterday, there was a legit out of control fire in the apartment right underneath ours, hence the small. To quote my host mom, "I lost my mind." I am so glad I didn't lose all of my things in the fire. That would probably have prompted an ET... I can't imagine trying to replace all of clothes. I would have been left with only a week's worth of clothes. If it happens, I would have considered it was meant to be. They don't know what caused the fire. My host mom thinks it was an unattended cigarette. Due to the chemical smell, I feel like it might have been some form of a chemical/electrical fire, but I'm no firefighter.

So I'm in my room, wrapped up tightly in my sleeping bag. My host family finally gave in to the cold and busted out the heater. It's in the living room, so it doesn't exactly heat my room, but I will try and stay warm.

Tomorrow is Giorgoba, or the holiday for St. George. My host mom's sister-in-law asked me if I was familiar with the holiday, and I said yes. She didn't believe me. Apparently, I'm not only a satanist, but a liar too. I'm most of the time willing to admit when I don't know something, but when someone tells me I don't know, it immediately shuts me down socially and I become hostile and/or uninteresting. So at that point in time, I decided to unpack my things.

So to give you more information on Giorgoba. It's a very important holiday, especially in Georgia. St. George is the patron saint of Georgia, hence the name of the country in English. Giorgi/George is an extremely popular name. So on this holiday, there is a massive religious ceremony, for those that are religious, and supra to follow. You also celebrate anyone named Giorgi. So my host dad's name is Giorgi and so is my new friend. I feel so much more of a connection with my new friend, so I think I will celebrate with him. My family is going to the village tomorrow, featuring the woman who called me a liar. They also kill a sheep and boil it, and this is a tradition. They only boil it. So when I told my friend, he said jokingly it's very bad, but later not to worry, they will not let me go hungry. He is a great guy.

A really good outcome of the week's events was being able to meet the new US Ambassador to Georgia, John Bass. He is really down to earth, loves PCV's and wants to come visit each of us in our sites in the coming 2 years.

Also, we did further divy'ing up of committees. As you may have read, I was in PST elected to the TEFL position on the VAC (Volunteer Advisory Council) but also was selected as an alternate representative for the WID/GAD committee (Women and Gender in Development). I really wanted to be on a committee that has a direct impact on the community and am very excited!

So, our school has only one more week, and then a week off, which I have some plans, but they just need to get finalized by Peace Corps!

-Jefferson

There's a she wolf in your closet

2009-11-12T17:07:00.000+04:00

Playas and Pimps,

Coming at you live from Marneuli, it's the Jefferson Show! So while we were given cross-cultural training on keeping our conversation topics and behaviors culturally sensitive, I never imagined that some HCNs (Host Country Nationals) would do a few other faux pas' as far as I'm concerned. So this week at school, one lady flat out sad that Protestantism is a product of Satan. Hello, my name is Jefferson and I'm a Satanist. I send my best wishes to the underworld. Then, another teacher, as I was grading papers picks them up and starts shuffling through them looking for her son's grade. She didn't really ask if it was okay, but maybe she thought I just don't have the language skills. Unfortunately, she was disappointed that I had not yet graded it yet.

Most of the teachers at my school really like me, and I love them. They are kind, but you have to take the good with the bad. There was another teacher who was talking to another teacher shot off that the previous volunteer was better. Some view me as a nice smiling, happy person, while the teachers who don't like me see me as this cruel being out to spite their children's futures. I'm sorry if your son/daughter cheated on the exam, never came to class, and didn't do any of the homework, don't expect to get a 10 (the highest grade). Kids who get 8's, 9's, and 10's get medals, a somewhat Cold War method of recognition, also used in the US. These medals are very valuable. But needless to say, I keep it real. Luckily, my director's got my back. Sorry for that little, pardon my french "bitch fest," but it should give you and idea of the past several weeks for me.

I'm freaking excited that one of my best friends of all time and her amazing parents are coming in March, I'm going to a conference next week, and then after 2 weeks, I have a solid week of vacation, which will probably involve some form of a secondary project. I seriously cannot believe how long we've been in Georgia, and also how much longer we still have to go, and all of the adventures which still have yet to take place.

I may have mentioned this, but my amazing tutor gave me a series of volumes of poetry by Sergei Esenin, one of her favorite poets. I am going to try and translate one a day. This is the one I did last night from 1910:

"Here already is evening. The dew
is shining upon a nettle.
I stand by the road,
Which was leaning against the willow.

From the moon is a great light
Straight onto our our rooftop.
Somewhere a song of the nightingales
From far away I hear.

Well and warm,
Like in the winter by the wood-burning stove.
And the birch trees stand,
Like large candles.

And further down the river,
In view on the forest's edge,
A sleepy watchman knocks
With a dead thud."

What's interesting to me after doing research, and it reminds me a lot of Sylvia Plath, on some level. There's an element of the simple life with a presence of deadened calm, and the simple life was what Esenin became famous for. I think that I find a lot of calm in Russian, because it's not as foreign to me. It's all about where you can find sanctuary here in the good ol' GE, both physically and mentally.

I can say that I'm slightly positive above equilibrium, and I look forward to maintaining this for a few weeks. Also something that is crazy to me is the mental drive here. For example, when you go on vacation somewhere for 2 weeks, there is this crazy drive to see all the sights and soak everything up, live every moment like it's your last, and so on, and metaphorically this is like your sprint in running.

Then, I've done the study abroad thing, where the drive is a little bit less, but still there is a constant drive, knowing that someday you may never be back. This would kind of be like your 5k. Finish strong!

AND thennn, you've got Peace Corps. 2 years out of the country, out of your environment, away from your family and friends, and you are forced to learn the customs and language, and inevitably integrate those into your core. Do you get tired and quit? Or do you keep going? Where is the point along the way where you break and turn back? How many people pass out along the way? This is your marathon. Goal: to survive.

This experience is going to create, and has already, such an appreciation for a native environment and the US. To para-quote Lauren, "When I get back, I'm gonna be THAT girl. The obnoxious one who always is saying how lucky you are..."

So I'm spread out there, like unsalted butter over my community's hot frying pan. Will I enrich its flavor? Or will I burn, leaving a bad taste in your mouth as I smoke away?

I had a dream...

2009-11-10T09:22:00.000+04:00

Ok so here's my crazy dream from last night.

Tom: This just in from Tbilisi: The Marriott on Rustaveli Street is on lockdown after a serial killer goes on a rampage. In a small factory town not to far from Tallahassee, FL, a mysterious man kills five people near the peanut factory. The nostalgic love of peanut butter may never be the same. Coming to the scene live is our news correspondent.

Reporter:"Hi Tom, it's been a rough morning as citizens of the Tallahassee Metropolitan Area are gathering to mourn the loss of these 5 people, some of which were women and children. Just over there to your left is the weigh station out from the factory where the five bodies still lie. Luckily we have a few eye witnesses who heard and were able to record the sounds of the people as they were murdered in front of each other." *Plays the sound file of people screaming*

Reporter:"Two attempted victims were able to escape. Let's take a look at their stories..."

Little Boy: "He made us play games and swim and we didn't want to, but he made us. Then he said if we didn't something bad would happen. My friend and me started to play a game and just kept running. I'm really tired now."

Reporter: "The two young boys, age 7 and 9, are now being evaluated and will be sent to mandatory counseling. Reporting to you live, back to you."

Tom: "So you were saying that it seems as though a lot of people are gathering at the scene of the crime. Could you talk to us a little about that. What are people's motivations for being in such a morbid place right now?"

