Armenia!

I was definitely really excited about Armenia, but my hopes turned into reality before we even entered the country. Eight hours on a van has never been more fun, although the Irishman and the Australian sheila would likely disagree. We drank homemade Araki , rotated as tamada and experienced friendship as Georgians have taught us to. We ended up singing “America the Beautiful” and other American songs while the two others in the back were shivering cold and mad at life – it’s good to be us. We had no plans for the next day so a few of us stayed up for a while once we got to the hostel and talked. We definitely started the weekend right.

On Friday, we toured around the city and took it easy because our big, day-long tour was going to be on Saturday. We went to a giant transcript museum which was only mediocre until this really nice woman came and explained the things we were looking at. Basically, there are only a couple things you need to know about Armenia: It is the oldest Christian country in the world; there was this badass dude named Mashtots (or mashed potatoes as we call him) in the 12th century that invented their alphabet and perhaps multiple others (including Georgian, although any good Georgian would dispute that); the country went through the whole soviet thing and got pushed around by them and the Ottomans; they are super proud of Mt. Ararat, but Turkey devastatingly muscled it away from them (which really sucks because you can see the mountain from like everywhere in Armenia); and, finally, there was the Armenian genocide in the 1910’s that killed over 1.5 million Armenians and forced many more to flee the country, hence the large Armenian population in The States. It was cool to look at books and bibles that dated back to the 4th century. I don’t know if a single thing there was younger than the US.

After the cool transcript museum we made our way to “The Cascades” which is a giant staircase that was built to commemorate 50 years of soviet rule. Well, they didn’t finish it for obvious reasons, but it is still a really cool hangout nevertheless. It was cool to sit and overlook a city I never thought I would visit and to see where Noah’s ark landed on top of that! Yerevan, the capital where we stayed, was really cool and clean. It had a distinct European feeling, but that ambience also came with an increased price tag for things. Nevertheless, we all loved the place although it doesn’t have quite the character of Tbilisi – people followed traffic laws, there wasn’t trash in the streets, the women dressed too fashionably and a ton of people spoke excellent English.

Saturday’s tour took us to 4 different holy places in the country including their version of the Vatican. The churches were all between 700-1600 years old, and I will never get over how old these places are. The views were beautiful, and it was very different from the Georgian countryside we had become so accustomed to. I gotta tell this one story about a church though because I think it is hilarious, so just skip to the next paragraph if you don’t care about old churches and folk tales. So this one king’s daughter fell in love with a lowly architect, right? And the young architect, whose nickname was Candles, asked the king for permission to marry his daughter, and the king had a brilliant way to deter him while saving his relationship with his daughter. The king told the architect to go create some building worthy of his daughter and the king would fund everything. The catch was that the architect must do everything himself. So, Candles began making this super awesome church way the hell out in the middle of nowhere. After 3 years the king came to check and see if the guy had wisened up and quit or if he was still building the structure to win his daughter. Candles was like 40 feet up on this sweet, innovative church and one of the guards climbed up and pushed him off and killed him! The king told his daughter that the guards had been so jealous of Candles’ skill that they killed him, and that is the story the Armenian’s tell about this holy place which later became a seminary as well. In my opinion, the king told his guards to go kill the guy if he still had the balls to try to win over his daughter, so they did. Then he could tell his daughter his guards were just assholes and then have them punished or something. Smart king, sad story. All the stories in Armenia are sad ones, no joke.

Saturday night, 5 of us went to a club and danced. It wasn’t anything fancy, but we had a blast and met some cool Armenian dudes that I coaxed into buying our drinks. We didn’t get to sleep til 4 which was a bad idea because we needed to wake up early if we wanted to make a couple more museums in the morning. The groggy morning was worth it, however, and some food quickly got me back on track. We took a walk and ended up visiting the single mosque in the country. Initially, they were not going to let us in, but Jason knows a fair amount of Arabic, so the dude let us look around inside. I guess it’s really unique because it is a Shiite mosque, although I wouldn’t know because it’s the first one I have ever seen. It was interesting to see the huge open space where all the people simultaneous prostrate themselves facing Mecca and pray. I know it is probably really hard to be a Muslim in Armenia, so props to them for having such a beautiful place to do in.

The final thing we did was go to the Genocide memorial which was really depressing actually. I am embarrassed to admit I didn’t even know about it in the first place, and even more sad to learn it hasn’t even been acknowledged as an actual event that really occurred ‘til recently (and the Turks still claim it never actually happened). Basically it was like the holocaust, but on a smaller scale. When Hitler’s advisors asked him if killing the Jews was a better idea than relocating them to Madagascar or somewhere Hitler said “Does anyone remember the Armenians?” and used the world’s ignorance to the genocide to justify his own. Anyways, it was humbling and terrifying, and I am so sorry for Armenia.

Sorry to end on a sad note, but my overall experience in Armenia was incredibly fun and enlightening. We spent way more money than we thought we would, but $150 to see another country and spend 3 days there isn’t too bad. I will just live a little on the cheaper side for my last 2 weeks in Georgia. This was kind of my last huge trip/plan, but I am guessing I will manage some more good times while I am still here. Many things are lacking in Georgia but fun times are more than abundant. More on those soon.

The Bad Things in Georgia

I feel like my time is slowly looming to an end here in Georgia, but I am happy to say that I am excited about coming home. A month into Georgia, there is no way I would have left willingly; however, I really feel that I have gotten almost as much as I can here, or, at least, everything I wanted. I am and have always been incredibly positive about Georgia, and my sentiments have not changed. I plan on returning here one day with friends to show them the power of Georgian passion. I would like to document, however, the things that really bug me, and I the reader should find them interesting as well.

First of all, laziness is rampant among Georgians. The men on my street play board games 10 hours a day, 7 days a week and it drives me crazy. Now, some of them are a tad bit older, so I can rationalize that, but a lot of the men are 20-40. In a country that is trying to become modern, to better itself, to present itself as a first world, so many of its people do absolutely nothing. To be honest, inherent laziness is something I abhor anywhere I am, hence my conservatism; however, it’s an epidemic here. It is funny to hear the older people talk about how good Stalin was, because he forced individuals to contribute and the country supposedly ran quite smoothly. Believe me, I am not a Stalin fan like most of the older people here, but it is interesting to hear that take on things for sure. As a leader, Saakashvili (their controversial president), has had the daunting task of inspiring and motivating a country for years now. Although many would swear he is failing (the opposition party here calls for his resignation weekly), the city is running a hell of a lot better than it was 10 years ago. It’s interesting to be in a country with thousands of years of history but is only 20-years-old. Good luck Georgia.

The second thing that bothers me is hygiene. I know that this is no new news to you experienced travelers, but, shit it’s just gross sometimes. I have a couple funny examples that will put things into perspective and serve as microcosms of the general hygienic theory here. First is my host dad who wore the exact same outfit for 11 days. I know he didn’t physically overexert himself playing backgammon all day, but after a week, I would think one would want a change for change’s sake alone. Second, my friend Lawrence’s host mother stole a pair of his socks and has had them on for over a week now. I don’t know how she thinks she can get away with this, because Lawrence, a gay Irishman, has…colourful socks to say the least. What are they thinking man?! My third and final example is the horror of marshutka travel (the vans). Those things always smell, and the best way I can explain it is to compare it to a Subway restaurant. You can smell that thing from blocks away, and if you go in there, you will go home smelling like Subway. The marshutka has the same permeating ability and it is distressing to go home smelling like the hairy hobo that sat next to me. As painful as these experiences can be, however, sometimes it is ridiculous you can’t help but laugh. The other day a dude stepped on to the marshutka and absolutely reeked of BO and what I think was car fluids. He sat behind me which made me tear up for multiple reasons… I was pissed. Right after he got on an obese, smelly Georgian man sat down next to me and let a huge fart go. He even leaned over, pointed it in my direction and then looked at me and showed off his missing teeth as he mischievously smiled. Right after this, a Georgian that looked exactly like Ben Stiller got on the marshutka! At this point I succumbed to the ridiculous situation and now treasure it as a hilarious Georgian memory. Things are what you make of them.

The third thing that bothers me is the education system. Discipline is really poor in the classrooms, teachers don’t come up with their own lesson plans and the parents at home don’t give a shit which makes it impossible to force anything upon them. Not to toot Stalin’s horn too much, but everyone I have talked to here loved the USSR educational system, and now Georgia has this generally lackluster approach… kinda sucks. I don’t have any idea how they should go forward with their system or improve it, but I know there are serious issues. I think a lot of the laziness common among the people starts in the schools, so something must be done – perhaps my presence here is an example of such a something. Something else that bugs me is that all the kids cheat on everything: homework, tests, papers, assignments, everything. The worst part (for me anyways… ) is that they suck at it. In the States people pride themselves on being great cheaters and innovators. Even their cheating is lazy! Ugh, good luck to Georgian education.

