About Me

I'm the thing that's not like the others.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Oct. 27 - A million updates

Sorry about the million and one updates all at once. This is what happens when one doesn't have internet for a week.
Today was good (as Wednesdays are). Kids were good, class was fine and my fortune looks rosy (according to my coffee grounds. I just had a lunch of cereal with warm milk (yum) and applesauce. Now I am hanging out, and I have the house to MYSELF!
I have no new knowledge of yesterday's weird flying things, but as soon as I find out, it will be posted (if I can get the internet).

Oct. 26 - UFO sighting

Holy Hannah!!! UFO’s in broad daylight. And I’m not the only one who saw them. About 2:15pm (local time) I was in class, writing on the board. Co-teach asked me to come look out the window, where she and the students were gathered. I went to look and there were about 10 jet-streams, not going across the sky, but vertically, with metallic objects at the bottom of them.

Supremely weirded out, I immediately sent a text to all of my friends to see who had seen what and who knew anything. A few of them had seen, but I was still in class, so I couldn’t answer when they called. At the end of class, about a half hour later, I got a text from Boston that she could see "a bunch of things burning and turning to smoke..." in the sky.

When I got home I spoke to Pop for a bit. Living in the north end of Kobuleti, he not only saw my UFO’s, but hours later he is continuing to see planes flying really low over the sea. We speculated that they’re coming from Turkey or Armenia, but we have no idea what the final destination is.
On top of all of this intrigue, I’m still not healthy. I decided to play hooky yesterday, though I don’t think it’s playing if one is legitimately not well. After spending the entire day in bed reading (leaving only to pee, eat and make tea), I helped HB1 with his English homework and watched a couple of hours of tv (which exhausted me).

Today, I dragged myself out of bed and to school. Pretty sure I have a sinus infection that’s affecting my inner ear. Gotta love those dizzy spells. Feeling exhausted after a long day of school (and the excitement of UFO’s) I laid down on my bed and finished Alexandre Dumas’ sequel to Three Musketeers, which I actually liked better than the first one.

Oct. 24 - My life as a sloth

Today, Boston and I both slept in. We had no plans and nowhere to be and it was phenomenal. When we finally made it downstairs we found pancakes for breakfast. So with tea and fig jam and honey we enjoyed our meal. We topped the whole thing off by splitting a pomegranate. They are so good.

We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon lounging in the upstairs tv room. Finally, Boston figured that she’d better head back to Batumi. After a late lunch, she caught the bus and made it home safely.

For my part, I retreated upstairs with my Kobo. I also had a little nap. By the evening, I was on my computer in the tv room. Imagine my surprise (not) and my annoyance (much) when Bebia walked in and told me to put it on Adjara TV (one of the local stations). I did and the Georgian news was on. Interestingly enough, they showed something from Haiti and something else from West Palm Beach.

I left Bebia watching the news and went downstairs for tea. While I was there, HD had a Russian station on. They were interviewing a bunch of teens. I’m not sure what it was about, but one of the kids said, "English are sexy." He coulda meant the people or the language, but either way, it made me giggle. Back upstairs, Bebia had dozed off watching tv, so I waited a few minutes and then turned it back to my station (and the show I actually wanted to watch). About 20 minutes later she woke up and went to her bedroom (ostensibly to sleep).

I finished my show and then went to bed myself.

Oct. 23 - Canadian Politeness is my downfall

This week I have felt like crap. Thursday I was an absolute witch to my classes and Friday wasn’t much better. Luckily, for my last class on Friday afternoon, only 3 girls bothered to show up. We got quite a bit done. I found out later from Neighbour Boy that everyone else was visiting a classmate and his new baby. This isn’t like in North America, this classmate also had a wife, who was also a former classmate. Of course, since she’s already a wife and mother (the pinnacle of a Gerogian woman’s ambition) she no longer needs an education.

After school on Friday, Neighbour Boy came over for help preparing for his English tutorial. Then Boston got here, cuz she’s spending the weekend. Once we’d greeted the family and had a bite to eat, we came upstairs to watch movies. Boston had brought her computer and some videos from home. We watched a Doris Day and Rock Hudson rom/com and It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.

After the movies we went to bed. I had made arrangements with the private school teacher to have lunch with her today, so I got up near my regular time, but let Boston sleep in. We had a leisurely breakfast of bread with peanut butter and jam and tea. Then got ready to go. I still wasn’t feeling great, but I just wanted to get this meeting over with.

This crazy lady (CL) texted me at 10:30 to confirm our attendance. I texted back in the affirmative. We were waiting to catch a ride down the mountain when she called at ten to eleven. "Where are you?" she asks. I told her that we were still in the village, but coming soon. She remined me to meet her at the bazaar and told me that she was already there. We caught a ride shortly after this canversation and were in Kobuleti minutes later. As we headed to the bazaar, I got another phone call. "Where are you?" I told her we’d just got to Kobuleti and that we would be there soon. She said ok and hung up. Ten minutes later, another call. "Where are you?" I said that we were almost there, and I would call her when we got there.

Finally, the bazaar is in sight and I was just pulling out my phone to call this woman when I get a text. "When you get to bazari call me." I just showed Boston and she was like (paraphrased to maintain a PG rating) , "Well, duh. You just told her you would." As she was saying this, the woman emerged from a store behind her. I performed introductions and we were on our way.

While we were on our way to her house, CL is explaining that they haven’t had water, so she couldn’t make me a cake, but that it’s ok because she will make me a cake for my second visit. (I raised my eyebrows at Boston. There will be no second visit.) Then she mentioned us visiting her school with her. (Though this had been part of the original arrangement, through text msgs, I got the impression that this was no longer part of the visit.) She also explained that her apartment is very small, so we will be entertained in her aunt’s apartment which is in the same building. And that they will boil khingali (giant dumplings filled with meat) for us. I expained that I’m vegetarian and that the fruit would be just fine. She seemed upset, but we moved on... or rather back to the lack of water and thus cake. Again, I told her that was fine and conversation moved on.

We arrived at her aunt’s apartment and met one of CL’s private students. He was a 13 year old boy and nervous about speaking in front of foreigners. Boston and I tried to break the ice while CL and her aunt prepared lunch. Then CL came back and yelled at the boy for being shy. We both assured her that we are also shy sometimes and it was fine.

