Blog, June 26^th, 2014

Hello, My Faithful Readers:

Today marks 2 months in-country, only 25 more to go!

I have so much to share and I hardly know where to begin. So, let me start with the most important happening of the last five days, and that is “I got my hair cut in Georgia.”  Of course, I am virtually “pulling your leg”, but it was a big deal to me, and to all the PCV – looking good J. To make this long story short “the saga of the hair cut” – it turned out GREAT (but could have been shorter) and it cost 5 GEL, which is equal to about $3.50 USD.  In Georgia the majority of the women have long hair, so my request for short hair is a strange thing in the Georgian hair salon. At another time I can give you the blow-by-blow of the event, but for now onto the events of the past days.

When I last left you I was getting ready to find out where I was going to be posted (permanent site) for the next two years (I still can’t get my head around that). The location is in the EAST, in the Kakheti Region. A town called “Sagarejo.”  I want to share with you how we (PCV’s) found out where we were going to go. The PC has a amazing ceremony to make the announcement. Because there are so many of us (57), we went outside to the courtyard and found a large map of Georgia on the ground. It was configured (outlined) with a red string of beads that outlined the shape of the country and inside the red beads were the names of the different regions on large white paper (anchored with rocks- as it was windy). The PCV’s had to stand outside of the red beads as “officially” we are not yet a part of PC Georgia. We had to be invited into the country during this ceremony.

Now, in additional to all the PCV, we had number of other people standing with us. These are the folks that have helped us get to this point. For example, our language and culture coaches, the education facilitators, the office administrative staff, Peace Corps Staff from Tbilisi and I am sure I am missing additional groups, but we were a cast of more than 100, I am sure. The ceremony begins with each volunteer selecting an envelope. We are not allowed to look at the name on the envelope that we select. At that point, one of the volunteers turns over the envelope and calls out the name on the envelope, which is of course the name of another volunteer. The envelope is opened and the name of the region, town or village, is called out and the volunteer is then invited into Georgia and takes his/her place on the name of the region inside the red beaded line. This continues until all (57) of us are placed into our regions within Georgia. It is very exciting waiting for your name to be called. Also, the anticipation as to finally knowing where you are going to be living for the next two years is overwhelming. As this map is 3D, we get to see other PCV’s who will also be living in our region or towns/villages. People are running around taking pictures, some are crying, hugging, laughing, high 5’s – even jumping up and down. I don’t know, maybe this took a couple of hours.  It was a memory that I won’t soon forget and I am so thankful that I was able to be part of this.

I don’t know how, but after all this excitement we all went out to a restaurant to eat lunch. All the while everyone was texting or calling folks backs home to let them know the outcome.  Going back to PC headquarters after lunch (as we still had a full afternoon of classes to attend), it seemed different. I think up until that point all the preparation over the last 8 or 9 weeks seemed to us like a goal that was far away; and yet faced with the reality of the name of your new home and the information on your new host family; well, reality was pushing in. We were now “officially” invited into Georgia. PCV always have so much to talk about, there is rarely a quiet moment; however, the level of conversation was higher than I’ve ever heard it. There are just so many of us it was hard to connect with everyone to find out their details. It was a day that I won’t soon forget. It will rank up there with other great moments of my life.

The day ended and we were all exhausted. I know many people didn’t sleep the night before anticipating the news. I could hardly sleep when we returned home as my mind was just filled with more questions and now with even more anticipation.  The next day, after Georgian class in the morning, we assembled our luggage and boarded the “Marsh” for the Supervisors Conference. It was suggested, that since we were going to spend some time with our new host family, after the Supervisors Conference, we should take any luggage (winter clothing) that would not be needed with us. This would make the final transition a little easier in mid-july. We then drove to the venue for the Supervisors Conference. This is where we were going to meet our Directors and or the folks we would be working with while teaching in Georgia.