The fourth and final thing I would like to rant about is how women are treated. I am nowhere near a feminist, I think men and women are equal. Georgia violates women’s rights constantly, and, the worst part is, everyone knows it. I will give a couple examples of the unfair shit that happens to women and I will let you be the judge of such transgressions. First, men are not faithful to their wives, and this is not only expected, but laughed about. I have met multiple married men who have girlfriends and laugh about how nice it is. Prostitutes are also really common, and I must assume there are some nasty STDs everywhere in Georgia. Anyways, this bugs the hell out of me, and I feel so sorry for the Georgian wife. Another example is bride-napping… I can’t exactly remember if I ranted about this already, but I will do a quick summary anyways. Basically the dude stuffs the girl in his car against her will, takes her to his house, likely has his way with her and then she is socially obligated to marry him because she is no longer pure (though he has been having sex with prostitutes for years now). I know of multiple individuals who have suffered such a fate, and, in every single case, it has ended in divorce. It’s absolute bullshit, and I can’t figure it out. The social ignorance involved in every aspect of bride-napping is astounding, and many people lost all respect for Georgians when they heard about this (most Georgians will refute this, and I don’t mean to offend anyone. I am just calling it like I say it {and how every other volunteer here sees it}). Anyways, I feel bad for the women here. As Georgia becomes more modern I am hoping the gender roles do as well, but we’ll see. Good luck to Georgian women.

So, those are some basic complaints I have about Georgia. Honestly, a lot of the things I dislike here can be found in all countries, including America. I guess it is human nature to suck, or at least that is what we believe as Christians. I really, really want to bring people to this country eventually, but I suspect it will be very different in a couple years because the country is very dynamic. For better or worse, they are trying to be more like the US, and, regarding gender roles and education, I hope they achieve it. I hope that everyone understands how much I love this country and how much I have grown as a person because of it, so don't take my few complaints and blow them out of proportion. I still don’t know if I really agree with this program politically because they are spending so much money on us, but whatever. I have loved being here and I know I will enjoy my last three weeks here.

In other news, I had a good week at school, an interesting weekend and I am heading out to Armenia here in 2 hours. It should be a blast, and we are only gonna spend about $100 for the 3 days trip. I might get to go see Mt. Ararat which would be the first Biblical thing I have ever seen, or at least I think so. So, I am excited about that, and I will update everyone on how the trip went and post more pictures asap.

The Willage and Thanksgiving

Well, it was yet another week of hardly working at school, and I feel awful about it. I will have had 6 classes, totaling only 5 hours of work. As I always like to do, I can rationalize this somewhat by arguing that Tuesday was a national holiday, Giorgoba, and I was out of town Tuesday. Nevertheless, I still feel bad about it, and people back home have got to be wondering what I do with the rest of my time. Now, let me indulge your curiosity and tell you about one of my best weeks in Georgia.

For Giorgoba (St. George’s Day), I went with my student, Tornike, to the willage he is from. As expected, willages in Georgia are much different from our rural towns in The States. I am sure every reader would expect this to be the case, and so did I; but my comical expectations were more than satisfied after spending two days there. One of the first things we did was grab a rooster and take it to the church to be sacrificed. The tradition is to walk around the church with the rooster while praying (some people make one circle, some are there for hours), and afterwards there are two choices: you can sacrifice the rooster or you can let it go free. Since we were having suphra later that day, we chose the former option, and it was an experience that would make the average American cringe. The killer stands on the rooster’s legs, uses a small, sharp knife to saw off its head, breaks off the legs by hand and lets it bleed out. I had a picture of the experience, but I realized it was pretty distasteful, so, no worries, you won’t be surprised by such a picture in one of my albums. It was an experience to say the least.

After the sacrifices were made, we hung out at their willage home while suphra was being prepared. It was pretty cool to be preparing an animal that was alive just hours ago, although it’s a lot of work. My favorite food in Georgia is mtsvade which is basically pork kobobs with onions and delicious sauce, and the best I have had in Georgia was there in the willage. Tornike’s father had some of his high school friends come over and join us for suphra (they brought their roosters too), and I was somewhat of a willage celebrity. The food was great and the people were so much fun. They were very impressed and excited that I know Georgian, and I communicated quite well with the family throughout the trip. I got to try homemade wine, vodka and cha-cha which was pretty cool too, although I was super scared it would make me go blind or something do to improper brewing.

After suphra, I went to Tornike’s friend’s house where he showed me his guns and we talked about rock music – turns out rural Georgia and rural America have a lot in common. The biggest difference was the hole-in-the-ground outhouse which I do have a picture of, but it is slightly graphic (I am warning you because it will likely be posted on facebook). I am not sure how or if they shower, but at least that is something I didn’t have to worry about. One of the coolest parts of the willage adventure was getting to see their school and talk to the kids learning English. The classes were only 4-8 people big, and they had only been learning English for 2 years unlike the city kids. I can’t imagine how different it would be to be placed at a school like this, but I definitely don’t think it would be all bad. I think we would have stayed for longer, but I needed to get back because I had to tutor Dato, so we loaded up some homemade alcohol and returned to civilization.

Tutoring has been going really well, and it is nice to supplement my income a little bit too. I can see definite progress in his English, and, for better or worse, it is the most positive aspect of my teaching experience here in Georgia. I accidentally lost my US Bank card, so I have no access to my money back home, but it hasn’t turned out to be a big deal. Even though I have only gotten the one paycheck, I have managed just fine between that and tutoring money. It is nice to be a country where a full meal and drinks doesn’t exceed $4. I am excited about being able to take money home even though I will have travelled all over the country and Armenia on top of that.

As if I wasn’t a big deal here already, I made national news last night! One of my friends, Phillip, called me up and asked if I wanted to come over for Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday back home, so I jumped at the opportunity and brought some friends with me. It turns out that a news crew had been following him around all day to do a story about Thanksgiving. So, they caught us all at the dinner table feasting American style for a two-minute spot on primetime news. I want to briefly mention that this is extra funny because there is a lot of political strife surrounding our program, and propaganda, like this story, is really quite common – gotta love being a part of it.

Tornike wanted me to come with him to Kakheti, the wine-region of Georgia, for the weekend, but I kind of need a weekend with just American friends. It takes a lot out of me to constantly operate in Georgian, but it is also fun to recognize my progress with the language. I think my Georgian has surpassed my German, but it has a long ways to go to catch up to my Spanish. Anyways, I digress. The trip to Kakheti should be fun because the ministry is paying for all transportation, food and entertainment, so I’m excited. Also, apparently some American football teams are being put together to play some time, and I am really excited about that; however, I hope we don’t have to play with Georgians because, outside of soccer, they are awful at every sport I have seen. Hopefully the ministry doesn’t fall through on those plans… we’ll see I guess.

I have just over 3 weeks left which is pretty crazy. Other than our trip to Armenia, which is still on, I don’t really have anything else I want to accomplish. I love being here, but I won’t be upset about going home either. I really hope to do some more travelling soon, but it is hard to say what that might be right now. At least I have friends in Ireland, England, Australia and South Africa that would all put me up and show me around. Hopefully I will be able to take them up on those offers sooner rather than later.

*Georgians cant pronounce village correctly, in case you hadn't picked that up.

Beautiful Churches, Mountains and Beards

Well working 8 hours in a week is even more luxurious than it sounds; however, boredom can definitely occur once you realize there are 160 other hours in your week. It was definitely the first week since I have been here that I have employed my “I will bring this in case I get bored” backups because I needed to. I watched the first season of lost, started reading the greatest literary work in Georgian history and actually took some pictures. I definitely feel blessed that I have not been really bored so far because I have heard horror stories of other teachers going crazy because they have nothing to do with their time. Being stationed in Tbilisi has been a blessing that I may never be able to fully appreciate.

The other huge advantage to being in Tbilisi is that I have loads of friends to spend time with. Twice during the week I met up with friends to grab coffee and talk. We Americans have certain hang out spots in Tbilisi as well, so it is always fun to meet up with some other teachers you didn’t expect to be there and catch up with them. Personally, I think we need to choose different locations, because Americans always seem to gravitate towards the expensive places that take advantage of their customers, but such is life. Regardless of my sentiments towards overpriced coffee, it is nice to have the option.

We are thinking about having a Thanksgiving party for ourselves because we are all sorely missing the holiday back home. We aren’t exactly sure how feasible it is to make all the seasonal foods, but I think we could throw together something pretty decent. I wish I was more of a real cook so I could actually manage something like this. I am hoping that we get something off the ground at least, because I could really go for some turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy. Shouldn’t be too hard right?

Three of us decided to go to Gazbegi, a mountain town that is close to the Russian border, for the weekend. It was an easy 3-hour ride up there that reminded me of scary mountain driving in the Rockies. Georgia is really quite scenic, however, and I find myself more enthralled in the beauty than fearful of it. We also met some other Americans on the marshutka ride up there that were teaching in Turkey, so that was cool. It was a little disheartening to hear that they are making 3x what we are; however, we are getting a 1-month holiday with our plane tickets paid for. It all works out in the end I guess, but I could use some extra money about now.

The coolest part of Gazbegi is this monastery on a mountain with an even bigger mountain behind it. The trek initially seemed pretty intimidating, but Lawrence and I were able to manage the 4-mile hike in about an hour and a half. This is the second overly-remote monastery I have visited, and the Georgian dedication to such things is absolutely intriguing. I have no idea how much work it must have been to get all the materials up to the mountain and then build this thing, but they did it. And these monasteries aren’t just old and abandoned; they are still used each and every day. Priests live on site and conduct daily services, one of which we got to see! Also, I must note that these guys spend their spare time growing amazing beards. Truly, only these beards can rival the beauty of the Gazbegi scenery, and every man in existence should be jealous of such ability.

