Tales of a Puerto Rican in Georgia

VIP

2008-07-13T14:55:00.006-05:00

Secretary of State with Ambassador Teft

The Future

Last week Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Georgia. Though she was in GE for only a brief period of time (16hrs), she was able to meet with Peace Corps Volunteers. It was the only time in two years that I ever wore a suit.

June 06- July 08: My Peace Corps Life

2008-07-13T12:58:00.005-05:00

I'm down to my last 11 days as a PCV. It's a bizarre thought. I will update once I get over the shock of this knowledge.

Mmm yey spring

2008-03-27T05:13:00.002-05:00

So the good news is that spring has arrived. That means that I have all my winter clothes divided into piles labeled: give away or burn. I've been waiting a long long time for this. No more long johns, layers, scarves, etc. Although not quite flip flop season yet (Gori is Georgia's windy city) it means I can get away with a short sleeve t-shirt...and that's huge news.

So with Spring, comes the inevitable question. How long is too long in between taking showers. See with winter you don't sweat. You can easily get away with a week...10days...maaaaybe 12 days without showering. My host mom knows my shower day is Sunday. Each person has a special day. So anyways, now it's been 4 days since I last showered and I'm noticing a faint hint or something. Now, granted it could be my clothes. I was those less often than I wash myself. But I'm thinking it's my "glow" that's emitting that...amorous scent. So now I have a dilemna. Take a bath today and throw my whole shower schedule off, or just be a little more liberal with my scented body lotions (courtesy of a trip back home this past summer). Hmm decisions, decisions. If I take a bath today will I get a weird look when I ask for another in a couple of days. Or am I working myself up over nothing and maybe I should just change my shirt.

Meh.

Deep Freeze 2008

2008-03-01T12:46:00.002-05:00

Trust me when I say that I've been composing this latest blog in my head for a while...it's just taken a while, laziness on my part, to actually write it out. It's cold. I mean cold.

The New Year greeted us with a gift, the "Deep Freeze."

This was the coldest winter Georgia has had in 75 years. My room was literally an ice box. Ice covered both sides of my cracked windows for over 10 days. The thermometer in my room mocked me as it hovered around 20-30s deg. And that was on a good "sunny" hour. Once I accidentally tracked snow into my room, and an hour later it was solid ice. Took a while for me to chip away at it. That's just giving you an idea as to how we rough it in the Caucasus . School was canceled for 2 weeks, meaning all I could do was hover over my heater or huddle under my sleeping bag. What made things so bad was that it wouldn't snow. It was just so very cold. And since there's no system in place to clear streets or de-salt. Ice is everywhere. And it never ever melts.

Then last week in 4 days, we had 3 blizzards and white-out conditions. Walking through town, I saw numerous cars skidding and sliding and taking nearly every pedestrian on the road out with them. But what makes it worse, is that so many people are suffering and dying. There is no insulation to help keep the heat out. People are poor and can't afford gas or enough wood to heat their homes (especially in the villages). Food for sale in the bazaar had actually been frozen solid. The amount of people that I knew in one way or another who have passed away because of these harsh conditions keeps rising. At least once every week, I find out of someone who died (usually the elderly) and get invited to their funeral and the funeral supra. Yeah, I know this isn't one of my more uplifting posts so I apologize. But it is depressing to be living in a developing country, which is difficult enough as it is. And in the Caucasus where winter lasts 6 months, it just makes things grimmer.

But it hasn't all been about the winter.

I didn't move to the Caucasus to escape the sunny Floridian weather. I moved to do...stuff? So here's my "New Year and a bunch of other stuff" post:

New Years 2008

Location: Gori , Georgia

In Georgia , you can hear fireworks going off throughout the month of January. Sold for cheap at the bazaar, boys like to buy them, light and throw them at unsuspecting people. People throwing them from balconies onto the street, opening the door and throwing it in a classroom, in a bus...you get the idea?

I spent New Years with my host family. We setup the supra table with special Georgian New Year food which includes treats such as churchela (a dessert made by mixing flour and grape juice together, boiling it and then coating a string of nuts with it), nigozi (honey and nuts), Satsivi (cold chicken with delicious walnut sauce), etc. But the supra doesn't start until midnight. So I went to the concert in Stalin Square . At midnight, there was lots of fireworks, hugging and kissing. Then all the families disappeared into their homes to supra and eagerly await their first visitor known as "First footprint-er." The first visitor is very special and if it's a good hearted person, that means good things await you this New Year. As for the New Year's supra it's a week long event. Literally. You are expected to gorge on food and wine, sleep, repeat until all the food is gone. This usually takes 4-5 days.

Between Jan 1-3, I went to 6 supras. 4 oh which took place when I went to visit my 1st host family in the village. In 36 hours I went to 4 supras. Supra'ed out. (BTW I am hoping that after 20 months you remember what a supra is. Supra= huge feast with lots of wine). I swore off all wine and supras for a good month after that intense experience. At least I tried to get out of as many as possible, which is not easy since January is full of holidays. There's Orthodox Christmas (7 Jan), Orthodox New Years (14 Jan) and Epiphany. Supras included. Your choice of wine, vodka, brandy or Cognac .

And perhaps one of the things I'm still squeamish about after 20 months is drinking with my students. The last week of school in December each grade hosts a Winter Carnival, which consists of singing, dancing, and skits. The students, teachers and parents sit at different tables with traditional Georgian foods and alcohol, and you supra while you watch the festivities. Having my students call me out if I didn't drink enough when a toast was given...well that's just Georgia .

Well I'm getting ahead of myself. I have to give a shout out to my boy, Uncle Joe. December 23rd was Stalin's birthday. So I joined the celebrations at the Stalin Museum . Gathered there were what I assume is left of the WWII veterans in town. There were about 20 veterans battling the cold so that they could talk about the good old days and praise Stalin (Stalini to the Georgians), the "Man of Steel." They had Soviet flags, Stalin portraits and were selling the Georgian Communist Gazette for 10 cents. They also had an anti-NATO banner and were handing out anti-NATO propaganda. The government is pro-Western and pushing for NATO membership. After numerous speeches the group proceeded to parade to Stalin Square and lay wreaths and bouquets at the foot of Stalin's Statue. It was all very touching.

In other news, I had the opportunity to go to the baptism of 2 fellow volunteers who were converting to the Orthodox tradition. The ceremony was held in Sameba, the largest cathedral in the Caucasus . It was done in a small chamber and only the Godparents were allowed to watch. The rest of us waited on the other side of the door. The ceremony varied slightly from the Catholic ritual. The candidates had to be barefoot. They were crossed by the Priest on various parts of the body, they had to walk around the basin 3x, and hair was snipped. I'm sure there was more to it, but like I said I didn't witness the events. Oh right, and instead of pouring water on the foreheads of babies, they were dunked them 3x in the basin and then clothed them in white. And after the ritual, guess what took place. You guessed it, we supra'ed.

But there is other stuff going on besides supras, seriously! After an intense 2 month campaign period, President Mikhael Saakashvili was re-elected President of Georgia in January. And the political situation has calmed down somewhat, though the opposition remains outspoken and contests the results. In May, the parliamentary elections will take place.

And on the Russian and Georgian news channels on a nightly basis is coverage of the US elections. Yes, Clinton, Obama, and McCain are all well known people here. It’s amazing to me how extensive the coverage is of our election process, and quite frankly how intense and long it is. And how confusing it is to foreigners.

On Saturday, I hosted "Writing Olympics," an English creative writing competition for students in 6-11th grade. It's part of a trans-Caucasus project with volunteers and pupils in Armenia and Azerbaijan participating. At the end, there are regional, national and "Best of the Caucasus " winners. There was a good turnout in Gori with over 200 students from the town and nearby villages participating.

The end of my service is quickly approaching. This second year has gone by so much faster than the first. I've already received "Close of Service" documents. Only 5 months left and then I'll be moving on. But to what is still unknown, and isn't that the adventure?

Happy Birthday Stalin

2007-12-21T05:55:00.000-05:00

Today is Stalin's birthday and since I happen to live in his hometown I was able to witness a yearly tradition. A group of communists (none under the age of 65) gathered in front of Stalin's musuem. They gathered despite the awful weather conditions to celebrate the anniversary of Stalin's birthday. They had Soviet flags, stalin portraits, anti-NATO banners (Georgia is seeking NATO membership), etc. One lady was distributing copies of the Communist gazette making a nice souvenir for me. Then a string of speehes took place praising Stalin, reminising about the USSR, their opinion on NATO, etc followed by lots of singing. Quite a sight and I'll be sure to post pics soon.

Tis the Season to be Jolly

2007-12-19T03:24:00.000-05:00

You know it's starting to feel a lot like Christmas when Stalin has to share the limelight with the

"New Years Tree."

'Tis the Holidays

2007-12-14T06:59:00.000-05:00

Gamarjobat,

This is a long overdue update...not because I missed my monthly update, but due to the sheer volume of stuff that has happened in Sarkartvelo since November. I won't go into the nitty gritty details. For that you can go to bbc.com, but to sum up events very quickly there were protests that lasted 5 days in the capital in front of the Parliament building. On Nov 7, the protests ended violently. The President activated a nationwide State of Emergency that lasted nearly two weeks. The President decided to call snap elections. Instead of presidential elections taking place in Fall 08 they'll take place on 5 Jan 08. And that's a very brief synopsis as to what has been going on. Again, I encourage you to check online news publications for more info.

But life is not all about politics.

For Giorgeba (23 Nov), a Georgian holiday in honor of St. George, a Georgian family invited me and my site mates to participate in their traditions. WARNING might be a tad graphic with the blood and all. 9 of us piled into a car the size of a Corolla and drove to the bazaar. We went to the animal pens and selected a sheep and rooster. After being tied up they were *gently* placed in the trunk of the car. Then we made our way to Gori Jvari (Cross) Church which is high atop the mountains overlooking the city and villages. Every time we hit a pothole we'd hear a "bleeeeeeeap" from the trunk. When we finally made it there, we piled out with our offerings. We, as well as every family in the Gori region, went to the church. To bless a sacrifice, you have to walk the animal 3 times around the church. After doing that we walked to a special sacrificial area and paid a guy 5lari (not even $3) to kill and skin the sheep. The area where they did this was DRENCHED in blood and scattered around were misc organs, cut off feet, decapitated heads, etc. So won't go into detail but the sheep was killed, decapitated then hung by its foot from a hook while the guy went to work and started cutting and gutting away.

Meanwhile as we're watching this we hear "Amerika! Amerikeli!" Uh oh our cover was blown. The guys who'd been killing animals all day long called/dragged us over. Then brought out the wine and handed us cups (blood stained cups). So we proceeded to toast and drink for awhile. Later, we took the sheep minus the head and wool back home. Beka laid it on a tree stump and proceeded to hack it into cook-able, eatable sizes. The 6hr supra was indeed one of the best and tastiest I've been too.

I celebrated Thanksgiving in Gori with my fellow regional volunteers. We held the dinner at my site mate's NGO. Unfortunately there were no turkeys available in the bazaar so we made due with chickens. We had a joint Georgian-American Thanksgiving dinner with some of our local friends and colleagues. And in true Gori fashion, one of the toasts was given to Stalin. Then someone recited a poem he had written while he was in the seminary. Who knew he was such a talented, feeling man?

At the beginning of this month, we had our annual All Volunteer Conference. It was held in Bazaleti, just outside the capital. It was in a brand new hotel complex (we were its first guests) built by a large, beautiful lake. The last day of the conference, we held our annual PC Thanksgiving dinner. This time we had actual turkeys! Plus yam, stuffing, and all sorts of goodies you can't find here. The Ambassador attended the dinner too.

As far as school goes, holiday cheer and merriment is in full swing. I've been teaching Christmas carols. Jingle Bells is a big hit and everyone knows it since there is a Georgian version. We've been doing a lot of arts and crafts activities too including creating and decorating a Christmas tree. On the last day of school (28 Dec), we'll have a holiday party/supra in the English Cabinet and the students will be having their annual Winter Carnival. Here, New Years and Christmas are celebrated in January. And New Years is the major holiday. That's when Santa comes and puts presents under the New Years tree. I'm looking forward to celebrating the holidays in Georgia this year since last year I was in Turkey.

Well that's all for now. I wish you all Happy Holidays!

Raktebah Gorshi? (What's going on in Gori)

2007-11-26T02:32:00.000-05:00

(Super belated post...shoulda been up last month)

Light snow now tops the mountains surrounding Gori. Each morning I anxiously look out the window to see the how far down its crept. I'm not looking forward to the day when it's at street-level. At least I'm comforted by the fact that we had an actual autumn season which lasted about a month versus a week like last year.

A few weeks ago, I was able to go to my first host family's grape harvest. Each family in Georgia has their own vineyard with several different types of grapes. Then in the fall the grapes are harvested and huge celebrations take place. The harvest took four days to complete. It's hard work! Crates upon crates upon crates were filled with grapes. Then off to the presser, which can either be done by stomping on them or using a grape presser to squeeze the juice out. The result is the most delicious grape juice ever. After that, they start the wine preparation. Once the harvest is finally done, a huge supra takes place. And since harvest time occurs roughly at the same time, "supra season" lasts for weeks.
But alas, life is not all about grapes...no matter how sweet they are.

The school year started in October and things have been very busy. A few exciting things have happened in school:

1. The grant proposal I wrote over the summer was approved and we are anxiously awaiting the new furniture for our English Cabinet (English resource room). The EC has been a great addition to our school. Dare I call it the social center...because it really is. Everyday the EC is full of teachers and students who are checking out books, practicing their English and attending club meetings.

2. We held our first Halloween party. Last year, I taught the kids about Halloween and our traditions...haunted house...carved pumpkins....fake blood..."guts" (pasta in a bowl). There's no similar Georgian holiday so needless to say the kids loved the idea. This year, I was approached by several students who wanted to do an American style Halloween Party. So we spent a few weeks putting it together and it turned out to be a big hit. It was a high school party for 8-11th formers. It was held on a spooky Sunday night in the school gym. We spent all weekend decorating it. Black drapes over the windows, candles and jack-o-lanterns, stuffed dummies, "Be afraid...death is coming for you" posters, etc. Everyone came in costume. There was a lot of creativity involved because we didn't have the luxury of going to the nearest Party City to buy them.

We had an opening dance sequence to MJ's "Thriller." After the haunted house there were lots of games and competitions. Teams were scored on the scariest team name, best scary story (my favorite part), dance-off, "pin the nose on the witch" game, and lastly a costume contest. Then the room turned into a huge disco as the faculty and invited guests were whisked away to a supra upstairs that included a pink and green Spiderman cake. Everyone had a great time at the party and the school director said he'd have it again next year. My legacy in Gori has been cemented.

