Blog, September 23, 2014

Hello, My Faithful Readers:  

I have included a couple of photographs at the end of the blog. The 1^st is of my host father and his nephew placing the grapes in the machine (with the crank handle) to make wine. The second is of my host mother in the school cafeteria that she runs! (text included in the blog describing both events). Hope you enjoy!

It has been an interesting week as school started on 9/15/14; however, before I go into those happenings I wanted to follow up (for a moment) on the grapes that we picked from the vineyard. I knew that they made wine from the grapes, but I really had no idea how they did it. That is, until recently. There is this machine with a hand crank that turns the wheel. They take the grapes and put everything into a funnel type opening. The machine is placed on a 55-gallon drum. The wheel is cranked and the grapes are smashed and then go into a 55-gallon drum. They don’t take the grapes off the stems (I think that is what they are called). In addition, there were many vineyard leaves that were also thrown in. The grapes are not washed before all this happens. It was a process that involved five people. It consisted of two people doing the cranking and three people taking the grapes from the plastic bags and placing them in the funnel type opening. It was a very lively process as everybody seemed to be moving without bumping into each other. I don’t know how long the grapes sit in the drum before they turn into wine. I do know that when I’ve had the wine I have also gotten a piece of wood (or such) but the wood (or whatever) was thrown in was ground into very fine pieces, so you would not break a tooth on it J

There is a lot of wine and I believe that it lasts the family an entire year. It is not sweet, very tart but it seems that everyone here in Georgia (or at least my host family) seems to love it.

I bring you more news on the electricity and water situation here in Sagarejo. It seems that September, October and parts of November bring LOTS of rain. My host father must know the drill because he brought home many, many six packs of bottled water. (I am sure they have been through this before). We had a storm recently that dumped so much rain that the mountain dirt drained into the water system sources and we had (actually still have) mud water. The water, when it runs out of the spigot, is brown. It is brown everywhere, toilet, sink, kitchen….yuck (that is when we have water)! In addition to no water, we lose electricity a lot. One morning there was no water and no electricity. That was a lot of fun trying to get dressed and brush your teeth by flashlight.

On another topic, while driving with my host family we witnessed a truck hit two young men on a small motorcycle. The kids went flying and neither had a helmet on. Of course we stopped and so did everyone else. I could not believe that every single car that was driving by stopped to lend assistance. The road was just filled with people and cars trying to help the victims of the crash.  I was a little shocked to see everyone trying to move the victim who was on the ground. The poor guy was moaning and bleeding.  I kept thinking that they should not move him; but, it was too late. Everyone was on their phones calling for help and eventually the ambulance arrived. Now, this ambulance was a 1960’s style van that had seen better days. It had an old fashion stretcher that was brought out and the young man was picked up by at least 10 people and moved onto the stretch. I never saw what happened to the other person on the motorcycle. I am not sure but I think he got himself up and into the ambulance. The ambulance personnel didn’t do any preliminary work on the victim, that just swooped him up and away they went. There were no medical supplies inside the van (I looked). It was a bare bones operation. Almost cartoon like in how they (2 people in the back of the ambulance) jumped out with the stretcher, picked him up and then into the ambulance. It took maybe 15 seconds. The only thing that was missing was the siren. The police arrived and everyone was trying to give him a report (all at the same time). The officer then roped off the area with the yellow tape and at that point we (my host family) decided to leave. My host family was very upset about what they witnessed. Many people were crying.

Last week saw the beginning of the academic year here in Georgia. September 15^th was the first day and I officially became a teacher here in Georgia. The first day is very easy as there are no classes. What happens is that children and LOTS of parents arrive at school. Everyone comes into the school so it is very crowded. There are no lines in the schoolyard of children waiting to come in. Here in Georgia when you arrive at the school you just go into the common area adjacent to the front door or into the classroom.  After about an hour, everyone went out into the schoolyard and there was an opening ceremony to start the school year. It began with the national anthem being played and the flag being raised. The School Director made opening remarks and I was introduced as the Peace Corps Volunteer who will be working in the school for the next two years. I was asked to say a couple of words and I actually was able to say two sentences in Georgian. If I did it wrong, everyone was very polite and didn’t make fun of me J.  The Director then gave out certificates of merit for students who had excellence records last year.

In keeping with Georgia tradition the festivities continued with one of the students playing Georgia music on his instrument (not sure what it is called) and a group of young students provided us with some traditional dance. It was clear that these students train with a dance teacher as it was very professionally done. It was just great. It all took about an hour and then everyone left the school. Some of the teachers stayed to distribute books to classroom; but, mostly everyone was gone.

The remainder of the week for me was trying to find out the schedule of the English Teachers that I will be working with. There are (7) periods each lasting (45) minutes. The students are given (5) minutes to change classes and in-between 3^rd and 4^th period the students are given (10) minutes so they can go to the lunch room and buy some lunch (if they want).  There is no place really for the students to sit down and eat, so they either eat while they are walking or take the food to class. They do have a bell which announces the end and beginning of classes; however, at least 5-8minutes is lost each period because no one really moves to the classroom until well after the bell has rung to start the class. This includes both students and teachers. If a class starts, say at 9:50am, nothing really happens in the classroom until 9:57 or 9:58. I was clocking the time as if the class is scheduled for (45) minutes, then really the class is only (37 or so) minutes. In addition, many, many students are late – some as late as (20) minutes; however, no one seems to raise an eye to this. No roll call is taken and there is no homeroom in the school. I’ve only really been involved with the upper grades at this point, and they don’t stay in the same room. They change rooms every period. I think maybe the younger students stay in the same room, but I should know more next week.

The rooms on the first floor are in good condition. In fact the entire first floor (rooms and hallways) have been redone with new windows, floors and paint. However, the second floor (the building is only two floors) needs a lot of work. The second floor has the old desks and chair. I cannot imagine how old this furniture is. There are heating units throughout the school; however, I was told by the teachers that they don’t provide much heat. During the winter everyone wears their winter coats throughout the day teaching.

