Blog, June 29, 2014
Hello, My Faithful Readers:
At we started up the mountain I was getting
concerned as to the distance we were traveling up the mountain. I kept thinking
about how far we were going away from the center of town and yet we kept going
up the mountain. Finally, after maybe two or three minutes or so the car made a
right hand turn onto another road, off the main road. A few seconds later the
car stopped and I knew we had arrived.
My host family (grandmother, mother, sister and
brother) came out to welcome me along with the dog, cat and chickens. My host
father was working, so I would meet him later. Everyone was hugging and saying :
My Director and her
husband were saying good-by, and then I knew that I was really on my own. I was then taken to my room, which was on the
second floor. I don’t know why, but many houses in Georgia have the stairs to
the second floor on the outside of the house.
We all took a piece of my luggage, and there was a lot of it. We
Americans have a lot of stuff. My room is lovely. The walls and ceilings are in
perfect condition. This is unusual as many of the homes I have been in have walls
that appears to have been water soaked, as well as the ceilings appear the same
way. My room has two windows; however, there are no screens. When I looked out
the window I had a full view of the mountain. It felt like I could touch it. I
fell in love immediately at what I was looking at. I thought that I should
place my desk by the window but I don’t think I would get anything done. I have a bed, table and a chair, a nightstand
and a wardrobe. The floors are wood and the floor seems to slant down a little.
Nothing that is too bad. The size of the room would allow me to get a
comfortable chair and maybe another table so that I can put some of my “Stuff”
on. The ceiling must be 12-15 feet high (nice to look at, but it may be hard to
heat). The bed was neatly made with
brand new linens on it. Also, there was a comforter that matched the linens. It
was so clean and bright. It felt very comfortable and welcoming.
We all headed back
downstairs for tea. However, before that I was given my key and shown how to
lock my room. It is PC policy that the bedroom of the volunteers is secured
with a lock. This lock looks like a skeleton key and every time you open and
close the door (with the key in the lock) the key falls out onto the floor. It
is very funny. As I was taken through the house I noticed a hallway, a living
room that had a flat screen TV and a computer setup, the grandmother’s room,
the kitchen and another room (I could
see through the window) that they used as some kind of a storage area. It was
set up sort of like a kitchen as I would think they make bread and the like on
the big table.
Once we entered the
kitchen we sat down at the table. There were no chairs at the table, only
stools to sit on. They were not too bad, but they didn’t have a back to the
stool to rest on. I learned during my stay that it would not matter, as not a
lot of time is spent sitting at the table. In any event, as soon as I sat down
I was just filled with so many emotions. I don’t know why but I started to cry.
Maybe it was the culmination of the anticipation, or that I had finally arrived
at where I would serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer for next two years. I have no
idea, other than I was crying my eyes out. My host family, and remember we
really could not communicate, was hugging me and holding my hand and I just had
a sense about these people – I just knew everything was going to be OK. I was
also happy that I didn’t feel bad crying; and so glad that my host family just
let me get it out of my system rather than trying to hold it in.
After tea we went to
see the bathroom. I do have indoor facilities; that is toilet and shower (with
a hot water heater). However, the bathroom had a door inside the house and one
that leads to the outside of the house. The outside door is not very secured.
It has gaps around the door that won’t be a problem in the summer; however, I am
concerned about what it will be in the winter. I bet it will be cold in that
room unless the family has a plan to maybe close off the door someway. That
remains to be seen. The house does not
have central heating; however, I am told that in my room there is an electric
heater (have not seen it yet); and in the family room or living room there
could be an electric heater. These are issues and concerns that will be handled
as winter approaches and I am just going to have to find ways to overcome them.
I’ve heard from other volunteers that during the winter the entire family lives
in the living room. They close off the rest of the house and live in the living
room. This room has the TV and computer. It also has a couple of sofas and
chairs (comfortable ones) and something that looks like a day bed. The room
looks really cozy and closed off, so I would imagine that this room could be
very warm. It also has a dining table and chairs in the room, so I again
imagine that everything (except cooking) is done here. This all remains to be seen.
One the BEST parts of
the house is the porch and the garden. Actually, I feel like I live in a
forest. There are so many plants and trees and flowers all around and even
above us. There is a trellis with, I am told, vines for grapes. There are red
roses, white roses and other types of flowers that I have no idea what they are
other than they are beautiful. It is just spectacular. As if that was not
enough, when you shake some of the trees fruit falls out of them. Red cherries and
white cherries and other types of fruit that I have no idea what kinds of fruit
the tree has. All I know it that it is beautiful as well as delicious.
ლამაზი - lamazi
- "beautiful"
As we sat in the garden to take a breath I noticed the
mountain that was in my view. When I am in my room on the second floor it feels
like I can reach out and touch it as it feels that close. The mountain, as with everything around it, is
green and vibrant. You can just feel the richness of it all. I was thinking of
maybe buying a hammock as a welcome present (for the garden) but I would hate
to disturb the trees. We shall see. The town of
Khashuri it known for its hammocks. There is a street in Khashuri that
sells nothing but hammocks and sling back chairs.
The house is set back from the main road. There are a total
of five houses, including the one I will live in, on this adjacent road. All of
the families, except for my host family use the house as a summer home. All the
other families either live in Tbilisi or some other surrounding areas. They
then come on the weekends in the summer. So, the area is really quiet.
During the course of the afternoon and early evening
neighbors came to look at the American (me)! It is really wonderful that the Georgian
people exhibit such warmth with their welcome. I can say a couple words in
Georgian, so I was a big hit. We sat outside and shook the trees and ate the
cherries.