Food was served and we tucked in to some fruit and chestnuts. CL mentioned going to buy khajapuri (bread and Georgian cheese) for me to eat. I convinced her not to go and told her that I wasn’t feeling well (it’s the only way to get Georgians to stop feeding you). They switched out our plates for clean ones (giving me a new one, in spite of the fact that I said I was finished eating.) The kkingali was brought out and everyone took one except me. I was happy drinking my juice because at this point my throat was on fire and I was having dizzy spells. While everyone else was happily eating their dead things, CL kept telling me to take one. I explained again that I don’t eat meat and she said, "but they’re very delicious" I told her that I’m sure they are and I’ve had potato ones and cheese ones, but I don’t eat meat. On about the 5th time she told me to take one, Boston jumped in for me and said quite forcefully that there was no way I was going to eat the meat. I loved her for it. Of course, about 5 minutes later, she was arguing her own case for not eating more. She was perfectly pleasant, but the "forceful voice" did make an appearance.

At this point, I realized that there was no way I could sit through a lesson at CL’s school. Even for politeness sake. So as she was gathering her things to leave, I made my apologies and told her that I was too sick to go. Once I assured her that I would be ok and that Boston would take care of me (a process which took 15 minutes, in spite of the fact that she was late to teach her lesson) she spoke to a cab driver and arranged for him to bring us back to my house.

On the way home, we passed the cinema. Apparently it does show movies. There were signs up and a whole crowd of kids waiting outside. I saw on the news that it was showing a cartoon. The cartoon looked an awul lot like the Eastern European Itchy and Scratchy from the Simpsons.

After a morning of so much Georgianness and politeness, we decided to watch an American movie featuring horrible people. Eurotrip was exactly what we needed. And FYI Bratislava looks an awful lot like Georgia. It made us laugh so hard. After the movie, we went downstairs for tea and sweets and then returned to the couch.

At one point, Uncle Suliko stopped by to take Bebia to Batumi for a birthday party. He wanted to see me, so I went down and made Boston come with me. He was surprised and pleased to see her. It’s always so funny when he’s here; we laughed so much that I coughed for ages. After he left, we had another cup of tea and then came back upstairs.

We watched some English tv programs and then turned on the music video channel, so that we could have a nap. The rest of the afternoon we lounged and watched tv. I was not good company at all, but Boston was ok with it. After she watched Mad Men, we both went to bed.

Oct. 20 - My life on the G-list

School happened. Kids were the same. There was a staff meeting announced about 20 minutes before it happened (typically Georgian) on the break between 2nd and 3rd periods. Since all of the teachers were at this meeting, the kids got a half an hour break at that time. So bizzare.

After school I came home, to find that the cleaning lady was here. I wish they would tell me when she was coming, so that I could clear off the floor, dresser and bedside tables. Instead, I spent the afternoon, trying to figure out where they’d put my things when they moved them. Still, the inconvenience is worth not having to do my own dusting.

We’ve also had glorious weather all week and today was no exception. It was actually warm enough that I thought about going for a swim. I got my suit on and made it to the pool, but the water has cooled significantly and I didn’t do more than sit on the edge with my legs in the water. Then I lounged on a chaise and got some sun. I’m trying to store up all the vitamin D that I can get with the approaching winter.

HM’s mother was visiting, so I had dinner with her, HM and Bebia. After dinner, HB1 came upstairs to practice speaking English. Then HM followed him, so we had a combined, hour long lesson. Normally I wouldn’t care, except that the hour they were here happened to be the hour that Veronica was on tv.

As I’m sitting here watching CSI: New York, a huge wind storm is blowing in. It sounded like rain, but when I looked it was just the wind blowing the leaves off of the treas. It truly is fall.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Oct. 19 - Nose in a book, as per usual

Not a whole lot going on these last couple of days. On Sunday night I started reading the Three Musketeers and I couldn’t put it down. This week has basically been school (where I read on my breaks) and then home (where I read until bedtime). I finished it tonight and I’ve gotta admit, I wasn’t impressed with the ending. I mean, it was ok, but in my head some things happened differently.

Also on Sunday night, a neighbour and cousin got into a car accident. He’s in pretty rough shape and everyone’s worried. I’ve never met the guy, so I don’t feel it as intensely as everyone else does. Also, he was driving drunk and the accident was his own fault, so my sympathy is tempered by that.

I haven’t been feeling that great the last few days. I don’t know if it’s my sinuses, the atmospheric pressure or something unknown, but I’ve been having dizzy spells. Which means I’ve also been feeling nauseous and haven’t wanted to eat much. Of course try explaining this to women who solve all problems with food and across a language barrier.

Last night, I didn’t want to have the discussion, so I let HM feed me fish (whole, battered and bbq’d) and eggplant (served the way I don’t like). Luckily, there was bread to cut the taste and they’re used to me only eating a little. Much as I hate to admit it, the protein probably did me some good.

Tonight, I had cereal with milk. The milk was just warm enough to soften the chocolate chunks in my muesli, so it was perfect. After I ate, I came back upstairs to watch the season premier of Gossip Girl and finish Musketeers. Then it was bed time.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Oct. 17 - Tea Time

I slept in again. I also threw in a load of laundry, since it was a glorious fall day and the sun was shining brightly. I have to do the wash when I can, because there is no dryer here and I have to hang everything outside to dry. Since the temperature has dropped, it takes at least 2 or 3 days to get things dry, and that’s only if it doesn’t rain.

Then I spent the morning reading. I have a Madeline L’Engle book out of the library. It was good, but more theological and philosophical than I had expected. Even so, I was in exactly the right mood for it and being a children’s book, I got through it very quickly.

In the afternoon, Co-teach called me to come over for lunch/ tea at her house, The whole thing was orchestrated by her mother, who has a 26 year-old, unmarried son. She wanted me to meet him. Luckily for me, he was shy and didn’t want to meet me, because he doesn’t speak English. He wouldn’t even come into the room, which was fine with me.

There was tons of food, in typical Georgian style. Also in typical Georgian style everything tasted a little off from what I was expecting. It was all good, just not what I would imagine, judging by how things looked. I did finally learn that the grape-puddingy-stuff is called pelamushi. Co-teach’s mom was really mad at her, because she didn’t tell her that I’m a vegitarian until the morning of and she was worried about what to feed me. I told her not to worry about it, but she was still upset.

