So, it's been a while again. (That seems to be my catch phrase here. Maybe I've found myself a new subtitle.)
I don't know if I've been busy or lazy to update. (Sub-subtitle?)
Either way, it's been coupled with a general feeling of listlessness and worthlessness and worrying. (Again, nothing new under the sun.)
So what has been new? Last week was Easter. I was invited to go to Batumi with some of the other guys, but I stayed home because it was the host sister/niece's b-day and Easter. Cool stuff: watched paska being baked. Paska's like 8 times the work of babovka to yield an inferior product; dry and without scrumptious poppyseed filling. Also, Eteri (mom/grandma) took off everything but innermost shirt, so host mom/sister glanced at my camera and said: "Make sure to get a picture of her chest and tell everyone it's traditional; you HAVE to prepare paska with cleavage." I'll post pics later. ; D
All Sunday I helped prep food for Supras 1 and 2 last week Monday and Tuesday. List: fried meat roll things, boiled meat in cabbage leaves, and 3 types of mayonaissey salads.
Supra #1 was kind of a failure because we prepared for like 25 guests and got maybe 10, an hour after the proposed starting time. Maybe it's because everyone decided that day they were going to have guests. Because it was the day after Easter. Just maybe. I ducked out early and talked with some awesome peeps on Skype. You know who you are. Holla at ya.
Supra #2 was a bit of a shit show. Like I said before, 13-year-old's b-day. Parents and I ate downstairs and left the kids upstairs in the supra room to their own devices. There's no drinking age here. We were chomming down and having a good time when one of my fourth graders burst in, hoists her wineglass, yells "TO THIS FAMILY!!!!", downs the glass, and runs out again to wreak some mystery mischief.
Other highlights of the night include being told I'm awesome by tipsy family members, passably reciprocating (some of the "you're awesome" was "you stylishly handled that chacha when we had the Chiakokonoba outside-night-picnic"), eating decent coffee-flavored torti, and getting a little too excited about talking to people online. You also know who you are. Holla at ya.
Also, Part of the Fam Test 1:
You're casually drying your stack of silverware with your dishtowel, glance at a knife, and ask, "This isn't ours, is it?" When the answer is a laugh and an "ara!", you know you're in.
Showing posts with label alcoholism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alcoholism. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 13
Monday, January 11
Ra xdeba?
You may now finally rest easy. News from the old and glorious land of Sakartvelo, which has been long due, finally comes your way! Now you have something to read while you're on your nice, sit down commode in your centrally-heated houses. Jerks.
So, the holiday season is coming to a close. Next week. Sort of. The first day after break is the eighteenth. Or maybe the twentieth, because the nineteenth is a Georgian holiday. These are the words of my counterpart.
Let me tell you, I have just about had it up to my yurebi (ears) in Georgian keipi (feasting) and culture. And my waistline can't really take too much, either, since it's turned to the FREEZING season and I've lost all will to exercise and/or leave the room with the petchi.
A review of the holidays I've celebrated since Christmas ("Catholic Christmas," that is):
New Year's Eve:
Supposedly the most anticipated, hyped up celebration in the country. Really just an extended, low-key family supper where we watched TV for slightly longer than we usually do and drank Christmas liqueur and my babo's coffee liqueur (made with the family chacha.. so it tasted of rocket fuel). And some nut job was singing while the clock actually struck 12, so I kinda missed it. Whatev. There were some fireworks, but kids have been setting them off in the streets for weeks now. Also, we visited the brother-in-law's place (because my host sister was their first-footer, the first guest after New Years who must bring a plate of nom nom squares and other sugary delights for a "delicious" year). There I was urged to marry in the village by some intoxicated Georgian men and then made fun of because I don't know how to milk a cow. So it goes.
New Year's Day:
Slightly more involved. Family members from all around gathered at the grandma's parent's house in Gremi and feasted with such once-a-yearly culinary delights as chicken in walnut sauce, honey-walnut granola bars (minus the granola), and more chocolate and nom nom squares than even I can eat. And that is saying something, because I inherited my dad's sweet tooth. At least I got to exchange glances with the Ukranian sister-in-law (I don't speak Russian, and she doesn't speak Georgian or English very well) about the massive quantities of food, the constant comments about how "sad" the non-Georgians were (really, just bored and tired of being told to eat the food), and the 90-something-year-old great-grandpa downing two full-sized glasses of Georgian wine of the highest quality for some toast or another.
Pig slaughter at Tom's celebrating his return:
Pretty much self-explanatory. You can look up videos and pictures on his and Johnny's FB if you'd like the scream of a dying pig to haunt your dreams for the rest of your life.
New Year's party with host family friends later that night:
Which may or may not have involved me drinking a bit too much Telani Valley red wine (probably some of the better wine I've tasted in Georgia) and talking about gender roles with the friend (who makes more than a few measly tetri at his Important Job in Tbilisi). Other highlights include making up an Italian boyfriend (he plays the organ in the Vatican and is kinda ugly, but I love him anyway, and mom approves.) and refusing to drink amaretto with him at noon or so the next day. Also trying to make his son say "please" instead of demanding me to draw things for him.
Getting vaccinated for swine flu:
This was definitely a party in itself. Getting to see a bunch of PCVs, chat it up about our ridiculous holiday experiences, and eat at the awesome Shenghai Chinese Restaurant. What more could you ask for? We also said "see you in a few months" to the guy who broke his heel on the Kazbegi excursion--he's sent back to the states for a consultation and possible surgery before he can come back, hopefully, to continue service.
Feast at our house:
With the sister-in-law and her husband who live on the other side of the village. The husband interrogated me on my job and we watched the kids' dance concert that was in Tbilisi when I was gone for Telavi Thanksgiving.
Orthodox Christmas:
Not a whole lot happened this day, either. I made chili (successfully) and cornbread (unsuccessfully). I would blame it on the crappy Georgian corn, but a) it was from a can and thus probably not from Georgia, and b) I added too much salt and c) I didn't have milk, so I used sour cream that may or may not have been still good. At least the "American bean soup" was good, if the "American mchadi" was a failure. This time.
Also, the kids sang "alilos" and we gave them eggs so that they could feast the next day. (I think).
And I thought the family went to church at 11, but they really went to bed, and I stayed up until 2 waiting for them to come back. I thought they'd left without inviting me since I'd been on the computer all day, so I was feeling abandoned. Silly me.
