Georgia on my Mind and in my Stomach

Let's talk about food! If you know me at all you know how much I love and appreciate good. I often tell people I travel with an open mouth; Georgia has been no exception! Now that we have finally gotten out of the training center and into real Georgia the eating has been non-stop. There are 7 volunteers in training in my village and we rotate where we eat lunch each day. Each one of our host families takes turns hosting us about once a week and that means they go all out each meal.

This picture is from lunch on Tuesday, AFTER we had finished eating (look closely and you can find some Georgian peaches). You can't even tell that we have eaten. They are constantly refilling the plates and bowls with a seemingly endless supply of food. Often times there is too much food to fit on the table so they just start stacking the plates. It is all just a little crazy. Some of my favorite local dishes are khachapuri and khinkali. My town is known for it's cherry crop, so we have some sort of cherry derivative with every meal- juice, jam, raw, and candied.

There are a few minor downsides with all this food. First, they really love their salt here. It is going to take some time to adjust to the saltiness of the cheese and other dishes. Second, most foods are very starchy or dairy based. I'd normally be the last to make a remark against two of my favorite food groups, but considering I have 26 more months here I should probably look at eating a wider variety of foods. One of my justifications for my new diet is that most of it is farm to table, and by that I mean backyard-to-table. I don't think very much of what we eat has ever come from a store shelf.

Speaking from my experience with my host family; my mom milks the cow every evening and then brings the milk in and separates some for drinking and the rest for cheese and yogurt. Every night she takes some of the fresh milk and warms it on the stove for me. Warm fresh milk has now become a favorite nighttime snack. In addition to the milk she often brings me from fresh honey, with the honeycomb, to accompany my milk. Did I mention we have honey bees as well? In addition to the milk, honey, and fruit, she makes a fresh batch of bread every couple of days. Most people in town make bread outside in some special in the group bread oven thing. The smell of burning wood is ever present because of this. I think it adds a nice rustic touch to the whole experience.

Anyways back to the over eating, I am fairly certain that my most commonly used Georgian phrases are "I don't want anymore/meti ar minda/მეტი არ მინდა" "it's good/kargia/კარგია!" "thank you very much/didi madloba/დიდი მადლობა" They were wise to make us memorize those phrases early on. I do count myself as one of the lucky ones; when I say I don't want any more my family leaves me alone. Most Georgians ignore it and continue to offer more food.

Needless to say, the Georgians are a very hospitable people. They have a saying here, "a guest is a gift from God." You can tell by the way we are treated that it's not just a nice saying. They actually mean it! We are slowly assimilating into the community and moving from guests to members of our respective families. Give it a few more weeks and it might tone down some; however, in the meantime I'll just keep eating!

P.S. I haven't even touched on the drinking culture here. I will just mention that my host family has been more than accepting and accommodating of the fact that I don't drink coffee, black tea, or any form of alcohol- all of which are staples of most Georgians' diets. I definitely lucked out with this placement!

Welcome to Skra!

Did you know that the Georgians love Wheel of Fortune too? Well, that is what I am currently watching with my new host father, Zviad. Too bad I can barely spell, let alone speak Georgian. I’ll know I am doing well when I can actually start guessing words.

It’s funny to think how quickly the unknown can become the norm. Yesterday I was getting ready to find out where I would be spending the next three months, now I am here and it seems so “normal” and obvious. My head does start to spin a little when I start to think that I will be living here for the next 3 months! I’ve already had a number of what-am-I-doing-here-moments, but then I laugh and just keep going.

Yesterday after trainings we received our cluster assignments, delivered in true Tengo (PC head of training) fashion. I definitely lucked out with a great cluster- Alex, Bryan, Lisa, Melissa, Rachel, and Jim; not that you know any of them. We have been assigned to the village of Skra (სქრა) just 10km outside the city of Gori.

The Skra cluster minus Melissa, basically my lifeline for the next 3 months

We all packed quickly and then were loaded onto the buses and set out to meet our new families. On the way we stopped for a delicious supra (feast) which fulfilled our dreams of tasting khatchapuri and khinkali as well as several other delicious Georgian delicacies. The settings was fantastic and it was a great end to our week of PC summer camp aka orientation training. After another hour on the bus we arrived in Gori and headed to a school where a crowd of Georgians had gathered to watch the spectacle of wide-eyed Americans and claim one for themselves.