3. Peace Corps Director Tschetter visited Georgia for a few days as part of his Caucasus trip. I was fortunate enough to be one of the few volunteers he visited. He along with several other PC visitors visited my school. I had members from my English club put together a presentation baptized "Georgia 101." The students talked about Georgia's history, culture, traditions, famous people and places. The students also talked about their community involvement in different clubs and organizations and then had a Q&A session. They designed posters and other souvenirs for them. The school presented each guest with student-made handicrafts. Afterwards, Nona and I showed them the EC and spoke about our work and accomplishments. All that followed 15min photo-op before our visitors left to visit my sitemates. Everything went smoothly and my students were all a little star-struck. We were really honored by their visit, especially since we were the only school they visited while in Georgia.

It's been an eventful couple of months and now that I've started my second school year, I can't help thinking about this time next year. There'll be no more PC. But beyond that I have no knowledge of where I'll be or what I'll be doing. I think that I have more ???'s about my future now than when I did before starting PC. My experience here was supposed to help me focus on what I wanted to do in life...oh well.

Here's a quick blurb about a project fellow PCVs have been working on. It's the official PC Georgia Podcast. Who knew PC could be so high tech eh? It's a monthly, 30-minute podcast about Georgia. The first episode of Sakartvelo: Stories of Peace Corps Life in Georgia has been posted on the web.

You can check out the blog website at: www.sakartvelopodcast.org
It's also available on iTunes by searching at the iTunes Store or through this link.
Till next time dear readers. Thanks for all your support and emails. I look forward to seeing you all in the not too distant future!

Trekking through Turkey

2007-09-01T15:07:00.000-05:00

*click link to see pictures

I'm back in Georgia. That was an incredibly hectic and productive week in Turkey. I had a great, budget-friendly vacation. So here's a quick summary of what Kat (fellow PCV from Azerbaijan) and I did in Turkiye.

Sunday 12 Aug

Cross border and go to Ezurum, the capital of Eastern Turkey---very conservative. All women were covered from top to bottom and the men were wearing long white robes. I felt awkwardly naked in my capris and tshit. Spend the night there and then off to Cappadocia

Monday

Took 12hr grueling bus ride to Cappadocia region in Central Turkey. So sick of seeing mountains...mountains...mountains everywhere. Not much else to see and by the time we go to Goreme (city) it was too dark to appreciate the awesome landscape. Arrived at bus station 11pm and by midnight passed out in 'cave' dormitory room. Cave room was not quite authentic but for the price I wasn't complaining.

Tuesday

Took tour of Cappadocia. If you haven't heard of this place, google it. It's simply amazing. Shaped by volcanic eruptions 60+million years ago, combined with wind, flood, etc erosion the landscape is simply eerie and breathtaking. Some parts reminded me of the Southwest and Badlands area. In some parts, the lava flow was so strong it was 100 meters thick. There are many interesting rock formations known as 'fairy chimneys' to the locals. Reminded me of "toad" from Mario Bros games hehe. Visited cave cities, saw monasteries and homes built into the rocks. Went to pottery factory, and was able to see masters at work. Their handiwork were absolutely amazing. I'll post pics up shortly.

Wednesday

Free day. Explored more of Goreme and hiked into the nearby mountains. More cool fairy chimneys. Took night bus to Ephesus (Efes). Frequent stops every 2-3 hours. Around 4am we turned into a rest stop and all I thought was a huge Turkish Don Quixote was staring me down. At the entrance to this station was a huge statue of a bearded, turban wearing man sitting backwards on a donkey. He was holding out prayer beads and cherries to visitors. And this was fully colored and 50+feet high. The symbolism is still lost on me.

Seljuk-Efes are very important to history and religion. Some highlights of the area

This is where the Temple of Artemis, one of the 7 wonders of the Ancient World, once stood. It was larger than the Pantheon. Now all that remains is one lonely pillar. It was maintained until 110AD. Pillars form the temple were taken and used in other projects such as the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

Tradition has it that shortly after Jesus was crucified, St John the Baptist and the Virgin Mary moved to Efes and lived out the rest of their days there.

On top of a hill overlooking Seljuk is the Basilica of St John, where his tomb is located. The Basilica was built by Emperor Justinian in the 5th Century to mark the spot of his grave. The foundation and many pillars still remain. It was a beautiful sight overlooking the valleys. And unlike many ruins, this one had beautiful gardens in and around it. The basilica in its prime must've been a spectacular site. It had 2 stories and 6 golden cupolas. If entirely intact today, it would be the 7th largest cathedral in the world. From the Basilica you can see the remains of the Temple of Artemis and the Isa Bey Mosque built in 1375.

Near the Basilica is an expansive fortress which dates back 2000yrs. It puts the fortress in Gori to shame, and that's saying a lot. Inside are 15 towers, a church that was converted to a mosque, and cisterns. An aqua duct system that ran through Selcuk transported water from the mountain opposite the hill to the fortress. The aqua duct still remains to the day- though not entirely intact.

House of the Virgin Mary. Located about 9km away from the town, it is said she lived here until her death in a house on a mountain peak. Every 15 Aug, mass is held here to celebrate her Assumption. Too bad we arrived on the 16th!

Church of the Virgin Mary- 1st church built in her honor. Site of the 3rd Council (Council of Efes) in 431 AD where bishops convened to decide whether her Mary was 'Mother of Christ" or "Mother of God."

Thursday

Arrive in town of Selcuk, near Efes ruins. Check in and by 11am we're lounging on the Aegean coast. Beautiful sandy beaches and perfect water. Visited St. John's Basilica, Temple of Artemis, fortress, and Isa Bey Mosque.

Friday

Visited the antique city of Efes. Efes has been populated since 6000BC, and "New" Efes was built in 300BC by Lysimachos, one of Alexander the Great's generals. The ruins take you on a journey of the city and it doesn't take much imagination to imagine Ephesians walking about.

Some highlights:

Temple of Domitian: Dedicated to the Emperor, it was the 1st structure to be built in honor of an emperor. It was an honor and a privilege for cities to be part of the Emperor Cult where they'd be allowed to build structures in their honor. There once stood a 7meter statue of him. All that remains now is his head (massive) and part of an arm.

Lots of ornate fountains and baths built in honor of gods and emperors

Pryaneion (Town Hall) was sacred center of Efes. Contained an altar with an eternal flame that burned for centuries. Site of 2 impressively large Artemis statues.

Temple of Julius Caesar and Dea Roma (divine personification of city of Rome)

Hercules Gates

Royal Roman Latrines...no seriously. Connected to the brothel and baths, it had a square pool in the center and the 4 sides were covered with latrines. Nice mosaics on the floor.Something pretty to look at since I don't think they had bathroom reading material back then.

Terrace Houses were multi-story residences for wealthy Ephesians. Used from 1-700 AD.

Brothel had 2 stories and lots and lots of rooms. How do you know you've reached the Brothel? A footprint at the doorway leads you there.

Library Celsus was built by Julius Caesar in honor of his father who was the the consul of the Roman Asian province. He's buried in the library. It has a 2 story facade and large interior room measuring 15 meters. Female statues out front symbolize wisdom, virtue, intelligence and knowledge. This was by far my favorite place in Efes.

Gate of Mazeus and Mithridates built by freed slaves in honor of Emperor Augustus and his family

Grand Theater had seating capacity of 25,000. Was site of gladiator competitions. Gladiator cemetery nearby.

After Efes, went to the Efes Museum where they had more statues on display. If you have a chance check out the Artemis statue online. Had an exhibit on Gladiators and by excavating and studying the bones of those buried in the cemetery where able to show how they'd been killed. Pretty gruesome stuff.

Saturday

Arrived in Ankara at 730am after taking the overnight bus.

Went to the Ataturk Mausoleum. Didn't really know what to expect after living in the world of Stalin for the past year. Was relieved it is nowhere near as creepy as the Stalin Museum.

Went to Museum of Anatolian Civilizations representing Urartu, Hatti, Hittite, Phrygian and Assyrians. Lots of cool things to see, but by this time I was experiencing burnout and couldn't wait to get back to Georgia.

Perked up when we saw a Burger King, had delicious lunch and headed back to the bus station.

Overnight bus to Hopa (borders Georgia)

Sunday

Arrive in Hopa 830am. Alarming discovery...for the 1st time in my life I developed...cankles!!! We both did. Well I guess that's what happens when you take 2 overnight buses in a row and don't elevate your feet.

Cross border by 1100. Home sweet home! I'm back in Georgia!Take the worst 5hr bus to Gori. Blech. I was spoiled on Turkish transportation where they spoiled us w/ a/c, free drinks, etc.

Happy to say I'm not cankle-free and recuperated. Turkey was awesome and I couldn't believe how much we did in a week's worth of time.

So how many hours in total did we travel...ouch my poor bum. 11hours in Georgia...plus crisscrossing Turkey= 67.5 hours.

Now that's hardcore!

Did Someone Hear a Boom?

2007-09-01T15:03:00.000-05:00

After a relatively lazy summer, some excitement was bound to come this way. Little did I know it'd be in the form of a missile headed for my region. Monday, reports came out saying that an aircraft (mmm Russia?) illegally entered Georgian airspace and launched a missile in a village in the northwestern Gori (Shida Kartli) region. The bomb didn't go off though luckily.

The Georgian military recovered it and detonated it in the mountain in Gori. It made quite an explosion followed by a lot of shaking and smoke. Peace Corps put us on alert for a few days and my region become a restricted zone where no volunteer could leave/enter without prior Country Director approval. Yes, I was in a restricted zone! Actually it wasn't as cool as it sounded. Georgians went about their daily business and didn't discuss the events. In fact had PC not mentioned the incident I probably would have remained oblivious to it. Russia continued to deny the incident, until evidence surfaced showing that it was in fact Russia.

Per PC policy, I'm not going to get into more detail, but check out the news sources for more info.

Even Bloggers Take Vacations

2007-09-01T14:17:00.000-05:00

So I've neglected this blog for a few months...I know "tsudi var." The school year ended in mid-June just in time for the glorious summer heat to arrive. I have always been a summer girl and after this past winter, I fill never ever complain of how hot it is or how much I sweat. Unfortunately though, my part of town is still without gas so the only way to heat up water is by using a bucket. And believe me, you never get clean taking a bucket bath. My host father though came up with an ingenious idea. Fill a bunch of 2liter 'Kazbegi' beer bottles with water. Hang it in a net outside the window where the sun will heat it. By mid-afternoon that water is sizzling and I relish every...bottle bath!

In June, I went back to the US to visit with family and friends. Wow...America, how I missed you. "Sensory overload" and "too many options" defined my experience there. But I won't lie, it was great and only one more year until go back. Coming back to Georgia was a hard transition, culture shock 2.0. But after a few days things were back to normal...and plus the weather outside is fantastic.

Since school is out, days are lazier and my definition of 'being productive' has relaxed a bit. As part of the on-going school reforms, Director elections were held at my school. This past year School Directors (principals) nationwide had to take a special Director's exam to test their competency. 1/3 failed meaning as of the summer they were unemployed. Of those that passed, they had to run for re-election (like my Director). Candidates will address the school faculty, give their speeches and then the faculty would vote. My Director was unanimously re-elected.

To celebrate, we went on our annual Faculty excursion. About 40 of us piled into a bus with everything we'd need for a supra en tow. We drove to Ubnisi, a monetary in Western Georgia. As most Georgian churches and monasteries, this one was centuries years old. It had a 4 story tower where the monks resided and nearby was a small church with impressive frescoes. Around 12, we all piled into the bus intent on finding a place appropriate to supra. We spent the next 4 hours driving all over Georgia trying to find 'the place.' We must've made 10 stops- all of which were rejected for one reason or another. "There's no water...no tables...no shade..." Around hour 3.5, we stopped at an abandoned Sanatorium that was about 7 stories high and must've been quite a posh place during the Soviet era. Alas, it looked quite dilapidated and many refugees from Abkhazia were living inside. "Rejected." So we finally drove to Borjomi and arrived at the National Park. FINALLY!

High in the mountains, surrounded by "the nature," it turned out to be the perfect site. Everyone started unloading all the goods...meat, khashapuri (cheese pie), veggies, fruits, cake, lots and lots of bread, lots and lots of wine, juice, etc. While they were busy cooking, I explored the area and hiked up to a church on a mountain peak. It provided quite a spectacular view of the valley below. I arrived back to the campsite just in time. This was the most impressive supra...or picnic... I'd ever been too. Blankets were spread end to end to resemble the long supra tables and in true supra fashion there were plates atop plates atop plates. Then the toasting began...and well it was a great time. I made it back to Gori just before midnight; 16 hours since I'd left it!

The great thing about summer is that I'm able to explore more of the country. A few weeks ago, I went to Mtskreta, the old Georgian capital and site where conversion of the country from paganism to Christianity took place during the 4th century. There are four impressive churches, including Jvari (Cross) church which overlooks the town from atop the mountain. Jvari Church is built on the site where Saint Nino placed her cross before converting the people. In nearby Sveti-Tskhoveli Cathedral, Christ's robe is said to be buried there. The first church of Georgia was built on this site in the 4th century. Samtavro Church is a nunnery where some of Georgia's old Kings and members of royalty are buried. There are also remains of an old fortress.

I also had a chance to go to the Black Sea and go to an actual beach. The last time I was there, there was about 3 feet of snow when I passed through on my way to Turkey. The beaches are rocky with a colorful assortment of stones...and the water is divine too!

But summer is not all play without a little bit of work. Since spring, I have been working with my counterparts and Director to setup the English Cabinet (resource room). It's partially furnished now with a bookcase, bookshelves, tables, whiteboard and a computer desk. In the fall, we'll be getting a computer with internet access. So I've been busy writing a grant to finish furnishing the English Cabinet. We're requesting tables, chairs, TV and CD/DVD/Tape player. In September, we'll find out if our proposal will be funded.

At the American Corner, I've been holding Adult English conversation classes as well as Elem. Spanish club. Guess which is more popular? Si, Espanol clase. Dios mio! I hold Spanish Club every week with a fellow site mate. We introduce basic vocab, greetings, etc and also have a cultural section. The class has been a surprise hit, especially with the English teachers in town- go figure!