Dual pig slaughter at our place:
This went down Saturday. I have been feeling incredibly anti-Georgian lately, so was in a foul mood all day, even though I got to bathe for the second time in three days and had my hair straightened for me. I was also grumpy because I couldn't make any food, so when the 30 Georgian guests were here, I fought for kitchen space and tried to orchestrate Chinese-style rice and veggies (lack of soy sauce and overcooking FAIL) and brownies (lack of doubling recipe for pan quasi-fail. At least they were tasty.).
I was pretty much successful in persisting in my blue funk and ignoring the Georgians and tried to find my happiness that night in the bottom of a bottle. I was somewhat successful, though I had to search through a few before I found the right one-- kahlua made with starbucks coffee and family chacha? nope. (Though it was nice to vaxtanguri with my host mom in a toast to friendship.) Amaretto from a factory in/near Tbilisi? nope. (It was from the loaded family friend's wife's friend, too.) Store-bought vodka based Bailey's? Check! The forced wineful of horn in a toast to love also helped a bit. Surprisingly, it's been my first horn of wine in Georgia.
Also, the tamada this night was the sister-in-law's husband, who lives on the other side of town. By the end of the night, I marveled at his ability to stand. He was teetering back and forth like a Mexican jumping bean, but the man was standing. What a man. He sure can pack away his wine.
Brunch supra the next day:
I successfully skipped this one out by taking a nice long walk to the bottom of the village and back. While helping my host mom with the squintillion dishes, she commented on the Georgian tradition of men feasting and women cleaning up (as my host dad, a generally cool guy, was sleeping his hangover off on the couch). I slipped a bug in her ear about the unfairness of this. The host dad later accused me of committing a technical foul; actually, he accused me of going over the tamada's head by toasting to something the tamada didn't say, the punishment of which is drinking a full glass of wine to what the tamada actually said. I forget the Georgian word for this.
English "tour" (aka test/competition) today in Kwareli:
I woke up at 8, got ready and ate breakfast, scooted out the door a little late (but was still the first one at school), waited for an HOUR for the marsh to come, urged my counterpart to stay home with her sick kid (really, I can go places by myself.), and regretted saying "fine, how are you?" to 12th grader, who was embarrassed because he didn't understand it, even though he goes to a private tutor in Kwareli. He's really a good kid, and my neighbor, too. He definitely has a mind of his own--he slept during class once because he had a headache (but I don't blame him--it was a read and translate class), but he's got a good heart.
Still mulling over this awkward exchange, I drank coffee with a couple Russian teachers (one of them's actually a Russian lady) in the Kwareli school's cafe while we waited for the students to finish. I listened to them talk about politics being dirty and then they talked about food and scolded me for not liking meat. I'm in GEORGIA, I have to try and LOVE mtsvadi!! (never mind the visiting relative from Tbilisi refused mtsvadi today.) Whatever. At least I got the chance to mail a birthday card to my grandma while I was in a thriving metropolis. And I footraced (on my high heeled boots) one of the 12th grade boys to warm up while we were waiting for the marsh.
Next weekend, I'll be headed to Cara's to help prepare her birthday bash. Though it is another party, it will be with many Americans and include many American foods. (And there's a whole Nalgene-ful more where that Bailey's came from, just crying out for consumption.) I hope we can make it an enjoyable time, for Cara's sake. : )
So, in sum, I've been going through the neverending holiday slump, getting sick of Georgian culture, being fed up that I'm not living healthily or conscientious of others, and worrying about my future, Life After Peace Corps. If anyone has any bright ideas, let me know...
So, the holiday season is coming to a close. Next week. Sort of. The first day after break is the eighteenth. Or maybe the twentieth, because the nineteenth is a Georgian holiday. These are the words of my counterpart.
Let me tell you, I have just about had it up to my yurebi (ears) in Georgian keipi (feasting) and culture. And my waistline can't really take too much, either, since it's turned to the FREEZING season and I've lost all will to exercise and/or leave the room with the petchi.
A review of the holidays I've celebrated since Christmas ("Catholic Christmas," that is):
New Year's Eve:
Supposedly the most anticipated, hyped up celebration in the country. Really just an extended, low-key family supper where we watched TV for slightly longer than we usually do and drank Christmas liqueur and my babo's coffee liqueur (made with the family chacha.. so it tasted of rocket fuel). And some nut job was singing while the clock actually struck 12, so I kinda missed it. Whatev. There were some fireworks, but kids have been setting them off in the streets for weeks now. Also, we visited the brother-in-law's place (because my host sister was their first-footer, the first guest after New Years who must bring a plate of nom nom squares and other sugary delights for a "delicious" year). There I was urged to marry in the village by some intoxicated Georgian men and then made fun of because I don't know how to milk a cow. So it goes.
New Year's Day:
Slightly more involved. Family members from all around gathered at the grandma's parent's house in Gremi and feasted with such once-a-yearly culinary delights as chicken in walnut sauce, honey-walnut granola bars (minus the granola), and more chocolate and nom nom squares than even I can eat. And that is saying something, because I inherited my dad's sweet tooth. At least I got to exchange glances with the Ukranian sister-in-law (I don't speak Russian, and she doesn't speak Georgian or English very well) about the massive quantities of food, the constant comments about how "sad" the non-Georgians were (really, just bored and tired of being told to eat the food), and the 90-something-year-old great-grandpa downing two full-sized glasses of Georgian wine of the highest quality for some toast or another.
Pig slaughter at Tom's celebrating his return:
Pretty much self-explanatory. You can look up videos and pictures on his and Johnny's FB if you'd like the scream of a dying pig to haunt your dreams for the rest of your life.
New Year's party with host family friends later that night:
Which may or may not have involved me drinking a bit too much Telani Valley red wine (probably some of the better wine I've tasted in Georgia) and talking about gender roles with the friend (who makes more than a few measly tetri at his Important Job in Tbilisi). Other highlights include making up an Italian boyfriend (he plays the organ in the Vatican and is kinda ugly, but I love him anyway, and mom approves.) and refusing to drink amaretto with him at noon or so the next day. Also trying to make his son say "please" instead of demanding me to draw things for him.
Getting vaccinated for swine flu:
This was definitely a party in itself. Getting to see a bunch of PCVs, chat it up about our ridiculous holiday experiences, and eat at the awesome Shenghai Chinese Restaurant. What more could you ask for? We also said "see you in a few months" to the guy who broke his heel on the Kazbegi excursion--he's sent back to the states for a consultation and possible surgery before he can come back, hopefully, to continue service.
Feast at our house:
With the sister-in-law and her husband who live on the other side of the village. The husband interrogated me on my job and we watched the kids' dance concert that was in Tbilisi when I was gone for Telavi Thanksgiving.
