Blog, June 15th, 2015
Hello, My Faithful Readers
I have attached four photographs. The first is me with my counter-part English teachers on the last day of school. Please note: I now have short hair. Could not STAND long hair :-). The second is me with some of the 3rd grade students doing the "hokey-pokey." The kids just love it and we are working on what it their "Left" and what is their "Right" - Lots of fun. The third is the photo I used for my visa applications for Vietnam and Cambodia. My visa would not print to the blog. And finally, as an added bonus - I've included a photo of ME in the 1st grade at Our Lady Of Mt Carmel grade school. I am standing against the wall - I am in the middle. As I am reaching my milestone age of 65; I thought remembering the young years might be fun! (do you love the wings my hair make)
I am going on vacation on celebrate my 65th
Birthday! So there will only be one blog
entry for June, 2015. I don’t plan to bring my computer with me when I travel;
however, I know along the way there will be computer access so I will be
checking in from time to time.
I am going to Vietnam and Cambodia and I am
thrilled. I planned this trip back in January 2015 and at that time I didn’t
even realize that April, 2015 was the 40th anniversary of the fall
of Saigon. I struggled with going to this area of the world as so much death
and destruction happened during the war and yet here we are (I am) going to
visit as a tourist. It is a crazy world we live in. Within the blog I’ve listed
a link within the blog of a very famous anti-war video/song that was part of
Woodstock. Listed below is the AMA web link.
In any event, I leave Georgia (I am really looking
forward to leaving Georgia for a little while) on June 22nd and
arrive in Hanoi on June 23rd. I will be traveling alone; however, I
am doing a land/river package with AMA Waterways. This is the same group I did
the river boat cruise on the Danube over the past New Year. I will
be in Hanoi for a couple of days and then travel to Ha Long Bay where I will
stay overnight on a traditional wooden junk. At that point I fly from Hanoi to
Siem Reap, Cambodia and spend a few days touring…….
The gateway to
Angkor, the former capital of the Khmer empire and one of the most renowned
archeological sites in all of Southeast Asia.
Once complete, we then set sail down the Mekong
River for a week and end up in Saigon for a couple of days. I will return to
Tbilisi on July 10th.
The Visa’s that were need (single entry for Cambodia
and double entry to Vietnam) were a challenge to get; however, I was able to
accomplish all (and have included my Cambodia visa) as a photograph. If I don’t
look like a Russian/Eastern European woman I don’t know who does.
I just love river boat cruising. It is going to be
HOT; however, due to my school schedule here in Georgia this was the only time
I could go. Also, since we set sail on the Mekong on my birthday; well, the
rest is history. I have a room all for me, with my own bathroom…YES! We have a luggage restriction of (44) pounds
due to the air travel from Hanoi to Siem Reap; so, I will be traveling very
light.
The above link is a video/song performed during
Woodstock. It was an anti-vietnam war song that I had forgotten about until a
friend sent it.
I will be flying with Qatar airlines, which will be
a new airline experience for me. I am flying through Doha - so flying into Hanoi I don’t have much of a layover; however,
coming back to Tbilisi I will have a 9 hour layover in Doha, so possibly I can
do some exploring.
This, my friends, is a trip of a life time (for me).
Of course I will blog when I return from my adventure. I will be traveling, of
course, with the AMA travel group; however, I will be traveling alone. I chose
to travel with the group as I really didn’t want to do all the planning that is
involved in a trip like this. So, I will sit back and go along with the
fabulous schedule the cruise line has planned (both the land and river portion).
I will be treated like a queen….yes, I want to be pampered and taken care of. J
I spent the last weekend in May with friends and
ex-pats in Tbilisi exploring more of the possibilities of living in Tbilisi
when my service here is complete. What a great time I had. I stayed with a
friend in her penthouse apartment. It was very nice with two bathrooms and air
conditioning. I caught up with friends so we had a party of six women expats
for dinner. Great conversation was had by all as well as good food. The Real
Estate agent that many expats use also joined us so, of course, it is too far
away to look at apartments, we did talk about location, location, location and
the kinds of things I am looking for – also, price! I came home to Sagarejo
completely refreshed.
I just heard that the school that I teach in will
have a full time doctor on staff once school resumes in the fall. Wow, what a
terrific addition that will be to the school. The maintenance staff is doing
lots of breaking down walls, painting, etc., in order to make a infirmary for
the doctor. We heard it is a woman doctor. I will catch up with that once
school resumes in September.
Here is the link to my latest article, the 7th in my series. Hope you enjoy! Your article titled Cold, Dirty, Hungry has been accepted and is now published on the OpEdNews website at: http://www.opednews.com/articles/Cold-Dirty-Hungry-by-Catherine-Lawrence-Time-150604-861.html
I was invited to join a day trip to Martkopi with my tutor and her students from the Kekheti Community College. This is a very famous area in Georgia that lots of school children visit as well as adult Georgians. I’ve not met anyone so far that has not been to this location, so it is very popular. The school rented a great marsh and we all piled in and off we went.
I am told the reason it was called Martkopi is
because it means “the one who lives in solitude” (more information in the
link). I can so relate to this place as sometimes solitude is a wonderful place
to be.
The students and I, along with my tutor and the
Director of the Community College spent some time in the monastery and also
were fortunate to be part of a religious service. We climb a mountain near the
monastery to see the bell tower; however, I had to turn back about ¾ of the way
up. It was so muddy and slippery and I was afraid of falling. One the way home
we stopped at a picnic location and had a supra (big feast). They had packed a
luncheon that included salad, bread and pork (that we grilled on an outside
grill). Lots of wine, of course, and lots of cake came with the luncheon. It
was a long day, almost 12 hours, but it was worth it.
