Young Love

Earlier this week my Georgian Mom told me that her cousin's got engaged at the second house. I was like "Hmmm thats odd he would propose at our house, but O.K." I was all excited because I've heard so much about supras (Georgian parties) and I was excited to take part in this long lived Georgian tradition. I also thought that there was no better time to bring up the fact that I will be flying home for my sister, Lauren's wedding, in less than three weeks! I thought they would be surprised that I didn't tell them about it sooner. However, I think they really thought that she just got engaged and will getting married in a month, much like my Mom's cousin. Little do they know that we've been planning this wedding for a year and half! 


Anyways, so yesterday I came home from school and I was informed that I would be going to a party for the engaged couple at the second house. I was like, "A wedding?" And my little Georgian brother goes, "Yes, the wedding!!" And I go, "What? They move really fast here!" I think I get confused often for two reasons 1. The language barrier and 2. Georgians are so spontaneous. I honestly would not have been surprised if I got there and there was a white gown and the flower girl ready to go.  However, it turned out it was just an engagement party, and I was somewhat relieved since I didn't bring any heels with me!


My family and I came into the house that evening, and the chairs were already full of people and the table was stacked with food. Since I'm treated as a special guest still, they quickly got me a chair and glass of wine. I quickly scanned the room and found the newly engaged couple with ease. They seemed to be in a happy daze and full of joy. Then Nino said ok time for you to toast the couple if you want. I literally just met the couple 5 minutes ago and I was already toasting them! I stood up from my seat and mumble some words like "Best wishes, and I wish you both a long and healthy marriage!" Nino translated for me, and everyone seemed pleased so I was relieved. 

The newly engaged couple 

Soon after I began to observe the people in the room. I notice that all the men were on one side of the table and the women were on the other. Nino told me that this is an old tradition that isn't observed that often, but it is tonight. It was also strange that only the men gave toasts. Well besides me, but since I'm a guest I've notice I get more respect than the average Georgian woman. Every time a man toasted they all stood and it usually was some drawn out speech and then only the men drank. I was the only woman at the table with wine! 

All the men standing for another toast

I asked Nino how old the couple was and she said the girl was 18 and the boy was 22. I was shocked! First off they look like at least 5 years older than me, and I just could never envision myself getting married so young. In the car ride home I asked Nino since she is 16 if she was going to get married that young, and she said "NOO!!!" She said first she must complete university and then everything else will fall into place. I really admired her when she said that because its obvious that young marriage is still very popular in Georgia, but she is determined to get an education and see the world outside of Samtredia. I realized we have a lot more in common than I first thought, and I'm looking forward to getting to know her more and being a positive influence on her during my stay here.

Me and Nino at the party...Girl Power!!

Living in a Georgia Paradise

This past weekend I explored the beautiful beach town of Batumi. It is located right on the Black Sea and has started to become a new and exotic vacation spot over the past few years. During the summer months people flock from all over the world to enjoy Batumi's beaches, cafes on the water, and night life! It was great to go off season and get a real taste of the this Georgian city's life. 

I took the train by myself from Samtredia and met up with all my friends from Tblisi. My Georgian father works on for the rail roads so he made sure I was taken care of. I not only did I not have to pay for my train ticket, but he arranged a conductor to escort me to my hotel. I love how protective he is, yet having to ride the train into the train yard with only 5 Georgian men and myself left on the train didn't make me feel that safe. 

The city was beautiful and my friends enjoyed what we could of it considering it was raining all day Saturday. The beach was no Jersey shore thats for sure. It was covered with huge colorful rocks that can feel quite painful if you happen to take your shoes off. My friend Melissa and I wanted to put our feet in the Black Sea and just as we stood there to take a picture the waves came crashing up on us and soaked us to our hips. It really didn't matter too much since I was already wet from the rain! Afterwards, we walked around more of the city and checked out the local art museum.

That night a bunch of TLG volunteers and I went to a free Coolio concert. For those of you not familiar with this washed up rapper from the 1990's, your not missing much. His greatest hits consists of "Gangsters Paradise" and ummm thats about it. The concert was fun because the Georgians were sooo into it, and for a second I felt like I was 22 years old in 1995. We ended up going to the after party at the club and since were in Georgia, Coolio actually showed up. 

A few of my friends and I went over to say hello, and soon we were sipping champagne and being spoon fed fruit by none other than Coolio himself. I asked him why he didn't sing "Rollin' with my Homies" (my favorite Coolio song) and he responded by slurring, "I forgot." Oh Coolio. Such a disappointment. 

He eventually pulled me off the couch and started to dance with me and as I turned away he said, "Are you afraid of me?" I said, "No." (Scared look on my face). "Are you afraid of the dark?" I replied, "No." (Starting to nervously laugh). And before I knew what was coming he dipped me back and gave me a huge smacker on the lips! My friend Melissa came to the rescue and pulled him off of me, and he gave her the look of death. We quickly tried to exit the scene and ran to the coat area to regroup. As we chatted with a few of our friends, Coolio and his crew came sweeping by us. It seemed like he was being escorted out. As he walked by me and tried to grab my arm and said, "Come onnn!!" Oh yeah Coolio, like I would really go anywhere with you! So lesson of the night is, stay away from crazy rappers unless you want a great story and want to totally rock Six Degrees of Separation. 


The next day my friends and I had a lovely lunch at a restaurant right on the water. We even saw a huge ship from Ukraine come into the port. Then, a few of us hit up the Stalin Museum. The real Stalin Museum is located in Gori where he grew up, but the museum in Batumi is located in the house he lived in for two years from the age of 20-22. He started some underground illegal political groups in Batumi during this time. It was really interesting to learn about Stalin since I'm not too familiar with Soviet history. As my Georgian gets better I hope to have conversations with my family about life during the Soviet era. I find it all so fascinating! I felt a bit strange at the museum because the tour guide kept making us take pictures with Stalin and the former Soviet Union flag. I swear I'm not a Communist! 

The Fonz would be proud

I can't believe today is already Thursday! This week has flown by! School was really great this week. I think I'm finally getting into the groove of things. I was really happy on Monday when a few of the teachers came up and apologized to me for being so rude last week. They said my Georgian was getting better too! That made me feel really good. 


On Tuesday I got to lead the 4th grade and 5th grade classes by myself. I was definitely put on the spot, but at the same time it wasn't that hard to come up with ways to teach them. In 5th grade they were learning verbs like reading, writing, taking, riding etc. And in the 4th grade they were learning nouns like pencil, pen, rubber (eraser for all the Americans), pencil case etc. For the verbs I just started acting out the actions and writing them on the board. The kids loved pretending to ride a bike and take photos. For the nouns I made the kids take out all the objects and show them to me. I would lift up a pen and they would scream "Pen!!" and lift up their own. It was really adorable. 


The next day I was corned by an eager 10th grade student, named Mary. As we walked home together she got up the courage to ask me out for a cup of coffee. I thought, "Why not??" So me, Mary, and her friend Nino went to the cafe. She wouldn't let me pay for a thing! It was funny because we were the only young girls in there and everyone kept staring at us. And at one point she told me to lower my voice because the Georgian men were talking about us! I never realized that girl chat could be so controversial! 


Today was great because I worked with both the 11th and 12th grade and tried to have them speak about themselves. They have so much trouble expressing what they want to say that I suggested that we start a discussion group (like my friend Michelle is doing in her school!). My teacher loved the idea and quickly started making a list of all the kids she thought would want to join. After that, during our break she went around to the classes to see who else would want to participate. She came back with a total of 28 names. I was floored! That isn't a discussion group that is like double the size of my classes! I'm assuming that half probably will not show, but I guess I'll find out for sure on Monday!


The best part of my day today was teaching the 5th graders the days of the week. On the spot, I was like, "Wait. I have a song I can teach them!" The teacher was like, "Try anything!" and looked very relieved. You will never guess what song I taught them....the Happy Days theme song. Monday, Tuesday...Happy Days. Wednesday, Thursday...Happy Day. Friday, Saturday...Party all day with you! I never thought my excessive TV watching would help me in a classroom, but hey thanks Nick at Night! 

Just a Small Town Girl...

