I Love Food and Making People Pick Up Trash

Attention- I have reached a mile stone, 100 weeks to go. Someone should start a sticker chart or paper chain for me. :) I have also received my first pieces of mail at my house, let me know if you need my new address.

Now for the week that was...

Monday-  

Literally nothing to report, I'm not sure if I even left the house... I did read a lot though.

Tuesday- 

Keeping up with my networking, today I met with some contacts at the municipality building. One of those people ended up being the deputy mayor, much to my surprise. Giorgi and Nana both work with a program called Access which works with underprivileged youth in the city. One of the major focuses of the program is teaching English, but along with language classes they also teach life skills and provide a place for students to get involved after school. The program will restart in September and I am excited to start collaborating with them. 

I also decided to take advantage of the fact that I was with the dept. mayor and learn about Poti and more of the plans they have for the city. We discussed some of the more pressing issues and I offered my assistance in anyway I could. The plans they shared for the city's development were very exciting and included some nice development along the coast which could bring in some much needed tourism. I was also really excited for the beach cleaning machine which they showed me. This means that my cow beach should be all cleaned up sometime next month. Now I don't have to buy a rake and do it myself!

After my visit I decided to go and culture myself at the theater. The afternoon play (the festival was still going) was Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, which meant that I could read the summary and understand what was going on on stage. Translating Shakespeare unfortunately loses the iambic pentameter (thank you Jr. High English class), but it also means that the word usage is easier to understand. With my limited Georgian and understanding of the play's plot I was able to enjoy myself a lot more than last time. The best part was the mobster theme that they decided to use as well as the random English songs used to mark scene changes, you never knew what they were going to play next!

I forgot to take many pics this week... Here is a piano planter I found in town.

Wednesday-

Wednesdays are the days that I've decided to dedicate to exploring my region more. My goal for this day was to visit Alex, the closest volunteer to Poti. I figured it couldn't be too difficult since she was only 30 min outside of town. The major problem was that no one really seemed to recognize the name of her village... and that is how I ended up near stranded in the middle of nowhere. I had told the driver where I wanted to get off and tried to pay attention along the way. Eventually the marshutka stopped at an intersection and the driver told me it was my stop, the problem was it looked nothing like what Alex had described to me. I obediently hopped off the marsh and immediately called Alex. Turns out we'd passed her village 3 miles ago. So I set off on another long walk.

Aside from that minor fiasco, the visit was great. I was excited to get back to a village. Everything was more calm and laid back, reminding me of my previous host family and life in Skra. There were plenty of animals and trees along with gardens galore. City life just can't compete. However, there are definitely trade offs. The resources and commodities of a city are really nice compared to the isolation of a village. I'm not sure which life I would prefer.

Thursday-

Thursday ended up being one of my favorite days of the week. Last week a fellow PCV had called me and mentioned that he was going to come out and visit for a few days. It turns out that his host mother works in Poti during the week and he wanted to spend some more time with her since he was alone with his older host brother all week. 

We met up in the morning and started our tour of Poti. I have slowly developed a list of places to find in town and we took advantage of our free time to check a couple off. First up was a local museum. It was very basic but full of amazing pieces. There were some artifacts that were over 3,000 years old. I'm not sure if I will ever be able to wrap my head around how old this place is! Our tour guide was a great guy who spoke some English and when I told him that I would be living in Poti for two years, he immediately took down my number and stated that we would become friend- I've already received invites to various events from him. It's nice to start making more friends in my new home. I'm going to need some sort of social life.

After our museum visit we found the children's library where the staff was just as excited about the prospect of me living in Poti for two years. I promised to come back and visit them next week. Next we met up with Maka my potential new Georgian tutor. She was please to see that I had a guest with me and insisted on driving our the the beach- you have to show the guests how great the area is. To my surprise we ended up in Ureki which makes my third visit there since moving here. We walked around town and showed my fellow PCV a good time. Things are now almost all set for my tutoring which is exciting since self study is nowhere near as productive as lessons. 

Apricot cheesecake aka Heaven for my taste buds

Finally the day wrapped up with my favorite thing- food! We first went to the ship restaurant to sample a few things like- khatchapuri (Georgian cheese bread) on a stick- delicious! Next we were met by my friend's host mom and she insisted on taking us to a few of her favorite places in town. It was super helpful to have someone showing me the good places in town. First we stopped at a delicious pizza restaurant that was a complete surprise to me. I was not anticipating finding pizza in Poti, let alone good pizza (without mayo on it!). After our pizza meal we walked around some more and then found ourselves in a small cafe which was decked out like something out of pintrest (do Georgians look at pintrest? I have no idea.). All that mattered was that this place had CHEESECAKE! It wasn't exactly like back home but it was still delicious!

Aside from all the delicious food Vera was a fascinating person to get to know. She is not your traditional Georgian woman. She also spoke great English, which she learned from hosting a PCV 13 years ago. By working on her English, all through conversation, no classes, she was able to use it to get a better job and support a family all on her own. Needless to say, I had acquired another friend.

Friday-

Friday was the beginning of the weekend! Alex and Marshall met me in Poti and we then made the trip down to Batumi for the weekend. Another PCV had rented an apt near the beach and we were excited to meet up with a few other volunteers. Traveling to Batumi is like stepping into another world, something much more developed. It is easy to forget that Georgia is still developing while you are there, the problems are still present in Batumi- they just have a nice veneer to cover them up. 

Anyways we had a great time getting some delicious food, taking a dip in the sea, and hanging out with friends. After being surrounded by volunteers for three months during training it is strange to not have them all near by. Trips like this are necessary for a smooth adjustment into our permanent sites. 

Saturday-

Lest you forget how much I love food, I'll just tell you that the highlight of Saturday was being able to make our own breakfast- American style. We raided the local market and gathered all the ingredients for a nice huevos ranchero. I was in heaven! These are things that you could easily teach Georgians to make, however when it comes to trying new foods they can be surprisingly resistant and many prefer to stick to their traditional cuisine. 

Late lunch in Batumi

After breakfast came beach time, all I have to say is that I probably should of paid more attention to the amount of sunscreen I applied as I laid out reading. I have a nice read chest now... Unfortunately I had to cut my trip short to head back to Poti just as some other volunteers were coming into town. I had promised to meet with some locals to plan out clean up project for Sunday. It was probably for the best though, any longer in the sun and I would be hating life right now. 

Sunday-

Given the heatwave currently strangling the city, I decided to spend the day inside near my fan. Once the sun had weakened its rays, I headed down to the National Park to meet up with everyone for our projects. I worked with the Poti Youth Council and they invited the local bicycle gang (yes that is a real thing, they are called "Shut up and ride"... clever) to assist in the project. We had about 30 youth show up to help, which is fantastic! My site mates also came out so we had a great group. We wandered all over the park picking up obscene amounts of trash, how people don't care about where they toss things is beyond me. In the end the project was a success and everyone was impressed with how great everything looked afterwords- this is just the beginning of what will be plenty of clean up projects around town. They city coordinated to have a trash truck come to take it all away and then we were able to kick back Georgian style and sing some Georgian tunes while several guys played the guitar. It was a great ending to the project and my week.

My sitemates at the clean up project

Most of the clean up crew

The best clean up projects involve picking up the trash- twice...

Now I am home and wishing I could take a shower, but lucky me the house has no water. I can only hope that it will come back soon because I have a lot of clothes hoping to be washed sometime tomorrow. 

New Beginnings, Birthdays, and Beaches!

One week down and over a hundred more to go! For a week where very little actually happened, there is a lot to report on- I’ll try to keep it brief. (Brief aside: I wish I knew the correct onomatopoeia to describe the sound that the people make when they are calling to their chickens to come and eat, the strange things is that the chickens come as soon as they’re called.)

Day 1

I woke up Saturday feeling like a stranger in a strange land, the feeling of permanence has started to settle and it is a little unnerving. I thrive in more dynamic environments and the thought of two years here seems to catch up to me at times. To distract myself I stared out the window for a while, my saving grace being the two palm trees growing up in front of my window. When I stare at them I can transport myself almost anywhere, some mornings it’s Hawaii others it’s Brazil- either way it’s a brief escape from reality and a peaceful moment before I start my day.