Orthodox Christmas:
Not a whole lot happened this day, either. I made chili (successfully) and cornbread (unsuccessfully). I would blame it on the crappy Georgian corn, but a) it was from a can and thus probably not from Georgia, and b) I added too much salt and c) I didn't have milk, so I used sour cream that may or may not have been still good. At least the "American bean soup" was good, if the "American mchadi" was a failure. This time.
Also, the kids sang "alilos" and we gave them eggs so that they could feast the next day. (I think).
And I thought the family went to church at 11, but they really went to bed, and I stayed up until 2 waiting for them to come back. I thought they'd left without inviting me since I'd been on the computer all day, so I was feeling abandoned. Silly me.
Dual pig slaughter at our place:
This went down Saturday. I have been feeling incredibly anti-Georgian lately, so was in a foul mood all day, even though I got to bathe for the second time in three days and had my hair straightened for me. I was also grumpy because I couldn't make any food, so when the 30 Georgian guests were here, I fought for kitchen space and tried to orchestrate Chinese-style rice and veggies (lack of soy sauce and overcooking FAIL) and brownies (lack of doubling recipe for pan quasi-fail. At least they were tasty.).
I was pretty much successful in persisting in my blue funk and ignoring the Georgians and tried to find my happiness that night in the bottom of a bottle. I was somewhat successful, though I had to search through a few before I found the right one-- kahlua made with starbucks coffee and family chacha? nope. (Though it was nice to vaxtanguri with my host mom in a toast to friendship.) Amaretto from a factory in/near Tbilisi? nope. (It was from the loaded family friend's wife's friend, too.) Store-bought vodka based Bailey's? Check! The forced wineful of horn in a toast to love also helped a bit. Surprisingly, it's been my first horn of wine in Georgia.
Also, the tamada this night was the sister-in-law's husband, who lives on the other side of town. By the end of the night, I marveled at his ability to stand. He was teetering back and forth like a Mexican jumping bean, but the man was standing. What a man. He sure can pack away his wine.
Brunch supra the next day:
I successfully skipped this one out by taking a nice long walk to the bottom of the village and back. While helping my host mom with the squintillion dishes, she commented on the Georgian tradition of men feasting and women cleaning up (as my host dad, a generally cool guy, was sleeping his hangover off on the couch). I slipped a bug in her ear about the unfairness of this. The host dad later accused me of committing a technical foul; actually, he accused me of going over the tamada's head by toasting to something the tamada didn't say, the punishment of which is drinking a full glass of wine to what the tamada actually said. I forget the Georgian word for this.
English "tour" (aka test/competition) today in Kwareli:
I woke up at 8, got ready and ate breakfast, scooted out the door a little late (but was still the first one at school), waited for an HOUR for the marsh to come, urged my counterpart to stay home with her sick kid (really, I can go places by myself.), and regretted saying "fine, how are you?" to 12th grader, who was embarrassed because he didn't understand it, even though he goes to a private tutor in Kwareli. He's really a good kid, and my neighbor, too. He definitely has a mind of his own--he slept during class once because he had a headache (but I don't blame him--it was a read and translate class), but he's got a good heart.
Still mulling over this awkward exchange, I drank coffee with a couple Russian teachers (one of them's actually a Russian lady) in the Kwareli school's cafe while we waited for the students to finish. I listened to them talk about politics being dirty and then they talked about food and scolded me for not liking meat. I'm in GEORGIA, I have to try and LOVE mtsvadi!! (never mind the visiting relative from Tbilisi refused mtsvadi today.) Whatever. At least I got the chance to mail a birthday card to my grandma while I was in a thriving metropolis. And I footraced (on my high heeled boots) one of the 12th grade boys to warm up while we were waiting for the marsh.
Next weekend, I'll be headed to Cara's to help prepare her birthday bash. Though it is another party, it will be with many Americans and include many American foods. (And there's a whole Nalgene-ful more where that Bailey's came from, just crying out for consumption.) I hope we can make it an enjoyable time, for Cara's sake. : )
So, in sum, I've been going through the neverending holiday slump, getting sick of Georgian culture, being fed up that I'm not living healthily or conscientious of others, and worrying about my future, Life After Peace Corps. If anyone has any bright ideas, let me know...
Thursday, November 12
Blast from the past, part 2
24 July, 2009
Paraskevi
So, yesterday I met with Joe Biden. Yep. It was pretty sweet.
I got up at 5 AM, got ready with Lauren (who borrowed my host sister's
hair straightener), caught the marshutka, drove to two other villages
to get those trainees (except one who overslept due to supra-ing too
hard last night), then after going through security we waited at the
Mariott in Tbilisi a couple hours and munched on some DOUGHNUTS while
we overheard conversations and had a larger vocabulary than the small
children because everyone spoke ENGLISH.
So, there we were, crammed in this swanky, air-conditioned ballroom at
the Mariott in Tbilisi (which, I heard, costs up to 500 Lari a night!
Yikes!). It was mostly American Embassy workers/families, I believe.
Joe Biden gave a speech basically consoling the Georgians that were
there about last August, then gave a small pep talk to the
international Americans, saying this is the time to work
internationally because they have the power to change policies. He
also cracked a few jokes about his age and kissed a few children.
When it was my turn to go up and shake his hand, he asked my name and
where I was from. “Iowa, eh? What city?”
“Clinton.”
“Oh, I know Clinton well. You don't believe me? (to the skeptical
look on my face) Well, I've been to all 99 counties in Iowa.”
Yay, Iowa Caucuses! I had one of the longest conversations with the
man. And a PC staff worker got a picture of me with Joe; I look like
I'm laughing my head off or doing the Tango. It's weird.
Just another day in paradise; this is reality in Georgia.
OH! My clustermates and I are totally gonna write a book together
called “The World is My Turkish Toilet.”
Some of our common phrases are:
This is reality in Georgia.
It's usual in Georgia.
UKATSRAVAD!!!
CHAME!!
Dzagles!
Everything's coming up churchelas/dzagles/turkish
Turkish coffee leads to turkish toilets (the latter of which is
considerably more unpleasant than the former)
Hopefully later today I
can score some time to write about this past week and the time in
Sighnaghi. It was AWESOME!!!
25 July 2009
shabati
Well, we have shabat-skola again today. Blegh. But I figured I'd
write a little more down so that you all know what I've been up to, so
I don't forget, and as a little bit of therapy. Yesterday was rather
stressful.
I want to get that out of my system first. Yesterday should have been
awesome because it was the last day of practicum. However, not only
did we not plan what we were going to do other than “games,” my
partner for two classes felt sick yesterday (he thinks it may have
been the McDonald's...) so he stayed at home. Not only that, but I
also had to teach the beginners. All by myself.
