The One Where Christmas Comes to Georgia

Sorry for the cliffhanger everyone, I know that you have all been on the edge of your seats waiting to hear about my holidays here in Georgia, well wait no further!

I stole this from facebook, but it snowed in Poti on New Years- a rare sight

When I last left you I was leaving my bags on random busses and trying to teach kids how to sing Jingle Bells, my version of adventure. Well the adventures continues; we had many more practices throughout the week, each one just as crazy as the one before. However, the kids are committed and pretty hilarious so it always ended well. I still don’t have the video of the whole performance, but I have seen pictures and it looks like it all worked out for the best. (And by for the best, I really mean better than I ever imagined it could turn out.)

Georgians make the best use of fireworks indoors

(Feel free to look at all of their pics here: https://goo.gl/SJapOq)

Another highlight from the week came out of my 7th grade class. I realized that we were moving through the material quicker than we’d planned which meant we had some unplanned days coming up. This was the perfect opportunity to introduce a group project for the students to complete. We decided to have them do a report and presentation on an English speaking country. It was a simple task but quite the arduous process. The students tend to copy and paste from Wikipedia rather than putting things into their own words, so we worked a lot on helping them find ways to express the information simply. Finally on Wednesday the groups presented their work. They each gave a presentation in English and prepared a poster to use as a visual aid. Then the class was able to ask them questions about their country. It was a huge success and a great confidence booster for the students.

Next step- teach them how to smile or even smize

During the week I had small Christmas parties with my English clubs and taught them the joy of a white elephant gift exchange- ugly sweaters were lost on them. Attendance was on a steep decline in all my classes, by Thursday no one showed up to both 11th and 12th grade. The students were busy preparing for tests, their holiday performance, and were as ready for the winter break as I was.

Still friends with these ol' cluster mates

Since Christmas was on a Friday, and would be a regular school day in Poti, my director told me to take the day off and enjoy my holiday. For Christmas Eve I met up with some volunteers and we had a small celebration together. We went out to dinner, brought our Christmas PJs, opened some presents, and watched a movie. It was a small and simple Christmas Eve but a lot of fun.

Girls inspecting the most coveted white elephant gift- a nail care set

The next day, Christmas, we made cinnamon rolls and ginger snaps (thanks Rachel). We skyped our families and just lounged around. We tried to avoid venturing outside because it would ruin the spirit of the day since no one else would be celebrating Christmas out on the streets.

Unintentional matching Christmas jammies- thanks Mom!

I’ve been away for Christmas before, but this time it was really different. When you are living in a place that doesn’t celebrate Christmas at all it can feel really strange, it’s almost like you are celebrating in secret. When I returned home to my host family they were going about their work like any other day. It was sort of a downer. Luckily I have great friends and family who made sure to reach out and wish me a merry Christmas. 

From my impromptu performance

The day after Christmas was also my school’s winter carnival (their wording) which was actually just a series of performances from my 9th-12th grade students. You could tell that they had been practicing for some time, and they were all very excited to present their talents. It was a great show! Some students sang popular American songs, there was dancing, and they even got me to get up and do a terrible impromptu song- White Christmas. (Trust me it was bad.)

 
(Look mom I'm on youtube, and I'm so serious)

After the carnival ended they gave out some awards, I received one but I have no idea what for- they’re just nice. I had tried to incentivize my 11th/12th grade students to study for their last English tests by promising a party for those who scored well. In the end the idea proved too difficult to pull off and we had an open invitation party at a local restaurant. 

The winning students, myself, and the school teachers after the carnival

I had a great time getting to know some of my student better. We sang and danced and ate great food. However in true Georgian tradition my 12th grade boys showed up with some bottles of vodka to share with the other students. That is where things got interesting. As far as I can tell there is no legal drinking age for youth in Georgia and many start drinking at a young age, mostly wine since everyone makes their own wine and it is such a big part of their culture. So there I was the 27 year old teacher at the table with my students and the only one not drinking. It can be a tricky area to navigate culturally since it makes me really uncomfortable to watch young people drink. I couldn’t stop them from drinking but I was able to several students off when they had too much. Luckily no one drives so everyone made it home safely. It is interesting when you come across these cultural differences which give you pause but which local people don’t even bat an eye. 

Christmas Tree in Tbilisi

Finally Sunday came and I found myself preparing for my pending vacation. Packing proved to be a pain since I would have to plan for cold weather in Tbilisi and in Skra when I got back, but warm weather while I was away in Dubai. However this was a problem I was glad to take on.

That evening I went out to dinner with my sister and one of her friends who happens to be Jewish (a rarity here) and who also doesn’t speak Georgian fluently (though he has lived in Georgia for years). We had a great time. I love meeting great and interesting people, and Georgia sure is full of them.