"Gogo! Iqia!" ("Girl! There!")

My co-teacher surprised me today by walking into two of our classes, greeting the students, and then turning to me and asking “So what’s our lesson today?” Yikes! I’ve started taking copious notes in each class so I can keep track of what they’re studying. Hopefully I’ll be able to answer next time she springs that question on me. Back at governor’s school, I was told to always have a “back-pocket activity” on hand in case I needed to fill time. It looks like I’m going to need a bag of “back-pocket” lesson plans, suitable for grades 1 through 9 at levels 1 through 6.

Also, my co-teacher doesn’t have answer keys for book exercises (and sometimes she doesn’t have a copy of the book either). I’m going to borrow some books for the weekend and write up answer keys in an attempt to make her life easier. Want to take bets on how long it’ll take me to get through 300 pages of Elementary English exercises? I’m actually pretty curious…

On the way home from school, I realized how much I miss running. I asked my co-teacher if she knew where I could buy a soccerball (a “real football,” as opposed to the American one I brought). We popped in and out of four different shops to ask. At the last shop, her friend asked us to wait while she telephoned the owners of a few other small shops. But no luck. It was an interesting experience, though. So far, my impression of the shops had been that they all carried exactly the same products. I had wondered how there could be so many (so many!) of them…enough that even small-town nepotism couldn’t possibly keep them all in business. Now I know: they count on friends and neighbors hopping from shop to shop in search of small specific things. It felt somewhat like an old Czech story I read once about a woman who would go to one shop and wait in a line for bananas before going to another shop to wait in line for butter.

I didn’t find a soccerball, but I took my American football and went for a walk. I texted the boys I met while walking the other day, and they agreed to meet up to play. First, of course, they had to buy beer and sunflower seeds. Then we played football in a park for a while. Some more of their friends showed up, and they suggested (mind you, they speak no English and I almost no Georgian) we go to the “stadium”—the soccer pitch. There were some kids there already, so we shared the field for a while. The kids had a soccer ball, so eventually we decided to have a match. At that point, Alex—one of the boys—handed me his coat, watch, and cellphone, and he pointed me to the sideline. I was clearly confused, and Giorgi was kind enough to explain, “Gogo!” Girl. I watched them play for a while, amused by the cigarettes in their mouths and the way they would run to the sideline for a sip of beer between plays. Eventually, I understood that “gogo” didn’t mean I was the first to sit out but would be subbed in later; it meant that I wouldn’t get to play at all.

After the game, they walked me home as an entourage. I’m not sure how to feel about it to be honest. Two of the boys asked me to text them over the weekend if I want to throw around the American football. Maybe…

Chame Chame Chame!!!!!!!!!

My first day walking to school! It’s beautiful and I’m so glad to have a chance to exercise. Of course, I’ll have to remember in February when I’m sliding along the path that in this moment I was excited to walk.

We had a few classes today. First were some older students who were using an old textbook that, frankly, makes me cringe by drilling them in “I can’t wait till” and “I am aged 6.” But my co-teacher focused on dictation with them, so if I can help her with pronunciation then maybe I can minimize the problems caused by the books. Then we had two beginner classes and one intermediate beginner class. I’ll hold off on being too critical and say instead that I’m confident I’ll get chances to teach. I just hope someone thinks to send my co-teacher a copy of the students’ book!

After class, she and I were walking home when we ran into a friend of hers. After a brief conversation, they decided we were going to her house. As soon as we were there, the woman went into the kitchen and my co-teacher sat down (gesturing for me to join her) at her friend’s laptop. We skyped her nephew in Tbilisi and she showed me pictures on her [insert name of Russian facebook site???]. It was fun, and I really enjoy spending time with her. Her friend was in the kitchen for some time, and I presumed she was making dinner for when her husband returned home. How foolish of me! I could smell that the fried fish was finished and I was waiting for my co-teacher to suggest we head out…when both women ushered me to the table where a full meal was laid out. Oh Georgian hospitality. Spending time at the table with both of them was fun…even with the language barrier I generally enjoy these kinds of happenings. Which is good because I feel like this may be the beginning of a trend.