So the first fifteen minutes was dedicated to me running back and
forth to the teacher's lounge trying to scrounge up some paper and
pens for the number of students who did not have one or the other or
either and mysteriously seemed to multiply in number. Then I tried to
do a word scramble which failed miserably. Most students just copied
the words like “umntau” “okrp” and “aintr” in their notebooks and had
no idea what the heck to do even though I tried to model it with
“onsw” to “snow.” So then I dropped that activity and went to
pictionary, but I didn't have any words prepped so I decided to just
say words and have whichever team who wrote the word on the board
first get a point. But that wasn't enough for some of the boys, who
were throwing and had been throwing paper balls throughout the whole
class. So I told them to either play the game or leave. And then
everyone left. wtf. Well, it was only 5 minutes early, I needed prep
time for the next class, and the little kids all want to high five me.
But I was mean and didn't high five them yesterday because I felt
punchy.
So the next session was okay. I taught the intermeds with the
counterpart. The word scramble went over well there. I don't know if
they understood my modeling or just waited for Nona to translate the
directions to them. At this point, I don't really care. The scramble
took a long time. Katelyn had given me papers with words on it to
make sentences out of. I thought they were just scrambled, but I
guess there were just random words on there that you had to make
sentences out of. I naturally hadn't really looked at them before
class, so my directions for that were wrong. But then Nona explained
to them what to do and they wrote sentences and then class was over.
Then for the advanced class I had done no prep work whatsoever. So I
told them to write a letter to an international penpal and ask them
five questions about themselves or their country. I walked around
and corrected a few mistakes in their writing. A couple people wrote
an Internet dialongue. Most people just wrote the five questions.
Whatever. Then I told them that I was their penpal and that they
should ask me questions. We got into a little discussion about
universities in America, of which I actually know little because I
only visited a few private schools in Iowa before making my decision
on where to go. And I've only visited Iowa State, St. Cloud State,
and Naropa for non-Iowa/non-private schools. Whatever. I think they
still liked me. I was able to keep my punchiness more under control
with them, too.
Afterward, it was like I was on the red carpet at the opening night
for my book sales. All these kids accosted me and the other
volunteers for signatures, our parents' names, our favorite animals,
our phone numbers, etc etc. This continued for like 10-15 minutes at
least. It was a little overwhelming. But today some of the girls
want to give us a dance concert at 5 pm. So that should be awesome.
The only other time I've seen live Georgian folk dance was at the 4th
of July picnic, and I was focusing on it in a
trying-to-learn-it-instantaneously kind of way.
Now, I should really get to my homework that I didn't feel like
finishing yesterday because I had more important things to do after
school yesterday like not lesson plan, read Walden Two, crack out the
flute (the neighbors apparently think it's cool), make coffee, try to
talk about Russian and drinking problems/job problems (and try to
explain Lauren's ideas about ecotourism to her with my limited
Georgian vocabulary). But I really think we're talking now. And I
can understand some of what she's saying, too. I really like her and
wish I had more time to spend here... last night she asked if I would
exercise this morning, and I said if I wasn't feeling lazy. Then she
either said A) I have gained weight, B) I haven't gained weight yet,
or C) I should gain weight yet so it's okay if I don't exercise.
27 July
orshabati
So yes. Today was hub day in Sagarejo. I could have posted
things/e-mailed things today, but I would have rather talked with the
other mokhalisebi, which I did. You know why? Because today we got
our site placements! Win!!!!
I will be in Akhalsopeli, pretty close to Kvareli, which is pretty
close to Russia, and probably the farthest site from Tbilisi except
Lagodeki. I'm very scared and very excited.
1) It's a pretty small village, and sorta far away, so I hope I don't
get village fever and/or go crazy from lack of American contact. But
Katelyn will be in Kvareli, which is pretty darn close. There might
even be some stores there, so we can go buy some flip flops and body
wash there. (We tried to buy those two things the other day here in
Patara Chailuri and in Kakabeti, the neighboring village which is
slightly bigger. No such luck.)
2) Like I said, it's a couple hours from Tbilisi. Mleh. Not as
though I'd probably get to go that often, but still.
3) Today's sessions at hub were pretty depressing. Corruption, AIDS,
legal system (focusing on rape cases/the rape case they had last year
which the volunteer lost against the Georgian man). Also workplace
atmosphere. After all these sessions, I've pretty much concluded that
as a woman who has zero years teaching experience, I feel incredibly
vulnerable, but I really don't want to spend my two years getting
coffee for teachers at their meetings. I think I won't have to,
though. My site was a G6 site. The mokhalise there before me did a
“windows for warmth” project in her school (school #2 in the village),
so there's new windows. And the clubs and/or projects that they
do/that have been done there include an art show, something like a 4H
club (that currently has a bee project.... [does that mean there's
plenty of tapli? I LOVE tapli!!]), and a computer lab with 20
computers.
So I guess that last #3 of why I'm scared is also #1 of why I'm
excited. I've also been thinking about secondary projects I could do.
I would really like to do something with gender empowerment here.
It's just something I feel like I need to do. But... it's weird,
because I'm not really good at many “opposite gender” things that I
could do to show girls, “Hey! You can do this, too!” For example
(magari tad), I am awful at sports/ball games/etc. I could do a yoga
thing maybe. But I'm not necessarily that good at it myself—could I
really teach a class on it? I may try to at the summer camp we have
to do here in a few weeks.
But I can change a tire all by myself. I discovered that superpower
this year. And I can... carry chairs? Yesterday my host sister told
me that the chairs were heavy and that I shouldn't have to carry them
down the stairs from the balcony to the table down by the garden.
But... I did it anyway. Twice. They really weren't that heavy
Seriously.
But the only other “male” talent I have is culturally unacceptable
here. Luckily I haven't had too many problems with it, be it the diet
or whatnot. Yesterday I enjoyed enacting my hobby loudly for all to
hear, because we went on a hike by the river and there were no
Georgians within earshot. Belching is liberating! I swear!!
And drinking like a man is not acceptable here. But that's okay,
because I'm not that big on drinking anyway. We Patara mokhalisebi
and stumarebi (guests) had a mini supra the other night, but that's
the most drinking I've done since I've gotten here. Yesterday my host
uncle was visiting, so at dinner he offered me beer. Even though I'm
of German and Czech stock, I really don't care for beer. I know, I'm
a freak of nature! By all standards, I should suck that stuff up as
if it were the last available nourishment on Earth. But I guess I've
always been a little odd. : )
But, yeah, the rest of my talents? Sewing, singing, dancing (kinda),
playing the flute. Playing nurse. Building fires. I like clothes
and shoes and reading. And I actually enjoy cooking and cleaning.
