I’m still exhausted. Stupid virus. In spite of feeling ridiculously tired, I dragged myself to school. This is mostly because I have no other symptoms of illness (except for a scratchy throat). Wed is not a bad day for me, class wise, and I knew that I could get through it. I would probably have been fine, except that on my break between classes, 2 teachers who started English lessons in Kobuleti last night, came in to ask me to help them with their English.
They both had very much energy and the Georgian attitude of "I’m here now. Anything else you were planning to do will have to wait." This isn’t restricted to interactions with foreigners, either, this is culturally pervasive. Planning to go shopping, well, someone stopped by to visit, so you’ll have to change your plans. I can’t get over it and it kinda drives me crazy.
Also this morning, I received a novel of a text message from the Georgian English teacher that I met on the marshrutka on Saturday. She wanted to know when I would be coming to see her school and visit her house. There was a lot of other things too, but most are irrelevant, though she did conclude with, "Everything will be ok. I promise." Which, of course, leads me to believe that I have reason to worry. I mean, if things are actually going to be ok, you don’t need to say so, right?
When I got home, I had a much needed nap. But even an hour of sleep is not very helpful when the dreams are so action-packed. When I woke up, I felt like I hadn’t slept at all. My body did feel more rested though, so I spent about 45 mins helping Achi with his English homework. It’s amazing what he can figure out when you give him enough time and don’t just yell the answers at him.
I’ve read a little and watched some Veronica Mars. With my throat feeling as raw as it is, I’ve tried to avoid talking, though people keep calling me. During one phone conversation I did decide that if I feel this bad tomorrow, I’m not going in to school.
Just checked my e-mail and had the cutest message from Mr.Blue Eyes. God I love that kid. Those few sentences just perked me right up. But at the same time, they made me a little homesick. Moreso than I already was, just from being not-quite-sick.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Sept. 28 - Catching Cold
I woke up this morning still tired. I’m pretty sure I’m fighting a virus. Benadryl is no longer effective for my sniffles. One thing that happens when I’m feeling like this, is that I slow down a lot. I tried to do a quick blog update, and before I knew it, it was 8:25. I was still in my pj’s and hadn’t eaten breakfast.
I flew downstairs and found HM, Nanny and HB3 in the kitchen. I prepared my muesli and yogurt and sat down to eat. While I was eating, HM gave me a heart shaped jewelry box. She told me that it’s for my birthday. Inside was a really cute pair of earrings. They’re small silver hoops with a little silver ball attached. I really like them, so I took time to put them on before leaving for school.
At school, my first 2 classes whent really well, though the grade 6's were really energetic and wouldn’t settle. They keep wanting to do the punishments that I’ve decided on for when homework isn’t done. And when I kept them past the bell, they were like, "that’s ok, we want to stay." I’m glad that they like English so much, but it’s exhausting.
I told Co-teach that I’m not feeling well, so of course she told everyone. The cafeteria lady told me to drink tea with honey and lemon (this is the first Georgian health advice I’ve heard that makes sense). Co-teach just told me that I can’t get sick, because she doesn’t want to teach alone. And the school director said (in Georgian), "Oh my girl, she can’t be sick." This was after feeling my arm to see if it was cold (because if your body is cold, it means you have a cold) and touching my cheek (I assume she was checking for fever, but who knows).
My two afternoon classes went reasonably well. The ringleaders in 9 weren’t there, so that class was productive. And the grade 8's wouldn’t stop talking, but it’s because they were enthusiastic about the task. I still spoke sharply to them, though because being sick shortens my temper. Who knew?
I flew downstairs and found HM, Nanny and HB3 in the kitchen. I prepared my muesli and yogurt and sat down to eat. While I was eating, HM gave me a heart shaped jewelry box. She told me that it’s for my birthday. Inside was a really cute pair of earrings. They’re small silver hoops with a little silver ball attached. I really like them, so I took time to put them on before leaving for school.
At school, my first 2 classes whent really well, though the grade 6's were really energetic and wouldn’t settle. They keep wanting to do the punishments that I’ve decided on for when homework isn’t done. And when I kept them past the bell, they were like, "that’s ok, we want to stay." I’m glad that they like English so much, but it’s exhausting.
I told Co-teach that I’m not feeling well, so of course she told everyone. The cafeteria lady told me to drink tea with honey and lemon (this is the first Georgian health advice I’ve heard that makes sense). Co-teach just told me that I can’t get sick, because she doesn’t want to teach alone. And the school director said (in Georgian), "Oh my girl, she can’t be sick." This was after feeling my arm to see if it was cold (because if your body is cold, it means you have a cold) and touching my cheek (I assume she was checking for fever, but who knows).
My two afternoon classes went reasonably well. The ringleaders in 9 weren’t there, so that class was productive. And the grade 8's wouldn’t stop talking, but it’s because they were enthusiastic about the task. I still spoke sharply to them, though because being sick shortens my temper. Who knew?
Sept. 27 - So Weird
Today was a very weird day. It started out normal, though I didn’t want to get out of bed. In spite of a full night’s sleep, I was exhausted. Anyway, I sucked it up and got to school. Luckily, Monday is the day when I don’t have my 2 worst classes, so things in class went smoothly. While my school day had gone smoothly, this was not the case for my friends. I received calls from Boston, Joker and Sailor about their crappy classes, and misbehaving students.
Just after first period, the director came in and handed me a bunch of roses (cut from a garden) and a box of chocolates, for my birthday. Also for my birthday, Co-teach and another teacher, Photo (because of her obsession with taking pictures), decided to take me into Batumi for dinner. It was a very sweet offer, so I agreed to go.
We left right after school and this is where things started going wrong. First, the other teachers had to sign up for an English class in Kobuleti. So Co-teach and I hung out at the marshrutka stop to wait for them. By the time they were done, only one other teacher was coming to Batumi. This didn’t deter us, though, so we caught a marshrutka and were on our way.
We went to Restaurant Sanapiro (that’s Georgian for beach) right on the coast. The view was lovely and the cameras were brought out. The girls love pictures. They wanted pictures of themselves and me and me with each of them and us in front of the water and in front of the scenery. They took more pictures than you’d believe.
Once the waiter came, the cameras were put away (for a while). I wanted pizza, so we ordered one without meat. I also wanted a ‘gliasse’ (which is the Georgian milkshake) but they didn’t have any. Just once, I’d like to go to a restaurant here where everything that’s on the menu is actually in the restaurant. But I’m not holding my breath. In addition to the pizza, the girls ordered an Adjaran Khajapuri (bread boat with egg and cheese) for each of us.
Of course, after the khajapuri, no one had room for pizza, though we all ate one slice. They were joking about asking to take it with us and I said that in Canada we do that. Apparently, doggy-bags are a no-no in Georgia. As we sat digesting, the waiter brought a beautiful fruit tray out to our table. One of Photo’s relatives works at the restaurant and sent it to us. We picked at the fruit for a while longer and then left.
From the restaurant, we had a lovely view of the port. The girls decided that they wanted a picture on the cruise ship that we could see. When we finished eating, they went to where the cruise ship was loading and using the "visiting foreigner" as an excuse, they tried to talk their way on. Of course the guards said no, because the ship was preparing to leave. So we wandered the dock, taking pictures in front of other boats and the water.
Co-teach and Photo each had an errand to run, so that’s where we headed when we were done with pictures. On the way, Co-teach called her cousin to get us a ride back to Kobuleti. He finished work at six and said he would pick us up, after. Co-teach’s errand was getting a teacher’s book to go with our grade 9 text. Every time she’s tried to buy it before, the store didn’t have it. They still didn’t have it.
Photo’s errand involved trying to return a cell phone that she was having problems with. I couldn’t understand most of what happened, but it took a really long time. I was exhausted and bored, so I called Joker while I waited. He was at the café and entertained me with stories about his day and comments from the others.
When Photo finished yelling at the phone guy (with no results that I could see) we went to check another store for Co-teach’s book. They didn’t have it either, but by this point it was 6:05 and I was hopeful of getting home soon. Silly me, not in Georgia.
We ended up walking back along the coast to "find a bench to sit on". When I asked Co-teach why, her response was, "who knows when he will come". There were no public benches, so we ended up back at the restaurant. Photo spoke to someone and told them that we didn’t want to order. That was fine and we sat down.
About half an hour later, the waitress brought out 3 bowls of ice cream and 3 turkish coffees. They asked if she had the wrong table, but it was for us. Photo’s relative had sent it out again, which was very sweet. While we sat in the restaurant, her husband called a bunch of times, wondering when we would leave. She blamed the delay on me, but was getting more aggravated with Co-teach every minute.
I was completely zoned out, but a noise made me perk my head up. Outside the restaurant a man rode past on a horse (it was more like a pony, but still). I wasn’t sure what I had seen (maybe I’d fallen asleep and was dreaming) but he came past again, the other way and I saw him again. At this point, Co-teach’s cousin finally called, so we were leaving the restaurant.
The pony was still outside. We approached the man and he was selling rides on it. We didn’t want a ride, but of course the girls wanted pictures. So I stood next to the pony while the girls took turns standing next to me.
Then we walked back to where we had to meet Co-teach’s cousin. He finally showed up at 7:37pm and we were on our way back to Kobuleti. He drove like a maniac. I’ve gotten pretty used to the Georgian driving, so unless it’s extreme, nothing phases me. I was terrified. And it wasn’t just the driving. It’s the fact that while the driver was passing a semi-truck with a car coming toward him, his sister (in the front passenger seat) was screaming at him in Georgian and smacking his arm (which was holding the steering wheel). If anyone had endagered us, it was her.
When we got back to Kobuleti, I went with Photo (so that she could prove to her husband that I really exist). They got me home safely, with no new terror. At home, I wanted nothing more than to collapse on my bed for the night, but it wasn’t to be.
I stopped in the kitchen to tell HM that I was home and she told me to sit down. I did and she pulled out HB1’s English book. So we had an English lesson. I hate working with him when she’s there. Every time he stumbles, or stops to think, she gives him the answer. But at the same time she’s pressuring him to get it perfect on the first go. I honestly believe he only made so many mistakes because she was pushing him.
When the lesson devolved into how to use the dictionary, I excused myself and went to bed. I was so tired that I didn’t even stay up for Veronica Mars.
Just after first period, the director came in and handed me a bunch of roses (cut from a garden) and a box of chocolates, for my birthday. Also for my birthday, Co-teach and another teacher, Photo (because of her obsession with taking pictures), decided to take me into Batumi for dinner. It was a very sweet offer, so I agreed to go.
We left right after school and this is where things started going wrong. First, the other teachers had to sign up for an English class in Kobuleti. So Co-teach and I hung out at the marshrutka stop to wait for them. By the time they were done, only one other teacher was coming to Batumi. This didn’t deter us, though, so we caught a marshrutka and were on our way.
We went to Restaurant Sanapiro (that’s Georgian for beach) right on the coast. The view was lovely and the cameras were brought out. The girls love pictures. They wanted pictures of themselves and me and me with each of them and us in front of the water and in front of the scenery. They took more pictures than you’d believe.
Once the waiter came, the cameras were put away (for a while). I wanted pizza, so we ordered one without meat. I also wanted a ‘gliasse’ (which is the Georgian milkshake) but they didn’t have any. Just once, I’d like to go to a restaurant here where everything that’s on the menu is actually in the restaurant. But I’m not holding my breath. In addition to the pizza, the girls ordered an Adjaran Khajapuri (bread boat with egg and cheese) for each of us.
Of course, after the khajapuri, no one had room for pizza, though we all ate one slice. They were joking about asking to take it with us and I said that in Canada we do that. Apparently, doggy-bags are a no-no in Georgia. As we sat digesting, the waiter brought a beautiful fruit tray out to our table. One of Photo’s relatives works at the restaurant and sent it to us. We picked at the fruit for a while longer and then left.
From the restaurant, we had a lovely view of the port. The girls decided that they wanted a picture on the cruise ship that we could see. When we finished eating, they went to where the cruise ship was loading and using the "visiting foreigner" as an excuse, they tried to talk their way on. Of course the guards said no, because the ship was preparing to leave. So we wandered the dock, taking pictures in front of other boats and the water.
Co-teach and Photo each had an errand to run, so that’s where we headed when we were done with pictures. On the way, Co-teach called her cousin to get us a ride back to Kobuleti. He finished work at six and said he would pick us up, after. Co-teach’s errand was getting a teacher’s book to go with our grade 9 text. Every time she’s tried to buy it before, the store didn’t have it. They still didn’t have it.
Photo’s errand involved trying to return a cell phone that she was having problems with. I couldn’t understand most of what happened, but it took a really long time. I was exhausted and bored, so I called Joker while I waited. He was at the café and entertained me with stories about his day and comments from the others.
When Photo finished yelling at the phone guy (with no results that I could see) we went to check another store for Co-teach’s book. They didn’t have it either, but by this point it was 6:05 and I was hopeful of getting home soon. Silly me, not in Georgia.
We ended up walking back along the coast to "find a bench to sit on". When I asked Co-teach why, her response was, "who knows when he will come". There were no public benches, so we ended up back at the restaurant. Photo spoke to someone and told them that we didn’t want to order. That was fine and we sat down.
About half an hour later, the waitress brought out 3 bowls of ice cream and 3 turkish coffees. They asked if she had the wrong table, but it was for us. Photo’s relative had sent it out again, which was very sweet. While we sat in the restaurant, her husband called a bunch of times, wondering when we would leave. She blamed the delay on me, but was getting more aggravated with Co-teach every minute.
I was completely zoned out, but a noise made me perk my head up. Outside the restaurant a man rode past on a horse (it was more like a pony, but still). I wasn’t sure what I had seen (maybe I’d fallen asleep and was dreaming) but he came past again, the other way and I saw him again. At this point, Co-teach’s cousin finally called, so we were leaving the restaurant.
The pony was still outside. We approached the man and he was selling rides on it. We didn’t want a ride, but of course the girls wanted pictures. So I stood next to the pony while the girls took turns standing next to me.
Then we walked back to where we had to meet Co-teach’s cousin. He finally showed up at 7:37pm and we were on our way back to Kobuleti. He drove like a maniac. I’ve gotten pretty used to the Georgian driving, so unless it’s extreme, nothing phases me. I was terrified. And it wasn’t just the driving. It’s the fact that while the driver was passing a semi-truck with a car coming toward him, his sister (in the front passenger seat) was screaming at him in Georgian and smacking his arm (which was holding the steering wheel). If anyone had endagered us, it was her.
When we got back to Kobuleti, I went with Photo (so that she could prove to her husband that I really exist). They got me home safely, with no new terror. At home, I wanted nothing more than to collapse on my bed for the night, but it wasn’t to be.
I stopped in the kitchen to tell HM that I was home and she told me to sit down. I did and she pulled out HB1’s English book. So we had an English lesson. I hate working with him when she’s there. Every time he stumbles, or stops to think, she gives him the answer. But at the same time she’s pressuring him to get it perfect on the first go. I honestly believe he only made so many mistakes because she was pushing him.