I felt like I was preparing for a firing squad as they called us up cluster by cluster and read out names and the names of our new host family. I was the final person called in my cluster and my new host mother ran up immediately to claim me. Next it was a whirlwind of gathering my belongings, saying a few goodbyes, and loading into a car with my mother, father, and new PC Georgian teacher Naili.

The ride to Skra was quick and luckily Naili was able to translate most of the conversation for me. When we arrived at my new house it wasn’t exactly a Fresh Prince moment, but I was welcomed in with much hospitality. My father showed me upstairs to my room and we brought in my belongings. Next he brought me downstairs to the living room and showed me to a chair. Naili was seated on the couch across the room and explained to me that their hospitality was preventing her from leaving. My host mother was preparing some food in the kitchen (food was the last thing on my mind after the lunch we had just eaten) and my host father began to use some English and Georgian to introduce me to his sons and show me around the rest of the house. I have two brothers, Nika and Vano who are 22 and 20 respectively. I didn’t learn much about Vano as he was in an out, but Nika is quite the sportsman and has collected quite a number of Judo medals and awards. Apparently, Irma’s (my mother) brother was an Olympic judo champion (not sure what that entails) but he recently passed away, from what I can tell.

My new house

Old house = New barn

Pigs- one for each son

The backyard with beehives, cherry trees, and strawberry/raspberry bushes.

Rear view of the house

My room

The view from the door

I think I get this balcony all to myself

The kitchen

The living room- we literally live in here all day

Having Naili with me as I arrived was very helpful. She did a lot of translating, and also helped me explain to my new family that I didn’t drink any alcohol, coffee, or black tea. It took a minute to explain but I think we are all on the same page and no one was offended. About an hour after we had arrived we all sat around the table and the eating began. There was quite an array of food and my father began to make the toast. Toasts are a big thing in Georgia culture and they toast to everything. There were toasts to Georgia, America, my parents, siblings, relatives, deceased relatives, and friends all made separately. It was a fantastic experience and great bonding moment with the family. It ended with them giving me gifts which I wasn’t anticipating and we all left happy.

After clearing the table I brought down the small gifts I had brought for them and tried to explain what things were. They loved it all. Next Nika and Zviad took me around to see their animals and orchards. My father has a milk cow, calf, chicks, and pigs (3 one for each of his sons, including me) as well as some beehives and 6 sections of fruit trees on the outskirt of the village. After that brief tour we came back home so Nika could head to his soccer game in Gori and Irma and Zviad could talk me around to meet their relatives. I meet so many grandparents, siblings, and cousins that I can’t keep any of it straight. Irma’s works at the local school and her sister is the director so that was useful information. I’m not sure what anyone else does. A few of Irma’s nieces speak good English so that made the whole experience a lot easier.

The rest of the night was fairly tame. We hung out in the living room trying to communicate with limited language skills and my dictionary. It was basically a huge game of charades. The big hit was all the candy which the guys went to town on, as well as the glow sticks. The glow sticks were an object of intense fascination and they wanted to know everything about them. I feel bad that they won’t last longer. After some time I snuck away to my room and began to unpack my things. After having been here for a week I have a good idea of what I need and don’t need and feel good that I didn’t pack too many unnecessary items. I might need more warm clothes if this cold weather doesn’t clear up soon.

Between unpacking and playing games with Nika I was up until about 12:30 or so. I finally got ready for bed and couldn't put it off any longer. I had my first appointment with my Turkish toilet… Overall it went well, it’s definitely a new experience but shouldn't be too bad. I just need to remember that texting on the toilet isn't advisable anymore, also I can't forget my headlamp at night.

Here is the outhouse 

My bed is super comfortable and my duvet is extra heavy- just how I like it. I slept in as long as I could and then made the fast run to the bathroom at about 7:30, afterwards I jump right back in bed and slept until about 10. The morning was pretty slow and we just hung out and ate as a family. Eventually my father indicated that we were going to Gori I ran up to get ready. People here often wear the same outfit for a couple days so they were already ready. I was willing to go without showering but I didn’t feel like heading out in my pajamas.