Lighting and light fixtures seem to be a challenge here in the school and throughout various buildings I’ve seen here in Georgia. For example, in one of the classrooms there are two lights. Not the fluorescent tube overhead lighting that I’ve seen in US schools; however, but light fixtures that would be more suited to a bathroom or a hallway. If not for the natural light coming in from the window I don’t know how the children (especially children who are away from the window) can see. In some rooms, even though there are two light fixtures, only one of the lights is working.  One day last week there was no electricity at all in the entire building, so no lights at all and no bell to mark the change of classes.  The teacher took a metal cup and was banging it on the staircase so that teachers and students would know that it was time to change class period.

The teachers here have been very nice to me. Of course, we only can say a few words to each other, but there is lots of smiling. The teachers have a room (sort of a safe haven) where they can go in-between classes. There are lots of placed to sit and even comfortable chairs. The teachers sit in groups and talk throughout the day. It is never quiet in the room. The children are not allowed in the room, but at times they do poke their heads in.

There is a regulation in Georgia that the capacity for students in a class is (36). However, if there are (35) then no change is made. Once the magic number of (36) is reached then they split the class. As a result, my school has (2) 10^th grade classes and (2) 12^th grade classes. I’m still not sure how many students are supposed to be in the other grades. It varies and I’m told many students don’t come to school for the first week (sounds like college).

Peace Corps requires that for the first two weeks I just observe.  Last week I sat in on (13) classes and would have sat in on (2) more; however, they were optional and as a result the entire class didn’t show up. Of course, these are all English Classes. The classes ranged from the 4^th grade to the 12^th grade. The younger grades don’t start English for a little while (not sure what that means time wise). I am required to co-teach 18 hours per week, so during this observation period I am working to set my schedule for the term. I am hoping to possibly work it so that I teach four days a week; but, we shall see.

The Georgian government has instituted a policy where all 1^st grade students receive a laptop computer (and so do their tutors). Here in Georgia most students have a tutor outside of their regular school classroom work. Now, this is my opinion; but, I don’t think that is wise to give 1^st graders computers. In theory it sounds good; but, I just don’t they are responsible enough to handle it.  I wonder if the school or the government will provide statistics as to how to measure computer knowledge and also how many get broken or lost.

Also, the schools uses text books that support British English. One teacher was talking to the student about the word “fed up.” She said that the British textbook said it meant “bored.” I tried to tell her that if students/teachers went to America and said “fed up” it would not be a good thing.  The teacher just kept repeating that the text book defined it as “bored.”  A little frustrating; however, the little I’ve seen so far shows me that teachers follow the book “verbatim” and very little outside (teacher) input is given. I don’t know how I am going to handle all this as I am not thrilled with the textbooks (for a variety of reasons). This will be an on-going conversation.

My host mother runs the school cafeteria. Now, they call it a cafeteria however it is more like a room (on the lower level) that has (1) overhead light bulb and a couple of tables and chairs. Mostly the teachers come and sit in the room and have tea or coffee. Also available are snacks that the children can purchase and then they take the items with them back to their classrooms. Some examples would be pretzels, cakes, candy, juice and water. In addition, my host mother gets up at the crack of dawn and makes Georgian bread and cheese, potato bread and sometimes homemade cake. She also has some Georgian pastry (not sure who delivered that) that if you fell into a pool of water with the pastry you would sink.  She has a sink with water and a mini stove top to boil water for tea/coffee. She has REAL cups and plates for the adults. She has been running the cafeteria for 3 years, so this year is the start of her 4^th year. I don’t know how she does it, as when she comes home she needs to make lunch and dinner for us. I know she is tired as she walks the same mountain we do only instead of carrying books she is carrying food.  I asked her if she would ever consider selling fruit along with all the candy and cake and she made this funny face and said (in Georgian) no way! J The nutritional value of all the sugar and carbs being sold is nil. No wonder the children, at the change of classes, running around like a house on fire. I almost got knocked down a couple of time because the children don’t look where they are going. I am very careful not to stand anywhere near the stairways during the class change.   Food for family members, and that means me, is free. I would really like to pay for what I take but they won’t hear of it.

One final point about school, but I warn you, this will be a big conversation in this blog as much of my time will be spent in school. The toilet situation in the school provides outhouses for the children. They are located outside of the school. There is one outhouse for the boys and one for the girls. There is (inside) a toilet for the teachers. It consists of three squat toilets that are separated by a wall for each toilet. There are no doors, so forget about privacy. Most of the time the toilets do flush, but when water is not available for flushing you need to take a bucket of water from the barrel and pour it into the toilet to flush. I must always bring wet wipes and toilet paper and often there is no water to wash your hands and sometimes the toilet paper disappears. It is a challenge; however, the staff does keep it very clean.  They are always mopping because with the water being transferred from the barrel to the toilet lots of water ends up on the floor. It is very tricky walking at times with the floor being so wet. One of the big concerns is that the students often open the door and look in. Since there are no doors to provide privacy, the open door to the main school corridor presents problems.

Ah, life is not boring J. One final, final point is good news. I was finally able to get on a scale and it told me that since I arrived in Georgia at the end of April, I have lost (44) pounds. I was shocked. I knew I lost weight but had no idea as to the amount. I feel terrific and my clothes are so big. I knew that the all the walking and climbing would impact me. The weight loss has allowed me to walk the mountain quicker. I can know climb back home is about 40 minutes and most times I don’t have to sit down and rest. That is a far cry from when I first got here. I was clocking way over an hour climb time with at least a couple of sit downs.  Not lugging (44) pounds around feel terrific.

Alright, that is it for now. Thank you for taking the time to share in my adventures.

All the best, Catherine Lawrence, G14

Peace Corps Volunteer/Georgia – 9/23/14

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

Blog, September 16^th, 2014

Hello My Faithful Readers:

Read on, Read on (often in Georgia they say things twice).