When the lesson devolved into how to use the dictionary, I excused myself and went to bed. I was so tired that I didn’t even stay up for Veronica Mars.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Sept. 26 - Nursing the hangover
Today started with a giant breakfast courtesy of the Sheraton. They had everything from scrambled eggs to smoked salmon, to a fruit buffet and a million pastries. Since pastry and bread are both very common foods here, I had pancakes with bananas and chocolate sauce. I also had scrambled eggs and smoked salmon. I had NO bread and it was fantastic. (Never thought I’d write that, but whaddya know?)
After breaky we went back to the room and hung out until close to check out time. Since Sailor and I both needed to come back toward Kobuleti, we left together. We had an uneventful trip; Sailor made her stop and I got to Kobuleti. The timing was perfect, because there was a bus leaving just as I got there, so I didn’t even have to wait to get up the mountain.
No one was in the house when I got home, so I had a 20 minute nap in the unexpected quiet. Eventually, I woke up, but I was still really tired. I could hear many cousins running around and assumed the family was gathering. I spent the afternoon in my room, reading and expecting to be called any minute for the birthday suphra.
Around 6:30, one of the kids came up to get me for supper. But it was the same as any other Sunday dinner (for which I am grateful). Used to my small stomach, HM offered me cake first, so I had 2 pieces of cake before touching any actual dinner. I made conversation with HM’s sisters-in-law (one of whom had brought the box of assorted cakes) and watched the kids play. I also fed many mosquitoes, so when I finished eating, I retreated to my room (the only mosquito free one in the house).
Mom called and I was chatting with her and Daddy when one of the kids was sent to fetch me, again. I could hear a commotion from outside and assumed that the suphra-ness was beginning. I finished my conversation and headed downstairs.
When I got downstairs, everyone was loitering around out front, so I grabbed a seat and took it all in. My host-aunts were all bustling around and HM’s brother was sitting at the table with 3 other guys. Every once in a while, the men started singing traditional Georgian songs (in 3 part harmony). Within 5 minutes, the aunts had the kids loaded into the van and were saying goodbye, leaving me with Bebia, HM and the men.
They called me over to the table, so I joined them. Two of them spoke a little English and they were excited to get to practice. Once they started talking to me, HM and Bebia both went into the house to deal with my host brothers, leaving me alone with the men (a situation we were warned about during training). They offered me wine, and didn’t mind when I declined, and then sang Happy Birthday to me in 3 part harmony. They continued singing the traditional songs as well.
It was fine, though I feel that one guy was being put forward as a potential Georgian husband. The idea seems to be that I should marry a Georgian man and then stay here forever. I keep telling them that I promised my grandmother that I wouldn’t get married, but it doesn’t help. It’s not just me, either. All of the foreign girls here are being exposed to PGH and the boys are being offered prostitutes. Tell me, how is that fair?
It wasn’t too late when they left and I retreated back upstairs. I was exhausted, so I was in bed by 10:30.
After breaky we went back to the room and hung out until close to check out time. Since Sailor and I both needed to come back toward Kobuleti, we left together. We had an uneventful trip; Sailor made her stop and I got to Kobuleti. The timing was perfect, because there was a bus leaving just as I got there, so I didn’t even have to wait to get up the mountain.
No one was in the house when I got home, so I had a 20 minute nap in the unexpected quiet. Eventually, I woke up, but I was still really tired. I could hear many cousins running around and assumed the family was gathering. I spent the afternoon in my room, reading and expecting to be called any minute for the birthday suphra.
Around 6:30, one of the kids came up to get me for supper. But it was the same as any other Sunday dinner (for which I am grateful). Used to my small stomach, HM offered me cake first, so I had 2 pieces of cake before touching any actual dinner. I made conversation with HM’s sisters-in-law (one of whom had brought the box of assorted cakes) and watched the kids play. I also fed many mosquitoes, so when I finished eating, I retreated to my room (the only mosquito free one in the house).
Mom called and I was chatting with her and Daddy when one of the kids was sent to fetch me, again. I could hear a commotion from outside and assumed that the suphra-ness was beginning. I finished my conversation and headed downstairs.
When I got downstairs, everyone was loitering around out front, so I grabbed a seat and took it all in. My host-aunts were all bustling around and HM’s brother was sitting at the table with 3 other guys. Every once in a while, the men started singing traditional Georgian songs (in 3 part harmony). Within 5 minutes, the aunts had the kids loaded into the van and were saying goodbye, leaving me with Bebia, HM and the men.
They called me over to the table, so I joined them. Two of them spoke a little English and they were excited to get to practice. Once they started talking to me, HM and Bebia both went into the house to deal with my host brothers, leaving me alone with the men (a situation we were warned about during training). They offered me wine, and didn’t mind when I declined, and then sang Happy Birthday to me in 3 part harmony. They continued singing the traditional songs as well.
It was fine, though I feel that one guy was being put forward as a potential Georgian husband. The idea seems to be that I should marry a Georgian man and then stay here forever. I keep telling them that I promised my grandmother that I wouldn’t get married, but it doesn’t help. It’s not just me, either. All of the foreign girls here are being exposed to PGH and the boys are being offered prostitutes. Tell me, how is that fair?
It wasn’t too late when they left and I retreated back upstairs. I was exhausted, so I was in bed by 10:30.
Sept. 25 - The Birthday Extravaganza
My birthday was spectacular. It started out a little shaky with breakfast, but things quickly picked up. HM made me an Adjaran traditional birthday breakfast of papa, which is flour and water, cooked into a paste, served with butter and sugar. It’s.... well, I ate some. Luckily, they are used to me only eating a small breakfast, so when HM mentioned that there was also cake, I stopped eating the papa "to save room". The cake was delicious. It had a nutty base, and a buttery, creamy topping.
Transportation was, for once, uneventful. I got down the mountain, half walking and half riding with the math teacher from my school. I tried to get the marshrutka to stop and pick up Sailor, but I missed her stop, so she just met me in Batumi.
Since we were so early, we decided just to go to the café and have a drink. I love banana juice. There were some other teachers there, and more showed up while we chatted. Since my birthday party was limited in number (due to the smallish size of the hotel room) most of the people at the café were not invited, so Sailor and I awkwardly excused ourselves to meet Joker (because he cracks me up) at Goodwill.
At Goodwill, we bought mix and we were going to buy snacks, but decided to check out some of the smaller mom and pop shops on our way to the hotel. Also, Joker found a little store near his house that sold alcohol much cheaper than Goodwill, so we headed there with him. Boston met us outside the shop.
Laden down with bags (overnight clothes, plus alcohol and mix) we made our way toward the palace of happiness and wonder that is the Sheraton Batumi. Making one more stop on the way for munchies, we arrived shortly after 3 to check in.
It was all we could do not to squeal with glee when the porter showed us to the room. Somehow we contained ourselves and didn’t start behaving like children until after he had shut the door on his way out. A flurry of picture taking followed and my memory card got full, just as the camera batteries were about to die. So I will be relying on other people's cameras for pics.
After sitting and chatting for a bit, we decided to break out the birthday champagne. We mixed it with peach, banana and pomegranate juices. It was delicious. And, because it was my birthday, Joker kept pouring me stronger drinks than I would usually have. An hour and 3 drinks later, I was feeling very happy. B.C. (she's also Canadian, folks) showed up and had a coulple of drinks while we waited for the others. Hammer (she's from Hamilton) and Pop showed around 6:30. By that point we had devoured the cookies we’d bought and were ready for real food.
Pop had to leave for his host brother’s birthday suphra, but he came with us to the restaurant, first. Just up the street from the Sheraton is a pizza place, with real pizza. They even have real cheese (in addition to Georgian cheese). The seven of us ordered and devoured 2 large and 1 small pizza. It was so good.
After pizza, Pop left, but the six remaining returned to the hotel. I was getting to the sleepy part of being drunk, so Joker and I went straight back to the hotel while everyone else stopped for more snacks and booze.
When the others got back, more drinks were poured and the tv was turned on for background noise. Sailor and Hammer had both brought their computers, so we muted the Russian music videos on tv and listened to a random mix of music, that we chose. Scarlet (as in O'Hara; she's from Atlanta dn it's the best I could do) and Defender (because he said he would fercefully defend any female that he knows) finally showed up around 9ish. About that time, the Turkish satellite channel started showing The Phantom Menace (dubbed, not subtitled), we we talked and drank and listened to music, keeping half an eye on the tv.
It had been a really long time since some of us had seen each other. Between that, the alcohol and the fact that there were 8 of us in one hotel room, things got a little noisy. Security came up and told us that another guest had complained about noise, so we tried to keep it down. About 15 minutes later, the people next to us banged on the wall to quiet us down. Boston and I decided that we needed to get everyone out of the room, so we decided to go to the club in the hotel.
We changed and the girls touched up makeup. As I was shutting the door behind us, security was coming down the hall to our room, but they veered off when they realized that we were leaving. When we got to the club, it was empty. There were literally 20 people in there, max (including us and the staff). The music wasn’t great, but I wanted to dance, so Hammer, Sailor and I hit the floor. We lasted about a song and a half before getting annoyed with the music and heading back to the table. Scarlet was still going strong, but I was done drinking. My tummy wasn’t feeling too hot.
After moving to a corner table with comfier chairs, We all got on the floor, dancing. It was pretty fun, in spite of the crappy music. 3 different times we tried to request something decent, but the dj was apparently a substitute and wouldn’t take requests. Finally, the lame music and being sleepy drove us to leave. We knew we couldn’t go back to the room, so we went to the comfy lobby to hang out for a bit longer. Scarlet and Defender were still ready to party, B.C. was kind of for it. Joker and Hammer were kind of quiet. Boston and I were both really tired and Sailor was also tired, but drunk enough to go out if we had told her to.
After much discussion, B.C. ended up going to the bar with Scarlet and Defender and the rest of us went up to the room to sleep. Boston, Sailor and I shared the bed and Joker and Hammer each slept on the floor. It was a great night.
Transportation was, for once, uneventful. I got down the mountain, half walking and half riding with the math teacher from my school. I tried to get the marshrutka to stop and pick up Sailor, but I missed her stop, so she just met me in Batumi.
Since we were so early, we decided just to go to the café and have a drink. I love banana juice. There were some other teachers there, and more showed up while we chatted. Since my birthday party was limited in number (due to the smallish size of the hotel room) most of the people at the café were not invited, so Sailor and I awkwardly excused ourselves to meet Joker (because he cracks me up) at Goodwill.
At Goodwill, we bought mix and we were going to buy snacks, but decided to check out some of the smaller mom and pop shops on our way to the hotel. Also, Joker found a little store near his house that sold alcohol much cheaper than Goodwill, so we headed there with him. Boston met us outside the shop.
Laden down with bags (overnight clothes, plus alcohol and mix) we made our way toward the palace of happiness and wonder that is the Sheraton Batumi. Making one more stop on the way for munchies, we arrived shortly after 3 to check in.
It was all we could do not to squeal with glee when the porter showed us to the room. Somehow we contained ourselves and didn’t start behaving like children until after he had shut the door on his way out. A flurry of picture taking followed and my memory card got full, just as the camera batteries were about to die. So I will be relying on other people's cameras for pics.
After sitting and chatting for a bit, we decided to break out the birthday champagne. We mixed it with peach, banana and pomegranate juices. It was delicious. And, because it was my birthday, Joker kept pouring me stronger drinks than I would usually have. An hour and 3 drinks later, I was feeling very happy. B.C. (she's also Canadian, folks) showed up and had a coulple of drinks while we waited for the others. Hammer (she's from Hamilton) and Pop showed around 6:30. By that point we had devoured the cookies we’d bought and were ready for real food.
Pop had to leave for his host brother’s birthday suphra, but he came with us to the restaurant, first. Just up the street from the Sheraton is a pizza place, with real pizza. They even have real cheese (in addition to Georgian cheese). The seven of us ordered and devoured 2 large and 1 small pizza. It was so good.
After pizza, Pop left, but the six remaining returned to the hotel. I was getting to the sleepy part of being drunk, so Joker and I went straight back to the hotel while everyone else stopped for more snacks and booze.
When the others got back, more drinks were poured and the tv was turned on for background noise. Sailor and Hammer had both brought their computers, so we muted the Russian music videos on tv and listened to a random mix of music, that we chose. Scarlet (as in O'Hara; she's from Atlanta dn it's the best I could do) and Defender (because he said he would fercefully defend any female that he knows) finally showed up around 9ish. About that time, the Turkish satellite channel started showing The Phantom Menace (dubbed, not subtitled), we we talked and drank and listened to music, keeping half an eye on the tv.
It had been a really long time since some of us had seen each other. Between that, the alcohol and the fact that there were 8 of us in one hotel room, things got a little noisy. Security came up and told us that another guest had complained about noise, so we tried to keep it down. About 15 minutes later, the people next to us banged on the wall to quiet us down. Boston and I decided that we needed to get everyone out of the room, so we decided to go to the club in the hotel.
We changed and the girls touched up makeup. As I was shutting the door behind us, security was coming down the hall to our room, but they veered off when they realized that we were leaving. When we got to the club, it was empty. There were literally 20 people in there, max (including us and the staff). The music wasn’t great, but I wanted to dance, so Hammer, Sailor and I hit the floor. We lasted about a song and a half before getting annoyed with the music and heading back to the table. Scarlet was still going strong, but I was done drinking. My tummy wasn’t feeling too hot.
After moving to a corner table with comfier chairs, We all got on the floor, dancing. It was pretty fun, in spite of the crappy music. 3 different times we tried to request something decent, but the dj was apparently a substitute and wouldn’t take requests. Finally, the lame music and being sleepy drove us to leave. We knew we couldn’t go back to the room, so we went to the comfy lobby to hang out for a bit longer. Scarlet and Defender were still ready to party, B.C. was kind of for it. Joker and Hammer were kind of quiet. Boston and I were both really tired and Sailor was also tired, but drunk enough to go out if we had told her to.
After much discussion, B.C. ended up going to the bar with Scarlet and Defender and the rest of us went up to the room to sleep. Boston, Sailor and I shared the bed and Joker and Hammer each slept on the floor. It was a great night.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Sept. 24 - TGIF
School today was pretty much the same as every other day. Some kids were missing from grade 9, which made it a much more pleasant class to teach. It also turns out that threats of public humiliation are enough to get most 14 year olds to do their homework. Following through on said threats should be enough to get the others falling into line.
On break, Co-teach and I hung out in the cafeteria, as usual. I finally managed to prepare my own coffee cup for a fortune telling session. I didn’t actually want a reading, it was just practice, but Auntie (the cafeteria lady) told me that every time she does a reading for me, she’s going to tell me there is a boy. She’s hoping that eventually, I’ll believe her, marry a Georgian boy and stay here forever. I’m hoping that eventually, she‘ll believe me when I say that it ain’t gonna happen.
Also on break, Co-teach relayed a message to me from the director. Turns out there was another cultural event scheduled for the Kobuleti teachers. This one was in Sopheli Kobuleti (Kobuleti village). I declined, partly because I found out at 10 about an event at 3 and have no means of personal transportation. Sopheli Kobuleti is another mountain village, so I would have to get into Kobuleti proper and then take a cab, or marshrutka, up a different mountain road to the village. And I have to do this at my own expense. So I boycotted. Or, more acurately, I told Co-teach that I didn’t want to go, and she explained to the director in Georgian.