We stayed in a really cool hostel/house place that was only $8 a person. Although there wasn’t hot water, the host’s amiable nature made up for it. We got really good local food, but, as I have said many times before, it is the exact same food we get everywhere we go in Georgia: cheesy bread, meat on a stick, meat dumplings, regular bread and sauce (I do love the sauce, haha). This town is so small that it doesn’t have a bar, so we grabbed a couple drinks and hung out in our hostel. I served as our tamada (which translates as king of the feast… I have probably already mentioned that, but it’s awesome to hear repeatedly), and we had great night. I especially loved the parts where Lawrence, a gay Irish man, explained Irish slang and the things he missed most: shopping, dressing up to go out and talking to his girlfriends. Maybe you had to be there, but, if you try really hard, I think you can conjure up a funny scene similar to the real thing.

In other cool news, we are planning a trip to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. I don’t know about you, but I think this sounds pretty exciting. I am thinking about paying for Levan to come as well because he is half Armenian, and he has never been to the bordering country. It might not work out, but I offered up the prospect to him and he seemed pretty excited about it. It’s a little frustrating because I am already paying the family money and I take Levan out with me (I have spent like 50 Lari for him at restaurants and bars), but this might be the only time he gets to see Armenia! Anyways, we have two weeks before that trip, so we will see how that goes.

I will be home in less than a month, which I am really excited about. I love being here, but as I was explaining to Lawrence and James, I have a lot I care about at home. I am excited for the suphra I am going to have after Christmas some time, and it will be good to see my siblings and my girlfriend for the first time in 4 months. Travelling and such is good, but I think that real life is even better – though I know that the former improves your ability to appreciate the latter. I am excited to be home and share the more intimate details of my trip with everyone, and I hope all is well on your end. I will try to have another update soon and a bunch of pictures are about to go up on facebook should you be interested.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2144715&id=36107941&page=2
*That is the link to some of the pictures I have so far, hopefully there aren't too many problems getting it to work.

A Weekend in Batumi

Let me be the first one to tell you that Batumi, the beach region of Georgia, is awesome. It is a shame that it is November and cold because Batumi is designed as a sweet summer hang out location. There are tons of huge parks, large stretches of beach, dancing water fountains, fancy hotels and restaurants all in a pretty small town. My experience was made extra special because I went with one of my co-teachers and got the inside scoop. I made the right decision to go with native Georgians because it is always the non-touristy things that end up being the most interesting. This last weekend was no different, and I got to cross a couple must-do things off my list.

The coolest thing I got to do was attend a Georgian wedding reception. I feel partly guilty because the more I think about it, the more I want to be born, get married, have children and die in Georgian custom… The passion for life here is incredible, and I think that weddings are likely the best microcosm of that zest for life. A lot of the reception was pretty standard and comparable to an American one, but there were really cool differences as well. Also, I think I was a little spoiled because whoever’s family was throwing this reception had a TON of money because it was quite lavish.

One of the weird differences is that we sat down and started eating right away. The bride and groom had not yet arrived, and there we were chowing down on delicious food! I felt a little weird about this, but no one else seemed to mind very much, and I don’t need to be told twice to eat. Once the happy couple arrived, the crowd was introduced to the Tamada (the king of the suphra who is in charge of all the toasting). This guy did an insane amount of talking throughout the suphra, and, even though I thought I would love to be the tamada with all the attention, I didn’t envy his job because it is a ton of work. Also, he used an ornate horn to drink out of which I think is super cool – more on that horn later.

Round upon round of amazing food was delivered to the table. When we got there, there was absolutely no space for additional food, but this is not a problem in Georgia. After the 10 (yes, I counted) courses were brought, there were two levels of food on the table stacked on top of each other. We had everything from kabobs to stuffed mushrooms to venison to beef hearts to caviar. Everything was superb! We washed everything down with the traditional white wine, and that brings me to the funny part of the wedding.

The father of the bride was making rounds and someone at our table told him I was an American. He was absolutely ecstatic to discover that I was there, and so he did what any good host would do and brought me his giant drinking horn to toast with. So there I was in front of 300 people with a huge horn full of wine, and I then did what any good American would do and downed it in style, after paying my respects to the bride and groom, of course. The crowd went wild and I loved it, no surprise there. It was a really cool experience, and I think I want a drinking horn at my wedding.

The other really cool part of the wedding was the dancing. The wedding party (excluding the bride and groom) prepared a special dance to perform, and it was intense. Now that I think about it, it was mostly guys doing the dancing, funny considering it is the other way around at American weddings. The groom also had a special solo dance prepared which he performed after a special toast. Oh, and all the music was played by a live ensemble in the balcony, and a nationally famous men’s choir, Batumi, did the singing. High quality stuff for sure.

I couldn’t speak English all weekend, but my Georgian allowed me to understand what was going on and have a great time. It is cool to be functional in three different languages, and I hope to add more over time. The family I stayed with was really cool, and I didn’t pay a single tetri (cent) for anything all weekend. Even though I have to subsidize my family with money, I find that Georgian hospitality makes up for whatever small amount I am dishing out elsewhere.

As if my weekend wasn’t good enough, my teachers told me that I didn’t have to go to class on Tuesday because they wanted me to rest and recover. So, I had a five-day weekend, and after seeing my schedule today, I realized that I will be working a whopping 8 hours this week. Why am I here!? Well, I came to have a great time in another country, so.. great success! Haha

Suphra, Drunken Americans and Cool Things in Georgia

Alright, well I am sorry I havent posted in like a week, but there hasn't really been a good time for it. My weekend turned out to be just as good as I thought it would be, and I find it exciting that I am not burning out or getting tired of this place. But, there are negative things as well like not having electricity or water all week. It's amazing how much one relies on those things.

I had a ton of suphra over the weekend, and it was great to feel full. I think I am going to start cooking for myself at my house because I can't go on with this hunger! At least I have good friends and other families to dine with. My favorite meal was suphra with my student, Tornike. He is in the 11th grade and he is one cool dude. His family basically prepared a feast in my honor, and we toasted and ate all night. His parents were super cool, and I am actually planning on going back to his house tonight because it is his birthday today. So much good food! Last Saturday we went to David Gareji which is this really cool monastery that also has a bunch of meditation caves really close by. This place was beautiful, and it is easily one of the coolest things I have ever seen. So much work went into making these caves holy places, and it boggles my mind how many different dwellings there were. The scenery was also gorgeous, and I got to step foot into Azerbaijan (it's funny actually because the Azerbaijan side was way more beautiful than the Georgian side). We have some cool pictures, so I will have those available on facebook soon. Finally, on Sunday I went to my friend Jess' house and part of her family offered to adopt me so I didnt have to live with poor Armenians. As cool of an offer as it was, I really can't take them up on it because I love my school, and the commute would be well over an hour if I switched homes. It is tempting though because her family is super loaded, and I wouldn't have to worry about food anymore. Also, the people who offered to take me in are doctors, so that is cool as well. Anyways, it is a cool option, and if I come back in the Spring some time, then maybe I will be able to make something happen with that.

School went well this week, and I have a pretty funny story actually. So there is one young, attractive teacher at my school... She maintains the computer lab, so I dont know if that is really considered teaching, but I see her a lot because she turns on the computer/internet for me and stuff. Well these government inspection dudes came to the school to see that everything was in working order, and it is a pretty stressful time for everyone I guess. Well it just so happened that the internet was not working this day, and that did not bode well for Nino, the teacher. Our principal basically told the following: "You have one job to do, and it is barely a job. And the one day it actually matters, you can't do it." So, she was in tears, and she even got another lecture from the principal later in the day. The internet thing was totally not her fault, and I felt so bad for her. It sucks because I wanted to console her or something, but I can't speak Georgian well enough to manage that. So, naturally, I dug a hole. I decided it would be a good idea to buy her flowers, becuse, surely, flowers are a universal language. I even asked my co-teachers if this was kosher, and they said it was all a great idea. Well I go buy the flowers and go to the computer room to deliver them and everything falls apart. There is only one class a day in the computer room, and I just happened to pick this one class period to make a scene. So, in front of a class of 8th graders I awkward go up to Nino and give her these flowers. I then realize I don't know how to say "I'm sorry you had a bad day, and it isn't your fault." Actually, nothing is coming to my mind at all, so I just give her the flowers, say I'm sorry and walk away completely red-faced. God, it was embarassing, and I wish people could have seen it because it was so, so, so awkward. I asked one of the teachers to explain everything to her, and nothing ended up being awkward the rest of the week. Everything is ok in that regard, but I get embarassed even talking about the story.

I had to deal with a drunken, American asshole last night. This dude is a total tool, and all he wants to do is get wasted drunk and have sex with anything that walks. He skips school all the time, and I think he is hoping he gets kicked out of the program. We went to a bar last night and he was completely drunk and making remarks like "women are weak, that is why I fuck them." I was livid and about to kick his ass right there, I really was. I hate this dude, and all of the other teachers knew I was about to lose it. He ended up getting way too drunk, and he couldn't even walk. As much as I hate the dude, I was worried about him getting home safe, and I knew he would be a complete embarassment to America if people saw him stumbling the streets like this. I decided to take him home even though it was way out of the way for me. I don't know what gave me the moral fortitude, but I did it, and he got home safely. I know he wont even remember the night, but, in the end, I didn't do it for him anyways, so what do I care. It's nice to feel like a good person, though, and I would do it again. I also paid for my friend's birthday dinner last night too, so everyone shoud be proud of me!

I am planning on going to Batumi, the beach region this weekend with one of my teachers (not Nino, haha). They are paying for me too which is really cool. No one will speak English, so we will see how that goes; however, I have faith in my basic Georgian, so all should be well. I will let everyone know how that goes as soon as possible. Hopefully I will have internet when I get back that way I can do all the things I need to do like the blog and my fantasy football teams. This week is my half-way mark... I hope the second half is even better than the first.

