October 1^st, 2014

Hello, My Faithful Readers:

The weather is cold with lots of rain. The temperature in my room goes between 65F and 70F; however, with the rain it just feels colder and raw. We have no heat in the house and the host father has not yet put in the “pechi” – which is a wood burning stove. Not sure how any of this works; but, I will soon find out. I am going to ask very soon when I can have heat in my room. I was told that it would be available; but, I don’t know what form it will take….stay tuned J

A big disappointment for me is that I cannot become a member of the IWA (International Women’s Association). The meetings are held during the week (once a month) and the meeting will interfere with my teaching schedule. The PC wants me to focus on my teaching.  I was so looking forward to having the IWA give some balance in my life here in Georgia. I know I can focus on teaching and other things as well.  It would have been a good outlet for me to meet other women in my age group.  That is still so missing in my life as my two “Cell Mates” (I say that tongue and cheek) – the two gals who are PC volunteers that also live in Sagarejo are terrific women and of course we are not in prison J; however, both are in their early twenties. I enjoy being with them but we are generations apart. It would have been nice to connect and build an adult community outside of Sagarejo with the IWA.

The main event here for the last couple of weeks has been the start of school and the beginning of my classroom teaching experience. I know I gave some details in my last blog and will continue to share throughout my time here in Georgia.

So, finally after two weeks of observing, I was able to set my schedule. I will be working with two or the four counter-part teachers in the school (AKA, English Teachers).  I will be working with the 1^st, 2^nd, 4^th, 6^th, 7^th, 8^th and 10^th grades. I need to teach a total of eighteen hours a week; so, it breaks down as 4 classes each on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. On Thursday I will teach 2 classes and that give me the eighteen. Classes begin at 9:00am and continue until 3:00pm; however, my formal teaching will end at 12:20pm.  In addition, after my formal classes I will be working with various clubs in the school. I need to initiate a Reading Club for the 4^th grade and an English Club for the school. At the moment, those are the two clubs that will be setup. Not sure how to organize the clubs, or even to call them clubs…more later.

In addition, I need to meet with each of the counter-parts to plan for classes. The 1^st, 2^nd and 10^th grade meet twice a week and all the other classes meet three times a week. The counter-parts want to plan for the class the day before; however, I am not so sure I am like that arrangement. I would much rather plan for the entire week at one time. Also, I am struggling with working with all these people. I am so used to working alone and not having to count on others input; it has been a challenge for me.

Starting in the 7^th grade, students need to study English, Russian and Georgian.  However, this will be changed this year so that the 5^th graders will now study all three languages. I also understand that the Ministry of Education will initiate a training program for parents. I don’t know exactly what that means; however, I do think that whatever training will be given to the parents would be welcomed. From what I can gather parents don’t spend a lot a time and effort to make sure that their students do their homework for classes. This is true in all classes, not just English. I hear lots of reasons as to why; for example, parents are working, poverty, tired, not being able to speak English…I could go on. However, since no homework is done for subjects that are not English the reason of parents not speaking English really would not count.  The teachers ask me what they can do about this situation? I tell them that the teachers just cannot do it alone. Parents need to be involved and don’t get me wrong parents are involved as they bring the children to school. The children are dressed very nice and I am sure they are caring people about their children; however, for some reason they just do not put a priority on homework.

In the classroom the children have very little (if any) self control. During class they surf the internet on their mobile phones. They have long conversations with their friends in the next seat. They push and hit each other and bang desks. The teacher must have said countless times to stop and be quiet; however, they disregard what the teacher said. I’ve not been in a classroom for a long time; however, I am hoping that classrooms the world over are not operated in this way? There are a few students in class that are well behaved and I feel sorry for them. They are trying to learn but have to compete with the disruptions in the classroom. As a PC volunteer I am charged with helping the teachers. My role is not to be a change agent; however, to suggest and provide new information that may impact the way things are done by the teacher. I did see the same kinds of behavior when I was in Osiauri; so, possibly these behaviors are cultural and extend throughout the whole of Georgia.

The classroom situation is challenging; however, it is nothing compared to what goes on during the change of class period. In the five minutes that denote the end of one class and the beginning of the next I can safely say that it is like the Wild, Wild West. Some children go out into the school yard but many students say in the school building. They are running down the halls, up and down the steps and all the while shouting and playing like they were outside. I usually just stand with my back to the wall as I’ve almost had children run into me at warp speed. The children push and shove each other. They climb on each other back. They rough house in the most physical way.  I see the children running down the hall and then dropping to their knees so that they are sliding down the hallways.  I just don’t know why someone does not get hurt. The teachers are not concerned about this and at times they just close the door to the teacher’s room to block it out. This is my opinion but is this kind of behavior respectful of the school and education?  I am a guest in this country so I need to be mindful of my role here.