Since I didn’t go to the event, I was home when Neighbour Boy came over for help with his English homework (from private lessons). He was writing a practice version of the exam that they have to pass to get into university. The test was obviously not written by a native English speaker. Many of the questions don’t actually make sense, and one asked for information that wasn’t even in the test. What these kids need is not actually English instruction, but multiple choice test taking instruction.
While we were working on that, Neighbour Boy’s little brother, Monkey (so called because he climbs the fruit trees), brought me some persimmons. Turns out that they’re not bad once they’re actually ripe. I ate one while we worked and Monkey disappeared again. Just as we were finishing, he showed up with pears. They were for the family, but he made a point of giving one to me. I figure he’s trying to suck up, since he’s in my grade 9 class.
I ate dinner with HM and read in the living room while Bebia watched tv. After donating a pint of blood to the mosquitoes, I retreated upstairs. The rest of the evening was spent watching tv, playing on the internet and reading. All in all, a pleasant way to spend a Friday.
On break, Co-teach and I hung out in the cafeteria, as usual. I finally managed to prepare my own coffee cup for a fortune telling session. I didn’t actually want a reading, it was just practice, but Auntie (the cafeteria lady) told me that every time she does a reading for me, she’s going to tell me there is a boy. She’s hoping that eventually, I’ll believe her, marry a Georgian boy and stay here forever. I’m hoping that eventually, she‘ll believe me when I say that it ain’t gonna happen.
Also on break, Co-teach relayed a message to me from the director. Turns out there was another cultural event scheduled for the Kobuleti teachers. This one was in Sopheli Kobuleti (Kobuleti village). I declined, partly because I found out at 10 about an event at 3 and have no means of personal transportation. Sopheli Kobuleti is another mountain village, so I would have to get into Kobuleti proper and then take a cab, or marshrutka, up a different mountain road to the village. And I have to do this at my own expense. So I boycotted. Or, more acurately, I told Co-teach that I didn’t want to go, and she explained to the director in Georgian.
Since I didn’t go to the event, I was home when Neighbour Boy came over for help with his English homework (from private lessons). He was writing a practice version of the exam that they have to pass to get into university. The test was obviously not written by a native English speaker. Many of the questions don’t actually make sense, and one asked for information that wasn’t even in the test. What these kids need is not actually English instruction, but multiple choice test taking instruction.
While we were working on that, Neighbour Boy’s little brother, Monkey (so called because he climbs the fruit trees), brought me some persimmons. Turns out that they’re not bad once they’re actually ripe. I ate one while we worked and Monkey disappeared again. Just as we were finishing, he showed up with pears. They were for the family, but he made a point of giving one to me. I figure he’s trying to suck up, since he’s in my grade 9 class.
I ate dinner with HM and read in the living room while Bebia watched tv. After donating a pint of blood to the mosquitoes, I retreated upstairs. The rest of the evening was spent watching tv, playing on the internet and reading. All in all, a pleasant way to spend a Friday.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Sept. 23 - gossiping in georgian
Nothing feels quite as good as reaching the satisfying conclusion of an entertaining and well-written novel/ series. At least for me. I just finished the third book in Maria Snyder’s "Glass" trilogy. The bad guys were defeated and the good guys got married and everything worked out alright in the end. Good thing, too, or I’d be really upset that I stayed up until 2am reading last night.
Thanks to my late night, school was...tiring. Today was a 4 class day and there was only one class in which more than half of the students had completed their homework. Since the beginning of lessons are often related to taking up the homework and ensuring understanding, this put a serious crimp in my plans.
By break time, I needed the caffeine jolt from a turkish coffee. After I finished my coffee, I practiced swirling it around, so that it coats the cup in the right way for fortune telling. I need practice, because every time I’ve had my fortune told, Co-teach has done it for me (though I always turn the cup myself, because that’s the critical part).
I didn’t actually want a reading, today, but one of the teachers was joking around and did one for me anyways. It didn’t bother her at all that she doesn’t actually know how to do it. Of course, she told me that I would marry a nice Georgian boy and stay here forever. I’m told this at least 3 times a week.
At least with Co-teach and this other teacher, I know that they are joking. Another woman came in and told me that she has a 29 year old son that I should marry. I don’t think she was joking. Next thing, a teacher came in and told both me and Co-teach that eating many peanuts will make young girls "want a man", so we should be careful. (Usually, we have peanuts with our coffee). But then, since the goal is to get me married, they decided that they would feed me peanuts all the time.
When I got home, I had lunch with HB1. I wasn’t very hungry (after all those peanuts) but I can never resist t’olma (stuffed peppers). I had one pepper and a piece of bread with fig jam. I was just washing up my dishes when Bebia drew my attention to apple sauce on the stove. I told her I would have some later, but she wouldn’t hear of it and gave me a bowl right then. It was delicious. The apples here may not be much for eating plain, but boiled in sauce with a Georgian amount of sugar, they are heavenly.
Pop was supposed to come play, today but the forces of Georgia conspired to keep him home. First, it’s been raining on and off all day. But he’s also not feeling well, so I told him to rest up for my birthday party on Saturday. I’m a little bummed that he didn’t come out, but at the same time, I had a chance to finish my book. And I’m not exactly feeling in top form, myself.
My allergies have come on like gangbusters in the last couple of weeks. I’ve been going through Benadryl like they’re candy. I figure it’s from living out in a village, in a house with an orchard in the backyard. Everywhere I look, there’s nature. And while I love the aesthetics of nature, my sinuses don’t appreciate the realities of nature.
I’ve been trying to be more social in the evenings, before the English tv comes on. So I was downstairs, reading my Stephen King book, when HB1 walked up to me and presented his notebook with a flourish. He was so proud of himself and when I looked, I saw that it was his English book from school. We sat together for about 15 minutes, with me trying to say the Georgian words (while he corrected my pronounciation) and him trying to say the English ones (while I corrected him). It was really cute.
The impromptu lesson ended when HM called me into the kitchen to have roasted chestnuts with her, Nanny (she literally is the nanny) and our neighbour Cute (she's adorable). They chatted and eventually, HM asked me about my birthday on Saturday. She doesn’t actually know the word birthday on its own, but only as part of "Happy birthday to you" the song. I was glad she brought it up, because it was the perfect opening to tell her about the party and that I’m staying in Batumi Saturday. Then she asked me if I’d be home on Sunday, which leads me to believe she’s planning something.
I took my leave of the ladies and had only been upstairs for a couple of minutes, when the two younger women came up to the other room for the internet. They’ve been on there a lot the last couple of weeks. I wonder what they’re doing, but I don’t have the Georgian to ask, and they don’t have the English to answer. I could probably figure out how to say it, but that would require a lot of effort, and I’m not that curious.
Thanks to my late night, school was...tiring. Today was a 4 class day and there was only one class in which more than half of the students had completed their homework. Since the beginning of lessons are often related to taking up the homework and ensuring understanding, this put a serious crimp in my plans.
By break time, I needed the caffeine jolt from a turkish coffee. After I finished my coffee, I practiced swirling it around, so that it coats the cup in the right way for fortune telling. I need practice, because every time I’ve had my fortune told, Co-teach has done it for me (though I always turn the cup myself, because that’s the critical part).
I didn’t actually want a reading, today, but one of the teachers was joking around and did one for me anyways. It didn’t bother her at all that she doesn’t actually know how to do it. Of course, she told me that I would marry a nice Georgian boy and stay here forever. I’m told this at least 3 times a week.
At least with Co-teach and this other teacher, I know that they are joking. Another woman came in and told me that she has a 29 year old son that I should marry. I don’t think she was joking. Next thing, a teacher came in and told both me and Co-teach that eating many peanuts will make young girls "want a man", so we should be careful. (Usually, we have peanuts with our coffee). But then, since the goal is to get me married, they decided that they would feed me peanuts all the time.
When I got home, I had lunch with HB1. I wasn’t very hungry (after all those peanuts) but I can never resist t’olma (stuffed peppers). I had one pepper and a piece of bread with fig jam. I was just washing up my dishes when Bebia drew my attention to apple sauce on the stove. I told her I would have some later, but she wouldn’t hear of it and gave me a bowl right then. It was delicious. The apples here may not be much for eating plain, but boiled in sauce with a Georgian amount of sugar, they are heavenly.
Pop was supposed to come play, today but the forces of Georgia conspired to keep him home. First, it’s been raining on and off all day. But he’s also not feeling well, so I told him to rest up for my birthday party on Saturday. I’m a little bummed that he didn’t come out, but at the same time, I had a chance to finish my book. And I’m not exactly feeling in top form, myself.
My allergies have come on like gangbusters in the last couple of weeks. I’ve been going through Benadryl like they’re candy. I figure it’s from living out in a village, in a house with an orchard in the backyard. Everywhere I look, there’s nature. And while I love the aesthetics of nature, my sinuses don’t appreciate the realities of nature.
I’ve been trying to be more social in the evenings, before the English tv comes on. So I was downstairs, reading my Stephen King book, when HB1 walked up to me and presented his notebook with a flourish. He was so proud of himself and when I looked, I saw that it was his English book from school. We sat together for about 15 minutes, with me trying to say the Georgian words (while he corrected my pronounciation) and him trying to say the English ones (while I corrected him). It was really cute.
The impromptu lesson ended when HM called me into the kitchen to have roasted chestnuts with her, Nanny (she literally is the nanny) and our neighbour Cute (she's adorable). They chatted and eventually, HM asked me about my birthday on Saturday. She doesn’t actually know the word birthday on its own, but only as part of "Happy birthday to you" the song. I was glad she brought it up, because it was the perfect opening to tell her about the party and that I’m staying in Batumi Saturday. Then she asked me if I’d be home on Sunday, which leads me to believe she’s planning something.
I took my leave of the ladies and had only been upstairs for a couple of minutes, when the two younger women came up to the other room for the internet. They’ve been on there a lot the last couple of weeks. I wonder what they’re doing, but I don’t have the Georgian to ask, and they don’t have the English to answer. I could probably figure out how to say it, but that would require a lot of effort, and I’m not that curious.
Sept. 22 - Hump Day, if only
I was late going down to breakfast this morning (not that there seems to be any sort of routine), so by the time I got there, everyone was done but Bebia. When I had gotten my cereal and sat down she told me that HD was going away for 10 days. She told me where, but I didn’t understand, and I don’t know enough Georgian to ask her why. I assume it’s for business of some sort.
School was pretty good. Grade 12 had more kids than I’ve seen since last week, but I figure it’s because when I have that class on Monday and Friday, it’s the last class of the day. On Wed it’s period 2. They were really chatty, though, so I made one kid stand at the front, so he couldn’t talk to his neighbours and another kid walked out when I told him to stand at the front as well. I don’t much care. If he doesn’t want to learn, then I don’t want him in my class distracting the others. The grade 9 class was much better than normal, and it’s all because two of the boys were away. It changed the whole complexion of the class. I got my coffee grounds read again. It was pretty much the same stuff as last time.
After school, I had a snack. When I went through the living room, my host brothers were watching either Evil Dead or Evil Dead II. It was hilarious. Every time there was a kissing scene, HB1 changed the channel. He’d flip back and leave it, if the kissing was done, or change it again, if it wasn’t. It made me think of Princess Bride, when Fred Savage doesn’t want to here about the kissing parts. I eventually got fed up trying to hear the English through the Georgian dubbing, so I came upstairs and chatted with Boston and Sailor on the phone. I also watched tv.
Around 7ish I went downstairs to socialize and found the English-speaking neighbour and her sister visiting. So I played nice for a while and then got roped into an English lesson with HB1. While we were having the lesson, HB3 was walking through the room repeating his version of my name. It was really cute.
School was pretty good. Grade 12 had more kids than I’ve seen since last week, but I figure it’s because when I have that class on Monday and Friday, it’s the last class of the day. On Wed it’s period 2. They were really chatty, though, so I made one kid stand at the front, so he couldn’t talk to his neighbours and another kid walked out when I told him to stand at the front as well. I don’t much care. If he doesn’t want to learn, then I don’t want him in my class distracting the others. The grade 9 class was much better than normal, and it’s all because two of the boys were away. It changed the whole complexion of the class. I got my coffee grounds read again. It was pretty much the same stuff as last time.
After school, I had a snack. When I went through the living room, my host brothers were watching either Evil Dead or Evil Dead II. It was hilarious. Every time there was a kissing scene, HB1 changed the channel. He’d flip back and leave it, if the kissing was done, or change it again, if it wasn’t. It made me think of Princess Bride, when Fred Savage doesn’t want to here about the kissing parts. I eventually got fed up trying to hear the English through the Georgian dubbing, so I came upstairs and chatted with Boston and Sailor on the phone. I also watched tv.
Around 7ish I went downstairs to socialize and found the English-speaking neighbour and her sister visiting. So I played nice for a while and then got roped into an English lesson with HB1. While we were having the lesson, HB3 was walking through the room repeating his version of my name. It was really cute.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Sept. 21 - Another Concert
School today was the same as any other day. The classes are getting better at listening and learning how I do things. Some fun Georgian things I noticed today, our photocopier often doesn’t work and when it does, there is no paper. I also got to sit in on a grade 12 gym class. It consisted of the kids sitting on one bench, chatting, while the teacher sat on another bench (across the volleyball and basketball courts) with me and Co-teach. The students don’t like to do gym, so they don’t. I feel that this is where the boys begin to develop their Georgian male potbellies.
During our break, the director came into the classroom on the phone. She said some things to Co-teach in Georgian and Co-teach looked at me. There was some back and forth between the phone, the director and Co-teach, but eventually, it was relayed to me that there was a concert in Kobuleti for the English teachers. I asked when and the (typically Georgian) answer was, "tonight".
Everything in this country happens "not yet" or "five minutes ago". I immediately texted the other teachers in the area to find out what was going on. None of us got any information, so we arranged to meet at the Resource Center and find out together what was going on.
I left at about 3 to go down the mountain, knowing that the concert was supposed to start at 5. I never know when the buses will come (because they don’t run on a schedule) so I always like to leave extra time. I had no sooner walked out the gate when our neighbour across the street called me (he literally shouted my name) and asked where I was going. When I told him, he said his dad would give me a ride. A couple of houses down we stopped to pick up three teachers from my school who were also going to the ERC, so it worked out really well.
I met the others at the ERC only to find out that we had to go to the marshrutka stand. Luckily it was close and we got there. When a few teachers didn’t show, we called them, only to find out that some of them hadn’t even been told, or had been told, but too late to arrange transport into Kobuleti. Once we had all gethered, we got on the marshrutka and were on our way. To what, we didn’t know, but whe were going.
The concert was not nearly as bad as the last one we went to. It was outside in a field full of trees, too evenly spaced to be natural, but big and old none-the-less. The event was also more like a pep-rally than a concert. The M.C. kept calling for audience participation. Then a female singer performed a couple of Georgian songs. She was followed by a male, who did "People are Strange" and a really old Nickleback song. Then they called us all up on stage and asked us to speak a couple words of Georgian. Those of us who could, said things like, "hello" and "Georgia is beautiful" and "we love Georgia", before scampering off stage. We waited back stage for a while and a male performer sang "Hey Jude" followed by a lot of Georgian songs, but he was really good, so we didn’t mind listening. We got called near the stage one more time to talk to a man who works, in some capacity in the Kobuleti education. He tried to speak a few sentences of English to us and then fell into Russian with Translator (because she can speak Russian with the Georgians).