Funny, even though I'm all for women's lib, I could probably make a
pretty good housewife. Except for the whole raising children part.
And the whole long-term lack of feeling intellectually useful to other
people.
But you don't want to hear about this! I should tell you more about Georgia.
My school also said that that they would like a volunteer to be able
to enrich their English library, train interested adults, contribute
to agro projects, PDM skills, and IT training.
English library expansion? Perhaps we can write letters in class
asking for book donations from you, my peeps in the states. I bet a
few churches and/or schools would get in on it, no?
Teaching adults? PERFECT for me. Except for my age. I tutored
Spanish to adults in the US, and I loved it and them, but I hope I
would gain enough respect here. Not that I'm really a hardass or
anything, so I have a bit of reservations about that, but I'll figure
it out.
Agro projects... I love plants and am very interested in learning
about them. I really wish I'd done the Master Gardener training now.
I wonder if there's a mail-order class for it?
PDM = project design and management. The PC project manager said that
I'd be able to attend training on that in the spring. So that's good.
IT training? I'm okay with computers. My skills are probably enough
to help the villagers out, as I don't think they need programming or
anything. But if so, I'd be willing to take a few lessons from one or
two of the guys or girls here if they've got sk1llz.
So I think I'll be pretty good for my community. I hope.
At the mokhalise mini-supra we had this weekend, I received some good
advice that I may or may not have heard before. Basically, balls to
the wall. It's Peace Corps. And today, one of the older BSE
volunteers who's a repeat repeat PCV and has been friggin' everywhere
again reassured me to not be so nervous. He's a seriously cool guy.
Tomorrow he's gonna help me find my way around the big, bad Tbilisi.
I will hopefully post this in the expat bar with good wi-fi? Maybe?
This week is a nice break from the norm of waking up, exercise
(maybe), breakfast, language class, cluster lunch, teaching, lesson
planning, going home and doing homework and some combination of
reading, washing clothes, bathing, eating, watching Spanish soap
operas or the news, and collapsing into my bed to do it all again the
next day.
Friday was the last day of teaching, so that was different. But I
already discussed how that went.
Saturday was shabatskola. Which is always a bad idea. But while we
were at cluster lunch, we had an Emergency Action Plan drill in which
we had to go to Sagarejo to make sure we could all consolidate in case
of an emergency. It took a long time, especially since we had to walk
to our houses from Katelyn's house, which is in the far back of the
village. When we finally got to Sagarejo by marshutka, we were hot
and sweaty and we had to hike up a hill with our emergency go bags.
To sit at a meeting for about forty five minutes and then go back to
our villages. AND the kids at our school were going to put on a
concert at 5. But we didn't get back until 6.
The concert was adorable, though. There was some traditional Georgian
dance and some singing and some Georgian jokes.
Kid 1: “Vano hit me!”
Kid 2: “Did you do anything?”
Kid 3: “I fell down!”
Volunteers: “hahaha?” *slow on the uptake for clapping*
Some things just don't translate. There's another joke, I don't
remember if I've mentioned it or not. Our LCF, Ana, told it to us at
cluster lunch one day.
“There was a man who went into the internet, but he forgot his
slippers outside.”
We really love that one. Seriously. The first time she said it, we
just stared, expecting more. But no. That's it. And now it's just
one of those things that makes us laugh. So even if its original
funny is lost to us, it's funny all the same.
I can't think of anything else to say right now. I'm extremely tired.
I think I'll throw these journal entries and my photos on a flash
drive to prep for tomorrow, then maybe go read out aivanze (on the
balcony). Woot!
06 August, 2009
khutshabati
I haven't posted in a long time, nor have I written in quite some
time. There's been a lot going on here, and I apologize for not being
good about recording things. But hopefully once “real life” starts
here, I'll be able to update more regularly. I don't think I have
internet at my permanent site (except by the phone company magtifix,
which is slower than a qu [turtle]). But there's an Internet cafe in
Kvareli, which is not too far by marshutka; it only costs 1.5 lari.
So my permanent site will be Akhalsopeli. Which I believe translates
to something like “new village.” (akhali = new, sopeli = village.)
It's a pretty sweet setup, in the beautiful caucasus mountains between
two small rivers. Oh, and, unlike someone who claims to be able to
see Russia from her backyard, I actually CAN see Russia from my
backyard. So eat it. And my new host dad is a border guard. I didn't
meet him yet, because he works for 20 days and then is home for 10,
but the rest of the family is awesome, so I'm excited to meet him when
I go back.
The school director is an awesome guy, too. He has three daughters
about my age and said I'm his meotkhe (fourth). I was a little
nervous at the supervisor's conference in Sighnaghi last Wednesday,
where all the volunteers met the school directors/NGO people they will
be working with at their permanent sites. My school director knows
family words in English, and that's probably about it. And he does
not enunciate or slow down his speech at all, so I have my work cut
out for me in learning Georgian so that I can understand him. I met
one of my counterpart English teachers, Magda, and her English is
pretty good for being the third or fourth language she knows; she's
better at German, and she knows Russian. Her husband, Zura, and she
have a five year old Giorgi (who is a little troublemaker. My host
mom and I went over to her house one night, and little Gio was running
around with the flyswatter and started hitting his mom and saying
“didi buzi! didi buzi!” (didi = big, buzi = fly). Sooo yeah. He
also cut some weird part of a picture out of a magazine and gave it to
me as a satchukari (present). How sweet! xD
Back to the fam, though. Grandparents: Baduri and Eteri, parents:
Gogita and Shorena (low 30's), kids: Baduri (13?) and Eto (12?). My
host mom, Shorena, is pretty much the coolest. She's a geography
teacher at school, and she reminds me a LOT of Jen Stiefel. She's
chill and has a lot of plants and can cook very well. She's friends
with like everyone in the village, because there are a lot of teachers
that live nearby, and she grew up in the village, too. She let me
borrow her flipflops to check out their garden (because all I had
there were dress shoes and my slippers. Actually, that's all I have,
so I need to check out a bazari when I go back because I looked at the
maghazias with the daughter Eter and didn't find a whole lot). And I
was hanging out with the visiting aunt (everyone in the village,
family, teacher, friend, visits and hangs out) and we were talking
when the visiting aunt asked if I was going to get married in Georgia.
Shorena yelled from the kitchen “I'm the mom, and I say no!! (or
something to that effect.)”