 The first photo is of course (me) in the vineyard (described below) and the second photo is the mountains surrounding the area. I don't know if the mountain picture will do it justice, it was just beautiful.

My host family has a vineyard someplace very close to Sagarejo. For the last couple of months I have been hearing about the vineyard and that we are all going to harvest the grapes at some point in September (they make their own wine). So, on Sunday I was told that we were all going to the vineyard. There must have been 14 people that included almost all members of the host family and extended family (with children) making the trek to harvest the grapes. We had three cars to accommodate all.  We were a sight so see!

We arrived at the vineyard and honestly, it is in such a remote area I could never find it again. Also, how they know what parcel of land belongs to them as there are many parcels with grapes growing. We were handed scissors and buckets and away we went. The barbed wire was tricky as that is how the vines are secured. I almost decapitated myself in my hurry to get to the grapes. They are little yellow grapes, almost like Champaign grapes. We went up and down the rows and collected bucket after bucket of grapes. It was a beautiful day to do it as it was a little overcast and there was a nice breeze. The surrounding mountains were just beautiful. I felt like a surgeon trying to get the vines away from the barbed wire. The family kept telling me to sit and rest but I was having too much fun to stop.

Eventually all the grapes were picked and secured in large plastic bags. At that point my host father started a fire. I was clueless as to what was happening. I thought maybe now that all the grapes were picked we needed to burn what was left of the vines; but, that was not the case. They brought out pork and began to put the pork on swords (you know what I mean).  They put the pork on a make shift hibachi and the cooking began. My mouth was watering as we all watched the men turning the pork and salting it down. They then brought about 10 loaves of bread. Really, 10 loaves along with plates, napkins, glasses, wine and cha-cha.  A table cloth was laid out on the ground and we started eating the tomatoes. It was a wonderful treat. 

This was a tradition that has been done many times before so they know the drill. As we were finishing up one of the family members was pushed to the ground and everybody started to make her roll along the area that we were sitting. Everyone was laughing and I didn’t know what to make of it; but, they said this was part of the tradition. One member of the group gets to do “the roll” which is supposed to be good luck. The rolling is to represent “rolling into the future for the next good harvest.”  I was so thankful that they didn’t pick me (HA!) for the roll!

It was a wonderful day and experience I won’t soon forget. I had thought about going to Tbilisi and would have missed it had I’d gone. They do things like this in Georgia, like don’t tell you in advance. I guess everyone knows (except I don’t). Which brings me to talking about life in Georgia….

Ah, Life in Georgia will/does take some time to get used to.

 Let me give you a couple of examples. One example is that most of the time you don’t know in advance what is going to happen or when (as evidenced by my almost missing the vineyard). Also, I was told by a number of people, and especially PCV’s, that the Georgian people think of some things as being “community property”. Everybody gets to use whatever anyone else has. Most times the item is used without asking if it is OK or not – it is just assumed that what is yours is also available to everyone.  One volunteer said that she had left some peanut butter out on her desk (that she received in a care package from home) and when she returned at the end of the day the peanut butter was completely gone. She had forgotten to store it away when she left to attend class for the day. The family didn’t have any hesitation in saying that they ate it. The item was in plain view, so available to the everyone. The family even said how wonderful it was; however, from that point on the PCV made sure that she didn’t forget to store it away again. She didn’t mind sharing; and didn’t like that she had to store things away. But, if she didn’t she would not have anything left and we do need snacks and such to keep up between meals. The same goes with anything left in the refrigerator. It does not matter if you tell everyone that you are putting some food in the frig for yourself for the next day. The next day it is gone. Mostly this seems to happen when things are left out in plain sight – so I guess the rule of thumb would be “put it out of sight” if you don’t want it to be considered “community property” J

Oh well, this is a custom that will require getting used to. The “community property” custom is in keeping with the limited amount of privacy one gets here in Georgia. I do have some privacy here; but people still just knock once and then walk into my room. I say “wait a minute”, but it does not work.  I am sure this happens in America; it is just that I’ve lived alone for so long in America I have not had to deal with situations like this in a long time. The PC has a rule that every volunteer must have a room with a lock. Although I don’t lock my room when I go out; however, I know (especially the grandmother) goes in to my room and looks around.  Also, it also does not matter if you are involved in a project or are on the phone, as if the family wants you to meet someone or come to the table you just have to stop what you are doing and go. It does take some getting used to. They do look at you odd if you say you can’t come right at that minute.

People here in Georgia do the “drop-in.” Now, I have not been party to the “drop-in” in decades. I remember the “drop-in” from my childhood.” That is when people just arrive un-announced. In addition (here in Georgia), they stay for hours and hours and sometimes even days as a result of the “drop-in.” One example is a relative who has two small children (ages 1 year and 4 years). She “drops-in” at 8:00am and stays, sometimes, all day. The children are wonderful, beautiful children; however, they are children and require lots of attention. They are also LOUD. In my old life, people don’t, or maybe rarely just “drop-in.” When the “drop-in” happens all your plans go out the window. And this would not be a bad thing, but sometimes the “drop-in” happens multiple times during the day/week.  This is the way they do things here and I am going to have to find ways to adjust to it.  As I told the PC recruiter when she interviewed me “If I wanted life to be the same I would stay in America.” My goal was to live in another culture and that is what is happening J

Dogs here in Georgia are a BIG problem. I thought that they need to have a “dog catcher” department; however, when I think of all that would need to be put in place to have that happen – well, I don’t think that will happen. The Georgian people need so many other things, like keeping the water and electricity flowing. In any event, the dogs just wander around the community. Most, if not all, limp in some fashion as if they have been hit with a car or something else. They look so skinny and always seem to be hunting for food. They also run in packs which scares me no end.  I have only seen one dog with a collar and I have actually seen a dog being walked on a leash (which is so unusual). The PC is always putting information in our weekly bulletins to tell us what to do in the event that we have a run in with a dog. Someone told me that if you do make eye contact with the dog (which is something you should never do), pick up a rock. Even by the act of just picking up a rock the dog will run away. The dogs seem to be conditioned to knowing what comes next after the rock is picked up.