Since Pop teaches in the north end of Kobuleti, which is where the concert was, a bunch of his students were there. They were right at the front of the stage, waving and shouting. It was really cute. A couple of Sailors’ students were there as well, but they were grade 12's, which meant they were too cool to speak to a teacher in public. While we were hanging out back stage, a bunch of boys from Pop’s school came over to talk to him, though they weren’t actually his students. When I went over to say ‘hey’ a couple of them recognized me and knew what village I live in. A couple of weeks ago, that may have freaked me out, but now I’m used to it.
When we were ready to go, we flagged down a marshrutka, because we couldn’t find the one that brought us out there. We caused it to make many stops on the way through Kobuleti and when most of us got out at the bus station, I think the driver was relieved. We’d been at the concert long enough that I missed the last bus up the mountain, so Sailor and I split a taxi partway. She walked the rest of the way, and I carried on to my house.
At home, I ate. Dinner was a really good eggplant stew-type thing and french fries. Then I came upstairs and turned on the TV while I read another Stephen King short story. I watched Leno and the making of Spartacus, but I had a doozy of a headache, so I was in bed by 10:30.
During our break, the director came into the classroom on the phone. She said some things to Co-teach in Georgian and Co-teach looked at me. There was some back and forth between the phone, the director and Co-teach, but eventually, it was relayed to me that there was a concert in Kobuleti for the English teachers. I asked when and the (typically Georgian) answer was, "tonight".
Everything in this country happens "not yet" or "five minutes ago". I immediately texted the other teachers in the area to find out what was going on. None of us got any information, so we arranged to meet at the Resource Center and find out together what was going on.
I left at about 3 to go down the mountain, knowing that the concert was supposed to start at 5. I never know when the buses will come (because they don’t run on a schedule) so I always like to leave extra time. I had no sooner walked out the gate when our neighbour across the street called me (he literally shouted my name) and asked where I was going. When I told him, he said his dad would give me a ride. A couple of houses down we stopped to pick up three teachers from my school who were also going to the ERC, so it worked out really well.
I met the others at the ERC only to find out that we had to go to the marshrutka stand. Luckily it was close and we got there. When a few teachers didn’t show, we called them, only to find out that some of them hadn’t even been told, or had been told, but too late to arrange transport into Kobuleti. Once we had all gethered, we got on the marshrutka and were on our way. To what, we didn’t know, but whe were going.
The concert was not nearly as bad as the last one we went to. It was outside in a field full of trees, too evenly spaced to be natural, but big and old none-the-less. The event was also more like a pep-rally than a concert. The M.C. kept calling for audience participation. Then a female singer performed a couple of Georgian songs. She was followed by a male, who did "People are Strange" and a really old Nickleback song. Then they called us all up on stage and asked us to speak a couple words of Georgian. Those of us who could, said things like, "hello" and "Georgia is beautiful" and "we love Georgia", before scampering off stage. We waited back stage for a while and a male performer sang "Hey Jude" followed by a lot of Georgian songs, but he was really good, so we didn’t mind listening. We got called near the stage one more time to talk to a man who works, in some capacity in the Kobuleti education. He tried to speak a few sentences of English to us and then fell into Russian with Translator (because she can speak Russian with the Georgians).
Since Pop teaches in the north end of Kobuleti, which is where the concert was, a bunch of his students were there. They were right at the front of the stage, waving and shouting. It was really cute. A couple of Sailors’ students were there as well, but they were grade 12's, which meant they were too cool to speak to a teacher in public. While we were hanging out back stage, a bunch of boys from Pop’s school came over to talk to him, though they weren’t actually his students. When I went over to say ‘hey’ a couple of them recognized me and knew what village I live in. A couple of weeks ago, that may have freaked me out, but now I’m used to it.
When we were ready to go, we flagged down a marshrutka, because we couldn’t find the one that brought us out there. We caused it to make many stops on the way through Kobuleti and when most of us got out at the bus station, I think the driver was relieved. We’d been at the concert long enough that I missed the last bus up the mountain, so Sailor and I split a taxi partway. She walked the rest of the way, and I carried on to my house.
At home, I ate. Dinner was a really good eggplant stew-type thing and french fries. Then I came upstairs and turned on the TV while I read another Stephen King short story. I watched Leno and the making of Spartacus, but I had a doozy of a headache, so I was in bed by 10:30.
Sept. 20 - Monday, Monday
My classes at school today were pretty much the same as any other day. But some things that happened between classes were very typically Georgian. First, during our break, we were sitting in the cafeteria. Three girls came in, while they were supposed to be in P.E. and bought candy, to consume during the remained of their class. Next, we wandered outside to get some fresh air, and happened through a different P.E. class. At first the children were just running all over the place and climbing the soccer nets/basketball hoop poles. Then the teacher lined them all up and brought out a basketball. I was expecting them to play basketball, but nope. The game of the day was dodgeball. It got even more interesting when the 12th grade class decided to play, too.
While this class was happening, the teacher who was supposed to be teaching it, chatted with me and Keti. She invite me to go to Batumi with them. I said sure and then she suggested a trip to Turkey some time. Since I’ve been wanting to go to Turkey, I was all for it, but I had to explain about a Visa. Keti didn’t quite get it, but I explained again, so they’ve decided that we can go in October after we all get paid.
After school, the neighbour across the street, who is one of my students, asked me to help him prepare for his private English lesson that evening. I said sure and he came over with his books. The very first question was an ‘arrange the words to make a sentence’ question and he was stumped. He showed me the word that had stumped him and I laughed. I couldn’t help it, because the word was Val. I explained that it was my name and then he laughed as hard as I did.
On T.V. tonight was Veronica Mars. I almost died of happiness, especially when they started at Season 1, episode 1. I read some more Stephen King and has bizzare dreams all night. I’ve decided no more Stephen King before bed.
While this class was happening, the teacher who was supposed to be teaching it, chatted with me and Keti. She invite me to go to Batumi with them. I said sure and then she suggested a trip to Turkey some time. Since I’ve been wanting to go to Turkey, I was all for it, but I had to explain about a Visa. Keti didn’t quite get it, but I explained again, so they’ve decided that we can go in October after we all get paid.
After school, the neighbour across the street, who is one of my students, asked me to help him prepare for his private English lesson that evening. I said sure and he came over with his books. The very first question was an ‘arrange the words to make a sentence’ question and he was stumped. He showed me the word that had stumped him and I laughed. I couldn’t help it, because the word was Val. I explained that it was my name and then he laughed as hard as I did.
On T.V. tonight was Veronica Mars. I almost died of happiness, especially when they started at Season 1, episode 1. I read some more Stephen King and has bizzare dreams all night. I’ve decided no more Stephen King before bed.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Sept. 19 - The weekend
Yesterday I spent the day in Kobuleti with The Sailor (because she used to work on boats). Before going into the city, though, I had an English lesson with HB1. When we were finished I left and started walking for the city. About halfway down the mountain, HM and HD passed me in the car. They stopped and picked me up and drove me in.
I had a while to kill, waiting for The Sailor, so I walked up the main street looking for a bakery where Kiwi (she's from New Zealand) and I had gotten really good cakes. I walked a long way up and was pretty sure I’d passed the café, but hadn’t seen it. So I turned around, just as The Sailor called me that she was in town.
We met up and then headed into the Kobuleti bizarre area. The Sailor was looking for school supplies and the hunt was on. We stopped in so many little market stalls and shops and none of them had what she was looking for. We did manage to find a 24 pack of Crayola crayons for about 80 cents, though.
After the school supply search fizzled out, we went back to the cake hunt. We finally found the bakery, but it was closed, I’m hoping that it was closed because it was Saturday and not because the tourist season ended. After stopping in at every open café, none of which had cake, we finally found the blessed bakery cooler in a little mini-mart, right by the bus station. The pieces of cake were huge and only cost about 80 cents. Way better than a café. The Sailor and I took our treats around the corner, where we sat on a stoop, in true Georgian style, to wait for Boston (it's where she's from) to arrive.
When Boston finally got there, she got some cake from a market and then we went to a café for a drink. She and I swapped pieces and both were delicious. We all decided to walk home, partly to save money and partly because Sarah wanted to take pictures of the countryside. We made it past The Sailor's turn-off, but then a bus full of teachers from my school went by and stopped to wait for us.
We took the ride back to my house. We had a bit of a snack and then came upstairs. We spent the evening watching English tv. Shows of note include "The Simpsons" and "How I Met Your Mother". At one point, Bebia and HB3 came in, so Boston played with him, while I translated conversation between her and Bebia. When the English tv started sucking, we put music videos on in the background and read our respective books. I got a book of Stephen King short stories out of the library on Friday and they are super messed up.
This morning we were lazy and slept in. Even once we got up, we had breakfast and then continued to lounge around in our pajamas for hours. Since Turk tv doesn’t show English shows during the day, we read our books and put on music videos. I read some of the Stephen King book, but had to switch to something less bizzare. We also discussed the tres exclusive guest list for my birthday party next week. Finally, around 1 we decided to head into Kobuleti to hang with Pop (called because of his habit of randomly singing pop songs mid-convo) . Since there were no buses in sight, we decided to walk down, giving Boston the chance to take more pictures. When we got a little way down, a car saw us and stopped to give us a ride. It was someone from the village, whom I didn’t know, but they greeted me by name, so we crammed into the back seat and made it safely into town.
After a stop for cake, we headed to the beach boulevard to meet Pop. We met up and chatted on the walk back to Pop’s house. His host family served us a ton of food for lunch and then we were all sleepy. We started to walk back toward the bus station, so that Boston could get back to Batumi and I could go home, but we flagged down a marshrutka. It happened to be the same green one that I took on Friday, with the detour and the drunk guy, though today there was neither of those things. Turns out, Pop knows the driver. I got them to stop at the station and took a taxi home, because I’m too impatient to wait for the bus.
At home, I read and napped a little and was then called downstairs. I got there in time to eat some roasted chestnuts with HM and Bebia. The chestnuts are cool, because they grow inside these spiky green balls, which get left all over the roadsides under the chestnut trees. I helped HB1 through his English homework and now I’m hanging out upstairs watching Cold Case, Big Bang Theory and Doctor Who.
P.S. We also finally figured out that the herb that they put in everything is coriander. Turns out I don’t like coriander. At all. I can’t wait to eat food without dill or coriander.
I had a while to kill, waiting for The Sailor, so I walked up the main street looking for a bakery where Kiwi (she's from New Zealand) and I had gotten really good cakes. I walked a long way up and was pretty sure I’d passed the café, but hadn’t seen it. So I turned around, just as The Sailor called me that she was in town.
We met up and then headed into the Kobuleti bizarre area. The Sailor was looking for school supplies and the hunt was on. We stopped in so many little market stalls and shops and none of them had what she was looking for. We did manage to find a 24 pack of Crayola crayons for about 80 cents, though.
After the school supply search fizzled out, we went back to the cake hunt. We finally found the bakery, but it was closed, I’m hoping that it was closed because it was Saturday and not because the tourist season ended. After stopping in at every open café, none of which had cake, we finally found the blessed bakery cooler in a little mini-mart, right by the bus station. The pieces of cake were huge and only cost about 80 cents. Way better than a café. The Sailor and I took our treats around the corner, where we sat on a stoop, in true Georgian style, to wait for Boston (it's where she's from) to arrive.
When Boston finally got there, she got some cake from a market and then we went to a café for a drink. She and I swapped pieces and both were delicious. We all decided to walk home, partly to save money and partly because Sarah wanted to take pictures of the countryside. We made it past The Sailor's turn-off, but then a bus full of teachers from my school went by and stopped to wait for us.
We took the ride back to my house. We had a bit of a snack and then came upstairs. We spent the evening watching English tv. Shows of note include "The Simpsons" and "How I Met Your Mother". At one point, Bebia and HB3 came in, so Boston played with him, while I translated conversation between her and Bebia. When the English tv started sucking, we put music videos on in the background and read our respective books. I got a book of Stephen King short stories out of the library on Friday and they are super messed up.
This morning we were lazy and slept in. Even once we got up, we had breakfast and then continued to lounge around in our pajamas for hours. Since Turk tv doesn’t show English shows during the day, we read our books and put on music videos. I read some of the Stephen King book, but had to switch to something less bizzare. We also discussed the tres exclusive guest list for my birthday party next week. Finally, around 1 we decided to head into Kobuleti to hang with Pop (called because of his habit of randomly singing pop songs mid-convo) . Since there were no buses in sight, we decided to walk down, giving Boston the chance to take more pictures. When we got a little way down, a car saw us and stopped to give us a ride. It was someone from the village, whom I didn’t know, but they greeted me by name, so we crammed into the back seat and made it safely into town.
After a stop for cake, we headed to the beach boulevard to meet Pop. We met up and chatted on the walk back to Pop’s house. His host family served us a ton of food for lunch and then we were all sleepy. We started to walk back toward the bus station, so that Boston could get back to Batumi and I could go home, but we flagged down a marshrutka. It happened to be the same green one that I took on Friday, with the detour and the drunk guy, though today there was neither of those things. Turns out, Pop knows the driver. I got them to stop at the station and took a taxi home, because I’m too impatient to wait for the bus.
At home, I read and napped a little and was then called downstairs. I got there in time to eat some roasted chestnuts with HM and Bebia. The chestnuts are cool, because they grow inside these spiky green balls, which get left all over the roadsides under the chestnut trees. I helped HB1 through his English homework and now I’m hanging out upstairs watching Cold Case, Big Bang Theory and Doctor Who.
P.S. We also finally figured out that the herb that they put in everything is coriander. Turns out I don’t like coriander. At all. I can’t wait to eat food without dill or coriander.
Note on Names
When I started writing the Georgian section of this blog, I called people by their first initials, to preserve privacy. Unfortunately, many names start with the same letters, causing some confusion. From here on, I'll be calling my friends by fictional names, thus avaiding the confusion of initials.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Sept. 17 - TGIF
Finally, Friday. Lessons today went well. K and I are working well. Our school has no computer paper, because the store was closed when they tried to buy it. It’s a little frustrating, because we can’t get enough copies of things for our whole class. But the kids are settling in and since the village is so small, everyone now knows that I am very strict.
On our break today, K and I went to the cafeteria, which is the size of a classroom with a cooler, a hot plate and 3 little tables. The cafeteria ladies are K’s aunt and cousin. A big social thing here is the drinking of Turkish coffe. It’s really strong and served in tiny little cups. Because of the way it is made, each cup ends up with grounds in it. You can read the grounds that are left in your cup, as a means of fortune telling. K’s aunt is one of the people who can do this and she offered to read mine. I find it really funny, but I’m still not going to tell anyone what she said, because then it might not come true.
Our last class of the day was grade 12. Since it was a beautiful day and no one takes attendance, we only had six of our 17 year olds in class. Of course, I live on the main street from the school, so all the students walk around me on my way to and from work.
I decided to go to Batumi when I finished, so after a quick change of clothes, I went out to wait for the bus. One of the teachers told me not to wait where I was, so I walked down the street with her. Then waited for a bus near the stop. I got tired of waiting, so I flagged down a cab, When we got to the bus station, I tried to pay him, but he wouldn’t let me, cuz I think he wasn’t actually a cab. Then a bunch of my grade 12 students were hanging out there and watched me while I was trying to flag down a marshrutka.
One finally approached me to tell me that there was a marshrutka waiting at the corner, which I knew, but I don’t like those ones, because you have to wait a long time. But I got sick of being stared at by my students, so I went over. I arranged things with the driver and went to get in. But he wouldn’t let me get into the back with everyone else, he made me sit up front, which was fine. When we got underway, we didn’t head toward Batumi, but back into Kobuletti. We did a circuit of the main road and came back to stop in exactly the same spot we started from. At this point, I’ve been on the marshrutka for a half hour and gotten nowhere. We finally got going (in the right direction) and the drunk guy next to me started asking me questions in Georgian. When I couldn’t answer satisfactorily, he started talking across me to the driver. At one point I think he asked me to marry him, of course it was in Georgian, so he couldd’ve been proposing something else all together. He got off partway and the rest of the ride was fine.
I met Alexis at the library, and finally got my card. The selection isn’t great, but I found a book of Stephen King short stories that’ll probably be good. I just miss holding a real book. From there we moved on to the Lit café (surprise, surprise).
S joined us, followed by W and A (lives in Chakvi). We ordered pizza (made with Georgian cheese, but sans mayo) and cake. The guys and S were going to a movie at the film festival, but A and I didn’t stay because it was pretty late. We made it home with no random transportation mishaps, though I missed the last bus up the mountain and had to take a taxi.
I wanted to escape upstairs when I got home because there are about 6 screaming kids running around here. Just after I got settled, HM arrived home with two of her sisters-in-law. Food was produced and I went down to eat. Trying to watch Gossip Girl was a trial, due to the aforementioned screaming children and the fact that one decided to play the piano in the room next to mine without shutting the door.
However, the children are gone now and things are peaceful once more.
On our break today, K and I went to the cafeteria, which is the size of a classroom with a cooler, a hot plate and 3 little tables. The cafeteria ladies are K’s aunt and cousin. A big social thing here is the drinking of Turkish coffe. It’s really strong and served in tiny little cups. Because of the way it is made, each cup ends up with grounds in it. You can read the grounds that are left in your cup, as a means of fortune telling. K’s aunt is one of the people who can do this and she offered to read mine. I find it really funny, but I’m still not going to tell anyone what she said, because then it might not come true.
Our last class of the day was grade 12. Since it was a beautiful day and no one takes attendance, we only had six of our 17 year olds in class. Of course, I live on the main street from the school, so all the students walk around me on my way to and from work.
I decided to go to Batumi when I finished, so after a quick change of clothes, I went out to wait for the bus. One of the teachers told me not to wait where I was, so I walked down the street with her. Then waited for a bus near the stop. I got tired of waiting, so I flagged down a cab, When we got to the bus station, I tried to pay him, but he wouldn’t let me, cuz I think he wasn’t actually a cab. Then a bunch of my grade 12 students were hanging out there and watched me while I was trying to flag down a marshrutka.
One finally approached me to tell me that there was a marshrutka waiting at the corner, which I knew, but I don’t like those ones, because you have to wait a long time. But I got sick of being stared at by my students, so I went over. I arranged things with the driver and went to get in. But he wouldn’t let me get into the back with everyone else, he made me sit up front, which was fine. When we got underway, we didn’t head toward Batumi, but back into Kobuletti. We did a circuit of the main road and came back to stop in exactly the same spot we started from. At this point, I’ve been on the marshrutka for a half hour and gotten nowhere. We finally got going (in the right direction) and the drunk guy next to me started asking me questions in Georgian. When I couldn’t answer satisfactorily, he started talking across me to the driver. At one point I think he asked me to marry him, of course it was in Georgian, so he couldd’ve been proposing something else all together. He got off partway and the rest of the ride was fine.
I met Alexis at the library, and finally got my card. The selection isn’t great, but I found a book of Stephen King short stories that’ll probably be good. I just miss holding a real book. From there we moved on to the Lit café (surprise, surprise).
S joined us, followed by W and A (lives in Chakvi). We ordered pizza (made with Georgian cheese, but sans mayo) and cake. The guys and S were going to a movie at the film festival, but A and I didn’t stay because it was pretty late. We made it home with no random transportation mishaps, though I missed the last bus up the mountain and had to take a taxi.
I wanted to escape upstairs when I got home because there are about 6 screaming kids running around here. Just after I got settled, HM arrived home with two of her sisters-in-law. Food was produced and I went down to eat. Trying to watch Gossip Girl was a trial, due to the aforementioned screaming children and the fact that one decided to play the piano in the room next to mine without shutting the door.
However, the children are gone now and things are peaceful once more.
Sept. 16 - Trying to reclaim sanity
The power was still out this morning when I woke up. I’m getting used to it, but it meant that I couldn’t go online to get help for my e-reader (thanks to the super short battery life of my laptop). I gave up on that for the time being and just got ready for school.
I was there before 9, but the students weren’t, so school actually started at 9:10. Today we had the three classes that we didn’t see yesterday and the Grade 9 class for the second time. They are my least favourite class. There are 21 students (the largest class I have) and half of them are boys who don’t want to be there. The biggest problem is that they talk all the time and I can’t hear the person I’m trying to listen to. I’ve decided to bring in my book of nursery rhymes and fairy tales and making them read in front of the class every time they interrupt a lesson.
After school, I went over the wall. I could not stay in the village for another afternoon. So I waited half an hour for the bus and went into Batumi. I was supposed to meet W at the café, but he decided to go to Turkey with S and K. Everything worked out, cuz I met C (Vancouver) and F (South Africa) there instead and then F showed me the library.
My bus ride home was an adventure. First, we went the opposite way when we left the station. Then we drove through this random, back-alley market in Kobuleti, where we stopped so that a woman and her market stand could get on. While we were stopped another woman got off, so we waited for her. Under way again, we only made it a couple blocks more when we stopped again to let a cop get on (I would’ve stopped for the cop, too). Finally, using random side roads, we made it back to the main street and started up the mountain, but all of the extra stops and detours took 20 minutes. Normally, it takes 5 to go from the station to my house.
Since A (NYC) often gets into random situations on public transit, I texted her each time something bizzare happened. She called me just as I got home and we chatted for an hour. But now I have to go get something to eat, so I don’t miss my nightly instalment of Gossip Girl.
XOXO
I was there before 9, but the students weren’t, so school actually started at 9:10. Today we had the three classes that we didn’t see yesterday and the Grade 9 class for the second time. They are my least favourite class. There are 21 students (the largest class I have) and half of them are boys who don’t want to be there. The biggest problem is that they talk all the time and I can’t hear the person I’m trying to listen to. I’ve decided to bring in my book of nursery rhymes and fairy tales and making them read in front of the class every time they interrupt a lesson.
After school, I went over the wall. I could not stay in the village for another afternoon. So I waited half an hour for the bus and went into Batumi. I was supposed to meet W at the café, but he decided to go to Turkey with S and K. Everything worked out, cuz I met C (Vancouver) and F (South Africa) there instead and then F showed me the library.
My bus ride home was an adventure. First, we went the opposite way when we left the station. Then we drove through this random, back-alley market in Kobuleti, where we stopped so that a woman and her market stand could get on. While we were stopped another woman got off, so we waited for her. Under way again, we only made it a couple blocks more when we stopped again to let a cop get on (I would’ve stopped for the cop, too). Finally, using random side roads, we made it back to the main street and started up the mountain, but all of the extra stops and detours took 20 minutes. Normally, it takes 5 to go from the station to my house.
Since A (NYC) often gets into random situations on public transit, I texted her each time something bizzare happened. She called me just as I got home and we chatted for an hour. But now I have to go get something to eat, so I don’t miss my nightly instalment of Gossip Girl.
XOXO
Sept. 15 - First day of school
The last few days have been super lame. Yesterday it was pouring down rain and I went to school because K asked me to. I figured we’d be doing our last minute prep for classes starting Wed. But no. She wanted me to meet one of her students, which I did. However, the student was so nervous, that she didn’t even speak to me, except to say goodbye at the end. We literally did nothing else, so I left around 12. I made it home and read a book and talked on the phone all afternoon, because it literally rained all day.
Today was the first day kids were at school. There was an assembly in the morning where the director spoke and then some kids said some poems. Culturally, they show no respect to performers. Even when the director was speaking, everyone was talking to each other and pretty much ignoring her. This worked for me, because it meant that when she called me to the front to introduce me, no one was paying attention. But this trend carries over into classes and it’s really frustrating when all Georgian buildings have terrible accoustics. Wanna hear a whisper from 3 rooms away, you’re in the right place. Want to hear what the person in front of you just said, better luck next time.
Since the assembly ran for 45 minutes, the entire school day was pushed back by 45 mins. No shortening classes to fit a school day, here. They lengthen the school day, so students always have all of their classes. It’s super annoying when I’m supposed to be done by 1:45 and don’t get out until 2:30.
Also, because of the flexible nature of the school day, there’s no timetable. We have a schedule, but we don’t know what time 4th period starts. We have to listen for the bells. It’s a pain in the ass for the days we have double spare and I need to run home (not that that will be happening now, but I’d kinda hoped....)
Back at home I interneted and read some in the afternoon. I spent a lot of time on the phone with W, K (not my co-teacher) and S. We all rehashed our first days and the more I hear, the more I realize how lucky I am, in my school. My teacher is a good teacher who is open to my ideas and doesn’t just teach from the textbook.
But, they were all hanging out in the city, (W and S in Batumi and K in Kobuleti) while I’m stuck up on the mountain. I realized that I haven’t left the village since Borjomi on Sunday and that’s the reason that I’m going a little stir crazy. It doesn’t help that my e-reader was acting funky and I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. The power went out at about 10:30, so I packed everything up and went to bed.
Today was the first day kids were at school. There was an assembly in the morning where the director spoke and then some kids said some poems. Culturally, they show no respect to performers. Even when the director was speaking, everyone was talking to each other and pretty much ignoring her. This worked for me, because it meant that when she called me to the front to introduce me, no one was paying attention. But this trend carries over into classes and it’s really frustrating when all Georgian buildings have terrible accoustics. Wanna hear a whisper from 3 rooms away, you’re in the right place. Want to hear what the person in front of you just said, better luck next time.
Since the assembly ran for 45 minutes, the entire school day was pushed back by 45 mins. No shortening classes to fit a school day, here. They lengthen the school day, so students always have all of their classes. It’s super annoying when I’m supposed to be done by 1:45 and don’t get out until 2:30.
Also, because of the flexible nature of the school day, there’s no timetable. We have a schedule, but we don’t know what time 4th period starts. We have to listen for the bells. It’s a pain in the ass for the days we have double spare and I need to run home (not that that will be happening now, but I’d kinda hoped....)
Back at home I interneted and read some in the afternoon. I spent a lot of time on the phone with W, K (not my co-teacher) and S. We all rehashed our first days and the more I hear, the more I realize how lucky I am, in my school. My teacher is a good teacher who is open to my ideas and doesn’t just teach from the textbook.
But, they were all hanging out in the city, (W and S in Batumi and K in Kobuleti) while I’m stuck up on the mountain. I realized that I haven’t left the village since Borjomi on Sunday and that’s the reason that I’m going a little stir crazy. It doesn’t help that my e-reader was acting funky and I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. The power went out at about 10:30, so I packed everything up and went to bed.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Sept. 13 - English TV.
The most notable thing about today is that I discovered a European NBC channel that is showing English tv with sub-titles, not dubbed. And I think it's showing pretty current stuff. The ep of Gossip Girl that I watched seemed pretty new. Of course the Merlin mini-series is old and they were advertising Veronica Mars, but c'mon - Veronica Mars. I don't care if it's not new, I'm there. Especially since the entire commercial consisted of Veronica and Logan moments. It was the best thing I've seen in a month.
School was the same as every other day. K texted, so we didn't meet until 11. I went, I sat, I talked to K about some general lesson plans and we left by 12:30. I talked on the phone to some people, wrote a little, read a little. Had dinner around 8:45 and then found English tv. All in all, a super-fun, exciting day. And it looks to be repeated tomorrow.
School was the same as every other day. K texted, so we didn't meet until 11. I went, I sat, I talked to K about some general lesson plans and we left by 12:30. I talked on the phone to some people, wrote a little, read a little. Had dinner around 8:45 and then found English tv. All in all, a super-fun, exciting day. And it looks to be repeated tomorrow.
Sept. 12, - Getting home
This morning, I woke up at my regular time, but I was very cozy in my bed, so instead of getting up, I decided to read in bed. I heard W get up and take a cup of coffee to the balcony. We were taking it easy, since our marsrutka didn’t leave until 11:30. At about 8:15 there was a knock on the door. It was the receptionist to whom we’d spoken about the marshrutka. She told us that we needed to buy tickets from the station. So I thanked her and told S and W.
Since W was the closest to dressed, he went down to the desk for more info. The woman called him a cab and he went to buy our tickets. When he got to the station, the only marshrutka coming back to Batumi was leaving at 9am. So he called us and we took the phone down to the receptionist, who spoke to the driver. At this time it was 8:30.
So we were flying around, getting ready and packing as quickly as we could. At 8:50 we checked out and went outside to wait. At 9:05 the same receptionist told us to wait on the other side of the street. So we cross and at 9:10 some random guy comes to take us to the marshrutka stand. We get there and are told which seats we’re allowed to sit in. And, of course there aren’t 3 together. So S and I sat near the open window at the back (b/c she gets motion sick, too) and W sat up front.
At first we entertained ourselves with sending random TGS-related texts. After a while, S and I each took our motion sickness meds and retreated to mp3 player-land. There were many stops; some for peeing, some for puking (not us) and some to let people off. Even still, it was a faster trip than the one to Borjomi. This time, I got off when the marsrutka came through Kobuleti.
And now a game of "Fortunately, Unfortunately"
Fortunately, there was a bus to my village waiting, when I got to the station. Unfortunately, it wasn’t ready to go any time soon. Fortunately, I had my e-reader with me. Unfortunately, I finished my book before the bus left. Fortunately, the bus was ready to go soon after. Unfortunately, the bus turned down one of the roads that doesn’t lead to my house. Fortunately, I realized right away and didn’t have too long of a walk home.
I arrived at home just before HM cleared lunch, so I had something to eat and then went for a swim. Compared to Borjomi, it is tropical here. After my swim, I retreated to my room to write until dinner. The extended family is here (as they often are on Sundays) so we had bbq bird for dinner. And these birds were small. Apparently they’re the ones hunted in the area, but no one could tell me in English what they were. I took one to be polite (but didn’t eat it) and then filled up on bread and the veggie dish. The cat was very appreciative of my leftovers.