When I got home, chemi bebia was making “home-made ketchup” and entertaining a friend (the 80^th woman in this village to dub me a “kargi gogo” or “good girl”). I sat with them in the kitchen reading folktales, drinking tea, and listening to them talk. At some point, chemi babua got up from watching “Russian Musicbox” and went outside for a moment. He returned with a pear and silently offered it to me. When I hesitated to accept it, he ordered me to eat (“chame!”). When I took it and started eating, he grunted approvingly. Somehow I understand that this exchange communicates affection. I got so lucky being placed with this family!

In other “noteworthy” news, I asked about two recipes today. Here are their outlines:

1) Tatia’s Rice: Rice, apple pieces, raisins, quinces, and walnuts. Mix with ratio adjusted to personal taste, then cook and serve.

2) “Home-made Ketchup”: Tomatoes, chili pepper, sweet red pepper, apple, salt, garlic. Blend together and adjust seasonings to taste. Slow cook on stovetop for a few hours. Jar for winter.

Kutaisi--er---shi?---sishi??

So Kut’aisi…wish I had seen more of it. Today actually was another of those spend-all-day-in-a-car-to-spend-a-few-hours-inside-a-building-in-a-new-city. Honestly, I did enjoy the car ride. My principal and co-teacher sat on either side of me in the back seat. Our gym teacher and his friend (another very manly Georgian man) sat up front and took turns driving. I think it’s hilarious that we get escorts for a day-trip…They’re all wonderful people. They played Georgian music and we laughed listening to a little bit of American music. Mostly, though, I looked out the windows at the beautiful landscapes and listened as best I could to their conversations. My head has been hurting a bit since I arrived in Oni, and I can’t tell if it’s because I’m adjusting to the altitude or because I spend so many hours each day straining to pick out words in Georgian conversations.

The meeting itself was pretty unremarkable. Common-sense information, cell-phones ringing throughout, poor group management…I will say that I was impressed that the girl presenting managed a bi-lingual seminar all by herself. That was pretty incredible to watch.

Then the long car-ride back, a warm dinner to make me forget the rain, a Georgian-dubbed Spanish soap opera and Russian news with the family in front of the wood stove, and now reading in my room before bed. Not bad.

Nervous like the First Day of School!

Chemi Bebia made me an omelet and bacon for the first day of school. Then my principal and the gym teacher (the one man of the entire faculty) drove by to pick me up. I’m looking forward to walking the up-hill commute, but for today it was fun to sit in the car as we picked up other teachers and rumbled along the pitted road in the minivan.

I didn’t actually teach today. I spent most of the day in the teachers’ lounge. They laughed as they taught me Georgian words and asked me questions. The woman who is my co-teacher—the school English teacher—translated back and forth all day. The younger women giggled at my Georgian; the older women kept bringing me tea and cookies and muffins and fruit. “Chame, Chame, Chame!” Eat, Eat Eat! They asked how I like their country and their food, if I thought the mountains were beautiful, and if I want to marry any of their men. Then they introduced me to the students. The music teacher is a friend of my host-mother’s, and she wanted to play the piano while the math teacher’s daughter sang for me. First she sang alone, an English rendition of “Eidelweiss.” From there things progressed: all the students started singing a folk song, then a boy started drumming on a desk, then the teachers started singing and two girls got up to do a folk dance. It was unbelievable!

After three or four more songs, they went back to class and I went back to the teachers’ room. There I dodged food offers and poured over the old English texts. They weren’t terrible…but I cringed a few times. I’ll try to borrow them some weekend so I can copy down exact phrases.

When the school day was over, I was ushered back into the minivan. I thought the other teachers were going to drop me back at home. Instead, we drove back-and-forth on the one village street with the shops and markets. We stopped off at the UNICEF resource center at one point, and outside I met the high school English teacher and her daughter. The daughter wandered off to chat with some friends (that’s important…remember it…) and the teacher told me about the co-teachers she’s had. She gave me her phone number and insisted I call her any time I have questions. Sometimes village life makes me feel like I have 20 grandmothers.

One of the other teachers announced that she was hungry, so we (myself, the hungry one, my school’s English teacher, our manly gym teacher and driver, and my principal) went out for beer and khinkali. I so enjoyed spending time with them, and I’m hopeful that my Georgian will improve if I continue spending days with the group of them.

