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!