I wore out my last pair of sneakers so I needed to buy some new ones. Something I'd been putting off weeks since that meant I'd have to venture into the bazaar- something I despise. So on my way to the bazaar, I spotted one of several new Chinese products (aka cheap, better-than-Georgian quality knockoffs). So I checked out the selection of 'uni-sex' sneakers and found a pair of 'Adidas-Goodyear' sneakers that seemed ok. Then I realized I had no socks to try it on with. No prob, I'll just do what all the other Georgians were doing. Slip plastic shopping bags over your feet and "whoosh" in they go. My friends thought I would have been quite the trendsetter had I decided to keep the blue bag on and walk out the store in my new Adidas.

It's that time of the year already? G7s you're almost here!

2007-05-12T08:41:00.000-05:00

In a few short weeks the new incoming group of volunteers will be arriving in Tbilisi. This blog post is dedicated to helping calm their jitters!

If you're anything like I was this time last year, then there's a lot of freaking out going on. My first piece of advice--don't try and learn the language ahead of time. You'll get PLENTY of training during PST. Enjoy the last few weeks you have at home. Go out, party, gorge yourself on your favorite foods. Just indulge youself while you still can.

Packing wise. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail since so many other volunteers havedone so on their blogs. I'll just jot down a few important things.

Bring lots of underwear, undershirts and socks. The heat is intense and nobody digs the sweatstains. Remember you'll be handwashing and you're not going to want to do that every week. As far toiletries go you can find everything here. The one thing I haven't been able to find is flouride rinse. Contact lens solution is here but can be hard to find sometimes outside of major cities so I recommend bringing at least 1 bottle. Also, bring lots of hand sanitizer. Though there are wetwipes, I haven't seen any that are antibacterial. For winter, bring a winter coat (shipping is less than reliable), gloves, scarf and hat. It's hard to find good quality items here. Also bring LOTS of wool socks and at least 3 pairs of longjohns.

As far as "non-essential items" those tend to be the best comfort items. Don't bring along too many books. We've got a loungeful of them. Bring an Ipod or mp3 player. Bring a digital camera. You can find rechargeable batteries and chargers here for good prices. If you have a laptop, and I can't stress this enough, BRING IT! You will find it to be great for projects as well as zoning out. There are also a few volunteers who brought Gameboys, PSPs or DSs with them (myself included). Those are definately worth their weight in gold.

Other little comfort items that help would be a small candy bag full of your fave munchies to help you through PST. The fun-size candies also make nice gifts for kids. Any flavor packets AKA Crystal Lite is great too...for yourself. Also if you're into word searches, crossword puzzles, suduko, etc bring along a few books. Don't worry about bringing and CDs or DVDs to burn for future use. They're readily available here. For guys and girls alike I recommend bringing either a small backpack or messenger bag for small trips. Also bring a pair of comfortable sandals (good warm weather) and hiking boots (crappy winter weather). Regarding clothing, to save on space pick items that you can wear in both a relaxed and professional setting. And bring along a headlamp. Those things come in mighty handy for all sorts of situations *think midnight run to the outhouse!*

Lastly, try not to freak out too much. Whatever you need, you can find here. Breathe, take it easy and I'll be seeing you in a few weeks.

Winter Took My Advice and Got Lost

2007-05-12T08:14:00.000-05:00

I'm writing this entry from my balcony overlooking the park. Spring has FINALLY arrived. The winter gear is gone replaced by brightly colored outfits. Less layers, more skin. Finally I am no longer glued to my heater!

A lot has happened since my last entry so I'll do my best to catch you up. Last week was the TEFL Program Development and Management (PDM) conference. It was held in Bakuriani, which is a ski resort town. Skiing indeed- it snowed twice while I was there. The conference provided me and my counterpart invaluable training for designing and implementing secondary projects. One of the best aspects of this training is that our counterparts took part in every session, helping to build analyze community needs, design and implement potential project plans and proposals. This is a key to our work here about creating sustainability.

Now that the school year is winding down, I'm working on potential summer projects. That...and dreaming about my visit back to the states! Sarkartveloshi I want to continue my programs at the American Corner and do a few mini-camps. Don't know how feasible that'll be though since most kids return to the villages for the summer. And who wants to hang out with their English teacher all summer?!

I've also been doing Teacher Trainings. For ToT, groups of PCVs visit different sites throughout Georgia and give free 2-day trainings. This provides PCVs with a great opportunity to explore Georgia and allows regions or sites to learn different teaching methods who might otherwise not have access to these resources or PCVs. So far I've attended two trainings in Gurjaani (E. Georgia) and Chiatura (W. Georgia). In Gurjaani I saw an abandoned musuem praising the glories of the CCCP (Soviet Union). The town also provided an awesome view of the imposing Caucasus Mtns. Somehow I never tire of seeing it- snowcapped or otherwise.

As any Georgian will tell you each region has its own distinct "personality," traditions and landscapes. Imereti proved to be no exception. On the bus, I passed several roadside cafes who were doing their best to attract customers. What did they have to offer you that the cafe across the street couldn't? Bear cubs... in cages! I don't think they charged extra to pet them. After navigating past the cubs, I finally arrived to my destination.

The first thing any visitor will notice are the cable cars (think Disney monorail). Because of the town's unique location (it's at the bottom of a gorge) it needed a creative mode of transportation. Many homes and buildings are built into the mountainside so the vehicular option is not available. The cable cars provide a great view of the city. It should also be noted that Chiatura served as a model Soviet city. It was a mining town focused primarilly on mining manganese (isn't that a fun word?). High atop the mountains you can see the ruins of where Lenin's massive, illuminated head once stood. The pedestals are massive so I can only wonder how big his head was! "Oh to wish upon a glowing Lenin..." There's also a massive clock still in place that was used to tell the Proletariat what time to go to work. Better do as the clock says lest Lenin come down from his pedestal to smite thee.
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Wednesday, May 9th, was Victory Day. It commemorated the German defeat 62 years ago during WWII. It's a widely popular Soviet holiday that continues to be celebrated in Georgia. There's no school and concerts, parades, etc take place. I ate breakfast while watching the televised celebration from Moscow. It was a huge production in the Red Square with veterans present as a military parade took place. Though impressive I couldn't help wondering how much bigger the ceremony and parade would have been during the Soviet era when representatives from all the Republics would have been there participating as well. In Gori the celebration was more somber. A small ceremony was held by Stalin's musuem (Stalin won the war!). Bouquets of flowers were place at the WWII memorial to remember the 300,000 Georgians who perished during the war.

Pictures from Armenia

2007-04-14T08:15:00.000-05:00

Who Hid my Easter Eggs?

2007-04-14T08:06:00.000-05:00

Last month I held the local Writing Olympics competition in Gori. We had a great turnout with 200 students from Gori and nearby villages showing up to participate. Nationwide we had a record-breaking 1,800 entries from students in grades 6-11. For only the 2nd year of this competition it was a great success! For 9 hours the Writing Olympics committee judged the entries. Talk about a mind numbing experience! After about hour 3 all the essays seem to merge and say the same thing! We read and selected regional and national winners. I'm proud to say that 5 of the regional winners are from my school!

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For Easter break I went with some friends to Armenia . For those unfamiliar with this small country it lies south of Georgia and also borders Turkey , Iran and Azerbaijan . There are currently 3 million living in country. Armenia was the 1st official Christian nation ( Georgia is the 2nd). Another claim to fame is that the band System of a Down is Armenian.

Sooo.....after a perilous 7 hour marshutkha (van) ride I arrived in Yerevan . The first site I came upon was the Blue Mosque. The Blue Mosque is the only mosque in Yerevan and was restored after the Soviet period with help from Iran . It serves as a Mosque and school offering courses in Persian. I visited several museums including the Genocide museum which was a very sobering experience. It recounts the genocide carried out by the Turks against Armenians during the early 20th century. Over 1.5 million people died. It's amazing that to this day Turkey refuses to acknowledge that genocide ever took place. I also visited the Cascade- a monument commemorating 50 years of a Soviet Armenia. Aesthetically pleasing it was not. Very, very Soviet Architecture. But it did provide a great view of the city and nearby Mt. Ararat . Does the name Ararat sound familiar? That's where Noah's Ark is rumored to be. It was very imposing in the background. Near Republic Square (formally Lenin Sq) was the Cathedral built in 2001 to celebrate 1,700 years of Christianity in Armenia . Inside it differed greatly from Georgian churches. The walls were bare except for 3 crosses by the altar. The only paintings were those of the 13 Apostles. There were no icons anywhere- something very prevalent in Georgia .

I also had a chance to visit some sites outside of Yerevan . In Garni I saw a Roman temple dedicated to the sun god Helios. I also visited the Geghard Monastery which is famous for its cave churches. The church once housed the lance that speared Jesus' side. On Easter I went to Echmiadzin which is the Vatican for the Armenian Apostolic Church . It's where the Catholicos (equivalent to the Pope) resides. In the compound are 5 churches. The main church is where the Church Treasury is located which houses thousands of religious artifacts including the lance. Nearby the church is a monument commemorating Pope John Paul II's visit in 2001.

So of course no trip is complete without some sort of cultural blunder, misunderstanding or just some ridiculously awesome story to tell. Well I won’t disappoint you. One night a big group of us decided to do downtown and party. We came across a back alley and with red neon signs beckoning us. Like flies we were drawn to it and our eyes lit up as we saw “CCCP Karaoke Nightclub.” CCCP is Russian for the USSR . To set it up for you the club is located in the basement. In front of it is the neon sign and to the side is a huge sickle and hammer with the Soviet flag proudly waving above it. I felt like I was caught in a time warp. So we rushed down the steps and flung open the door which had a huge picture of Lenin on it. Inside it was dark and smoky with obscure Russian pop music playing. We make our way to the back booth. As I’m looking around I notice that there’s no karaoke equipment, but there is a pole and a chain link swing. Hmm well I guess we’ll have to improvise…maybe Armenia doesn’t really get ‘karaoke.’ Then the waitress brings us the menus and I hear a gasp. On the menu of course are your typical bar items but then…”Private dance for 10,15 or 20 minute sessions….consummation with dancer….” Yikes! The music changes into this weird techno and this blonde Russian woman comes out bearing all. Whooooooooooooops. So yes if you’re looking for Commie karaoke I have the perfect place to recommend!

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Easter traditions in the Caucasus were interesting to experience. During Lent, the faithful engaged in fasting. Dairy and meat products were not allowed to be consumed. Most people's diet just consisted of potatoes and bread everyday since fruits and veggies are hard to comeby. During this period each family grew a plate of grass. For Easter week they decorated it with dyed red eggs. On Easter children went door to door in a "trick or treat" like manner asking for sweets and eggs. With the red eggs they played a game where two people would challenge each other. They'd each have an egg and then smash it against each other. I should mention that these eggs were hardboiled. Anyways the egg that cracked would be the the loser. This is similar to our wishbone tradition. After each competition they'd eat their eggs. By the end of the day all the children's hands were stained red.

The day after Easter was a day of remembrance for the dead. People visited cemeteries to pay their respects. Then families would feast in the cemetery and pour wine over the gravestones so that the dead would be able to enjoy it.

Is It Springtime Yet?

2007-03-27T06:32:00.001-05:00

Good question. We've moved away from the deep freeze and into the chaotic transition into spring. March is known for its crazy weather. Exhibit A: Last Monday it snowed, Tues and Wed were gorgeous 60+deg weather, Thurs was incredibly windy and the weekend was a mix of rain and wind. Fickle weather anyone?

But March hasn't been all that bad. Last week a fellow PCV from Azerbaijan came up to visit me. I got to play tourguide as I took her to the local sites in the region (Shida Kartli). One of the sites we went to was Uplistsikhe, a cave city dating back to 1000 BC. This ancient site is rich in history. It was a major center of paganism before Georgia converted to Christianity. You can see the remains of ancient temples. The view was amazing as always. My initial impression of the cave city was "It's Bedrock!" I had the Flintstone's theme song playing in my head the entire time I was there...you would too if you had been there!

Writing Olympics Success!

2007-03-27T06:31:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, Gori held its 2nd annual Writing Olympics competition. It took place at the local university and the turnout was fantastic. We had 197 participants from grades 6-11th. Each grade level was given a list of 3-4 topics. From there, it was up to the student to select one and write for up to an hour about it. Students not only came from the various Gori schools but also from nearby villages. Writing Olympic competitions have been taking place all over Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan this past month. On Saturday, all the Georgian entries will be judged by PCVs. Winners will be selected for regional, national and best of caucasus awards for each grade level.

Another Week Done

2007-03-16T09:14:00.000-05:00

This week we held our second Eco-Club meeting. The students talked about problems facing their community and then we discussed ways to resolve them. One even designed a poster with strung-out teens with "Don't ruin your life" written across it! We considered hanging it up, but the fact that nearly everyone who would see it would not know English and would only see "hooligans" presented a problem. I'll take a pic and post it up soon!

For English Club, I showed them an episode of the Ghostbusters cartoons. So now there's going to be a cult following in Gori. Sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimer!

Just Call Me Professor

2007-03-10T03:01:00.000-05:00

This past week, Nona and I held our first discussion group with local university students. About 30 girls showed up and they all spoke excellent English. For many it was their first opportunity to speak with a native English speaker. Since it was an all-female audience, we had a lot of fun and talked about a whole range of topics. And of course towards the end of the class, the conversation drifted towards Lost and they started speculating about the plotlines which was all sorts of fun to hear. (For you Lost fans out there, they just started showing season 2.)

And in other news, last week was chock full of holidays. On 3 March, they celebrated Women's day. I went to a concert done by the 8th graders. Here's a picture of one of the dancers from the Adjara region. On 8 March, we celebrated International Women's day which is a very big affair here. No worries, I never heard about it either when I was living in the States.

The second picture is from sunset the other day. It was taken from my beloved pechi room. I can't imagine the day when I'll feel comfortable to put my heater away!

1/3 Already?

2007-03-10T02:52:00.000-05:00

March marks the completion of 1/3 of my service in the Republic of Georgia. Only 18 months left to go. I started off the New Year with a resolution to be a better volunteer. The first few months at site were tumultuous to say the least. I no longer had the comfort of a "training atmosphere." I was on my own, living with a host family, and trying to adjust to the Georgian way of life. Dealing with each day's new trials, I was forced to adapt or breakdown. I'm happy to say that I've become a much more flexible person--but not by choice! Working on "Georgian time" made me learn to be a better improviser, to relax, andmost of all slow down!

