More Notes from Kareli

On one hand, I can't believe that we've had two full weeks of PST already (plus a few days). On the other, it feels a bit like we've been here forever!  I've been studying Georgian for ~3 weeks now (including orientation), and it's going well, I think.  At least, I'm generally able to follow what's going on in class!  But, when I get home and try to speak to my host family, or understand what they are trying to tell me, it's pretty frustrating.  We have the same conversation a lot, since my phrases are pretty limited:

Good morning. Today, I go to school in Kareli. Later we go to Gori.
It is cold.  Bad weather.
I like tea.
I love Lamzira's (host mum's) coffee.
This (bread, potatoes, beans, porridge, etc.) is delicious.
Where is Khatia/Giorgi? (host sibs)
Georgia is beautiful.
I miss my family.
Thank you!
Good bye!
Etc.

Random musings...

My Cluster
My PST "cluster" is great, imho.  We had our first real assignment for organizational development training, and I think we did a fine job working together. We visited a youth-based NGO in a nearby town last week called DROA. The organization's mission is to increase civic engagement among local youth. We interviewed several members/board members in order to do a "capacity assessment" of the organization's programming and external relations functions. Then, we had to write up a report on our findings.  For those who have been wondering what exactly I will be doing in my work here -- that's one example!  I will be paired with a Georgian NGO somewhere, and one thing I might do is conduct my own capacity assessment of the organization's various functional systems (HR, External, Governance, Mgt, Programs, etc.), using a profiling tool based on interviews of & probing questions to key organization personnel.  Does that make sense? It's starting to make sense to me.  The idea is to identify areas of need versus strengths, etc.

Besides me, in my cluster are:
A recently retired CPA from Wyoming.  He is brave and hard working, and the PC is lucky to have him.
A retired (I think?) computer programmer from Spokane.  She is sweet and fun and social, and loves to knit.
And, two (funny coincidence!) 30-ish librarians. One is from Pittsburgh, and he is adventurous and funny. He describes himself as prone to calamities.  The other is from Texas but has lived in Hawaii (yay! HI!) most of her adult life.  She is very smart and is definitely the best student in our Georgian class!

This is Nate (the calamitous) and some of his fan club at the school. We have our Georgian classes every morning, six days a week, in a working school. During the breaks, the kids come to visit our room. They are very curious and adorable.  Interestingly, they seem to gravitate toward Nate the most.  Perhaps it's cultural -- he's the guy in the room, and, in Georgia, men (sons, anyway) are more valuable than girls. (Ask me what I think about that!)  The young man in the Nike hat lives near me, and I sometimes see him on my to or from school.  He always says "Hello!"

Our School
When I stop to think about the fact that our school is a working school, I get a bit sad.  The school is really in terrible shape.  The tiles are loose and broken, sometimes there is no electricity in the rooms, many windows don't close, and the bathrooms are horrendous. (Nate calls them "war crimes.")
And it's COLD.  Very cold.  Despite the fact that it is May, it's still pretty cold here in Kareli (highs in the 50s and 60s most days).  There is no heat at the school, so I usually bring a blanket to class!  I can't imagine what it must be like for the students in winter! Maybe they turn on the heat in winter. I hope so.  Here are a picture of one of the hallways -- notice the lack of any cheery decorations or lockers -- and a picture of Kareli from one of the third floor windows of the school.

 

Houses in Kareli
There are a LOT of empty/abandoned homes in Kareli.  Below is a picture of one of them that I think has a particularly melancholy aura.  I see this one on my way to school everyday.  It's leaning and looks like it might fall over at any moment.  My host mum saw this picture and recognized it as one of the homes left by a Jewish family.  Apparently, after the fall of the Soviet Union, LOTS of Georgian Jews emigrated to Israel and left their properties.

The Georgian Countryside:

Beautiful.  Really beautiful.  Of course, it's early spring now, so it's especially nice right now.  Here's a picture I took on a ride between Kareli & Gori.  You can just make out the Greater Caucasus in the background.  