I'm sorry to keep all my readers at the edges of their seats (aka my Mom haha) but between my trip to Tblisi this weekend, and teaching my little brother, Eka, how to play the game Uno, who will now not rest unless we play 5 games a day, I've been pretty busy!
So I made it through my first week of school, and this past weekend all the Samtredia gals went to Tblisi to explore the Georgian capital! We took the train on Friday afternoon. My Georgian Dad works for the railroad as the Deputy Transit Authority Manager (he loves sharing his long title), and to my surprised he even popped on to make sure everything was ok. Once we arrived in Tblisi we settled into our homestay at DooDoo's. She was quite the character, and I wasn't sure if we should feel safe or nervous living with her. 
After that, we met up with my Georgian airport boy (yes, we did keep in touch a bit) and two of his friends. They took us all around the city, and even to the highest point so we could see all the city's lights. We took pictures of the Georgian Eiffel Tower aka the TV/radio tower that overlooks the city. It even lights up and sparkles just like the real one! After seeing all the of the city it was time for some Georgian cuisine. 
As they drove us to the restaurant all of us girls thought something looked familiar. We ended up going to the restaurant that was next door to the hotel that we all stayed at when we first arrived to Georgian. For me it was especially funny because literally this was the only restaurant I had already gone to, and what are the odds of them picking it?? It turned out to be quite a different experience from when I went the first time though. The menu was completely in Georgian so the boys ordered everything for us. After explaining that I couldn't eat wheat (No bread...EVER? This is a shock to most Georgians since they live on bread). I was put at ease when they ordered a few things I could eat. We took shots of red pepper vodka and enjoyed some live Georgian music.
The next day we woke up at 6:30am to catch the TLG trip to Kakheti. I ended up being the only one to get on the bus because they ran out of room. The girls all told me to go since everyone that was going were people from my orientation. It was great to get out of the city and see some more Georgian country side. We drove to a Georgian wine vineyard to vintage (make wine!!!). We were greeted by a hearty old priest that was carrying around a jug of chacha (Georgian vodka) and saying "Shots? Shots? Shots?" (Everybody!!) haha. Mind you this was at 10:30 in the morning!!! We indulged in yummy pumpkin, eggplant, bread, cheese, chicken, watermelon, and apples. Then it was off to pick grapes!! I've never seen so many tipsy people carrying around knives cutting grapes off the vine. This definitely was a lot more intense then my Uncle Stanley and Aunt Sally's wine making parties back in Philadelphia! After butchering the vines it was off to stomp some grapes!! I must say that was by far the best part. We got to put on these rubber boots and hop in the tub with the Georgian workers. I seriously had an I Love Lucy moment. Finally, when all our hard work was done, we ate again! I'm starting to love how this country enjoys to fest! We had more Georgian wine, more shots of chacha, and yummy kabob and this walnut dessert that looked a little funny haha. We all left with our bellies full and our heads a little tipsy. 
When we arrived back to Tblisi I explored the city with some of my friends. It was great to finally see the capital in the day light! We made our way to the "Dry Bridge" flea market. I bought my first Georgian drinking horn! So apparently, although I haven't seen it yet, but Georgians drink wine, vodka, etc. out of an animal's horn. I can't wait to try it out! After the market I met up with the girls for some Georgian sushi! We were determined to have some before we left the city. Having meat, bread, and cheese everyday can make you miss sushi a lot more than one would think! 
The weekend was a great success, and it was wonderful to see all my friends from orientation but after exploring the city I'm really glad I decided to come to Samtredia. Its so great to walk around the whole town and recognize familiar faces. Just the other day I was reading in the park, and I was greeted my brother's Godmother, my mother's sister-in-law, and a girl from one of my classes. The life of a small town girl indeed! 

Kargad (means- good, goodbye...and the word I use for everything)

I've almost made it through my first week of school, and I'm loving each day more and more. The kids are so eager to have me in their classes. I especially love the 7th grade. They were learning body parts the other day so I did a brief game of "Simon Says" and then taught them the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." Nothing puts a smile on a person's face like a room full of Georgian kids singing that song! 
I have to say though that I definitely for see many challenges in the future with the teachers in my school. There are three english teachers and they all have openly admitted they do not understand me a lot of the time. I do love them for doing their best to communicate with me, and make me feel at home. The other teacher's in my school however have taken a different approach to me being there. They are baffled as to why I do not speak fluent Georgian, and every day this week they ask me why. Today, in the teacher's lounge, after they clearly were all talking about me and my lack of Georgian skills, I couldn't take it anymore. I told the head english teacher who I love, to tell them that first off I am not a peace corps volunteer so I didn't not get 12 weeks of training, I only had one. Second, off now that I'm living with my host family I am teaching myself Georgian and I do not have a class to attend anymore. Finally, if any of you would like to tutor me I would be so glad for your help. And then I didn't say goodbye to them when I left the room (my way of acting angry). I think they got the message. 
I'm not good a languages to begin with, and on top of everything I have an eager Georgian sister that always wants to translate, and my friend Michelle who speaks fluent Russian. Its definitely easy to coast. I hope that as I go out on my own more it will force me to pick it up faster. Everyday that I'm out I run into my students or someone that I've seen at my house. So far our conversations have consisted of "Hello, How are you? Good. You? Good." The end. I've added in something out the weather if I'm really feeling risky haha. 

Georgian Maybe Everything

Even though I've been living with my Georgian family for a few days I realized that the stereotype of Georgians not planning anything is so very true. Take Sunday for example the whole day I was told we would be going to Kutaisi, the second largest city in Georgia. As we drove into the mountains I had a funny feeling that we were not going to the city. We ended up going to this village that used to be underwater! It was really beautiful and we went on this foot bridge right out of a video game. Basically, it should not have been walked on by humans if you wanted to live but all five of us managed to make it there and back so I guess it all worked out. 


Today, was my first day of school. I really enjoyed meeting all the kids, and the other english teachers. It seems like everyone is happy to have me, and wants me to help them with their english. I do however feel like I'm in a fish bowl. All the kids kept staring at me through out their lessons, and I could not put one word into the conversation in the teacher's lounge. I guess things will get easier once I find a teacher to give me Georgian lessons during my breaks. My school is over a 100 years old, and is definitely not in the best condition compared to many of the newer schools in my town. I kind of like that though. For a while I felt like I wasn't in a country that needed that much help, but being in this school makes me realize how far behind Georgia actually is. Everyday I get a history lesson on the Soviet Union and communist regime. Its crazy how much was left out in my history books, and how educated Georgians are on the subject. I've already started to brainstorm ideas of how I can help out the school. One of my first missions is going to try to get english books donations. I went into their "library" which was first off a small room, and found only 4 english books that weren't even really "books." They were workbooks! How can children enjoy reading english if all they know is in a workbook?


This whole experience so far as made me think back to my education, and learning French through out middle school and high school. I want my kids to enjoy their learning experience, and I hope I can drill into their heads that learning a second language will open so many doors. I wish someone had made me understand that earlier in life. 


So more on the home front...I'm starting to realize that I will never have my own space...like ever. So like I explained before my family has 3 homes (I said two earlier, but apparently they have 3). BUT we all have been living in this little apartment all week. My room is the dining room. I got home from work thinking maybe I would take a nap, and Eka my little brother is in the dining room aka my room for tutoring. Yay for no space..ever. Currently I'm in the "family room" wanting to go to bed, but my dad is playing the piano in the dining room. Its just a lot different than my American family where we all have our own space. Usually I'm in my room, my mom is in the family room, and my dad is in the basement. It definitely does not phase my Georgian family at all. Today was really nice though when I got home because I just had lunch with Grandma. She is adorable! We speak in charades, Georgian, Russian, and English.

Hairy, Sweaty Georgians = Yummy Wine

I am officially out of the honeymoon phase and into the real Georgia! I have been placed in Samtredia, Georgia in the Imertia region about a 30 minute drive from Kutisi and an hour and a half from Batumi. I would describe it as a small town. There are shops, a park, 13 schools, railroad station, and lots of crazy Georgian drivers. I am definitely not in the middle of nowhere. Its half way between a big city and village aka perfect for me. 

I left the training building around 10am on Friday morning with 4 other volunteers. Everyone else was taking the bus to Tblisi since they are all being placed around there. As we drove my stomach was turning in knots, and I couldn't not wait to meet my family. We finally arrived in Samtredia, and after a few moments the driver of the van came back with 5 women. I wasn't sure which one was my mother! Finally, I was introduced to the director of my school, two english teachers, some family friends, and finally my mother, Layla. Then my two siblings came to greet me with big hugs and kisses. Nino, my sister, is 16 and Irakli (or Ika) is 12. They are adorable!! Nino speaks really good english, and is always eager to speak to me, and Eka is just adorable and speaks to me in little broken english words. 

One thing I find crazy is that my family has two homes! They have a house a little outside the city center and then an apartment very close to everything. We basically go back and forth each day. The parents gave up their bedroom for me in their big home, and I feel so bad! And the Grandma, Lilly, slept on the couch! They even had someone hook up a TV system so that way I can watch some TV in english. My parents are really sweet. At first I wasn't sure if they didn't like me, but I think they are starting to warm up to me. I think they are disappointed I don't speak Georgian or Russian. I guess with different cultures its hard to tell. 

I'm sad I'm not near the friends I made at orientation, but I'm sooo happy to have Michelle, Melissa, and our new friend Emily. Its so great to have them all close by, and especially Michelle who speaks great Russian and can communicate to my family. I think they will all make my transition here ALOT easier and more fun!!

Tonight I experienced the Georgian tradition of wine making. It was so incredible to see the pressed grapes turn into yummy wine. They said they take the grapes that are left over and make Georgian vodka...cha cha!

I'm really lucky that my family is happy to have me and I got my one wish..indoor plumbing! I think this is going to be a great year!