Now that I have developed my comfort level and am feeling more confident with my work, I have started secondary projects. In school, I team-teach grades 5-9 with Nona, my counterpart. Outside of class, I have 2 weekly English clubs. It's an opportunity for me to learn more about my students and to foster a fun environment speaking English. I'm also happy to say that I am now a successful grant writer. For the last few months I have been working with my Principal and counterparts to secure a room for an English Cabinet (resource room). Through community contributions we secured a bookcase, desks, chairs, a computer and Internet access. The grant proposal, which was approved last week, will provide a wall-length white board, books, and teaching equipment. The room is currently undergoing renovations and should be finished by the end of the month.

Outside of school, I've become more involved in the community. As a volunteer, I'm lucky to have an American Corner in my site since there are only 6 inthe country. The American Corner is a US embassy funded English resource center. In Gori it is located in the central library. It provides access to books, computers, Internet, speaker programs, etc. Every weekI hold club meetings there for secondary school children. Together with my site mates we have an English Club, Eco-Club (promoting environmental awareness), and a prep course for the National University Entrance Exam (aka SATs). My focus is promote the AC to Gori's youth since it mostly attracts adults. I'm happy to say that it's working and more and more youngsters are benefiting from theAC's resources. At the end of the month, I will hold the Writing Olympics competition in Gori. The Writing Olympics is a Caucasus-wide English creative writing competition for students in grades 6-11. The competition is partof a PCV initiative to encourage creative thinking and writing. Students compete regionally, nationally, and Caucasus-wide with students in Armenia and Azerbaijan. Writing Olympics is just one way to get our students excited about writing and win some cool awards in the process.

So that's what my life will look like for the next 3 months and then I can recuperate for 2 weeks when I go back home to visit. In the meantime I can expect to enjoy another month of winter when hopefully things will warm up a bit! And like I said before...only 18 months! How time flies.

Winter? What's That?

2007-02-17T15:57:00.000-05:00

Although there has been some chilly weather, winter has not been nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Yippee for global warming! My poor tropical-oriented body likes it! This past week has been amazing with very spring-like conditions. Oops did I just jinx myself?

The other day I went to Gori Tsikhe (12th century fortress overlooking my town) and took some pics of the Caucausus mountains.

Happy Valentine's Day

2007-02-17T15:46:00.000-05:00

This past week for my English club, I taught the kiddies about Vday traditions back home, rhymes, etc. I brought some construction paper and taught them how to make cut-out Vday cards. Very cutesy!

Aaah an escape

2007-02-03T15:01:00.001-05:00

Spending the weekend with expats in Tbilisi. That means I get great food, a hot shower and access to a real washer and dryer!!! I did my first load of laundry in 8 months. I feel ridiculously clean and fresh!

Ginda...Losti?

2007-01-25T05:55:00.000-05:00

I'd just like to comment how great life has been since Georgian TV started airing Lost. It's great watching it every night with the host family and seeing their reaction as each new plotline unfolds. Great entertainment!

In other news, I went to visit my PST training. I've included some pics from my Georgian crew, chemi meore ojaki. And the only good thing that perks me up during winter are mandarins because they're in season! My host grandparents work in the bazaar selling fruits and veggies so I get first dibs on the good stuff.

Visual Aids

2007-01-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

So who knew I'd learn to be so techy in the Peace Corps? Well it is the 21st century. Time for me to catch up. I'm posted some pics on the prior entries.

Gilosavt! The holidays are over with.

2007-01-19T05:08:00.000-05:00

(Arianna and I at the Turkish Border)

Yesterday the massive "New Years" tree that towered over the Stalin Statue was taken down. The Green Grinch is back in the limelight!

The holiday season in Georgia lasts nearly two weeks longer here. After New Years Georgians celebrated Orthodox Christmas (7 Jan) and Orthodox New Years (14 Jan). That meant hearing Jingle Bells for two weeks longer than usual in English and Georgian. Today is the last day of the season as they celebrate Orthodox Epiphany aka which means yet another day off. I'm going to need a long time for recover from the holiday celebrations which consisted of countless supras (what is hunger?), wine drinking (my poor liver), and boys throwing fireworks into crowds (Vy Meh!).

Officially classes resumed on 8 January. That entire week I had 1 lesson and that was on Monday. Its entirely normal for students to take it upon themselves to extend their vacation. The week before winter break was supposed to start hardly any students showed up. Most teachers didn't even bother showing up to school. As my counterpart put it on Wednesday afternoon: "Maritza, I don't even know why you bothered to show up this week." But...I...work...ugh!

On the bright side now that it's the second week of the semester, my students are ready to learn. Now that I've gained more experience working in the Georgian school system, I know how I can be a more productive volunteer. I'm revamping my English clubs and starting new projects. I've switched my class schedule around so that I can work with younger students. Now I'll be working with 5-9th graders.

My main goal is to create an English cabinet (library). I'm writing grants asking for funding and resources. So anyone who's feeling generous and wants to contribute, my school would be grateful. The $ goes a long way in Sarkartvelo.

Other projects that are in the works include establishing an Eco-club which emphasizes ways to save the environment. My site mate and I are currently designing a prep course that will help students prepare to take the Georgian National Entrance exams for the universities. Besides that I'm a member of the Trans-Caucasus Writing Olympics committee. The WO is a creative writing competition run by Peace Corps volunteers in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Last year it was for secondary school students, and this year it will also be open for university-level students. I'm also working with a group of volunteers to do teacher trainings throughout Georgian this spring. We'll be visiting different regions and delivering free trainings focusing on different subjects such as journal writing, critical thinking, communicative activities, how to handle cheating, etc.

It's a wonder how much more motivated a PCV is once they come back from vacation. Time to get back to work!
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Speaking of vacation, I want to elaborate on my trip to Istanbul because apparently "Awesome and Amazing" don't cut it. So I'll do my best to appease the masses starting with how I ended up in Istanbul. It all started on a snowy Thursday morning when Mark, Ariana and I took the "fast" train (5 vs 8 hrs) to Batumi. It was my first time out west and I was able to see the famous Black Sea. Too bad there was at least a foot of snow. It dampened my desire to take a swim in it. There we gained the 4th member of our expedition, Nitivia. We checked into a small hostel and the first thing I saw when I entered the room was a poster with a woman sitting naked on a 4 wheeler with a snowy background behind her. Classy! The next morning we took a taxi to Sarpi, the Turkish border town. We literally walked across the border, paid for the visa and we were on our way! From there we took a taxi to Hopa and from there a 3.5hr bus ride to Trabzon. What a haggard bunch of Americans we must've looked like once we arrived. We grabbed a quick bite to eat. Non-Georgian food never tasted so good! Unfortunately there's not much to do in Trabzon so we had 8 hours to kill in the airport. Thank goodness for playing cards! 10pm that night we made it to Istanbul.

The first night there I walked around aimlessly trying to absorb everything that was Istanbul...not Constantinople. I stayed at the Antique Hostel which was 5 minutes away from the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. For the next week, I explored everything Istanbul had to offer- sightseeing, museums, spice market, Persian rugs, piping hot apple tea, etc. I went to several different Mosques and the Hippodrome which were absolutely beautiful. The artwork inside the Hagia Sophia was spectacular and succeeded in making me feel *this* big. I highly recommend going to the Archeology Museum. For 5 lira, it's a steal. For New Year's Eve, we went to Taksim Square. There were so many people packed in there that I barely had any room to suck in my breath and yell Happy New Year!
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As far as life in Gori is concerned, it's been white, white white. It's been snowing for 3 days in the row. I'm getting used to teaching my lessons on the second floor and ignoring the constant *thud* of snowballs hitting the window.

How many snowballs does it take to get the American to yell at us? 5.

Happy Holidays 2006

2006-12-27T05:31:00.000-05:00

Happy holidays to all! Tomorrow I'm leaving for Turkey to spend a much needed vacation with my friends. Will be back 3 Jan just in time to spend Orthodox Christmas with the host family.

Anniversary of Stalin's Birthday

2006-12-23T04:10:00.000-05:00

Wow 2 days until Christmas and I haven't even started my Christmas shopping. Well in all fairness I have another 2 weeks to do so since Georgians don't celebrate it until January 7th. This week Gori has had a facelift with lights and decorations put up around Stalin Park. In the town center they'vre erecting a Christmas tree, well actually they're called New Year's tree, that's so tall it almost rivals the jolly green giant himself. Speaking of Stalin, his birthday was on 21 December and have I got a story for you...

So that morning as I'm in my room my Hdad yells at me to look out the window, which overlooks the park. As I look out imagine my absolute shock (and yes some delight!) at seeing WWII vets, grannies and grandpappies, marching in a parade decked out in their uniforms (medals galore) waving USSR flags. They marched to his statue and held a rally. Ah just one of the many perks of living in Gori!

Last Sunday happened to be a huge PC milestone: 6 months in country! Trust me when I say there were many times when I didn't think I'd make it to this point. PC has proven to be one of the most intensive experiences I've had to go through- physically and mentally. But I'm here! I'm 25% done with my service and now that I've been living in my permanent site for 4 months, I feel semi-competent as to what I'm doing. I've completed my first semester teaching in a public school. I've managed to pull off having 3 english clubs a week. I've made some wonderful friends, many who will be life-long. I've had some amazing adventures and plenty of awesome stories to share. Has it been hard? Oh "hard" is an understatement, but I'm happy. I know I made the right decision doing this and I don't regret it.

Now to reward myself, I'm going to Turkey. I'm spending New Years in Istanbul with some friends. My first vacation since I got here and I plan to make the most out of it. You know what'd make me really happy? I'd love to get my hand's on a monkey paw amulet---sheidzleba?!

David Gareji

2006-12-13T06:19:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I went to David Gareji, which neighbors Azerbaijan. It's a cave city that dates back hundreds of years and is just another part of Georgia's rich heritage. To get to the site we had to go to Tbilisi and barter with a taxi driver to take us to and from the site. From Tbilisi it took about 90 minutes to reach. David Gareji lies high in the mountains and is a monastary. 4 monks and 6 caretakers live there. One of the monks spoke english and gave us a tour of the monastery. Inside was a small chapel. Although there were interesting paintings and religious artifacts, the most interesting part were the bones of Georgians slayed by Iranians over 400 years ago. These bones are now watched over by the monks.

The view from the monastery was breathtaking. I could see for miles all around. Though the monks lived in small residencies carved into the mountainside, imagine my shock when I saw a tv satellite dish hidden in the brush. I also saw solar panels that powered the facility...or tvs. After the tour, I hiked to the top of the mountain. By the time I reached the top, I had stripped off 3 layers of clothing. That was the most excercise I'd had in months. The higher up I went, the more spectacular the view of the terrain and faraway villages. The mountaintop served as the disputed border between Georgia and Azerbaijan. Technically I was in AZ for about an hour. On the otherside of the mountain was a small trail leading down the backside. It was a treacherous trek with loose, sandy trails and lots of snake holes (good thing it was wintertime). Carved into the mountainside were small rooms with frescoes. These frescoes date back hundreds of years. Many were damaged due to graffitti and natural erosion. Despite this I was quite suprised to see the vibrance in their color. It was a beautiful sight. The further I ventured down the path the more rooms I discovered in the mountainside. Each room was bigger than the next with the last being exceptionally large. This room once served as a church. I could see where the altar used to be and found some religious artifacts still in place.

After visiting David Gareji I had one of those moments where I could truly say "Only in the PC could I have experienced this!"

Well it's still cold out....

2006-12-08T06:35:00.000-05:00

*Picture is from the newly unveiled 'St. Giorgi, Dragon Slayer' statue in Freedom Square, Tbilisi. Freedom square used to be Lenin Square during the USSR*

Last month was the All Volunteer Conference where we got together for a 2 day conference. The 1st thing I associate PC conferences with are hot showers and a serious scrubdown! That, good food and a comfortable bed. The last night of the conference was a PC sponsored Thanksgiving dinner. They provided the turkeys and volunteers cooked the rest of the dishes. Not a bad start to the holidays.

Thanksgiving day happened to fall on a Georgian holiday, St. George's day. On this day, people took sheep and chickens to the church to sacrifice. To sum it up in 1 word: bloodbath. In Gori, people went to Gori Gvari which is on a mountain that overlooks the town and neighboring villages. This day is the last day the church is open until the 2nd St. George's day in May. Georgians like to have 2 of every holiday. St. George's day was also the 3rd anniversary of the Rose Revolution.

As far as school is concerned, things are...were picking up. Now that winter's approaching and it's getting darker earlier we've switched to winter school hours. That means that my already too short classes of 45min have been shortened to 35min. This sucks since they only meet twice a week. Not a lot of room for meaningful impact and productivity when they have just over an hour of English lessons a week. Luckily, my English clubs have been doing well.

In bigger, better news I finally switched host families. Since moving to Gori in August, there had never been a good fit between myself and the new host family. After getting the greenlight to move last month, my school director located a new family. Last week I moved in and all I can say is that I'm extremely happy. They're awesome people and though I've only been here a week, I've done more bonding with them than in the 3.5 months I lived with my previous host family. On a sidenote to all future PCVs I can't stress the importance of bringing lots of pictures to show from back home. They love seeing them and you'll need for the many rounds of 'show and tell' you'dl have with all the neighbors and relatives that come to see the new American. That and when you're tired of explaining all the pictures over and over, they can take over for you so all you have to do is sit and look American!

Example A: My first week with new HF
Thursday- Move-in day. Supra with the new host-parents. In order to establish myself as the hardy American I agree to drink cha-cha (homemade vodka). I go 1 for 1 with hdad. By 330 I am goooooooooooone.
Friday- School all day. Leave for Tiniskhidi to visit training host family for a birthday supra. Meet some new villagers who toast, toast and toast some more to the American. Gooooooone by 11pm.
Saturday- Eat supra leftovers. Host grand daddy is happily drinking his chacha and wants to talk with me. Forgets I only speak Georgian and proceeds to talk to me in Russian and Ossettian.
Sunday- 1 shot of cha-cha with hostmom over breakfast before I return to Gori. Once back, I drink another shot of cha-cha with new hfamily. Then we visit the neighbors who happen to have 2 boys who are my students. Do a round of show and tell with the pictures. Escape at 1045pm.
Monday- 1 shot of chacha for breakfast. School all day. At night, eat and meet more neighbors.Show and Tell round 2.
Tuesday- Free day!
Wednesday- Repeat of Monday
Thursday- School. 10min after returning home, I go with hmom to crash a wedding supra 2 floors down. No chacha...red wine! Meet about 20 neighbors and some of my students. Show and Tell round 3.
Friday- No school since it's the last day of the semester and the "real" teachers are tallying up grades. Don't even get me started on the grading policy here *cough*.
Saturday- Escape for the weekend and go to Tbilisi

My new place is located in the center of town in Stalin Park. I live in a flat (yes British english has infiltrated my vocab thanks to teaching here) on the 3rd floor. It's a nice 2room flat with no lift...but who needs a lift when going up 3 flights of stairs is the most excercise I'll get all winter?