I sat in bed for a while to see if I heard anyone moving around, no a sound. I decided that I might as well start unpacking and soon had emptied all of my belongings onto my bed. I slowly sorted through my possessions and attempted to categorize what was important and what could be stored for later use. Storage in my new room isn’t as plentiful, most of my wardrobe is full of my family’s winter clothes. Little by little things slowly began to find their home in various nooks and crannies until it was all out of site. I eventually made my way downstairs and found my host mother in the kitchen. We greeted each other briefly and she instead I sit down to some tea and bread, a change from the heavy breakfasts I have been eating in the village. That evening I sat home a long with my host mother and attempted to make conversation by showing her the books I had brought for them- one filled with pictures of Utah and the other of DC. It provided plenty of materials for a decent conversation. That night and by the end I was tired so sleep came easily.

Mosquito net problems

Day 2

Sunday morning I happened to stumble upon my dad on his way to work. He insisted that I joined him so I quickly changed my clothes and headed out the door. I had created a new rule for myself, whenever my host dad asked if I wanted to do something with him the answer is always- yes. Off we went to the center to visit his gas station. After doing some paperwork he asked if I was hungry and we headed to the bazar to find some breakfast. We ate flat cheese filled dumplings with Greek yogurt and banana juice, it felt authentic enough for me. Afterwards I headed to the park knowing that a day spent sitting around a gas station wouldn’t be very pleasant. In the park I made myself comfortable on a bench near the fountains where I could hear the sounds coming from the church next door. The polyphonic singing coming from inside was beautiful. I sat and read “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and felt content with my life. I eventually made it home later that afternoon and ate a meal at 4pm which must be supper, I spent the rest of the day with Scout and Atticus and headed to bed. 

A claw game machine for people who like cigarettes

Day 3

Monday I was determined to get a routine set for myself so I got up and went about getting ready, studying, and working on various odds and ends. I have a lot of free time during the summer months so while life in the slow lane sounds great, I also need to keep a certain level of productivity for my sanity. In the afternoon I met up with my site mates, Randi and Zach, in the center and we toured through the bazar and various stores to familiarize ourselves with our new habitat. By the end of day 3 I was starting to feel good about my future in this strange place.

A not so abandoned house near the sea

Tuesday came and I was ready with my new morning routine, I kept boredom at bay all morning and then set out to explore town. I had no end in mind so I wandered aimlessly though shops and stored. Found some shwarma for lunch and continued until I reached the port at the edge of downtown. From there I headed to the coast and meandered down the coastline to the local lighthouse (making a note to find a way up in the future). I wandered for hours and finally decided to head home to make sure I was there when my host mom got home from work. To my surprise my phone told me that I’d clocked in 9 miles on my walk, I felt that justified an ice cream cone. No one was at home when I arrived so I settled into my chair and treated myself to a pre-birthday present and purchased “Go Set a Watchman,” from the kindle store (I’d missed Scout and Atticus since I finished Mockingbird on Sunday). I won’t go into depth on my feelings around the book and its release. The message of disillusionment did ring true to me and provided a good moment of reflection as I finished the book and subsequently my last day at 26.

Port side beach, popular with the locals

Day 4 (Birthday)

I had wondered for quite some time how I would celebrate my birthday. Would my new host family care? Would they be too busy? Should I stay in Poti? Should I treat myself to a trip to Batumi? Finally it was decided that my new friends would come into town and we’d make a day of celebrating in Poti. The plans were set and I was excited for the day. I’ll tell you know though, nothing went as planned. 

If you come visit we can eat here together too!

My host father came up to my room on his way to work to give me a გილოცავ (congratulations, the Georgian equivalent of happy birthday), and then proceeded to tell me many things in Georgian which I didn’t fully grasp. But I nodded in agreement and as he left. I took advantage of the time difference between Georgia and home to talk to a few friends and my parents who were still on the 14th- I decided I would let this birthday stretch as long is it was the 15th somewhere where my friends/family were (a shout out to Sheryl who kept it going in Hawaii long after in finished in Georgia).

Getting our toes wet

Birthday crew

My first stop was to meet Alex at the bazar and show her around town while we waited for Melissa’s marsh to arrive. Then since Daniel and Kelly were going to be awhile we decided to head to my favorite pirate ship, floating restaurant and eat a midmorning snack. Traveling in Georgia isn’t always the easiest and Kelly and Daniel’s trip took longer than anyone expected. It was after 1pm when we finally all got together and met my dad for a ride around town. We headed straight to the beach since they’d never been to the Black Sea. Given our tight time schedule we only had time to take a few pics and were moving again. Next stop was my summer house, which looked a lot better in the day than the night I’d first visited back in June. Finally we made it back to my house where I was surprised to find my host mom putting the finishing touches on a birthday feast.