As school is grinding to a close I am just so amazed
at how few students show up for class in the last couple of weeks. I am also
surprised, and this is really all year long, about how the students just go and
come as they want. No one monitors the students coming into or leaving the
school. When class starts roll call is taken, but then students can leave and
no one says anything. They leave to get food or to stand outside the school and
talk. Sometimes teachers tell students
in the class to go tell their classmates to come inside (to the classroom) so
class can begin. It is all very casual and no one seems to be concerned that
with children running all over the place someone could get hurt or go missing
when you thought they were in school.
I have included some photographs of me along with
students in the 3rd grade during the last couple of days of classes.
Also included is a photo of me and two of my counter-part English teachers.
Although classes were officially over on June 12th;
the Georgian teachers still have to report to the school until the end of June.
I would imagine they would be working on grades and finishing out the year. Thankfully,
I don’t have to do that my responsibilities ended on the 12th. I am experiencing PTSD and recovering from a
really hard year in the classrooms.
I had a great time recently with a friend (expat)
here in Georgia. She had never been on the metro, so even though she does have
the services of a driver, we left the driver and headed towards the metro. I
cannot tell you the look of alarm on the drivers face when we told him what we
were going to do. He said “but, I can drive you anywhere you want to go.” Yes,
we know that but we want to ride the metro. It was a fun moment.
I felt like an old timer here in Georgia to be able
to show someone the ropes. I remember the first time I was on the metro I was
so scared. I was really not sure where I was going or what the protocol was
“riding the rails.” My friend, of course, was a real trooper and she was a
quick study. We got off the metro and went onto an auto-bus and headed to the
restaurant for lunch. It was a 3-hour lunch as we had so much to catch up on. The
restaurant, for some reason, treated up to dessert. That was wonderful. A LARGE
hamburger was ordered, with french fries and ice tea with lemon and mint. It
was fabulous.
We had planned to then walk around the Station
Square Bazaar; but, since lunch went longer than we thought we postponed the
shopping for another time. It was just the best time. I know we will plan
something when I return from South East Asia. I am just building a great new
community here in Georgia. I am including both expats and Georgians to my new
circle of friends.
I’ve noticed over and over again how my host family
buys one thing at a time. What I mean by that is, for example, they buy one bar
of soap or one roll of toilet paper when they purchase items. When that item is
used up, then they buy another bar of soap or roll of toilet paper. I would
imagine with resources being not in abundance buying things that you don’t need
immediately is not something that is done. They buy it when they need it. As
compared to me, as living here in Georgia I usually have at least four rolls of
toilet paper and three of four bars of soap as backup. So, what happens is I
usually contribute a part of my supply when I see that there is no soap or
toilet paper to use.
European Youth Olympic Festival 2015 will happen in
Tbilisi (July 26th-August 1st). The link above gives
information on the “Olympic Torch” relay that happened across Georgia. The torch arrived in Sagarejo on Friday, June
5th. Very Cool!
Tbilisi was in the news recently as there was a
major flood in and around Tbilisi. As a result of the flooding many of the
animals (I read almost half of the zoo animals) escaped and were roaming the
streets. It was just terrible. At least twelve people died and many people are
still missing. The link below will provide information and I am sure if you
want to see the pictures you can google it and many, many pictures will come
up. There are many photographs of the hippo who was roaming the streets. At
last count I heard there were 13 wolves, many bears (who all had to be killed);
many lions and tigers and even an alligator.
Thankfully, I was home here in Sagarejo and we
didn’t have the kinds of problems that Tbilisi had. The rain has been excessive
here, unusual I am told the amount of rain and even hail. Sometimes I can sit
in my room and hear the water rushing down from the mountain. Between the rain
and the snow melting it sounds like a waterfall.
My recently published article “Out of the Box” will be
featured in the Peace Corps publication called Peace Corps Passport
(link below). The article will be featured in the mid-July 2015 publication. I
am very proud that Peace Corps wanted to feature me in their publication.
I have tipped the scales and now can claim that my
weight loss is 70 pounds. When I think of all the money I spent over the years
at Weight Watchers; if only I known that I just had to come to Georgia with the
Peace Corps J.
As a result of all this weight loss, I need to do
some different kinds of exercise as the walking up/down the mountain is good;
but my body needs more and different kinds of toning exercises. So, I found an
adult jump rope in the free box at the Peace Corps Office. Wow, was I excited
as up until now all I could find at the toys stores were children’s versions.
It never even dawned on me to check the North Face store and places like that;
but, I got one and it was FREE.
FREE is always good here as it recently dawned on me
that my monthly salary is $150/USD. Yes, you read that correctly. As a
volunteer we are expected to live as the locals live; so, out monthly salary is
for extra items. The PC does provide us with money to give to our host families
for room and boards; so, the $150USD is used for any extra food and or
entertainment we want (and of course travel).
I cannot wait to start my exercise program with the
jump rope. Maybe I can start a club or something like that.
I will have two new Peace Corps Volunteers here in
Sagarejo once training is complete and the new class (PC/Georgia G15’s)
graduate on July 10th. One of the volunteers will be a teacher in
Sagarejo School #1 (which is down the street from my school, which is Sagarejo
School #2). She is younger, 20-something. I heard that she was part of PC
Jordan; however, PC had to be evacuated out of Jordan – so, now she is here in
Georgia. The second volunteer will be working as an IOD (Development Volunteer)
in the Sagarejo Youth House. She is
older, my age. It will be nice to have someone close by that I can relate to.
It will be nice to have both gals here!
I will close for now and look forward to completing
my 14th month of service on June 26th. Although I will be
in Vietnam, I will still honor the date as every month of service completed is
an accomplishment for me.
I look forward to sharing my SouthEastAsia experience
with you, my readers!
All the Best,
Catherine
Lawrence, G14
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.
