Blog, November 2nd, 2014
Hello, My Faithful Readers:
Georgia does not have Daylight
Savings time, so I am now 9 Hours ahead of you (those on the east coast
of America). I’ve attached two photographs which will show the “Pechi” both in
the living room that serves as “home base” for the family during the winter and
also the pipe venting out the smoke. The “Pechi” is awesome. It throws so much
heat and I love to sit by it and watch the flames of the fire. It is almost
like a fireplace.
The weather has really turned cold. The temperature
indicated it was below freezing. In addition to the cold, there has been so
much rain and heaven knows where the sun is.
The cold just goes right through me. My host father did setup the
“Pechi” in the family room. The “Pechi”
is a wood burning stove that vents out the window. I thought maybe some of it
(heat) would find its way to my room as my room is above the room with the
“Pechi” but that is not so. My little space heater is OK, but it takes hours
and hours to get the room to 65 or so.
This will be an ongoing conversation.
I am new to FACEBOOK and must tell you a funny story
about my lack of protocol on the site. I noted that there were lots of
comments about an upcoming event on the site so I took the opportunity to write
a question to the person who had initiated the stream (is that what you call
it?). In any event, I received an email back that I should not have used the
comment section to ask a question. It went “I don’t read all the comments (are
you kidding me) and I may have missed the question!” said the initiator. I just
let it pass as I was LOL.
A day or so later, I received a phone call
reinforcing the fact that I just outlined above. I thought, OMG, is it really that important?
What a waste of time….but, I played along. I know the person was really serious
about this. On FB it seems that every time someone burps or someone makes a
funny face or has something to say (while standing on their soapbox) it gets
posted and every comment, no matter what, gets read as I hear people talking
about what was written. I know I will get grief about this, but since I can
comment or question anything I want in my blog, I just took the opportunity J
I have been noticing how different the women are
dressing now that the season has gone from summer to fall. I am just amazed at
the outfits that are so suggestive and beyond sexy (mostly I have been this
fashion here in Sagarejo, not so much in Tbilisi). For example, the boots that
the women wear are the patten leather black boots that go way up above the
knee. This goes along with the really short skirts that they wear and black
stockings (not to mention the long hair that is often as long at their back).
The leather outfits all have assorted zippers placed in very strategic places
as well as buttons placed strategically. The high heels are something else. In
addition to wondering how they walk in those things (especially with the
sidewalks and streets beings broken up in places); they look like shoes that
would be worn in an adult films (not that I’ve seen any, but I have heard tellJ).
Some outfits are made of rubber and many have belts and leather that would make
a motorcycle rider proud. Of course this is not every woman (but also includes some
girls) but enough to make my eyes go behind my head. In this country that is so
modest that tampons cannot be sold and every time you turn around someone is
blessing themselves, these outfits look more like something out of S&M magazines
(again, not that I’ve been any). I just don’t understand this.
I have never seen the Hobo-Dyer Projection map and I
was totally blown away. Looking at Earth upside down was amazing…I had to look
twice. I’ve listed the above links if you want more information and cut and
pasted some information below. I found this in one of the text books that the
children were using.
The map is printed on two
sides, one side with north upwards and the other, south upwards. This, together
with its equal-area
presentation, is intended to present a
different perspective compared with more common non-equal area, north-up maps.
I had a conversation with a group of 10th
and 12th graders recently during their class time. I was trying to
discuss with them the benefits of participating in the National Spelling
Contest. I was waiting for the classroom
to quiet down before I spoke; however, if I had waited for that to happen I
would have never been able to share the information with the students. The students never stop talking to their
friends or really anyone who is within ear shot. They make paper airplanes and
fly them around the room. They get up to go talk to their friend in the next
row. They are checking their email/text on their phone and often times they
leave the room without any prior notice. All the while I am standing in the
front of the room waiting for the room to quiet down as I can speak to them. I
don’t take this personally, as this is routine behavior with the regular
classroom teacher. She constantly has to fight to be heard over the student
conversation. I usually sit and stare as I cannot believe what is happening in
the room. I want to know “why do they come to class?” I did ask that question and didn’t get an
answer from the students – just blank stares as my question is being translated
into Georgian.