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Now that winter is approaching and long johns and wool socks are permanently attached to the body, winter culture has set in. Winter culture? Well because there is no such things as central heating here, houses are warmed up by a pechi (small wooden stove). Pechis are usually found in 1 room in the house and that room transforms into a family bedroom, living room and sometimes a kitchen. Multi-purpose! For many homes, especially in the villages, all the beds are moved into the room and the family members all sleep there. That was quite the experience for me when I went to visit my first host family. In one bed it was me, my host siblings and host mom. Across the room were the grandparents and in the corner was the hostgreat grandfather. The symphony of snoring that ensued was almost too much, but I dare not stray outside the room and be greated by brutally cold temperatures. The sacrifices made for body heat.

Brrr Itś Cold in Here, There must be some snow in the atmosphere!!!

2006-11-08T05:08:00.000-05:00

And today marks the first snowfall in Gori!!!! I can´t live in denial anymore. Winter is here!!

Colors, colors everywhere

2006-11-06T08:53:00.000-05:00

I left the house early Saturday and was able to catch the sunrise over Gori--gorgeous! My goal is to go to Gori Sikhe (Fortress), which is the highest point in Gori, and see the sunrise. It'll make for a breathtaking view. Even though it's November, it feels like autumn has only begun. The leaves have started changing colors and Georgia seems to have had a facelift. It's a refreshing change from the depressing scenery I've gotten used to (old unpainted soviet bloc apartments).

Spent the weekend in Tbilisi at the Nika (PCV hostel aka haven). In Tbilisi, I went to a new Italian restaurant with Mark and had a dish with actual brocolli--something I haven't had/seen since the States. Afterwards we went to the famed "junk" bazaar where they sell all sorts of things Georgians consider junk like USSR memorabelia. There were Soviet flags, medals, uniforms, pins, coins, gasmasks, etc. It was very cool. I ended up getting a patch and medal. The bazaar will definately be one of my last stops before I return to the US. Sunday, I went to the main bazaar on a quest to get some new sneakers that wouldn't fall apart after 2 wears. Though I saw some cool "Adibas" sneakers, I decided to wait until the new shipment of knockoffs comes to town. In other news, I stumbled upon Baskin Robins!!! It was inside the movie theatre on Rustaveli Avenue. I ducked inside since they sold some dvds and I was hoping to find some english ones. And there before me was BR! Mmm, I had the banana-papaya ice cream and it was heaven!

Sunday night, the volunteers in Gori got together for a Mexican dinner, courtesy of our Country Director who brought us food (taco shells, rice, beans, tabasco sauce) during a site visit last month. We got together at Eve's (G5) apartment to prepare it and dine on lovely non-Georgian food. Unfortunately the electricity went out so we had to use headlamps while cooking. It was done true PC fashion!
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That post was written last night from the safety and comfort of my sleeping bag. Today I was greeted by the COLDEST day in Georgia. Bitterly Cold. It's 2degC. You do the math.
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Knock Knock

2006-11-04T05:12:00.000-05:00

Wow, is it possible that I've posted 3 times in less than a month? Amazing! Well it's been a great week because I finally found my niche in Georgia. I've been working at the school for a few weeks now and have a semi-routine down. In Georgian schools, the class schedules are entirely subjective. They change on a whim and it's very chaotic. For instance I showed up for my 1pm lesson today only to find out the schedule changed and it was given during the morning. Damn!! My 45minutes of work for the day and I missed it!! The "Me" from last year would have had a conniption since I like to lead a very structured life. Hah I laugh at that now, during training, all the G5s (volunteers who have been here for a year) kept saying to survive here you had be super flexible. I had no idea how true that was until I moved to my Permanent Site and got a real taste for life here. Oy, "Georgian time" is a phenomena all its own.

So the other day I was enjoying having the house to myself and decided to do some laundry. It'd been about a month since I last did it so the pile in the corner of my room desperately needed to be attended to. Just as I finished loading my first load into the agitator ("Georgian washer") the doorbell rang. Wearing my bright orange "Crush" shirt and awesomely cute plaid boxer shorts I went to see who it was. Before me were 2 of the sharpest dressed men I'd ever seen in Georgia. In my awesome Georgian I told them that the HFam was out, but they just gave me a blank look. So in my awesome Georgian I again reiterated the fact that no one was home and to come back later. Then they started speaking in Russian. *Sigh* Despite my "nyets" they continued speaking until they realized I don't speak Russian (yet!). I said the magic word "America" and they whipped out a small book. They flipped it open and showed it to me. "Hello Friend........." Holy crap! These 2 were Jehovah's witnesses! Wow, I guess I'm not that far from civilization if I have them knocking on my door! So I took their flier and proceeded to do what I'd do back in the States "Thanks" and shut the door. I left the flier on the table for the HFam and went back to my laundry. That night the HostDad called me down and asked me about it and I just shrugged and did the international sign for crazy. Trying to explain people coming to the door trying to save you is not within my Georgian vocabulary yet. The HostDad looked at the paper, shrugged, and tossed it in the petchi (small wooden stove) paper pile.

It's been a good month overall since I'm working and out of the house most of the day. I have language tutoring 4 hours a week with a former PC Language tutor, which is fun because we can gossip in Georgian and PC will pay for it. As a PCV, there's not a lot to talk about most of the time and the grapevine becomes a key resource! In 2 weeks the All Volunteer Conference is going to be held in Tbilisi. I'm going to have another LPI, language proficiency exam, and I hope to score Intermediate low. My language skills have definitely improved since to my Permanent Site and I'm forced to speak it at home and at work.

In other news I met my future fiancé. For the last few weeks a teacher at my school has been telling me that her son, Evan, and I are meant to be. I was given all the stats on my dashing hubbie-to-be. So I was crossing Stalin Park to go to my sitemate Mark's NGO and "say hello" (aka beg for free internet use) when I run into her. "Maritza! Rogor khar?..." After exchanging the mandatory pleasantries, which can last anywhere from a few seconds to a half hour, she grabbed me by the arm and told me we were going to meet her son. But my free internet... So seeing as how I' was unable to escape her clutch I decided to go ahead and get the meeting over with. "So where does your son work?" "Close, very close. We go now!" Oh my, he works at Stalin's Museum! Dzalian Kargi! So I stood at the museum entrance of the museum while she banged on the window trying to get her son's attention. And what ensued next was the most awkward conversation I've ever had in Georgian. He's 28, knows 2 words of English, and is too shy to speak to me in Georgian. But he's a steal...right? Okay, so after that she wanted to take me back to her apartment, but I managed to talk my way out. As I walked back across the park I ran into another teacher who grabbed me and took me to see her apartment. I felt like a human yo-yo. So after she pointed it out and I promised to visit next time, I sprinted across the park. Couldn't take any chances. "Maritza..." Hah too late I had reached the office and shut the door.

So it's no secret that relations between Georgia and Russia have been worsening. I won't give my opinion, but needless to say it ain't pretty. Just in my short time in country, it seems like my life has been a rollercoaster ride with all the developments and escalating/de-escalating tensions between Tbilisi and the Kremlin. This week, Russian giant GazPron announced it was more than doubling the price of gas to Georgia. This sucks. No, really it blows. Last year for about a week gas was cut off here and it was hell (frozen of course). I'm more than a little freaked out because my current HFam heats their house via gas. They've got a small woodpile, which won't last more than a week or two. Most Georgians purchased their wood supply during the summer while prices were cheap. My training HFam spent about 400Lari on theirs. The wood was delivered in big piles and blocked most of the streets. For weeks day in and day out men were chopping the wood and moving it into the house. Most everyone is done except for a few homes here and there.

From my house I can get a really nice view of the Caucasus Mtns on a clear day. Of course in Gori clear days usually only occur on frigid days. Otherwise this thick haze just hangs everywhere. Fits in with the petchi's burning and the hundreds of chain smokers you can spot on any given day.

Happy Halloween

2006-11-01T05:45:00.000-05:00

Gilosavt! Georgians don't celebrate Halloween, but that didn't stop us from having a party!

The pre-party began on Friday when some volunteers arrived early. For dinner we went to Orbi's, which is my favorite restaurant in town. We ended up staying there for 5 hours. As a group of Americans, you tend to stand out. Being in Georgia means that you are treated to worldclass hospitality. Georgians kept coming, some stumbling, over to our table to talk to us and offering to buy us food and drinks. By the end of the night we had graciously accepted and thoroughly enjoyed 5 pitchers of wine and mstvadi (bbq pork). Then we taxi'd it back to our homes.

The annual "unofficial" PCV Halloween party was held on Saturday at the Intourist Hotel. The Intourist is located in the center of Gori and is the hotel so let me be your tour guide. The hotel rooms are on the 2nd and 3rd floor. Lucky volunteers had rooms on the 2nd floor. There's a reason why we nicknamed the 3rd floor the "orphanage." It's amazing what a difference 10Lari will make in terms of a hotel room. Those on the 2nd floor had nice clean rooms with working hot water. Those on the 3rd floor (myself included) were treated to an authentic orphanage environment. Dilapidated rooms, brightly colored mold, chipped paint, exposed floorboards, rusty washbasins...the works! Placed next to the rusty toilet was a bucket full of water AKA no water pressure. Luckily, living here for 4 months teaches you to carry hand sanitizer at all times. The Intourist doesn't have many rooms so those who rsvp'ed too late had an entire hallway to call home for night with mattresses on the floor. I told you it was an authentic experience!

For the costumes, we had to be really creative since we couldn't go out and buy them. When it comes to being a successful volunteer there are 2 words to live by: flexibility and resourcefulness. It's amazing what a little creativity combined with sewing and/or flipchart paper can produce. Appearances were made by the Ninja Turtles, Captain Crunch, a White Trash couple, "Georgia," Staliness the Dominatrix, gypsies, Waldo (Where's Waldo?), "God's Gift to Women," etc. I went as Rocky Balboa- had to bring a little Americana to the party. The party was awesome as expected. Anytime a bunch of volunteers can manage to get together, fun is always to be had!

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I gave a presentation about Halloween to all my students. I told them all about different Halloween traditions, "Trick or Treating," and focused a lot on pranks (egging, toilet papering). Then I talked about the costume shops and the crazy things you can find for sale like blood capsules, fake appendages, masks, etc. To really build up the momentum I spoke about Haunted Houses and as I walked up and down the aisles talking about the creepy things inside them I yelled, "boo!" There were so many screams that the teacher next door ran over to see what had happened! Ah, yes the little things are what counts- like making your counterpart and students pee their pants!

I've been in-country 1/4 of a year!

2006-10-21T04:14:00.000-05:00

It has been a bittersweet month for me.
My grandmother recently passed away and although it was expected, it didn't make it any easier to find out. I want to thank all my friends near and far for their support during this difficult time.

Moving along, I finally have an operational school. I never thought I'd be so happy to hear kids screaming "Mas! Mas!" (shortened form for teacher). My school had been undergoing repairs all summer and no one knew when classes would begin. It was literally a week to week guess. So I was told through the Georgian grapevine (the only way info travels) that my school was rumored to be open on 2 October. Really?! So I call my counterpart and she says she heard the rumor too (no direct line of communication ever exists). So I show up early Monday morning at school and see everyone in the schoolyard. One of the teachers sees me, grabs me and takes me up to the front of the stairs where the Director is. It's cold and raining yet the doors are closed and no one is allowed inside. I sigh and pull out my umbrella and wait to see what's going on.

To mark the first day of school, Georgian schools always have some sort of big activity- a ceremony, pep rally, concert, etc. My school put together a mini-concert and students sang, read poetry and played instruments. Then it hit me...oh man I know what's next! They're going to want me to say something..anything. They want to see the American perform! And 15 seconds later my psychic abilities proved ever faithful when I felt a shove from behind and a microphone was thrown in my face. Hehe. "Gamarjobat khakhli..." There were 800+ students, parents, and faculty members tuned in to me. Was I nervous? Nah. The great thing about being a foreigner is that it doesn't really matter what you say...as long as you can speak some Georgian you've earned their love! So I gave a quick speech in my best, yet laughable Georgian. Then the concert wrapped up and the Director mentioned something about seeing everybody next week. Next week? Turned out that the ''official'' first day of classes would be the following Monday. Argh!!!

Though painstakingly slow, 9 October finally rolled around and classes began. And with it came a slew of nonstop adventures. But first let me give you a brief introduction to the Georgian educational system. School hours are usually only 4-5 hours long. Why so short? Because the real learning takes place afterhours during private tutoring sessions. School is treated more like voluntary supplementary learning. Attendance isn't mandatory in schools and that is reflected in their behavior. Typically you'll have a full class yet only 3-5 will partake in the classroom activities. The rest aren't paying attention, refuse to participate or don't show up. It doesn't help much either when the teachers just focus on those star pupils. The rest are ignored and it's just accepted part of the classroom culture. A typical class is noisy with teachers yelling, students carrying on side conversation and walking in and out of class. Also tardiness is normal- be it from the students or teachers. It's definately a challenging atmosphere to work in. The lack of resources doesn't help matters either. Many students don't buy the textbooks, which is a pain for the teacher who usually depends on them to bring it so she can borrow it during class and give the lesson! Also there's always a shortage on chalk...want to know why? Because they're all being horded by the teachers who keep them hidden in their purses! That is until they give it to a student to write the notes on the board as the teacher dictates. Other issues include a constantly changing school schedule with class times being switched or rooms being changed on a daily basis. You can imagine how frustrating it is to show up for you 1130 class only to find out that it was changed to 9am. Doh!

Despite those issues and more, I'm enjoying my work here. I'm forced to grow and develop a thick skin so little things can't irk me anymore...right? Well that's what I'm aiming for!
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Earlier this month I went to Kutaisi, the 2nd biggest city, to help with the annual Breast Cancer Awareness Walkathon. The walk was 1k and the run was 5k. There was a lot of community support and several government officials came. The run was very successful with the winner being a Georgian wearing knockoff converse sneakers! Unfortunately, the female runners somehow ended up going off course and no one knew where they went. We decided to stop the timer after 50 minutes. Godspeed! After the event finished there was an awards presentation and speeches given by American and Georgian officials, including the First Lady of Georgia. A concert followed afterwards with several groups performing, including a Georgian boy band.

