Leaving Kutaisi yesterday I began to receive frantic calls from a fellow PCV who had arrived at the bus station before me. She told me the bus was leaving sooner than expected and that it was the last one of the day. I asked her to buy my ticket so that the driver would save my place and I'd be there as soon as possible- problem solved, or so I thought. Over the next 5 phone calls she slowly described to me the mutinous scene that was unfolding on the marshutka. It started with a an angry woman trying to take the seats being saved for us. Next the marsh filled up and people began to whisper about the American trying to save spots for missing people. Soon there was a revolt of people wanting to leave without us. Luckily a nice bebia (grandmother) came to our aide and started to petition for the driver to wait for us.
On the other end of the phone I was glued to the action and trying to plan my move. The marshutka pulled out from the station and began to approach the main road as my bus turned the corner. I waited for the driver to pull to a stop and open the doors and then immediately darted out into traffic. There were marshutkas everywhere. I looked (and acted like) a crazy person until I found the green marsh coming at me with the ფოთი (poti) sign in the window. I ran head on in front of it waving my arms and the driver finally pulled over to let me on. As the door opened men came pouring out, they left a gap inside and motioned me aboard. There I saw my friend and took the seat that she had risked her life to save. I was glad I'd made it, but the next two hours were no walk in the park. There were nearly 40 people in that marshutka as well as one rooster being retrained by one frail hand around its neck our hero bebia... Never a dull moment on the marsh.
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| Family dinner, a rare occurrence. Meet the family! |
The next story took place Friday night. My sitemate and I decided to go to the theater together, I recently learned that there is some sort of performance every Friday night. This week's performance was a visiting group from Portugal who were here as part of a EU culture week going on across Georgia. Our seats were right in the middle of the army, coast guard, and local priests and bishop. At some point during the introduction the bishop went up on stage to say a few words which turned into a 15 min speech. I didn't catch most of it but I heard, "Under the protection of Russia" and judging from the face of the EU representative on stage, it wasn't a rousing pro-West speech.
The performance ended up being really great, but the audience experience was very different. There was a lot of flash photography going on. I'm almost certain several men in the auditorium were smoking. I counted at least three phone calls which were answered in the audience. Then during a couple of numbers the audience even joined together to do the whole uptempo group clapping thing (might I add this this concert was of a more formal variety). It was very different from the performances I am used to attending, but not out of the ordinary for Georgia. I'm not sure if theater etiquette transfers across cultures or if it changes in each one, but I would love to know what the dos and don't of the theater are here because next time I want to be prepared.
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| Georgian singers sharing the stage with the Portuguese performers |
For the most part this week was pretty uneventful. Teaching ebbed and flowed, I wanted to strangle some students while others seemed to make some good progress. Overall it was just another week.
One thing that I have been working on for the past month has been a leadership retreat which is set to take place this upcoming weekend. Near the beginning of the school year I learned that each school has a student council and each council elects a president. Seeing the opportunity to do some good I immediately began brainstorming a way to bring all of these students together to get to know one another and participate in some trainings to help them be more successful in their new positions.
I've pulled together an awesome team of 6 PCVs and 2 alumni of a Georgian foreign exchange program to run the training. We have prepared sessions on leadership, goal setting, project design and management, as well as communication and planning for a successful future. These are simple topics but aren't generally taught all too often in school, little time seems to be devoted to anything other than the general academic studies. After the retreat students will be tasked with creating a project to benefit their school community and will receive a certificate of completion after they have completed said project (Georgians love certificates).
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| This is a filler picture because I didn't take any pics this week... |
Additionally the project has been fully funded by a generous donation from the company which manages the port. Early on in the planning process I wrote up a project proposal and asked for funding, the port has been more than gracious in their assistance and support of this project. Because of this funding we are able to hold the retreat at a hotel where food will be provided and students will spend the night in order to allow more time to get to know each other and build friendships after sitting in training sessions all day long.
The whole planning and implementation process has been full of bumps and obstacles, but overall has been a great learning processes for me. Hopefully this will also be a great start for future projects which I hope to launch within the community.
Now we are on the homestretch and I have my fingers crossed that nothing will arise and derail our plans. I've done enough bureaucratic navigation that it is time to buckle down and finish off the last of the logistical preparations. I've got supplies to buy, meals to organize, and so much more. Stay tuned for next week's update, I'm sure there will be a lot to report on!
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