A brief time in Bizzaro-Georgian, and creativity issues

Happy Holidays folks,

Time to update this one from the LAST holiday I posted about, Thanksgiving. 

After thanksgiving I had a conference in Kobuleti (about 30 minutes from Batumi) at a fantastic hotel called the Georgian Palace. The rooms were nice and all, but what really made it grade A was the fact that it served bacon in the morning. Real bacon! I hadn't had this since I left America, and it was wonderful to experience it again. It was like running into your best friend on the street that you haven't seen in ages and realizing how much you really missed them. And then being ripped apart again, knowing you wouldn't see then again for at least 20 more months. Dang it. 

Plate full of Bacon. I had to take advantage of the situation.

We talked at the conference about doing grant writing, which I'm excited to do in order to help my village and community. The problem is coming up with a solid idea though; most of the things that would really help are more expensive than the $3,000 dollars or so that I'll be able to receive through USAID. But hopefully working with my counter part teacher and director I'll be able to find something that will have value. 

My counterpart teacher Irina and I working on our project

Working with some other PCV's and their counterpart teachers on Project Design Management (PDM)

Being that guy who turns a serious picture into a calendar spread

Now I've been back in school teaching for a bit at my site, and I've been trying very hard to combat the culture of cheating that they have here. Whenever we have tests I just get super pissed that the kids here will just tell each other what the answers are, and look on other peoples tests. I have gone so far as to make 5 different copies of tests, talk about the morality of cheating (basically that it steals time from the smart kids) and how it won't help them get into university (the kids have to take a national exam to get in, which doesn't allow cheating. At least so I'm lead to believe). I also patrol the class like a hawk and take kids tests who are cheating and give them a grade of "1". Here in Georgia a "2" is the lowest grade possible, on a scale of 0-10. so to get a one brings them great shame. I get some some bad looks, but I honestly don't care. I even told them "Hey, I know you can't help yourselves but to cheat, so why not at least try to be creative about it? if I can't tell you're cheating then you've at least learned something". 

A lot of it has to do with being brought up in an education system that doesn't promote creativity and originality  Most of the "learning" is done through strait memorization, not application of concepts. It starts at a young age I found. I taught the 1st grade class three words the other day, and asked them to simply make their own drawings of each concept. I helped them out by drawing on the board. Okay, I know I suck at drawing, but the concept at least gets across. 

Davinci I am not. More of a Dali. 

And then I went around to look at their drawings......

Cat Rabbits are awesome

Hmmmm....

Trend?

So yeah all 15 drawings looked like this and that's what I am trying to change which is tough when most of their classes aren't designed to promote creativity. But hey if it were easy, Peace Corps wouldn't be here. 

Thanksgiving in Georgia

Hello Friends,

Panorama of our thanksgiving celebration 

   Apologies for not posting anything since the great wine harvest. It's been kind of a busy time since then, and I haven't really the chance to update on what's been going on.

Scott pouring wine from a 10 liter gas can in batumi in a random hotel shower

I've been the regional administer for my region here in Georgia  and we had 39 schools and about 630 kids participate in the first level. we're bringing 200 kids to the regional level in batumi december 2nd, so that's going to be lots of fun. (and by fun I really mean chaos, it'll be awesome) Nationwide this is the largest project that Peace Corps Georgia has ever been involved in, and I'm happy to have played a role in it.

School is in full swing, and every day is a challenge. I'm slowly making progress in getting the teachers that I work with to stop teaching strait from the book, and in fact one of them even lets me write my own tests to cover what we've been teaching (all hand written, which takes a long time). I don't think I'm making much progress in the cheating realm, but I sure am having fun with it. I make 5 different versions of tests, so when they look on each others paper they aren't able to directly copy like what they're used to doing. In one of my classes where I gave a test, there was one boy who figured it out (props to him for sure), but instead of devising a creative way to get the answers, he literally stood up from the back of the class and walked along the front row looking for the answer. I said "rashwebi tcho" (what are you doing boy) and he looked at me as though there were no problems. I promptly ripped his test up to him saying "Mas (teacher), ratom ar gekvars megobrobas? (why don't you like friendship)". Here there is a culture where friendship and relationships always trump personal success and competitiveness, and so it's a challenge to show them the values of western education in this regard.