The trip to Gori was great and my mother gave a pretty good tour of the town. We stopped to get medicine for the trees, animal feed, and groceries. My mother let me follow her around the bazar and taught me the names of various food items which I have all but forgotten by now. She is getting really good at correcting my pronunciation and teaching me various phrases. Also I’m not going anywhere without my dictionary/phrasebook now.

We just finished a good lunch of onion/yogurt soup, boiled potatoes, fish, cheese, and bread and everyone is working on various tasks. I’m getting ready to meet my cluster to walk around town and get to know the village. I just need to find a way to explain that to my family and see if anyone can be our guide on this little adventure.

Hope everyone is having just as much fun back in the USA!

Goodbye Bazaleti

Once again I am writing to you from my bed, seems like mornings are best for updating things online. However, I can't make any promises moving forward since who knows where I will be headed tonight. We will find out our training host family placements this afternoon and then head out to meet them in Gori. This past week has honestly felt like I was at summer camp, sequestered away in the mountains with a bunch of random people- whose company I have come to enjoy. Now it's time for things to get just a little more "real".

To celebrate Alex's birthday and our last night at the training center, we had some of the Georgian staff help us make a small bonfire and we roasted food and sang songs until it was late:

G15s around an improvised bonfire with our new Georgian friends

Also if you need more media, here is a video of our airport arrival that a current volunteer put together, they were a great 3am welcome committee. 

 Finally, since "what are you going to be doing over there?" seems to be the biggest question I have received, I thought I would share a few thoughts about the Peace Corps work/mission. First, it's mission statement and goals:

The Peace Corps' Mission

To promote world peace and friendship by fulfilling three goals:

1. To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women
2. To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served
3. To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans

Peace Corps Georgia's view on development is summed up in the following quote:

Go to the people. Live with them. Learn from them. Love them.
Start with what they know. Build with what they have.
But with the best [Volunteers], when the work is done, the task accomplished, the people will say
“We have done this ourselves”.

Lao Tzu


Most of what I'll be doing over the next 6 months will be working to integrate myself into the local Georgian communities I am assigned to. There won't be a lot of "action" per say. However, there will be a lot of learning going on. Peace Corps works at the grassroots level targeting the most vulnerable populations, but to be effective we need to learn to fit in with the people which really entails learning their language and culture. My current assignment is English education, yet, that only gives a small idea of what I will be doing. Once I have been assigned to my permanent site, I will begin to try and identify the strengths and needs in my community and work with local leaders to come up with work we can do together to improve the lives of community members. Trust me, it will be exciting.

So in the meantime, keep following along. Feel free to ask questions. I'll share anything you want to know about Georgian people, food, language, and culture. As far as I can tell this is going to be a fantastic place to work and live for the next 27 months.

ნახვამდის-Naxvamdis (Just in case anyone is doubting my ability to learn some Georgian)

Sleepless in Sakartvelo

Seeing that I am up earlier than I had planned and slept a whole lot less than I had planned, the natural thing for me to do now is blog some more....

Let's talk about where I am living. If you happen to zoom in on my location from google maps you wouldn't see a whole lot. We are a ways off the main road and all the map really shows is a grey box. What you don't see is that in that grey box there is a pink building known as the Bazamati Training facility. Don't worry there will be pictures.

This building happens to have been built by the Soviets during the Cold War. Luckily for us they have transformed what is sure to have once been a dark a dull place to one full of pastel pinks and greens to brighten anyone's day. The staff have told us that this place was used as a radio jamming station to prevent people from picking up broadcast such as Radio Free Europe which the US used to broadcast in this area. Now don't you all feel really good knowing that a once more nefarious building is being put to good use?

The Pink Lady herself, I don't think she's ever looked better.

Our dorm room, luckily there are only 5 of us in here.

Our multi-purpose cafeteria area, imagine old Soviets working at computers as the overlords watch from the balconies.

Finally, the conference room. Also used as a movie theater room once we realized we had access to a projector. 