Thai Food and Manual Labor

More and more of my life is moving away from school itself which is sad because that is the reason I am here in the first place. I find myself making plans that take up all of my day every day, and this leaves little time for creative lesson planning. To be honest, I need to put a little more effort into that aspect of teaching, but it is difficult because I have been given such a background role in the classroom that it almost feels like it isn’t my place to do such things. I mean I think that my presence is beneficial, for sure, but it is a little disheartening to know that I could be doing more. On the plus side, I spend a lot of time with my students outside the classroom, and I know that this is great for their English. I know a lot of the other teachers do not do such things, so perhaps I am filling a little of the teaching void with extracurricular focus. Nevertheless, I love my school, my co-teachers and my students – I just want to give them my best.

I think part of the reason I feel slightly underused is that I am only working 12-15 hours a week. When I put that on paper it really sounds awful because thousands of dollars have been paid to bring me here and be in the classroom. This really isn’t my fault though because I just happen to be placed at a really small school, so there are simply fewer lessons to teach. Some of the other American teachers have to turn away classes and teachers altogether because they simply can’t satisfy everyone. I work with all the teachers and grade levels (that are learning English: 4-12), and it is rewarding to walk the halls and recognize everyone from class. The cool thing about working so little is that I am able to do more outside the classroom, and I planning on taking on a couple additional students to tutor (no charge) besides the ambassador’s son. I am excited about this, but I need to tread carefully because Georgian English teachers often rely on tutoring to supplement their income and I don’t want to hurt my co-teachers.

On top of school and tutoring, I have really been doing a lot. I went to get Thai food last night which was nice. I asked for the spiciest rendition of the dishes I ordered. I was expecting to be blown away because doing this at a Thai restaurant can be dangerous; however, it was only fairly spicy, but it satisfied my need for an exciting taste… Georgian food is getting a little bland. What sucked was that the portion sizes were way too small so I ended up getting another dish. Part of this is that I am not getting fed at home, so I am absolutely starving all the time, but, honestly, I don’t think I’ll go again because the small plate wasn’t worth the price. I also have been playing a lot of soccer and I am getting pretty good! The bad thing is that this dirties my clothes quickly, and I am only supposed to do a load every 2 weeks; also, I can only shower every 3 days, so I have to sponge bathe afterwards. But such is life in Georgia.

I have decided that America is, in fact, the best country in the world, albeit my sample size is only 3 countries (The Republic of Georgia and Peru). We supply much of the world with music, entertainment and hope. I know that I would not get the same sentiments if I were in a major country, but people here love America. Everyone wants to live in New York, learn English and live the dream. As much as I love travel and other cultures, there is no doubt in my mind that I want to have my life in America. We follow traffic laws, we have foods from around the world, we have beautiful women of all races, we have easy access to the arts and entertainment, and Americans love America – this optimism and confidence is beautiful because many people in the world simply do not like where they come from. I am not in a rush to get home or anything, but I am simply proud to be an American.

I hope you all have boring, awful weekend plans so it will be even more painful when you read how exciting mine are. I am having a suphra tonight at my friend James’ house, and then I am going to a student’s house to do the same (back to back baby!). On Saturday, I am going on a day-trip to Southern Georgia where there are these really old, cool monasteries. This is my first time travelling around the country, so I am stoked about that! I will take some pictures and post them asap. When we get back, I am going to meet up with Tata and her friends to go to a German bar and listen to live rock music. Then, on Sunday, I am going to get a haircut (exciting right?) and go to my friend Jessica’s house to Suphra with her entire family. I have really been playing up the fact that my family doesn’t feed me, so I plan on milking these invites for everything they are worth. So far, my plan has been effective, and I am excited to let everyone know how much fun I had eating, drinking and singing with Georgian families.

Oh yeah, a random rant about my family. I love them and they are great people, but I sort of got the shaft. Yesterday, my host mom told me in really bad English that she wanted to go “walk” and I was cool with that because I had a few hours before I was heading out. It turns out she wanted me to go “work” and do some yard work. If it was weeding or something, I really wouldn’t mind, but they are totally re-landscaping their shared yard area. She handed me a pick and set me to work on breaking up and removing an old concrete slab. That is seriously hard work man, and I couldn’t believe the family that I am paying 100 Lari a month for and receiving less than one meal a day from would have me do this. I don’t think I have ever said no to anyone if they asked me to do something, and I realize that I should probably refuse to do such manual labor; however, I did it, and I think I will be asked to do more in the future. I guess those free suphras with other families are coming at a price… haha

The Swing of Things

I think I can finally say I have established a solid routine. It should come as no surprise that I may be spreading myself thin, but I would have it no other way. At home, I often feel like a drifter because I am always promising myself elsewhere; in Georgia, my life is no different. As I mentioned last week, I have taken on tutoring the ambassador’s son for ~10 hours a week, which is awesome. I also find myself spending increasing amounts of time with Tata and her family (my host cousins). Interestingly, I also spend time with the Seventh Day Adventist missionaries that live right by my house. And finally, I try to go out with the other American teachers a couple times a week as well. Mix all of that in with trying to plan excursions with my students and co-teachers and I have quite a busy schedule (not to mention the excessive time spent in-transit).

School continues to be fun and successful (which is good given that is the reason I am here), and I enjoy working no more than 20 hours a week. I am still popular among the students which, of course, I enjoy, but I think the girls are no longer so enamored by my American charm. I hope to play some football with the boys this week, but I don’t know if I will be able to because it has gotten quite chilly. Overall, I love my school, my co-teachers and my students, and I am fully aware that I am lucky to have a wonderful situation.

I have come to realize that people love complaining, and some of the TLG teachers can’t help but bitch about their situation. I think that there is always something negative in life to rant about, and I can’t figure out why people invest so much of themselves in this pessimism. People complain far too much about the gender roles, small cultural differences, animal treatment, personal hygiene and numerous other typical, life issues. I would hate for Georgians to think of us as spoiled, pompous brats, but perhaps that is far too often the case. Whatever… I am doing my best to be a kargi bitchi (good boy) and represent Americans well, so take pride in knowing that much.

I haven’t updated the blog in a while, so I feet like delving into a couple of my experiences here in Georgia and relating them to my lifestyle. I truly hate indulging humanity’s narcissism by blogging, but I am who I am and maybe someone wants to read about it (I am stoked about getting to 1000 views. Although I thought people stopped reading completely because no one bothers to comment anymore.) The first experience, tutoring Dato, the Ambassador’s son, fell into my lap, and I am very lucky to be doing it. Although I am only making $30/week, I get to experience true Georgian hospitality and spend time with people that love knowledge, culture and life. They always feed me whether or not I am hungry, have dinner plans or try to refuse (which is nice because I think my host family has basically stopped making me food). Although I can’t help but think they just want to extend the English lesson and keep me there longer, I truly feel wanted in their home. The ambassador recently showed me his music collection (which contained every Abba production of all time, 80’s rock, classic opera, national Georgian music and far, far more), talked to me about international cinema and explained to me his zest for life, love and culture. I know that we have cultured Americans, but it is amazing how much we are consumed with ourselves. This is true in politics, cinema, language, sports, and even travel (only 4% of Americans have a passport). I love America, and I love it even more after travelling some and seeing the world; however, I want my family, both present and future, to appreciate the beauty the world offers. I don’t know… that is just how I feel, haha.

That actually creates a nice segue to my next topic: Tata’s family. These people are crazy awesome, and I learn so much about life and happiness every time I am there. The love of music in that family is so deep and wonderful. Whether they are playing music together, randomly bursting into song or playing/singing themselves, there is constantly some sort of musical expression. I grew up in a family that has a very practical, pragmatic and analytical train of thought. While I will always be this way and I greatly value the work ethic and perspective my family has instilled, I have come to value and respect music and the lifestyle they live. Sure, pragmatism and the arts can exist together, but I am just saying they don’t and shouldn’t always go hand-in-hand. I think my analytical thought process causes me to be constantly worried about my public perception and trying to avoid shame if at all possible. Now I know my friends will say that I often fail miserably at such endeavors, but I hate embarrassing myself and shame is a powerful factor in my life. The musical lifestyle at Tata’s allows unique individual expression that removes this fear, and I am jealous. Many people are surely aware of this phenomenon already, but it is something that I happened to realize for myself here in Georgia.

In other news, I was not admitted to UMKC medical school, but placed on the alternate list instead. That was sucky news, so I will have to figure out my plan for that. I still might get in, but who knows? Also, I am sick and have been for a couple days, but it is only a cold and I hope to be over it soon. We also got paid this week which was nice. It is cool to do something like this and actually come out making money. And I might be doing some travelling around Georgia here soon, but nothing has been decided as of yet. I feel like I have been here forever, but it has only been 1 month. I still have 2 more to go! They’ll be good. I am sure of it. I have been tagged in some pictures on facebook if you want to do some stalking. Hopefully I will have my computer up and running this week, and then I can upload some pictures of my own. Get excited for that.

I miss you guys back home. I hope you are having as much fun as I am, but I doubt you are.

Good times in Georgia!

I had a fantastic weekend! I had dinner on Friday with my friend James’ host family which was amazing. His family is definitely in the upper economic echelon, so there was a myriad of delicious treats including a roasted pig’s head (I ate an ear which was not quite as delicious as Cuy [guinea pig] but still good). Their family also makes their own wine which was absolutely delicious, and I am sure we toasted through 5-6 glasses a piece. I put on the most presentable version of myself in hopes I would be invited back soon and often. We will see if that happens.

