7. I really suck at blogging.

 

SO! I’m not even going to bother discussing what has been going on the past three months. You should just know what I was in Georgia, left Georgia to go home, and now I’m back in Georgia for another semester of teaching. I am going to try reallllly hard to keep up with my blogging, I honestly don’t know why I stopped doing it. Okay, it could do with the fact that it’s so effing cold here I can barely feel my fingers let alone type, but that’s no excuse!

My return to Georgia has been bittersweet. Despite being home for less than a month I got readjusted to the comforts of home, and let me tell you: these comforts were way harder to let go of the second time around. I was feeling pretty sad as Bobby drove me to SFO at 5 o’clock in the morning. We arrived on time, said our dreaded goodbyes, and I was off! I flew from SFO à JFK à Warsaw (12 hour layover = NOT FUN) à Tbilisi. I ended up staying at a hostel for the night in order to catch up on some zZz’s as well as wait for my pal Eamonn to arrive from Ireland. We were able to find each other despite both knowing little about Tbilisi and headed back to Kutaisi together.

Seeing my host family was awesome. I had talked to them a little while I was gone, but not much. They loved the presents I got them (candy from Disneyland, Ghirardelli chocolate squares, Lindor chocolates, toys/English language activities for my little host bros., & Tapatio hot sauce — my older host brothers almost finished it all already.) Everything at home is the same which is nice but also a little annoying considering I constantly have Georgian women asking me if I want more food/tea/coffee every hour that I’m awake. It was definitely nice to be home and be able to eat what I want, when I want. I’m slowly getting readjusted to the fact that I’m not really in charge of myself in Georgia haha.

Going back to school was also bittersweet. I missed my students a ton but definitely did not miss the horrendous teaching strategies some of my English co-teachers use. I had finally learned to block out all the screaming and yelling from last semester, only to find myself wanting to punch something as soon as I arrived back in the classroom. I’m hoping to talk more with these English teachers to try to discuss better strategies that they can use in the classroom. It might be all for not, but I gotta try!

And now for a few gems:

 

• When Saba (littlest host brother) saw me he said: “Why were you in America for soooo long?! What were you doing there? Why didn’t you take me… I have a passport!” (All in Georgian of course)
• My first day back to school it took me almost ten minutes to walk through the front doors of the school, through the school, and to my classroom. (It would normally take about one minute) This was due to the fact that a bunch of students were attacking me with hugs and kisses and hello’s.
• I gave Saba and Dato a sheet of stickers from my school supplies. I left home to go to school and by the time I came back the stickers were all over the living room walls. Apparently my host mom told them to stop but they thought that the stickers made the living room look “dzalian lamazi” (very pretty).

 

And I leave you with a promise that I will update more often (at LEAST once a week). Nakhvamdis ya’ll!

6. Zugdidis & Mestias & Gelatis, oh my!

Zugdidi (September 30^th)

Eteri, Eamonn, and I barely got on board a marshutka heading to Zugdidi. When I say barely I mean that when we arrived there were no seats left. But this is Georgia and no seats = no problem. They proceeded to put in makeshift seats which were basically pieces of wood with a little padding covered in fabric. They connected underneath the seats that were closest to the center aisle. It was extremely cramped but only a one and a half hour drive so it wasn’t too bad. The most exciting part of our journey was when we hit a bump and my “seat” disconnected and I fell to the floor. After a lot of laughing and fumbling around I was able to figure out how to fix it.

When we arrived in Zugdidi we were given the wrong address and walked into a complete strangers’ yard (luckily we didn’t try to enter their house.) We eventually figured out where to go and met up with fellow TLG volunteers Hannah, Eli, Adam, Blessing, and Elaine. We were greeted with hugs, kisses, khinkali, beer, and cha cha! We started drinking too early and we all fell asleep by eleven (amateurs).

Mestia (October 1^st)

We woke up very early so that we could take the marshutka up to Mestia. All of us (minus Eli, Elaine, & Blessing) plus Ali headed to Mestia at around 9am. Three long, hung over hours later we finally arrived in one of the most beautiful places I have ever set sight on! Mestia is at a high altitude so it is much colder than Kutaisi and surrounded by mountains and glaciers. The air is clean and fresh and I instantly felt better once I stepped outside. We walked straight to our hostel, put away our things, and headed to a restaurant to get a bite to eat. After we ate we started hiking up a road that leads to a huge cross at the top of a mountain. It normally takes about two hours to hike up but of course I had to be an idiot and forget to break in my Doc Martens before the hike… halfway through I got the world’s worst blister and proceeded to hobble up the mountain (but I made it!). It took longer than it should have but oh well. We took some pictures and hung out at the top, admiring the amazing view.