I feel sorry for the few students who are there to
learn. They participate over the party like behavior/atmosphere that is going
on. At times the teacher talks in Georgian to the students and it seems to
quiet them down; but, not for long. I watch as they throw stuff (chalk, paper,
whatever) out of the windows. I’ve seen student rip the curtains off the
windows and poke the heating unit on the wall with pens and other items. I
watch as they scratch their names and other words into the desks. I am just
overwhelmed. When I say “stop” they
usually do but only for the moment. As soon as my back is turned they go right
back to doing whatever they were doing. Most come to class without text books
or note books/pens. I ask that they please stop talking. They look at me and
then continue talking to their neighbor like I am not there. You can “cut” the
disrespect with a knife. It is very thick. I sometimes feel that I am in a
movie version of “Lord of the Flies” as there is not much adult supervision
here. There are lots of adults in the school; and even though there are hall
monitors no one stops the children from running, screaming and hitting each
other and various other activities.
Maybe they come to class because there is really
nothing else to do in Sagarejo. Or possibly they are looking for attention? I
often think that the school atmosphere is like “going to the mall” in the
United States. A group of kids hanging around and talking in the mall; however,
in this instance they are in a school classroom. There really is nothing to do
in Sagarejo. There is a library (not in the school); but, I cannot imagine
students would want to go there. There is no movie theater, no restaurants or
cafes to speak of. More times than not people stand around watching other
people fix their cars or stand around the bazaar fruit stands. Maybe the
students see their future in the behavior of older Georgians and figure why
work so hard if this is what I will end up being? The stores all close early
and even if they didn’t the stores are so little that groups of students could
not hang out in them. School seems to be the place where they can socialize.
Often times the boys just decide not to come to class. The room is filled with
girls and no one seems to know where the boys went to.
I went to speak to the 11th grade girls
about the GLOW program (Girls Leading Our World) recently. There are about 8
girl and 8 boys in the room. The boys would not stop talking and when they did
and I began the orientation, they either began to talk again or were laughing
so hard I could not hear myself talk. I asked them repeatedly to stop. I
requested that if they could not control themselves to please leave the room so
that I could speak. They didn’t want to do that but their behavior continued. What
are you laughing at – I asked? I told them that I would expect this behavior
from 2nd grades, not 11th graders and they laughed even
harder. Finally, the teacher told the boys to leave as I was just standing in
the front of the room silent. I was getting ready to leave and ask the girls to
come with me. The boys left and the girls and I had a 20-minute conversation
about GLOW. I just shake my head and actually feel a little sick to my stomach.
This does get me down as I really don’t know if I
can make a difference here. However, one incident gave me a little hope. After
six weeks of taking cell phones and other electronic devices away from the
students (when they are using them during class time); and placing them on the
teacher’s desk…. some students now (as soon as they come into class) place
their phone or whatever on the desk without being asked. This is happening in
the younger grades, so I think there is some progress there. Often times I feel
like a cop patrolling the aisles in the classroom. On some level I cannot blame
the children as they are not being taught self control, discipline. I really
don’t know – maybe the adults have given up. However, as I expressed to my
counter-part – if changes are not make in the lower grades as to behavior,
etc., the cycle will just perpetuate.
Funny story about what happened recently in the
teacher’s room. In Georgian (which I kind-of-sort-of understood; the teachers
wanted to know what I wanted in a man. And not just a man, but my “Ideal” man.
After I stopping laughing I told them “good sex and healthy bank book” Well,
they were rolling on the floor. I don’t think they expected that to be said. It
did divert the conversation away from me; but not for long. They told me they
want to marry an “American man” – as most teachers want to leave the country
and go to England or America. Georgian people are very direct in their
questions so I was not surprised at their question. It did bring levity into
the room; something that does not exist often in the teacher’s room. I am sure there will be more questions around
this topic. One teacher told me that the reason some women (many women) dress
so provocatively is that if they cannot be having sex then they dress like they
are. She referred to the women as “hens.” I really don’t know what that mean;
but as I said, this conversation will continually unfold!
The school does not turn on the heat until
mid-November (I am told). It is warmer outside than it is in the school
building. I cannot imagine there will be a lot of heat in the school. First of
all, the doors are always open as children are running in and out all during
the school day. In addition, so many of the heating units are damaged – so not
sure how much heat, if any, will be available through those sources. I need to
go buy boots and soon or else I am not going to be able to go to school. My
feet are freezing….and the snow boots I have are just too clunky to wear all
day. I really don’t hold out much hope that the school will be anywhere close
to warm; but, maybe I will be surprised. If children and parents would close
the outside doors when they come into school it would be a good thing. I spend
a lot of time closing doors, but they don’t stay closed for long.
My weekend in Tbilisi working for the FLEX program
(Future Leader Exchange) Program was just terrific. The FLEX program happens in
3 stages. The first, and that is what I was a proctor for, allows anyone who
wants to test for a spot in the FLEX program to do so. So, let me back up a
bit. FLEX is a full year program that allows students to live and go to school
in the United States. There are only 48 spots offered and to give you a sense
of the number of applications, in Tbilisi, we had almost 1,000 students test.