Also did I mention that we are being fed by student cooks? Yeah, not the worst but also not the greatest. If I remember I'll take pics of my meals and post them back on here afterwards. Now it's time for me to hit the "showers" and get ready for breakfast. (Insert Georgia word for good bye here)

Midnight Plane to Georgia

I made it at last! Georgia is now my home for the next 27 months. We arrived at 3:15 am local time and despite the exhaustion were still pretty thrilled. I can say that I made it in one piece, however, my luggage did not. Rumor has it our combined luggage was too heavy so they had to send some on a later plane... go figure. Fingers crossed that it will all arrive tomorrow. Luckily the one bag that did make it with me had all of my clothes in it; downside, my toiletries were in the other...

Let me fill you in real fast on the past couple of days:

Thursday was the big farewell day in Utah (and the big welcome back day in DC).

Friday I headed out to Tyson's Corner to start the Peace Corps Staging process.

Staging is basically the pre-pre-training. Peace Corps HQ staff spent two days giving a general Peace Corps orientation which included training on working in a different cultural context as well as more reflective work to help us ponder our decisions to serve. Training was great, but the highlight was definitely finally meeting the rest of the G-15s (our group of volunteers headed to Georgia, 15 because we are the 15th group). There are 58 of us from all over the country with a diversity of backgrounds, ages, ethnicites, and so on. It is nice to finally be able to get to know the people who will become my new adopted family.

After three days filled with fun, food, trainings, and more goodbyes to the DC crowd; we were ready to get on the plane. The one catch was that they dropped us off at 5:30 for a 10:30 flight... I don't do well with airport boredom. 

We arrived in Munich around 1pm local time on Monday and found out that our layover would be 8.5 hours, we were also under strict instructions not to leave the airport. This is when I started to wonder if the Peace Corps was trying to break us down mentally before we reached Georgia. Lucky for me Melody was willing to search the entire airport with me in search of the rumored spa. It took an hour to find, and we had to get our passports stamped at immigration, but we found it!

To keep it short, let me just say that it this was hands down my best airport layover experience. We paid 30 euros for a day pass and had access to a pool, jacuzzi, steam room, sauna, showers, fresh fruit, robes, and towels. A literal German heaven! I really wanted to swim so I decided it was worth it to fork over the 15 euros for a swimsuit, which may have been a speedo... At this point I was really glad that it was just Mel and I in the spa and not the rest of my new found friends. The next 6.5 hours went by SOOOO fast. I left in a state of zen and floated back to our gate. (A side note to any future Peace Corps volunteer reading this, bring a swimsuit to Munich and pay the money for the spa). 

I felt a little guilty after meeting back up with the rest of the G15s at the gate, I could tell their layover experience wasn't anywhere near as relaxing. Hopefully they at least had a good time bonding, right?

At last we boarded our final plane and were en route to Tbilisi. This time I scored a window seat, which was 10x better than the middle seat in the middle section of the last plane. I had no problem sleeping for 3 hours and I didn't wake up until we were landing in Tbilisi. Next thing I knew I was headed off the plane and being greeted by embassy workers. Next we were headed through immigration and down to baggage claim. (We'll skip this scene because it's where about 15 of us realized some of our luggage didn't arrive.) 

As each volunteer passed through the automatic doors, we were greeted by a round of applause from the Peace Corps staff and G14s who had woken up in the middle of the night to greet us. Each of us had to make our way down the tunnel of people while everyone cheered. We had finally arrived!

I was able to meet my megobari (Georgian for friend), a G14 who had been a pen pal of sorts while I was prepping for service. Unfortunately, I had to tell him that his hot sauce had been lost in my other checked bag. After a few moments of revelry we were herded on to yet another bus and taken to our new home for the week, the Bazalati Training center. 

When we arrived an hour or so later the sun was beginning to rise so we could take a little bit of the mountains and farmland around us. It was drizzling so everyone unloaded the buses and quickly headed inside. The building itself it fairly simple. There is an L shaped open area in the center surrounded by various rooms and dorms. I was assigned to a back dorm with 5 other guys where we share a communal bathroom with close to 20 people. We have yet to all need the bathroom at once so we'll see how tomorrow goes. 

The rest of the morning is hazy, but we ate a strange breakfast, quickly unpacked a little bit, and then hit the sack. We had the morning off to catch up on sleep and then gathered together again for lunch- bread, carrot salad, chicken, and mushroom soup (I'm still a bit unsettled from it). The rest of the day consisted of more orientations and training, but nothing with a whole lot of meat. We are still adjusting. 

