Blog, July 23^rd, 2014

Hello, My Faithful Readers:

I have arrived in Sagarejo 

A New Adventure Begins!

When I last left you my new host parents, my School Director and I were driving back from Tbilisi after being sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Sagarejo is about a 40 minute (or so) drive from Tbilisi. Getting out of Tbilisi is no easy feat. There is so much traffic and so many people. Lots of people walk in the street as the sidewalks are uneven and many sidewalks have outdoor shops or stands so it is hard to maneuver around them. It is busy and noisy –so fabulous. So, in addition to dodging cars you are also dodging people, dogs and sometimes donkeys. It is a bustling hub of activity one which I just love and cannot wait to be a part of.

Before we started the drive home, my host mother wanted to stop and buy some fruits and vegetables at an outdoor market in Tbilisi. I was so happy to be able to get out of the car and explore a little. I had maybe 15 minutes to look around. There are many shops and also many people are walking around selling all kinds of items. I went into a pharmacy and bought some water. (exciting stuff, ha! J). The experience of being able to go into a store and buy something without much facility around the language makes me feel terrific. I know I will get better with time, but for the moment buying water in Tbilisi was excellent!

Arrival in Sagarejo, my new home until July 2016!

 I did spend a couple of days in Sagarejo back in June so I was somewhat familiar with what I was going to see. Of course, nothing has changed in that short period of time. Everything seemed the same as I remembered it. As soon as we arrived home my host mother went into the kitchen and started preparing a meal. I think she had pre-planned as not much time went by before we were all called to the table for lunch!  In the meantime, my host father and I struggled to get my luggage to the 2^nd floor, which is where my room is.

My room is on the 2^nd floor and just like in Osiauri the steps to the 2^nd floor are on the outside of the house. The 2^nd floor consists of five bedrooms all being accessible off a long hallway. My host parents, sister, brother and I have a bedroom and there is also an empty bedroom (I am hoping that I can invite guests to stay and use that room for my guests (but, that is a later conversation).  The bedrooms are very bright, big, and cheerful and have lots of windows. No screens, but since the garden, the pig and the chickens (Yes, we have livestock) are in the back of the house, we don’t have much of an issue with flies and such.  Also, at times I hear a donkey hee-hawing in the distance. Not sure who he belongs to.  There are roosters someplace as I can hear them in the distance. Thank goodness my family does not have any roosters. I just love my bedroom. My window faces a mountain (when I look out, to the right). I almost feel that I can reach out and touch it. It is so green and lush. Also, outside my window grapes are growing on vines. I can just reach out and pick a bunch of green grapes (not ready yet). There is a balcony outside my window and an overhead cover so that when it rains I don’t have to close my window and I can sit out on the balcony. It is truly lovely.

Inside my room is a single bed, a wardrobe, night stand and table and chair. The room is fairly large, and I am hoping to either buy or ask the host family if I can move one of their comfortable chairs into my room. The floors are wood and again I am hoping to buy an area rug of some type. We shall see, as I believe my room is above the room that the family uses in the winter to stay warm. I understand that most Georgian families don’t use their bedrooms in the winter as it is difficult to heat the entire house. There is usually one room that everyone congregates in and that is the room that is directly below me. Since hot air rises, I am hopeful that I will be the beneficiary of all that escaping heat J. I needed to buy about twenty-five hangers as there is very little shelf space in the wardrobe. We shall see how long that lasts hanging my clothes up.

The downstairs consists of a hallway as you enter the house. As you enter, on the right hand side is the grandmother’s room. It is big – has a couple of beds, a stove (pechi), a couple of wardrobes and a television. On the left side is the room that is used as both a dining room and a living room. It is also big. It has a computer, a big flat screen TV, big and small sofas and a couple of day beds. This is the room that is directly below me and the room that I think they use during the winter to stay warm. It is also bright and cheerful. As you leave that room you walk into a large kitchen and through the kitchen you go into the bathroom. Yes, I have indoor facilities; however, the family does still have the outhouse. I don’t know if it is still in use, but since there are six of us in the house, maybe in a pinch the outhouse may come in handy! The house is well kept and painted white. It is not new but it is in good condition. 