After dinner, we went out to downtown Tbilisi to meet up with other teachers and hang out. It is tough to find a good spot because there is usually like 20 of us in a party. We eventually met up with some people, but it was actually an embarrassing crowd. A couple of the teachers were already wasted drunk (throwing up on the bathroom door, hallway, everywhere) and completely obnoxious when we arrived, so it wasn’t long before we decided to get them home and go somewhere with a small group. So, Americans are now banned at this fine establishment – I am sure such idiotic displays really encourage Georgians that their tax dollars are being spent well in bringing us here. Though this was negative, we eventually settled down at a bar not too far away, though I had to ask a sketchy local dude where we could go because everything was closed. He led us to the bar, though I was a little worried it would be a sex-slave operation; however, all was well and I bought him a beer for his kind efforts. Some local men were making suphra, so we shared in their good time and had a couple glasses of beer. The funniest part of the night was when we came home (Jason needed a place to crash) and we were changing to go to bed and my host mom awkwardly walks in unannounced. It was definitely really gay, but whatever.

Jason got up early to go to Kakheti with all the other teachers, but I had special plans of my own. I met up with my 10th graders to have a day-long excursion. We went to Sameba, the biggest, most beautiful church I have ever seen, and they bought me a couple gifts (a bottle of wine I will bring back home to open and a decorative plate). It was sobering to see such playful students become so serious about the church and kiss its walls and pictures. I somehow feel like religion is too taboo or something to see youth do likewise in the States. Anyways, this place was absolutely beautiful, and I will steal pictures from my students’ facebook to show everyone. Next, we went to the U-17 soccer game versus Sweden which Georgia won in extra time. My students gave me a Georgian flag, and I am super pumped about displaying that wherever I live next.

Altogether there was like 20 of us, so it was a pretty good-sized and rowdy group. One girl spoke pretty good English, so she did most of the translation/guide work, and I am really glad I had her. I found out she read my blog in preparation for the day, so she would have talking points and find out what I liked and didnt like. I dont know how I feel about this to be honest, but it is what it is. I guess that helps explain the 50+ views I have from Georgians. The best part of the night was still yet to come!

We went to a restaurant, packed 15 of us around a single table and ordered a bunch of food and wine. Now, I know the readers back home must be thinking “I can’t believe he would drink wine with his 15-year-old students,” but please understand that the trip was actually planned by one of my Georgian co-teachers and nothing about the trip was morally reprehensible by Georgian standards. This being said, it was still really weird to watch 10th graders get drunk together (apparently they do this every weekend). So, we ate, we drank, we danced, we toasted and it was great fun. All the boys told me I am their big brother and they love me, and I really appreciated their sentiments and compliments in very broken English. It was a great feeling to be the honored guest and center of attention, and it was definitely one of the most fun times I have ever had.

The whole crew wanted to go to some amusement park thing at the top of the local mountain, but we ended up calling it off and sending everyone home because I thought it was best to get them home. I was going to stay downtown and meet up with friends, but I didnt feel like joining a drunken American mess like I had the night before, so I just went home. I had spent a lot of time away from my family anyways, so I wanted to hang out with them and see what they were doing. It was a really good thing that I went home too; because I got a phone call requesting my services as a private English tutor, and you will never guess who it was! The Turkish Ambassador to Georgia wants me to tutor his 12 and 7 year olds! I am really excited about the opportunity, but I am equally nervous because this is a pretty serious situation, and I know the dude expects high quality performance. I am excited to update everyone on that situation!

Sorry this has been a long entry, but my last thing of interest was that I met some missionaries from Canada Sunday morning. They are actually Seventh Day Adventists which is interesting because that happens to be what most of my family is and how my parents were raised. They invited me to play ping pong with them later Sunday night, so I gladly took them up on it. Everyone was super nice, and I hope to spend more time at the church and maybe even do some hiking/travelling with them. Going out with the other teachers is fun and all, but I really want to do some hiking, exploring and travelling, so I think this might be a good opportunity for that. We will see!

Phew... well it was a great weekend. I hope to have some more like it, and I will promptly update everyone when I do.

Steve

Georgian Cuisine

Georgians are extremely proud of their food, and I think there are a couple factors that contribute to its superb cuisine. The more strife, invasions, defeats and take-overs, the better food a country will sport (think about England's bland food and tell me I'm wrong). Georgia is surely the poster child for such a situation because a myriad of powers ranging from the ancient Byzantines to the USSR have had their way with the region. In addition to the variety of peoples that have inhabited Georgia, Tbilisi, the capital, was a vital city along spice trade routes. While it may seem obvious on its face, I think another factor is lifestyle of Georgian people. People are poor here (average per-person income is ~$4,000). Whenever people are poor, they find value in something independent of money – family and friends. And nothing celebrates these values more than a shared feast with a variety of delicious foods and drinks. Finally, Georgian pride ties everything together and maintains traditions remarkably well (another example would be their language which has its own unique alphabet and only about 5kk people worldwide speak it. Every Georgian is multilingual, but the beautiful Georgian language will not be lost anytime soon). Let me assure you that Georgian food and drink is every bit as sumptuous as I make it out to be.

Bread is served with every meal – no exceptions. While many in the States subscribe to this method as well, our store-bought bread pails in comparison to that of the local bakeries. I found this to be the case in Peru as well, and I would imagine many countries sport superior bread to our own. I definitely find myself wanting to improve my baking skills so I am not subject to Wonderbread while in America. I would also like to pick up the skill of working cheese into the bread, as is so common here in Georgia. Americans love cheese, and I know that people would go crazy for the wide variety of cheese-infused breads that are a Georgian dietary staple. I think my favorite was a very heavy, cheese bread that had a small spot carved out on top and an egg baked into it. I know this goes against the South Beach diet, and perhaps it is better that overweight America has not discovered such a tasty treat.

Another thing I know Americans would like is the Georgian love for meat. While I definitely think Argentina or Kansas City would more aptly satisfy one’s need for a slab of meat, Georgian cuisine wonderfully manipulates meat into its dishes. The meat is usually accompanied my vegetables, complimentary wine and a delicious sauce (and God knows I love sauce). While I could definitely go for a fatty ribeye with A1, I appreciate that Georgian craft of meal preparation with a carnivore in mind.

Now I know that my sample size of visited countries is small, but I think other countries drink alcohol a lot more often than we do. Instances which would not occur in the average American lifestyle include the following: sharing a .5 liter bottle of vodka with my mama for Saturday lunch; taking shots of cognac with fellow teachers during my lunch break; receiving multiple bottles of wine from my students (during school mind you); and the general use of hard alcohol or wine to accompany one’s meal instead of “regular drinks” (I swear that I am dying of thirst half the time. I get weird, frustrated looks when I ask for water, and I haven’t had a drop of milk in 3 weeks). This being the case, I never find anyone stupid drunk; and I applaud the mature drinking style employed. It definitely makes one question the American drinking age, though I doubt we will see any changes in the near future.

As much as I love and appreciate the food and drink here, I do have a couple complaints. I miss milk as I previously mentioned, and it would be nice to have some juice or something (For that, I loved Peru). Also, I love spicy food, and this is not the place to be for such an addiction. Sometimes I just want my nose to run and tears to be forced out because my food is on fire… perhaps I will have to search out a Thai place or something. I was served pizza here the other day because my teachers thought that I must be missing American food. I loved the thought, but a pizza covered in mayonnaise and ketchup somehow just didn’t do it for me. It was even worse because a table full of teachers was watching me eat, so I didn’t want to wipe it all off. And if that wasn’t bad enough, my only libation was vodka. It was pretty disgusting, and I really need to stop being such a yes man, because I know they will get it again for me if I don’t say anything.

Overall, my gastronomical experience here has been superb, and I look forward to trying other specialties such as the kabobi. Also, I would really like to go to some more suphras because that is the place to be for food. I hate that I had already eaten before my last one, so maybe next time I will get some warning. So, while you are eating your TV dinner or McDonald’s meal, know that I am feasting upon homemade food and delicious wine. And it is good – so, so good.

Reunion, Heartbreak and Gambling

I have to say that I had pretty good weekend. Things started off with Jason Solana, a fellow teacher from Florida, coming to Isani (my part of Tbilisi), though the trip was not a swift one. He took a couple wrong buses and the trip ended up taking him like 4 hours. I dont think Tbilisi is super difficult to get around once you know the bus and marshutka routes, but it is super difficult to do so as an English speaker. Basically, all the routes are written in Georgian on a small, cardboard sign taped against the windshields. This sucks for two reasons: one being that it is hard to read Georgian very quickly, and, two, if i successfully sound out the word, I have no idea what part/street of Tbilisi that is referring to. This has resulted in my personal dependence on the Metro station which is less cost effective, takes longer and smells awful; however, I am mobile and that is what matters. But I digress...

Jason was soaked because it had been raining pretty hard, and we (Levan included) stepped into the closest bar we could find to dry off and have a couple beers. A couple other teachers showed up throughout the night, and we had a great time. I know I have said this already, but I am seriously way different than the other volunteers here. A majority of the conversation was which drugs they preferred and the benefits of being an Acid-head. I like a good time and everything, but I had zilch to contribute to the conversation; even though this was the case, Levan talked a bit about the drug problem among young men in Georgia, which I found sad but interesting. Though I had no personal investment in much of the conversation, other events were afoot that were great to watch. Levan was hitting on our waitress, and I must say that he was quite successful. We had a big conversation about sexual expectations within Georgian culture and from us, the teachers. Apparently, it would not be a big deal at all if I, a male teacher, had a female friend stay the night as long as she was an American or one of the other foreigners; however, shit would hit the fan if it was a Georgian girl. I do not think the same case exists for the American women if they wanted to have of a Georgian man, and I am aware of an individual pursuing such a thing. It will be interesting to see how that develops.