After tea, I came home and the extended family was here. There was a car accident involving one of the neighbours (who is also a cousin) and everyone was very worried. I didn’t find this out until later, as I was on the phone for quite a while with Boston.

When I got off the phone and went downstairs to socialize, everyone else had disappeared, so I retreated back upstairs to English tv and my Kobo. I started reading the Three Musketeers and I’m really enjoying it. I was so stuffed from my afternoon tea that I didn’t have supper or a bed time snack. I watched tv until bed time and then went to sleep.

Oct. 16 - A Georgian Wedding

I slept in today. It was fantastic. I had nowhere to be and nothing in particular to do, so I slept until 8:30. Then I lay in bed reading until 9:30, before going down to breakfast. After breakfast, I lounged around some more and then finally decided to shower. I had a luxuriously long, hot shower. Wasn’t worried about the power going out because it was daytime. When my shower was over, I returned to my room and lounged around in my robe, finishing my book (sadly, not a new book, but still an enjoyable one).

Apparently, I spent too much time in my room, because Bebia came up and yelled at me in Georgian for a bit. All I could make out was the word ‘yard’ and she was gesturing to outside. So, assuming she was telling me to go outside, I said ‘yes, yes’ and gestured to my robe and wet hair, indicating that I had to get ready first. This must have been ok, because she left me alone and I dressed and did my hair.

I went downstairs and watched the kids play outside. I’d decided that since the dog and I had made friends, I could probably get close enough to snap a picture of him. This was not the case. It seems that when he’s in his yard, he’d nobody’s friend, though I did manage a couple of really bad shots.

Having failed at my photography attempts, I decided to go online (while everyone else was busy outside). I grabbed the modem and came back to my room. I’d been on for a while (updating the blog and checking e-mail) when HM came to my door.

She had just received a call from the assistant director of my school, inviting me to a wedding. Today. It was 2:10 pm when HM came to talk to me, and I was supposed to be ready by 3. Luckily, I had already showered and thanks to a heads up from Keti yesterday, I’d already been thinking about what to wear.

I managed to dress, make-up and do my hair by 3. I just making my last stop at the bathroom when Bebia started hollering for me. She met me downstairs and walked me to the assistant director’s house, where we waited until 3:50 for the marshrutka to come. While we were waiting, a neighbour stopped by with her 11 year old granddaughter, to speak English with me. I didn’t mind in the least, since it helped pass the time and her English was pretty good.

Once we were on the marshrutka, we had to go up to the school to get the other teachers. The wedding we were going to was the school director’s nephew. Everyone was all dressed up and all wearing heels. Once I saw the others, I understood why Bebia was yelling at me for wearing flats. Luckily, I get away with a lot of things because I’m foreign.

We didn’t actually go to the ceremony part of the wedding, just the dinner. When we got to the restaurant, everyone was standing around outside. I wondered why we couldn’t go in until the bride and groom got there. I got my answer when we went inside. People sit down at tables and start eating right away. Even when the bride and groom entered the building, most people just kept eating.

A Georgian wedding reception isn’t all that different from a Canadian one. The wedding party sits at a highly decorated head table and the parents have a table to themselves. There are speeches and the wedding couple has their first dance. However, throughout all of this, the guests are eating dinner, but the wedding party just has sweets. The food is on the tables and stays on the tables for the entire shindig. And most people talk and eat through the toasts and speeches.

There were some traditions that are done differently than what I’m used to. When the wedding party entered, the mother of the groom threw wrapped chocolates on them and to the guests (like we would throw confetti) and if the young girls eat this chocolate, it means that they’ll be getting married soon.

There’s also a tradition called the Bride’s Dinner, where her family, brings 2 traditional kinds of cake in baskets and each basket had a flare on it. Since there were about 7 or 8 baskets, it was bright and smokey. One of the sweets is like baklava and the other is like a giant uncooked sugar cookie. I really liked it.

Once the traditional stuff was over, the reception turned into just another dance party. There was lots of traditional music and drunk people trying to show off their traditional dance moves. A few of my students were also there,and they asked me to dance with them, so Co-teach and I did. Then the teachers decided that I needed to dance a ‘slow dance’ with a boy so they grabbed one and made him ask me (it was so highschool). I got up and danced with him and he was perfectly nice, but I would’ve much rather been dancing with his hot friend. Co-teach took a million pictures of us dancing, including one where I’m giving her the I-can’t-believe-you-did-this-to-me look.

We left pretty early, which was fine by me. Once the novelty wears off, it’s hard to enjoy a party where you don’t know the people, music or language. One marshrutka ride back up the mountain and I was safe at home, where I learned that HM and HD were also at a wedding. Luckily, Bebia didn’t force me to eat, since she assumed I was full from the wedding, which I was. I retreated to my room to decompress and relax.

Oct. 15 - FML

Back to the regular routine, but it was still a long day. Had breakfast and went to school as usual. Except that with the holiday, the private schools got Thurs and Fri off. Since the kids had no school, and HM never works on Fridays, I was ready and leaving before the family was up. HM met me at the front door, which I opened to find my new best friend, the dog, waiting for me. I said hello and stopped him from jumping up (while HM watched without helping). Then he followed me to the gate and tried to come to school with me. I got it closed before he could get out.

At school, I met Co-teach in class, and most of the students were ready to work (surprising, I know). The grade 9s were making a poster and their homework was to find the info in the text. Most of them did it and they got right down to work. I was annoyed though, because even after instructions in English and Georgian and a diagram on the board, they still ALL did it wrong.
Grade 6 was next and they were fine. They liked the activity and the one really enthusiastic student wasn’t there, so class was easier to manage. On the break between period 2 and 4, managed to get a mosquito bite ON MY PALM. I don’t know how, but it’s really aggravating. My 7s as always were a dream and then there was grade 12.

On Friday, Co-teach and I have a break right before the grade 12 class in period 6. The gr 12s also have a break then, so they asked, the first week of school, if we could have class in period 5 instead and then we could all go early. Obviously, we agreed and we’ve been doing it that way since. Well today, they didn’t show up in period 5.

We went to the cafeteria and visited for a bit, until the bell rang to end class. I went up to class to be ready to start period 6 when the bell rang. 5 minutes later, Co-teach came up and there was still no class, so she went to look for them. Another 5 minutes and she’s back, because she couldn’t find them. We decided to go and packed up. We were literally walking out the door when 6 boys came to class, 15 minutes late.

During class, one had his cell phone out. He was given the option to put the phone away or give it to me. He put it away, until 10 minutes later it rang and he "had to take it". So I told him to leave. A few minutes later he called one of the other boys into the hall to talk, and then there were 4, though the other boy did come back.

Near the end of class, two boys left to catch the bus, leaving us with 3. We finished the activity we were doing and I sent them all home. Mostly because I, too, needed to catch the bus down the mountain.

I got home and changed, tossed what I needed into my new purse and was ready to go in about 10 minutes. I had to go to the library, to geocell and I’d made plans to have dinner with Joker. The whole family was outside when I got there, watching HD get ready to shoot things.
They had a target (which was an opened up box with a + printed on it) strung up in the tree opposite the gate, with nothing but (downward sloping) mountainside behind it. HD had a rifle-y-looking gun (I dunno what it was) and he was standing halfway up the outside stairs. He shot across the courtyard, over the perimetre wall and across the street at the target. It was loud and frightning. I think the scariest thing is that he had no visibility of the street. Anyone could have been walking by and you wouldn’t have known.

They flagged down a car for me and I escaped without injury. In Kobuleti I flagged down a marshrutka. It was really nice and only me and two other guys got on. They sat in the front so I had the whole back to myself. In spite of the crazy, windy detour, I got to Batumi without needing a gravol. Once in the city, though, things got weird. The driver turned down a street where marshrutkas don’t normally turn and dropped off the guys. Then he asked me where I was going.

In turn, I asked where he was going and he said the station. That was fine with me, so he took me to the station. He was very concerned for me, but I told him I was meeting a friend nearby and everything was fine. He wouldn’t let me pay him and told me to have a good day.

Unfortunately, because he drove around the station before letting me out, I’d lost my bearings. But I picked a direction and started walking like I knew right where I was going. I didn’t. I wandered around for a good 45 minutes, looking for the library. I’d spotted landmarks and made my way to them, but I was always just a little off. Finally Joker called just as I figured out where I was and how to get where I was going. I had been planning to run all of my errands before meeting him and instead, just met him at the Sheraton. On our way to dinner we passed the library street. Since he had books to return as well, we stopped in.

The restaurant that I thought was a Chinese restaurant wasn’t, but it was pretty cheap and had lots of veggie options and an English menu. Joker and I both had kartophili khingali (giant dumplings filled with mashed potatoes) and lobiani khadjapuri (bread boat filled with bean paste). It was really good and we watched a storm move in over the water while we ate.

After dinner we both had to go to Goodwill. I stocked up on cereal and chocolate, since I never know when I’ll be able to get to a store. I also bought a chocolate dessert. The bottom was about 1/4 inch of sponge cake and then a dome of chocolate mousse. Inside there was a pocket of liquid dark chocolate and nuts and the whole thing had a dark chocolate shell. It was quite possibly the best thing I’d ever eaten.

I was one of the first people on the marshrutka I caught to Kobuleti, so I got to sit in a single seat by the door. It was the second marshrutka today that had seatbelts. I was surprised, because no one wears seatbelts here, even in private vehicles. The trip back was uneventful and I easily caught a cab up the mountain.

At home, I read for a bit upstairs. Then I joined the family for a couple of cups of tea. I’m still feeling under the weather, and my throat is scratchy, so I went to bed early.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Oct. 14 - My Version of Turkey Day

I went to Turkey. And it was awsome! But it was a lo-ong day. Since we had a holiday from school, the others wanted to get an early start. Good thing too, because we were gone for 12 hours. After breakfast and getting ready, my day started with a call from Co-teach at 7:50 that they would be coming in about 10 mins. Expecting things to move at Georgian speed, I decided to sit and read on the balcony, where I could see them coming down the mountain. To my surprise, I saw them coming right at 8.

I tossed my Kobo in my room and grabbed my purse. I was hoping to get out front to meet them, but I got waylaid by the giant dog standing at the front door. Normally, this dog (a German Shepherd mix) lives in it’s own little yard attached to the main courtyard, but at night it is let out to guard the castle. I have never been up and out before the family, so the dog is usually back in his yard by the time I go out. Not so today.

He stood and stared at me, blocking the whole door (did I mention he’s huge?). I tried to slip past him, and he tried to jump on me. I pushed him down with a hand on his (massive) chest and finally made it outside. Since shutting the door required 2 hands, the dog was then free to jump up on me. He almost knocked me over and when I caught my balance he started trying to be very friendly. I pushed him down again, and backed toward the gate, telling him to "stay" the whole time (like he understands English). When I turned to unlock and open the gate, he raced to my side. I swear he would’ve followed me anywhere. I squeezed through the gate and got it closed before he could get out (for this I was thankful that he’s so big). Co-teach and co were waiting for me when I emerged.

My first battle fought and won, all before 8:05.

Instead of a trip with Co-teach and 1 other teacher from school, there were actually 5 of us going. And the other 2 women were buying things in Turkey to sell here in Georgia. We hitchhiked down the mountain and caught a marshrutka to Batumi with litte problems. My biggest issue was the closure of the tunnel, causing us to take the twisty windy detour through the mountains.
Since my motion sickness is always worse when I’m tired, I’d already taken a gravol. But it makes me sleepier and when one of the women asked if I was tired, I tried to explain to Co-teach about my vertigo and the pill.

She was very worried about me, and asked me every 5 minutes if I wanted to switch places with her and if I was alright. It was sweet, but the best thing to do is leave me the hell alone to fight the nausea. The other woman, who was very interested in me was also trying to make conversation. Her topic wasn’t my health, but my lack of husband. 3 different times on the 45 minute trip to Batumi, I was asked "Do you not want a Georgian husband?" However, we arrived in Batumi with no accidents (or murders) and the walk to the next marshrutka cleared my head.

Battles number 2 and 3 fought and won by 9:15.

The border was bizarre. You have to go past a Georgian border guard who looks at your passport and makes sure you’re on the video screen. He stamps your passport with the exit date. Then you walk through (quite a way) to the Turkish window.

Since I’d never been to Turkey, I had to go past where they stamp the passports to the visa office, which was literally 4 huge buildings away. Co-teach came with me to translate, in case I needed it, but most of the border guards spoke some English. By the time we got to the visa office, we were already well on the Turkish side of the border. Whatever. I got my visa (for less money than I’d expected) and Co-teach and I ran back to where everyone else was still in line to get their entry stamps. Being a foreigner, I got to go in the foreigner’s line (which was practically non-existent) and Co-teach and I were through before the others.