Reporter: "Well it seems as some people have come out of legitimate concern for the families who are at loss right now, however, other people have set up grills and bonfires which also seems like they are here for the novelty entertainment value as though reveling at the scene of a car accident or train wreck. One couple even mentioned this could be something that could save their marriage."

*camera spans around the scene of cars and trucks parked on the grass in the night lit up by bonfires and crowds of people*

Reporter: "Officials are saying that the serial killer has announced he will commence another spree before fleeing the country to wreak more havoc abroad. The UN, the EU and the Black Sea Security Council are discussing possible options, as they believe Georgia among many countries could be a target."

Reporter: "We will be updating you as soon as we receive further news. News correspondent, thank you, Tom."

Weekend Update

2009-11-09T21:08:00.000+04:00

Hello again friends,
Words cannot describe how awesome this past Friday/Saturday were for me. I got to spend some birthday time with a volunteer for his birthday celebration in Kvareli, as it was a birthday shortly followed by Ilioba. As mentioned, -oba is used for holidays, and so Friday-Saturday were Johnnioba and Sunday- Ilioba, representing Ilya Chavchavadze, a famous Georgian writer/poet. It was amazing. That's all I can say. I hope to get video up soon. :) Kvareli is beautiful and houses the Ilya Chavchavadze Museum and statue in his honor.

Also, I have been going through some continued culture shock, and I can definitely say that I'm looking forward to having more stability after the first 6 months at site. Or at least, that's how I feel at this point in time. Also, I'm in love with my SM's organization leaders. They are so sweet and kind-hearted and I love seeing them.

"The IST is next week", and I'll have you know those 5 words contain 10,000 leagues under the sea of excitement. It's gonna be tons of work, but a definite holiday from the daily grind, which I must say in accordance with Lauren, it could not have been at a better time! There's a lake we can swim in, even though it's pretty cold. I want to go swimming, but alas I don't live in Walgreens, I live in Georgia where the temperature would probably not allow for it without undue hypothermia.

Furthermore, I'm going to visit my PST host family this weekend, with possibility of a side excursion with aforementioned person(s).

I have a package in Tbilisi, hint hint, which I will probably get during the IST.

That's all I'm inspired to write for now, just wanted to give you a brief update. Also, if you have any ideas for Thanksgiving dishes, or ideas, hit me up.

The Climb from the Valley

2009-11-04T21:03:00.000+04:00

Well kids and cats, it's been a real trip since last we spoke. On any other day, the wedding I went to would have been a blast, however unfortunately for me was not enthralling, in fact quite the opposite. The bride, aka one of the other English teachers at the school, was absolutely drop-dead smashing. Truly, one of the most beautiful brides I have ever seen, not to say I've seen that many brides in real life, but nonetheless pretty astonishing. It was Halloween, and I missed my friends. I had a terrible, awful, no good very bad week, as you read previously, and one of the wedding guests was just the icing on the cake. I am grateful that week ended. Amen, praise Jesus!

Then on Sunday, in a recovery effort, the marveloso Loreni incompliance with city-host Alisoni opened her heart to let a little of her sweet love out. I was tired, but felt better. I found out on Tuesday that I missed a phone call on Sunday that would have been an awesome time with my Russian tutor and her son, and my newest friend, Giorgi. As I was not quite back to equilibrium at that point, it was probably for the best I hadn't gone.

Because I've been having to explain grammar structures and so on, I have become slightly aware by the oddities in my own grammar use. (Maybe it will help me on the GMAT... *wishfully thinks*)

I decided tonight over dinner that Tuesday and Wednesday are my favorite days. Why? Russian lessons. While I love the Georgian language and am becoming somewhat proficient in it (meaning I can now survive somewhat), I have a deep passion for the Russian language. I love Russian literature, and as mentioned, my tutor also shares this passion. Her mother was from Russia. The city is difficult to pronounce, so I can't say I remember it. Also, her son, Giorgi is just fun to be around. I would say out of anywhere in Georgia, outside of my usual volunteer peeps, I feel the most comfortable. Also there, I have had the pleasure of eating black currant preserves. I know preserves are usually not something that floats my boat, but these are just freaking awesome! I think I ate the equivalent of half a jar of them just today. Also, from my tutor, I learned the word for impudent, the legend of cheese, and an artistic tale about the Strait of Magellan. Random, I know.

Then, highlight of tonight, was the awesome chocolate cake my host mom made. It definitely gave the snickers cake from my birthday a run for its money. Speaking of which, I want to say that I never gave the snickers cake a review. She worked very long and hard to make it, and I very much enjoyed it. :)

Then, just two nights ago, I talked to my mom on video skype for the first time since being in Georgia, and my host family got to meet her! Then, I got an email from my WWSP teacher, and I was so excited I spent something like 2.5 hours writing a long reply.

Did I mention I had six pieces of cake? The situation at school really hasn't changed much, but nonetheless, we'll see what the rest of this week holds.

-Jefferson

...Best With Lots of Butter

2009-10-31T11:33:00.000+04:00

It has been an interesting past couple of days to say the least. It's looking like my CP will change as a result of a conversation with my school director, Asmat, and general classroom chaos. I haven't been making much impact with technical skills development. After a lonnng nap yesterday, I feel kind of like I'm starting back over again. This will of course depend on how next week goes, but if all continues on this path, I will have another 150 names to memorize, and another attempt to train another person. This is kind of like a theme with me: Gardabani, Traumaville, re-roll, Marneuli, limbo, chaos, re-roll. At least I don't have to change sites this time.

So what positive will come from this? I have faith at some point that I will be happy with my job. I can realistically finish Lord of the Rings today. I've been getting more sleep? lol. I just need to keep my eyes on the prize. After all, this is the most difficult job I'll ever love. Also, in theme of Halloween, I downloaded some new music. While it was a summer release, Shakira's She Wolf seems appropriate.

Also, the weather is changing towards the winter. My tutoring sessions have been going swimmingly, learning lots of vocab. It seems like there's really no time to study, but then again, I use Georgian every day. I've been feeling in a writing mood, so perhaps I shall publish something on her soon.

The weeks are peeling off the calendar, and our first vacation is coming soon. We also have our first In-Service Training (IST) in 2 weeks, previously called the "All-Volunteer Conference", but since we are the only volunteers, the name was changed.

Also, I shall be in attendance of a Georgian wedding party this afternoon. As I'm not sure if I mentioned this, Georgians have a 2-part wedding. The first is the religious ceremony and legal part. The second is the party. This is one of the other English teachers at my school's wedding party. She had her legal/religious ceremony earlier this year I believe. Most of the network of people I know will be there thankfully. My host dad works with her father, so he'll be going too. I am interested to see how this will turn out. It's kind of like going to a wedding where you know people, but don't have best-friend status with anyone there yet, so I kind of feel like an outsider, but you have to put yourself out there sometime. I feel like a piece of spaghetti being thrown at a wall, and I'm waiting to stick.

Love you guys!
-Jefferson

Keepin it REAL

2009-10-27T20:37:00.000+04:00

Movie Review: Wit

An unturned stone from 2001 starring Emma Thompson and Christopher Lloyd. A "witty" docudrama about a British poetry scholar who gets diagnosed with cancer. This is a great movie to watch if your tear ducts need a good purging. A social commentary on hospitals and medical care/research meets an "allegory of the soul" in this must-see film.