We had a caravan of maybe 7 Marsh’s and a Marsh which just held the luggage. It was about a 90 minute ride to the venue. It was a beautiful hotel on a lake. A resort hotel that, now wait for it, had REAL showers J. Here is the URL – if you want to check it out www.bazaletilake.ge  Bazaleti Resort Lake Hotel.  I was roomed with three other female volunteers. At first, I was alarmed at this; however, the rooms were situated so that I had one other person in my room (a room within a room)  - so it was Ok. We had a kitchen, not that we needed it and a living room, balcony and two bathrooms (fully equipped).  I was so tired that I didn’t hear anyone, but it was a real treat to have a bathroom on the same floor and also nearby so I didn’t have to plan in advance when I needed to use the facilities.  Dinner was very American/European, but of course they also had Georgian type foods. It was nice to have a change. The weather was beautiful so that sitting outside on the terrace was joyful.

From Friday late afternoon until Saturday late afternoon we were in conference with our new Directors and/or counterparts from the regions we would be working in. The sessions were done in both English and Georgian, so it was a slow process. We had a little time to become acquainted, but the real purpose was to go over the documents that were completed by the folks we would be working with. They had prepared, in different categories what their needs were and also a wish list of what they were hoping to accomplish. It was a bit overwhelming, as my new Director spoke very little English and I spoke very little Georgian. We did have translation assistance, but planning out the next two years was a bit daunting.

One point that particularly un-nerved me was the fact that my new Director wanted me to organize a summer camp before classes started in September. As I would not be arriving in Sagarejo until July 19^th, or so, I was concerned as to when I was going to plan this? The Director wanted the camp to run for two weeks and be open for two hours each day. The students would be from the 6^th to 9^th grades. Ok, now I was really un-nerved.  I would have help, one of the other English teachers; however, since I didn’t know the students and having to entertain children in that age span, well – I hope you can understand my terror.  It was unclear how many students would attend, but possibly 30-35.  This all remains to be seen, as I am sure that with help and communication we will be able to structure some kind of program; but, wow and as Gleason once said “and away we go.”   I’ve found with the Peace Corps it is mostly “hitting the ground running.”  There is not much preliminary or easing in, you just get to jump in. Ok, again – I will do my best. The language will also be a factor – Ah, there will be so many factors but overall I feel that I am really needed and wanted here, so people are going to want the programs to work and be successful and they will find ways to help. I plan to once again “Be a needy person” and ask and request for help. This will be on-going so, My Faithful Readers, you will be hearing more about this.

The conference lasted from Friday afternoon and Saturday morning/early afternoon. More meetings and conversations, lunch and then we headed out to meet our host families. The PC arrange for BIG buses (like the tourist bus) to take us to where we could connect with the next leg of our journey. We all traveled with our Directors as they were heading to our new town. I got on the bus to Tbilisi with another volunteer and our Directors. We traveled to Tbilisi, but not into the city. I am told that Tbilisi is very big; so we arrived at the Marsh hub where Marsh’s were waiting for points East and Sagarejo is one of the points East. Don’t ask me how, but we did manage to get all luggage into the Marsh and away we went.

Initially I was told that Sagarejo was either a 10, 15, 20 or 40 minutes away from Tbilisi; however, in Georgia what is often said does not equate to reality. It was really a 45 minute ride to Sagarejo. Let me tell you that we were going very fast and there was no traffic, so it may end up being longer. No way of knowing until I can test all this out myself. However, travel to Tbilisi is a very do-able adventure for a day trip. It cost 3GEL, which is about $1.75 USD (one way).  As tired as I was, I can say that I was also exhilarated. The Marsh was packed as every seat and then some was taken, so I didn’t really have any privacy with my thoughts. We passed fruit stand after fruit stand with watermelons galore.  We passed some of the oddest architecture that I felt didn’t belong where it was. Always on a marsh you are stopping letting people on and off. It was a ride.

We finally arrived in Sagarejo and my Director pointed to her car. Her husband was waiting for us. We loaded the car with my luggage and started for the home of my new host family…..I will leave you here as I don’t want to over tax you with more than four pages of my adventures or mis-adentures J Over the weekend I will begin with travel and arrival at my new host family and Sagarejo!

All the Best, Catherine, G14 – 6/26/14

Note: The contents of this blog are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps.