Village Living.

gamarjoba!

It’s officially been a week since I moved to the village of Apeni, Georgia!! Like my last post suggests, life is definitely different in a small rural village compared to anything else I’ve ever experienced.  The weather has been warm and sunny (about 90 degrees everyday) and my days are filled with menial activities to pass the time, so let’s just say that there’s been some adjustment on my part in order to adapt to this new lifestyle.  When I’m at the house during the day I spend time catching up on email, studying my Georgian (slowly but surely), reading some books I downloaded onto my computer before I left or just sitting in the outdoor kitchen drinking tea.  

After my host mother comes home from work we eat a late lunch and I typically join her and her best friends (Nino and Maia who live next door and across the street) for an instant coffee break/gossip session.  These neighbors don’t speak English and I don’t speak enough Georgian to join in the conversation most of the time so I just end up listening for the most part while they talk and occasionally Tamila will attempt to translate or she will ask me something and translate for her friends.  After some time Tamila makes dinner and we all sit down to eat and then sometimes other people will stop by the house either to see Tamila for health reasons or to meet the American (me!).  One of these visits included meeting the Peace Corps. volunteer in my village.  Ryan recently moved to the village last month I think and he will be teaching at the other school in town.  It’s definitely been nice meeting a variety of people in the village and attempting to communicate with them other than saying gmadlobt (thank you) when they call me a kargi gogoa (good girl).

A few cool things that have happened so far include the first family outing to Tbilisi and Rustavi this past weekend.  Beso, Tamila, Luka, an aunt named Ia and I drove into Tbilisi on Saturday morning.  This drive is awesome because the Georgian countryside is so beautiful!  But, I found it interesting that I was a little culture shocked upon returning to the capital for this brief visit.  After living in the quieter village where I hear cows and roosters daily, the hustle and bustle of Tbilisi was a little overwhelming at first.  Tamila, Ia and I spent a chunk of our time in a jewelry showroom where about 100 people had gathered to sell their gold and silver to people (it’s actually right by the market I went to on my first day in Tbilisi).  They wanted to buy a bracelet for the family member we were on our way to visit in Rustavi, she had just had a baby and they wanted to give a gift.  After looking at every booth, they finally settled on a pretty gold necklace and charm for her and we also bought a few other baby gifts at another store nearby before we drove out of the city to Rustavi. 

Rustavi is about 20 minutes outside of Tbilisi and was a major industrial center during the Soviet era.  I didn’t take any pictures of the place, but I think this Google image does a good job in showcasing what I saw of Rustavi: apartment buildings.  Granted, I barely saw any of the city, but it was weird to see only apartment buildings as you drive in from Tbilisi; big, Soviet looking buildings all with similar features.  We ended up staying for a few hours in the apartment of one of Beso’s nephews, Giorgi, who just had the CUTEST little baby girl named Giorgia (which translates to Georgia basically, pretty funny).  We toasted some wine to the baby and ate some food before heading back to Apeni.  It was actually nice to return to the quaint little village and the quietness of the surroundings.

Another cool thing was when I got to see where Tamila works during the day.  On Monday she asked me if I wanted to see it and after agreeing, we all piled into the car and drove about ten minutes and two villages over to her office, I think the name of the village is Kabali.  I’ll eventually take some pictures of the school I’ll be teaching at, but it’s basically the same size as this building.  Tamila took me inside briefly and although it was only 10:30 in the morning, it was packed with patients: young mothers holding little babies waited in line near one door and many others were seated in the main hall waiting to be seen.  It’s a family doctor’s office, so there’s a small pharmacy and several different offices depending on which doctor needs to be seen.  Tamila just has a small room that she shares with her assistant which holds two desks and a single bed for patients to lie on.  She introduced me to all of her colleagues who repeatedly called me kargi gogoa even though I just kind of stood there and smiled. 

Tamila's doctor office that she works at!  About the same size as the school I'll be working in.

This particular village has a majority Azerbaijani/Muslim population which I thought was really interesting, considering we are only two villages away and I don’t think there are any in Apeni.  Tamila actually speaks Azerbaijani as well.  I don’t really know what I was expecting when we were driving to see Tamila’s work, but the office was so clean and pretty modern for being in a rural village where people don’t make a whole lot of money.  I wished I had spent a little longer there just observing how Tamila does her job with these people.  I don’t think there were any computers used in the office, and judging by the work Tamila is currently doing beside me, all of the files are written and kept by hand.  Based on the little I saw, it’s certainly a different environment compared to the last time I went to the doctor a few weeks ago and she was taking all of her notes on a handheld computer she carried with her from room to room (and these rooms were obviously well stocked with medical supplies also).

Finally, on Tuesday it was a religious holiday for Eastern Orthodox Christians (about 90% of Georgians are this religion).  I believe it’s their day to observe the Virgin’s Assumption, but I’m just trying to piece together what Tamila has attempted to tell me with her small knowledge of English.  For the most part, Tuesday was spent cooking a variety of Georgian food.  I finally got to see khachapuri, a traditional Georgian cheesy bread, made from scratch.  Tamila began by making big balls of dough and then made a cheesy pasty concoction (sounds appealing right?) that was just shredded cheese, water, flour and butter.  She flattened out each ball of dough, placed a huge ball of cheese in the middle and then gathered the dough around this to make a ball again.  Then she turned the ball over and flattened this into a pizza crust-like shape and put in on a skillet on the stove.  After she cooked it on both sides, she placed it on a big serving dish and finished the whole thing off by melting butter all over the top of it.  Needless to say, it’s pretty fattening and obviously delicious.  And since they love nothing more than feeding me, I had two pieces right then and there that were warm, gooey and really freakin’ good.

Tamila is gathering the dough around the ball of cheese. (Also, look at her totally reppin' the gift I got her! GO BLUE!)

She then flattens out the dough with the cheese ball in the middle.

END RESULT. SO GOOD.

So yes, village life is a little different, a little slower and filled with more cows than I realized but it’s been a really great and humbling learning experience thus far.  I’m excited to go explore more of the village later this week and I think a few English teachers in the Kakheti region are going to attempt to cross the country and visit Batumi early next week.

Fun times ahead!  Love and miss you all back home!

Kelsey

Apeni for your thoughts: The Host Family

gamarjoba!

I’m sitting in the outdoor kitchen area of my host family’s house writing this blog post while the neighbor's cow moos loudly and my host father and one of my host cousins attempt to set up Internet on the family computer.  I’ve officially made it to the village of Apeni in the Kakheti region of Georgia and everything is completely different than I have ever known.  There are already so many different things to share with you all I hardly know where to start and it has only been about 24 hours since I left the hotel in Tbilisi.  I guess I will start from the beginning of August 22^nd.

On the last day of orientation our host families (or another representative if they couldn’t make it to Tbilisi) had to come and pick us up from the hotel and attend an informational meeting.  It was quite a scene to see as all of us teachers assembled on one side of the hotel lobby while the family members stood on the other side.  It was like we were all finally being adopted and we were all anxious and nervous about the whole ordeal.  One by one we were called into the middle of the lobby where we met our host families.  When I heard my name called I walked to the middle of the floor to find out that I was meeting my host mother, Tamila.  We immediately gathered all of my luggage and made our way to the car where my host father Beso was waiting.  Tamila speaks a little English which it is often broken and hard to understand some times; I don’t think Beso knows any English.  Immediately they both got a small laugh out of the fact that I put my seat belt on once I got in the car.  I tried to explain to them that it was a habit and from what I’ve seen of Georgian drivers it would definitely keep me safe if we were to get in a crash. 

The ride to my new house took about 2 hours including a few stops along the way to buy watermelon, bread and cheese off the side of the road.  The bread and cheese were absolutely delicious and fresh!  As Beso drove, Tamila attempted to tell me about the family and why they wanted to me come and live with them.  Tamila really wants my 12 year old host brother, Luka, to learn English and thinks this is a good way to accomplish that.  As part of my contract with Teach and Learn with Georgia, I must hold English lessons for my family 3 hours a week.  I told her I could do this and Luka and I will start English lessons today.

We drove along the countryside of Georgia which was absolutely stunning.  There were many hills covered in grass and tiny villages were spread out over the area.   As we entered more of Kakheti, grape trees for wine were everywhere since this is the region of Georgia that is famous for wine growing (my host family even has a bunch of trees growing out back and they will make more wine in September when it is grape harvest!!).  Also, many Georgians would sit outside their homes as we passed, selling bread, watermelon and cheese to passing cars.  At a certain point, we stopped in a small town to go to the grocery store and bought a few things to eat later that night.  After this village (I want to say that it was Gurjaani), the landscape was then surrounded by the Caucasus Mountains.  They are huge, navy-colored masses on the horizon and I can see them outside my bedroom window.  After driving a little while longer we ended up at my family’s house. 

Tamila is a doctor and I think she must earn quite a bit of money since I think they have a pretty nice house for Georgia.  I’ll try to post more pictures once I take them but I’ve included a few so far.  They have an outside kitchen (which I think is common in Georgia, they do all the cooking outside) and then a smaller inside kitchen.  Once you walk in there is the dining room table, a TV and chairs.  It’s like a combo living room and kitchen.  They also have a fully functioning bathroom and washing machine off of this room too.  The biggest room in the house is where the front door is and only contains the computer desk.  It looks newly renovated and like a living room you would see in the U.S.  On another level of the house is a formal dining room that has a table in it along with a full bookshelf and china cabinet.  There’s a hallway off of this room that leads to my bedroom.  From what I understand, they renovated my room for me and it was finished the day before I arrived.  It has new hardwood floors, recessed lighting and a large window that opens up into the backyard.  I feel really blessed to be able to have this room since the family shares 2 rooms that are connected by a door for their bedroom (it’s part of the contract we both sign that I get my own room).

My backyard, the little hut is a chicken coop I think.

The view from my window!  Behind the trees here are my family's grape trees and then in the background right under the clouds are the Caucasus Mountains.  They are spectacular even from this far away.

Fancy dining room area.  My room is down the hallway on the left (not seen) and the family lives in the bedroom through the door.

My front yard

The outdoor kitchen.  There is a sink and stove by the metal door.  Through the metal door is a Turkish toilet and the backyard.

My newly renovated bedroom!  It's very nice and quaint.

Another interesting part of the house is that Tamila has an office in the basement of our house.  She has just a small, low ceiling room with one bed for a patient and a small desk she works at.  She also has a cardiogram (I think this is what it’s called) that she can use right in her own home to provide care for patients.  People in the village come over at any time to receive care from her.  The house has a big garden in the front and side yards, so hopefully there will be lots of fresh food around the house (if not, we can always go to the market which is every Wednesday in Apeni).

That night we had a small dinner with Nino (the 17 year old niece of the family who speaks really great English) and my host grandfather.  My host father grilled some kind of meat and Tamila cut up some cucumbers and tomatoes.  I even got to try the family’s homemade wine, which was definitely unlike any other wine I’ve had.  It had a strong taste to it but I’m looking forward to trying some more soon!  In Georgia you are only allowed to toast with wine (since if you toast with beer, you are toasting to an enemy I believe) so Beso made several toasts during the meal and Nino was kind enough to translate the majority of it.  Toasts were made to me coming to live with their family, to family, to my family, to USA and Georgia relations and I think there was one made to the English language but I can’t really remember.  And then I was caught off guard when Beso said I could make a toast since toasting is such a big deal in Georgia when one attends a meal or a supra in which toasts are made.  I thought for a minute and then I just decided to toast to my Georgian experience and we all drank wine to that.  Next time I hope I can say my toast completely in Georgian but I think that is quite a bit away from now!  The rest of the evening was spent in the company of my host family (an aunt and her kids and my host grandmother stopped by to meet me), talking in very rapid Georgian but Nino was nice enough to translate a lot of what they were saying.  Apparently I look Georgian (having brown hair helps I think) and that they all love me so far, so that was a nice feeling.  It will definitely be a difficult adjustment not understanding about 90% of what is being said around me for the next four months.

I spent my first full day here mainly just sitting outside in the kitchen writing in my journal and studying some Georgian.  I’m a little apprehensive to leave the walls of my yard without some assistance since my Georgian is so bad, but I hope to explore the village sometime soon (since there is not a lot to do here otherwise).  I went to 1 of the 2 stores in Apeni last night to buy some more time for my cell phone, but Nino was the one that did all the talking to the shopkeepers.  I’m learning to take things day by day since most Georgians don’t do any planning until the last minute and a lot of what I encounter is a completely new experience for me. 

I’m hoping to start my English lessons with Luka today and will hopefully take some more pictures in the coming days so you all can see where I live now!  For now, just know that I miss you all terribly and will write again soon!!

Love,

Kelsey

P.S. As you can see, I have Internet in my house which I think they installed just for me yesterday!  Feel free to send me email or any questions you have about my experience, I LOVE hearing from you all!  

My Placement!

gamarjoba! 

Two posts in one day for you lovely people across the world!  Today is finally the day in which we will be leaving to go live with our host families in any of the 11 regions that make up the country of Georgia (excluding the autonomus region of Abkhazia in the upper northwest).  So, where am I going right?!

I will be spending the next four months in the village of Apeni, near the town of Lagodekhi in the Kakehti region.  See this nice Google map for a geographical reference.

All I know about my host family situation currently is that my host father, my host mother and my host brother (who is 12 years old) live in a house.  This house is supposed to have an indoor bathroom and toilet (yay!!!) and internet available in the home.   These are just very broad specifications about the family right now, so I’ll obviously have a lot more to report on in a few days after I’ve officially moved in with them.  For example, instead of a Western indoor toilet, they could definitely have a Turkish toilet instead.  Living with a host family and having to speak Georgian (or use charades for a while) is one of the best aspects of this Teach and Learn with Georgia program and makes it such a unique cultural experience and language immersion quite unlike any other program out there. 

Along with everyone else in the program, I immediately scoured the Internet hoping to find any information I could about my village, and let’s just say that I didn’t find much.  It’s pretty close to the Azerbaijan border and the biggest town near me is Lagodekhi, about 35 minutes away (but if all Georgians drive the same way, it will take 15 minutes).  Another teacher in my group is going to be placed in the village closest to me and I think there is a Peace Corps. Volunteer who just arrived to my village last month, so they will be nice people to interact with when I am missing native English speakers.

Although the thought of meeting this new family in a few hours is the most daunting part of my day this is truly the beginning of this experience (just a few thoughts running through my head right now: how will the greet me?  Shake of the hand? Hug? Cheek kiss? What if they don’t like me?  Where will my supra be? Will my host brother be nice?  Moreover, will he speak some English? etc. etc.).  Orientation was just a crash course of knowledge for the real deal that starts today: living with the host families.  I’m nervous, I’m excited, but most of all I feel prepared to meet these people and integrate myself into their life for the next four months.

Miss you all,

Kelsey

Orientation Week!

gamarjoba!

My greeting to you today is Georgian for hello!  I’ve been in Georgia for about a week but it feels like I’ve been here for much longer already (and I’m sure my other volunteers would definitely agree with me on this).  I’m in the midst of orientation week here in the capital city of Tbilisi and my days are full of learning cultural peculiarities, coffee drinking and exploring the city while trying to master some conversational Georgian.  Needless to say I’ve been busy but I’m going to take some time tonight to catch up on email as well as my journaling and blogging. 

Since arriving to the hotel at 5am on the 15^th I’ve mostly gotten over the jet lag and have had a chance to explore the city a little bit with my fellow English teachers.  There are 57 of us training this week and there is always someone new to talk to or to explore the city with.  It’s been great getting to know this diverse group of people who are coming from New Zealand, Australia, Britain, South Africa, the Philippines and the United States.  The first day I took a little nap in order to get some energy but by the afternoon I was already taking the metro to the famous Rustaveli Street with other volunteers.  We walked around for a bit, looking at the interesting architecture and the mix of old and new that seems to characterize much of Tbilisi.  There were many small shops and people selling produce and items on the sidewalks.  There was so much to look at that I wish I had another set of eyes.  We eventually made our way to a huge market in the city where they sold everything from clothes, to cell phones, to fruits and vegetables.  Here are a few pictures of that day:

Rustaveli Street

Rustaveli Statue

A street near the marketplace

There's a market with clothes underneath this!

Another notable event this past week was my 22^nd birthday on the 16^th!!  A group of us went into Old Town Tbilisi during the morning and hiked up a hill to get some awesome views of Tbilisi from above where the remnants of an old church remain.  We also got a close up view of Kartlis Deda or “Mother Georgia” as it translates.  She overlooks like the city quite like the Christ the Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro and is holding a vat of wine to symbolize Georgian hospitality to guests and a sword to ward off enemies.  We wandered around the city a bit more and walked across the Peace Bridge which was opened in 2010; a more modern piece of architecture in downtown Tbilisi.  It was a really great time going into the city to explore some more and it was a great birthday overall (and everyone in training wished me Happy Birthday!  It felt awesome to feel some love from these new friends!). 

Overlooking Tbilisi!

Mother Georgia Statue

Peace Bridge

Architecture of Tbilisi

In addition to all the fun we’re having in the city, we obviously have to learn something during this orientation, so we’ve been attending various seminars and language classes during the day.  Georgia is a developing country containing many intricate cultural and societal differences compared to the United States and other western countries, so we’ve been trying to get some grasp on what these are and how we should act when we are placed with our host families and living in this country.  For example, comparative to the United States, Georgia is a patriarchal society with stricter gender roles; Georgian women are expected to maintain the home and cook much of the meals whereas Georgian men are seen as the breadwinner of the family.  The Georgian language has been so difficult to grasp for the majority of us since it is a completely new alphabet and pronunciation.  It will definitely be interesting trying to communicate with our host families once we are on our own in speaking!  Some of the words are pretty hard to pronounce correctly such as “dila mashvidobisa” for good morning.

After our seminars end for the day I’ve either been going out into the city with others for a few hours or I’ve been staying in the hotel, attempting to study Georgian with the rest of the group.  Orientation has definitely been a fast-paced learning experience which will hopefully help me when I eventually get to the village with my host family.  The end of this learning period is coming soon, so I’m off to go study some more Georgian for a bit!

Lots of love from Georgia,

Kelsey

Warsaw Layover

Hey everyone,

I’ve made it to Georgia!!!  Cue celebration music and streamers!  It has been a long two days of travelling but I’m now happy to say I’ve made it to my final destination, albeit a little jet-lagged.  We arrived to Tbilisi at 4am from Warsaw and were assisted by the incredibly friendly Teach and Learn in Georgia staff.  They showed us how to exchange money and escorted us to the hotel where we’ll be staying for orientation until August 22^nd.  The trip started off with a bang however, with a 12 hour layover in Warsaw, Poland with two of my fellow soon-to-be English teachers.

I met up with Erin and Abbey in Chicago before our 9.5 hour flight to Warsaw.  (The flight itself was really boring since I attempted to sleep the entire time but maybe only managed a few hours of sleep).  When we got to the Fredric Chopin Airport we exchanged $30 each and attempted to find some lockers to store our carry-on luggage.  Even with the help of a friendly cab driver, the lockers weren’t working that day, so instead we just carted around our bags through the rainy Warsaw weather.  We really wanted to take the bus out to Old Town since the Facebook groups described how it was pretty easy.  What happened was that we got on the right bus but we ended up getting off at the wrong stop (didn’t want to actually miss Old Town now!).  We got off at a main stop in what appeared to be a busy central area of Warsaw with a huge movie theater and a mall in the area.  Since it was raining, we wanted to take a minute to figure out a plan so we head to a nearby bar that was advertising happy hour.  Mind you it was 11am in Warsaw at this point, 3-4am in the States.  We each ordered a Carlsberg beer (not to bad actually) and just talked for a while out of the rain. 

After asking our bartender how to get to Old Town we decide to take another bus since walking in that weather wasn’t really feasible.  However, we didn’t get on the right bus so we ended up getting our own bus tour of Warsaw, just by staying on this bus while it rode around the city.  This ended up making me really tired since the time difference was catching up to me.  In the end, we decided to get off the bus at the same center location we started at, aiming to find caffeine and food.  We briefly walked through the crowded mall before deciding to eat at this Mediterranean restaurant.  Apparently Polish people love kebabs, they are sold everywhere.  It was an interesting cultural situation where we were in Polish Warsaw, eating Mediterranean food while listening to the likes of Eminem, Drake and Rihanna on the radio; quite the cultural mix was occurring! 

With our time winding down before we needed to head back to the airport we ultimately decided to try and find Old Town, especially after seeing it was right on the map the whole time (it was written small and in the corner!).  We walked through the rain some more and finally made it to Old Town!  It’s this picturesque part of Poland where the shops all have outdoor seating and the store fronts are all painted beautiful colors and the architecture is amazing!  We strode around taking pictures and looking at the place we should have been exploring all day!

We capped our day in Poland off by buying one last drink in a 24 hour bar in the middle of Old Town.  Eventually we made it back to the airport with plenty of time to spare and met up with a few other English teachers who were also on our plane. 

So that’s a recap of the past 30 hours or so as I sit here in the hotel lobby writing this.  I’ve taken a nap and they are about to serve lunch, so hopefully I’ll be able to try some Georgian food already!

Love and miss you all so much!

Kelsey

Commence Official Countdown!

Hello again everyone,

Well we’ve officially reached the point in my journey where the final departure is creeping upon us.  The countdown has begun until I depart from the good ole' US of A to teach English in Georgia (the country, not the state--see my previous blog post)!  I’m officially leaving on August 13^th with a pit-stop in Chicago and a 12 hour layover in Warsaw, Poland before finally arriving in the capital of T’bilisi early in the morning on the 15^th—meaning I’ll be spending my 22^nd birthday in Georgia (what up August 16^th!).

I’m definitely becoming more excited as the day draws near, I mean, this plan to teach English abroad has been something I’ve been planning for almost a year!  Amidst these feelings of excitement, I would be lying if I didn’t say I am also terrified out of my mind about this upcoming adventure.  I’ve never spent an extended time outside the country by myself, I have to learn a completely new language in order to successfully communicate (check out what Georgian looks like here)  and I must attempt to teach Georgian children about this language.  

In a word, what have I gotten myself into?!

Despite my anxiety about the upcoming months, I’m really eager to immerse myself in this new culture and way of life.   I’ve taken time to personally reflect, read a plethora of different blogs and practiced my Georgian alphabet and I’ve devised a list of several things I wish to accomplish in the coming months:

• Successfully have a conversation in Georgian: Hands down this is the biggest anxiety I have prior to leaving—just how am I going to successfully tell people what’s on my mind or ask a simple question?  I expect charades to be a new way of communicating for a while, but I really want to become a speaker of Georgian.

• Go to a traditional Georgian wedding and/or funeral: These ceremonies are an integral part to any culture.  Georgian traditions are something I really look forward to witnessing and partaking in, and judging by the various blog posts that I've read a Georgian wedding is quite a party!

• Attend an Orthodox Christian church service: Georgia was one of the first countries in the world to declare Christianity as their official religion (all the way back in AD 337!).  Religion is an important aspect of understanding Georgian culture, and I want to experience it firsthand.

• Travel throughout the country of Georgia (including treks to Turkey and Armenia): Spending a significant amount of time in a new place means that there’s always an opportunity for travel and travelling in this part of the world is relatively cheap and easy!  If you just Google some images of Georgia you’ll get a small glimpse of what a beautiful country I get to explore!   

• Stay up to date on this blog:  I want to keep you all informed on what’s going on in my Georgian life!  For the majority of my family and friends I'll be the only person they will ever know to travel to Georgia and I want to do my best to describe this country to those who don't have any idea what Georgia is all about.  Additionally, I want this blog to serve as a resource for those who will go onto Georgia after me (to teach English or for travel) because I certainly have learned so much from the blogs I've read.

Well I think that’s about all for now, I’m off to continue packing and getting everything in order for the big departure!

Love,

Kelsey