Thank you to Mattykins for including that in my maintenance/birthday care package. :) Also major shocker: my counterpart came into our planning session today with a birthday cake, coca cola and presents for me. She made the cake herself, and it was so delicious. I was thoroughly surprised and grateful. For my gift, she got me Georgian wine horns and a mini-version of a stemless wine glass. They are beautiful pieces of pottery, painted on the outside. She has such a good heart, I just need to connect her to planning and she will be an amazing teacher. I have faith! Her birthday is April 29, so I want to do something awesome for her. Did I mention the icing on the cake was condensed milk and butter frosting? Yeah, totally not healthy, but totally delicious! :D

Also, I had a heart to heart with my twelfth grade today. They said the essay topics I assign are too difficult and they have yet to produce a writing assignment for any of the topics I have assigned in the past 2 months. So I explained that it's not me being spiteful, but rather that I want the best for them in their futures. If I can develop their minds, they will be equipped to go far in life. My main goal with my students is to give them a spark for each of them to excel. Also, I want to take away any limitations they have placed on themselves.

In other news, I had some good borsch for dinner. My host dad says it is good for your "organism". I know it means like good bacteria, but I can't help but worry about the possibility of parasites in my stomach. *looks over shoulder for parasites in attack mode*

I am continually amazed by how every day in Georgia is different: different experiences, different emotions, different levels of understanding or lack there of and etc. Good times all around! We have an in-service training in the middle of November for 4 days! I'm stoked. Even though it's gonna be hella jam-packed full of stuff, I'm looking at it like a mini-vacation!

One of my favorite things I have heard I just remembered from when we went to see Joe Biden from a USAID employee, "You know what the main difference is between embassy employees (contracted and otherwise) and Peace Corps volunteers? [It's that] they don't have dignity." It's so true... when interacting we just express ourselves in our real forms as ourselves. We've been able to come to terms that some of us take bucket baths and use squat toilets. What's there to be pretentious about? We keeps it real.

-Jefferson

This Unit Not Labeled For Individual Sale

2009-10-26T22:47:00.000+04:00

Dear Reese's Variety Pack,

Why do you haunt me? Why do you cry out to me from the darkness of the Aldo shoebox I am keeping you hostage in? You know I don't have running water and can't brush my teeth after eating you. Do you want me to have some gnarly teeth to go with my Halloween costume? I was just trying to have a relaxed day before you invaded my mind with your sweet morsels of Reese's pieces, peanut butter cups, and fast breaks... Would it be possible for you to use your powers of persuasion to help my counterpart come to planning sessions or perhaps to get my twelfth-A class to do their homework? I would be ever so grateful. This is my birthday wish. So go out into the world and spread your brown, orange, and yellow diversity!

With deepest regards to your chocolatey wisdom,
Jefferson

The feeling you get after a 9-piece nugget meal in Georgia... priceless

2009-10-26T00:59:00.000+04:00

gwvrndbrdnsnzutnionfit, that is my made up word for how I would describe this weekend. I'll leave it to you to translate. Highlights and memories I will keep close to my heart: Friday night, while Andrew's eyebrow was still fully intact; morning pillow talk with some other volunteers; riding in a pimp marshrutka directly from my house to tbilisi; making pancakes and pineapple syrup with Paula (owner of Paula's Parlor in Boston, MA); getting some personal time at McDonald's later that afternoon while people watching; and finally skyping and facebooking with some of my loved ones.

In terms of food: the food on Friday was baller and a success, although I can't say I would ever make the fried crab roll things ever again. I'm sorry Paula Deen, that was an epic fail for a recipe. Luckily, 3 out of 4 were an amazing success that overshadowed it. Also, thanks to Barb's highly skilled bazaar buying methods, I had mushrooms for dinner, prepared Georgian style! I love that I have established myself in the kitchen.

In terms of musical guest appearances, Ingrid Michaelson made many an encore performance. So begins another weeks in Georgia! One of my favorite lines from I.M.'s song Breakable is something to the effect of our cracking bones make sounds. Her lyrics are awesome because they can be taken very literally and then also taken for the symbolic/implied meaning. With that line, sometimes we don't make sounds when we are hurt, but our bones make sounds when we are cracked. It's so deep! I'll prologue this with I usually don't care about lyrics as long as the beat is good. So it's good to be aware that we are all fragile people, and we should move around in our lives carefully knowing that at any moment one of us could break or shatter. Life is so special.

One thing I've noticed is how caring people from this region are. I was locked out of my house when I got back from Tbilsi and one of my neighbors offered me to come in, drink tea and wait until my family got home. I turned her down, but then my Director's mom came up the stairs and about had a fit I was by myself and especially sitting on the ground. Sitting on concrete definitely causes infertility in women, and I'm sure it's not good for men either. She waved me downstairs to my director house. My director's mom is so cute! She blows me kisses all the time, slow motion style, too. I have begun catching them in mid air. I have a growing collection. I might be able to auction some of the higher quality kisses on ebay...

Wish me luck this week! Read again soon!

Love,
Jefferson

Kitchen Zombies

2009-10-23T01:16:00.000+04:00

After a crazy week of Peace Corps visits, both announced and unannounced, my host mom and I went to the bazaar. She accidentally left the list at home, so we bought from memory. Thank god we are making American dishes that I know most of the ingredients, so we only forgot one or two things. Then, after losing some carrots and greens on the taxi ride home somehow, we unloaded our goods. I began cooking and about 8 hours later I am still cooking for tomorrow. By cooking, I mean preparing to cook. I told my host mom we should have started yesterday, but o no it had to wait until today. Hand-making tortillas for 15 people is not enjoyable. I don't know how Mexicans do it, mad props to their entire culture. I love their food, but the grass is greener in Marneuli, metaphorically of course, Marneuli is a dry plain/borderline desert.

For the first time I made sushi rice for my pseudo crab rangoon. I love it so much! Thank you food network website! PS- I'm throwing people under the bus this weekend, and I will start off with my SM having never heard of a hushpuppy that wasn't a shoe company... yeah. Everything is going to be mega delicious! Also, my host mom bought 20 liters of wine. For 15 people. She must think we are lushes or something. Love my host mom. We throw catty sarcastic comments about each other and at other peoples' expenses left and right all of the time now.

The chicken just came out for the wraps, and it is beautiful. It has been marinating and brining now for several hours, so it should be delicious to boot. Also, a cross-cultural surprise was that while they sell traditional black beans in the bazaar, my host mom has never had a black bean in her life. She doesn't like most things that are black, and so I think she had been holding a prejudice against them. The good thing! is that she's open to trying new things.

I'm really excited to celebrate. Today was my SM's birthday. To him, birthdays are like any other day. I'm gonna work on that one. :) Once again, I'm so happy to have a SM. It really makes my life seem less foreign.

Also! So far I have gotten two packages, both of which I love to death! Even though, a new pair of shoes gave me a really bad blister... I am angry at them right now, but once the blister heals, I will give them another shot. I chose the worst time to try them out: from my house to my Russian lesson (25 minutes) and on the way in my cripple shuffling (I know it's not pc, but it paints a good image) I managed to rip a hole in one of the toes of my socks.

Ramble on! I'm looking forward to a great weekend of celebrating, as it's also Tbilisoba. Everything is working out just fine. 2:30 a.m., over and out!

-Jefferson

You must be my lucky star...

2009-10-20T21:08:00.000+04:00

So I am listening to Madonna's Lucky Star song, and I thought,"We are all mobile stars who are fueled by the light of others." What part of the galaxy will you find yourself in? Will you gather with stars about to burn out? Will you slide away from the other bright stars and fade away? or Will you be a beacon of light on your own for other stars wandering your way?

I just got done reading the exclusive, hot-off-the-presses, fall Peace Corps newsletter. The most interesting information I learned was that there will be a program in Sierra Leone. Self, being in Georgia is not so bad at all.

Also today, I was hungry and it was like a prayer, the lord took me to the teacher's lounge to find a beautiful spread on food. One of my favorite Georgian dishes is Mtchadi, corn bread! I prefer it without the cheese. On its own, it is reminiscent of corn bread meets fried corn dog batter. Delicious!