We will be here for orientation until Saturday afternoon when we will be taken to meet our host families for the rest of our pre-service training (July 10). At which point we will be sworn in as volunteers and sent to our posts and new host families for the 2 years of project work. Meanwhile, our training for the next three months will consist mostly of working in groups of 5-7 in daily language study with additional training focused on technical skills.  So while things are great here, it does feel a little bit like one great big summer camp. I can't wait for Saturday and what will be my first real Georgian experience. However, the downside will be leaving behind the rest of the group to live with a family I will be unable to fully communicate with. Just wait for the stories that will come in then!

For now I will keep chugging along, eating strange food, living with 58 new friends, and learning one of the strangest languages you will ever hear. The wifi is good for now, feel free to look our for posts on both Instagram and Facebook; however, once Saturday comes there is no guarantee of steady internet access- if any.  

Hope everyone is doing well! Sorry for a dry post, I'm dozing off as I type.

 I'll write again when I have some actual stories to share :)

Why Georgia?

Sometime near my 25th birthday I decided I was in a quarter-life crisis. I felt stuck in a rut and needed to mix things up. Life was too static. Thoughts of change became my internal obsession- planning, preparing, procrastinating.

I applied for jobs, I explored avenues for change, and told myself that it would happen. I was anxious; I thought I was patient. Time passed like a roller coaster and my quarter-life crisis faded from view. Nothing had changed and I receded back to contentment. One thing stuck with me however, and that was this song:

 "Why Georgia"

I am driving up 85 in the

Kind of morning that lasts all afternoon

just stuck inside the gloom

4 more exits to my apartment but

I am tempted to keep the car in drive

And leave it all behind

Cause I wonder sometimes

About the outcome

Of a still verdictless life

Am I living it right?

Am I living it right?

Am I living it right?

Why Georgia, why?

I rent a room and I fill the spaces with

Wood in places to make it feel like home

But all I feel 's alone

It might be a quarter life crisis

Or just the stirring in my soul

Either way I wonder sometimes

About the outcome

Of a still verdictless life

Am I living it right?

Am I living it right?

Am I living it right?

Why Georgia, why?

So what, so I've got a smile on

But it's hiding the quiet superstitions in my head

Don't believe me

When I say I've got it down

Everybody is just a stranger but

That's the danger in going my own way

I guess it's the price I have to pay

Still "everything happens for a reason"

Is no reason not to ask myself

If I am living it right

Am I living it right?

Am I living it right?

Why Georgia, why?

I'd never stopped to listen to the lyrics before, but it became a sort of anthem during my "crisis." Every time I heard it, it spurred my thoughts back to figuring out my next step in life, and more dead ends. 

Twenty-five turned out to be an amazing year, in hindsight there were plenty of changes and adventures that I overlooked at the time. I traveled, took risks, faced fears, and became more aware and comfortable with who I was. I made new lifelong, best friends; came out publicly, and even marched in the Pride parade; hugged a wild sloth and swam with pink dolphins (trust me it was life changing). 25 was monumental!

While I was riding this imperceptible wave of change my mind came to rest on the Peace Corps. It was an idea I had entertained many times during and since graduation, but the timing had never felt right. One day in mid-May I decided it was the right time; I applied. 

The whole process took 6 months from application to accepting my invite to serve. Those six months gave me plenty of time to think it through while I continued to explore other possibilities. When the formal invite arrived before Thanksgiving it just felt right. I accepted without looking back. 

Since Thanksgiving my life has been full of change. Preparations began immediately. I began to plan as many vacations as possible (naturally), quit my job, packed up my life in DC, said more goodbyes than I ever wanted to, drove across the country (meandering through as many states as possible to check the South off my travel list), started a new job as a lobbyist in Utah and learned a whole new side of politics, traveled to India, moved back to my parents' house, boxed up 26 years of memories and belongings, and began to say more goodbyes to family and friends. Georgia was on my mind, and my horizon. 

Now the time is here. 

I'm leaving, and many are asking, "Why Georgia, Why?" My replies have varied person by person, but internally it has boiled down to one thing:

I wonder sometimes
About the outcome
Of a still verdictless life