I have discovered that I must use some censorship in my writing because we believe that the Georgian government monitors our contact with the outside world. We know that the government has access to and listens to our phone conversations; and I am pretty sure that my blog, among many other blogs, are being read as well. I really dont care, especially because I know that we are a giant investment. We are expected to encourage tourism and be positive PR, and, to ensure this motive, they (the ministry as we call it. I wish we had ministries in America. It sounds so cool and mysterious) monitor our communication. My experience here has been very positive, so I hope that the ministry is enjoying my positive feedback.

Jason and I hung out in the cool area of Tbilisi all day on Saturday, and we actually met up with a ton of other teachers doing the same thing. We did some barhopping and talked about our respective situations. It was interesting to hear about the wide variety of situations, and, though I am jealous of some people, I know I have a good thing going for me. It sucks to be a girl, though, and I feel pretty bad for some of the female teachers. They often have ridiculous curfews and rigid expectations, but that truly is part of the protective culture (just like the double standard for bringing a Georgian girl home). Hopefully, the girls can see this overprotection as true acceptance into the family, and, if they are lucky, maybe they can overcome some of the barriers unfairly placed upon them. Again, I digress!

I ended up catching the Metro home instead of going out to the clubs with everyone. I had done a fair amount of socializing for the day, and I can't really say that clubbing is my thing. I came to find out that I saved myself a ton of cover charges and overpriced drinks, so I am glad I made the right decision. For those of you who are interested, the drink prices are pretty fair here. A half-liter beer (17 oz) is usually 1.5 Lari (85 cents), so that isn't bad at all. Also, you can usually order a half-litre of vodka to share with friends, and that is like 11 Lari ($6.50) and it is at-least Absolut quality. So, there you have it -- it is cheaper than Kirksville, but maybe a little more expensvive than Peru. Although they have a hard alcohol here called Cha-Cha that is exactly like pisco which I find interesting.

The most interesting part of my Sunday was that my computer charger stopped working. I know this happens to a lot of people, but I wish it didnt happen to me. So, I have no computer for the time being, and it is hard to find a compaq power supply in Georgia. I think this will most greatly affect my fantasy football teams, though, because I should still be able to blog after school. The suffering is purely my own! We took my power block to Levan's friend, and he broke it open to look at it (using a hammer, nothing else). It was so painful to watch because I knew they had no chance of repairing it using such barbaric methods. I guess it wasnt working anyways, but I still hated seeing them beat it to a pulp. Men here are ridiculously stubborn. I know that the reader will think this is the case everywhere, but I assure you it takes on a new level in Georgia. The men are absolutely confident in their opinions and approach on life. There is no allowance for possible error of thought. And this brings me to the second most interesting part of my Sunday.

Levan's friend Gio had a couple bets on Soccer matches, so we were going to go to the sports bar to watch, or so i thought. It turns out this is quite the gambling facility because they have the soccer matches televised, and slot machines and roulette tables as well. Gambling here is a serious problem (again, i know the reader will think this is the case everywhere), but there is a small casino (or Slot Club as they say) on every block. Suicide is a huge problem here, and it is well-known that gambling debts are part of the reason why. I saw Levan lose 80 Lari, which was painful because I am pretty sure he only makes ~300 Lari a month. Gio did the same, and I cant tell you how many other random, angry Georgian men followed suit. I happened to do quite well, so I bought everyone a couple rounds of beer. I am hoping that this excursion is a rare one, because I dont want the guys to expect me to buy their beer everywhere we go (I am already paying for Levan's anyways). It was bittersweet fun to say the least.

I am currently having some weird financial issues with my family (gambling may contribute to this), so i hope I get that ironed out. I would really like to elaborate, but I dont want the minisitry to intervene quite yet. Other than that, all is well! School was good today, and I think I will have a pretty good week, albeit possibly an uninteresting one.

I can never know though... it is Georgia afterall.

Teaching, Singing and Politicking

Well I have completed my first week as a teacher, and I definitely have a greater respect for the profession. I even feel guilty saying that because I am only a co-teacher, so I cannot fully empathize with those who do it all themselves. Who knew that making lesson plans was so difficult? And what level am I supposed to teach to? I still have a good number of questions, and I don’t think I will answer all of them before I leave. Before this experience, my knowledge of educational theory was all based on what worked for me; however, I have found that the methods I liked most in the classroom are not for the majority of students. Regardless of my struggles with lesson planning and theory, I find myself enjoying the children and my colleagues – a sentiment that will add to my ability and my good time here in Georgia.

The teachers were waiting for me at the door on the first day of school, and it was sort of an awkward reception because only one of the teachers speaks English well (though 3 teach the language). Also, the principal speaks no English, so communication was limited. Everyone was incredibly friendly, however, I and have found that this amiable spirit has not waned in the slightest. I was introduced to each classroom and asked multiple questions from the students. The most common was if I had a wife and children, which I find weird because I look at myself in the mirror and I know there is no way… there is just no way. I guess it is a fair question, though, because 20-23 is marrying age here (I know of 3 people here my age that have been married for ~5 years). Overall, the students were very excited to see me (especially the girls), and, again, this exuberance has not yet failed – then again, it is only the first week.

I was quite worried about my role in the classroom, and, though I still am not sure of it, I know that the kids will receive quality English teaching. My co-teachers are all quite talented, and I definitely do not have similar complaints to those of the other American teachers here. Apparently, some schools have incredibly poor control over their students, the teachers talk on cell-phones during class, and the only English work done is memorizing and reciting English conversations. This is not the case at my school, and I really think that the children are receiving quality education. For this, I consider myself lucky, and I hope to further improve their English by focusing on conversational skills.

The girls adore me here, and it is amazing. God, what the average high school boy would give for the looks, love notes and hand-made gifts that I receive constantly. And I have a special connection with the boys as well! I make up special handshakes with each of them, and I have promised to play soccer with them as soon as I can. While such attention could deter learning in the classroom, I find that the adoration comes with a respect that helps maintain a good educational environment. I hope that this positive aspect of my stature will not wear off as I suspect the googly-eyed girls and love notes will.

In other news, I have played a ton of soccer this week. I am dismayed to admit that I am much worse than the 15-year-old boys I play with, but I am a muscular giant amongst them which comes in handy. Despite my lack of skill, it is still a great time, and I hope to get in as much soccer as I can before the weather turns completely foul. It is definitely a great time-filler, and it is probably good to work off the ridiculous amounts of khachapuri (cheese bread) that I eat.

Yesterday was mtsxetoba (I can pronounce it correctly, and I assure you that you cannot) which is a big holiday here celebrating the birthday of the city mtsxeta. The main event is, of course, in the birthday city, but we celebrated our holiday in Tbilisi and went out for khinkali. Khinkali is definitely one of the most loved foods here, and I would have to say it is my favorite as well. Basically, it is a meat dumpling that takes a good amount of skill to eat because it is considered quite rude to spill any juice onto your plate. When George Bush came here, he could not figure out how to eat it correctly, and, apparently, it was quite shameful – I can only imagine the awkwardness of his ignorance to the ancient tradition. Besides the flavor, my favorite thing about Khinkali is that you must have beer to wash it down or else it is not the full experience. To top it all off, they are only about 25 cents each, and even a big dude with the munchies would be stuffed after 10.

I met the other side of the family (Tata’s parents and sisters), and that was definitely an interesting experience. Her mother is a family doctor and her father is a veterinarian, so they have a super nice house. Though it isn’t too large, the furniture, cabinetry and flooring are top notch as was the wine they gave me. I have never had a drink so flavorful, and I am eager to try more of the famous wines here (Georgia boasts being the birthplace of wine). While many family’s will turn on awkward Georgian TV singers, they provide their own vocal entertainment and it is fabulous. All the girls sing extraordinarily well, and Tata plays piano while Salome (Sally) expertly leads on guitar. I usually find impromptu singing incredibly awkward, but their skill level and family focus on art made it an enjoyable experience. They were singing mostly American songs (Crazy- Gnarls Barkley for example), so I knew the words but I refused to sing along much to their dismay. Anyways, it was really cool, and their family is all super close to each other. I am excited to spend more time with them and I think it is likely I will get to do some travelling with the family as well.

If there was a negative to that experience it was the political talk that followed the musical session. Generally, I do not like to talk politics for many reasons; however, they were super interested in my thoughts as an American and they basically forced my views from me. I debated feigning liberalism because I could tell this family leaned heavily in that direction, but I just couldn’t stoop to that level. Long story short, I delivered my views as nicely as I could, they disagreed slightly less nicely and then talked amongst themselves in Georgian about Georgian politics for a good while. The biggest part of the problem is that they want to know what America thinks about Georgia’s political situation; however, most Americans could not point them out on a map, let alone make an informed statement about Georgia’s attempts to join NATO. It was awkward and frustrating! I guess that is why they told us in training not to talk about politics with Georgians. Not surprisingly, I didn’t listen and promptly dug a hole.

