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| Me and my fellow English teachers, minus one. |
This past week was my first full week working as a teacher in the school. It was exhausting. I teach 18 classes a week and then I have 6 class periods of planning. Unfortunately every class is different so I'm unable to reuse lessons plans, it's a lot of planning. I can now commiserate with any teacher who has to plan so many lessons a week.
By far the biggest challenge I am going to face as a teacher is getting the students' behavior under control so there can be some sort of learning environment in the classroom. I've got plans for the younger grades; however, I'm at a loss with 11th and 12th. There really are no consequences for poor behavior so it is impossible to convince them to behave, do homework, and even attend class. There are days when there are 15 people absent in the 12th grade, that's more than 50% of the class! I can't complain too much though because when they are gone the class is a lot more manageable and better behaved. If anyone is a class room management wizard feel free to send me some ideas!
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| A semi peaceful moment in my 12th grade class |
For the most part the week was rather chill. Peace Corps sent a staff member out on Wednesday and they inspected my new house. Everything passed and now I will be moving in on Friday. It will be big change, but I think it is for the best. I will be nice to live a lot closer to the school. Most days I leave the house before nine and don't return until after nine, being close to school means I will be able to stop by after my lessons before I have to head to the next thing. (Note, I should create #CityProblems because if I were in the village these would really matter)
My low point of the week came on Thursday night when I was walking home after going on a walk with Randi. We had just parted ways when it started to rain. I waited a min to see if it would be a brief one but it quickly picked up and I had no option but to walk home. 30 minutes walking in a downpour. Not a soul insight to help me. I was soaked by the time I got home. Which was annoying since I was leaving for Tbilisi the next day and my shoes were also soaked through.
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| Saturday night fun in Tbilisi |
Finally the weekend came and I got to take a trip back to Skra with the rest of my former clustermates. We came back to see the grape harvest and it was great. The smell of ripe grapes was strong in many parts of town, and the streets were covered in vines and bunches of grapes. I visited with my family, but I also visited the families of the other volunteers. It's weird to think that I have almost been out of the village longer than I was ever in it, it was such a formidable time in my adjustment to Peace Corps life in Georgia, and it will alway have a soft spot in my heart.
Saturday was spent relaxing in Tbilisi with other volunteers to celebrate a couple of birthdays. That meant that I was up really late on Saturday, which worked out to be in my favor in terms of watching General Conference. At midnight on Saturday I was outside of a bar, under a tree, huddled over my phone to protect it from the rain. On the screen I was watching the Saturday afternoon session of conference. Although the setting was less than ideal it was nice to feel connected to so many people who I knew were also watching the conference live around the world.
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| Poti's abandoned university from the Soviet era |
Finally, Sunday came and it was time to head home. Our trip included a brief stop in Khashuri where we were able to visit with Naili our LCF from training, and then it was onward back to Poti. However, this time we caught the marshutka enroute which meant we were in the back and that I had zero room for the next 4 hours. I'm not exaggerating at all. My legs were too large and I had to contort my body just to fit. Some days it is easy to forget that I am in the Peace Corps, then I hop inside a marshutka and I quickly remember where I am and why.
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