The testing goes on during the entire month of October and is happening in
cities and towns across Georgia. I don’t know exactly how many students actual
test; but there are lots. It is very competitive. It was so refreshing to witness
so many students participate with respect and attention to what was happening. Also,
the proctors had “Ronny’s Pizza” – almost like you get back in the US.
After the day of testing was over, a couple of PCV’s
(husband and wife team) that also worked as proctors; we each secured a lovely
hotel room and headed over for some R & R. The hotel was wonderful. They
offered slippers and bathrobes. As soon as I checked in I took a shower. Ah,
hot water and a warm room. There was hot water for coffee and a king sized bed
with wonderful white linens and big soft pillows and comforter. I was in heaven.
I have not felt that clean in some time. After that I met my friends for
dinner. We wore our slippers to the restaurant in the hotel as we didn’t want
to go out. Good food and great conversation was had by all. We talked for hours
and then back to my room for another shower. My body was in shock J.
CNN was available on TV however I could not figure out how to work the remote;
but, never mind I was so tired and water logged I fell asleep listening to the
rain outside my little Juliet balcony. The next morning, back into the shower
and then breakfast at the hotel. What a wonderful buffet. My friends and I sat
and ate and talked again for hours (it seemed). Truly, I didn’t want to leave.
Now this may seem boring, but back to my room and I took my 4th and
final shower. I scrubbed my feet and back with brushes that I brought with me.
I was all shiney! Alas, it was time to
go AND money was never better spent than my less than 24 hours at the hotel. I
must do this more often; but it does get pricey – so, we shall see.
I spent a full day recently in Telavi (a city that
is north of Sagarejo). This is the city I would need to get to in the event
that the Peace Corps would have to evacuate and PCV's in the region would need to consolidate to be extracted. I left my house at 7:00am and
walked for a full 90 minutes to get to the place where I would get the marsh
that would go to Telavi. It was so early that no taxis were available, so in
that case you walk. We did get a ride about ¾ of the way down but I don’t think
the car had brakes. I don’t know for sure but the person I was traveling with
(who does drive) said that whatever he was doing people do when they don’t have
breaks. Heavens! The marsh took a little
less than 2-hours to arrive in Telavi. If this was a real situation I would be
carrying my “Go Bag”, so I must remember how far I have to walk so I pack
light.
Arriving in Telavi we had to walk another 15 minutes (up-hill) to get to
the hotel that we would “stage” at waiting for direction as to status from the
Peace Corps.
Since this was only a simulation, we didn’t have to
go into the hotel. We held our meeting at the USAID Offices in Telavi. There
are (18) PCV’s that live in the region that I do. The PC organizes the
evaluation based on regions so that PCV’s can get to the evacuation point
within a couple of hours. The USAID office had coffee and cookies for us and a
nice warm conference room to talk in. We discussed different situations that
would arise if we had to evacuate and how to handle them. We had to fill out a
(3) page document which listed detailed information as to where we lived, how
someone who has never been to our site would get there and phone numbers of
everyone we are connected with on-site. It was very extensive. We even had to
draw maps so that the visual could provide additional information that may have
been left off in the text. After that we went to the Telavi Police Station. We
meet the District Chief and all the Chief Officer of each of the towns and
villages that we live in. We introduced ourselves and got to ask questions and
report problems if we were experiencing any. It was an impressive event. I
actually introduced myself in Georgia and spoke about (3) sentences as to where
I lived and what I do. It was bare bones, and not as extensive as most of the
other PCV’s, but I was impressed J.
At that point we went to lunch and had to catch up
with folks we have not seen in a while. We did a little shopping at the bazaar
and then spent 15 minutes trying to find a marsh to get home. Another two hours
later I was back in Sagarejo and exhausted. It was a day.
I got to see a little of Telavi and was really
disappointed. I had a vision of the town that was so different than the actual
reality (usually is). I was planning to spend a short weekend in Telavi at some
point, but after this visit I crossed that off my list. Not interested in
Telavi anymore and hope that I don’t have to go back before we have the next
simulation next year.
My Program Manager will be doing a site visit in
early November so I will get to speak about some of the behavioral/school issues;
however, I really don’t expect much to change. I need to find ways to help the
students who really want to be helped and find satisfaction and fulfillment for
myself. Not sure how to do that; but maybe that is the point of my service here
in the Peace Corps?
Thanks for joining in and reading about my adventures, thoughts and observations. All the best,
Catherine Lawrence, G14 - 11/2/14
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.
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