Blog, February 25, 2015
Hello, My Faithful Readers:
Sorry, no
photographs with the blog….next time for sure!
Here we are – 10 months in and the BEST news is that
I am HEALED!
I recently
had a follow-up appointment so that I could have my rib section x-rayed and
everything came back A-ok. Thank goodness; but then, I could feel that all was
well. So, onward and upward….thank you
to whoever is looking out for me “up there or down there!” J
Some days it feels like time is moving very slow and
then at other times I cannot believe that I have been here for 10 months. Next
month, March 2015, the group before me (the G13’s) will be meeting for the COS
conference, which means Close of Service.
Most of the G13’s will leave on or around July 2015 and the PC does lots of planning
and scheduling so that everyone (volunteers) are not leaving at the same time.
In addition, in April 2015 the new group of volunteers (G15’s) will be coming
into Georgia. It is an organizational feat to manage all the details that go
into volunteers leaving and volunteers coming in; as well as, managing my group
the G14’s. I heard that come July 2016 the Democratic Party (USA) will be
holding its convention in my home town (Philadelphia). It gave me pause as that
is when I am slated to finish with the Peace Corps and return to the States
(maybe!)
Dogs, Dogs, Dogs…..so many dogs here in Sagarejo. I
am not really afraid; however, I am not thrilled when I see so many dogs
wandering around looking (I imagine) for food or shelter. I still have
flashbacks of my encounter with the dog pack a while back; so, I am always
mindful of my surroundings. So, the other day, as I was walking home, I watched
as one of the neighbor’s dogs was running right towards me. I thought that he would run right past me;
however, that was not the case. With his mouth open and teeth showing he was
coming right for me. I pushed my back pack out in front of me and gave it a
swing so it was in front of me – using my right arm as a barrier (kinda like
fighting a bull). His head hit the side of my right arm. Although he didn’t
break my arm, a day or so later I noticed that it was bruised and black and
blue. My arm was sore from the impact. This dog was big. His head came up
almost to my waist.
I thought he would leave; however, he circled around
and came back at me. I didn’t want to turn my back on him and walk away, so I
picked up a rock and again thought he would leave; but, he started barking and
with teeth showing and mouth open and kept making moves toward me. I threw some
rocks at him but he stayed in his stance dodging the rocks. I didn’t know where
to go or what to do and at this time I noticed that there was a man down near
where I thought the dog lived. I started to holler at the man to come get his
dog. The man just stood there and watched me with this dog. I really don’t know
if he was the owner or not; but, once again I was left in jeopardy with help
not coming. The man finally called the dog and the dog went running toward him.
I was so angry and yet I was afraid to walk down towards the man (who now had
the dog with or near him).
I stood in place for a couple of minutes thinking
that I was not a stranger to this area. I was also very shaken by this
experience. This man was a neighbor and everyone on this stretch of the roads
knows who I am. Why would they allow this dog to threaten me? I advised the Peace Corps (Safety and
Security Director) of this incident and also my host family. I have to walk
past where this dog lives in order to get to school and then come home - and I
am not happy about it. I will need to
secure some type of weapon to protect myself; and also, think about the
possibility of relocating. This makes me very sad as I love my host family and
I love where I live; however, I cannot live in fear. I know there are dogs
everywhere; however, here on the mountain there are very few people and as
evidenced by my recent experience people are not really willing to help. At
least if I live closer to the center of the city there are more people around
as well as the sort of hospital. I will have to think on this long and hard.
Since I’ve been here on the mountain I’ve walked
past this dog but he was behind fencing and chained to his dog house. Every
time I walked by he started barking and jumping up on the dog house as if
trying to get over the fencing; however, the chain would not allow it. That, in
and of itself, was frightening. I wondered what would happen if he could get
out. Now I know.
Follow-up: The Peace Corps spoke to my Host Family
(HF) and the HF in turn spoke to the owner of the dog. I was told that the
owner apologized and said he would keep the dog chained and not allow him to
run free. I pray that this happens; however, I am a very skeptical that it
will. Often what is said and what happens in reality are two different things. The
Peace Corps said that if another incident occurs they would involve the police;
but, my concern is that if another incident happens it may be after this dog
really hurts me (not just bruising my arm) and as has been my experience I’ve
not been helped by the people who witness the incidents.