 I know I wrote about this previously but now the problem has landed on my doorstep. The family has this dog which, I’ve been told, was inherited from a neighbor. This dog is fairly benign; but, he (I think it’s a he) barks like his limbs are being amputated. He barks at everything. The suddenness of his barking startles me to the point where I want to throw a bucket of water on the dog. It is very un-nerving.  What is happening is that this dog has brought home other dogs. At last count there were five dogs. These dogs range in size where the biggest is as tall as my hip. The property of my host family is not completely secure with fencing so the dogs know how to get in and out. At night, especially, the dogs fight. I hear with growling as well as the whimpering and crying. In the morning some of the planters are overturned. To me all this feels like chalk/fingernails on a blackboard and yet no one else seems to be distressed or upset about any of this. In fact most times the family just laughs and thinks It is funny when I tell them I am upset or afraid of these dogs sleeping on the top of steps that lead to where all the bedrooms are location.  At times they chase the dogs but they also keep feeding the dog they inherited, so it just goes around in circles. I keep asking “no food for the dog” (in Georgian) but it is not working.  The last time I saw the inherited dog (most dogs don’t have names) he was limping and was looking for anyplace he could find to lay down.

Well, enough about all that. I may have to get the Peace Corps involved. I was hoping that I could resolve this on my own; but it does not seem to be working. Up until now I have not had an issue this serious so I found other ways of resolving the any of the problems I have had.

The water situation is becoming critical. It seems that we have water in the morning (thank goodness), but as the day goes on the water stops flowing. Also the electricity seems to be going dark more often than it did over the summer. As a result of this, showers are now getting fewer and far between. Dishes are mostly left in the sink after dinner.  I was on a twice a week schedule and now, well it is not a full week in-between bathing, but close to it. In addition, there is so little water coming out of the shower head that we have to take bucket baths. Now, I just LOVE this. I was so surprised at how much better the bucket bath is compared to the shower.

The bucket needs to be heated on the stove. My host mom fills the bucket about half way and then adds cold water. Sometimes the hot water heater provides some hot water. The water is a little better than warm in the bucket and it is really nice. It is MORE of a production now to take a shower than it has been. Ah, the days of water running fully at my home in America (both hot and cold) were not fully appreciated. You cannot imagine the JOY I feel when, in the morning, when I can brush my teeth with spigot water rather than finding water in the bucket or having to run to the 2^nd floor to get water from my water filter.

My tutoring class has been going very well. I feel that I am learning a lot. I never had any doubt that I would make the required language level that the PC sets, and now I am absolutely certain.  My tutor is a good match for me. She wants to work more than an hour; however, I just cannot absorb more than what is given in the hour. I’ve begun to put small sentences together, it feels really good. During the PC training period we worked every day (except Sunday) four hours a day. It moved so fast I was nauseous at times. I felt incompetent and remedial during this period and I know I am neither. I always knew that I could attain a level of the language if only it was presented slower so that I could have more time to absorb and apply it. The tutoring I have now is my reward for my hanging in J.

My tutor speaks both English and Georgian. She is so interested in words like “YEAH” what does it mean? She is also amazed at the grammar of Georgian, because as a native speaker she just does not think about the grammar when speaking. The hour goes quickly and I look forward to the class (go-figure – HA).

She lives on the 5^th floor of an apartment building. Climbing 5 flights after walking down the mountain certainly keeps me alert! The apartment building is across the street from the school I will be teaching in, so that is a plus. Some PCV’s have to walk to other villages to have tutoring sessions. I have it fairly easy.

In addition to the homework I get from my tutor, the PC also sends me WEEKLY home work that needs to be done and submitted, electronically, each week. It takes me about five hours or so in total (spread throughout the week) to get it done. The PC then reviews what I submitted and makes corrections and sends back. There is still so much I don’t understand, but some of it is familiar. There are lots of corrections, but I also learn a lot.  I also need to figure out how to look up words in Georgian in the dictionary. Their dictionary is organized by the Georgian letter; however, I don’t know how to find a word within the section. That is on the to-do list.

The PC pays for my lessons. This is a wonderful benefit. I pay the tutor and then submit a form (of course) and then the PC reimburses me. They pay for tutors even if you make the required language level, so when I successfully pass my test I can still continue with the tutor if I want. I will wait see about that as the tutoring sessions and the homework take a LOT of time. We shall see as time goes forward.

I attended a meeting of the IWA (International Women’s Association) recently in Tbilisi. It was held at the Holiday Inn and I can’t begin to tell you what a treat that was. Ah, “Civilization!!”  The hotel is beautiful. While waiting for the meeting to start I noticed many buses pull up at the front of the hotel and bus load of tourist filed out. It is a very modern, fairly new. There were lots of WESTERN bathrooms and comfortable chairs.

I could not believe how many people attended the meeting. I bet there were 120-130 women, and they were bringing in more chairs during the meeting. This organization has been in existence for some time, so lots of members know each other. It was like a reunion. They had a spread of food including, REAL American coffee, tea, all kinds of pastry, sandwiches, fruit, nuts…ah, heaven could not be better J.  I sat with a group of women whose husbands work at the American Embassy. I could not have picked a better table. I made lots of great connections and had terrific conversations. Women from all over the world belong to the group and for one reason or another they have stayed in Georgia. Countries represented Korea, China, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, America, Canada and of course Georgia – to name a few. I’m told that for every non-Georgian that becomes a member a Georgian will get a free membership, as it costs 100Gel to join.

The little I know about the group tells me I want to belong; however, they meet during the week in Tbilisi and I may not be able to participate due to my school schedule. I am hopeful that I can arrange it so that I can make the meeting once a month. They have lots of clubs within the group; for example, lots, lots of language classes in so many different languages, book , food, crafts (as they have an annual charity event selling crafts), walking – I could go on. Also, they providing funding (grants) for ideas people want to see happen. It is a non-religious, political and governmental organization so none of those endeavors would be supported. I so want to involved in many of these activities; however, again living in Sagarejo may prove difficult to do this.  I so thoroughly enjoyed myself.