I’ve brought a couple of new ideas into the classroom. Now, they are not “new ideas”; however, they have never been initiated in the (or at least Sagarejo School #1) classroom. Children, if they are not talking or being disruptive in some way, surf the internet or email on their hand-held devices. When I see this happening, I go and take the device away and place it on the teacher desk. The first few times I did it I think everyone (including the teacher) was in shock. The room went quiet. They just looked at me. I smiled at the student and thank him/her for cooperating. They could have their device back after the lesson and know that in the meantime the device was safe on the desk. In addition, I started moving students around the classroom. As students are talking, or punching, or pinching, etc., etc., I request that they stop and that they pay attention to the teacher. Most times it is one boy/girl doing the disruption. If they don’t stop, I go and nicely take their arm and their book bag and move them to a seat away from other students. Again, the look on their faces was priceless. I was unsure if they would cooperate, as often students answer the teachers back in a most dis-respectful way. However, maybe because it was so unexpected (or I am so new) the students did follow my lead. I do “thank” the students in both English and Georgian for cooperating. Once done the other students did quiet down some and the class time was a bit more organized. We shall see how this works out.

In the short time I’ve been in the classroom I am thinking that maybe the students can’t see how relevant this learning is to their future. I’ve heard that in US schools that students don’t think what is taught in school does not have anything to do with their REAL LIFE or what is happening in the world. Maybe the same, or part of the same, is happening here in Georgia?  This will continue to unfold.

Enough about school for the moment and let me tell you about a funny situation that happened. I received my residence card for Georgia. I was very excited about that as I’ve never been a resident of any other place except the city I was born and currently live in the US. So, when I got my Residence Card I was so excited. I checked the information and my name was correct, my date of birth was correct; however, it listed my sex as “M”. What….I know my hair is short, but What!!! So, very often in Georgia you have to say things twice, and now I’m finding that often you need to do things twice. Back to the government I went to have the card changed. I just thought they would spit out a new card with an “F”; however, not the case. I had to do the WHOLE process over again. I had to take another picture, fill out more forms and wait in more lines. I also need to come back to the government office and pickup my new card in a couple of week. Brother, as if there is not enough to do J.  I should get my new card this week and I am hoping to be, once again, a female.

Here is another real life story in Georgia that gave me pause. I was in Tbilisi for a meeting and shopping. I just love Tbilisi. Maybe it is the city atmosphere that makes me feel really at home. In any event, I was ready to head back to Sagarejo and made my way to the Metro. Low and behold (lots of drama), the gates to the metro were locked tight. Tons of people were mulling around trying to find out what was happening. Of course, if I understood more Georgian I would have had a better idea; and there was no one to translate. So, I thought it was possibly the “Medical Center” metro stop only that they were stopping people from coming in. So, I walked to the next metro stop and the same thing was happening. Geezes, what do I do now. I realized I didn’t have a marsh or bus PLAN B to get me to the marsh hub to get back to Sagarejo. How do I navigate Tbilisi without the Metro?  It was also too far to walk, so I went to hunt down a taxi. It cost me 8GEL to get to the marsh hub back to Sagarejo (unexpected expense) – but no other way to do it. I need to plan another line of exit from the city so if this happens again I will be prepared. I did make it home, no problem. I heard later, from my host father who is a Tbilisi police officer,that someone either jumped or was pushed in front of the train and was killed. Of course, the entire system was shut down for more than 24-hours.  I had an awful feeling something like that may have happened. The experience gave me pause as I so depend on the metro while in Tbilisi. I am working on my PLAN B, maybe even a PLAN C and D J

Ok, I will close for now. No pictures today as I have just been swimming in school stuff and trying to stay warm. Hopefully I will have good news the next time I write about heating. I am so curious about how the family handles the winter conditions. I am down to a shower once a week. We shall see how that goes once winter really gets here. So many unknowns at the moment to keep me occupied. There is so much to manage. I have more folders now than when I worked full imt (hard to believe).

I have lost more weight so the grand total is 54 pounds in 5 months. If I keep this up I may totally disappear by the time I come home in 22 months. (Still cannot believe it). J

Take care my Faithful Readers and once again, Thank You for taking the time to share my adventures with me.

Best, Catherine Lawrence, G14 – 10/1/14

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