Traditional Georgian supra

The table was overladen with an array of foods that made my mouth water. It was hands down the best supra I’d seen in Georgia, I wanted to eat it all. It was now close to 3 as we all sat down to eat, the time was own everyone’s minds because we’d discovered that the last marsh back to Kelly and Daniel’s sites was leaving at 3:45- creating a rather short turnaround for them. We dove in like there was no tomorrow, it was a joyous occasion. Just before they had to leave my host mom brought in a flaming brick of cake and frosting and they sang to me in Georgian and English. It was perfect. 

Fireworks for candles, it's all you'd imagine

Soon after, Daniel and Kelly were on their way back home while Alex, Melissa, and I continued our pathetic attempt at making a dent in the food on the table. Eventually we gave up and retired to the couches to rest until it was then Alex and Melissa’s turn to leave. We headed to the marsh station one more time to send her off. Unfortunately the marsh we’d hoped to send Melissa on was already gone so she returned home with me. 

Making the most out of missed marshutkas

My dad took care of some business (I’m fairly certain he went to see a man about a horse), and then he came back to take Melissa and I to Ureki where we would hopefully find a marsh for her to take back home. We struck out a second time. However, we were now in the beach town of Ureki so my dad decided we should make the most of it, and we did. We visited some relatives, walked along the beach, explored the “boardwalk”, had some magnum bars, and experimented with some virtual reality glasses. It was all great! (Granted, my experience with the glasses was great- I was on a theme park ride. Melissa however was in a creepy haunted building and at the end was “killed” by the skinny man- or whatever the creep is called. I felt bad for her.)

Exploring new frontiers on the boardwalk

Melissa's not to happy experience

The drive to Melissa’s site was beautiful and it took us up into the mountains which I’d been missing in Poti. It was green and beautiful with fruit trees and other crops growing everywhere. On the way back we stopped by the summer house again and my dad set to work harvesting potatoes while I explored a little bit. We finally made it home well after sunset. 

Just as I was settling into bed for the night I finally got online and was flooded with many emails, messages, and Facebook posts from friends and family all over the world. It was a great end to my birthday and left me feeling like I was on top of the world as I fell asleep.

Day 5

Thursday morning I was right back to work. I had my first meeting with my new counterpart teachers at my school. We gathered together to discuss the upcoming summer camp that Peace Corps had assigned for us to hold in Poti. We exchanged a few ideas and mainly took the time to get to know a little more about each other. After our meeting I headed into town and made the decision to finally purchase a Georgian sim card for my phone (if anyone gets message from a weird international number it’s probably me). Although I don’t need internet on my phone, I figured I should keep the option open in case I find myself in a bind.

After a small lunch I decided to explore a new part of town and also look for an organization that had been recommended to me by my program manager in Peace Corps. I tracked the address down which was a great experiment in speaking broken Georgian to various people out and about. While I successfully found the address the organization had moved and I settled on calling the number I had. The guy was more than happy to meet up and an hour and a half later I found myself in the Dolphin Lounge, making friend with three incredible nice Georgian men.

Their organization works as a intermediary between Poti’s youth and the municipal government working on community projects and getting the youth engaged in their community- perfect fit for me. We discussed ideas for projects I could assist with and then they gave me a walking tour of the port and that part of town. It felt great to meet some new friends and start making headway on my community work here. All week long I felt like I had so many times before when I was in Brazil and assigned to a new area with a new companion. Starting from scratch is never easy but at least I’ve done it a time or two. 

Ended Thursday night at the local theater, didn't understand a thing

Day 6

Friday morning came and once again I was without plans so I decided to respond to the flood of birthday messages and emails. It was mid-afternoon before I finished. I publish my comings and goings weekly on my blog but it is a one way street. I’m often left wondering about the lives of my friends and family back home, reading and responding to emails left me feeling more connected with home than I had since I arrived in Georgia. I’ve decided that more regular correspondence with home is definitely necessary to keep me sane on the other side of the world.