Friends at All-vol

Last week we had our in service training near the capital of Tbilisi, and it was a good time. I learned some good slang and learned that the language has about 36 different ways to conjugate one verb in one tense, thus affirming that I will never be mastering this language. This was kind of a Zen moment for me, it calmed me down. I also learned some etymology of the words that we use here. Because Georgia has been occupied or influenced by so many different cultures over its history, they have taken many words from other cultures. The language remains Georgian in the way they conjugate and use these words (ie, the word gets georgian-ized). Georgians use the Greek words for things such as church, music, theater, book, and history. They use old Persian words for many, comrade, wise, body, expensive and suffering. They use new Persian words for things like city, balcony, garden, practice, factory, and window. They use Arabic words for things such as coffee, lemon, pants, doctor, photo, people, thinking. Russian words for table, slippers, nothing, hello, brother, and stove. and finally English for words like message, news, priority, teenager, relaxation and event. Pretty neat! So even though I know I'll never master the language, I do take comfort in knowing the words and phrases I learn might be useful in another culture.

I also got elected to the safety and security committee for Peace Corps Georgia, so I'll get to scare all the incoming G13's next year during their training about the various dangers that are present here, so I'm both honored for that and excited for the opportunity. I also get to help edit a security book that involved talking about really scary things like sexual assault and disasters, and then inserting the most adorable pictures of baby animals in alongside with it to soften the blow.

When we weren't working, we were playing really hard. that involved a LOT of drinking the wine which we had made at our respective families, playing card games, football (american), frisbee, singing songs, and playing the board game settlers. Settlers is fun because it involves an intense amount of shit talking, so it's kinda awesome.

Thanksgiving Fanta

I ate so much I started to sweat from the effort 

Ambassador, serving us yummy food at thanksgiving 

The final day we were there we had thanksgiving dinner, which was prepared by some hard working volunteers in our group. It had everything: Turkey, two types of stuffing, mac & cheese, gravy, and pumpkin pie. My good friend Sarah Needham ate so much that she unbuttoned her pants to allow for more room, and then got "food drunk" and decided she had to change clothes into something more billowy. We had a great surprise guest: The Ambassador and his wife came by and helped to serve the food. They're a great bunch. I felt a little awkward because I was wearing my pajamas, but I had seen them before dressed well, so they were cool with it.

Now I'm working for a few weeks and then I go to Project Design Management, which will allow me to be eligible to get SPA grants and start working on some projects around here (get ready for some solicitations rich American friends!). I also heard rumor that the hotel we're going to has REAL bacon, something I haven't had for 7 months. I'm so excited!

The Great Wine Harvest of 2012

 Peace Corps life continues to be an adventure. Fortunately it hasn't gotten too cold yet, which I'm very thankful for. Some of my fellow colleagues are very high up in the mountains, and I've heard reports of snow. My approach to whenever the family talks about winter is to say "shhhh, be quiet or you'll wake it up". Denial is a wonderful, powerful tool.

At school we are struggling to learn grammar. The TLG who was here before me did a great job in getting the kids to learn a fair amount, but when it comes to grammar they still have trouble. (to be fair though, I have a lot of trouble with Georgian grammar.... but I haven't been studying it for 11 year like some of these kids). The main stumbling block these days is the difference between present simple (I work at school) and present continuous (I am working at school). every day we review, and every day they seem to forget. Who knows what will happen when I give a test on October 9th... well, I have an idea, but it isn't a good thought.

On Sunday my host father announced that the white grapes were ready to be harvested, so all the able bodied people in my family (5 of us including me) set about the task of picking grapes, and hauling them to the storage area to be processed into sweet sweet Georgian wine (it'll actually probably be dry white when it's done, but you get the idea). After about 4 hours of work, we picked 1142 pounds worth of grapes, which should make about 650+ liters of wine total. The wine is meant mainly for the family, so you can imagine what my winter is going to be like... oh dang it, I said its name. Please don't wake up!

After the first 30 minutes 

Final Haul 

Wine is a spiritual experience here in Georgia (pun intended) and before we were allowed to start the harvest, or start the pressing of the grapes, we all had to cross ourselves three times, and my host father muttered something indecipherable that I can only assume was a blessing.