During our freetime we were busy attending supras- always the fashionable thing to do- and sightseeing. There was a small park in the city and at the top of a mountain peak was a tall ferris wheel. To get to it I had to take a trolley car to the top. The door wouldn't shut all the way, but that just helped with the air circulation. To get the ferris wheel I paid my 50tetri and the operator pointed to the ride. Now let me describe this baby for you. As if my last adventure at the "zoo-parki" in Tbilisi wasn't enough, I was about to hop aboard another soviet era ride. It was exceptionally large, rusted out and creaking. Yey we have to go on! I was with 3 other volunteers and we stood at the base of the ride waiting for it to stop. Hah silly us! It doesn't stop, you have to jump on as it comes towards you. Several cabins passby and we wisely choose to wait because they had seats missing or doors barely hanging off the hinges. We hear a grunt from behind us. Ride operator is getting annoyed so we hop onto the next one that comes by. As the cabin reaches the top of the ferris wheel you are treated to an awesome view of the city lying beneath you. Nice photo-up moment. Now if only the metal would stop screeching, but oh well. It's a nice ride!

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As I'm writing this entry, I'm wearing my fleece sweats, my trusty hoodie and eyeing my ultra heavy duty sleeping bag. I brokedown on Sunday and pulled it out. It's quite possibly the best piece of equipment PC could have issued...aside from the lovely water filter. I was in class yesterday and happened to take a quick glance out the window. The amount of snow on the mountain compared to a few weeks ago freaked me out. I didn't come to Georgia expecting a warm winter. Nevertheless each day and night I live in trepidation of the imminent winter. Smartest thing I did was have my winter clothes mailed out in the summer to ensure it got here in time. And to the future G7s, yes long johns and wool socks are an absolute necessity.

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I spent last weekend in the Capital and explored the nightlife Tbilisi had to offer. Armed with Laris and American accents we braved the night in search of entertainment. We went to a couple clubs and found drinks from ''back home'' like Corona's, Heinekens, Bacardi, Absolut, etc. "They'll be no Kazbegi beers tonight!" After spending 4 months in country, you'll understand why we were so excited. Of course you'll find yourself getting equally excited over familiar foods and condiments too like Oreo cookies, real ketshup, sour gummies, tabasco sauce, etc. Basically anything non-Georgian. So strolling down the streets we were excited because the nightlife was actually ''happening'' and kind of reminded us about back home in the States. When was the last time we could find anyplace open past midnight...okay 8pm at our respective sites? As we're walking, we hear some familiar music...english....and definately not techno...it was calling out to us, beckoning. So we went to investigate and there it was bathed in light...."Wild Bill's Saloon."

Did we get caught in some kind of timewarp? Here we are in former Soviet territory, speaking a language only 4 million other people worldwide know, playing Georgian Frogger as we cross/run across the street, passing bebias and gitchi people and yet something so distinctively American is standing before us. So we went in, thrusting the saloon doors wide open as we entered. We were greeted by dancing, live entertainment, cowboy-decked gals, western memorabelia, etc. Incredibly, this place really was happening! We went to a booth and found western foods in the menu...of course chicken sandwich was spelled chechen sadwich but you learn not to nitpick. As I mentioned earlier, there was live music playing with Beatles, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin songs. They had some kareoke with a Rod Steward lookalike singing. Only thing was that he kept singing to the drummer rather than the audience. Point is, if you want to experience a piece of Americana pay a visit to Wild Bill's Saloon!

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Next week is Halloween and though we may be far away from the nearest Party City or thrift shop, we're going to be hosting a Halloween Party in Gori for all the PCVs. So I had been hoping to go as Stalin, but my quest for a SU uniform has turned up emptyhanded. Damn!

Press Release for Swearing-In

2006-09-21T12:56:00.000-05:00

Peace Corps Georgia Celebrates 6th Group of Volunteers at Swearing-In Ceremony

Friday, August 18, the United States Peace Corps of Georgia swore in 48 new volunteers at the Rustaveli State Academic Theater. U.S. Charge d’Affairs, the Honorable Mark. X. Perry, swore the volunteers in. The swearing-in ceremony is a long-held tradition in the Peace Corps and celebrates the Peace Corps American trainees taking an oath of service and becoming official Peace Corps Volunteers. The ceremony was lead by Peace Corps Country Director Ms. Kathleen Sifer and featured speeches and songs by the new volunteers and performances by professional Georgian folk dancing and singing groups.

The new volunteers were trained in Georgian language and in technical areas while living in small groups in the towns and villages of the Shida Kartli region. They will move to cities and villages in the regions of Ajara, Guria, Imereti, Samegrelo, Kakheti, Kvemo and Shida Kartli and Samtskhe Javakheti to complete two years of service. Fifteen of the 48 new Volunteers will serve in Georgian NGOs. The other 33 Volunteers will teach English language courses: 31 in secondary schools and two at Universities.

Georgia has a 6-year history with the United States Peace Corps, which enjoys the support of the government and the Georgian people. Currently 82 Peace Corps Volunteers are serving in Georgia.

The Peace Corps is celebrating a 45-year legacy of service at home and abroad, and a 30-year high for volunteers in the field. Since 1961, more than 182,000 volunteers have helped promote a better understanding between Americans and the people of the 138 countries where volunteers have served. Peace Corps volunteers are U.S. citizens and at least 18 years of age. Peace Corps service is a 27-month commitment.

Pics:
http://georgia.usembassy.gov/events/2006/event20060818PeaceCorps.htm

Settling In

2006-09-21T12:51:00.000-05:00

How to Attain Celebrity Status Overseas
1. Be American
2. Join the Peace Corps

Follow those simple rules and you will see how in no time you too can become an instant celeb in your country. Being the local "Amerikeli" can do wonders when it comes to publicity.

Exhibit A.
The first week in September I helped host a summer camp with 2 other volunteers in a town about 40min away. The camp was a week long and had about 40 students. Day 1 we had a local (and by local I also mean national) tv crew come to film the camp and interview the volunteers. The same day I found myself being randomly stopped on the streets by people who said they saw me on tv. Some nice international exposure if I say so myself- can I put that on my resume?

Exhibit B.
In July during our training, we hosted a summer school in our training village. Our objective was to tap into our student's creativity through different types of activities. For one of my classes I decided to have a sci-fi themed class and have students design their own aliens. They had to present it and tell the class where their alien came from, what they're called and then how they said hello in their native language (that right there was some craziness!). So in the middle of the presentations, a camera crew comes in and starts filming. Of all the days and classesto film us they choose sci-fi day! What are the locals to think? This crazy American is teaching our kids about space aliens? Weeks later I saw the edited version of the clip...and there I am talking to students with a bright green, 6 eyed, 4 legged alien behind me. Oy!

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"Here drink some wine. It'll warm you right up." And with that I greedily accepted a glass of red wine from my host father. In the month that I have been living in Gori the temp has dropped from the 90s down to the low 50s...and then some. Needless to say this is not boding well for apprehension about the upcoming winter. The fact that I am wearing wool socks at night plus my long johns is worrying me a lot! It's been nearly a decade since I've experienced an actual winter! From the town center I can see more and more snow gathering on the Caucusus mountains. Oh bring back my heatwave please! As a joke or maybe it was out of pity my sitemate Mark gave me some footwarmers. Doesn't matter, I was highly appreciative!

So it's been just over a month since I swore in as a volunteer and moved to my permanent site. With a month before classes were set to begin what's a TEFL volunteer to do? Read, read, read! As a Peace Coprs volunteer you literally have all the time in the world to read. All those books I wanted to read but never had a chance to due to school or work, well now I have no excuse. Where would I be without the PC lounge and its library? But then again there's only so much reading one can do to keep from going stir crazy.

I've been teaching english classes at a local youth-oriented NGO (non-governmental organization) where another volunteer works at. I have 4 classes a week for kids aged 9-16. I'll be doing that until my school opens up. Regarding my school, the good news is that they are finally under going long-needed renovations. Its been 50 yrs since the last one. Bad news is that the renovations are taking longer than expected and it won't be open on time. This unfortunately is the situation that many TEFL volunteers have found themselves in. All operational schools began classes on 18 Sept. Currently my director is hoping for an October date.

In the meantime, I'm also working at my host mother's school, which she also founded. My host mother is a go-getter! I'm working there 3 times a week teaching grades 4-9. When I was visiting the 2nd graders they were singing '1 little, 2 little, 3 little Indians...' So cute! It definately feels good to be actually *doing* something now and feeling productive. Everytime I visit a new class the students are always eager to ask questions. It never fails that I get asked if I have a boyfriend--definately a foreign concept because in Georgia if you have a boyfriend he is essentially your fiance and you're expected to marry. Now when posed this question, I can go one of two routes. I can say ''no'' and then be prepared to deflect the immediate offers to introduce me to some kargi bichebi (good boys) or I can say ''yes'' and say that he's either back in America and still face a barrage of questions regarding why I'm not married yet and when do I think I'll have kids? *Sigh* no win-win situation.

Between that, reading and harassing my sitemates, I've also had a chance to acquaint myself with our satellite tv. The majority of channels we get are Arabic. I even get channels from Iraq, Iran and I have the famous Al-Jazeera. Also have access to China's official English channel. Now that's an interesting channel to watch! There's also quite a few German channels. Every wonder where shows go once they get cancelled? Hello overseas audience! I have seen Home Improvement, Beverly Hills 90210, Andromeda, and....ALF! There's also tons of cartoons...remember Talespin? Check. Apprentice- yup Georgians created their own version which is identical to ours except 'Trump' has better hair. Probably what I get a kick out of the most though is the Russian-dubbed Sopranos- now thats kickass.

You know you've been in Georgia....

2006-09-01T07:11:00.000-05:00

crazy how much of this is so so true for me now!

YOU KNOW YOU'VE BEEN IN GEORGIA TOO LONG IF...
This has been cirulating a Yahoo Group message board on Georgia. It offers some insight into the country and the expat community. Plus, it's kind of funny, although I don't know how encouraging some of it is so I'll just have to wait and see!

YOU KNOW YOU'VE BEEN IN GEORGIA TOO LONG IF. . .

You know you've been in Georgia too long if . . .

People can tell you live in Vake because of your accent.

You have a favorite khashi place.

You start scanning movie credits for Armenian names.

You remember when the average Georgian under 30 did not have a mobile telephone.

You can distinguish between Kazbegi and Argo in a blind taste test (or between Borjomi and Nabeglavi).

You recoil in horror if somebody punctures a khinkali.

You hand taxi drivers the proper fare for any ride without any negotiation or asking the price.
You find nothing romantic in candle lighting.

You never go anywhere without a small flashlight.

You’re disposed to sit in a taxicab for 45 minutes at your destination without budging if the driver is unwilling to give you the proper change.

You consider amoebic dysentery to be a weight loss strategy.

You actually believe that Borjomi water has curative properties.

You think you can get a cheaper fare if the taxi driver doesn’t notice your accent.

You don't mind eating dinner or showering in complete darkness.

You own a Niva that you bought at the car market for cash, and you think you got ripped off.

You get annoyed if the waiter doesn’t change your plate every 5 minutes.

You get annoyed if the waiter doesn’t take empty bottles off the table within 30 seconds.

You find yourself criticizing Georgians’ khinkali eating technique.

You can’t drink a glass of wine without a toast even when dining alone.

You are not taken aback when a complete stranger at a supra kisses you and professes eternal love.

You find yourself complaining that the tamada’s toasts are too short.

You appoint someone tamada even when dining with foreigners.

A few shots of chacha don't even give you a buzz.

You're at an expensive restaurant and don't even notice the guy at the next table yelling into his cell phone.

You have grown used to the picture quality of pirated DVDs.

You find sit-down toilets uncomfortable.

You think you speak Georgian fluently.

You can't put a proper sentence together in your native language.

You aren't aware that one is supposed to pay for software.

A PhD in Nuclear Physics fluent in 7 languages irons your socks for a pittance.

Walking across the street against the light, in and out of traffic is a piece of cake.

When you go to the toilet you bring your own toilet paper.

The footprints on the toilet seat are your own.

It is no longer surprising that the only decision made at a meeting is the time and venue for the next meeting.

You no longer wonder how someone who earns $400.00 per month can drive a Mercedes.

You find that it saves time to stand and retrieve your hand luggage while the plane is on final approach.

You throw your trash out the window of your apartment, car or bus.

You would rather SMS someone than actually meet to talk 'face to face'.

You honk your horn at people because they are in your way as you drive down the sidewalk.

You have figured out that it is actually the Russians who are running this country.

You get your first case of bronchitis and you have never smoked a cigarette in your life.

You have learned how to detect someone in a hurry behind you, and have the ability to not only walk very slowly but also grow eyes in the back of your head, so when they start to overtake on the right hand side, you automatically cut in and walk very slowly directly in front of them.

You are able to jump the queue because the idiot foreigner left 2 centimeters between himself and the person in front of him.

You don't have to speak to taxi drivers. Every cab in town has taken you home at least once, so they all know where you live.

You buy a round trip air ticket in Georgia.

Other foreigners seem foreign to you.

You consider McDonald's a treat.

You ask how much people are making and expect to hear an answer.

You are the last of your first group of friends still in Georgia.

Your first group of friends in Georgia has already left and come back again three times.

Georgian fashion starts looking hip.

You think Kobuleti is a nice place for a holiday.

The last time you visited your mother, you gave her your business card.

You start to enjoy the taste of chacha.

You go back home for a short visit, get in a car and start giving the driver directions in Georgian.
You have to pause and translate your phone number into English before telling it to someone.

You ask fellow foreigners the all-important question "How long have you been here?" in order to be able to properly categorize them.

You buy the local newspaper because you forget that you can't read Georgian.

You stop enjoying telling newcomers to Georgia "all about Georgia".

Your family stops asking when you'll be coming back.

Smoking is one of the dinner courses.

People who knew you when you first arrived don't recognize you.

Georgians stop you on the street to ask for directions.

People who haven't seen you for months don't ask where you've been.

You get homesick for Georgian food when away from Georgia.

Other foreigners give you a funny look when you tell them how long you've been here.

The word “salad” first brings to mind mayonnaise.

You don't notice your gastrointestinal problems anymore.

Your collection of business cards has outgrown your apartment.

You speak enough Georgian to make your colleagues laugh their heads off (attempts with anyone else still only draw blank stares).

You start recognizing the Russian songs on the radio and sing along to them with the taxi driver.
You give a 10% tip only if the waiter has been really exceptional.

You are relieved when the guy standing next to you on the bus actually uses a handkerchief.