Vocabulary for you:
ბიჭი [bich'i]
= SON
გოგო [gogo]
= Girl
ქალი [kali]
= Woman
I slept well that evening. I was surprised at that, but
again I was exhausted. The next morning I connected to the G13 volunteer and
the other G14 volunteer who are both in the town of Sagarejo. We decided to meet at the
round-about (in the center of the town) and do a little exploring. I also
wanted to walk down this mountain to see how long it was going to take me. So,
my host sister insisted that she come with me. I knew I would be fine and would
have really rather gone on my own, but down we went together. It took up a good
20 minutes to walk down and we were walking not strolling. It is all downhill,
so it was not that bad. Part of the road (when you first come out on the main
road from my house) is dirt and stone, so Mr. MUD will still be with me;
however, about 3-4 minutes, it turns into a paved road – so hopefully all will
be smooth from that point on.
So, here is the kicker – what goes down must come up. I was
thinking, as I was walking down, about coming back up to my host family house.
Oh brother, this was not going to be pretty. After I spent the day in the town (I
will give details soon) I wanted to start back up the mountain and time myself
so I knew what I was dealing with. It took me way over an hour to come back up.
I had to stop a couple of times to gather myself and wonder (seriously) what
the heck I was doing here! It is not
that steep, but there is definitely an incline. I would think that I did pay to
go to the gym and use the treadmill and the program to adjust the level of
incline. Here, it was already built in for me. This is going to be a
CARDIOVASCULAR training program. I am
going to have to go down at least five times a week; however, I made known that
I will only do this once a day. I can
definitely do it, but it takes me time. I am just not in shape to do this kind
of climbing/walking. I’ve been walking in Osiauri but it is all flat. The
walking in Sagarejo is a different kettle of fish. The other concern about this
walking is what will happen during ice and snow. These are all concerns that
will need to be sorted out. The PC is very in tune with safety and security, so
I will reach out to them to see how I can do this and be safe. There is a marsh
that does up the mountain, but it is expensive and on my volunteer salary it is
not going to be possible to do that every day.
Needless to say, when I reached the top I knew that I had
some kind of a workout. It was also very hot that day, so the added heat didn’t
help. I also thought that it is going to be difficult depending on how cold it
gets. The plus side to all this is that I am going to get into the best shape.
It always optional to go to the gym; however, getting home for food and bed is
not optional.
The next day, down the mountain I went, and I met with my
new School Director and two of the English teachers. I also was given a tour of
the school. The good news is that the school is heated. They have heating units
in all the classrooms, at least the classrooms that I got to see. The question
now is how much heat do the units put out and is it enough to really warm the room?
I won’t know that until winter comes, of course; however, it looks promising.
The school is on two floors.
The first floor is
beautiful and has hardwood floors, newly painted walls in both the hallways and
classrooms. The teachers have a bathroom on the first floor. It is a squat
toilet a total of 3 stalls, but the stalls don’t have doors on them but there
is a short wall in-between. It gives new meaning to becoming familiar. J
The toilets do have the capacity to
flush (and that is a good thing). The students have an outhouse behind the
school. I’ve been in school outhouses, and I am glad the teacher bathroom is
indoors.
The second floor of the school does leave something to the
imagination. I know eventually it will look nice, but at the moment it looks
nothing like the 1st floor. The floors are old and the wood is
coming up. The walls desperately need painting, but at least there is no hole
in the ceiling. There is a computer lab with about 20 computers, including
printers. The school also has a library; however, it is not organized.
Basically it’s a storage area and everyone stores their books in the room.
There are books on the shelves, on the floor and on the desk. I don’t believe
students can have access. As schools go, this one is not bad. It has the
capacity for 330 or so students, grades 1-12.
Ah, there is just so much to say about the visit to my new
town, Sagarejo; but I wanted to give you some updates on events that are going
on and events that will take place in the next week. So, I found food that is
not Georgian (Yeah!). It is called “Shawarma” and it is very good. I think I’ve
had it before. I think It is Middle Eastern, but you can google to learn more.
JUNE 28TH & 29TH, Is the FIRST
FULL weekend we have had since we arrived in April. Gosh, it feels good. I
slept Saturday morning until 9:00 am. I then went into Khashuri to do a little
shopping. It is fun exploring all the little shops in the town. Met a PC friend
and we had a chance to have a conversation. It was really nice. On Tuesday,
7/1/14 we are going into Tbilisi. We have to travel on our own and find and
take a tour of the PC office. We also have to have a meeting with one of the
educational organizations that have HQ in Tbilisi. I am with a group that will
meet with ETAG (English Teachers’ Association of Georgia). I also wanted to
attend a meeting at the US Embassy, Public Affairs Section; however, the timing
is just not going to work. I will have to do that after I move to Sagarejo. The
trip to Tbilisi will also require a metro ride, and I already have two metro
cards given to me by folks who are leaving Georgia.
On Friday, 7/4/14 we have a
4th of July Picnic. All the G14’s, staff and (2) members of our Host
families participate. The Embassy staff will be in attendance and I understand
that they bring the food. Good old AMERICAN picnic food – hot dogs, hamburgers
etc. I am told that it is a kick watching the Georgian’s assemble their hot
dogs at the picnic. We also have games of all sorts (American picnic
games). I volunteered to serve the
food….purely selfish on my part J. Of course, we still continue with
our language classes and other technical classes in-between all these great
events, but wanted to give you a head-ups of the wonderful events that are
before me.
I will sign off for now and again thank you for taking the
time to share all this with me. If you want, post comments (good or bad) – HA,
or email me. I love hearing from the “old country”
Best, Catherine Lawrence, G14 – 6/29/14
Note: The contents of this blog are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps.
Note: The contents of this blog are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps.
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