My Host father Malkhazi harvesting grapes

Working the field. Note the sweet Russian hat

Me working the field 

They were talking about this picture for hours 

My host mother Medicho 

My main contribution to the pressing was being tall, and so my job was to lift the bucket of grapes that my host brother filled up into the grinding machine, while my host father cranked away. Neither Tedo nor I were allowed to turn the machine crank at all because we "weren't professionals". It took us til about 8:30 to finish, so the total work time was 9 hours. It wasn't the most restful Sunday ever, but I definitely appreciated the cultural experience, and my host dad was very happy to have another man helping out with the work.

yes, this machine required a professional 

This weekend I'm going to Borjomi, which is famous for its mineral water. Should be a good time!

Why you don't want to have an exorcism in school

School started this week, and I am happy to not have to look for creative ways of killing time now in my tiny village of 145 people. It also means less drinking during the day, which has vastly increased my productivity (read: I answer emails on time now).

The first day of school was the cluskerf@$k you'd imagine it to be. the director introduced me which was nice, and I got to see the new students (1st graders) stand in a row to be gawked at by everyone else at the school and then have to suffer the humiliation of reciting a poem in front of everyone. As you might anticipate, one boy started crying, and then tried to hide his shame by crouching behind his friend. It was more funny than it should have been.

I'm supposed to be observing for the first two weeks, but with my tiny village and small school, that doesn't make much sense since I already know what teachers I'm going to work with, and what classes I'm teaching. For the most part the classes are going well. When students act up or talk while someone else is talking, I make them stand in front of the class and repeat what the last person said, and then make them form the statement into a question. Social shame is powerful motivator in any country it turns out.

The best time I've had so far was in my 9th grade class when the students were talking about exercises, but they kept saying the word exorcise instead. So I had to stop the class and explain that exercises are things we do in class or a gym, and an exorcise is something that you do when the priest comes to your house to remove demons. Given the highly religious and superstitious society I live in now, you might imagine the look of horror they had on their face when they grasped the meaning of their error.

probably not what my students meant to say when talking about their school day 

Last weekend I went to Prometheus cave near Kutaisi, and it was really neat. they had recently renovated it and they had really cool lights along with classical music playing through the entire ordeal, ending with a boat ride out of the cave at its end. My friends host father knew the guide, and so a tour that was supposed to cost 10 GEL ended up being free, as I saw no money changing hands at all. The following morning I was awoken by 2 hours of constant bells ringing as part of a political rally for the elections coming up on October 1st. That could prove to be an interesting time for anyone who's been paying attention to the news.

A rock in the shape of monkey

Me and the gang in the caves

This weekend I'm going to Batumi to have drinks with the new American ambassador, so that should be fun.

How love makes the Marshutka ride bearable

Okay I know, it's odd for an unmarried 30 year old to even approach the topic of love, it's not something I have the greatest experience with. And don't worry, this isn't going to be about me as much as a reflection of what I've seen here in Georgia about the topic.

I was on a 9 hour marshutka  (this of a minivan but holding about 25-30 people crammed together) ride from my village to Tbilisi this weekend and in the seats next to me there were some Russian couples that were either newlyweds or just eloping, I couldn't tell, but they couldn't keep their hands off of each other. In fact, they spent pretty much the entire time making out and dry humping while we made the trek. During the experience I was pretty pissed because hey, when you're stuck on a ride for that long you just become angry at the world, and seeing other people happy is like eating a spoon of salt after life has kicked you in the teeth. But once I got off, and the irrational rage subsided, I reflected upon the situation and thought what a remarkable power the commitment to another person had. It seems that it can really turn a terrible situation into something that is palatable, if not fun (though honestly I can't think of a marshutka ride ever being fun)

What a marshutka looks like, minus too many people. and the smell. 