In closing, I am having a great time with great people. I am excited to see how school progresses, and I am definitely going to give it my best effort. There are lots of cool stories that I would love to get into, but I have had some complaints at the length of the blog, so I am sorry. I was forced to have a bottle of vodka with my mama for lunch, I saw a dude get hit by a car, I learned that using the term girlfriend here means sexually active (they strictly avoid that term), I learned how to play dominoes and backgammon with the old men, and I enjoyed coca-cola as never before. Oh travelling…. how good you are!

Women and Vodka

When I left off yesterday I expected a quiet, boring evening, but I was so, so wrong. It all began when I met Laura (or Tata, as she prefers) who apparently is my cousin here. I had no idea she even existed, but apparently I do have some extended family here, and I should expect to spend a fair amount of time with them. Laura is 21 and she has 2 younger sisters (19,18); also, she lives in Vira which is the “prestigious” part of town. This is all managed because her parents are both doctors (however, I think she said that her dad is both a veterinarian and a dentist- interesting eh… I bet he gets a lot of canine work.. badapa). It was definitely a humbling experience to meet her because she speaks Georgian, Russian, German and Japanese all fluently, and she is decent with English (more on German later). The girls here are very educated and intelligent because they don’t play sports or participate in nearly any extracurriculars, so it is no wonder that 80% of doctors here are females. Anyways, I digress. As nice as she was, it was still a little awkward.

She and I sat in the living room conversed for a while covering as many topics as the language barrier allowed, and we couldn’t help but have some awkward silence moments. I came to learn that a dude from Switzerland had actually stayed here once for a couple months (though I still have no idea why), and I think their positive experience with him is part of why they signed up for an American (that and the free English lessons for Levan). Apparently, this guy actually converted from Catholicism to Orthodox Christianity and married a Georgian girl while he was here, so they are expecting somewhat of a similar outcome from me. While we had been warned that this may be the case, it was really weird hearing this from the cousin (wife prospect?) I was having forced conversation with. The weirdness reached a pinnacle when my deda (mom) told us to go on a walk together (in culture training we were told to never spend one on one time with a girl unless you intend to pursue her; also we were told to never pursue a girl unless you intend on marrying her… oh geez). So, needless to say, I went on the walk.

Tata really is quite nice, and her English is definitely superior to Levan’s, and I hope that nothing awkward manifests itself in our cousin-cousin relationship. I would like to have things to do and people to travel with (she said we {she, her sisters and me} could go see some cool cities in Georgia). She seemed to understand quite clearly that I had a serious girlfriend, so it shouldn’t be too big of a problem. I really don’t mean to go on and on about this, but it was awkwardly funny, and an interesting experience for me, so I share it. The really good part of my story comes next.

After we got back from the walk, we found Levan having it out with his/our parents – talk about super awkward for a guest. I still don’t know the cause for the argument, but it put my deda in tears, and I felt super, super weird just sitting in the living room watching the fight and Tata’s attempt to console deda. I think Tata noticed my situation, so she pulled me into the kitchen, chose her words carefully and said “Steven… we must make potatoes.” I was expecting some family revelation or something, but we just needed to make food so I could eat. So, we fried up some potatoes, and ate them (I should say I ate them… you wouldn’t believe the pressure on girls to stay skinny here. Tata said she is only having 1.5 meals a day because she worries about it so much, and she is quite skinny to begin with). I had one of my liter-sized beers with my potatoes, and we spoke German over dinner- awesome right?

After dinner, she had to head back home so I decided to go start my season of Lost that I pirated. The beer here is quite strong, so I found myself a bit tired and care free as I relaxed for the evening… or so I thought. Levan barged in and said “Stevens (yes, with the ‘s’), come now.” I always listen to Levan, so I hustled to catch up with him as he was already out the door by the time I put on my shoes. We went down the street a bit and joined my first Suphra! Now for those of you who don’t know, Suphra is a feast with a purpose, and it is a very important cultural tradition. There is more food than the group could ever possibly eat, drinks abundant and music and singing for entertainment. I wish I could have taken a picture, but even if I had my camera I wouldn’t have dared because it would be awkward and simply unfit. The most important part of suphra (pronounced Soup-ra btw), however, is the toasts which are often quite long (even as long as an hour). This is all that we were told in cultural training, but I definitely didn’t understand it completely until I was part of one myself.

I was worried that the Suphra was just an excuse to get drunk (you are expected to finish your wine/vodka after every toast), and my worries were definitely not assuaged immediately. The toasting was just beginning as I got there, and the Georgians were eager to see how the American would handle the situation. Levan leaned over and told me two things: 1- “ok Stevens, you must drink whole shot after toast or you are not a man” and 2- “man who is drunk is not a man. He is child.” Great news right? Well I held true to custom as the entire table of 8 men, including myself, made their toast (remember I already had the liter of beer too). The reason there is so much food is so the guy has some way of handling the ridiculous amount of alcohol being shoved down his through by cultural convention. Thank God for mountain training.

I held up quite well, and Levan told me that all the men were very proud of me. The suphra continued, and I began to notice the toasts getting more animated, the men more teary-eyed and the music getting louder (mostly Akon and Bob Marley… haha, though the most loved song of the night was “Hit the Road Jack”). It was then that the man who’s birthday we were celebrating stood up and made a 20-minute, emotional toast that I actually understood quite well based on the words “love” and “friends” being used over and over again. After the toast, Levan leaned over to me and explained what it was that made Georgia so great: “Stevens, friends is everything. If you has no friends you has nothing. Here in Georgia, we have not money, not Mercedes, but we have everything because we have friends. If I say you my friend, I do everything for you. If I have just food for me and nothing else, I give you some of my food. In other country, friend means different. In Georgia, friend means everything good. If whole world had this thought, there would be only happy people that have everything. We want you know that you are our friend. America, Georgia friend.” Now I know that such sentiments are most strongly felt after 10 shots of vodka, but even now I am touched by his sincerity and value of friendship. Until this point, my notion of Suphra was false. It is not drunken revelry, but rather an affirmation of values which the country and its people hold so dearly. Other toasts focused on God, children and women, and I am sure that each speech was as heartfelt as the single one explained to me. Not a single man was stumbling drunk, stupidly laughing or making a fool of himself as I know would be the case with college men after such consumption. The maturity and power of Supra is amazing to behold, and it should definitely be something to add onto a bucket list.

If there was a downside to the suphra, it was that my first day of school was only hours after the event ended. I told this to Levan before hand, of course, but he said this is more important. I half-heartedly believed him then, but, as I lied down and thought about the day’s events, I knew he was right.

Steve

ფეხბურთი

I was feeling a tad bit down my last post because I was worried I got a poor placement, but I suspect an experience like this has many ups and downs. I am still vulnerable to these moments, but I expect that, over time, I will be generally accepting and unphased by small problems. Currently, however, I am in great spirits because I have very much enjoyed my Sunday thus far. I wake up at about 7 every day, but I need to stop because the city doesn’t wake up until around 9. Usually I would favor such a lifestyle, but I worked so hard to set my clock to waking up early! I guess that I will be getting up around 7 for school anyways, so it is no big deal if my weekends are the same.

I decided to go for a walk to the maghazia (store) because I needed a few things (more money put on my phone and headphones). It was nice to feel somewhat autonomous, but I was let down by my self-reliance because I had no idea where to go for either of the items I needed. I tried a couple stores, but after some unfruitful conversations and some Georgian curse words, I quickly lost my confidence. I wanted to by juice or soda or something (all I have had to drink is water for the last 2 days), but I was on the edge of feeling completely worthless, so I decided I could wait a bit. Reading my book with a nice, room-temperature water sounded great, so I hurried back home through the muddy streets (seriously, really muddy).

I was falling asleep while reading the sequel to Through the Looking Glass (the sequel to Alice in Wonderland), when Levan knocked on my door and let me know that people were going to play basketball and soccer. I was pumped for this, so I changed into athletic shorts and my cleats to find the other men in jeans and casual shoes. Though I stuck out like a sore thumb, I stand by my practical decision because I was cool and had superb traction. We played a game of horse upon arrival (they don’t use letters, they just count to 5… boring?), and I have never seen a worse group of basketball players in my life. It was fun though, and I won the game though I definitely don’t consider myself a great basketball player. Then we played a really fun 3v3 soccer shootout-type game (seriously, the most fun soccer game every) and I did pretty well. I would have been shocked if their soccer skills were on par with their basketball savvy , but, as I suspected, everyone was quite talented. After that, the best guy there (6’3”, lanky, really good player) challenged me to a 1v1 match (Levan had to translate, because none of the other guys spoke a drop of English). It was really fun, and I ended up winning 5-4, though I suspect the other guys told him to let me win because they were ready to leave.

I came back and took a shower and didn’t mind that it was cold. I thought to myself that it could be a rough winter, though, because I know it gets cold and that water is pretty damn icy. This worry was for not, however, because Levan told me that they have hot water, I just have to ask one of them to light the heater. So, I will have warm bathing sessions (I refuse to call it a shower because water slowly streams out of a hand-held spray thingy). Good news nevertheless!

Levan went with me to the maghazia to get me some more minutes on my phone, and it turns out there are these machines in every market that you can just type in your phone number and add money just like that. It is an amazing pay-as-you-go system, and I wish America adopted something like it. It is all in Georgian, but, thankfully, I can read it now and figure out what I am supposed to do. I had a 15 minute call to Allison in Ghana and that actually cost me about $10, so I don’t know how many of those I will end up making while I am here. I guess I am getting paid $300 a month, and I plan on using that to support my family, go out and make my stay comfortable. It is just hard to make calls that are so expensive.