After the meeting I walked and walked in Tbilisi. I wanted to explore as I had not really been in this part of the city before. I was somewhat familiar as this area was on the marsh route that I traveled recently. There were so many stores. I found a couple of APPLE stores. Of course lots of clothing and shoes stores, book stores, cafes, etc., etc., It was terrific just walking in Tbilisi as usually I am on the metro and don’t get to see what it above ground. I ended up at the PC office as I had to pick up some items in my cubby. I got to connect with some of the PC staff and at that point I was ready to come home. 10 hours in Tbilisi is enough for me. I ended the day by getting a Schwarma (sp)? – it is a sandwich that I really like.

As I said before, I never think I am going to have enough to fill a couple of pages and yet here I am again writing a book. I just love sharing all these adventures and my thoughts about what is happening. I so appreciate your wanting to take your time and ride along with me.

Best to all, Catherine Lawrence, G14  - 9/16/14

Peace Corps Volunteer/Georgia

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

Blog, September 8^th, 2014

Hello, My Faithful Readers:

I've added a couple of pictures near the end of the blog. The first is me, of course, with the children during a writing exercise during summer camp. The second is me  again, of course, in the English Cabinet room that is under construction. This will be the room that the children will come to for English Class. It is the first time the school has had a dedicated English Room, aka Cabinet. It was a storage room and now, because Peace Corps has arrived, the school allocated funds so that the room will be a permanent fixture in the school. I will be the first to use it!

All Education Volunteers (that means me) need to plan and implement a summer camp for the students. The camp is usually done for ten days; however, because of the excessive heat here in Sagarejo the camp was held for five days (September 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, 2014). The volunteer (me) is the primary on this activity; however, a Georgian teacher(s) are assigned to help translate and keep order!

The camps runs for two hours every day; however, the students begin arriving thirty minutes before the start of the camp and the activities never really finish on time…so, you can say the camp is about three hours for each day. One of the challenges is that students are invited to come from the 3^rd grade to the 9^th grade (some second graders also show up). That is a wide age range to try and accommodate everyone in one room.  Also, students and, Georgian’s in general, never arrive on time. Twenty minutes after the start of the camp more students are walking in. Of course, then we need more chairs and Peace Corps required that each student sign in with their name, age and the grade they are in. That activity in and of itself is disruptive; but overall there is very little discipline in the Georgian Classrooms. I found this to be true also in Osiauri. I love the teaching; however, trying to get students to listen and follow directions is like getting cats to walk in a parade.

The first day we had 25 students. By the 3^rd day we had 45 students. Word gets out that the kids are having fun so more kids come.  The number stayed around 40 for Thursday and Friday.

This was the first week that I had to walk down and up the mountain for five days in a row because of the camp. It is an exercise program for sure; however, it is still so hot here (not as bad as the week before but still hot) which makes it more difficult to walk back up the mountain in the early afternoon. I must say also that the walking the mountain is nothing compared to the energy I extend in the classroom asking for the student’s attention and to stop talking and rough housing. The Georgian teacher is really great; however, she is often called away by phone (Georgian teachers are on the phone a lot), so I am alone in the room with 40 children (ages 7 to 13) trying to maintain order and/or teach in a classroom in which the students maybe understand every other word.  It is exhausting.

The first hour is spent in the classroom doing a variety of activities; for example, vocabulary; writing stories; playing hangman, etc., etc. The second hour is spent outside on the basketball court. I must say that even though it is a little cooler than it was last week it is still terribly hot on that basketball court. We did some water game; but water is at a premium so it is hard to come by. There are just so many students and they are just all over the place. Trying to organize a game is bedlam. Summer camp is a very unique activity here in Georgia. Basically, the Peace Corps is the first group that organized camps for the kids. The schools don’t do it as they don’t have the manpower or resources. There is no budget allotted for anything; so we must make do with what we have.

I am so thankful that the camp was only for five days. I am glad the kids had a good time and I am very happy that it is behind me now. I’ve been anxious about this camp wondering how I was going to cope with so many students and such different age levels. The initial plan I developed had to be re-done a number of times as what I proposed was just not going to work given the age span of the kids. However, I don’t think the kids knew of the changes. I think they were just happy to have organized and fun activities for a little while during their summer.

There were many great moments. For example, I had the student form teams and gave them a prompt to write a story. I asked for three sentences. Some teams gave me more and some less; but, all the teams came up with a story. I also encouraged them to go home and write a story and bring it to camp. About five students did just that. It was wonderful to see and they actually wanted to read their story to the class. I brought stickers and had them place a sticker on their work. They were very happy and I was also J.

As a reward after completing camp, I treated myself to a haircut. I think I found a hair stylist in Sagarejo, so I went back to the woman who cut my hair about two months ago. There are no appointments. You just wait until everyone before you is taken care of. As I was sitting and waiting my turn I realized that the stylist cuts the hair with the same brushes and combs (as well as scissors, etc) without using any kind of sterilizing liquid. As I watch her go from head to head and use the same combs and brush, I was praying that nothing was going to be transferred from head to head (if you know what I mean). There is no sink in the shop. She just uses a spray bottle to wet the head a little while she cuts. She uses thinning sheers a lot and most of the people getting hair cuts have really thick hair. There is a large sponge that is used to whisk the hairs from your face and neck. This sponge has been in use for some time now as it is stained with (I’m not sure) and has the remnants of hair from previous customers. I cannot believe the amount of hair that ends up on the floor when she finished a haircut. I am happy that my hair is now shorter; although, I did like my haircut from two months ago better. Someone else gave me the name of a “fella” who cuts hair here in Sagarejo. I think I may try him next time. I also noticed that I am going gray. It is actually kinda nice as it looks almost like salt and pepper now. I used to pay a lot of money to have my hair look frosted like that, so having my hair “frost” itself is a really money saving venture.