I completely understand the evolutionary purpose for love; to keep the species going. But I wonder too if perhaps it might be some sort of psychological mechanism too in order to help people deal with the stresses of an unpredictable and often harsh world. In Georgia there are many hardships; dangerous food conditions, faulty power, bad roads, extreme weather conditions, early death, etc etc. Yet I see the people who are in romantic relationships smiling and finding joy in their lives, however tough it may be. I know that people who are single tend to die earlier and to have depression and a list of other problems, and I wonder if it's simply because they aren't receiving the benefit of having someone to share their experiences with. It's a tough thing to witness something amazing/absurd and not be able to know that someone else has had the same experience. In Georgia they get married very young, like 15-20, and while I know tradition and religion have a role in this, I wonder too if it isn't perhaps a subconscious mechanism to deal with the tough living conditions that many people face. After all, if you have to eat flavorless macaroni for 9 meals strait, isn't it easier to have someone else with you doing it?

And now for something completely different.

To celebrate a recent, rare shower. 

Tbilisi trip, hours of nothingness.

You know, it's a good thing that I spent the past few years living in a small town in North Carolina. because had I not I don't think i would quite have been prepared for living in a 45 house village in Georgia the way that I am. There's just hours  upon hours of nothingness that I have to try and occupy. I read books, and I play computer games, and I go onto the internet as much as my crappy connection will allow.

two weekends ago I went to Tbilisi to hang out for the weekend, and I was able to see Batman with a whole bunch of other volunteers and that was fun. It was even in English! The sound system was pretty bad though, and no one could really tell what was being said by most of the characters. I had thought it was just my already poor hearing getting worse; that this was just my new reality. It was comforting to know though that I wasn't the only one having this problem though, so that made me feel good. I walked around the town a bit, even ate at a McDonalds. Here are some pictures from the trip, these are from old town. The first one is a panorama of the old town from a bridge, showing multiple churches. The second is of a statue in near the Jewish temple. if you look closely in his right hand, you'll see that he's holding a drinking horn, which is something that is typically filled with wine and chugged at supras.

Village life is slow, but I don't mind it yet. I tend to leave my room at about 10:00am, go downstairs, eat breakfast, and then just BS with my host mom for a bit. then I go upstairs and play on computer, read, and take a nap til about 4:00, when we have lunch, then I go up to my room, play computer, read, and take another nap until it's around 9-10, when we sit down to have dinner and drink some wine. Oh I also have a super cute kitten at our house named Gary, which I play with and try to feed him something other than bread (which is what they usually feed him here).

Gary the cat, sleeping on my bed. 

Gary and Bhuta, my very large dog. the dog is afraid of the cat, but not wolves or buses. 

The other day my host father took me out driving to see an old 12th century stone bridge called Dandelo bridge. It was in pretty good shape, and honestly I was just thankful to get out of the house and village, even if it were just for a short period of time. We took pictures, and watched the water flow, then got back in the car and came back home. it was the most excitement that I had in days.

Me on the bridge 

Teacher work days start up next week for school, and this Friday I'm going to Batumi to meet with some other volunteers about summer camp (I'm doing a village Olympics, which should be interesting to see if anyone shows up), and then I'm also having a meeting about being a part of coordinating a national spelling bee (in English). So at least I have some things to look forward to. I have no idea whatsoever as to what I am actually going to do during the teacher work days other than review the new books we are using this year, and drink coffee and pretend to understand what the other folks are talking about.

So yeah, this is my life now, with the occasional spattering of Cha-cha (moonshine) mixed in at random intervals.

Why the dangerous things are just more fun to do.

After a week or so of living in my host village, and counting the 23 houses and rows of corn (I got up to 145 before I got sick of that activity), my family took me to Batumi to stay with some of their relatives. It was a good break, and I was excited to see the city with the company of locals.

Waiting for the Marshutka 

The first day here I bought some train tickets, and then we just hung out after  along supra where we mixed half a glass of vodka with half a glass of beer.  At night we walked on the blvd that is right beside the black sea. My host sister then decided that it was time to take some pictures, so we practiced doing our georgian faces (serious) and then American faces (smiling). See below for details.

Goergian face

American Face

The following day we went to go swimming in the black sea, which wasn't possible the previous day due to thunderstorms. So we made our way via the #31 marshutka to a spot that the locals knew that was a bit outside of the city that was essentially an abandoned soviet pier, complete with rusted out moors and everything that one could want for a good time. the thing was about 20 feet high, and we each took turns running and jumping off the end. My host sister Kristina decided it was picture time again, and she got some pretty sweet shots of me jumping off the thing.  The black sea is extremely polluted, but I did my best not to swallow too much water, and it had the added benefit of being much warmer than the river that I had been swimming in at my permanent site in Tsoniarisi. One of the kids I was with couldn't remember my name, so he started going through a list of Georgian names like Tedo, Nado, georgi, etc. finally I told him that if he was going to call me these things, then I was going to start calling him Rhianna, and magically he remembered my name.