I am hungry. The food here is not to my liking and
even so, there are not many food options and the quantity is limited. My host family always gives me what they have;
however, it is limited. Pretty much what you have for lunch is what you will
have for dinner. Sometimes, especially on Sunday, there is no dinner. Usually
there is a late lunch around 3pm or so and that is it. So much salt in the food
and the food is fried in grease and oil. Sometimes I wake up at night with my
stomach talking to me; that is, growling and making gurgle (sp?) sounds. I think at times that I have an entity
in my body trying to get out. I do have supplemental food, like pretzels,
oatmeal and tuna fish that I order from Amazon; however, even that is getting
old. There is really no place here in Sagarejo to get food other than Georgian
type food. The last time I brought food home (from Tbilisi) and placed it in
the refrigerator to eat the next day; I was surprised to learn that someone had
eaten it. No one knew who did it; but the bottom line was that it was gone. I know this sounds petty; but, the thought of
“real” food disappearing was so upsetting to me. I was so looking forward to
eating something good. As I am reading
my novels and they talk about food they are eating; I am sad. I just don’t want
to do much of anything while all I can think about is eating and being
satisfied with food occasionally. I
cannot make myself food without offering it to the entire family and in order
to do that would cost me lots of money. Maybe if I lived on my own it would be
different?
Antakya
·
Antakya is the seat of
the Hatay Province in southern Turkey. In ancient times, Antakya was known as
Antioch and was for centuries one of the largest cities in the Roman empire and
was an influential early center of Christianity; see Antioch. Today's Antakya
is overwhelmingly Islamic in religion. It has a population of about a quarter
I recently found out that there is a volunteer
program that happens over the summer in Turkey. It is for a 2-week period
during July. The location is Antakya and I was so excited to read that is was
formerly known as Antioch. Wow, this would be excellent; however, the dates of
the program won’t work for me. I will be traveling at the end of June and early
July (more or that as time gets closer) – and I won’t be back in time. Very
disappointed; however, I will make sure that I put this on my 2016 calendar.
I had a GREAT weekend in Tbilisi recently. I
attended the (ETAG) English Teachers Association of Georgia (link below) – a
conference that was held at the International Black Sea University (link
below). What a terrific day it was. I met lots of teachers, both teaching at
the University level as well as the High school level. Sat in on many workshops
and came away with lots of new materials that will hopefully inspire and
motivate my students to seeking education in a new way.
In addition, it was my first experience
renting an apartment in Tbilisi. A friend and I reserved an apartment from
Friday evening until Sunday Afternoon. It was in the “Marjanishvili” section of
the city. It was a lot cheaper than staying at a hotel and in addition we had a
washing machine to catch up on laundry. It was so convenient and very near a
metro stop. We didn’t have much time to explore the area; as we didn’t arrive
until late on Friday and we were at the conference all day on Saturday. It is
definitely something I would do again.
The Education East teachers (that is me) had a
conference this past week. The hotel was fabulous. We had terrific HOT water
for showers – I could live in the shower. In four days time, I took six showers….it
was wonderful. We also had HEAT (and lots of it) and a warm room to take a
shower in. In addition, the BEDS were
awesome and the bedding (pillows and blankets) were to die for. I would have
LOVED to pack the blanket and take it with me; but, that is not in keeping with
the values of a Peace Corps Volunteer J. The meeting topic was about Project
Management and Design. I’ve done a lot of work in the area; however, we did
have our Georgian Counter-parts along for the conference. This topic was a foreign
language to my counter-part and I am sure for other Georgian Teachers. The
terminology was unknown to them; however, the presenters of the materials did a
great job in explaining the various components of designing a project and the
management of it. We spent all day (from 9am – 5pm) working - with coffee breaks and lunch in-between.
The only real down side to the conference was
the food. Breakfast was a buffet, so we
had lots of choices and unlimited re-fills. Truly, it was the best meal of the
day. Now, you have read many times in my blog about my feelings on Georgian
foods so you will understand how disappointed I was in the food at the hotel.