You change into slippers and wash your hands as soon as you walk into your apartment.

You drink the brine from empty pickle jars.

You know more than 20 Tamunas, 30 Ninos and 60 Giorgis.

Your sister writes to you about the best prime rib she’s ever had and you can’t remember what it looks or tastes like.

You catch yourself whistling indoors and feel guilty.

You never smile in public when you’re alone.

You are no longer surprised when your taxi driver tells you that in Soviet times he worked as a rocket scientist.

You can only jaywalk across a busy street without looking exactly in places where there is an underpass.

You think Pele coffee tastes good.

You consider holding a supra to celebrate the purchase of a new TV set.

You know what Chavchavadze's favorite color was.

You are curious as to when they might start exporting Kazbegi beer to your home country.

You speak to other expats in your native language, but forget some of the simplest words and are forced to throw in Georgian/Russian ones instead.

You think that the Trade Center is a real shopping mall.

You specify "no gas" when asking for mineral water.

You think a bus with 200 people on it is "empty".

You walk down the street holding hands with your buddy.

You know all the words to the Georgian National Anthem and enjoy singing it.

You start believing that you can blend into a large crowd of Georgians.

You answer "ho" even when speaking English to non-Georgian friends.

You somehow always have money to go for a drink despite being broke, and think that that's a paradox.

You swear at a taxi driver for stopping at a red light even when there's nobody coming.

You can think of at least fifteen medical conditions that can be cured by chacha (sorting out a blocked ear by pouring chacha into it is my personal favourite).

Back in your home country, you automatically put a candle next to your bed.

You feel more bored than annoyed when some drunken idiot holds a gun to your head at a party.

You start speculating that Georgia might join the EU before the millennium is out.

Your father-in-law is secretly jealous of your mother-in-law's moustache.

You park your car two blocks from the office because you feel ashamed of not having tinted windows.

You have become convinced that Georgian music, poetry or literature has made an immense contribution to world culture.

You finally understand that it's culturally insensitive to come to the office before 11 AM.
You lend your best friend your car keys so he can get home safely when he is too drunk to make it back on foot.

You third daughter is born and you can't think of a name to give her.

You notice that your wallet has been stolen and your first thought is that, come to think of it, the guy behind you on the bus sort of looked Armenian.

Your long-standing girlfriend pecks you on the cheek and you think it's one of those life-defining moments you will never forget.

Your chacha vendor greets you like a long-lost brother and asks, 'How many liters today?'

Your oldest foreign friends stop bothering to pretend that they're not working for the CIA.

Back in your home country, you smugly lecture the policeman on how it only counts as drunk driving if you're actually swigging behind the wheel, before giving him a dollar anyway because he looks like a nice guy.

You take foreign guests around Gori and feel compelled to point out that Stalin really liked small children.

You start learning Georgian because you're anxious that God might not understand your prayers if they're in a foreign language.

You remember the days when the traffic police took bribes.

You can order food at most restaurants in Tbilisi without looking at the menu.

You can navigate five flights of stairs, find the door to your apartment, and fit the key in the lock in complete darkness.

Your taxi driver boasts to you about how badly he would rip you off if you were a foreigner (this happened to John Horan).

Your travel agent asks you if you are 'allowed to go to America,' implying that you need to get a visa first (also, John Horan).

You think most important road rule is where your bumper is in relation to everyone else.

You think Nivas are the all time best SUVs.

You’ve given your Niva a name.

You answer your phone "Allo?" even when outside of Georgia (or ‘gisment’).

You tell others your phone number in two-digit sequences: i.e. ninety-nine, seventeen, forty-three.

You try to bargain over the price of tomatoes while in a grocery store back home.
You’re no longer surprised when a building that looks like a Beirut crackhouse gives way to a sumptuous apartment inside.

You worry about not being able to find or make tqemali when you go back home.

You carry a lighter just in case your flashlight gives out.

You give your mobile phone number half in Georgian, half in Russian.

When lending money, you prefer to dispense large bills rather than small ones.

You feel self-indulgent and pampered checking into a flight during the daytime.

While making a left hand turn, you feel that making a U-turn would put you on firmer ethical ground.

You end English sentences with “ra”.

Your first question on making a new Georgian acquaintance is “How many khinkali can you eat?” (“And is that with or without kebabi and salata?”)

You’ve traveled to Pasanauri for the sole purpose of eating khinkali.

You know that Ajaran khachapuri isn’t necessarily better in Ajara.

You express skepticism by involuntarily muttering “kargi, ra” even when there is no Georgian-speaker around to hear you (and express surprise by shouting “vaimay!”).

There is a brass plaque with your name on it on the bar at Smugglers.

You correct waitresses’ Russian grammar mistakes.

You call random cell phone numbers and demand “romeli khar?!!”

You turn off your car engine at stoplights to save fuel.

You say things like “The city looks so much cleaner now,” confusing the hell out of newly arrived expats.

You have ten different responses to the question, "Do you like Georgia?"

You blame the Russian FSB for unfavorable weather changes.

You’re appalled when a foreigner who has been in Georgia long enough to know better tries to “go dutch” at his/her own birthday supra.

After living in Georgia for X number of years, you've decided it might be a good idea to start learning the Georgian alphabet.

You bump into a newly arrived foreign businessman in the pub and decide it might as well be you who rips him off.

You can't stop staring at that black guy walking down Rustaveli.

You seriously consider founding an NGO yourself because you are fed up with having to work.

Your surviving friends look really worried when you start pouring yourself drinks.

You are unable to explain to your mother what your job actually is.

Your eyes see the strings moving Misha's arms and legs despite the glare of the stage lights.

You know more acronyms than normal words.

The lady in your local corner shop stops asking when you are going to get married.

You can't remember your last weekend in Gudauri that wasn't funded by Soros.

Your wardrobe is shimmering with a million hues of black.

You don’t double up with laughter while reading (or writing) 'good governance' proposals.

You think that commandeering a big white jeep is your birthright.

Your weight has doubled despite the near-disappearance of several internal organs.

The two hardcore communist Peace Corps volunteers you met in your first year here are now heading the World Bank and the IMF.

You spend more time deleting Megobrebs messages than doing your job

My Adventure Continues

2006-08-20T13:12:00.000-05:00

BLOG 2

This blog entry has been written over the course of several weeks so please excuse the disconnectedness of my stories.
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It's ironic that in many regards Georgia is a 'normal' country and there's not that big of a difference between our two cultures but then I see and hear about things like bridenappings, Stalin worshippers,
people throwing live wires into rivers to 'catch fish' and I realize WHOA I'm in Georgia where anything is possible!

Exhibit A: Bridenappings
Basically if a guy likes you, and he's afraid you'll reject his marriage proposal, he'll bridenap you. He'll get a van and take you up to the mountains. There you'll be locked away long until the community realizes that 'you're in the woods wiith ___.' By the way, "in the woods" tsk tsk tsk means that you're shacking up...a serious no-no for Georgia's traditional culture. Only way to salvage your reputation is to marry the guy or face the fact that since you've been a naughty woman no one will marry you. Nowadays bridenappings are outlawed--doesn't mean that it's NOT occuring on a regular basis though. Georgia is the midst of change and a lot of modernization is occuring. So now if you're bridenapped, it's more of a funny, comical experience. You can still say no afterwards and no one is going to say anything because everyone knows that nothing really happens when you're in the woods...just cleaning house and cooking.

Exibit B: Stalinists are alive and well
So no secret that I live near Stalin's hometown and there are constant reminders everywhere I look. There's a Stalin street, square, park, musuem, several statues, etc. Stalin is Gori's call to fame. Many will refer to his dynamic personality and power. The fact that he slaughtered millions, Georgia wasn't spared from his political purges, just proves that he was human. Fans don't like to focus too much on that aspect though. I decided to pay the 5 lari and check out his musuem which turned out to be a two-story shrine. Everywhere there are portraits and paintings of Stalin with the people, holding and reading to schoolchildren, etc. Aw Stalin the humanist! He had a heart. On display were gifts given to him as well as his personal effects including authentic cigar butts. There's even a thank you note from FDR thanking Stalin and his troops for their gallant work during WWII. Creepiest room though was the death mask room. The last room in the musuem was dedicated to his memory and since his final resting place isn't Gori they substituted it with a death mask. Let me set the scene for you: You walk into this dark room, the carpeting is black but the walls are draped in red velvet. There in the middle is his face staring back at you with soft lighting on it so you can truly appreciate his likeness. As we're heading for the door a visitor from the Ukraine approached us...."Are you a Stalinist? Don't you agree he's a great man? A hero! Oh you're American? Did you know that FDR called Stalin a hero. Is Stalin a hero for Americans too?..." Oh geez. Walk out quickly. Leave the man to his worshipping. Outside the musuem are Stalin's train and home. I was impressed with the train. Though it's over 50 years old, the kitchen and bathroom are more modern than most I've had the pleasure of using here in Georgia. Weird thing though is that it has full length mirrors in every room...even above his bed. Oh Stalin. So yes, Stalin museum was uber-creepy and I felt really dirty knowing that I probably helped with the funding to build their altar to Stalin with my entrance fee.

Exhibit C: Soviet Legacy
A few weeks ago my host family took me to the zoo-park in Tbilisi. It's a small amusement park with carnival rides. My 2 host siblings went nuts in there because of all the rides for little kids. Just as we're about to leave Eka says she wants to go on one of the rides with me. I specifically made a point not to go on any rides because they were all soviet era and well let's face it safety standards were not their priority. Well she insists and insists and finally I agree. We ended up going on the "pirate ship" which rocks back and forth gaining momentum each time but never does a full rotation. Okay no biggy, looks stable enough right? WRONG. We slip into one of the rows near the middle and I'm sitting at the end. So the safety bar has to be manually locked. How does one do that? Easy! Since I'm sitting at the end, I have to force the bar into a hole that has been bored into the side of the ride and turn the latch to lovk it in place. Deep breath Maritza. It'll be allright. Ride starts. Not bad. People in the back row are having fun whooping and hollering. Ouch, Eka has burrowed her head into my side--it's her first carnival ride. Oh wow. Ride is picking up more speed. Damn that unsettling feeling in my stomach is gnawing at me...getting worse as the speed picks up. "Gadcheret! Gadcheret" (Stop!) screams a woman from the back. The two guys opposite me are laughing as she continues to freak out. Oh my. More speed is picking up and my body is being lifted up into the air. Screaming turns from excitement to fear collectively. I hear the ride creaking. Oh crap please let me live. The guys who just a moment ago were laughing are now grimacing and holding on for dear life. Eka's now whimpering and digging her nails into my skin. I have now managed to rig my legs in such a manner that I am barely lifted no more than 2 inches everytime the boat rocks upwards. The guy opposite me has burrowed himself into his seat and has his legs under and over the lap bar trying to brace himself. Oh man. The other guy just vomited. I lower my head now trying to avoid it as we swing towards it. 'GAAAAAAAAAAAADCHERET' people yell in unison. The ride operator finishes smoking his cigarette, throws it on the ground and walks back over to the operational console and stops the ride. People are whimpering as the exit the ride. My nerves were jilted for a good 15 minutes afterwards.
Moral of the story...never ever ever ever ever go on Soviet-era rides....if you value your life that is.

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Last week we had a free day in the capital and I did the one thing I told myself I would never do while overseas. I went to McDonald's. But I can explain...Georgian food, though nice is soooooooooo homogenous. It's the same thing day in and day out. Georgian meals always consist of a small plates of tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, bread, Georgian cheese, khasapuri (cheese pie), and other breaded products. Meat is rarely served, unless it's a sausage. I dream every night about sinking my teeth into a juicy t-bone steak only to wakeup and have a rude awakening. Anyways back to McD's. Thanks to the Bird Flu threat McD's no longer serves chicken products. Instead I had fries and a strawberry McFlurry. So good. And let me tell you something, going to McD's is like going to a gourmet deli. No fastfood atmosphere here like in the states. The prices are expensive, but it's the cleanest McD's I've ever been too. And compare it to other Georgian eateries it's heaven. It even comes complete with working, flushing toilets...no outhouses here ladies and gents! And yes the menu was in Georgian making the experience all the more memorable. "Me minda bigmac-i!"

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Now that I know my permanent site what are the chances of me making the whole 2 yrs here? Not one to jinx myself but pretty good provided that I can survive war and Bird Flu. To cue you in on Georgia's political situation, Georgia doesn't have the best relationship with it's neighbor up north (Putin). There are two rogue Georgian provinces on the border (S. Ossetia and Abkhazia) and there's a literal tug-of-war going on between Russia and Georgia over this situation. So much so that the threat of war is a possibility. Of course no one wants war, especially since Georgia is in the midst of rapid modernization. Reason I bring this up is that this past summer I understood the tension experienced by Georgians over this situation. My host family has roots in S. Ossetia and it is only 30min away from here. So if war breaks out most likely I'll be evacuated and shipped back home. But I figure if nothing goes on within the next few weeks it'll be put on hold until the following summer because who really wants to have war in the midst of a brutal Russian winter? Nyet! And so now you can see why this issue has been going on for so many years.

Now let's talk about Bird Flu. Ever wonder what it would have been like to have been in Asia during the SARS scare? Substitute that with Avian Flu and Georgia and you can see how it's going to be for me. Bird Flu is a major threat, especially since we border Turkey. Last year there was a proactive campaign to prevent it and thousands of chickens were slaughtered. It's expected to be the same scenario again this year and the probability of it hitting Georgia is very strong. I am now the proud owner of Tamiflu pills thanks to the US government- thanks Uncle Sam! I have been properly prepped and given materials to teach my students and the community about Bird Flu and what they can do to fight it. October is when it's expected to be the height of the scare so maybe I'll just dress up as a chicken for halloween and scare the locals...but then I might be killed.

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Heatwave. Temperatures continue to soar and I continue to imagine my body being wrung over a bucket and being able to fill that bucket with my...glistening. Ick I feel so gross everyday. Thank goodness I brought plenty of deoderant and wipes. Only good thing coming out of it is that I have a nice tan, but I'd gladly trade it in for a nice cold glass of water. Ice cold water. mmm.

Temperature has been so high that the mountains around Gori caught fire. Brushfires lasted fors days and made for an awesome view at night. Now it's just black, scorched land everywhere.