Nothing like this would happen in america. Such a structure would be closed and condemned well before the rust starts to set in. That's why the kids play so many video games, we never let them take any risks or have any adventures. I saw really small kids taking the plunge, and they certainly weren't any worse for wear.

Note the rusty pilings 

Hanging from rusty structure. glad I got my tetanus shot 

Jumping off a dangerously high pier 

After we came back from swimming we went to go and watch my other host sisters play rehearsal, and I had no idea what the heck any of them were saying, but it was pretty cool to get to sit there and watch them perfect their craft in a smoke filled, excessively hot room. and of course afterwards I was asked to give a piano concert, so that was fun. Also I got to eat my first Adjaran Khatapuri, which is in the shape of a boat (since we're by the sea), and has an egg on it (to symbolize the sun). No, it's not the first raw egg I've eaten since being here.

I go back to Tsoniarisi tomorrow for a few days, then I head into Tbilisi for the weekend to see friends and check my mail. It's kind of wild that I have to travel across an entire country to check my mail, but it is what it is (or in georgia, esse aris ras aris). All in all a great few days.

My craptastic (literally) last 24 hours. (or, don't eat the yellow melons)

So, I'm supposed to be leaving for my permanent site tomorrow morning, and I don't see how that's going to happen. I'm sitting in my room right now typing this, which is quite an accomplishment considering what went on the past 24 hours, but nothing is packed as of yet.

My clustermates decided to hold an American supra last night in honor of our host families which consisted of pizza, pasta salad, and real salad (well, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, and tomatoes). It started out super awkward because we had made all this food for hours, and our host families just basically sat there and stared at it. We kept bringing out food but no one would eat it. I ate a huge portion of yellow melon (think of a cantaloupe, the outside was similar), and then we started toasting to various things and drinking some pretty rank wine. but it was so awkward with no one eating or talking that that was all we could do. Then my LCF (Naili) said that I needed to stand up and sing, so I proceeded to sing the national anthem, Shenandoah, and Danny boy, which in retrospect were not exactly party songs. then other volunteers stood up and sang songs, which were all met with polite applause. Finally we just gave up and drank, and then somehow it turned into a massive photo session. My host sister Mary took 64 pictures in the span of 15 minutes, it was impressive. I walked home in the dark (which was super scary) and went to bed around 11:00.

At 4:00am I was awoken to the sound of a super intense storm, and rain hitting me even though my bed is about 12 feet from the nearest window. the storm was so bad that it had blown open all the windows in the house and everything was getting wet. On top of that my stomach was making some terrible sounds which I originally chalked up to being the usual diarrhea that accompanies a night of drinking. I battened the hatches, and went back to bed. It looked like bombs were going off though, and the power was out, so we had this weird affect of going from pitch black to completely visible. I imagine someone suffering from video game seizures would have a relapse.

Then this morning the power was out, and many volunteers reported structural damage to their houses (like, the roofs blowing away). myself, I was busy in the family outhouse trying to master the technique of taking a massive poop of liquid and throwing up at the same time. Apparently the melon I ate was of poor quality, and I can now say I've had my first food poisoning experience as a peace corps volunteer. It got to the point where I was crapping out the water I had drank not even 5 minutes ago, and as I told the doctor, I didn't know how I could keep doing this since there wasn't any poop to be pooped any more. I went to sleep and have been sleeping most of the day, missing out on a chance to see Gina one last time before we depart, and also missing the farewell dinner. At least now I don't feel entirely like death, so I'll take it. So if you ever go to Georgia, be very weary of eating the yellow water melon from the Kakhetian region during the summer. I know I will from now on. Now I have to figure out how to pack all my stuff.  