Once in Turkey, we caught a marshrutka to a border town called Kamel Pasha (that’s the phonetic spelling, I don’t know how it’s actually spelled). We got out and stopped for some food since the others hadn’t eaten, yet. We had pastries and coffee with milk and sugar. Photo was really annoyed, because she couldn’t smoke inside the café. I thought it was awsome that Turkey’s going smoke-free, but I kept my mouth shut.

After food, we went into a nearby mosque to take some pictures. I’ve never seen the inside of a mosque before. It was beautiful, but empty. There are no pews, or benches, or even those little kneely things the catholics use. I was suprised by how disrepectful the others were. It’s like they didn’t recognize it as a holy place. I know it’s not their religion, but it’s holy to some people and should be respected as such. But again, I kept my mouth shut.

We took a few more pictures in the square outside of the mosque, but then it was on to shopping. Basically, we walked down the main street and stopped at every single shop. At times it was entertaining, interesting, and boring, but it was never expensive. I bought a pair of shoes, a purse, a tiny change purse and a skirt for about $25. I also managed to pick up some gifts for people at home and some odds and ends (like nail polish for $.30 a piece). I even managed to find a jade ring that I loved, but it was too big (for my middle finger) and they didn’t have another one. But I’ve decided to look when I go back and if they still have it, I’ll buy it and get it resized at home.

5 hours later, though, I was getting tired and hungry. At the end of the row of shops was something that I was sure was a mirage. The Istanbul Bazar. I have never been so happy to see a mall or a Burger King in my life. I wanted to cry.

Since everyone was hungry, we went straight to the "food court." There were only 2 restaurants, but one was BK, so I was happy. I felt it pulling me like a magnet and headed right for it. Co-teach asked me if I didn’t want tolma (my favourite Georgian food) at the other restaurant and I was like, "I want this". But I didn’t know how to explain to her that while I like tolma, BK tastes like home. I had chicken tenders, fries and a milkshake. Then I went back and had the apple pie dessert thing with ice cream on top. It was heaven.

I was much more ready to troll the mall after that. Co-teach was still looking for a few things, so we hit the stores. It was fantastic. There was more than one of everything and things had price tags. I didn’t have to ask them the cost. It was funny, though, because one of the other women we were with, kept shouting out "ra ghirs" (how much?), because nothing in Georgia has price tags, exept in Goodwill.

When we finished at the mall, we got a marshrutka back to the border, but we had to sit and wait until it filled up. That turned out to be a good thing, because two of Co-teach’s bags had been left behind in the mall. She asked the driver to wait and ran back to get them. There were no more adventures in getting to the border.

At the border was another story entirely. There were tons of people trying to get back to Georgia and it was raining. A woman behind me had an umbrella, the edge of which was right over my head (which meant I caught all of the run-off) and the woman directly in front of me was using her massive purse to cover her head and every time she turned her head, she almost smacked me in the face with it. And they line up at the border just like they do everywhere else in Georgia (which is to say that there is no actual line).

Again, you have to get an exit stamp from the Turkish border guard. The guy I gave my passport to, checked my passport and just sat there and looked at me. Then he made a motion with his hand. I asked what was wrong and he stared at me. Thinking he just didn’t understand me, I tried to ask in Georgian, with the same result. I called Keti back and when she asked in English what the problem was, he said "no problem". And handed back my passport. It was bizarre.

Once we got through Turkish customs, we had to deal with the Georgian side. For goods weighing more than 30kg or costing more than 500 gel, you have to pay duty. Since neither Co-teach or I spent that much, we were each given a bag (by one of the women we were with) and asked to bring it through customs. I was the last one through and had my bags plus the extra one beside me.

I handed my passport to the woman and she looked at it for a really long time. Then she looked at me for a really long time. There was a guy there who’d been talking to my companions and he asked me if the bag was mine. I said yes. The woman with my passport still hadn’t said anything. Finally she gave me my passport back and I went through into the next section.

Georgian Customs has 2 big x-ray machines (like in the airport for luggage) that weigh and scan your merchandise. The guy who’d asked me about the bag guided me past the scanners saying "touristi" every time someone tried to stop us. I got through and waited at the other side for my companions, who were also allowed to bypass the scanners because they were with the "touristi". It was insane.

We hopped on a marshrutka back to Batumi with no problems. I needed another gravol, but the girls mostly left me alone (as Co-teach was too tired to translate much) and I zoned out. The driver dropped us off right where we needed to catch our next marshrutka and we got on one of those right away as well. Back in Kobuleti, we grabbed a cab. But 3 of us were sitting and waiting for about 10 mins in the cab while the other 2 and the driver were watching a fight that was happening nearby.

I finally got home and then had to give a rundown of my purchases to the family. Bebia really liked the bag and shoes. While I’d been out of the country, I missed a call from Mom, so I came upstairs to put away my things and await her next call. We chatted for a bit and I went to bed pretty early, knowing that I have to get up for school tomorrow.

Oct. 13 - I'm Useful

This morning I had breakfast before the family. The spaghetti was still in the frying pan when I finished. I think HM might be sick. I was a little later than usual to leave, because I was just getting to the good stuff in "Emma". I was about halfway to school when I realized that I’d left the key to our classroom on my dresser. I hurried home to grab it and HD offered me a ride to school. Even with the ride, I was late.

Co-teach was back today and it was nice to see her. Our classes were pretty good and we got all of our planning done for next class, so all in all, the day was a win. Since tomorrow’s a holiday, we confirmed our plans to go to Turkey with the other teacher who is going with us.

I came home in the rain and came right upstairs to change. I stayed in my room reading (trying to finish Emma) until Bebia called me for lunch. I went down and had lobio (made with kidney beans this time, not green) and creamed spinach. It’s so good to get greens, even if they are stewed in a pot until you can’t tell what they were originally. They’re still green.

I read a little more, until it got too cold to stay in my room. Then I went to the kitchen to make some tea. When I got there, Bebia had a huge pan of walnuts sitting on the table. I made my tea and sat down to watch what she was doing. Turns out, she was digging the nut meat (he he he) out of the walnuts in preparation for making the walnut sauce that’s really popular here. Finally spying a job that I could help with, I got a knife and started helping.