After I ate, I cranked out my criticismical red pen to correct some essays before heading to my Russian lesson. One thing about my Russian tutor, is that she loves the Russian language. In college, I learned the grammar structures and so far have used Russian as a basic survival language, so as a result, my expression in the language is not entirely there. So we'll be speaking and she has in two lessons, taught me more beautiful ways of expressing for myself. For example, instead of "peaceful night," I learned how to say, "I wish you to have pleasant dreams," literally translated. Also, by focusing on expression, it increases the intellectual quality of my language. She is amazing. I would say she is the first linguist I have met who has such a great passion for the language, which she is able to easily communicate. This is not to discount the education I received, but in the university, the level of education for learning a language is so far beyond basic comprehension that something is lost systemically. Needless to say, this is something I will continue to look forward to.

Also, in birthday news, I'm glad to say everything is falling in place. Regardless of how the cards fall, it will be a good time had by all.

Furthermore, the gas AND the light came back on today, which is how I'm writing to you now! Tomorrow, I'm going to do a test run on the tortillas for the quesadillas to ensure primo-quality! This goes back to my friend Danielle, god bless her! She said, "Good parties are the ones you create." It's true, while you can hope that someone else will make a good party for you, if you want to ensure its success, you also must put in a significant contribution!

Also, I thought of an idea for my school today. I think of a ton of ideas, but this one I'm pretty serious about, at some point in time. The grading system of our school is all done in one book for each class, as I may have mentioned. This means that there is one grade book for the entire 12th grade, for example and so on. So the books are left in the teachers' lounge and then teachers take turns writing down the daily assignments, test grades, and attendance. So this is what I want to do: I want to see what funding is available to get 5 computers for the teachers' lounge, 1 computer for the director, and 1 for the admin assistant/finance office. By networking these computers together and having excel spreadsheets for gradebooks, it will make inputting and calculating grades easier, more accessible, more accurate and overall better. There are many teachers who don't keep accurate records because it's just too much work/thought to calculate everything. The same thing would happen if it were like this in the states. Also, by having a computerized system later in time, maybe next year, the admin assistant could use the computer to create/edit students' and teachers schedule to make schedule design easier. Also, for the director, she could more easily determine class sizes and manage the teachers' work. Furthermore, all teachers have to submit each trimester's syllabus ahead of time. This network system would enable her and teachers to be aware of their goals and ease of syllabus submission. Of course, there would need to be considerable IT training for teachers, but the results of implementing this system would put this school on the upper/advanced track in relation to other schools in Georgia! My director is really open to ideas, which is also really good. Also I told my CP about the idea today, and she just lit up with joy.

That's about all that's new! Keepin it fresh, almost daily!
-Jefferson

Birthday Goings On

2009-10-19T20:33:00.000+04:00

Hey there, writing to you by candlelight from Marneuli right now! Luckily we had food in the fridge, because the gas is off too. You never know when the power, gas or water could go out at any point in time. Apparently, in the early nineties they would wait for the light to come like we're waiting for Christ's return. The term "light came" or "shuki movida" became popular as light became more regular. Everyone would cheer, especially the youngins. Apparently the power goes out a lot, especially in the winter time.

So it's on like donkey kong, my host mom is making her bazaar trip tomorrow to purchase some food for the birthday dinner on friday. It seems as though 1 or 2 folks are coming from the reaches of Kakheti, and I want to impress. It might go badly, but here's the lineup: black bean quesadillas, grilled chicken ranch wraps, hushpuppies, carrot salad, crab rangoon, and snickers cake. My host mom was pretty disappointed by the lack of Georgian dishes, but I figure I would like at least one day a year to go all out, not to mention I have Georgian food every day.

Asmat came today to observe our class. It went well, I felt really comfortable and everything. My counterpart and director were pretty stressed out, so I think they are glad that Peace Corps has come for this point in time. Now I am looking forward to the doctors doing their health inspection on Wed and also my new Russian lessons beginning tomorrow.

I don't think I mentioned this, but anyone who would like to come to this food celebration is invited. It's going down this Friday, and if there's anything you would like to see on the menu, let me know. Also let me know if you are coming. There might be the possibility you might sleep on the floor, but it will be amazing food. My host dad is supplying the wine. I wanted to have these amazing mushrooms, but my host dad swears that the mushrooms in Georgia are dangerous because their is no regulation of quality. I still feel that a good sautee could cook out any badness. Not to mention, I just want to buy white button mushrooms, which you would think would be obvious if they were bad. We;ll see though. I think my host mom is going to try and sneak some button mushrooms into the shopping cart.

So yes, please come, if you aren't busy of course. I'm going to try and get the word out tomorrow. I wish I had some good broccoli.

That's really all I can think of write now, sorry it was short.

Love ya'll snitches,
Jefferson

Welcome to my food-centric sitcom!

2009-10-18T15:58:00.000+04:00

As the crackling sounds of hot pans of frying oil caress my ears, I am writing to you. I am starting to entertain the idea myself of having some sort of fry in the near future. I definitely want to incorporate hush puppies and ranch into it. I just returned from a very exciting weekend in Lagodekhi! I had a great time, spent time with volunteers and enjoyed the nature in Kakheti. Lagodekhi is famous for its hiking. We went for a hike up into the mountains where there was a beautiful waterfall. The temperature was about 70 degrees, the water about 50, as we are inclined to believe some of the water was ice melt from the snow we had in the northern regions during the cold snap a while back. It was sunny and me and my SM decided to take a dip. It was freezing! But all in all a good time. It also seems I am a spaghetti sauce master when it comes to having limited ingredients because that night we made spaghetti. I directed sauce production and Heather directed the garlic bread.

Also, an amazing feature of the weekend was transportation. Ben and I got a taxi from Tbilisi to Lagodekhi for 10 lari each there, and 8 lari on the way back! That btw is what we might call a "steal" because it is the same cost to take a ride on a cramped, hot, bumpy marshrutka.

In other news, I have been pathetically slowly reading Lord of the Flies. It's truly taking eternity to read, but I want to finish it so that I may begin my next literary adventure.

Also while in Lagodekhi, the lovely Ms. Paula directed two successful yoga classes. It was good to stretch.

Tomorrow, Asmat, our education program director, is coming out to observe me and my counterpart. The class she'll be observing is one of my tenth grade classes. I love my tenth graders. They are really bright and they make me laugh. They have an energy that is somehow lost between the tenth and eleventh grades. I did a madlib with them, and while it took a while to implement, they enjoyed it. We'll be sharing the ones they wrote tomorrow first thing in class.

Also, as I may have mentioned, I have been assigning writing assignments. I found this book of activities, puzzles, and quotes for learning creativity. This has helped me be more creative in assigning essay topics. The most interesting one so far was "my ideal school" and how they would improve their school. This is helpful for them and also for me, to get a better idea of what potential secondary projects I can work on. Of course, the limitation is the range of vocabulary, but the essays were so interesting! They take a while to grade, but it's enjoyable for me. It also makes me feel like I'm more of a teacher, especially since I'm not yet planning classes on a regular. My CP missed our session on Friday, due to babysitter problems, so she brought her son, and he is so cute I wanted to steal him. My CP had bought him an English book to study and he was drawing on the pages quietly and well-behaved during class with those big beautiful green eyes of his. One thing Dr. Marina had said while we were in the allergy clinic was, "Under the assumption that children are innocent, why do they get sick?" My response was that we have to suffer somewhat on earth so that we may gain appreciation for paradise. Would you agree or disagree with the notion that, in order to bring balance and happiness to your life on earth prematurely that you must suffer more than those who don't try given the difficulty of relieving this suffering? Food for thought. Not sure if it makes sense and not sure where it came from...