Almost as soon as they dropped me off at home, I knew I needed to get outside to explore the mountains and walk off lunch. I can’t begin to describe how lovely the walk out of town was…there were mountains and cows and a mineral spring. I’ll take pictures next time. On the way out, I was on the phone with a friend as I walked through a group of boys whom I recognized as the high school teacher’s daughter’s friends. I walked on for a while, sat down to let them outpace me, and when I turned to head back home they were there again. The one was sitting under a tree smoking…not threatening at all but obviously waiting for me. I greeted them without stopping, but the one called “erti momet’si” (I think that’s the phrase…I recognize it now as “just a moment”). Knowing this would be a rather limited conversation, I stopped to exchange three words or so. It was utter hilarity. They ended up walking me home, and it felt like we were playing charades the whole time. One asked for my number and I laughed imagining what our calls would be like: “Hello….Hello….Gamarjoba…Gamarjoba…” Ad Infinitum.

Then I came home for dinner with the family and some phone calls to friends. Maguala is singing with the French guests. I took a hot shower in the basement sauna room (feeling pretty spoiled) and am going to do some stretches before bed. Tomorrow, my principal and I are going to Kut’aisi for a meeting about teaching methodology. I’m so ready to start teaching at this point! I wish they would just throw me in a classroom…all this wait-train-wait-train-wait-train is a tease and it’s killing me. Hopefully after the meeting though I’ll be able to actually work with kids. And even if not, my co-teacher wants to go hiking and Eka will be back from her trip soon so we can go to the lake together. And the music teacher wants to teach me folk songs…I could not be more grateful for these kind people and this beautiful place.

"Put on a sweater or you'll catch cold."

That title was communicated to me this morning, via hand-gestures, from Grandma Maguala. It's nice to be welcomed into a family when living somewhere new.

Friday I woke up early enough to finally walk around Old Town Tbilisi in the daylight. I went with a friend and we explored until he decided it was time to go back and make ourselves pretty for our host-parents. We were to be meeting them around 1 pm, and I’d be lying if I said we weren’t nervous. To fast forward through the packing, waiting and hugging, I’ll skip to the part where Tamara called my name and my host mother stepped out to meet me. We’ve since decided that she’s too young to be my host-mother so my school principal is assuming that role, leaving Eka to be my host-sister.

Eka is the only member of her household who speaks any English. While her English is very basic, she speaks Russian (which doesn’t help me much) and also German! We tend to use German to communicate, although we consciously speak in English/Georgian first so that we can help each other learn. During the drive, she explained “Georgian Snickers” fruit preserves, pointed out IDP camps, and taught me river names. We laughed at the number of cows strolling in the road. We rocked out to Ozzy, Sting, and Enrique Iglesias…with me periodically explaining lyrics as best I could.

That night she introduced me to her parents (who live with her) and her cousin (who semi-lives with her). They run a guest house, and it couldn’t be more cozy. There was an earthquake a few years ago that damaged some of the ceilings and walls, but the house is colorful and warm and welcoming. The yard is filled with grapevines and apple trees, and Maguala (my host-grandmother) had been busily preserving fruits and vegetables for the winter. We all had dinner together, and then I unpacked. At one point, a young boy appeared at my bedroom door. Eka introduced him as a neighbor child and one of my new students. She explained to him in Georgian that I’m the new English teacher from America (a phrase I can recognize well by now) and he said “hello!” before getting shy and running away. It was so cute!

I am living in Sheubani Village. It’s tucked between the mountains of the Imereti region. The walk to the village church (and to my school) is about 20 minutes: through town, across a river, and up a mountain. At least I know I’ll be getting some exercise to combat all of this delicious but rich Georgian food (which deserves its own post sometime). Yesterday, Eka walked me around town. This gave me a chance to figure out what is where, and it also gave her a chance to introduce me to many friends, colleagues, and neighbors. She also took me to a mineral spring just outside of town. The water tasted almost spiced…it was rather nice.

Today, Eka left on a business trip. Maguala and I had the house to ourselves; she cleaned and while I studied. Now she’s gone out to visit a friend, so I’m drinking tea, putting stove in the wood fire (it’s cold and rainy today) and reading over verb conjugations. In short, I feel very much at home.

I’m borrowing an internet stick so that I can get online for the day. Later I’m hoping to catch my poor parents on skype (I haven’t been able to call them). Eventually I’ll get into town to buy an internet stick of my own… Nakvamdis until then!