Not too long after that, Neighbour Boy rang the bell. He’d come over for help with his English work. For once it wasn’t the stupid practice exam. It’s funny. Every time he comes over he says "Just fifteen nimutes," but it’s usually closer to 45 minutes or an hour. Today I helped him for 25 minutes and then went back to helping Bebia with the walnuts.

While we were working, the rest of the family came home. The boys were in and out of the kitchen and playing with really loud toys in the tv room (which is the only room attached to the kitchen). The power went out once while we were working, but I think there’s a generator that gets used if it’s already dark, so it wasn’t out for long. When we finished with the walnuts, I came back up to my room.

I finished Emma and had just started writing here when HM asked for an English lesson. It wasn’t long. She has a book. Mostly, she studies on her own and then she reads and translates, while I listen, correct her pronounciation and answer questions. Being an adult, she can cover more lessons than HB1 and she’s more motivated, so it’s nice to work with.

Tonight is VM night. And I have to go to bed early, because we are leaving early for Turkey in the morning. I am so excited. One more country to cross of my list of places I’ve never been. Sadly, I probably won’t get to Istanbul, but I’m sure the rest of Turkey has stuff going for it, too.

Oct. 12 - Hazelnut Strings and Other Things

Co-teach was not at school today, so the woman who used to teach English was helping me with my classes. It was nice to have backup, but I didn’t really need it. The kids were really good. I don’t know if it was the novelty of the situation, or if it was because the desks were in rows and not groups (I gave 2 tests today) but they were attentive.

We also played hangman for the first time. It’s kind of perfect. The kids like it because it’s a game, and I like it because it forces them to practice vocabulary and saying the letter names. In Georgian letters are named for the sound they make. If you want the sound "luh" you write the letter called "luh", so they don’t really get that a letter called "b-ee" makes a "b-uh" sound.
After school, I walked home in the 5 minutes of sun we had between showers. There were some pretty spectacular skies, because from my mountain vantage point, while we had sun, I could see the clouds moving (and raining) over other peaks. Then when we were in rain again, I could still see the sun in the distance.

When I got home, I ate, as usual and retreated to my room for internet time. It wasn’t long, though before Bebia called me. She was in the winter kitchen in the basement. It was here that I finally got to see the culmination of the hazlenut project. Hung over 2 beams were strings and strings of roasted hazelnuts and on the stove was a giant pot filled with grape-pudding-type-stuff (I can’t remember what it’s actually called). They dipped each string in the pot and completely coated the nuts with the grape stuff before re-hanging them over the beams. I took pictures of the whole process.

This is the same grape stuff that they put on plates and serve as pudding (which is what they did with the left overs, once the nuts were finished). This paste is made of grape juice (literally from crushed grapes), water, sugar and flour. It’s pretty good, but almost too sweet for me. I haven’t had a chance to try the nuts, yet, but I’m excited.

I ate dinner with the family and retreated to my room pretty early. I read a book on my computer, because I like to save the battery in my Kobo for when the power is out. Which it was a couple of times tonight. Luckily, the longest outage happened while the sun was still shining, so I had light to read by, though one time I did have to resort to the flashlight on my cell phone.

Oct. 11 - Staff party, but no Thanksgiving

Today school was the norm. Except that I had the key for our classroom, since Co-teach had to leave early on Friday. It was nice to get into the room at 8:50 instead of 9 for my 9 o’clock class. I found my Kobo, right on my desk where I left it. All my classes went well and the woman who told my coffee cup fortune said that I am going to have a niece and a nephew. I told mom and she was amused.

It was sunny and beautiful all day, right up until my last class. My teaching was interrupted by thunder near enough to shake the building. Also at this time, one of the teachers was celebrating a new grandchild, so there was a teachers’ party in the cafeteria. During the lesson, Co-teach and I were summoned no less than 5 times to come to this party. One time, the director sent a child up to tell us that because of the rain, we were to let the students leave early.

Granted it was a really heavy, unexpected rain, but it was also one of the few days that we’ve been able to keep the gr. 12s working and interested in the lesson. No way was I stopping them while they were engaged. Since we didn’t get to the party soon enough, Co-teach got 2 calls on her cell phone (which was on during the lesson) both to tell us to come.

We did go down, once class was over and were presented with papa (water and flour boiled into a paste, served with a well of butter in the middle and sprinkled with sugar) and a million cakes. I don’t like papa (had it on my birthday), so I told Co-teach and she didn’t have any either. So the two of us had cake and grape juice (that was trying to be wine, but not quite making it). The napoleani cake is layers of pastry and a creamy frosting. It is like a Passion Flaky on steroids and I love it.

Even though I was full on cakes, when I got home I was told that there was lobio (it means beans) for me in the kitchen. Thinking I needed something wholesome to take the edge off of my sugar intake, I had some. After changing, of course, since I was soaked from walking home in the rain.

The cleaning lady was also here doing the floors. I did my best to stay out of the way, so mostly I just checked my e-mail and read a little. When the boys got home, HB1 came up to get the internet, and HB3 followed him. He said hello to me (in Georgian) and when the cleaning lady came up the stair behind him, he told her that I was in my room (in Georgian). He was so excited to see me. So we went downstairs together, because upstairs is cold, and HD had a fire going in the tv room. I sat in there with my Kobo and watched the boys play.

I was expecting a call from Mom, since it's Thanksgiving at home, and I headed back upstairs around 6:30. She called and we had a good talk, which was nice, because the power had gone out. Again. Mom put Daddy on the phone and we also had a good talk, in spite of getting disconnected 3 times.

When we finally got off the phone for good, I watched some tv and went to bed.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Oct. 9 and 10 - Sleepover Party

Yesterday, I was supposed to meet that Georgian English teacher to go to her school and visit her house. Around 7:30 Sailor sent me a text that she wasn’t coming, due to still being sick and it being a generally crappy day outside. I looked out my window to note that while it wasn’t exactly raining, it was so wet that if you weren’t under cover, you ended up soaked just from standing there.

I decided that without my backup (and just having gotten over being sick) I didn’t want to go anywhere. I texted the teacher and she said that that was fine, because she’d been sick too. We may try to do it again next week, if I’m not in Turkey with the teachers from my school. Next, I called Boston, because she was planning to come play at my house and we were supposed to meet in Kobuleti. She still wanted to come in, and it worked out better this way, because she could work on her own timeline.