As nice as the house is, the best part is the garden. There is a small porch that I just love on the 1^st floor. The garden is full of green shrubs, flowers (of all sorts) big and small trees. It is just lovely. The trellis has overhanging vines with grapes that afford lots of shade. There is a driveway as the family does have a car. The entire property is partitioned off with wire type fencing that does not detract from the feeling that I am living in a forest. Ah, the beauty of it all.  I was going to buy a hammock as a welcome gift and thought that I should talk to the family before I do that. It is such a peaceful, undisturbed area that I didn’t know if a hammock might upset the balance.  I can always go back to Khashuri and get one, maybe for next summer.

In the back of the house we have the vegetable garden as well as the pig and the chickens. The pig stays in his house (he has his own house). I am told sadly that I cannot name the pig as come Christmas he will be dinner. Wilber!!!! The chickens are small. I think there are about a dozen. They have their own wire cage for night time but during the day they run loose through the garden and the porch. Oddly enough they do not go in the house. The vegetable garden is big and I know they are growing corn and lots of other things, but I am not sure what. The grandmother works for hours every day in the vegetable garden. There is a wood shed in the back with lots of fire wood stacked up. There is also some kind of a slab that I think they use to butcher chickens and the pig (and heaven knows what else J!  Truly, I have not seen everything yet but it is clear to me that the family has everything situated so that it works for them. It is a truly idyllic spot. The space is so beautiful and nature is just surrounding us!

The road that we live on is off the main road up the mountain. There are only about five houses on the road and we are the only family, I think, who lives here year around. The other neighbors live either in Tbilisi or elsewhere and use this house as a summer home. They are here usually on weekend or during vacation, so the entire area is so quiet.  One of the neighbors has a dog that does not seem to want to live with its owner family, so most often he ended up here in my host family house. There is also a cat and I am really not sure who the cat belongs to. Neither pet has a name or maybe I don’t know it yet.

One final thing about the location of my house before we talk about my host family; and that is, at night the stars are just magnificent. I have never see stars in the quantity that I’ve seen right outside my window. With the backdrop of the mountain I am just in awe. I think about moving my desk over to the window but I fear I will be day dreaming out the window and not concentrating on what work I will have to do. The only other time I’ve seen stars like this is when I was in the Boston area for a conference in a very remote, wooded area. When there is little light from houses, etc., the stars can really be seen. Almost like you can reach up and touch them. Ah, this is such a treat for me to have all this available right at my fingertips.

I am so fortunate to have been placed with my host family; Grandmother, Father, Mother, Sister (17), Brother (14). The grandmother is Russian and so is the father, of course her son. They are a very quiet and bookish kind of people (my kind of people). The Father is a police officer in Tbilisi and works a lot in the city. Because of the long hours and the travel back and forth they have a flat in Tbilisi and he comes home when the schedule permits. The mother takes care of the children and the house. Very traditional Georgian woman and she is so sweet and loving. She tells me in English “I love you” and I tell her in Georgian the same thing: მიყვარხარ (me shen miqvarkhar) – I love you.

The host sister is getting ready to begin her last year of high school. She is a student in the school that I am going to be teaching in. There is no doubt that she will go onto the University and study. She is a lovely young woman. Her manner is very soft and quiet, just like her mother. Her brother is also a student in my school. He is a quiet young man who always has a book in his hand.  The grandmother is a hoot! She talks to me in Russian like I can understand what she is saying. She continually tries to get me to pronounce the French “r” – it is so funny. We end up growling at each other and laughing. I have an overall great feeling about these folks; I had it almost from the moment I met them. They speak to each other so politely and they have made me feel so welcome, safe and comfortable. I will share more as time goes forward.

As an aside, I must tell you how wonderful it feels to be taken care of. Both host families have taken steps to make me feel welcomed and safe and overall I’ve felt well taken care of. To have all my meals prepared and waiting, yippee (smiles), and neither family would let me help with the clean up. Well, I know that is going to change because I will need to feel a real part of this family and pitching in with the chores is a part of that. My family has invited me to go on vacation with them when they visit my host mom’s family. They live in a village outside of Kutaisi (in the Western part of the country).  Peace Corps rules state that I cannot travel for the first three months of my service without their permission, so we shall see if I will be able to go.