Other Stuff:

This made me laugh -- "Passion Fruits Crispy Apple"

Marshutka Rides:
A VERY common activity for us PC Trainees -- marshutka (mini-van) rides.  Here we are on a trip between Kareli & Gori for either a technical class, field trip, or something.  I think we were actually heading to the Magti Store (like an ATT or Verizon store) to get mobile internet modems.  This fact explains the happy smiles.  After two weeks of minimal or no internet access, you start to feel a bit weird, especially if you're in your 20s!!  (And, the median age of PC Vols is 24, so they're all pretty much youngsters.)

The Beautiful Georgia Countryside:
We arrived at a really nice time in Georgia.  It's spring and stuff is starting to grow.  So far, in the markets, you can find cucumbers, hothouse tomatoes, green onions, and various herbs and lettuces.  Also oranges from Western Georgia (I think) near the Black Sea.

A Few Things I Wish I Had Packed

Yep...in retrospect, these things should have made the cut:

My long raincoat/trench coat
My Italian mokka coffee maker and battery-operated milk frother
A few more non-pajama loung-ey clothes, like a nice pair of yoga pants and/or my black pajama bottoms that I could wear around the house.
More pairs of "long" socks (not so many bootie/footie-style ones)

Also -- I miss my kitties. But, I couldn't pack them.

My PST Host Family

Throughout Pre-Service Training, I will be living with a host family in the town of Kareli.  PST is 11 weeks long.  If I make it through it (of course I will!), I will be officially sworn in as a full-fledged PC volunteer.

Here are some thoughts on my host family:

First, they are GREAT.  Lovely, caring, & kind.  Super-hospitable.  Hospitality is a very important part of Georgian culture, and my host family is no different.  I also feel VERY lucky, because I know how hard it can be to find host families for foreigners!  The PC Georgia staff is amazing -- they were able to identify 58+ host families in an area with a population about the size of Jefferson City! (Imagine that, AFS volunteers!)

I have a host "mom" who is 48, two host sisters (28 & 25) & a host brother (20).  The two younger siblings are mostly only home on the weekends as they are working and studying, respectively, in Tbilisi during the week.  Host mum is a school bookkeeper, and sister Khatia works in a bank.  Sister Nana is a doctor (or some kind of medical professional) at a children's hospital (in Tbilisi) and brother Giorgi is in the police academy.  Nana was actually home for my whole first week, as she was recuperating from a surgery, but she's headed back to work this week.  They are all wonderful.

Some things I have done and/or have so far:

• Lots of tea and coffee.  Host mum Lamzira's coffee is Turkish-style and amazing.
• Lots of salty food (natch!). Also, eaten lots of food of potentially questionable safety, I think. We have no refrigerator. (So far, so good...but I'm pretty sure I'm playing with fire.)
• My room is lovely!  I suspected that I had displaced one of the family members. Indeed, after about a week, I had enough Georgian language skills to confirm that "my" bedroom is usually Khatia's & Nana's bedroom.  Khatia has moved in with her mom for the time being. 

• Hot shower (usually) and indoor western toilet -- yay!!! (I'm very lucky.  Some of trainees in smaller village clusters, mostly Education trainees, don't have this luxury, although most (all?) of us in Kareli do have.)
• Went briefly to a church -- quick stop-in for prayers and candle lighting.  Side note about Georgian Orthodox churches -- no pews.  Everyone stands during the service...which might explain why my host sister prefers a quick stop-by in the "off-hours" and not attending the full-on Sunday service. Here is the small church in Kareli, and my host sister Khatia and I there.

• Hand-washed my clothes! We have no washing machine. It took less time that I thought it might. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure my clothes are exactly thoroughly clean.  More like "clean".
• Meeting LOTS of neighbors and friends/relatives.  Someone stops by every day -- this is totallly normal in Georgian culture -- no need to call ahead!!  One neighbor/relative (niece maybe?) is a local hairdresser; this fact will come in very handy when I need to dye my grey hairs again...
• Today, we had a special Sunday afternoon dinner. Nana's boyfriend Levan and his sister Tiko visited, so all the stops were pulled out for them.  Fancy table, lots of food, and WINE.  Georgians are extremely proud of their wine heritage.  Wine was invented in Georgia, and it seems as though every family has vines and makes their own wine. Today's wine was house-made.  Giorgi drank a lot. The custom for Georgian men is to empty the glass -- bottom's up! -- with each toast. And there are a lot of toasts.  Fortunately, women are allowed to just take sips!