Once we finally got back to our hostel we ate and then hung out for a while. We were all pretty tired from the day’s festivities so we went to bed fairly early. I’m sure the fact that we had to wake up at 5am the next morning to catch the only marshutka back home also played a role. We said farewell to our friends in Zugdidi then made it safely back home to Kutaisi.

Gelati (October 6^th 2011)

Afterschool on Thursday Eteri, Eamonn and I decided to do some sightseeing! The weather is starting to cool down so we figured we should do it now before it gets too cold. We boarded a marshutka headed for Gelati Monastery. It is located just outside of Kutaisi, atop a mountain. It was built in the 10^th century AD and holds the burial of King David the Builder; arguably one of the most successful and celebrated Kings of Georgia. I had seen pictures but they obviously did not do it any justice. I was taken aback by the gorgeous view as well as the architecture and artwork inside the church. For being so old it has been pretty well preserved; I can only imagine what it looked like when it was first built.

After an hour and a half we decided to head out of the church because we weren’t sure when the last marshutka was set to leave. On the walk out we saw a lot of high schoolers staring at us (which isn’t unusual) but come to find out they were from my school! I saw one of my English co-teachers outside and turns out she had accompanied some of her 10^th grade students there. She insisted that we stay and eat some food with them (lobiani, khachapuri, and cookies) and then take their private marshutka back into town with them. So basically we went from having no clue when we were getting back home to getting a free meal and a free private marshutka ride! My friends and I just looked at each other, laughed, and exclaimed “Only in Georgia!”

Gem of the day: Shania Twain’s “Man, I feel like a woman” came on full blast in the marshutka home. By this point most of the students were out of their seats, singing, dancing and actin’ a fool. It was hilarious. Also the fact that Eamonn knew every word…. nothing like an Irishman singing “THE BEST THING ABOUT BEIN’ A WOMANNNN…” at the top of his lungs :)

5. “What movie are we in?”

Sorry it has been so long since I’ve updated…

Batumi was absolutely incredible! It took about three hours to get there because we had to make a few stops. We arrived at the hotel and waited to get checked in, which took a while because there were so many people there. Once I finally checked in I was told that I wouldn’t have time to put my bags away or change because we were already late for dinner.

We arrived at a nice restaurant (I was wearing jeans and a tie-dye t-shirt, feeling out of place), but forgot about that once I noticed the loads of delicious food on the table. We all stuffed our faces and then headed to the newly built opera house to watch the play. We asked all of the boys to get off of the bus so that us girls could change into more appropriate attire. Can’t say I’ve ever changed in a bus before, but this is Georgia and here there is a first time for everything.

Once the play was over a group of us headed over to the Black Sea with some (okay, many) brews, cha cha (homemade vodka), Georgian wine,  and food. We spent hours sitting on the rocky beach, discussing our school and living situations. Needless to say it was extremely fun and therapeutic.

Over the past week, school has become easier. For the most part I know most of my students and I am more aware of each classes strengths and weaknesses. I am also incredibly aware of the fact that my students are much more comfortable with me now. By this, I mean that they no longer stare at me quietly with angelic faces. More like scream for my attention and get upset if I don’t give it to them right away. This is something that we were warned about in training and although it can make for a loud classroom, it’s nice to know that they are at least interested in what I have to teach. However, I will be trying out some new approaches to get my class to quiet down a bit. I’m also up for suggestions….

Life at home has been wonderful. My host family continues to be accommodating, helpful, and welcoming. I really do feel like a part of the family, which is amazing but also makes me sad when I think about having to leave my home in late December!  I realize that my time here is truly limited and I have been trying to spend as much time with them as possible. Over the past week I have been helping my host brothers with their English homework, which usually turns into a Georgian language lesson for me. Giorgi and Miriani’s English has improved since I arrived and their English teachers have commented to me about it.  Dato has also made steady improvement and knows more English than a vast majority of his first grade class. I feel like my work is paying off which is a great feeling!