So there was the potential tonight for me to hang with my SM, but I was just tired, and its so good I didn't because as I arrived home, I was informed it was my host brother's birthday! I would have never been able to live that down had I missed it.

I was riding in the taxi back to Tbilisi today, looking out the window and felt a sense of nostalgia for a culture I'm not originally apart of. When I'm usually on vacation, I make the most of every moment, and my fear is that I will lose touch of utilizing every moment. Before we know it, this point in our lives will have passed us by.

One quote I love by Mark Strand, and one that has been a mantra of sorts the past two weeks is, "Each moment is a place you've never been."

Every week here has been completely different and new. This week I'm starting Russian tutoring which will recur every Tuesday and Wednesday which complements my Monday and Friday Georgian lessons. Where is this "free" time I heard so much about? I think also perhaps my tendency to overindulge on time could be affecting this, but at the very least I can't look back and say I regret losing or wasting any moment.

Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.

Can I get some cheese to go with that whine?

2009-10-14T11:44:00.000+04:00

My Cute Host Parents :)

Hello everyone! Some highlights of the goings on in "Sakart-way-lo." I have been to the allergy doctor four times in the past week, so it's basically like I commute to Tbilisi. Luckily, I don't have to go back to her until January for a check up. It's been a long time since I've been to an allergist, and I was completely blown away by all of the advances in allergy technology which have been made since I was a kid. Here's a run down of all the tests: So they have one machine which measures the output of Nitrogen Oxide from your lungs, a gas which is apparently produced in times of an allergic reaction by something that sounds like xylophene. I had almost quadruple the amount of NO I should have had. Also, there's the IGE count in your blood, which measures how many allergic antibodies are present. My level there was three times what it should have beem. Then they did a nose swab and cultured it. The doctor explained that in your nose you have mast cells, and she saw that it was very unusual that my mast cells were degenerating. Also the xylophenes or whatnot were heavily concentrated in the sample. Also the microbial, bacterial, and fungal tests came back negative, which is generally an indicator of when you have a cold. SO! I was so happy to know that I know my body, and that I was right. Of course, that was just a small leak from my growing medical file in Georgia. Yesterday, I also got my flu shot. I am feeling awesome in terms of my health!

Now onto other matters! I am getting more and more excited about the future prospect of correspondence with the World Wise Program. My teacher just seems so awesome, I'm really looking forward to it. Then, hold the phone! My CP planned with me for the first time in her life yesterday! She is getting excited, because she said she was never taught any of the things I am mentioning. Also, on a note maybe only some language connoisseurs such as myself (I say that term loosely, as I'm by no means a pro), but given: there are 7 cases in the Georgian. When whoever designed the elements for teaching English in Georgia, I think they really wanted to connect the notion of cases to the English language. The other day my counterpart wrote instead of object prounouns, "personal pronouns in the objective case."

So that was boring. I'm excited I am planning with my counterpart now, even though it's only been one session. Asmat is coming on Monday to observe us, and the Fabulous Dr. Marina will be here next Wednesday to do a cleanliness and living assessment with the Peace Corps OMS (Office of Medical Services)'s health inspector.

Also my SM and I are booked on our social calendar for the next month or so. Today is also a national holiday celebrating the oldest church in Georgia (Mtskheta). Also, the ending for most, if not all, Georgian holidays is -oba. So today is known as "Mtskhetoba." Christmas is "Shoba" and then there are many Saints' days, St. Mary (Mariamoba), or at least I think the last one is right.

Then this past weekend, I went to Telavi. It was really a bad time. I went to a wine tasting, made peanut butter and also chocolate chip cookies, watched a movie on a projector, spent time with friends, celebrated Jim's birthday, and had fritada and french toast. Truly an awful time. :) When I was at the wine tasting enjoying swiss and gouda cheese, I just thought about the Peace Corps volunteers in Africa, probably happy to be alive and eat rice everyday. We are all truly fortunate to be in such a great country.

This is a sample spread of some of the wine makers and that terribly... amazing food!

This is one of the judges speaking, about to introduce the Minter of Economics

Ahh Fritada!

More to write later!

-Jefferson

Funked out with a gangster twist...

2009-10-05T18:17:00.000+04:00

Wah wah wahhhh!! You are entering the Debby Downer Zone... proceed with caution, and don't get stuck!

Ah so another day has peeled off of the calendar as a creeping feeling washes over me about CP planning. No matter how you spin it, being demotivated is not a good look. I myself am doing ok, but being around certain people who are as such takes a toll on your mental energy. I hope this week goes better than the last two on that aspect.

I have an appointment tomorrow in Tbilisi with Georgia's leading "allergologist" tomorrow to determine my asthma/allergy woes. In the past, I have traveled in Eastern Europe, but I have never lived in it. There has always been the "draft" or other worries about weather concerns, such as grabbing a jacket when it is a sunny 80 degrees outside. Last night I was told to put on pants; I was wearing thermal shorts, 2 shirts, a hoody, and socks. I said if I did that, I would get hot, and was then given a momentary silent treatment. It was really heavy. All is well now.

I'm looking forward to getting back on healthy feet. I'm nervous also about getting a good turnout for the FLEX test on Wednesday. My director really wants to have FLEX students and I don't want to let her down. I'll be helping proctor this exam with the American Councils, so I'm glad at least to be helping. If there is not a good turnout, there is also another test at the end of October in Tbilisi. Granted, I realize I am holding really high expectations for myself and my work, I realize other volunteers are still trying to sort out what's going on. Call me an overachiever. ;)

I cannot wait for birthday packages to start arriving!! It keeps me positive. It's like a little piece of America coming my way.

I graded a ton of papers today. One thing I don't know if is a modern method or just a difference of teaching styles, but teachers here as a whole don't collect papers other than tests, at least with English. So these students study for 9 years and can go that whole time mispelling words and having bad syntax. Also, for some students, they just give up and drop out. There is such a massive difference in minority classes between the 9th and 10th grades. It's like the light just turns off. I'm gonna try and keep the light burning bright, while fueling mine as well.

One volunteer and I had an amazing conversation about how important it is to be your own personal motivation machine. When times get difficult, you can't shut down. The work that we do here isn't physically difficult, but rather like a massive logic puzzle. Because many of the problems are systemic, those who are in the system aren't aware of them, and it's up to you to identify them, categorize them, and then develop a plan of action to create change, large or small.

While there are RPCV's (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers) in country, there are not any current volunteers with whom to collaborate. Of course, there are pros and cons to this, but I can't help but wonder what the grass on the other side might be like, if it were here to think about.

Also, another good motivator is thinking about what I would be doing right now if I were in the States, not much in terms of playing towards my life's goals and dreams.

I'm dragging this on, if you couldn't tell, in an attempt to jump back on a positive track. I have been having increasingly better sessions with my Georgian tutor. We are still figuring things out and are on the verge of vibing towards language fluency! Ok, the last part may be a stretch, but it's better for sure. I still have yet to meet with the Russian tutor, but that should happen soon.

Back on the note of regulating students work through physically turned-in assignments, there are students who have been studying English for 8+ years who still don't know how to say "What's your name?" much less how to answer it. I don't care who you are, or how bad you are at languages, if I gave you 8 years to memorize that, I would hope you'd be able to learn it.

... so remember it's important to REGULATE!

Love,
Jefferson

Call me Young Wheezy!

