Her Right Honorable

Bawkbawkbawk. <3

So I’m doing the PC peer exchange right now with two friends, and it is a PC approved travel project where we go to other people’s sites and then observe how they’re doing, what they’re doing in class, etc., then willfully steal as much as we possibly can from their good practices.

So today we were in Marneuli, me and my friend Claire, watching my friend Nastia’s 8th grade class, and erm…discussing her class methodology and student body very seriously in note form.

Claire> “The boy behind me continues to say random words. Nastia asked ‘What is former?’ and he quietly said, ‘Present simple!’”
Me> “That is so adorable. Awh, Nastia was just explaining kit - ‘Sewing kit, needles, thread…’ and the boy was like: ‘Street.’ I should try that in Georgian when I don’t want to answer a question. ‘Mogtsons Sakartvelo?’ (Do you like Georgia?) ‘…kucha.’ (…street.)”
Claire> “I agree. ‘Shen itsi kartuli?’ (Do you know Georgian?) ‘Kartopili.’ (Potato)”
Me> “But you have to say it while nodding enthusiastically. To capture the full feel of it.
PS: The boy just lovingly murmured ‘Turkey.’”

If you give a PCV a piece of bread…

If you give a PCV a piece of bread…she’ll want to put garlic and butter on it. And if she has garlic bread, she’ll need some basil eggs to go with it. And if she has eggs and her friend just happens to suggest maybe a spot of tea would be nice, then she’ll have to do that. But you can’t REALLY have tea in Georgia without cookies, so maybe a few of those too. And once you’re in the market anyway (to get the cookies, of course) and they have your friend’s favorite ice cream, you’ll have to buy it, and ice cream melts so fast…

…This is why I don’t lose weight when I’m away from site.

Short #17

Last night I stayed in a hostel where they spoke in loud yelps of Russian - the shared tongue of the Dagestan, Azeri, Georgian and Russian travelers present - and spilled homemade vodka on the wooden table to set aflame and light their cigarettes with.

N00bed.

So, the new group of PC trainees just arrived in Tbilisi yesterday, around 4:30pm, and I went out to meet them. It is weird, being on the other side of the airport. Knowing about Tbilisi, knowing the staff, knowing a little bit of the language, and it was interesting just to really feel out how much things have changed for me in the year that I’ve been here, and how much I’ve learned.

Anyway, in true PC Georgia fashion, we decided to take the bus to the airport instead of a taxi (uh, bus? 20 tetri. taxi? 20 LARI) - and so me and two friends piled on at the first stop, and people got on. And more people got on. And MORE people got on, until literally no one could squeeze in. And then this random old man in front of us turned to this young woman sitting in front of him, minding her own business, and goes: “Your nose is so big.” She, understandably, goes: “Leave me alone/mind your own business.” He starts SHOUTING at her about how ‘broken’ her nose is, and how ‘broken’ she is, she begins to cry, and other people quickly get involved in the fray. A young man from the front yelling at him to stop, an old woman in the back demanding to know if he had grandkids. He gets up and turns on the woman and starts yelling about how he IS A TEACHER and this is NOT ALLOWED.

Okay dude, whatever.

Anyway, everyone screams him off the bus, and then the assorted people eye each other warily and settle back in to quiet again.

After that, we get to the airport without incident. It is a lovely day, so we walk a bit of the way (also we got off too early) and show up at 4:31pm. They’re off the plane, but not out yet, so we wait about a half an hour, then they start to emerge. In huddles of 3 or 4, obviously spacy after their long flight, shoved into wrinkled business casual and nonetheless looking more clean and American than we have for a long time, the G12s are a pretty impressive group. There are 42 of them, way more Education than Business, way more girls than boys, and they’re…well, off at orientation. We chatted a bit, I met my megobari (she seems awesome!) and we generally overwhelmed them trying to squeeze as much of our jaded information into their squishy-with-jetlag brains. They had their pictures taken for the Georgian press, they got a little pep talk from our Country Director, and then they were hurried into a bus and scurried off to their very first dinner. Goodbye, trainees! Enjoy your orientation!

I’m excited. And next week, I’m doing some of their trainings, so I’ll get to see them again.

Linkity Link Link

Interesting blog on bridenapping (a tradition that sounds just like what the name implies) in Georgia: Here.

Patience

The world in Georgia seems to move a little slower. Or a little faster. Oh, just stop planning. Oh, you wanted an agenda? Ha, even if you got one, everything would either be 5 minutes early or 20 minutes late. You thought the bus would come? Well, even if it is here, it might be full.

My iPod is my best friend.

Anyway. So, today I was headed into Tbilisi (medical issues, but my appointment ended up canceled anyway, long story) and this was my plan.

9am: Wake up.
9:30am: Classes.
12:55: Classes end, get marshutka that usually passes school at 1pm.
1:55pm: Arrive in Tbilisi, catch number 2 Tbilisi marshutka.
2:30pm: Office. Win. Enjoy time in Tbilisi.

What actually occurred.

7:30am Woken up by car that goes around the neighborhood honking with food. No, it totally isn’t sketchy to buy bread, meat, eggs and fruit out of a strange man’s trunk here.
9:15am Wake up again, freak out, race down to classes.
11:05: Classes end, because the circus is in town and none of my 4th graders are at school. It is not a good circus. It is not even actually a circus. It is a single juggler.
11:20: First marshutka passes me, full.
11:50: Second marshutka passes me, also full.
12:10: Pick up random marshutka. Am only person on the marshutka. Feel uncomfortable, sit as far from the driver as possible.
12:15: Driver stops to pick up bread. Also, chat with someone/receives suspicious black bag.
12:30: A random pack of women descends on the marshutka.
12:31: The random pack of women gets off the marshutka like 500m later, leaving one of their number behind.
We stop, we get people, we drop people off, we get people, we drop people off, we get people, we drop people off…
1:40: We get to Tbilisi, but we’re not at the stop we usually get dropped off at, we’re at some random other metro stop. Hover at that stop for awhile.
2:00: Notice a number 2 Tbilisi marshutka, praise jeebus. Try to get picked up. The marshutka is full.
2:05: Get on second number 2 Tbilisi marshutka.
2:35: Office. Win. Enjoy time in Tbilisi.

Other Normal Days

A glance into a normal day in the life of 3 other Georgia TEFL PCVs:

Sam -> Here.
Claire -> Here.
Jana -> Here.

Enjoy!

I’m so excited, the next group of volunteers is coming in 15 days - so soon, so soon.

Edit: One more (with pictures!)

Kelsey -> Here.