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Superstitions and Tales
-So I've got a few more to share with you. Knock on wood...huge here. Maybe it's a universal thing?
-Whistling- If you whistle in the house you're inviting bad luck inside. However if you're a woman and you whistle outside you're announcing that you're a tsudi gogo (bad girl).
-Perhaps the most traumatizing one I've heard is about gum. To deter kids from chewing gum in bed, parents tell them that if they do it, it will kill their mother. How traumatizing is that?!
-When kids lose their teeth, instead of hoping for money from the tooth fairy they pray to the sun to give them gold teeth.
-So the driving situation in Georgian can be labeled as chaotic and petrifying. Most drivers keep pictures of saints somewhere up front with them to protect them. You know you've made a huge mistake when the marshutkha (van) driver has the entire console covered with religious symbols. The more help he needs, the worse his driving is. And trust me, he's not the only one in that van praying for help.

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Swearing-In Ceremony

18 August I swore in as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I made it through 9 weeks of brutally intensive Pre-service training and I passed the language proficiency exam. The ceremony was held at the Rustaveli Theatre in Tbilisi. We had government officials from both the U.S. and Georgia, members of the communities we'll be working with, and host family members (new and old). After we swore-in Georgia's national dances and hymns were performed. Their traditional dancing is amazing...if I ever figure out how to upload video clips online you'll see why it is so cool! After the festivities the volunteers split up and we all went to our new homes in Georgia. Watch out Georgia, you've got 47 new Americans to contend with!

My new home is in Gori, which is extremely close to my training village. I've got a week or so to relax before I have to put together a summer camp for my new school. I'm thinking of doing a combination of English/Art/Sports camp.

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The summer here is sweltering. The temperature hovers around 40degreesC....that's friggin HOT! We've got no A/C, the power keeps shutting off and the only way to cool off is to guzzle an ice cream but that requires going outside...and no one is willing to make that sacrifice. Sweltering. But that's not taking the attention away from the impending winter. People are now starting to buy and stockpile firewood while the prices are still cheap. Since purchased wood hasn't been pre-chopped into small pieces, men spend days cutting it up. Literally all the streets are blocked because of stacks of wood waiting to be chopped up.

Success!

2006-07-22T06:29:00.001-05:00

Georgia is everything I expected it to be. How many Peace Corps volunteers can say that about their country? The people here are incredibly friendly and very warm. The landscape here is beautiful. There are mountains and rivers everywhere, which is a welcome change from sea-level Florida. Surprisingly, I've had an opportunity to do a lot of sightseeing here and to gain a better appreciation of Georgian history and culture. Gori for instance-home to Stalin. Everytime I walk into Gori, a massive statue of Stalin greets me in Stalin Square. On my downtime, I've also hung out on the steps of his childhood home, which is perfectly preserved and on display next to his museum.

There are 51 trainees in total, and we've been split up into groups of 5-6, with each group living in different villages. I'm living in Tiniskhidi, a small village outside of Gori where this internet cafe is conviently located. I'm in "Pre-Service Training" (PST) which is an intensive 9 weeklong program where we receive Georgian language training as well as technical training for our TEFL jobs. Intensive is the key word. I'm in school 5 days a week from 9-430 and a halfday on Saturday. Friday is a break from our routine, when all the trainees gather in Gori for Hub sessions, which consists of joint technical, medical, safety and security sessions. In our cluster sites, the last 2 weeks have been dedicated to our practicum- hosting and teaching summer school. We taught students in 6-9th grade. Next week we're hosting a summer camp. Between the 4 of us at our sites we have to plan, design and implement a summer camp for 20+ kids in our village.

Today we just found out where our permanent sites are! I'm moving .4km to Gori! As soon as we swear in as PC Volunteers on August 18, we'll move to our new sites where we'll be for the next two years.

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So do I think I can last two years here? I realized within the first 2 weeks in-country that was not a fair question. Between cultural immersion, cultural shock, and a bunch of other issues it became nearly impossible to think that far ahead. I take it day-by-day, week-by-week. It's hard. There have been days where I go 'what was I thinking joining up and moving half way around the world?' There have been some haaaaaaaaaaaard days. But I'm still here a month later. Now my outlook has surpassed meeting the day-by-day and week-by-week quota. Now I'm looking at surviving month to month which looks more and more feasible. Now that I've actually taught at the summer school, I feel like I have a purpose. I know what I'll be doing and I can breathe a little easier.

My Host family consists of 2 kids (6,8), their mother, 2 grandparents, and a great grandfather. It's very typical of Georgian families to have their extended families either living in the same house or at least the same family compound. I live in a large 2 story house with running water and electricity...no outhouse! My "shower" usually consists of a heated bucket bath, which I've come to love. If the pechi (small wooden stove) is lit, then I can take an actual shower, and even then a shower here is nowhere near what a shower back home is like. Just about everything we eat is freshly grown in the garden. Lots of soup, potatos, fruit, veggies, bread and very little meat. If we need to go shopping for food, usually we go to the bazaar which is always a fun adventure. Though I'll admit my bartering skills are really weak. Every Sunday I doing laundry- handwashing. It takes forever and it's hard, but you come to appreciate the little things you can do for yourself here. Your entire life in PST is so structured and confining that you have very little freedom to do anything on your own. I'm even itching to do some cooking, but it's impossible to do cook American or Spanish dishes because you can't find compatible ingredients here. Even so, the Georgian diet is very very different. They love their condiments- salt, sugar, mayo, butter, etc. Always readily available in massive quantities at meals. Salads and pizza and anything else you can imagine goes quite well with globs of mayo-mini cultural shock. My host family wants me to make a meal from back home, but theoretically the only thing I can do is rice and beans...the very thought of which freaks them out. They've got both, but they are prepared very differently and are never ever served together! I could suggest making fried chicken, but that would mean one less chicken in our chicken coop and I'm not ready for that step just yet. For pets, we've got 3 cows, a dog and lil chicks everywhere.

So what crazy adventures have I found myself in? Plenty. I just chalk it up to another day in Georgia. Everyday on my way back home I feel like the Pied Piper. Village kids follow me home and try to get me to play games, show them pictures, teach them english, etc. So usually I find myself at home giving 7 kids impromptu english lessons. Everyday around 530pm a herd of dairy cows makes its way past my home. Sometimes I come home late after running to the store for a snickers (yes we have snickers and m&ms!) and turn onto the road only to be met with an oncoming herd. Being bumped aside by cows as they trample by can be nervewrecking.

From my bedroom, I can see a church on the mountain opposite my home. It's on a peak and is visible from anywhere in the Gori area. It's Gori Jvari (Gori church). Its patron saint is Saint Giorgi, also the country's namesake. A few weeks ago, a group of us decided to hike up there after Saturday class. It took nearly 1.5hrs to hike up the mountain, but it was so well worth it. The view was amazing. It overlooked several villages and the town below. The church dates back to the 6th century and the artwork inside was very nice. In broken Georgian and Russian I was talking to the curator about it. Here nearly everyone is Georgian Orthodox and I'm really intrigued about their practices. Something else that was quite unexpected were the sheep sacrifical altars we stumbled upon...in use. I'll just leave it at that, though pics are available upon request.

I've also visited the Gori Fortress which is in the heart of Gori atop a large hill. The remaining structure dates back to the middle ages and dominates the landscape. Last weekend a group of us went to Borjomi, famous for its mineral water. Its a resort town, which was a favorite vacation spot for leaders during the Soviet era. It was really nice and well developed which was a much needed change from village life. Transition to village life has been a challenge. There is no anonymity. Everyone knows you as the American. No matter where you are, you'll get stares and random shouts of "Amerikeli" or "I love you America." Walking through Gori we actually had a group of boys follow us for 4 blocks yelling "America"and trying to get our attention. There is very little privacy here. At the same time though, I feel incredibly safe in my village. People are very warm and gracious and love when the American speaks Georgian- even if it's only a few words. Give a toast in Georgian and you're set for life here. The kids love to hang out with the Americans and after summer school they wait to get our autographs. Though jogging is really uncommon here and there are no gym facilities, there are plenty of other ways to keep in shape. People are always up for playing football anytime, anyplace and the lack of a car will do you wonders. Just to post this entry took a 50 minute trek.

To travel anywhere in Georgia, the favored mode of transportation are large minivans called Marshutkas...which brings me to the topic of culture shock.

There are 4 stages of culture shock
1. Unconscious incompetence: Honeymoon period (my first 2 weeks here)
2. Conscious incompetence: Coming to the gross realization of how much I stand out and how different our 2 cultures are (current state)
3. Unconscious competence: Start to actually fit in (maybe sometime next yr?)
4. Conscious competence: Total immersion (probably never)

Lessons I've learned along the way...

1. There are no pedestrian rights. There are no driving rules. Look and run with all your might if you don't want to be mowed down.
2. Bridenapping is a real phenomenon. Up until last year, kidnappings were classified as either for ransom or bridenapping. Recently, a new law outlawed bridenappings, but they still occur on a regular basis. I've heard of 2 since I've been here.
3. Environmental neglect. These are the realities of living in a developing nation. People litter everywhere. The amount of trash (streets, rivers, etc) is mindboggling.
4. Animal abuse/neglect- Probably the hardest thing I've had to face here. There are packs of stray dogs everywhere and rabies is very prevalent.
5. Food. Georgian food is extremely different...but usually really good. They use lots of oils here and salad dressing other than mayo is unheard of. Bread is offered at every meal. I've put myself on a no-bread diet along with most of the other trainees because it's too much. "Chame, chame!!" Eat! People shove so much food down your throat it's ridiculous...and that's not even touching the subject of supras.

Supras are Georgian feasts celebrated spur of the moment for any event. It consists of tons of food, lots of wine, toasts and dancing. It lasts for houuuuuuuurs- no exaggeration! It's a really crazy and chaotic celebration. It's a lot of fun though. And its at the supras where I learn traditional Georgian dances.

Though I'm halfway across the world, I'm not entirely cutoff from occasional reminders from home. First off PC has hooked me up with an international cell phone. Secondly, the 'it' tv show in Georgia, referred to by us as the 'Sexy Cowboy Ranch' is a dubbed over spanish novela that was playing back in the states 2 years ago. Everyone loves spanish soaps. The kids have memorized the opening theme and sing it all the time. So in my contribution to cultural exchange I'm teaching my host family spanish while I try to learn georgian. What else is on Georgian tv? Well we've got Georgian Idol and an exact replica of the Apprentice...except the boss has better hair. Other reminders of home include the shopping bags at the bazaar. They're reused bags that have been resold for a cheaper price. So there are plenty of bags from Rave and the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Also coca-cola has the market here tied up, meaning my addiction Fanta is readily available. Fanta here though tastes a lot better than back home-tangier making it all the more better. There's also been plenty of 'engrisms' spotted here. My favorite has to be a popular detergent called Barf and its slogan reads: "Barf=snow=white."

Mentally the first 3 weeks were exhausting for my psyche. I had the weirdest, craziest dreams. A lot had to do with finding bits of home here in Georgia and then having a rude awakening. Luckily though, that seems to be a passing phase. I'm in Georgia where there's hardly a dull moment. There are tons of supersitions here. For instance women don't sit on cement because it will make them infertile. No wonder we kept getting strange looks from the villagers when we would sit on the front steps of our school during break. Another is sitting at the corner of the table. It means you will marry late in life. Marriage in Georgia is a whole other topic. Women here get married really young. I'm an old maid compared to some of them. I've had several village women offer to find me a suitable Georgian man. Other superstitions include dropping utensils on the floor- means expect a visitor very soon. If you spill salt on the table, your father is going to get in a fight. To counteract it, you need pour water over the salt. So thus far, I'm an infertile American who will never get married. What are the things that keep me sane here? As long as I have my mp3 player, bottle of water and sunglasses I'll be all set...and a journal to keep track of my daily adventures.

One Month, Five Days In-Country

2006-07-22T06:29:00.000-05:00

So I spent last night writing up this awesome blog entry and now that I'm in the internet cafe it's been automatically translated into Georgian....Well good news is that I have less that one month of training left before going to my permanent site. We found out where we would be headed yesterday and I'm moving to Gori- birthplace of Stalin! Funny thing is that Gori is less than a mile from the village I live in now, Tiniskhidi. So life is okay! I'm going to mess around with my blog entry and try to retranslate it...

I Made it!

2006-06-14T20:00:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to let you know I made it to Staging! The experience has been great thus far and I'll be able to finally breath when I land in Georgia. The first three days are a recovery period and then our host families pick us up. I'm enjoying these luxury toilets while I can because where I'm going...well let's just say that the headlamp is going to serve a purpose.

Anxiously Awaiting

2006-06-10T16:31:00.000-05:00

I don't know if its just me or if this is common amongst other Peace Corps Volunteers, but I feel totally at ease with the prospect of going to Georgia. I'm not filled with apprehension...other than the food factor. I'm just at ease and am looking forward to my time there.

So here's the rundown my friends:
Tuesday 8am I fly to Philly for PC orientation aka Staging
Thursday 650pm We fly out of JFK
Friday 8am (time adjusted) Arrive in Vienna and take advantage of the 13.5 hr layover to explore the city
Saturday 350am I fly into Tbilisi, Georgia---I don't even get to see the country as I fly in!!

Then spend the weekend recovering from jetlag before being split up into training groups and staying with our host families in various locations around the country.

The Communication factor:
I'm taking the laptop and at some point I will have net access- probably only in the cities/towns with internet cafes. Email me! I may not get frequent access, but I will not be entirely cutoff. I would love to hear about what's going on with you, latest news/gossip, whatever is on your mind, etc.

Regarding snail mail, my address will be:

Maritza Carmona, PCT
c/o Peace Corps
P.O. Box 66
Tbilisi, 0102
GEORGIA

Well friends, I will try to update from Philly to let you guys know how things are going, and I will update whenever possible from Georgia.

Origins

2006-06-10T01:06:00.000-05:00

It's amazing what can occur in a year's time. Last summer, I found myself at a crossroads debating what my future after graduation would be. Was I going to go immediately to graduate school- if so what/where would I study? Was I going to forego grad school and get a full-time job- again with the what/where? In July, I began to look seriously into the Peace Corps program, but a two year commitment was a little heavy for me to digest. Despite the initial hesitancy, months went by and the idea continued to grow on me. In the fall I met with a recruiter and continued looking into PC resources and online groups. Finally in December, I decided to apply. In January, I had my interview, and by April I received medical clearance. Now my adventure is about to begin as I leave next week for Georgia. I will be part of the PC Educational program, and will work as a TEFL instructor in secondary schools.

As I anxiously await for 13 June to arrive, I can't help but feel that this is just one in a series of great adventures that await me! I've already semi-passed my first test, by managing to reduce the belongings I'm taking into two bags!