2009-10-04T21:20:00.000+04:00

Hello! Nothing gold ever stays...such is the frequency of me writing in my blog. I'm sure those who kept up on a regular were finding you had an increased reading load, but your break is up for at least today! Grab your ankles and sit tight on your toilet seats, it's going to be a messy ride.

Ok but not entirely. I just liked the way that was phrased. So the past two weeks have been jam-packed with all sorts of activities. I have been teaching up a storm, and it has been a challenge because of planning with my counterpart hasn't worked out as planned, but we are still positive about how this next week will be. I love my students and am slowly learning their names. I started watching Californication Season 2 with my SM. We've had lots of good times.

One night we made spaghetti, and it was really amazing considering the lack of ingredients. When we go to the bazaar and look for spices, often times we will inquire about certain spices which could be perceived as oregano or basil, but no the answer is that this mystery freeze-dried greenery would be good in tea. Unless Georgians/Azeris like oregano/basil tea, I'm thinking the bazaar doesn't have it.

Then today, I and my host mom with the shopping skills of my SM gathered and prepared a legit apple pie. For some reason unknownst to me, Georgia does not have molasses, and therefore does not have brown sugar. When I told my host mom about brown sugar she wondered if it was cocoa powder added to it, but as a substitute, I used really thick preserves added butter and sugar and then cooked it on low heat on the stove top to try and get a somewhat warm flavor. Next time I make it, I believe I will add slightly more sugar. The below picture is the fruit (pun intended) of our labor. Because this part of the world also does not have the pie pan in wide circulation, I used this pan and was short on dough and apples, but it still came out well.

Also, I'm starting to feel more comfortable with cooking because the means and availability of products and preparation methods are so vastly different. For example, most stoves are gas, some ovens are gas (no temperature regulation really) and then for those stoves that do have temperature regulation, degrees are in celsius. Then, when explaining all of this to my host mom, she doesn't know the cups/tbspns measuring, and instead knows the grams, mL, L and the like. So for solid recipes, I've had to translate ingredients and convert measurements for purchase. So far so good though, I'll of course let you know when I make a horrible mistake or miscommunicate.

Also! I got my World Wise School (WWS) Program contact information. WWS is where you can correspond with a teacher and classroom in the states to fulfill one of the mission objectives of Peace Corps: to educate and inform American people on a foreign culture, or something to that effect. And I'm pretty sure it was complete coincidence, because I had no preference and my home of record is in Tampa, but my WWS teacher is in Tallahassee!! I'm so excited to correspond with her and her class, 19 fifth graders.

Then one weekend I went to Tbilisi for one of the volunteers birthdays! It was crazy and fun. It seems that a ton of volunteers are fall babies, so many travellings ahead. My SM's birthday is on the 22nd of October, mine on the 26th and so we were planning on doing something the weekend between, and I want to for sure, but I'm not sure about the popular consensus, because Tbilisoba is that weekend between. Speaking of which, if you are in Georgia you are invited to whatever celebration will be. My SM's belief is that birthdays are just another day, but not so much for me. I think they are a huge deal, even though sometimes I'm really bad about remembering them. Also most Georgian holidays end in -oba (day of). So Tbilisoba is the Day of Tbilisi. It's a day where there is a massive festival on the street with food and concerts. I'm interested to see what it's like, but if it's not fun I almost don't want to risk having a bad time the days before my birthday. The reason why I have doubts about it, is because I've talked to a lot of Georgians, and the reviews I have gotten about it is that it's a loud, crowded, crazy boozefest. But maybe it's like how some Americans view Mardi Gras or something? I don't know. We'll see how it all pans out.

This is the birthday boy sporting his designer shirt featured from the 2009 Lauren Host Family collection:

My host family wanted to see pictures of them I had taken on my computer, but I hadn't at that point in time put them on my computer, and they were disappointed, because they want all you guys to know who they are! :) I told them that I was lazy.
This is my host dad and the two young boys are my host brothers. The other guy is a good friend and neighbor.

This is me and my host mom! :)

On the health front, my back was hurting pretty bad today when I woke up and throughout today, and then my asthma is flaring up really bad. I'm most likely going to Tbilisi on Monday or Tuesday to get an allergy/asthma diagnosis. I just want to be healthy!! I think in the States I was less conscious about my health in terms of illness perception, but here with time on my hands and developing language skills I place my mental energy on that concern. On a positive note, because of all the coughing I've been doing from the asthma, I think my abs are getting a lot stronger!

Also, I've begun learning Georgian dance! I am currently learning Acharuli (if you want to look it up on youtube, it's there) and am going to perform with my SM's host sister next spring for her graduation. I'm teaching her Ballroom dance, and she's teaching me Georgian dance! :D

Anyways I'm stoked, things are going well. I can't believe how fast time is flying by! Also, I will be writing a note on Facebook about an interesting event which occurred for our security meeting from October 1st!

Also, a shout out to my real dad, whose birthday was yesterday!

Love you all!
Jefferson

Culture Shock Revisited

2009-09-19T11:23:00.000+04:00

Hey there, so yesterday have been kind of level on terms of everything. I think this week and all of the things going on took a toll on me, so this weekend I will be resting.

So I know this is bad, but my motivation for doing new things in the community is obviously to help, but also to give me some new writing material. Sort of like one of those "create your own story" books. Will Mario go to the dungeon to save the princess (turn to page 96), or will he take a personal day and hope for the best (see page 185)?

So as I believe I mentioned, I was supposed to go to church today, but as I did not have a peaceful awakening from my alarm, I was not really feeling it. Last night my host mom geared my bed up for winter with an even larger, firmer, "more comfortable" pillow and a hella thick and heavy comforter that fused together with my sheet. Needless to say, it was a hot. Also, I had set my phone on my bed so that it was easy access to turn off this morning, and I'm a full believer in putting your alarm out of reach so that you actually wake up, however my phone fell into the crack of the bed onto the floor. I had to physically move the bed to turn off my alarm. Not exactly my ideal waking up situation, this was followed by a rice porridge for breakfast and a feeling of being rushed to get to the village in time for church and spend the day not understanding the language.

I'm very glad that on Monday I will start tutoring Georgian! I am going to shoot for 2 lessons of Georgian and 2 of Russian per week. When I speak in English everyone freaks out and tells me to slow down, but it's not entirely reflexive when they speak in Georgian to me. Also, I find myself in a minority in the minority community. I'm in an Azeri community in Georgia, but in a Georgian family and school. When I speak in Russian, I struggle because all day I'm thinking in Georgian, and when I speak in Georgian I sound horrible because I don't know the language. So everyone comes to the conclusion that I just don't have the language skills I need to be adequate in my community. When I speak the kids laugh at my Georgian and ask the teacher how am I going to teach them English if I don't know Georgian. Bah!

But at least I've identified my main frustration. I also recognize my honey moon period of being in a place that treats me so much better is coming to an end. Luckily, time is flying by, the weeks are peeling off! I'm also behind because all the other volunteers went through this site adaptation 2 weeks ago.

So as mentioned and for reasons given, I did not go to church today. I ate lunch with my host mom at 11:00 am before she left for the village, and she mentioned that people were excited for me to come and interested in me, especially the church leaders. She said the main church guy is the kind of person who can look into your eyes and know your soul. That is so freaking intimidating that I'm glad I had already backed out of going. I'm sure he's a great guy, and I'm all about religion, but 2 things: when I'm tired I don't want to have my soul judged by anyone who is God him/herself and then especially because any judgements would be passed on me in a foreign language.

LOL, and it's official my host mom, I love her so much, but it is a fact that she is a wrinkle nazi. One wrinkle on your clothing does not leave the house. I think it's so sweet that she takes my appearance so seriously, it sort of makes me feel guilty about my own personal upkeep and hygiene. I worry what she would do if I was actually messy or dirty.