The spread: dumplings, stewed chicken, chicken livers (I skipped those), fruit, wine, bread, cukes, & orange soda.

 Tiko (Levan's sister), Levan, Nana, Giorgi, & Khatia.

 Levan & Nana (sweethearts) & cousin Tamuna.

 Lamzira & Giorgi (aspiring policeman).

Me and Lamzira, host mum! (Weird thing sticking out of my head is a chopstick I was using to keep my hair up.  I didn't realize how ridiculous it looks.)

• My host family has grapes, various veggies, a few cherry trees, and chickens. Here is a view of the "back yard"/vineyard and the chicken coop from my bedroom window.

Georgian Lunch at a "Real" Georgian Restaurant

One of the first really fun things we did together as a group in Georgia was to go to a restaurant and enjoy traditional Georgian foods.

The restaurant was pretty interesting.  It had a main "lodge" surrounded by various smaller cabins in which tables were set up.  Each cabin would hold only one large table, or maybe two at the most.  Most (all?) of the cabins had fireplaces.  Neat place!

In the foreground -- Georgian dumplings, aka "khinkali".  Delish.  Other highlights: cheese bread (khatchapuri), mineral waters, bean bread (lobiani), spinach, eggplant with walnut paste (good!), & roasted meats.

Here is a picture of our whole group at the restaurant (you can see two of the dining cabins in the background!).

First week in Georgia -- Orientation at the Bazaleti Training Center

From Tuesday AM through Saturday, we were all together at an isolated training center in Bazaleti, which I think was only about 30 minutes outside of Tbilisi.  We were all in a bit of a bubble the first few days -- suffering from jet lag (I woke up wide awake at about 2 am the first three mornings!), general nervousness mixed with excitement, and almost no contact with the "real" Georgia.

The weather was cold, but mostly sunny, and there were spectacular views of the Greater Caucasus.  I need to figure out if I can identify Mount Elbrus -- I heard that you can see it from Georgia (although it's technically in Russia).  It's the highest mountain in Europe...assuming you believe that the Caucasus are in Europe!  (I say they are...)




Highlights of the orientation week in Bazaleti:
I was one of a lucky few that had his/her OWN ROOM and OWN BATHROOM.  Basically, they gave out the single rooms based on age, I think.  All of the older volunteers had singles.  Those in their 30s mostly had doubles or triples, and there were a few "dorm-style" rooms with up to six people in them with bathrooms down the hall.  Here is my room:



We had Georgian lessons in groups of about six trainees each morning.  My instructor, Nestan, was very good.  We started learning the alphabet and some basic words/phrases, like "How are you?". "My name is...", etc.  Here is a picture of some of the language instructors, officially, "Language and Cross-Cultural Facilitators", or LCFs.  Nestan is the one with the colorful scarf:

Afternoon sessions were general overviews of things like PC in Georgia, basic safety & security, introductions from the medical staff, visits from the embassy staff and the PC country director, etc.  The days were long but we had nice coffee breaks.  Interesting note: Georgian instant coffee is remarkably good.  (Anyway, it's waaaaay better than, say, Folgers or Maxwell House drip coffee in the US!)

One lowlight from Bazaleti: We all discovered that the food in Georgia is SUPER salty.  Uh oh.  It will be interesting to figure out how to limit my salt intake!  It was amazing to see swollen ankles on ~20-yr old trainees!
That's about it. Everything else is kinda great.


NEXT UP:  Host families!!

On Saturday, we packed up our stuff and headed off to a big lunch together at a restaurant before meeting our host families, who would be hosting us for the next 11 weeks of PST.  The 58 trainees were separated into 10 different "clusters", each living in/around a different village or town in the greater Gori area.  There are six Education clusters -- those folks will eventually be teaching English in Georgian schools -- and four Individual & Organization Development clusters. The IOD folks (lie me) will be working in various NGOs after PST.