After dinner, I Skyped home for a bit, but my computer overheated mid-conversation (stupid dinosaur). Since I had to let it cool down, I went out to play Joker with the kids. Joker's ok, but it's a really long game. Played with children, it takes for-freaking-ever. The older kids weren't bad, but HB2 was not paying attention and driving me crazy. I have so much sympathy for Grandpa, now that I understand his frustration.
Since W was the closest to dressed, he went down to the desk for more info. The woman called him a cab and he went to buy our tickets. When he got to the station, the only marshrutka coming back to Batumi was leaving at 9am. So he called us and we took the phone down to the receptionist, who spoke to the driver. At this time it was 8:30.
So we were flying around, getting ready and packing as quickly as we could. At 8:50 we checked out and went outside to wait. At 9:05 the same receptionist told us to wait on the other side of the street. So we cross and at 9:10 some random guy comes to take us to the marshrutka stand. We get there and are told which seats we’re allowed to sit in. And, of course there aren’t 3 together. So S and I sat near the open window at the back (b/c she gets motion sick, too) and W sat up front.
At first we entertained ourselves with sending random TGS-related texts. After a while, S and I each took our motion sickness meds and retreated to mp3 player-land. There were many stops; some for peeing, some for puking (not us) and some to let people off. Even still, it was a faster trip than the one to Borjomi. This time, I got off when the marsrutka came through Kobuleti.
And now a game of "Fortunately, Unfortunately"
Fortunately, there was a bus to my village waiting, when I got to the station. Unfortunately, it wasn’t ready to go any time soon. Fortunately, I had my e-reader with me. Unfortunately, I finished my book before the bus left. Fortunately, the bus was ready to go soon after. Unfortunately, the bus turned down one of the roads that doesn’t lead to my house. Fortunately, I realized right away and didn’t have too long of a walk home.
I arrived at home just before HM cleared lunch, so I had something to eat and then went for a swim. Compared to Borjomi, it is tropical here. After my swim, I retreated to my room to write until dinner. The extended family is here (as they often are on Sundays) so we had bbq bird for dinner. And these birds were small. Apparently they’re the ones hunted in the area, but no one could tell me in English what they were. I took one to be polite (but didn’t eat it) and then filled up on bread and the veggie dish. The cat was very appreciative of my leftovers.
After dinner, I Skyped home for a bit, but my computer overheated mid-conversation (stupid dinosaur). Since I had to let it cool down, I went out to play Joker with the kids. Joker's ok, but it's a really long game. Played with children, it takes for-freaking-ever. The older kids weren't bad, but HB2 was not paying attention and driving me crazy. I have so much sympathy for Grandpa, now that I understand his frustration.
Sept. 11 - Spa Day!
Upon our arrival, we received a "suggested schedule for the day" which basically listed meal times and suggested activities and treatments guests may try between meals. The schedule started at 8, with breakfast beginning at 9. Since W and I are both morning people, we were up and went down to the Medical center to see what we could get done. We couldn’t do anything before breakfast and none of the 8 different massages that were listed were available at all. Nothing started before 10. So we went back to the room and hung out on the balcony until we woke S for breakfast.
After breakfast we went back to the med center to see about getting pampered. I booked a mud bath and a "hydrotherapy pearl bath". S got the same and W got the mud bath and colon cleansing (it’s exactly what it sounds like).
My mud bath was interesting. There’s a tub and the technician turns the tap and watery mud fills the tub. Then you get naked and climb in (if you’re lucky, the tech leaves - sometimes, she doesn’t). I was in the tub for about 10 mins. when the tech comes in and does something and the mud starts to slosh. I thought at first that she’d pulled the plug, but the level stayed constant, it just moved in waves. After 10 mins of waves, she came back and pulled the plug, telling me in Georgian to wait there. She left again, neglecting to close the door behind her. Gradually, the mud drains and I am becoming more and more exposed. By the time the tech came back I was curled in a ball trying to preserve my modesty. She turned on the showerhead and stood beside the tub (where I’m still naked), waiting for the water to run warm. When it did, she gave it to me and left again. I rinsed, toweled and dressed faster than I ever have before.
Poor S was more exposed than I was. During her shower, a guest wandered in to check out the facilities, while she was standing in the tub, naked. But since this is Georgia and they have no sense of personal space, no one but S saw anything wrong with that. W had heard both mine and Sarah’s stories before going in for his mud bath, but apparently, Georgian women are only comfortable with female nudity. The technician filled the tub for him and left, only coming back to pull the plug. When she did pull the plug, she showed him the showerhead and ran out of the room, never to return.
My next procedure was the pearl bath. Essentially, this consisted of my lying (naked, again) in a tub, while the technician used a high pressure hose to give me a massage. It sounds weird, but it was kinda cool (once I got over the naked part). It really worked my muscles, but because there was no rubbing, my skin didn’t chafe and I wasn’t covered in sticky oil at the end. For this one, S’s experience was pretty much exactly the same as mine.
Since I was done first, I went back to the room to shower while the others finished. Then we hung out watching videos until lunch. After lunch, we asked at the desk about a marshrutka home on Sunday and we were told that it would come at 9am (before breakfast) so W and I walked to the little store for breakfast supplies, while S had a nap. When we got back we asked the receptionist about the marshrutka again and she told us that it would come pick us up at 11:30. We went back to the room, told Sarah the news, finished our TGS marathon, watched some more videos and a soccer game until dinner.
After dinner we went into the city to explore. We all took our cameras and got many pics of each other wandering the streets of Borjomi. Most of the stores were closed, but there is a big bridge that is lit up at night. We goofed around taking pics of each other with city statues and cool streetlights and stuff. It was kinda chilly, so we headed back to the hotel, where a bottle of champagne was chilling.
Back in our room, we all put on the complimentary hotel robes and slippers. We turned on the video channel, which happened to be having a sing-along hour to some great music. So we partied in our robes, drinking champagne and strawberry juice, alternating between music videos on the tv and other youtube videos.
After breakfast we went back to the med center to see about getting pampered. I booked a mud bath and a "hydrotherapy pearl bath". S got the same and W got the mud bath and colon cleansing (it’s exactly what it sounds like).
My mud bath was interesting. There’s a tub and the technician turns the tap and watery mud fills the tub. Then you get naked and climb in (if you’re lucky, the tech leaves - sometimes, she doesn’t). I was in the tub for about 10 mins. when the tech comes in and does something and the mud starts to slosh. I thought at first that she’d pulled the plug, but the level stayed constant, it just moved in waves. After 10 mins of waves, she came back and pulled the plug, telling me in Georgian to wait there. She left again, neglecting to close the door behind her. Gradually, the mud drains and I am becoming more and more exposed. By the time the tech came back I was curled in a ball trying to preserve my modesty. She turned on the showerhead and stood beside the tub (where I’m still naked), waiting for the water to run warm. When it did, she gave it to me and left again. I rinsed, toweled and dressed faster than I ever have before.
Poor S was more exposed than I was. During her shower, a guest wandered in to check out the facilities, while she was standing in the tub, naked. But since this is Georgia and they have no sense of personal space, no one but S saw anything wrong with that. W had heard both mine and Sarah’s stories before going in for his mud bath, but apparently, Georgian women are only comfortable with female nudity. The technician filled the tub for him and left, only coming back to pull the plug. When she did pull the plug, she showed him the showerhead and ran out of the room, never to return.
My next procedure was the pearl bath. Essentially, this consisted of my lying (naked, again) in a tub, while the technician used a high pressure hose to give me a massage. It sounds weird, but it was kinda cool (once I got over the naked part). It really worked my muscles, but because there was no rubbing, my skin didn’t chafe and I wasn’t covered in sticky oil at the end. For this one, S’s experience was pretty much exactly the same as mine.
Since I was done first, I went back to the room to shower while the others finished. Then we hung out watching videos until lunch. After lunch, we asked at the desk about a marshrutka home on Sunday and we were told that it would come at 9am (before breakfast) so W and I walked to the little store for breakfast supplies, while S had a nap. When we got back we asked the receptionist about the marshrutka again and she told us that it would come pick us up at 11:30. We went back to the room, told Sarah the news, finished our TGS marathon, watched some more videos and a soccer game until dinner.
After dinner we went into the city to explore. We all took our cameras and got many pics of each other wandering the streets of Borjomi. Most of the stores were closed, but there is a big bridge that is lit up at night. We goofed around taking pics of each other with city statues and cool streetlights and stuff. It was kinda chilly, so we headed back to the hotel, where a bottle of champagne was chilling.
Back in our room, we all put on the complimentary hotel robes and slippers. We turned on the video channel, which happened to be having a sing-along hour to some great music. So we partied in our robes, drinking champagne and strawberry juice, alternating between music videos on the tv and other youtube videos.
Sept. 10 - Let the Weekend begin
Today’s the day. Off to Borjomi for the weekend with S and W. We had agreed to get an early start, so I was out my door by 8:55. Good thing too, because W called as I was getting into Batumi to tell me that the only marshrutka leaving for Borjomi was going at 10. It was stressful, but we made it on time (because in Georgia ‘leaving at 10' means sometime around 10:15 if everyone’s here we might think about going).
The marshrutka itself was packed. The driver actually pulled out a little folding stool to put in the aisle and there still weren’t enough seats for everyone. I lucked out and got a window seat, with S beside me, but both she and W ended up with people falling asleep on them. S was actually beside the aisle, so the kids on the stool were using her as a backrest. Not the most fun way to travel, but we got there.
In Borjomi, we found our hotel "Borjomi Kheobi" with no trouble. We had a little difficulty figuring out which door to enter once we got there, but a nice gentleman led us to the reception desk. It’s a medical clinic/ health spa, as well, so you can enter both of those buildings from the outside. The hotel is built upwards, but the buildings are joined at the first or second floor. Our room was on the third floor and the restaurant is on the fourth. We had to go down to the second floor and across to a different building before going back up to the fourth floor to reach the restaurant. It definitely helped work up an appetite.
Before dinner, we went for a walk up the street, just to explore and stretch a bit. We found a little store with loads of food and candy and alcohol. We all bought snacks and drinks. Back at the hotel, S wanted a nap, so W and I went to the "pool". Before we could go in, we had to get our skin checked for communicable diseases at the medical centre. It’s a "medicinal" sulphur pool and is about 1' deep. There was a small section that was maybe 3' deep, but I didn’t go in that part, cuz it was quite cold. Borjomi is in the mountains, so the weather was much chillier than at the coast.
When we’d both had enough of the pool, we went and woke S for dinner. The restaurant was playing our soap, so S and I were happy. The food was quite good, as well. It was all very Georgian, but still tasty. And there was milk with the tea. I haven’t had tea with milk and sugar since coming to my host family! After dinner we went back to the room and just chilled for the rest of the evening. We found a Russian music video channel that was playing some pretty decent American music, so we watched that. We also made use of the wireless connection to watch some Teen Girl Squad, until my computer decided it was done working and I had to shut it down.
The marshrutka itself was packed. The driver actually pulled out a little folding stool to put in the aisle and there still weren’t enough seats for everyone. I lucked out and got a window seat, with S beside me, but both she and W ended up with people falling asleep on them. S was actually beside the aisle, so the kids on the stool were using her as a backrest. Not the most fun way to travel, but we got there.
In Borjomi, we found our hotel "Borjomi Kheobi" with no trouble. We had a little difficulty figuring out which door to enter once we got there, but a nice gentleman led us to the reception desk. It’s a medical clinic/ health spa, as well, so you can enter both of those buildings from the outside. The hotel is built upwards, but the buildings are joined at the first or second floor. Our room was on the third floor and the restaurant is on the fourth. We had to go down to the second floor and across to a different building before going back up to the fourth floor to reach the restaurant. It definitely helped work up an appetite.
Before dinner, we went for a walk up the street, just to explore and stretch a bit. We found a little store with loads of food and candy and alcohol. We all bought snacks and drinks. Back at the hotel, S wanted a nap, so W and I went to the "pool". Before we could go in, we had to get our skin checked for communicable diseases at the medical centre. It’s a "medicinal" sulphur pool and is about 1' deep. There was a small section that was maybe 3' deep, but I didn’t go in that part, cuz it was quite cold. Borjomi is in the mountains, so the weather was much chillier than at the coast.
When we’d both had enough of the pool, we went and woke S for dinner. The restaurant was playing our soap, so S and I were happy. The food was quite good, as well. It was all very Georgian, but still tasty. And there was milk with the tea. I haven’t had tea with milk and sugar since coming to my host family! After dinner we went back to the room and just chilled for the rest of the evening. We found a Russian music video channel that was playing some pretty decent American music, so we watched that. We also made use of the wireless connection to watch some Teen Girl Squad, until my computer decided it was done working and I had to shut it down.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Photos!!
I've finally had the chance to upload some photos onto facebook. Here's the link for those of you who don't have a facebook account.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Sept. 9
Yesterday was a gross, rainy day. I trudged up the mountain to school, because we were supposed to go to school with the director, but after 2 hours of waiting, she told us that we weren’t going. So I trudged home in the rain and read a book.
Today, K and I managed to successfully complete the Batumi mission. Of course, being Georgia, it didn’t work out quite the way I’d expected. First, A happened to also be on her way to Batumi, so she met up with us before we got under way. Then, K wanted a haircut. I figured we’d do school stuff first and then other stuff. Nope. Haircut first, where the power went out while K was mid blow dry. It eventually came back and we made it to the school supplies store.
Surprise number two, the store actually had posters. There were a few good ones, but most were about bizzare, obscure grammatical points. And they didn’t have an alphabet. But partial success is better than no success. Since everything was being paid for by the school, we weren’t allowed to take it with us. The school has to pay first.
By the time we finished at the supply store, it was 2pm and we were hungry. W was already at the café with K (Mississippi), so we headed in that direction for lunch. I had a salad. Not a Georgian salad, but actual leafy greens. It was delicious. As was the black forest cake I had for dessert. While we ate, D (older lady) and A (Poland) were passing by and D told us about a store around the corner where she’d found Peanut Butter (those are intentional capitals). K and I decided to head back, while the others went on a peanut butter mission.
My whole point of coming home early was to break the news to HM about my weekend trip to Borjomi, but she wasn’t here. She and HD are with HB1 and Bebia in Batumi. I also needed to hang my laundry to dry, so that I have clean clothes to pack for the trip.
Today, K and I managed to successfully complete the Batumi mission. Of course, being Georgia, it didn’t work out quite the way I’d expected. First, A happened to also be on her way to Batumi, so she met up with us before we got under way. Then, K wanted a haircut. I figured we’d do school stuff first and then other stuff. Nope. Haircut first, where the power went out while K was mid blow dry. It eventually came back and we made it to the school supplies store.
Surprise number two, the store actually had posters. There were a few good ones, but most were about bizzare, obscure grammatical points. And they didn’t have an alphabet. But partial success is better than no success. Since everything was being paid for by the school, we weren’t allowed to take it with us. The school has to pay first.
By the time we finished at the supply store, it was 2pm and we were hungry. W was already at the café with K (Mississippi), so we headed in that direction for lunch. I had a salad. Not a Georgian salad, but actual leafy greens. It was delicious. As was the black forest cake I had for dessert. While we ate, D (older lady) and A (Poland) were passing by and D told us about a store around the corner where she’d found Peanut Butter (those are intentional capitals). K and I decided to head back, while the others went on a peanut butter mission.