I will now talk about the sensitive topic of toilets and bathrooms. Here in Georgia if you need to “use the facilities” so to speak (go to the toilet), don’t make the mistake and ask for directions to the bathroom. I’ve made that mistake a number of times and I ended up in a room with a shower and a sink. In Georgia if you need to use the toilet you must say “toilet.” It has taken some time for me to get used to that. I still want to say “I need to use the bathroom.” That won’t get the job done here in Georgia” J.  To continue on, in the house that I live in with my host family they have indoor facilities and they also have an outhouse.  It is good to have two toilets in a house of six people (and of course all the guests that we have on and off); however, there is only one roll of toilet paper that is shared between the two toilets. Every time I bring another roll down it seems to end up in the outhouse; which would not be a problem if one would realize there was no paper prior to using the facilities in the house.  Ah, life here is not dull when a lot of the time we are on a search for toilet paper.

 

There is an outdoor water source here in Sagarejo that many people use to get their water. It is located almost ¾ of the way down the mountain.  I am thinking that there are many houses that don’t have water; as so often I see the line that forms at the water source. People standing and waiting their turn to fill up bottles, and buckets and anything else that they bring. The water continually runs. There is no off switch. I’ve written in previous blogs about a couple of older women who come to my host family house to fill up their water containers.  I know if would be a hardship for these women to have to go down to the water source. I have so taken for granted having water available whenever it is wanted or needed. When they turn the water off in my building back in the states, the building notifies everyone days in advance. This usually happens (in the states) because something needs to be done with the water system (pipes) and not because no water is available. Having no water here in Sagarejo seems to be happening more frequently.  When I think about washing clothes or taking a shower I don’t wait. When there is water, you just take advantage of it.

I have been very impressed with the design of some of the buildings here in Georgia. Although there are construction standards, I’m told that there are no regulations or standards as to the design of the buildings. Many buildings are so modern and remind me of architects who are trying to make statements with their buildings. There are buildings shaped like cubes and many other different shapes. There is one building, the Public Service Building (PSB) that has LARGE white concrete mushrooms shapes on top and on the sides of the building. It is very cool. There is a walkway that spans the street, or really a highway in the middle of the city, so people can get to the PSB from the other side of the street. The building is so modern. It is air conditioned and bright and organized. It is open air so that you can see all the floors above you when you are on the entrance floor. All kinds of stuff, like marriage licenses, residence cards, passports, etc. happen in this building. I was in the building to apply for my residence card. The service was fast and efficient and the space was organized so that people were not on top of one another. Directions were very clear as to where to go within the building.  I was very impressed all around. There is also a wonderful café that you can sit outside and watch the Mtkvari river that runs through Tbilisi. They have these fabulous white sofas outside on the deck that you could just sit there for hours and drink “American” coffee. Although it was a really hot day, since we were near the river it was really very pleasant.

Tbilisi Mtkvari River - Mtkvari is a river in the Caucasus Mountains. Starting in north-eastern Turkey, it flows through Turkey to Georgia, then to Azerbaijan, where it receives the Aras River as a right tributary, and enters the Caspian Sea. The total length of the river is 1,515 kilometers.

http://www.dezeen.com/2012/10/15/tbilisi-public-service-hall-by-massimiliano-and-doriana-fuksas/

Link for pictures of the “mushroom” building.

We lost water again this past week. It is very strange not to have water and this time I was washing clothes in the washer when the water stopped. We waited for hours for the water to come back on and all the time my clothes were in the washer waiting. I so wanted to get the clothes hung up as we have had a lot of rain and with the rain brought cooler temperatures. I wanted to clothes to have as much air time as possible so they would be somewhat dry when I brought them back into my room. In my room it was 76Degrees and it was chilly. It made me think what it is going to feel like when its maybe 46degrees or 36 degrees. And with that said, how are my clothes going to dry. I take solace in the fact that my host family has lived here for many winters (and they have survived J) so I imagine they have solved all of these questions. The adventure continues!

I had my first carrot in four months. I’ve been seeing carrots in the bazaar; but I didn’t want to buy them as I thought my family grew them in the garden. I’m still not sure as I think the neighbors brought over the carrots. The carrots were prepared with tomatoes and red peppers. They were diced so small that at first I didn’t know if it was a carrot or not. My family does grow potatoes. I bet we have 50 pounds, maybe more, of potatoes in the shed. No wonder we have potatoes at almost every meal J

I realized something recently and that is there is very little, if any snacking, done here at my home (maybe all of Georgia!). Unlike the area that I used to live in (US), there are not many stores close by to where I live here in Sagarejo. You have to go down the mountain to get to a store and I am very careful as to what I buy because I have to carry it back up the mountain. We have “coke” maybe once a week and that is one bottle that is shared by six people (so you don’t get much).  At home in the states I can go out at just about any time and buy something to eat.  I do have some snacks here in my room that some really good friends have sent “via care packages” but I am usually so tired when I finally get to my room I don’t think about eating it all the time. This is a very different way of living for me.

Maybe I spoke of this in another blog; however, I must repeat it. I don’t know if I will ever get used to eating so late. Dinner is often as late as 9:30pm. It is not so much a problem when the food choice(s) is light; but, when it is a heavy meal (like BBQ pork); well my stomach does not take lightly with going to bed on a full stomach. Bread, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, BBQ and all different kinds of sauces (that are homemade) line the table. Of course there is piva (beer), cha-cha, water and different kinds of juice. Sometimes we sit at the table for more than an hour and you will make people very unhappy if you don’t have plate(s) of food. So, now it is 10:30pm and it is way past my bed time. Anyway, I just don’t like eating that late; but, one thing is certain you don’t have time for snacking when dinner is so late. Another thing for certain is that I am just going to have to get used to it as it is not going to change.

The trees are turning colors here in Sagarejo. I cannot believe at times that I am here living in Georgia and that I’ve been here four months. At times I feel like I’ve lived here all my life. Sometimes being here feels so foreign and unfamiliar and at other times I feel at home. It is very mixed. However, there is one feeling that is not mixed and that is I am definitely “out of my comfort zone” – and that is a good thing!