We had SOOOOO much luggage, that, even though we had TWO big tour-type buses, we had to also use a cargo truck to get everything to the host family meet-up point in Gori.

In closing....here are some pics of other PC Georgia trainees in my "G15" group:

 

These are two IOD trainees...heading to meet host families.

Ingesting enough salt in one meal for about 10 people...

Ingesting more salt...

And more salt...

And more salt.... (Side note, the lovely lady on the left was a Jordan PC volunteer, but she was evacuated with the rest of PC Jordan earlier this year and was reassigned to Georgia. We are lucky to have her.)

Just hanging around.  The folks drinking juice boxes just had some vaccinations.  The PC didn't have us all get ALL of the shots we needed before arriving in country. They prefer instead to do some things in country, including Hep A, Hep B, and rabies.  Downside -- I can expect to get lots of shots over the next few months, since all of the above require at least two (or more) injections!  Upside -- we get a juice box every time we get a shot. :)

Staging in DC and Travel to Tbilisi

Friday, April 17:

Arrived in DC today for "Staging", and enjoyed one last hour of freedom/independence in my (very nice) hotel room before my roommate arrived and we had to head to our first meeting.

LOTS of really nice, really interesting (seemingly) people. Very diverse group of 58 trainees (new volunteers). Mostly in their 20s, but a good number of 60+ folks and a very few 40-ish folks.  In fact, I think I'm the ONLY one in his/her 40s.

Today, it was just logistics -- mainly instructions for activating and using our government-issued check card (preloaded with cash to get us through Staging and travel to Georgia). Our country desk officer issued stern "business casual only" and "no visible tattoos" and "no piercings" instructions for Staging and Pre-Service Training.   Whine.... Do I really have to remove my simple little, unobtrusive nose stud?  Seems unreasonable.  Oh well.

Saturday and all of Sunday morning were spent in various pre-departure orientation/training sessions.  Lots to think about...and Lots of people to meet. (Those of you who know me well will know that these kind of situations drain my energy a bit -- I always need my "me" time to recharge.)

On Sunday afternoon, we all piled into big buses with VAST quantities of luggage and headed to Dulles for our flights to Tbilisi.  Here are some pics from the travels:

Here are some of us killing time in a nice area of the Munich airport during our EIGHT-HOUR LAYOVER. (Who planned this itinerary?  Was it designed to torture us?)  In any case, I took the opportunity to have a facial at the airport, have a beer, and just lounge.  At least one other volunteer had a massage, and a few were smart enough to figure out how to use the "relaxation spa" for swimming, hot tubs, and showers.

Sunset at the Munich airport.

This is what arrivals in Tbilisi looked like.  After we went through immigration/passport control and got our luggage, we exited to a crowd of cheering Peace Corps Georgia staff members and current volunteers.  Overwhelming and also awesome.  A REAL welcome -- at 3:30 in the morning!!!!!

Next...it was onto buses and straight to the Bazaleti Training Center, just outside of Tbilisi, for the next four days.

Things I think I will miss, in no particular order:

Otto & Finn
Mom & Dad & Michael
Potstickers
Diet 7-Up
NPR
Netflix
Angela's house
Maya & Ellie
Sugar-dog, aka Suglet
Movie theaters with recliners and/or leather couches
MOBOT
Packers games
Trivia Nights
Playing games with Cameron
Aveda Salons, specifically Lindsay @ Zen
Survivor
Meeting new AFS-ers and seeing them grow
Going for a drive just for the fun of it
Dad's popcorn
Air conditioning
Unlimited ice
Long hot showers
Hand & Foot Canasta with my brother
Hummingbirds
Drinks with Sean & Renee & Stacy & Brian & Robert
My grandma's quilt
My Sleep Number mattress!
Dierbergs
Finding ingredients for whatever I want to cook
Always having available what I have come to think of as "Isabella food" -- Special K, cheese sticks, & strawberries