I’ve done some exploring in the main part of town, but to get there I have to go down the mountain. Ah, The Mountain is my friend and my cost-free exercise programJ. Back in June when I was here the mountain seemed in-surmountable; however, I’ve been up and down the mountain at least three times since I arrived and it does not seem that bad.  I’ve met new friends on the mountain. About a third of the way down there is a little kiosk on the side of the road that is run by a couple of older folks (that probably live near-by).  We say hello and they want me to stop and talk. Of course, I am the NEWS and they know something about me. In Georgia everyone seems to know everyone, so news travels fast. I need to explore the kiosk, when I can speak more Georgian, to see what they are selling.

I am still on the mountain, but I wanted to say that Sagarejo is a town. Whereas Osiauri was a village and Tbilisi is a city. I am sure there are criteria to separate the categories, but not sure what they are.  As I continue down the mountain there is not much other than houses (behind gates) on one side of the road and open space on the other side. There are lots of trees and green bushes and such as I walk down. At some point houses and stores appear on both sides of the road, which tell me I am getting close to the heart or center of the town. Lots of traffic so one must be careful. We walk on the road as the sidewalks are very broken up and hard to manage. The road is paved and easier to walk on.  There are bread stores, $1.00 stores, grocery stores, used clothing stores, etc. As I discover more I will share. In addition, there is a bazaar that has so many fruits and vegetables, a hardware store, all kinds of clothing hanging up on trees and on the side of buildings. There is a pharmacy (actually many pharmacies) and again so many people weaving in and out buying what they need. It seems that most people buy for one or two days at a time. I know I will elaborate on this as I get to spend more time in the area.  I remembered, there is a police station about ¾ of the way down the mountain! There is also a hotel of sorts. I met a fellow traveler from Switzerland who was staying at the hotel. It was 15Gel a night and he said the room was nothing to write home about, but it’s a roof over his head. The hotel has seen better times. Need to explore the history of that!

At the bottom of the mountain is the center of town. Here you can find many beauty salons, the Bank of Georgia, the school I will be teaching in, pharmacies, grocery stores, $1.00 stores, etc., etc., and I even found a “Coffee House” that actually has a coffee pot system (Mr. Coffee) just like home. Most people drink Turkish coffee, which is just too strong for me. 

There is a park that is usually taken over by the men, so women normally don’t sit in the area. We have some kind of municipal services building, not sure what is done in that building. We have a kind-of make-shift hospital. Not sure about that either, so lots of exploring needs to be done. We have a post office here in town which is a luxury, I am told. Most people have to go to another town or city to get their mail and packages. All we have to do is walk down the mountain. They don’t deliver!  And of course, what goes down – must come up!  It does take me some time to go back up. There is an incline not sure how much in degree’s, but definitely UP! I found myself walking differently going up. Usually I walk very fast, but not going up the mountain. There are places along the way to sit and catch your breath. I always take lots of water, so it is manageable. I meet lots of horses, cows, chickens and donkeys on my travels up and down. I get to say hello to the same people, up and down. This will be an “on-going” conversation, my faithful readers. The cardiovascular mountain!

I don’t have any pictures to share at the moment but I will in the near future. From all that I’ve seen so far it is a quiet, peaceful town. There is a marsh stop and taxi hub in the town – as that is where I will get the marsh when I go into Tbilisi. Have not figured any of that out either (I’ve only been here 6 days!!) – working on it J.I know I left out tons of stuff and little by little I will blog and fill in all the details. There are two other PC volunteers here with me. They are a G14 (like me) and a G13 (who is in her second year here). It is nice to have some American company.

Ok, enough for now. Thank you all for sharing this with me. I just love being able to chronicle this time that I have been given in the Peace Corps and now in Sagarejo. I sometimes go back and re-read a blog that I wrote from months past and I am amazed at how much I have grown in such a short period of time.

My best wishes to everyone. Catherine Lawrence, G14 – 7/23/14

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