One final note, I now have a FACEBOOK account. I have been resisting being on FACEBOOK. I have a lot of opinions about it; but, who cares what they are J. In any event, the entire Peace Corps contingent communicates and shares information, pictures, etc., on the site so I will miss out on LOTS of good stuff if I do not participate. Brave New World!

Catherine Lawrence, G14 – 9/8/14

U S Peace Corps Volunteer/Georgia

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

Blog, September 2^nd, 2014

Hello, My Faithful Readers:

When I last left you I was telling you about a religious holiday here in Georgia, celebrated on August 28^th, 2014.The holiday “Saint Mary’s Day” – I spoke of in my last blog (8/27/14).  I really had no idea what to expect other than I would participate and enjoy whatever happened from a cultural perspective. I knew there would be food; but, I had no idea at the amount of food and the numbers of people that would come to my host family house to share the day with us.

To begin, I slept late that day (which is unusual for me). So, by the time I got downstairs preparations were well underway for the event. When I walked into the kitchen the scene looked like that Keebler cracker commercial where all the elves are busy working on various things. My host father was cooking the pork; my host mother was putting the toppings on cakes that she had made the day before. My host sister was making potato salad and chicken salad. Other folks in the house were cleaning and putting the table extension in so accommodate lots of people. Plates and glasses (tons of them) were out and had to be washed….it just went on and on. I felt kind-a guilty sleeping so late. I wanted to get involved but didn’t know where to begin.

I noticed that my host father was struggling to open a can of mushrooms. He had a couple of knives and was pounding them into the top of the can. I wondered why they didn’t use a can opener; however, found out they didn’t have one. So, I went to my room and brought my can opener down. Well, you would have thought I invented something really special. All gathered around to watch me open the cans. I wanted to give them the can opener but they would not take it. As I noticed previously, Georgian people really do like to struggle. I was scared watching them open cans with knives but I imagine they are used to it.

I then went to get my camera as I had to document this flurry of activity. They were all so busy and I could feel that maybe they were scratching their heads looking at me walking around taking pictures of something that is fairly common for them. I did it anyway and will post some to this blog. At one point my host mother placed the batter bowl in the sink. Wow, there was still batter in the bowl so I saved it from the sink only to use my finger and start eating the left over cake batter. This so reminded me of my childhood as my brothers and I would fight over who got the spoon and the left over batter from the bowl. My host brother and sister did help me eat what was left and let me tell you how good it was. We were all laughing.

My host mother then kept pointing at the area adjacent to the kitchen where they have kind-of-a-shed. This is the place where they store fruit, potatoes and all the canned (jams, jellies, ketchup, etc). In addition, it’s a storage area for anything else like shovels, left over bottles, shoes, jackets it just goes on and on. Well, I went into the shed and there was this enormous bowl of dough.  The family then brought out this long board (maybe a foot and a half wide and four feet long). This board looked like it was decades old. They propped the board up on boxes as that is where my host mother was going to place the dough once she molded it into loaf size.  I could tell this was a practice that had been done many times.

I've posted two photographs (see below). The first is of my host mother and me at the kiln with the loaves of dough ready to be baked. The the second is the kiln that I'm speaking of that will bake the bread. I never can figure out where to insert the pictures.

In any event, she grabbed a certain amount of dough and molded it into a loaf. There must have been twenty-four loaves when she was finished. Then my host father poked his head through the shed window and they carried the board with the dough out to the kiln (out through the shed window, as that was the area closest to the kiln). The kiln was big (I’m calling it a kiln, but maybe it was not that but since I don’t have a better name, I will call it a kiln). It was used to cook the bread. My host father had spent lots of time that morning getting the kiln ready. He kept throwing something in the bottom of the kiln that kept making it get hotter. I was wondering where they were going to cook the bread as there were no shelves or wire baskets to hold the bread in the kiln. Well, knock me over as my host mother then took the dough loaves, one by one, and smashed them against the inside “sides” of the kiln. I thought they would fall into the bottom, but they stuck like glue to the sides. The kiln held about 15 loaves at one time. I watched in fascination as all this unfolded.

I could not figure out how they would know the loaves were done, but somehow they did. They had these tools (like fireplace tools) that one tool (had a hook on the end) hooked into the load and the other tool had a smooth end that eased the bread away from the wall. Of course it didn’t fall because the tool with the hook had it secured. I was just floored. As soon as the bread started to come out I noticed a couple of the neighbors come over and some of the bread went home with them. At that point my host parents and I dug into one of the loaves right out of the kiln. It was so good. I can still smell the bread. This was a real treat for me as I had never seen anything like this. They asked me if we do this in American. I said “I go to the store and pay money and get bread.” Of course, I said it in Georgian. I would imagine the bakers in America do something sort of like what I had just seen done, but I’ve never seen it.

Well after that experience we all had to sit down and catch our breath. It was a lot of work. The guests started to arrive, mostly family but some friends. The next part of the celebration was to go to the cemetery. The family asked if I wanted to go, but I didn’t want to. I have never wanted to go to a cemetery, even in America. I have my own opinions about visiting grave sites and I will leave it at that. However, then I thought that maybe I was dis-respecting the family if I didn’t go. They reassured me that it was no problem if I didn’t want to go. Even the grandmother didn’t go and mainly they were all going to visit the recently departed grave of the grandfather. After they returned we all sat down to eat. The feast was wonderful and we all ate and drank for hours. The men toast in that quiet prayer like manner toasting everything from family (living and dead) to the country of Georgia.  I listen to the conversations and catch a couple of words here and there. Sometimes they get so passionate about whatever they are speaking of. Their voices drown out each other and I know they don’t hear what the other person is saying. It is all so familiar to me. It seemed like most of the neighbors were also celebrating. Lots of noise and singing that went way into the night. At 11pm, the electricity went off. It just does that sometimes and nobody seems to know why.