But yeah. The family is incredibly kind and conscientious. The first
day I was there, when we were eating (which, by the way, we do a lot
of... I'll rant later), Little Badur, though mostly silent, told his mom I
needed a new plate when she was up, whatever I needed (or really
didn't need, but it was provided anyway).
The family also has bees. So we have honey with like every meal. It
is sweet. Literally. The school also has bees, and I got to go to
the honey harvesting on Friday. The director cut off the closed
honeycomb from the beehouse shelves with a big knife, then they were
put into this vat with a spinny hand crank thing to fling the honey
out, and then you open the spigot at the bottom of the vat and pour
the honey into a barrel. I got to do the spinny thing once! And I
got to taste FRESH fresh fresh honeycomb (pichi tapli). My
Akhalsopeli family also gave me a jar of honey to bring back to
Chailuri. Awesome!!
And they were all very sad when I left. Shorena called the marshutka
for me (which, btws, was an interesting ride, but I'm running out of
time to write, so it'll have to be saved for another time or perhaps a
book). Everyone waved goodbye at the gate and I was shoofted off to
Chailuri two hours later.
Last night Lauren and Katelyn and I watched a Good Will Hunting,
because I've been feeling punchy and needed some human English hangout
time. And I've never seen that movie, but I really liked it a lot.
What really matters in life? Hmmm...
Afterwards, Katelyn went home and Lauren and I also cooked a meal at
my place; most of my family is gone on vacation to Bautumi, except for
the aunt and grandma and cousins, so mealtimes are kinda like a
Shakira song now. We had some much needed debriefing time, and I'm
extremely thankful for her and that we're both in Patara. Last night
we made fries (from scratch), tomato/pepper/parsley salad, and
overmedium eggs. Tonight I want to cook at her place... we'll see
what we can scrounge up that's American-ish. It'll be cool.
Okay, classtime now. Gotta jet.
Before I go, I would like to profusely apologize to Clare for not
talking to her while I was at the conference. There was a lot of
stuff going on, but I still would have liked to talk for longer. I
REALLY want to talk to you again!
mikvarhar,
Paula
Paraskevi
So, yesterday I met with Joe Biden. Yep. It was pretty sweet.
I got up at 5 AM, got ready with Lauren (who borrowed my host sister's
hair straightener), caught the marshutka, drove to two other villages
to get those trainees (except one who overslept due to supra-ing too
hard last night), then after going through security we waited at the
Mariott in Tbilisi a couple hours and munched on some DOUGHNUTS while
we overheard conversations and had a larger vocabulary than the small
children because everyone spoke ENGLISH.
So, there we were, crammed in this swanky, air-conditioned ballroom at
the Mariott in Tbilisi (which, I heard, costs up to 500 Lari a night!
Yikes!). It was mostly American Embassy workers/families, I believe.
Joe Biden gave a speech basically consoling the Georgians that were
there about last August, then gave a small pep talk to the
international Americans, saying this is the time to work
internationally because they have the power to change policies. He
also cracked a few jokes about his age and kissed a few children.
When it was my turn to go up and shake his hand, he asked my name and
where I was from. “Iowa, eh? What city?”
“Clinton.”
“Oh, I know Clinton well. You don't believe me? (to the skeptical
look on my face) Well, I've been to all 99 counties in Iowa.”
Yay, Iowa Caucuses! I had one of the longest conversations with the
man. And a PC staff worker got a picture of me with Joe; I look like
I'm laughing my head off or doing the Tango. It's weird.
Just another day in paradise; this is reality in Georgia.
OH! My clustermates and I are totally gonna write a book together
called “The World is My Turkish Toilet.”
Some of our common phrases are:
This is reality in Georgia.
It's usual in Georgia.
UKATSRAVAD!!!
CHAME!!
Dzagles!
Everything's coming up churchelas/dzagles/turkish
Turkish coffee leads to turkish toilets (the latter of which is
considerably more unpleasant than the former)
Hopefully later today I
can score some time to write about this past week and the time in
Sighnaghi. It was AWESOME!!!
25 July 2009
shabati
Well, we have shabat-skola again today. Blegh. But I figured I'd
write a little more down so that you all know what I've been up to, so
I don't forget, and as a little bit of therapy. Yesterday was rather
stressful.
I want to get that out of my system first. Yesterday should have been
awesome because it was the last day of practicum. However, not only
did we not plan what we were going to do other than “games,” my
partner for two classes felt sick yesterday (he thinks it may have
been the McDonald's...) so he stayed at home. Not only that, but I
also had to teach the beginners. All by myself.
So the first fifteen minutes was dedicated to me running back and
forth to the teacher's lounge trying to scrounge up some paper and
pens for the number of students who did not have one or the other or
either and mysteriously seemed to multiply in number. Then I tried to
do a word scramble which failed miserably. Most students just copied
the words like “umntau” “okrp” and “aintr” in their notebooks and had
no idea what the heck to do even though I tried to model it with
“onsw” to “snow.” So then I dropped that activity and went to
pictionary, but I didn't have any words prepped so I decided to just
say words and have whichever team who wrote the word on the board
first get a point. But that wasn't enough for some of the boys, who
were throwing and had been throwing paper balls throughout the whole
class. So I told them to either play the game or leave. And then
everyone left. wtf. Well, it was only 5 minutes early, I needed prep
time for the next class, and the little kids all want to high five me.
But I was mean and didn't high five them yesterday because I felt
punchy.
So the next session was okay. I taught the intermeds with the
counterpart. The word scramble went over well there. I don't know if
they understood my modeling or just waited for Nona to translate the
directions to them. At this point, I don't really care. The scramble
took a long time. Katelyn had given me papers with words on it to
make sentences out of. I thought they were just scrambled, but I
guess there were just random words on there that you had to make
sentences out of. I naturally hadn't really looked at them before
class, so my directions for that were wrong. But then Nona explained
to them what to do and they wrote sentences and then class was over.
Then for the advanced class I had done no prep work whatsoever. So I
told them to write a letter to an international penpal and ask them
five questions about themselves or their country. I walked around
and corrected a few mistakes in their writing. A couple people wrote
an Internet dialongue. Most people just wrote the five questions.
Whatever. Then I told them that I was their penpal and that they
should ask me questions. We got into a little discussion about
universities in America, of which I actually know little because I
only visited a few private schools in Iowa before making my decision
on where to go. And I've only visited Iowa State, St. Cloud State,
and Naropa for non-Iowa/non-private schools. Whatever. I think they
still liked me. I was able to keep my punchiness more under control
with them, too.