Anyways, I have my first day of school tomorrow, and I hope that goes well! As gay as it may be I am a little worried about what I am going to wear because I want to make a good impression. I will try to take some pictures, so everyone can see what my life is like here!

სტივენი

My new home

Well today was the big day! We woke up really tired because everyone hung out and talked until about 5 am in our room. Getting up at 9 was a difficult task, but knowing that we would be placed with our families gave us some extra energy. We packed everything up and made our way down to the lobby to find tons of Georgian families filing in. It was funny because we would see them walk by and wonder who we belonged to. All the families seemed really excited about being there, and I couldn’t help but try to pick out which ones I would like for myself.

All of us teachers were on one side of the room, and the families on the other. One by one they called out the names of the family, principal and student and they would meet in the middle. It was funny to see the families’ reaction when they found out their teacher was ethnic. I definitely don’t look Georgian, but I am glad I am Caucasian because the amount of attention the black teachers get is ridiculous. Everyone wants to touch their hair and mutters amongst themselves. It is a pretty funny site to behold.

As you can imagine I was pretty nervous about what family I would be paired up with. When the time finally came it was somehow anticlimactic because my host mother obviously spoke no English, and the principal said “we must go” right after we introduced ourselves. So, I grabbed my luggage and was in the car within 3 minutes which was weird because all of the other teachers stayed and saw who their friends were paired up with. I was a little bummed but I guess someone was in a hurry. I wish I could relive the moment though, because there were some important questions I needed to ask like which school I would be at. All I can remember is that the principal said “you start Monday” and then she left. So I have been trying to get a hold of TLG (Teach and Learn with Georgia- my program) to see what school I am at but the hotline is busy 24/7. Anyways, I probably should have been a tad bit more business minded instead of curious and care-free.

It turns out I live only a few minutes from the hotel we were staying at (seriously, like 2 minutes) which is weird because everyone I have talked to has branched out all over the city; however, I guess someone had to be in this area. My host mother (deda means mother) speaks no English at all, and neither does her husband, my host father (mama means father… confusing right?). It turns out they are actually Armenian, so Georgian is their second language and Russian their 3rd. As you can imagine, I don’t think there is much room for English. I am glad that I have been studying Georgian, but honestly, it still isn’t doing me too much good. There are a million different verb tenses, and the verbs change drastically between each one. It sucks. On the plus side, though, there is no assignment of gender to the nouns, there are no articles and they use postpositions instead of prepositions (shi is added to the end of a word to say in or to). Anyways, it has been fun to learn, but I still have to be very animated to get across how I feel. Seriously, it took like 10 minutes to tell them I was feeling sick last night. Then, they wanted me to see a doctor, and I just wanted to lie down. Eventually, I think they understood and I ended up taking a couple hour nap.

They have the Armenian TV package here which definitely leaves something to be desired. On the plus side, there is soccer on a lot, so at least I can understand what is going on with that. When there is no soccer though, we listen to Georgian singing, so I am completely lost. Also, there are Spanish soap operas on a lot, but they are loudly dubbed over in Georgian which is really frustrating, because, though I have no desire to watch soaps, at least I could understand it. We watched Georgia play Malta and win 1-0, so that was fun. Ahh I forget to mention that my host parents have a 26-year-old son, Levan who speaks very broken English. He came home from work (he teaches computer information at some school nearby, but not the one I will be teaching at he assures me) and watched the game with us. It is rough, but he will be the closest thing I have to a translator here. I feel awful though because I sleep in his room, and he crams himself into a tiny loveseat in the living room at night. What can I do?

I woke up early because I had gotten so much sleep the night before, and I awkwardly wondered into the living room, but Levan was sleeping there, so I quietly retreated back to my room. He was planning on showing me around the area today, but I had no idea when, so I fooled around for a couple hours until he woke up. In this time there was also an awkward breakfast experience with my Deda ‘cause I had no idea what she was asking, but I assume I will have many such experiences, so when reading my blog just assume I had an awkward meal.

Though I have no idea what school I am at, my Deda thinks it is #97, so Levan said he would show me how to get there. It turns out it is not within walking distance (which totally sucks, because they said like 85% of schools would be), and I will have to use Marshutkas (public transportation vans) to get there. They are pretty cheap (25 cents per ride), but there is this complicated numbering system, and I know I am going to get lost at least a couple times because they have different routes. It was about a 20 minute trip to the school, and I was very let down to see the condition of the school. It’s pretty awful to be honest, and I am going to be very muddy every day because the roads there are in such poor shape. There is no soccer field as I was hoping for, and there seem to be no amenities of any sort for that matter. Tevan told me to make sure to bring toilet paper with me, because a school like this probably doesn’t have any. Haha

So, the school situation kindof sucks, but I guess it is a more real experience to be placed at one like this. I talked to a couple friends today, and each one of them has a completely different experience. Coming into this experience, none of us were told what we were getting ourselves into, but this is because there is no fixed experience that they can tell you about. it is important that I just make the best of it and try to make a difference.

On the plus side, there is a huge market 3 minutes away from our house (on foot that is). They have everything from clothes, to food to a casino (haha), so that will definitely be handy. I know that many of the rural (they use the word “regions” not “rural”) teachers have no access to shops, so I feel very lucky in that regard. Also, the metro is located there, so I think it will be pretty easy for me to travel around and see my friends or vice versa. It is really nice to have all of this nearby or else I would have felt like I got the shaft in every regard. Gilby, one on my best friends from training is staying with a lawyer who is fluent in English and super loaded (they have a sauna, indoor pool and maids…plural). I cant help but be slightly jealous, but I will definitely have a more real experience where I am.

I start school on Monday, and I am pretty nervous about it. I really have no idea what I am doing, so we will see how that goes. I am not feeling sick anymore, thank God, and I am excited to see how everything progresses. I will have loads of spare time, I believe, so be excited for regular updates and funny stories when they come.

Steveni

Am I really in Georgia?

It has been an interesting couple of days, and I have no idea what to think of them. Living in a fancy hotel and hardly interacting with non-English speakers makes me feel like I havent really started my experience yet. So far though, there are multiple positives such as being surrounded by 70 other volunteer teachers that are all interested in travel and service and the new, good food; however, there are some weird dudes here, and it turns out my bowels aren’t as strong as I thought they were. I find myself less social than usual because I am very different than a lot of the volunteers, but, perhaps, a bit of alone time and self-reflection isn’t all negative.
Our schedules are so busy that we are all going crazy and it has been difficult to do anything outside the schedule let alone keep up a blog. We have 4 hours of Georgian training each day, and then an additional four hours of culture or methodology training. Then we also have a couple other meetings that last a few hours, and we find ourselves with no free time at all. On top of it all we have a curfew of midnight, though my fidelity towards it has been lacking.
Georgia is beautiful, the language is intriguing, the women are attractive and the five star hotel we are staying in is… well five-star. I have two roommates, an English partier and the nicest Irish guy that has ever lived. We have gone out with each other every night save one, and I am hopeful about staying in touch with them over the next three months. What else… going out, yes. Most individuals are moderate in their drinking, and we have not had embarrassing drunkards make fools of themselves in the fancy hotel. I think the curfew contributes to that somewhat, but the average individual is pretty mature and, thus, isn’t too intent on getting wasted.
The trip here was nice, and I LOVED the Amsterdam airport. It is easily the nicest airport I have ever seen, and I won $25 at the casino, so I loved it extra. I could have done without my 7 hour lay-over in DC, but I could go for a couple days in Amsterdam just to explore. I might be able to break up my trip on the way back and stay somewhere in Europe for a few days if I wished it – something to consider anyways. The trip was made even nicer by having 20 other teachers to travel and converse with. Even though my travel time was something like 60 hours, I was still in good spirits.
I am kicking ass with the language, and I am confident in saying I am the best of all 70 volunteers with it. I think that knowing the language can only improve my teaching ability, though there are those here that would argue otherwise. A good number of people here have English teaching experience, so I guess I should give them due credit, but I refuse to believe that knowing the language doesn’t matter. After four days I can hold conversations, order drinks and explain my presence in Georgia, so I am happy with and excited about my progress.
I really don’t have too many stories so far because we have been cooped up in the hotel. The real Georgian experience hasn’t yet begun, and I know that I am excited for it to. I find out my host family and school placement today, so I am super excited about that. I requested to be at a school with a football pitch and I told them I wouldn’t mind having a large host family with numerous children, so we will see if either of those is met – I think there is a fair chance though.
We got our cell phones, so if you feel like calling me here is my number: +995 77 973 112. I welcome all calls, however I am 9 hours ahead of central time back home, so be aware. Also, it is probably expensive, so we will see who really loves me. I can also receive texts for free and send them for about 50 cents, so that might be preferable.
Overall, I am having a great time so far, but I am still waiting to really start my foreign experience. I am jealous of the many volunteers who have been all over the world, and I desperately want my own stories to counter theirs. I think I will rack up a couple good ones, and I am excited to share them with everyone back home. I will do my best to update the blog. It shouldn’t be too much of a problem once I am placed with my family and at the school, because I wont be so outrageously busy. I have heard however that I should expect large, lasting parties frequently; also, it is considered rude to spend time alone instead of with the family, so we will see how that goes. I have been told to expect no privacy as families here don’t like closed or locked doors, and I should expect my host mother to walk right in without forewarning. I am really excited to see if all these statements hold true.
It is going to be great!