She finally got here around 5. Came in and spent a bunch of time with the family. Had dinner and visited. A host aunt and cousin were here as well, so it was kind of a party. While we were visiting, I got a text from Joker. Turns out, COOLIO had a concert in Batumi last night and a bunch of them were going. A little jealous, but feeling pretty cozy, we retreated upstairs.

We watched some tv shows I’d never heard of (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Party Down), but quite enjoy and Mad Men, which Boston loves. She had to explain a lot about what was going on to me, but I think it’s one that I may watch from the beginning when I get home.
We went to bed at 11, since we were both tired. And this morning, I woke up around my regular time, but lay in bed until 8:30ish. Boston stayed in bed til 10, which was fine, because it gave me time to read the latest book I got from the library. It’s called Summerland and is about baseball and the end of the world (and using baseball as a means to NOT end the world). I love it.

Once Boston got up, we had breakfast, then came back upstairs and turned on the tv. None of my Turkish channels were showing English shows, so we watched MTV and Rebel TV for hours. Throughout our viewing time, we took turns getting dressed and brushing our teeth and stuff. Finally at about 2, we headed downstairs so that Boston could catch a bus back to Batumi.

Nato just had lunch ready, so we ate before she left. While we were eating a couple of neighbours came over to visit. Just before 2:30 we went outside to catch a bus. One happened to come right away and Boston got on it.

I’m trying to make an effort to socialize more with the family, so I stayed downstairs after Boston was gone. Mostly, the women talked around me while we all drank tea, and I watched a British reality show on tv. After an hour I felt that I had put in sufficient time and once again retreated to my room.

I watched some episodes of Leno and Cold Case and Dr. Who. But I’m nowhere near desprate enough to watch Ghost Whisperer. While that was on, I finished my book.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Oct. 8 - a day like any other

Today was the first time I taught a class by myself. Co-teach’s cousin was having an operation, so she went to Batumi. We taught our first 2 classes together and then I covered gr 7 alone. It worked out well, though they didn’t quite understand the game I wanted to play, so I switched games and they got the second one much better.

After school, I came home for lunch. When I got home, I realized that I don’t know where my Kobo is. I figured I’d set it somewhere in the house, or that I’d left it at school. No biggy. But when I had lunch with HM and Bebia, I mentioned that I couldn’t find it, expecting an "I’ll keep an eye out for it." Nope. It was a big deal. We searched the house. When it wasn’t in the house, HM called a bunch of people to check the school, she even went so far as to send on of my host cousins back to school to look for it.

It hadn’t turned up by the time the bus came by and I left for Batumi. Over the last couple of weeks, I really haven’t had much chance to visit with Boston or Joker, so I went to Batumi to play. When I got into town, Joker was working out, but I met Boston at the pizza place and we both had spaghetti - with tomato sauce. It may not seem like a big deal, but here pasta is served plain... or with sugar. Actual sauce was a welcome change.

After food, we walked up the street and ran into Joker. We all stopped and chatted for a bit before Joker headed home and Boston and I hit the boulevard. We sat on the beach, watching the sun set, talking and taking pictures.

Before too long, I had to leave, so that I would be on time to catch my bus up the mountain. Unfortunately, when we got to the marshrutkas, there wasn’t one leaving right away, so I missed my bus anyway. The cab driver that knows me met me when I got off. I had to break a bill, so he drove me over to the little market, where I picked up a yogurt for tomorrow’s breakfast.

I got home with no further ado and spent the evening watching horrible tv. But it was in English, so I watched anyway.

A note on food: over the last few days, I’ve had the chance to try some really interesting things. Suprisingly, I enjoyed most of them. Turns out, roasted hazelnuts are delicious covered in honey. The hazelnuts are threaded onto a string and then dipped in some sort of concoction (they look like lumpy tapered candles when they’re finished). Bebia was threading the nuts here the other day, but she gave me a pile of broken nut bits in honey and I loved it.

There is also a fruit here that I’ve never tried before. It has a familiar, sort of citrusy taste. It’s small and the same colour of green as a lime. The inside is white, and when you suck out the juice and flesh, you’re left with a star shape. My phrasebook has the English name of this fruit being "peichoa" which I’ve never heard of. Whatever it’s called, I really like it.

I was actually offered grilled cheese for breakfast today as well. The family had out the George Forman-style grill. Of course, I declined. Since the only cheese in this country is what Sarah calls "foot cheese" (due to its smelling and tasting like feet) I opted not to have a sandwich made out of it first thing in the morning. Instead, I had 2 pieces of bread, one with honey and one with peach jam.

Oct. 7 - Busy, Busy, Busy

Today was.... I don’t even know. My classes were pretty typical. The ones I expect to be good were and the ones I expect to drive me nuts did. The only thing of note in class was that I only had 10 kids in Gr. 8. But they were all good ones and as the last class of the day, it was a dream.

My afternoon was spent grading homework, reading a library book, and hanging out with Bebia. I had started laundry in the morning, so I hung it to dry, as well. Jamal and the kids got home around 5:30ish. The boys watched some of the neighbourhood kids play soccer, while I visited with two of the neighbours. One has been taking English lessons and asked me to check her homework, so I did.

HM came home and we all had tea, outside. It has gotten quite cool here. It’s not comfortable to be outside without long sleeves any more. But the warm tea made a nice contrast to the chill in the air. Just as we were finishing up, Neigbour Boy came over, also for English help. He is working on practice exams.

We were partway through the first question when the power went out. It’s getting dark early, so even being outside didn’t help. We finished that question by flashlight, but then HM needed the light to get the boys’ dinner ready. Neighbour went home, with a promise to come back when the power was back on.

Everyone else was in the kitchen, but I came upstairs to get my little LED flashlight. I decided to call Joker and make him entertain me, since we haven’t talked in a couple of days. Mid-convo, my flashlight batteries died and I was left in the dark. Luckily, the generator kicked in and we had power. For about 10 seconds, before it went out again. A few more flickers and the power came back on for good.

I decided to take advantage and watch some tv. No sooner had I turned the tv on, than HB1 appeared for help with his homework. His teacher had assigned 5 exercises today, that are due tomorrow. While we were on the second one, Neighbour came back, to finish his work.