Afterward, it was like I was on the red carpet at the opening night
for my book sales. All these kids accosted me and the other
volunteers for signatures, our parents' names, our favorite animals,
our phone numbers, etc etc. This continued for like 10-15 minutes at
least. It was a little overwhelming. But today some of the girls
want to give us a dance concert at 5 pm. So that should be awesome.
The only other time I've seen live Georgian folk dance was at the 4th
of July picnic, and I was focusing on it in a
trying-to-learn-it-instantaneously kind of way.
Now, I should really get to my homework that I didn't feel like
finishing yesterday because I had more important things to do after
school yesterday like not lesson plan, read Walden Two, crack out the
flute (the neighbors apparently think it's cool), make coffee, try to
talk about Russian and drinking problems/job problems (and try to
explain Lauren's ideas about ecotourism to her with my limited
Georgian vocabulary). But I really think we're talking now. And I
can understand some of what she's saying, too. I really like her and
wish I had more time to spend here... last night she asked if I would
exercise this morning, and I said if I wasn't feeling lazy. Then she
either said A) I have gained weight, B) I haven't gained weight yet,
or C) I should gain weight yet so it's okay if I don't exercise.
27 July
orshabati
So yes. Today was hub day in Sagarejo. I could have posted
things/e-mailed things today, but I would have rather talked with the
other mokhalisebi, which I did. You know why? Because today we got
our site placements! Win!!!!
I will be in Akhalsopeli, pretty close to Kvareli, which is pretty
close to Russia, and probably the farthest site from Tbilisi except
Lagodeki. I'm very scared and very excited.
1) It's a pretty small village, and sorta far away, so I hope I don't
get village fever and/or go crazy from lack of American contact. But
Katelyn will be in Kvareli, which is pretty darn close. There might
even be some stores there, so we can go buy some flip flops and body
wash there. (We tried to buy those two things the other day here in
Patara Chailuri and in Kakabeti, the neighboring village which is
slightly bigger. No such luck.)
2) Like I said, it's a couple hours from Tbilisi. Mleh. Not as
though I'd probably get to go that often, but still.
3) Today's sessions at hub were pretty depressing. Corruption, AIDS,
legal system (focusing on rape cases/the rape case they had last year
which the volunteer lost against the Georgian man). Also workplace
atmosphere. After all these sessions, I've pretty much concluded that
as a woman who has zero years teaching experience, I feel incredibly
vulnerable, but I really don't want to spend my two years getting
coffee for teachers at their meetings. I think I won't have to,
though. My site was a G6 site. The mokhalise there before me did a
“windows for warmth” project in her school (school #2 in the village),
so there's new windows. And the clubs and/or projects that they
do/that have been done there include an art show, something like a 4H
club (that currently has a bee project.... [does that mean there's
plenty of tapli? I LOVE tapli!!]), and a computer lab with 20
computers.
So I guess that last #3 of why I'm scared is also #1 of why I'm
excited. I've also been thinking about secondary projects I could do.
I would really like to do something with gender empowerment here.
It's just something I feel like I need to do. But... it's weird,
because I'm not really good at many “opposite gender” things that I
could do to show girls, “Hey! You can do this, too!” For example
(magari tad), I am awful at sports/ball games/etc. I could do a yoga
thing maybe. But I'm not necessarily that good at it myself—could I
really teach a class on it? I may try to at the summer camp we have
to do here in a few weeks.
But I can change a tire all by myself. I discovered that superpower
this year. And I can... carry chairs? Yesterday my host sister told
me that the chairs were heavy and that I shouldn't have to carry them
down the stairs from the balcony to the table down by the garden.
But... I did it anyway. Twice. They really weren't that heavy
Seriously.
But the only other “male” talent I have is culturally unacceptable
here. Luckily I haven't had too many problems with it, be it the diet
or whatnot. Yesterday I enjoyed enacting my hobby loudly for all to
hear, because we went on a hike by the river and there were no
Georgians within earshot. Belching is liberating! I swear!!
And drinking like a man is not acceptable here. But that's okay,
because I'm not that big on drinking anyway. We Patara mokhalisebi
and stumarebi (guests) had a mini supra the other night, but that's
the most drinking I've done since I've gotten here. Yesterday my host
uncle was visiting, so at dinner he offered me beer. Even though I'm
of German and Czech stock, I really don't care for beer. I know, I'm
a freak of nature! By all standards, I should suck that stuff up as
if it were the last available nourishment on Earth. But I guess I've
always been a little odd. : )
But, yeah, the rest of my talents? Sewing, singing, dancing (kinda),
playing the flute. Playing nurse. Building fires. I like clothes
and shoes and reading. And I actually enjoy cooking and cleaning.
Funny, even though I'm all for women's lib, I could probably make a
pretty good housewife. Except for the whole raising children part.
And the whole long-term lack of feeling intellectually useful to other
people.
But you don't want to hear about this! I should tell you more about Georgia.
My school also said that that they would like a volunteer to be able
to enrich their English library, train interested adults, contribute
to agro projects, PDM skills, and IT training.
English library expansion? Perhaps we can write letters in class
asking for book donations from you, my peeps in the states. I bet a
few churches and/or schools would get in on it, no?
Teaching adults? PERFECT for me. Except for my age. I tutored
Spanish to adults in the US, and I loved it and them, but I hope I
would gain enough respect here. Not that I'm really a hardass or
anything, so I have a bit of reservations about that, but I'll figure
it out.
Agro projects... I love plants and am very interested in learning
about them. I really wish I'd done the Master Gardener training now.
I wonder if there's a mail-order class for it?
PDM = project design and management. The PC project manager said that
I'd be able to attend training on that in the spring. So that's good.
IT training? I'm okay with computers. My skills are probably enough
to help the villagers out, as I don't think they need programming or
anything. But if so, I'd be willing to take a few lessons from one or
two of the guys or girls here if they've got sk1llz.
So I think I'll be pretty good for my community. I hope.
At the mokhalise mini-supra we had this weekend, I received some good
advice that I may or may not have heard before. Basically, balls to
the wall. It's Peace Corps. And today, one of the older BSE
volunteers who's a repeat repeat PCV and has been friggin' everywhere
again reassured me to not be so nervous. He's a seriously cool guy.
Tomorrow he's gonna help me find my way around the big, bad Tbilisi.
I will hopefully post this in the expat bar with good wi-fi? Maybe?
This week is a nice break from the norm of waking up, exercise
(maybe), breakfast, language class, cluster lunch, teaching, lesson
planning, going home and doing homework and some combination of
reading, washing clothes, bathing, eating, watching Spanish soap
operas or the news, and collapsing into my bed to do it all again the
next day.