Surprise Trip!

All of my “intercultural education” teachers have been talking non-stop about the Georgian concept of time. I think, though, that the Batumi trip taught me more than any lecture could have. We spent about nine hours travelling by bus, had about -10 minutes to change into fresh dress-clothes for the musical, and then were off to the opera house. The building is beautiful and brand new. I really enjoyed the view from the observation deck, although walking in a dress across a glass floor can make one very self-conscious. We had some famous company in the audience (insert link), which was startling, and we also had a chance to meet volunteers who have been in the country for a few months already.

After the musical—around midnight—we all went out for dinner. Then finally I had a chance to swim in the Black Sea, my goal for the trip. A large group of us went at night, but then I stayed up all night with some new friends so that we could have an early morning swim as well. It was lovely! The water was warm and calm and blue! I only wish the shore hadn’t been quite so rocky (or that I had brought shoes for it). But the rocks were dark, which made the sea seem even more blue. It was breathtaking.

The other reason for the all-nighter was, of course, the hope that we would then be tired enough in the morning to sleep though the whole bus-ride back to Tbilisi. In reality, I woke up enough at one rest stop to go run around on the side of a mountain. In heels. Through thorns. And then I slept the rest of the way home. For two days mostly spent in-transit, that was quite an excellent trip.

On the road again

I guess you would say this is our second day in Tbilisi?

Wednesday afternoon, a gentleman named Ace picked me up and kept me company on the drive to JFK airport. After a few hours of waiting at JFK, my flight to Istanbul left at midnight. I was sitting in between another TLG (Teach Learn Georgia) volunteer and a delightful older Turkish man. The girl was nice but quiet; the man called me “daughter” and told me the Turkish names for all the food on our dinner trays.

We landed in Istanbul around 5 pm local time, and our flight to Tbilisi left at 11:30 pm. That means I had a chance to sit in an internet café and play “spot-the-other-people-in-my-group.” I was actually rather good at it, and soon there were a whole bunch of us performing the customary introductory interrogations (What’s your name? Where are you from? What did/do you study? Have you taught before? How did you find this program? Are you excited? How sick of airports are you?). At some point we got on a plane. Then we got off a plane. Then it was 6 am and we were in our hotel in Tbilisi. I jumpped in the shower, and when I got out I noticed that the sun had risen, the sky was filled with bats, the horizon was interrupted by mountains, and there was a rooster outside my window determined to keep me from sleeping. He failed, of course.

The first day was a bit slow. I woke around lunch-time, and then I walked around outside with a new friend for a while. We gaped at old men fishing in the river that cuts through the city. We wandered through an outdoor market, unconfidently murmering a mantra of “Ara…gomadlobt…” to placate the saleswomen who called after us. Can I say we saw anything recognizable from a tourguide? No. However, we enjoyed marveling at the mountains which surrounded us and the grapes that crawled along the telephone and electrical wires. Then we headed back to the hotel for our evening meeting.

We went out adventuring again after the meeting. A group of people took the subway to Rustavelli Avenue, and we walked around until it was time to head back (we have a rather early curfew). I went back tonight with friends, and we had an excellent dinner…but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Perhaps this whole post is rather getting ahead of myself. I spent the summer working, interning, and trying to see friends before they scattered around the world (myself included ) for another year. There were lots of wonderful and interesting things that happened this summer—I went to Boston and New York, hosted a friend in scenic Chester County, made strawberry-mint jam, went kayaking, moved Becca into college—but suddenly the summer has ended and I’m saying “Gomarjoba!” to Sakartvelo.

Today was our first actual day of orientation. We started with a general meeting, spent the next four hours in Georgian class (with breaks for coffee), had an hour lunch break, and regrouped for “Intercultural Education” class. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the people here. The volunteers come from different countries, experience levels, and age groups. I’ve really enjoyed talking to them and hearing all of the incredible stories about where people have lived/taught previously.

Now I am actually going to head off to bed because tomorrow is an early morning. President Saakashvili surprised the program organizers by inviting all of the TLG teachers in western Georgia to a performance in Batumi. The performance is tomorrow…so we’re getting up early for a 5 hour drive to the scenic Black Sea coastal town. I’ll let you know how it goes!