This weekend I am heading to the city of Zugdidi with some TLG pals. The weather situation doesn’t look so good but I am trying to see as much of Georgia as I possibly can during the short time that I am here. I will update once I return :]

A cornucopia of gems

1. Miriani told me a funny story about a foreigner who asked him directions in English. He couldn’t remember how to say “go straight” so he said “do not go left and do not go right…” The foreigner thought for a second, said thank you, and then headed straight.
2. During Georgian Idol, we were watching an absolutely terrible singer trying to sing Beautiful by Christina Aguilera. I said “Vaime!” (good grief!) which resulted in a family laughing fit for about ten minutes.
3. Saba (age 4) and I were watching Lady and the Tramp. He asked me in Georgian if I had a little dog at home. I got so excited that I actually understood what he asked me that I screamed out “Ara!” (no) and my host mom came rushing into the room thinking that Saba was misbehaving.
4. My host mom and I made pizza for dinner and it turned out absolutely delicious!
5. When coming back from the centre of Kutaisi on the bus, a group of sixteen year old boys were trying to talk to me in English. After a few failed attempts, one resorted to singing “A Whole New World” from Aladdin.
6. For English homework Giorgi and Miriani had to make lists of various topics (I like ___, I do not like ___, etc) For the “I do not like” list, Giorgi said “Nikole, I tell you one thing. I DO NOT like cats. DO NOT!!” For the “My weaknesses are” list Miriani asked me what a “weakness” is, thought for a while, and then said “I HAVE NO WEAKNESS!” completely serious.
7. The first day that I was co-teaching in Dato’s class I could hardly concentrate because every time I looked his way he would stand up and start frantically waving at me with a huge smile on his face.

4. Kisses galore

Friday was the first day of actual school for me. I met with four different classes (two 4^th and two 6^th grade). We still have not received our new English books so the teachers have had to basically wing it. I did not have to do any lessons myself so I walked around and observed each classroom. A lot of the students got yelled at for staring at me instead of listening to their teacher (most students have never met or even seen a foreigner). In class the students were very shy when I asked them questions and would whisper their answers. After class was a whole different story… I was bombarded with kisses and hugs and “hello’s!” and drawings/notes. Some of the pictures are quite amusing (there is one of me holding hands with a boy and a heart around them, oh and I’m also holding a sword, wtf?)

When I got home from school I was surprised to see Eteri and Eamonn (two TLG volunteers) at my house sitting and chatting with my host family! I love that my family is so welcoming and makes my guests feel good :) Eteri, Eamonn and I grabbed some brews and headed to the park across the street from my house. We chatted about our time at school and had some laughs. It is definitely nice to have people around who are going through the same things as you are.

On Saturday I received a call saying that “President Saakashvili requests your company in Batumi tomorrow night for a play!” Batumi is a city that is located on the West side of Georgia, next to the Black Sea. It was one of the cities that I wanted to visit so I was very excited to go there so suddenly. I found out that most TLG volunteers would be going (including many from my group), and that lodging and food would be paid for (SCORE!) I have never been as spontaneous as I am in Georgia. One moment I’m sitting in my room reading, and less than twenty four hours later I’m on a bus to Batumi, surrounded by friends that I haven’t seen since orientation week.

3. Super supra

My first day of school (Thursday) was interesting to say the least! I got up early, straightened my hair for the first time in a while, got into my finest “professional” clothes and walked with my host family to school. All of the students in the school (about 600) including their families were outside in the courtyard waiting for the school principal to emerge from the building. I was surprised to see that everyone was dressed super fancy. You could tell that they had all gotten up early to look their absolute best. Most of the male students were wearing black slacks, nice white shirts, and dress shoes. Most of the female students were wearing black skirts with a fancy white shirt. A lot of the 1^st grade boys were wearing suits (including my host brother Dato). It was so adorable!

Once the principal emerged, she invited me to stand next to her. I was given flowers (red roses), and she introduced me to the crowd (those that could actually hear her talking over the 600+ people). It was unexpected and very sweet. My host brother Dato was invited to ring the bell which meant that school was officially in session! The students and their families rushed into the four story building to find their classes. After all the rushing I was told that I could go home for the day…

Once I got home I relaxed some and waited for my family to get home from school. Once everyone was home I started getting ready to go to my first supra!  A supra is a traditional Georgian feast and I have been dying to go to one since I got here. We had to travel about forty five minutes to my host father’s village. I knew we had arrived in the village because there were cows, chickens, turkeys, cats, dogs, and pigs walking in the middle of the “street”. Very different from life in Kutaisi, but also very amusing.