So an hour and a half later, HB1 finally finishes and goes downstairs. I checked Neighbour’s work and we finished the last few tasks. I didn’t actually teach him, so much as tell him the answers, because I was too tired to put in more effort. Once we were done, I went down for a (late) dinner. HM and HB1 worked on his Georgian homework while I ate dinner.

After dinner, I checked my email and did some net surfing. Then I went to bed. All in all a productive and eventful day. Especially considering that I didn’t even leave the village.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Wed. Oct 6 - I love teaching but I hate kids

My gr. 8s are a fantastic class. I wish I could start every day with them. Of course, when you start with your best class, there’s nowhere to go but down. My twelves were lazy. None of them did the homework and few of them did the in-class assignment. You’d think that the 8 kids who are showing up would be willing to do a little work.

Even still, that was better than my grade 9 class. They were all more than 10 mins late, because their homeroom teacher was meeting with some parents in their class room and they couldn’t get their books. Half of them hadn’t finished the homework and then when we were taking it up, they were arguing with me about the English. Like I don’t know the meanings of words in my native language. When it was finally time to work, no one would settle. Even my better behaved students weren’t on task. We got nothing accomplished and I was supremely frustrated.

The worst thing about my grade 9 class is that it is the only class I have Wed afternoon. If not for that one class, I would be done at 10:45. Since I had to go into Batumi today (returning an overdue library book) being done that early would’ve been nice. And since the only time it wasn’t raining today was during my 2 hour break between classes, I was not thrilled.

The trip into Batumi was uneventful. Bebia flagged down a car for me. I caught the big, yellow bus. It wasn’t full, so I got a seat near the front and the tunnel is open, so there was no detour. I picked up some essentials at Goodwill and made my way to the library to meet Sailor.

On my way to the library, I stopped to inquire about getting some photos printed (I want to frame some pictures of the boys and me to give to HM and HD as a thank you gift). Since I didn’t have the vocabulary to ask, they just printed my pics. They turned out really well and it was cheap. Unfortunately, I was in a hurry when I selected the photos, so two of them are not the ones I wanted. It’s ok, though, because now that I know how quick and easy it is, I’m no longer worried about getting it done in time.

I met Sailor in the library, returned my book and found two other books I wanted. She and I also discussed which Y.A. book would best suit one of her really advanced students, as far as content and English level. We finally found one, checked out our books and were on our way.

Poor Sailor is suffering from the same illness I had last week. Only she hasn’t rested and so it keeps getting worse and worse. Since she was so ill, we decided to head straight home. We caught a marshrutka and while we were waiting for it to leave, I showed her the texts that I had received from the Georgian English teacher that I met on my birthday.

*Sidebar: On the marshrutka going to Batumi for my birthday, I ended up sitting beside a local Georgian English teacher. She was very excited to talk to a native Eng speaker and invited me to her house and to the (private) school where she teaches. She was very persistant and in the week since my birthday I have received 6 phone calls and 3 (very long) text msgs. I arranged to meet her on Sat the 9th with Sailor in tow.*

We got to Sailor’s stop and she texted me when she got home. At my stop, the cab driver who knows me flagged me down (from inside his car because of the rain) and took me home. I had no sooner got home than Mom called and we had a lovely chat.

When I got off the phone with Mom, I went downstairs and was offered food. After I ate, I did a quick vocab lesson with HB1. I think my understood Georgian is increasing as much as his English with these lessons. I know my reading is getting better.

Now it is tv time. And Wed is Veronica Mars night. My plan is to watch Veronica and go to bed.

Tues. Oct, 5 - A blurb

Yesterday I had a complete relapse of my cold, with the additional fun of running out of tissues. I was using anything I could find to blow my nose with, toilet paper, napkins, bed linens (just kidding on the last one, but it came pretty close). Today I’m feeling better, but still not great. The sniffles are fewer and my throat doesn’t hurt. I do have a bit of a headache, but I’m pretty sure that’s from some loud classes.
I got home from school just in time for "lunch" (which is served anywhere from 1:30-4pm). Nato’s sister-in-law was here with her monster child, but he wasn’t noisy today, just all over the place, so I could deal. Niko has started greeting me by name when he sees me now, and it’s really cute.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Oct. 3 - It's raining, it's pouring

I am still sick. I was getting better, but being the genius that I am, decided to go into Batumi today. Little did I know, it was pouring rain. I got soaked, and even now that I’m home and dry, my sniffles have not yet retreated. I feel like crap.

Here’s the rundown for the last few days; Thurs I went to school then came home and napped for an hour before eating and reading, Fri I stayed home sick and spent the whole day in and around bed, Sat I did more of the lounging thing and spoke to the home team on the phone. And today I needed supplies and wanted to attend a friend’s birthday gathering, so into Batumi I wandered.

Bebia flagged down a car to take me down the mountain, which means that I didn’t have to wait for the bus. Turns out, it was one of my students and his dad. It was a little awkward, but he was really sweet, so it ended up ok. Thanks to work on the tunnel, my bus took a super-fun (note the sarcasm) detour through the mountains. The road was long and twisty and my bus-ride, which usually takes 25 minutes, took an hour.

By the time I got into town, it was pouring. I ran into Goodwill to pick up my necessities, as well as birthday chocolates for my friend. I left Goodwill for the café and got there just as the sky opened up. I hung out, reading and drinking tea, for a while until Hammer showed up and we chatted about school and stuff.

After Joker and Boston arrived, we were joined by the birthday girl and left for the pizza place. Again the food was pretty good and there were a bunch of people already there waiting for us. After pizza we went back to the café for cake. Then I headed home. No buses were around, so I took a cab (didn’t want to be in the rain any more than I had been).

After I put away my purchases, I was walking through the upstairs tv room and heard a cat meow. When I looked, the cat was curled up on the couch, but he meowed when he saw me, because he knows I will always pet him. So I curled up with the cat and we watched some tv.

About half an hour later when the adults came home, they saw the cat and host mom freaked.
I said that the cat was there when I came home and I didn’t know that he wasn’t supposed to be there (though I had suspected). So the cat got shooed out onto the balcony and I went and washed my hands. I don’t know if it’s because he’s outside, but my allergies really kick up with that cat. (Who, by the way, is called cat, just like Cat in Breakfast at Tiffany’s and kinda looks like the Cat in the movie.)