Preparing for the next phase: Tsoniarisi

So I'm finally coming up to the end of my pre-service training. 11 weeks of working about 11 hours a day, 6 days a week. it reminds me of my time when I had a real job back in the states. I feel comfortable with basic verbs now, and can speak in future, present simple, past progressive, and past simple tense. I no longer go on long conversational rants about how I have 20 pens and that I live with 50 cats, but I don't know how much beyond that point I am. On friday morning I'll be shipping out to my permanent site for the next two years, a small village called tsoniarisi. It has about 850 people in it, and the school that I'll be teaching at has about 145 kids. the village of Tsoniarisi used to be a communist collective farm, so now actually no one lives in the village, it is instead comprised of 5 small villages that circle the former farming central, and I have yet to learn their names.

My new village is known for two things: a big tank that stalin gave them after WWII, and for good tasting water. here is a picture of the tank

Kids playing on the tank

And here is the view from out my window (high mountains, and a river. not bad.):

Finally here is a nice picture of a big water fall in the closest village to mine that has a PC volunteer in it:

I've had a good time living in Khotashini, I had a great host family with some nice (though gossipy) younger kids who actually spoke english very well. I don't know when I'll be back to visit them, my cluster mates keep saying that we'll be back in october, but I think that might be a bit of an assumption considering how hard it is to travel around this country, despite its small size.

I have internet now too, which is really good, so I'm looking forward to being able to update my blog on a more regular basis. I know I went awhile without saying anything, but the combination of how poor I am plus the very busy schedule we had in PST made it difficult to update. I'll have about a month off now before I have to start planning for my summer camp, where I'm probably going to have a sports camp depending on the weather. Stay tuned for more!

The best business meeting ever.

So as part of our community project we got together to teach a class on using computers, meant to be geared towards the business men of our community. So of course we had 4 house wives and 9 children in our audience. We were supposed to start the meeting at 4:00, but because of where I am, we started at 4:30. We had one computer with internet access and then as we started the class we had a small electrical fire that we had to deal with. it left a scorch mark on the wall, so we can now truely say that we've left our mark on the computer. Then as we were presenting we had a fair amount of bees enter the class, which made it interesting to try to present. We then had all the cmputers beeping at us because they were over heating. But at least we got to eat cake and have coffee at the end of it.

I've been a part of a lot f business meetings in my past, but I must say that this was by far the most entertaining one that I've been a part of. We're going to be presenting another class today on the same subject matter, and we're hoping that it'll be a little smoother than the last one.

Oh, if you're interested in seeing the website that we've put together to help the local people sell their goods, you can check out the website we made: http://atskuricoop.wordpress.com/

All else is well, I'd upload some pictures to this posting but I'm typing this at the school so I don't have access to my picture files. hopefully I'll be able post pctures on the next posting. my dad is supposed to be sending me my debit card soon too, which will mean more regular internet access.

Week 3 of PST

Hey everyone! I'm into week 3 (of 11) of my Pre-Service Training (PST), and boy it sure is a lot of work. My day consists of waking up around 4:00am thanks to the rooster that lives outside my window, and then waiting about 20 minutes for he and his flock of hens to migrate to the yard to feed, and then falling asleep till about 7:00 or so.

Roberto the Rooster

After that I get up and head off to school where I teach classes in the morning, and then I go to Language class as well. then I take my 40 minute walk back to the house where I do about 3 hours of homework and lesson planning, an hour of drinking wine, and then it's bed time. I'm looking forward to the time after PST when I'll have more time to myself. 

My school in Atskuri

(movie of the school bathroom)

This weekend I'm going to Ozargetti, which is about 45 miles away from the black sea, for the purpose of Job Shadowing an existing volunteer. It's going to be about an 8 hour trip, so I'm not looking forward to that too much, but it'll be nice to get to see a new area of the country. Next week I have my sight placement interview, so I'm looking forward to finding out where I will be spending the next 2 years of my life. Given the kindness of the people here I'm not too worried about any particular location, but It'll be daunting not having my cluster mates around me where I can see them every day.

Me, LCF Naili, Scott, Kayla, Drew, and Nichole, My clustermates

 

Internet usage is very limited for me at the time being, I'm signing on about once every 10 days (kind of like how often I shower now), but I will try to keep the blog updated as much as possible. Hope all is well in the US! 

Castle on the way home