We arrived at the home where the supra was held and holy shit, there were SO many people. I would guess between 350 and 400. There was a huge tent in the back yard with tables lined up inside. There was so much food on the table you couldn’t see the table cloth. It was all so delicious and I tried a little bit of everything. We sat and ate for about two hours so you can only imagine how full I was. I also tried homemade Georgian wine for the first time!  (YUM!) Near the end of the night we all danced to traditional Georgian songs as well as modern ones (Justin Timberlake is all the rage over here…). We got home around 11:30 and I went to bed so I wouldn’t be too tired to go to school the next day.

2. Dzalian kargi

A lot has happened since I wrote last!

It was raining heavily on Saturday morning so we all stayed inside waiting for the rain to clear. By mid-afternoon it was gloomy but no longer storming so my host mom went with her relative to get “a few things”. A few things actually meant three buckets full of onions, three garbage bags full of tomatoes, approximately fifty eggplants the size of my head and only God knows how many red peppers. They spent all day cutting, dicing, chopping, blending, boiling, stirring, and jarring. They were getting tomato sauce ready so that they could store it for winter.

On Sunday the weather was much better so we went to the local Bazaar to buy some school clothes for the older boys. All of the male students are required to wear white shirts and black dress pants. Dato is even required to wear a red bow tie (he is six and looks absolutely adorable!) I will get pictures of the boys in their school uniform on here soon.

On Monday I went to school to meet up with my co-teachers to lesson plan. Unfortunately our English books had not yet arrived so there wasn’t much that we could do. I spent most of my time getting a tour of the school, meeting a lot of other teachers, and being told that I am a cute/smart/brave/good girl.

Once I got home from school I went with my host mom and my younger brothers to the park down the street. We were there for about forty five minutes and it started pouring rain. We ran to a mini-mart that is very close to our house to get some things for dinner and wait for the rain to cease. We realized that this was most likely not going to happen and were about to go home when we saw my host brother Miriani walking home from rugby practice. We all huddled together in the tiny mini-mart and decided we should just run home. I’ve never seen Saba move so quickly… it was hilarious watching his little legs shuffle down the sidewalk. Miriani picked him up by the pants and ran with him; he was screaming bloody murder the whole time. We all made it home safely but completely soaked. Everyone changed into dry clothes, Eteri made hot tea for us, and then we watched Shrek (in Georgian of course!).

On Tuesday Giorgi accompanied me to the centre of the city. We met up with a fellow TLG volunteer named Eteri (same name as my host mom), who has also been placed in Kutaisi. We walked around a lot and I got to see beautiful parts of Kutaisi I had never seen before. I know that there are still a lot more sights to be seen, and I am excited to see them.

Today I was at the school for three hours trying to figure out my schedule. It has been difficult because I was told that I should only be co-teaching for grades 1-6. A lot of the teacher’s schedules conflict with one another so it took a lot of time to figure it out. I think we have it pretty much figured out, but I know that it will take some time for me to get into the swing of things.

Tomorrow is the first day of school! I am incredibly nervous and it’s annoying. I won’t even be conducting any lessons, just observing my co-teachers and meeting a lot of students. I’m sure most of my anxiety stems from the fact that I’m still unsure about what classes I will be teaching, what time they are at, what room they are in, etc. I guess they are the usual pre-school jitters… I feel like it’s my freshmen year all over again, except this time I can’t understand what anyone is saying.

Gem of the day: My host mom made me “American style” mashed potatoes because she remembered me saying that they are my favorite food.

(I wrote this last night and didn’t have a chance to post it, I will post later about how the first day of school went today!)

1. Gamarjoba!

I have been in Georgia for almost two weeks now. I cannot believe how different this experience has been in real life in comparison to what I thought that it would be. As I sit down and reflect on my time here I cannot help but feel extremely happy that I made the decision to come here and experience something completely new. I left California in hopes of changing the lives of others through teaching, but now I realize that I am going to be the one who is changed the most when this is all over. Just to warn you, this first post is going to be obnoxiously long and full of a lot of information about what I have been up to since I left. I promise to update more often now that I am with my host family and have somewhat reliable internet.

First off, the days leading up to my departure went by in a flash. I said goodbye to my friends and family, shopped for necessities, packed, freaked out, packed some more, wondered what the hell I was getting myself into, then eventually came to the realization that my life was going to completely change in the blink of an eye and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.