My whole point of coming home early was to break the news to HM about my weekend trip to Borjomi, but she wasn’t here. She and HD are with HB1 and Bebia in Batumi. I also needed to hang my laundry to dry, so that I have clean clothes to pack for the trip.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Sept. 7 - Playing hooky
I wasn’t the only one who got to play hooky today. W got the day off and E (from NZ) decided that she wasn’t going in either. The more I hear, the more it seems that I’m the only one of us who has a co-teacher who’s willing to let me participate in the planning part of this program. Even if we don’t get as much done as I’d like, I know that I’m actually useful and not superfluous like many of my collegues.
So with the whole day stretching ahead of me, I was lazy in the morning. I checked my e-mail and updated the blog. While I was working Bebia came in my room to tell me that the family was going to Batumi. I thought she’d just meant for the day, but it’s 10pm and they’re still not back yet. Now, I figure that they’re staying with my HU. Sure is quiet, though.
Once I had myself up and moving, I headed into Kobuleti to meet E. I was hoping to take the bus down the mountain right to the resource centre (ERC), where we were meeting. However, as often happens in Georgia, plans changed. There was no bus in sight (in spite of me waiting over 40 minutes), so finally one of the neighbours came out and flagged down a passing car to take me to the bus station. It seems that this is an acceptable way to travel, here.
From the bus station it’s about a 20 minute walk to the ERC, but I met J (he runs marathons) on my way and he decided to join me and E on our adventures. First, we did some recon on the building with the "Cinema" sign on the outside. There is no other signage and all six doors that we tried were locked. So it looks like the cinema really is just for show. Then we met E and headed into Batumi. Sadly, both K and A declined our invitations to join the fun.
In Batumi we walked along the coast a way I’d never been before. There was a huge cruise ship in harbour and we toyed with the idea of just getting on and going where-ever it would take us, but the others were stopped by their lack of passports, and I didn’t want to go alone, so we kept walking. Gradually we meandered our way around to the Lit café, where we hung out eating cake until W joined us.
We all chatted for a while, before time began to press in. My goal for the day had been to get a haircut, so I left money for my bill and got ready to go. W also needed a haircut, so he came with me (to the salon beside the café). The woman who greeted us was really nice and through a combination of my Georgian and gestures, we came to an understanding. I got a shampoo, trim and blow dry for 10 Lari. (For those of you counting dollars, it’s a little more than $5) And I’m really happy with the results. W’s buzz cut looked good too.
When the hair was finished, I headed back to the coffee shop and our small group had expanded by three. In addition to J, E and W (whose hair was finished before mine) I found C (Utah), I (Phillipines) and D (older lady from U.S.). I squeezed in on the couch and we all had a good visit.
We split up when some people were making their ways home and I ended up by myself hunting for the electronics store, because I feel it may be time to replace lappy. They didn’t have what I wanted, so I made my way back to the marshrutka stand and then home. I did pay for a taxi to get back up the mountain today, because I didn’t want to wait for an hour to ride a bus that already had 4 or 5 small children on it.
So with the whole day stretching ahead of me, I was lazy in the morning. I checked my e-mail and updated the blog. While I was working Bebia came in my room to tell me that the family was going to Batumi. I thought she’d just meant for the day, but it’s 10pm and they’re still not back yet. Now, I figure that they’re staying with my HU. Sure is quiet, though.
Once I had myself up and moving, I headed into Kobuleti to meet E. I was hoping to take the bus down the mountain right to the resource centre (ERC), where we were meeting. However, as often happens in Georgia, plans changed. There was no bus in sight (in spite of me waiting over 40 minutes), so finally one of the neighbours came out and flagged down a passing car to take me to the bus station. It seems that this is an acceptable way to travel, here.
From the bus station it’s about a 20 minute walk to the ERC, but I met J (he runs marathons) on my way and he decided to join me and E on our adventures. First, we did some recon on the building with the "Cinema" sign on the outside. There is no other signage and all six doors that we tried were locked. So it looks like the cinema really is just for show. Then we met E and headed into Batumi. Sadly, both K and A declined our invitations to join the fun.
In Batumi we walked along the coast a way I’d never been before. There was a huge cruise ship in harbour and we toyed with the idea of just getting on and going where-ever it would take us, but the others were stopped by their lack of passports, and I didn’t want to go alone, so we kept walking. Gradually we meandered our way around to the Lit café, where we hung out eating cake until W joined us.
We all chatted for a while, before time began to press in. My goal for the day had been to get a haircut, so I left money for my bill and got ready to go. W also needed a haircut, so he came with me (to the salon beside the café). The woman who greeted us was really nice and through a combination of my Georgian and gestures, we came to an understanding. I got a shampoo, trim and blow dry for 10 Lari. (For those of you counting dollars, it’s a little more than $5) And I’m really happy with the results. W’s buzz cut looked good too.
When the hair was finished, I headed back to the coffee shop and our small group had expanded by three. In addition to J, E and W (whose hair was finished before mine) I found C (Utah), I (Phillipines) and D (older lady from U.S.). I squeezed in on the couch and we all had a good visit.
We split up when some people were making their ways home and I ended up by myself hunting for the electronics store, because I feel it may be time to replace lappy. They didn’t have what I wanted, so I made my way back to the marshrutka stand and then home. I did pay for a taxi to get back up the mountain today, because I didn’t want to wait for an hour to ride a bus that already had 4 or 5 small children on it.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Sept. 6 - Daily Life
Georgian Maybe Time (GMT) is the bane of my existence. I got a text this morning, telling me that my co-teacher wouldn’t be at school until 11. That’s fine, I show up at 11 and she’s 10 minutes late (as usual). So we get into our classroom and the school director comes in, wanting to know when we are going to get the supplies we need from Batumi. They talk for a good 10 or 15 minutes and the director leaves. Then K sits down and says, "Ok, first a break and then we will get to work." But what was she taking a break from. We hadn’t done anything yet. So we finally get to lesson planning, which I manage to gear to 1 class at a time. We do 5 plans for the gr.6 class and K decides she’s tired and that we were done for the day. It was 12:45. We hadn’t even been working for 2 hours.
With the rest of my day free, I came home, read a book. Talked to some people. Went for a swim, but the water was chilly enough that I actually had to swim to keep warm, so I that didn’t last long. For dinner we had a chili-type dish and the worst peirogies I’ve ever had. Even though I don’t like chili at home, I loved it here, just because it was finally familiar flavors. The pierogies looked good, but they were filled with Georgian cheese, not cheddar and potatoes as I had hoped.
After dinner I tried to do the social thing with my family. I was doing really well too. The boys wanted to play Joker, so HD, HB1, HB2 and I played. The guy from across the street came over and was helping me, so I was actually winning. But then HM came out and took me visiting to a neighbour’s house in the middle of the game. I hate visiting. I don’t know these people, I don’t know the language and I end up sitting there, being told to eat, while everyone talks around me in Georgian. Good Times. Although, at this particular visit there was fruit juice (with real fruit in the glasses) and grape pudding, which wasn’t my favourite, but was still interesting.
With the rest of my day free, I came home, read a book. Talked to some people. Went for a swim, but the water was chilly enough that I actually had to swim to keep warm, so I that didn’t last long. For dinner we had a chili-type dish and the worst peirogies I’ve ever had. Even though I don’t like chili at home, I loved it here, just because it was finally familiar flavors. The pierogies looked good, but they were filled with Georgian cheese, not cheddar and potatoes as I had hoped.
After dinner I tried to do the social thing with my family. I was doing really well too. The boys wanted to play Joker, so HD, HB1, HB2 and I played. The guy from across the street came over and was helping me, so I was actually winning. But then HM came out and took me visiting to a neighbour’s house in the middle of the game. I hate visiting. I don’t know these people, I don’t know the language and I end up sitting there, being told to eat, while everyone talks around me in Georgian. Good Times. Although, at this particular visit there was fruit juice (with real fruit in the glasses) and grape pudding, which wasn’t my favourite, but was still interesting.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Sept. 5 - It's the (not long) Weekend!
Wasn’t really sure what would happen Friday at school, since our mission on Thursday was such a bust. It turned out alright, though. We actually started talking about lesson plans, and the format that Keti uses. We actually planned the first couple of classes for each grade. My only complaint is that Keti is a little disorganized and her thoughts are all over the place. One minute we were working on one grade and the next we were talking about lesson plans for 2 other grades. Add that to the communication barrier, and I was pretty confused.
After school, I spent the afternoon socializing with the family. I learned another new card game from Bebia. Of course, it took a while for me to understand how points were scored and I don’t know what it’s called, but I had fun anyway. I spent the evening on the phone with S and W, trying to plan a weekend excursion to Borjomi, a town famous for it’s mineral water. By the time we ironed out the details, it was too late to book anything, so we’re gonna put off the trip until next weekend.
I spent most of Saturday sitting in Literaturuli Cafe with W and S. I got into Batumi around 11, and W and I hung out in the café until S showed up around one. We stayed there for another couple of hours and then walked up to the boulevard by the sea. The waves were huge and no one was swimming but I couldn’t resist. They almost killed me trying to get out (not literally). At one point, the water was at my ankes when the waves were out and over my head as they came in. It was awesome.
Before we could leave the beach, I needed to dry off and rest for a bit. So we sat and chatted and threw rocks into the water. W threw one that bounced back and almost hit S in the face, but she dodged it and we didn’t stop throwing rocks. Eventually, we were bored, so we headed back to the café for cake.
S came back to Kvirike with me for a sleepover. We ate with the family and then watched crazy European music videos on rebel tv, before turning in to bed.
Today we went back to Batumi, but only after a breakfast of (broken) eggs over-easy. I love that my family will now let me cook. We lazed around here for a few hours, so it was late when we were finally under way. Luckily, when HM found out we were going, she went out to the road and flagged down a car to take us down the mountain, so we didn’t have to wait for the bus.
We met W and Si (our 3rd roommate in Kutaisi) in the city and headed to the café. There was already a huge group of English teachers gathered there. It was almost too much. It was really hard to carry on a conversation with everyone and the tables weren’t arranged well for smaller groups. A bunch of people left, leaving me, S, W, Si and K (the girl who speaks Russian).
With it being a Sunday, I didn’t know how late the buses would run back to Kvirike, so I left around 5. I got back around 5:30 and was recognized by the bank of taxi drivers at the station. As soon as I got off the marshrutka, they were all like, "Kvirike, kho?" (Kvirike, yes?). Then one took me over to the Kvirike bus, where I found out that it didn’t leave til 7. So I wandered around for a bit before deciding just to wait on the bus and study some Georgian. About 2 minutes in, my phone rang and it was Mom. We talked for a while and she put Daddy on and we talked until the bus was leaving.
I made it home in time to eat (and drink) with my HD. Everyone was very impressed because for the first time, I drank down to the bottom of my glass of wine. One of the things o the table was chicken stomachs. I had already taken one when my HM told me what they were and I didn’t want to put it back in the pot, so I cut it up and fed it piece by piece to the cat. I am definitely his favourite person.
A weird thing just happened. As I was typing this, Bebia came into my room (the door was open), sat on my bed, and looked at me. So I tried to explain what I’m doing, but my phrasebook doesn’t include the word diary or journal. I ended up saying that I write my day, but I think she got it. Then I told her that right now I write for me, but later it will go on the internet for my family to read. Then she wanted to know about my family and when we got through that, she stared at me again. I felt rude, but I went back to my writing, because I didn’t have anything else to say. Eventually, she said good night and left.
After school, I spent the afternoon socializing with the family. I learned another new card game from Bebia. Of course, it took a while for me to understand how points were scored and I don’t know what it’s called, but I had fun anyway. I spent the evening on the phone with S and W, trying to plan a weekend excursion to Borjomi, a town famous for it’s mineral water. By the time we ironed out the details, it was too late to book anything, so we’re gonna put off the trip until next weekend.
I spent most of Saturday sitting in Literaturuli Cafe with W and S. I got into Batumi around 11, and W and I hung out in the café until S showed up around one. We stayed there for another couple of hours and then walked up to the boulevard by the sea. The waves were huge and no one was swimming but I couldn’t resist. They almost killed me trying to get out (not literally). At one point, the water was at my ankes when the waves were out and over my head as they came in. It was awesome.
Before we could leave the beach, I needed to dry off and rest for a bit. So we sat and chatted and threw rocks into the water. W threw one that bounced back and almost hit S in the face, but she dodged it and we didn’t stop throwing rocks. Eventually, we were bored, so we headed back to the café for cake.
S came back to Kvirike with me for a sleepover. We ate with the family and then watched crazy European music videos on rebel tv, before turning in to bed.
Today we went back to Batumi, but only after a breakfast of (broken) eggs over-easy. I love that my family will now let me cook. We lazed around here for a few hours, so it was late when we were finally under way. Luckily, when HM found out we were going, she went out to the road and flagged down a car to take us down the mountain, so we didn’t have to wait for the bus.
We met W and Si (our 3rd roommate in Kutaisi) in the city and headed to the café. There was already a huge group of English teachers gathered there. It was almost too much. It was really hard to carry on a conversation with everyone and the tables weren’t arranged well for smaller groups. A bunch of people left, leaving me, S, W, Si and K (the girl who speaks Russian).
With it being a Sunday, I didn’t know how late the buses would run back to Kvirike, so I left around 5. I got back around 5:30 and was recognized by the bank of taxi drivers at the station. As soon as I got off the marshrutka, they were all like, "Kvirike, kho?" (Kvirike, yes?). Then one took me over to the Kvirike bus, where I found out that it didn’t leave til 7. So I wandered around for a bit before deciding just to wait on the bus and study some Georgian. About 2 minutes in, my phone rang and it was Mom. We talked for a while and she put Daddy on and we talked until the bus was leaving.
I made it home in time to eat (and drink) with my HD. Everyone was very impressed because for the first time, I drank down to the bottom of my glass of wine. One of the things o the table was chicken stomachs. I had already taken one when my HM told me what they were and I didn’t want to put it back in the pot, so I cut it up and fed it piece by piece to the cat. I am definitely his favourite person.
A weird thing just happened. As I was typing this, Bebia came into my room (the door was open), sat on my bed, and looked at me. So I tried to explain what I’m doing, but my phrasebook doesn’t include the word diary or journal. I ended up saying that I write my day, but I think she got it. Then I told her that right now I write for me, but later it will go on the internet for my family to read. Then she wanted to know about my family and when we got through that, she stared at me again. I felt rude, but I went back to my writing, because I didn’t have anything else to say. Eventually, she said good night and left.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Sept. 3 - Batumi, not what I expected
Yesterday was school supply shopping day. So at 10am I show up at the school to meet K, who finally shows up at 10:25. Then we go to meet a bus, which ends up being random guys driving into Kobuleti who have room for two more people in their car. Regardless, we get to the station safely and catch a marshrutka into Batumi.
We found the bookstore we were looking for. The door was open and people were inside, but they had just received an order and were not letting customers in. K talked to the proprietors and found out that they have everything we want, but we couldn't buy it then. We have to go back later.