As is custom, everyone stayed overnight. I am glad as the drinking does not allow safe driving (my thought) –  but they do drive after events like this. There are so many beds here; it is not a problem and everyone is safe. The next morning the conversation starts early out on the porch.

For the first time since I arrived in Sagarejo back in mid-July, we didn’t have any water. Other PCV have said that at their locations (off and on) they don’t have water; but, we have been really lucky here on the mountain. We all just sat around waiting for the water to come back on. I am so glad that I took my shower in the morning. I am still on the schedule of showing twice a week. It has been challenging with the excessive heat not to jump in and take a cool shower, but I make do.  Let me tell you about the shower…..

The water in the shower is not very powerful. The shower head is maybe 4 inches from the wall so you really need to get up close and personal with the wall in order to get any of the water trickling out. To begin the shower you must get the hot water heater in gear. So, you turn on the spigot in the bathroom sink and for some reason that starts the hot water heater. The hot water is so hot initially that I had to turn on the cold spigot to make it not scalding.  That was a mistake, as then the hot water goes completely off and you are left with an ice cold shower. I am sure I will get the knack of this at some point.  There are no hand rails or really anything to hold onto getting in and out of the shower. There is a mirror next to the shower head. I would imagine that is so the host father can shave. Initially I thought if I need to grab onto something I could grab the mirror; however, on second thought what would happen with all the glass falling on me. It is indeed an adventure and I am somewhat thankful that I only need to deal with this twice a week. There is an old and kind-a broken stool near the shower. I guess that is for the grandmother to use when taking a shower. It is a risky proposition to take a shower.  On the other hand, I have hot water and a shower. Some PCV’s don’t have that. 

Peace Corps rule: Concentrate of what you have and not what you don’t have.

Spiders, Spiders, Spiders….there are SO MANY Spiders in Georgia. Where do they all come from? The spiders are not big, thank goodness. I so often walk through spider webs going up or down the stairs that I use to get to my bedroom. Now, these stairs are used countless times during the day; so, the spiders must work very fast to spin the web. The webs are very thin.  At first I didn’t know what I was feeling. I kept brushing my face and arms; but then, I realized that I was walking through a web. At first it was kind-of  “yucky” but now I think I am used to it and as much as I wish the webs were not there; it is not a big deal. (How I have grown - HA)

I got to see the U.S. Embassy recently (only from afar). As a friend and I were driving to Carrefour in the Tbilisi Mall, she pointed out the BIG box building that had walls surrounding was the embassy. I was surprised at how far out of the city proper the embassy was. The building reminded me a little of the Pentagon in Washington, DC. It had that formidable look to it.  The building was maybe four or five stories high. The walls surrounding the building were maybe eight feet high. There were lots of guards and you could see the area that you had to go through in order to get through security. My friend said that at one time the embassy was in the center of Tbilisi; but then moved. I was disappointed as I had hoped to maybe get to see it up close; but, that is not going to happen.

As I said we were driving to Carrefour in the Tbilisi Mall. It is an amazing mall. I was impressed with how clean and wonderfully bright the place was. I never got past the first floor as that is the floor Carrefour is on. The 1^st floor of Carrefour is a supermarket. I’ve been to the mall twice now and I’ve still not seen all the products offered on the supermarket floor. The basement (or sub-1) houses everything else – for example, towels, sheets, electronic, all kinds of soaps, toothpaste, shampoo, etc., etc. Also, the space had clothing for the entire family including shoes. I could go on and on….lots of STUFF. The stair case (or escalator)

 that connected the 1^st and sub-1 floors was like the walkways in the airports. This was so we could take our shopping carts between floors. It was very cool especially since it is on an incline. They have products placed in the area that separate the up and down walkways so you can continue shopping even as you go between floors. Ah, how American! J  I really enjoyed being in the space and I don’t even like shopping. They played all American music, in English. They had long benches (like you see in the park) spread out around the shopping areas to you could sit and take a breath.  

One of the items that I needed was a new piece of luggage. It seems that when we traveled to Tbilisi for our graduation (back in July) my luggage was placed on the top of one of the vans. As a result my luggage was damaged. I wrote to the PC and requested help in replacing it and they agreed. So, I went out to Carrefour to pick out a new piece of luggage comparable to the one that was damaged. I think I found a piece of luggage that fit the bll and the PC will reimburse me. I am very grateful and appreciate how the PC came through for me.

I’ve finally connected with a group of women here in Georgia that either are Retired Peace Corps Volunteers or Expats (in some fashion).  It seems that over the years these women just decided to live in Georgia and somehow connected. I only met eight of the women in the group as the others are either traveling in the region or back in the states or had something else scheduled during the get-together. We went to a German Restaurant and had fabulous beer and pizza. It was just terrific to have food other than Georgian food. There was so much great conversation I had to have my notepad out to take notes. Everyone was sharing information and contact information. I felt like I had died and gone to heaven. One of my goals always was to be an “expat.” They tell me as a Peace Corps Volunteer (once I finish service) it is very easy to get a permanent residence card. Well, that is a long way off and I've not done my service here in Georgia, so we shall see. It is nice to know there are options.

 I stayed overnight in Tbilisi with one of the women in her apartment. It was lovely. I had my own room and my OWN PRIVATE bathroom not 20 feet from the bedroom. Ah, Joy! It was almost like being home J. She lives in an area that reminds me of a cross between San Francisco and Paris.  She lives on a hill (or maybe it’s a mountain) and its very steep. It is a little community, it seems and I am going to have to find out the name of the section of the city. I really liked it.  Need-less-to-say, I had a terrific time. It was the first time I was away from Sagarejo overnight and it felt great. I will write more about this group as I am sure I will have many more get-togethers with them as time goes forward.

So, whenever I start to write I always think I’m not going to have enough to fill up a couple of pages and yet the words just keep coming. Thank you for sharing this with me.

Best, Catherine Lawrence, G14

Peace Corps Volunteer/Georgia

September 2, 2014

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