I was feeling good when I woke up on the morning I was set to leave from SFO (August 28th). The Chacon’s graciously made me my favorite breakfast (huevos rancheros!!), gave me some gifts that would remind me of home, and sent me on my way. Bobby drove me to the airport and I was feeling okay until we got on the 101 and I knew that our time together would soon be coming to an end. Luckily he was able to go with me into the airport and help me figure out where I was supposed to get my boarding passes (if I didn’t have him it would have taken me ten times longer to figure it out). After a long, tearful farewell I was on my way!

I traveled from SFO to LAX to Istanbul, Turkey, and finally to Tbilisi, Georgia. It ended up being over 24 hours of traveling; 1.5 hours to LAX, 15 hours to Istanbul, 6 hour layover, 3 hours to Tbilisi. We arrived in Tbilisi on August 30th at 3am (4pm PST). Needless to say my body was confused…

Orientation week in Tbilisi was long and tiring but I met a lot of amazing people who have become good friends of mine. Our days consisted of hours of Georgian language classes, intercultural classes, methodology classes, and basic Q & A sessions. Despite our busy schedules, we managed to find time to explore the city. We were able to do some hiking (up the mountains and to the top of very old fortresses), shopping, and dining. Our favorite restaurant is nicknamed “Chaplin’s” because there is a stencil of Charlie Chaplin on the wall next to it. I still have no idea what the actual name of the restaurant is but the food is absolutely delicious.

After a week it was finally time for us to say farewell to one another and head over to our new homes. I woke up on Tuesday morning feeling extremely nervous and anxious. I knew that I was placed in Kutaisi, which is the second largest city in Georgia, but I had no idea what my family would be like. My host mother’s brother in law (I guess he would be my host uncle) picked me up from Tbilisi and took me to Kutaisi, it took about three hours. In true Georgian style, we stopped for a “snack” and I ended up eating more than I would eat for dinner back in the states.

When we finally arrived in Kutaisi I entered my new home and was pleasantly surprised by how beautiful and modern it is. There are hard wood floors throughout, beautiful furniture, very high ceilings with crown molding along the borders, but it still has atraditional European charm. My home also has a regular toilet (hooray!), a water heater for the shower, and the tap water here is drinkable. Basically I am spoiled here.

Now to the best part: My host family!

My host mother (Eteri) is incredibly sweet and accommodating. She lived in NYC for five years and speaks English very well. I help her improve her English and she helps me improve my Georgian. My host father (Val) is currently still in the states working to support his family. I have FOUR host brothers, Giorgi (18), Miriani (16), Dato (6) and Saba (4). The older boys are very sweet and try to speak to me in the limited English that they know from school. They are starting to understand/speak a lot more English which is impressive. My younger brothers are crazy and loud but also very adorable. Dato can say a few words in English, but Saba talks to me in Georgian and wonders why I can’t understand what he’s saying.

So far the language/cultural barriers between my host family and myself have been mostly comical. Here are a few gems  that I wrote down so that I wouldn’t forget them:

• When I met my host mother’s father he asked her where I was from, after she replied with America he turned to me, smiled, and said “Bonjour!!”
• My host mother told me about special “onion water” that she makes her children drink in order to make them strong. After the look of concern on my face she realized that she meant to say “iron water” (mineral water)
• My little host brother (Saba) was trying to tell/show me a trick in which he removes one of his fingers and then coughs and it appears again. I obviously could not understand a word that he was saying but his actions were enough to make anyone laugh.
• My older host brothers took me out to dinner and asked me if I liked “Hotel California”, I told them I wasn’t sure what they were talking about and then all of a sudden the song came on in the restaurant.
• At this same dinner my host brothers ordered a whole khachapuri (Georgian cheese bread, like pizza without the sauce), a ton of bread, a potato/onion/meat dish, and TWENTY FIVE khinkali (dumplings). This was enough to feed at the very least six people and there were three of us. They kept saying “tchame, tchame!” (eat, eat!) I felt like I was going to puke at any moment.
• Something the Chacon’s will appreciate: After Dato hit Saba he started to cry and run upstairs to tell on him. Dato panicked, leaned against a pole, closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep (snoring and all)

I believe this post is enough for now! I will be updating more regularly and will also add pictures. For now just know that I am safe, happy, and enjoying my time here :)