Since business was finished by 11:30, we walked to a cafe where we had the Georgian equivalent of a milkshake. It was cold, frothy, milk (which may o r may not have had ice cream in it) and it was perfect for such a hot day. M (the girl from Toronto) and D (Portland) met us at the cafe. When K had to go to an appointment, I hung out with the girls.
We wandered for a while, until M had to go meet her host mom. D and I continued our wandering until K called me to meet again. We were just discussing where to meet when E (from San Fran) got out of a cab. I arranged to meet K and chatted with E for a bit. While we were talking, two other teachers were coming down the street. The four of them went into the cafe and I went to meet K.
Since K had no other plans, we went back to the cafe and I introduced her to all of the teachers. I had tea and she had Turkish coffee. We were still enjoying our drinks when 2 more teachers came in. They stopped by to say 'hi', but our table was full, so they went to sit by themselves.
I came home and gave HB1 an English lesson and then listened to the rain fall. I ended up reading by flashlight, because our power went out and the clouds made it dark earlier than usual.
We found the bookstore we were looking for. The door was open and people were inside, but they had just received an order and were not letting customers in. K talked to the proprietors and found out that they have everything we want, but we couldn't buy it then. We have to go back later.
Since business was finished by 11:30, we walked to a cafe where we had the Georgian equivalent of a milkshake. It was cold, frothy, milk (which may o r may not have had ice cream in it) and it was perfect for such a hot day. M (the girl from Toronto) and D (Portland) met us at the cafe. When K had to go to an appointment, I hung out with the girls.
We wandered for a while, until M had to go meet her host mom. D and I continued our wandering until K called me to meet again. We were just discussing where to meet when E (from San Fran) got out of a cab. I arranged to meet K and chatted with E for a bit. While we were talking, two other teachers were coming down the street. The four of them went into the cafe and I went to meet K.
Since K had no other plans, we went back to the cafe and I introduced her to all of the teachers. I had tea and she had Turkish coffee. We were still enjoying our drinks when 2 more teachers came in. They stopped by to say 'hi', but our table was full, so they went to sit by themselves.
I came home and gave HB1 an English lesson and then listened to the rain fall. I ended up reading by flashlight, because our power went out and the clouds made it dark earlier than usual.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Comments
Hey guys. I wanted to thank you all for the lovely comments. Just a reminder, though, EVERYONE can view your comments, they are not sent to only me. Please keep this in mind when deciding what to write (for your own sakes as well as mine).
Sept 1 - First day
For starters, yesterday I did nothing. I stayed at home, read some books and played on the internet. I managed to order some new online books, so my life is complete. The whole family went into Batumi for the afternoon, but I didn’t want to go, so I had hours of uninterrupted me time. It was fantastic.
The only thing of note was that after the family got home, it was dinner time. And when I went down, I got to cook my own eggs!!! Bebia was in the kitchen and she let me cook. It’s the first time since I got here that I’ve had an egg cooked over-easy. They only do them sunny side up. Bebia looked at me like I was crazy when I didn’t put the lid on, and then like I was really crazy when I flipped them over, but I don’t care. They were the best tasting eggs ever.
Today was the first day of school. For the teachers, not the kids. I guess at most schools they had meetings, but mine didn’t even have that. Everyone just kind of hung out, socializing (in Georgian, of course). I’d been at the school for over an hour before my co-teacher even showed up.
And an hour is plenty of time for a round of stare-at-the-foreigner. They also managed to laugh at everything I said in Georgian and find out my age, what I eat and my marital status. None of which was asked of me directly, but came from the assistant director who is my neighbour. It was really uncomfortable.
Finally, K (my co-teacher) arrived and we got to see our classroom. She also provided me with the textbooks that we’ll be using. I found out all sorts of good stuff about how many classes we’ll teach in a week (18) and what time school starts (9 or 9:30, it depends [on what, I don’t know]). Also, since we have no visual aids, or posters for our class, we are going school supply shopping in Batumi tomorrow. I’m very excited.
The worst thing about being at school is the heat. It’s 40 C here and we’re all dying. When I got home from school, I had lunch and watched the telanovela that I love. Around 3 I went out to the pool, where I spent a couple of hours. I’d jump in to cool off, swimm around a little and then lounge on a beach chair in the shade with my Kobo. When I got too warm I’d do it all over again.
Just when I was thinking about coming inside, the family was going to the sea. So I went too. It was super windy and the waves were awsome. I spent the whole time swimming against the current. I’d swim out pretty far and then let the waves bring me back in. I had to be careful, though, cuz current kept pushing me down the beach away from where the HF was.
Had some dinner when we got home. Bebia makes these stuffed peppers called t’olma. They are my favourite Georgian food. Even cold they’re ok. After washing my dishes, I gave HB1 (the oldest) an English lesson. It was a little annoying. HM wants him to learn this stuff, but if she was anywhere nearby when I asked a question, she answered it for him. And her English is better than HB1’s, but it’s not good enough for me to explain that the best way to help her kid learn is to back the hell off. From now on, lessons are going to be in the upstairs sitting room, where no one else goes.
The only thing of note was that after the family got home, it was dinner time. And when I went down, I got to cook my own eggs!!! Bebia was in the kitchen and she let me cook. It’s the first time since I got here that I’ve had an egg cooked over-easy. They only do them sunny side up. Bebia looked at me like I was crazy when I didn’t put the lid on, and then like I was really crazy when I flipped them over, but I don’t care. They were the best tasting eggs ever.
Today was the first day of school. For the teachers, not the kids. I guess at most schools they had meetings, but mine didn’t even have that. Everyone just kind of hung out, socializing (in Georgian, of course). I’d been at the school for over an hour before my co-teacher even showed up.
And an hour is plenty of time for a round of stare-at-the-foreigner. They also managed to laugh at everything I said in Georgian and find out my age, what I eat and my marital status. None of which was asked of me directly, but came from the assistant director who is my neighbour. It was really uncomfortable.
Finally, K (my co-teacher) arrived and we got to see our classroom. She also provided me with the textbooks that we’ll be using. I found out all sorts of good stuff about how many classes we’ll teach in a week (18) and what time school starts (9 or 9:30, it depends [on what, I don’t know]). Also, since we have no visual aids, or posters for our class, we are going school supply shopping in Batumi tomorrow. I’m very excited.
The worst thing about being at school is the heat. It’s 40 C here and we’re all dying. When I got home from school, I had lunch and watched the telanovela that I love. Around 3 I went out to the pool, where I spent a couple of hours. I’d jump in to cool off, swimm around a little and then lounge on a beach chair in the shade with my Kobo. When I got too warm I’d do it all over again.
Just when I was thinking about coming inside, the family was going to the sea. So I went too. It was super windy and the waves were awsome. I spent the whole time swimming against the current. I’d swim out pretty far and then let the waves bring me back in. I had to be careful, though, cuz current kept pushing me down the beach away from where the HF was.
Had some dinner when we got home. Bebia makes these stuffed peppers called t’olma. They are my favourite Georgian food. Even cold they’re ok. After washing my dishes, I gave HB1 (the oldest) an English lesson. It was a little annoying. HM wants him to learn this stuff, but if she was anywhere nearby when I asked a question, she answered it for him. And her English is better than HB1’s, but it’s not good enough for me to explain that the best way to help her kid learn is to back the hell off. From now on, lessons are going to be in the upstairs sitting room, where no one else goes.
Aug. 30 - The Mexican Adventure
Today I woke up around 8:30. I was still really tired, but couldn’t get comfortable on my strip of bed, so I got up, leaving A and S asleep. I used the quiet time to check my e-mail and update facebook. I was in the process of updating the blog when A woke up. She joined me in the sitting room and read a book while I finished up with the computer. It was almost 10 when S dragged herself from bed.
Before heading down to breakfast, we chatted a bit. Eventually, we got tired of gossiping and decided to eat. The girls were enthralled with pb and honey on bread for breakfast. I like it too, but I would love a bowl of Mini Wheats. Since no one was around, we actually got to tidy up and do our own dishes, before coming back upstairs.
S and I decided that A needed to see rebel tv, so we hunkered down in our pj’s to watch. Today’s selection was even more odd than yesterdays. There was a gothic/ satanic 80's-style pop video by an artist called Goldfrapp and an interesting commentary on socialites (like Paris Hilton) by Amy MacDonald (I think). There was also the weird Polish clown video. Again. Once they started repeating videos, we decided to go to the pool.
At the pool, we swam a little, gossiped a little and got to talking about food that we miss from home. Since there is a Mexican restaurant in Batumi, we decided to go there. Mission accepted, we changed and got ready to go.
By the time we got to Kobuleti, A had decided to bail, but S and I were still going strong. On the marshrutka to Batumi, we texted everyone in the area to come, but W was the only taker. While we waited to meet him, we went into the Goodwill, where I bought peach tea and chocolate, strawberry Special K. I am very excited.
Once we had collected W, the three of us found a cab to go to the restaurant. Of course, the cabbie had no idea where it was, because he couldn’t read the English-written address in the guidebook. So before we could go he asked several of his friends if they knew the way. Finally I tried to pronounce the street name and they understood that, so we were underway.
Actually finding the restaurant was another adventure. None of the buildings were numbered, and we couldn’t see the restaurant name anywhere. The cabby randomly pulled over and stopped 3 different times to get out and ask at businesses if they knew where this restaurant was. Finally W remembered that our guidebook had a phone number for the place. So we called and had the cabby talk to the people. Luckily we were close enough that we could get out and walk. Turns out the Azteca is inside a hotel called Marina, which is the only name on the sign.
We should have taken how difficult it was to get there as a sign, but we didn’t. We’d come for Mexican food and by God we were going to get Mexican food. And we did. Kind of. What we got was Mexican food, Georgian-style.
First off, the menu was in Georgian and Russian. No English. Our waiter spoke barely more English than I speak Georgian (and I was the most fluent one there). Out of the entire 8 page menu, 1 page and 1 salad were "Mexican". The rest was Georgian. On the "Mexican" page there were no nachos, tacos, burritos, fajitas or quesadillas. We all ended up with dishes that may have been fajita filling (except for mine, which had the chicken still on the bone), but no shells. It was sauteed Georgian food, with more mushrooms and onions. The only thing even close to authentic was the margarita. It was tequila, lime and salt. I don’t think they had Triple Sec and it definitely wasn’t blended, but it was the closest thing there.
Stuffed from our fake Mexican dinner, we walked in the direction of the marshrutka/ bus stop. Since S was going home, we walked with her until our paths diverged and then W and I took a cab the rest of the way. We were waiting for a marshrutka when the bus to Kobuleti came, so we hopped on. When W got off in Chakvi he sent me a text to tell me that they’d charged him more than usual. Since I’d been expecting to pay 2 lari (GEL), I asked before I got off how much. I didn’t hear the driver and when he repeated himself about 5 different people all gave me different answers in English. When I was confused, the driver just waved me off the bus and wouldn’t let me pay anything.
The guy in front of me obviously thought that I needed help, because he asked me all the regular questions about where I was staying and who my family were. Then he personally walked me over to the bank of cabs and spoke to several drivers before finding one that he felt was suitable to take me home. He stuck with me ‘til I was in the car and then said good bye and left.
Finally at home, I talked to K in Mestia and texted with a few other people. Then J called from home and we swapped weekend stories. The call cut out and I don’t know if it was her phone or mine. Done on the phone I hung out for a bit in the TV room with the family, before retreating to my room for bed.
Before heading down to breakfast, we chatted a bit. Eventually, we got tired of gossiping and decided to eat. The girls were enthralled with pb and honey on bread for breakfast. I like it too, but I would love a bowl of Mini Wheats. Since no one was around, we actually got to tidy up and do our own dishes, before coming back upstairs.
S and I decided that A needed to see rebel tv, so we hunkered down in our pj’s to watch. Today’s selection was even more odd than yesterdays. There was a gothic/ satanic 80's-style pop video by an artist called Goldfrapp and an interesting commentary on socialites (like Paris Hilton) by Amy MacDonald (I think). There was also the weird Polish clown video. Again. Once they started repeating videos, we decided to go to the pool.
At the pool, we swam a little, gossiped a little and got to talking about food that we miss from home. Since there is a Mexican restaurant in Batumi, we decided to go there. Mission accepted, we changed and got ready to go.
By the time we got to Kobuleti, A had decided to bail, but S and I were still going strong. On the marshrutka to Batumi, we texted everyone in the area to come, but W was the only taker. While we waited to meet him, we went into the Goodwill, where I bought peach tea and chocolate, strawberry Special K. I am very excited.
Once we had collected W, the three of us found a cab to go to the restaurant. Of course, the cabbie had no idea where it was, because he couldn’t read the English-written address in the guidebook. So before we could go he asked several of his friends if they knew the way. Finally I tried to pronounce the street name and they understood that, so we were underway.
Actually finding the restaurant was another adventure. None of the buildings were numbered, and we couldn’t see the restaurant name anywhere. The cabby randomly pulled over and stopped 3 different times to get out and ask at businesses if they knew where this restaurant was. Finally W remembered that our guidebook had a phone number for the place. So we called and had the cabby talk to the people. Luckily we were close enough that we could get out and walk. Turns out the Azteca is inside a hotel called Marina, which is the only name on the sign.
We should have taken how difficult it was to get there as a sign, but we didn’t. We’d come for Mexican food and by God we were going to get Mexican food. And we did. Kind of. What we got was Mexican food, Georgian-style.
First off, the menu was in Georgian and Russian. No English. Our waiter spoke barely more English than I speak Georgian (and I was the most fluent one there). Out of the entire 8 page menu, 1 page and 1 salad were "Mexican". The rest was Georgian. On the "Mexican" page there were no nachos, tacos, burritos, fajitas or quesadillas. We all ended up with dishes that may have been fajita filling (except for mine, which had the chicken still on the bone), but no shells. It was sauteed Georgian food, with more mushrooms and onions. The only thing even close to authentic was the margarita. It was tequila, lime and salt. I don’t think they had Triple Sec and it definitely wasn’t blended, but it was the closest thing there.
Stuffed from our fake Mexican dinner, we walked in the direction of the marshrutka/ bus stop. Since S was going home, we walked with her until our paths diverged and then W and I took a cab the rest of the way. We were waiting for a marshrutka when the bus to Kobuleti came, so we hopped on. When W got off in Chakvi he sent me a text to tell me that they’d charged him more than usual. Since I’d been expecting to pay 2 lari (GEL), I asked before I got off how much. I didn’t hear the driver and when he repeated himself about 5 different people all gave me different answers in English. When I was confused, the driver just waved me off the bus and wouldn’t let me pay anything.
The guy in front of me obviously thought that I needed help, because he asked me all the regular questions about where I was staying and who my family were. Then he personally walked me over to the bank of cabs and spoke to several drivers before finding one that he felt was suitable to take me home. He stuck with me ‘til I was in the car and then said good bye and left.
Finally at home, I talked to K in Mestia and texted with a few other people. Then J called from home and we swapped weekend stories. The call cut out and I don’t know if it was her phone or mine. Done on the phone I hung out for a bit in the TV room with the family, before retreating to my room for bed.
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