Lunch and dinner were served family style and 90% of what was served (although
well prepared) was Georgian food. The supply was limited, so if you didn’t sit
down as soon as everyone else did, well you were out of luck to get a portion
of what was served. The salad, well I could have eaten the bowl of salad by
myself. When I asked if we could have a refill the hotel staff told me that I
could have more salad if I paid for it. We had french fries and for five
people, I bet there was only about 30-35 french fries (shoe string type) on the
plate. Of course, there was lots of bread and cheese, fish with lots of bones,
etc. One time there were mushrooms….we all dived into the vegetable as it was
in short supply. It was dismal, in my opinion. No desert only a plate of whole
apples, oranges and a kewee (sp?). I left hungry and disappointed, but I filled
up on breakfast – and carried a hardboiled egg and the cheese that is
individually wrapped with me to
supplement lunch and dinner.
The hotel was beautiful. It had a 9-hole golf
course and a big swimming pool that of course, because it is winter, we could
not use. It was snowing off and on during the conference, so it was very
beautiful to watch the snow on the trees. The rooms were very warm and we even
had a sofa in our room (so we didn’t have to sit on the beds to watch TV).
Here is a piece of completely useless
information that I thought you would enjoy. Did you know that you CANNOT buy
chewing gum in Singapore? This is the type of information that is listed in the
textbooks that the teachers of English use to teach Georgian students.
March 3rd is a BIG holiday here in
Georgia. I’m told that EVERYTHING is closed (Schools, Yeah! - banks, stores, etc.) . Last year I totally
forgot about Mother’s Day in the States, so it seems I am going to celebrate at
least twice this year. I’ve asked if anything special is done and I understand
that families celebrate in their own way. In addition, International Women’s
Day is celebrated on March 8th. Also a big day here; however, it
falls on a Sunday. As a result, since it is NOT a school day, we don’t get a
day off L
|
March 3
|
დედის დღე
|
Dedis dghe
|
|
March 8
|
ქალთა საერთაშორისო დღე
|
Kalta saertashoriso dghe
|
Today during class, that is February 25th, the Director came
into the room and was looking very somber. All the students stood at attention
and listened as she spoke (of course in Georgian). I didn’t understand;
however, my cooperating teacher told me after that we were honoring a moment of
silence to remember the events that are listed below.
1921 Republic of
Georgia Bolshevistic Armies Friday, 25th February, 1921 : On this day, it was reported
that the capital of the Republic of Georgia was being seized by Bolshevistic
(Russian) armies. The Greeks were headed to this location to pick up the Greek
Merchants and Greek refugees now there. The Turkish army had voted to remain
neutral. The capture of Georgia by Soviet Russian armies was in essence
signified the near end of the Independence of the Republic of Georgia. This
country did again regain their independence from the Soviet Union as of 1991
(declared on April 9, finalized on December 25th). Independence Day of Georgia
is still celebrated on May 26th, however. This was the date of the original
breaking away from Russia which occurred in 1918.
I want to leave you with some news about the
dog situation.
First,
I found myself a BIG/FAT STICK. I do plan to take a picture and post at some
point; but, in the meantime know that I (hopefully) have some measure of
protection. The stick is big and fat. It is not that long as I need to carry it
with me in my back pack. It does not completely fit; however, it’s a small
price to pay to allow me to feel somewhat protected.
The stick is long enough, I think, for me to
ram it down the dog’s throat and that is what I intend to do. I am more prepared
now than ever to deal with this. I’ve had so much advice from Georgian people
on how to deal with this. One suggestion was that while the dog was threatening
me I should make friends with it and (carry food) so that I could feed it.
Well, that is not going to happen.
My host family told me that the family who
owned the dog that attacked me has gotten rid of the dog (or something to that
effect). It is a challenge with the language barrier; but, I will investigate
further. In the meantime, until I am certain, the stick stays with me. My
family, the teachers and everyone who has seen my sticks just giggles or
laughs. Honestly, I don’t really care what anyone thinks about the stick. I’ve
learned from experience that I better make sure that I do everything and
anything I can to protect myself as my experience here is that the folks who
have watched my interactions with dogs are not fast in coming to help.
I am very sorry for these dogs here in
Georgia. They are starving and often times limping (hurt by getting hit with by
cars or with rocks). It is not the dogs fault, I realize that. However, I don’t
want to end up hurt.
Ok, I have so much more to write but I think
you may be tired of reading J. The
month of March is right around the corner so hopefully, maybe, the worst of the
winter is over.
Best, Catherine
Lawrence, G14
PeaceCorps Volunteer
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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