The lessons I observed by the least competent of CPs crawled by. Watching paint dry would have been more interesting. The good thing is that she has a lot of potential to be an amazing teacher. She is just really de-motivated, and it's only her 2nd or 3rd year. I noticed that she has most of the classes with minority students, who compared to Georgian students have much lower self-esteem in regards to learning. While working with her will be my greatest area for impact and positive change, it will also be the most difficult.

After talking with another volunteer, I'm very glad none of my CPs beat, hit, or shake the children to maintain order in the classroom. Being a teacher is something that can be a huge emotional burden, probably stating the obvious, but challenges to work with include products of society and bad parenting (children). I truly don't blame any of the children for their behavior. I believe they all have potential to be good kids. And the teacher with amazing potential is just a product of training from the old education system in Georgia. I'm looking forward to the progress which will be made over the course of my service.

Right now, I'm listening to Mariah Carey, she's got some pretty uplifting and upbeat music, and later I will knock out season 2 of the Office. I'm already half-way through. I tried to pull it onto my computer from the disk, but it said it would take 400 minutes?? Not possible. So I'll just watch these episodes and get them back to their rightful owner!

Love you all! Can't wait until we chat again! Thank you for reading, those who are returners and those who are new, and also to those who have left comments!

-Jefferson

Amen to that Sister!

2009-09-17T21:25:00.000+04:00

Hi, what's your name? How are you? Fine thanks, goodbye! <-- This was what the English class' kids of the third grade are learning at the good ol' school! The counterpart I observed today is a great teacher! She's only been teaching for a short period of time, but her lessons today I observed had structure, used the book, contained a variety of activities, were contained by her excellent classroom management techniques, catered by her amazing explanations and etc. And by a short period of time, I mean this will be her 3rd or 4th year! It's incredible!

After the lesson, I got back out to the "stadium" and ran around the dirt path created from being over-tread by other children. I ran alone and for 30 minutes without stopping and with sprints in between! My ipod had completely died, and so with ten minutes charge I was in business! I'm sure there are many people out there who could have done better, but on my standards it was an in-country personal best! My legs are sore from running as you are reading this.

After the lesson but before the running, I had a meeting with my director. I told her that I needed to find Russian and Georgian tutors, and she got the ball rolling! Apparently there is a teacher whose Georgian grammar is incredible and the Russian teacher from our school is very kind. Then I asked my director, with the help of one of my CPs, if she was on good terms with the directors of the other schools, and she said yes. Then, I asked her if it would be possible to meet with a few of them to talk about the possibilities and survey interest in applying for a volunteer, as applications for schools are out and due October 2. She then told me that there is going to be an all-directors meeting for the area soon, and I'm welcome to come if I'd like and talk with them there. I was thrilled!

Then post meeting with my director, another meeting date was established for our EAP (Emergency Action Plan) cluster to meet in Rustavi to discuss strategies, meet the police chief, and go out to lunch. I am still on cloud 9, and I realize this will sound strange, but I love meetings. Meetings give a sense of structure and progress!

Today was also my host brother Avto's birthday! My host mom yet again outdid herself with a fantastic banana and pomegranate seed cream birthday cake! Then after eating dinner and cake, the amazing Asmat called after I sent a text hinting of something exciting (director's meeting). We talked and because I cannot give too much information about Peace Corps without them being present, she will see what she can do in terms of possibly preparing me to be able to answer questions in the event they will arise. Just the possibility is exciting, as this would be a huge step towards change! I feel like it would also help unite the community as well. There are many cultural, ideological, relgious, and other differences amongst the people and yes, even the directors; but all can agree that having a volunteer in their school is a positive thing.

I have talked with my director also about the FLEX interest committee, for which she is also enthusiastic, and Asmat mentioned she will be having a meeting with American Councils of Georgia tomorrow, for which most likely promotional materials will be provided and then also she will email someone's contact information for possible tips on how to prime the students before the actual FLEX presentation in October.

I am so excited that things are moving along so quickly. I know this will not always be the case, but for the time being I am grateful. I feel like I am integrating well with my community, and it seems as though many, many positive things are to come. My stomach is feeling 100%, I am happy, all is well, and today is probably the highest point of my service in Georgia so far. I am so lucky to have such an amazing host family, director, school, community, and couldn't ask for better PC staff. God bless all of them!

Speaking of blessing, my host mom and host mom's brother's wife invited me to their village church on Saturday. Are you ready for a majorly horrible translation? I wanted to say I will be able to go if I will be free, but instead I said I will be able to go if I would not be too different. LOL I mean, both are true, but I would have preferred that the first intended meaning would have been communicated. The reaction was of concern, and they encouraged me in that we are all Christians in this room, and God does not discriminate against what kind of Christianity, so I should not be afraid or worried. Apparently, one of the pastors knows many languages, and some English, so if I need to speak with a man of the Lord, I should be able to do so. This was so kind and caring of them, even though I don't feel like I will take full opportunity of this generosity, just out of cultural difference, but nonetheless I appreciate it.

Also, as I have been observing almost every class, and every grade takes English at my school, I have met a solid majority of the students. As I was walking down the street after my run today, looking a hot mess, many students were acknowledging my presence. It's so good to feel appreciated in such a foreign place. All I have done so far is smile and speak what they may not understand, but it truly shows how far kindness can get you, as kindness knows no language barrier. I hope the other volunteers will open up their hearts to their communities as well, to be welcomed as the arms of people in Georgia are always open.

Ok, so enough of the sappiness. I love everyone, catch you later/tomorrow most likely!

-Jefferson

What's behind door #2?

2009-09-16T20:52:00.000+04:00

Hello! It's a new day. My blog that was just published was post-posted after a computer crash and power outage from the storm we had yesterday. Right now it is also raining.

In other news: I wore socks last night to fend off the mosquito in my room, and they seemed to have worked! I am going to wear them again tonight and see what happens. There were so many bites, had there been scars, all of my aspirations to become a professional foot model would have been annihilated, and then of course would ensue the psychological counseling from Peace Corps in DC.

Today was a long day! I observed 3 teachers and a total of 6 lessons. Tomorrow, thankfully I only intend to observe around 3. There are 4 CPs (counterparts) and I am observing 3 of each of there classes a week, on top of the meetings I have with the director. I found out today that the FLEX program will be coming on the 8th of October at 10 o clock in the morning. My director is very excited, as we had 4 FLEX finalists last year, 1 of which actually is currently in Ohio! I'll see what magic I can work... I am thinking I will start, per suggestion of the amazing Asmat, a FLEX interest/development club of students who are highly interested in applying.

The classes I observed today were very interesting... Some of the classroom management techniques included stomping and yelling. The teachers said some of them are very bad students and other teachers said they are disruptive because of the first week. The largest class we had was 33 or 34 students, with the smallest only being around 12. There are many students who neither speak Georgian or English, as they are minorities, and it reminded me of the minority groups in the US that just kind of ride along the education system to get some blue collar, low class profession. Some people are very happy on this track, but it really upset me to see that most of these students will never have the opportunity to choose. It's not that they are lazy. The stereotypical, which we all know is not true, Azeri/minority student will start school, grade 1, and immediately be 5 years behind in language development for Georgian. They will not understand 50% of what they are taught their first two years. Then they are always behind two years and development low self-esteem for the duration of their education. I'm going to see what I can do to somehow relieve the gloom of this despondent situation.

In completely unrelated news: I now have a webcam, and am gearing up to open my own website for 24 adult shows. While I'm at school my host mother is going to run the loop I'll record the night before, and I'm teaching her the vocab so that the dialog shouldn't be too difficult. But really, I can now video skype, which I'm very excited about.

