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!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
You'll miss your train, and come stay with me...
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!
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!
Monday, February 22, 2010
I'm turning this beat around
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Mr. Frost, Can Mr. Sandman bring me a dream instead? Thanks.
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
[Rocky song playing in background]
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
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
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Wandering in the desert for 40 days
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!
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!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Let there be light, peace and quiet
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)