Friday was the last day of teaching, so that was different. But I
already discussed how that went.
Saturday was shabatskola. Which is always a bad idea. But while we
were at cluster lunch, we had an Emergency Action Plan drill in which
we had to go to Sagarejo to make sure we could all consolidate in case
of an emergency. It took a long time, especially since we had to walk
to our houses from Katelyn's house, which is in the far back of the
village. When we finally got to Sagarejo by marshutka, we were hot
and sweaty and we had to hike up a hill with our emergency go bags.
To sit at a meeting for about forty five minutes and then go back to
our villages. AND the kids at our school were going to put on a
concert at 5. But we didn't get back until 6.
The concert was adorable, though. There was some traditional Georgian
dance and some singing and some Georgian jokes.
Kid 1: “Vano hit me!”
Kid 2: “Did you do anything?”
Kid 3: “I fell down!”
Volunteers: “hahaha?” *slow on the uptake for clapping*
Some things just don't translate. There's another joke, I don't
remember if I've mentioned it or not. Our LCF, Ana, told it to us at
cluster lunch one day.
“There was a man who went into the internet, but he forgot his
slippers outside.”
We really love that one. Seriously. The first time she said it, we
just stared, expecting more. But no. That's it. And now it's just
one of those things that makes us laugh. So even if its original
funny is lost to us, it's funny all the same.
I can't think of anything else to say right now. I'm extremely tired.
I think I'll throw these journal entries and my photos on a flash
drive to prep for tomorrow, then maybe go read out aivanze (on the
balcony). Woot!
06 August, 2009
khutshabati
I haven't posted in a long time, nor have I written in quite some
time. There's been a lot going on here, and I apologize for not being
good about recording things. But hopefully once “real life” starts
here, I'll be able to update more regularly. I don't think I have
internet at my permanent site (except by the phone company magtifix,
which is slower than a qu [turtle]). But there's an Internet cafe in
Kvareli, which is not too far by marshutka; it only costs 1.5 lari.
So my permanent site will be Akhalsopeli. Which I believe translates
to something like “new village.” (akhali = new, sopeli = village.)
It's a pretty sweet setup, in the beautiful caucasus mountains between
two small rivers. Oh, and, unlike someone who claims to be able to
see Russia from her backyard, I actually CAN see Russia from my
backyard. So eat it. And my new host dad is a border guard. I didn't
meet him yet, because he works for 20 days and then is home for 10,
but the rest of the family is awesome, so I'm excited to meet him when
I go back.
The school director is an awesome guy, too. He has three daughters
about my age and said I'm his meotkhe (fourth). I was a little
nervous at the supervisor's conference in Sighnaghi last Wednesday,
where all the volunteers met the school directors/NGO people they will
be working with at their permanent sites. My school director knows
family words in English, and that's probably about it. And he does
not enunciate or slow down his speech at all, so I have my work cut
out for me in learning Georgian so that I can understand him. I met
one of my counterpart English teachers, Magda, and her English is
pretty good for being the third or fourth language she knows; she's
better at German, and she knows Russian. Her husband, Zura, and she
have a five year old Giorgi (who is a little troublemaker. My host
mom and I went over to her house one night, and little Gio was running
around with the flyswatter and started hitting his mom and saying
“didi buzi! didi buzi!” (didi = big, buzi = fly). Sooo yeah. He
also cut some weird part of a picture out of a magazine and gave it to
me as a satchukari (present). How sweet! xD
Back to the fam, though. Grandparents: Baduri and Eteri, parents:
Gogita and Shorena (low 30's), kids: Baduri (13?) and Eto (12?). My
host mom, Shorena, is pretty much the coolest. She's a geography
teacher at school, and she reminds me a LOT of Jen Stiefel. She's
chill and has a lot of plants and can cook very well. She's friends
with like everyone in the village, because there are a lot of teachers
that live nearby, and she grew up in the village, too. She let me
borrow her flipflops to check out their garden (because all I had
there were dress shoes and my slippers. Actually, that's all I have,
so I need to check out a bazari when I go back because I looked at the
maghazias with the daughter Eter and didn't find a whole lot). And I
was hanging out with the visiting aunt (everyone in the village,
family, teacher, friend, visits and hangs out) and we were talking
when the visiting aunt asked if I was going to get married in Georgia.
Shorena yelled from the kitchen “I'm the mom, and I say no!! (or
something to that effect.)”
But yeah. The family is incredibly kind and conscientious. The first
day I was there, when we were eating (which, by the way, we do a lot
of... I'll rant later), Little Badur, though mostly silent, told his mom I
needed a new plate when she was up, whatever I needed (or really
didn't need, but it was provided anyway).
The family also has bees. So we have honey with like every meal. It
is sweet. Literally. The school also has bees, and I got to go to
the honey harvesting on Friday. The director cut off the closed
honeycomb from the beehouse shelves with a big knife, then they were
put into this vat with a spinny hand crank thing to fling the honey
out, and then you open the spigot at the bottom of the vat and pour
the honey into a barrel. I got to do the spinny thing once! And I
got to taste FRESH fresh fresh honeycomb (pichi tapli). My
Akhalsopeli family also gave me a jar of honey to bring back to
Chailuri. Awesome!!
And they were all very sad when I left. Shorena called the marshutka
for me (which, btws, was an interesting ride, but I'm running out of
time to write, so it'll have to be saved for another time or perhaps a
book). Everyone waved goodbye at the gate and I was shoofted off to
Chailuri two hours later.
Last night Lauren and Katelyn and I watched a Good Will Hunting,
because I've been feeling punchy and needed some human English hangout
time. And I've never seen that movie, but I really liked it a lot.
What really matters in life? Hmmm...
Afterwards, Katelyn went home and Lauren and I also cooked a meal at
my place; most of my family is gone on vacation to Bautumi, except for
the aunt and grandma and cousins, so mealtimes are kinda like a
Shakira song now. We had some much needed debriefing time, and I'm
extremely thankful for her and that we're both in Patara. Last night
we made fries (from scratch), tomato/pepper/parsley salad, and
overmedium eggs. Tonight I want to cook at her place... we'll see
what we can scrounge up that's American-ish. It'll be cool.
Okay, classtime now. Gotta jet.
Before I go, I would like to profusely apologize to Clare for not
talking to her while I was at the conference. There was a lot of
stuff going on, but I still would have liked to talk for longer. I
REALLY want to talk to you again!
mikvarhar,
Paula
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