Also, after dinner I completely smoked both my host parents in backgammon. Ok, I'll admit I let them win sometimes... They said that I'm so lucky I should enter the magti (phone company) contest to win the new Mercedes. I feel though, if I bought the phone with PC money and entered the contest with PC money but gave the car I would win to my family... would that be a personal gain? PS- Profiting for personal gain is enough to get me my ticket back to the states ASAP. I'll leave that to the dull tools for brains committee to hammer out.

Now concludes another riveting day in the life of me. I know you're jealous! Til' tomorrow!

-Jefferson

Hey Good Lookin, Whatcha Got Cookin?

2009-09-15T13:50:00.001+04:00

To whom it may concern,

I have finished one season of the Office. My host brothers wanted to watch it with me, but due to a majority of the humor being in dialogue form, they didn't laugh nearly as much as I.

Today I went to school for day #2. I observed one counterpart (CP) who had been teaching the longest. You could tell that she had really developed her teaching skills, however, could have spoken a lot more in English. I'm almost positive I will be working with her on her 11th and 12th graders, getting them ready for the final exams. Then the second CP I was supposed to observe was no where to be found. The director was very busy, and the other did not know where she was. I have three other CPs who are more than eager and enthusiastic to work with me, so I left for the day. We'll see how the rest of the week plays out. I got the three other CP's schedules, and I am going to make a grid of all the classes and grade levels so that I may observe them appropriately for the next 2 weeks. I am to observe all CPs for 2 weeks and then make a decision on which CP and which grades I want to work more closely with. Our school is Mon thru Sat, so I'm going to try and work it so that I may have a weekend! Time management is what it's all about!

I have made it my goal to start cooking more with my host mother. I went with her today after class to the bazaar. It was my first time there. She asked me what kinds of fruit I wanted. We have apples at home, which I'm fine with, but I don't want to make her go out of her way to buy food for me. When we got apples, I told her that I love to make an American dessert with apples. Any guesses? Apple pie, hope I didn't give it away. So she is very interested in how to make American food and asked me for the recipe, but wanted it all in Georgian. So I went on Food Network's website, got Paula Deen's recipe and then transcribed it into Georgian, and also converted all of the measurements of cups and tablespoons into grams. Then I looked up how to make your own light brown sugar. It recommended 1 cup of regular sugar to 2 tablespoons of molasses. As I do not have molasses handy, I am going to try it with a really thick muraba juice, which is the syrup from preserved fruit. We'll see how that goes... I'm slightly leery about it.

Then today, we decided that strawberries would be a good fruit to buy. I helped take the tops off of them, sweetened them, and put them in the freezer for a short while for them to cool off. Then, after I got back from ventures chem sitematetan ertad (with my SM) my host mother surprised us all with a delicious chocolate strawberry cake, which after having been refrigerated was reminiscent of an oreo. :(

I was so frustrated with my physical condition, I tried to lift weights and could not only lift nothing but got tired quickly. Then we went for a run, shh.... don't tell Dr. Marina! and it was pathetic. So I went home ate dinner, rotted online and am now going to sleep. Until tomorrow!

-Jefferson

Me Didi Dzma Var

2009-09-14T15:45:00.000+04:00

Dear loved ones,
I wanted to let you know that due to the lack of followers and comments, I have installed a tracking software, so I know who is reading this. Surprisingly, I even have a regular reader from the UK! That's right, in an act you may have thought was keeping tabs on me has now been reversed. So I can tell you the beauty behind the device: it is called Google analytics, in case you too would like to keep tabs on who tracks their IP address across the cyber hearth of your blog.

Random rambling aside, I went to Paula's birthday on an overnight trip on Friday. She has a beautiful home filled with all sorts of plants. She slaved over the stove/counter top all day preparing tortillas to fry, salsa to dip, and 3 pizzas! SM and I will be preparing American foods for our respective host families as soon as this Wednesday!

Paula's is probably one of the farthest places I could have decided to go, four hours one way. I love you Paula! Because I sure as hell would have done it for only a few people in this world. Paula, I'll have you know is a talented flautist. She played a tear-jerking piece that night after a massive cake.

Speaking of cakes, as I love desserts so much. There is generally one or a small number of people in each community who are the "cake makers," and my host mother is one of them! :D Speaking of host mothers, her name is Riongeta. I asked her where it came from, and she said that she has no idea, that her mother just saw it in one of her dreams. I wonder what names for my children I can dream up...

I love any kind of rain, and it has been raining a lot here recently. Yesterday we went to where my host grandmother lives in Orjonakidze, I think I spelled that correctly? It is the most beautiful area! Another plus is that there is a school there, and so I'm going to look into helping the director apply for a volunteer, if that's possible. In order for a school to get a volunteer they must go through a very long and competitive process.

I also found out a few of the different varieties of grapes. My favorite so far is the Odessa grape variety, which tastes a lot like a concord grape. With the red grapes I was told not to eat the skins, as it is not good for your stomach? And then also my host father said not to eat grapes in the morning or in the evening for the same reason.

Today was the first day of school! One of the teachers was a DJ who sang a couple of songs. My director told me that she wanted me to say a few words in English, and then one of my counterparts could translate. I didn't think I had achieved celebrity status until my director told me she might cry while giving my introduction, but not to be worried. Before the director's speech there was a ceremony of singing and dancing. Then I said my piece, receiving a round of applause, and then the resource center director spoke and afterwards came up to introduce himself. He was the only speaker who spoke in Russian, which I understand, and when he came up he asked, "Who will be my translator?" before I was able to start speaking.

In terms of Russian, I have continued to speak in Georgian with only bits and pieces of Russian. My host mother thinks it's very good and when I met her family on Sunday, she told them I knew better Georgian than Russian so they wouldn't try to speak to me in Russian. LOL Today she said talking in Russian is "ar sheidzleba" (not allowed). Then some other Georgian phrases I want to implement into my vocab include "deda" (mother) but when used as an expression it's long like deeeeeeeeeeedaaaa! and then also "vai me!" You can even put them together as one long exasperation: Vaiiiiii meeee! Deeeeeeeeeeedaaaa! It can make you sound Georgian for like 2 seconds, or maybe just strange.

I think if you asked my PST host mother I'm not a picky eater. But to my current host mother, I am primarily due to the whole stomach issue incident a week ago.

Not a whole lot gets accomplished on the first several days of school, however, I have to give my director props! She had done all of the teachers schedules before school even started. Here's how it works: There are all of the classrooms and each is labeled with a number and letter: example 9a. Each number represents the grade and the letter is the class. The teachers travel to each classroom whenever there time with ,for example, 9a is. There are 2 sessions, from 9 am to 2 and from 1:30 to 7 pm. Classes are held Monday through Saturday, however one major difference is that students may only have each class 2 or 3 times a week. Each class is 45 minutes in length.

The director requires that each teacher submit to her their syllabus for each grade and subject before school starts. She is once again, so organized! Maybe on US standards it's what's expected, but generally for Georgian schools as a teacher on the first day, you don't have any idea of when the classes you will teach will be, nor what classroom they might be in. So thus far, I'm thoroughly impressed.

So now I'm chilling. Mary had let me borrow 3 seasons of the office, and they are haunting me as I have yet to watch them! Before the end of September it is guaranteed they will be back in Mary's care! (along with the Cook's illustrated magazines) Speaking of Cook's Illustrated, it's a great magazine! You should check it out for some really great tips and scientific explanations of how things are made!

On that note, I'm off to watch some of the Office!

Missing all 15 or so of you!
-Jefferson