After I had finished responding to emails my dad appeared at the front gate calling for me to come join him. Once again, I never tell him no, so I scrambled to put everything away and gather a few things. We headed out to the summer house where he had me help him with a few projects around the house. The place is slowly coming around- at least on the inside. Next we walked down to the beach and enjoyed an hour or so reading and resting while the fun began to set. Afterwards it was back to the summer house. More reading for me, more chores for my dad. Eventually I got to help him harvest some golden potatoes which we then cooked up on a single burner and made a dinner out of with some bread, cheese, and the ever present cucumber and tomato salad. I’m pretty sure this is his version of camping, or something like unto it. He made plenty of remarks about how nice the village life was. I found it hard to argue with his points, but I also kept a silent list of the perks of living in the city as well.

Sunset on the Black Sea

Day 7

Saturday morning greeted me all too early with the sunny beaming through my translucent curtains before 6am. I struggled on and off with more sleep and eventually decided to turn into my new book, “The Goldfinch.” Later Melody called to inform me that they were ready to meet up and we decided to head to the beach in Ureki to celebrate my birthday and as well as Randi’s which was coming up on Sunday.

Utahns taking Georgia by storm!

A beach day turned out to be just what the doctor ordered. We enjoyed the cool sea waters, warm sun, and most importantly the large inflatable slide that would definitely not be allowed in the US. No matter where you are in the world beach culture really is all the same, and I love it. I worked out balancing out my pasty legs with my farmer tanned arms, ate the cheap Georgian version of a donut, read, and reveled in the moment.

Birthday beach day success

Eventually we made our way back to Poti and straight to the pirate ship restaurant to stuff our faces with more food than was probably wise. I should probably start introducing myself to the wait staff because I get the feeling I might become a regular, apparently I have a thing for al fresco dining on a ship…

Still working the selfie stick

Finally, Sunday finds me here reporting on my week. Plenty of details left to share but my word count has grown far past what it should be. Today has been very low key. We celebrated Randi’s birthday with a firework topped flaming cake- Georgian tradition. Said our goodbyes to Melody and headed to our homes. I’ll probably do some more reading while I wait for my family to appear. There is a show at the theater tonight as well, some Polish group in town.  Given that it’s getting late I should venture to make some food for myself, surprisingly I could really go for a cucumber.

Nakhvamdis PST!

Week 12 and that’s a wrap! Pre Service Training (PST) is finally through. I’m convinced that the relative speed of time is determined by your unit of measurement. When you count by weeks, like I have been, things move a lot slower. Now that I’m a full-fledged volunteer I get to start counting by months (24 to be exact- mark your calendar Mother) and July 2017 is sure to sneak up quick!

A lot goes into ending things, so let me give you the highlights from the end of training:

The first thing that we needed to wrap up were classes, those went away with little fanfare. I will miss having language classes, because now I am on my own and how much I learn will be entirely up to me and the effort that I want to put into studying. Aside from the structured learning opportunities, I am also going to miss the wonderful staff of trainers that came together for these three months. Peace Corps Georgia only has 3 American staff members aside from the volunteers. Most of the staff who have helped us during training only work for these 3 months. Many of them spent their weeks with us and only went home to visit friends and family on the weekends. Several took leave from others jobs even. PC Georgia really did a fantastic job putting together our teachers and trainers.

My farewell to classes however wouldn’t be complete without mention of the (somewhat dreaded) LPI (language proficiency interview). Part of our training requirements is to reach an intermediate low level of language proficiency. This test was PC Georgia’s way of determining that. The format is a simple 20 min recorded conversation with a staff member. It really isn’t anything to be nervous about. I happened to be late to mine, and ended up speed walking to the school which meant that I was hot and sweaty the entire time. It is really hard to look calm, cool, and collected when your body decides to turn on you and make you look rushed, hot, and messy. Despite my literal hot mess of an appearance, the test went fine. Given that it is a conversation I should’ve tried harder to steer it towards safe topics, but somehow I was getting asked about the socioeconomic problems in India and I was toast. I’m just not up to date on contemporary issues in India with my Georgia vocabulary, sorry! In the end there is nothing to worry about, I passed at the intermediate-mid level and couldn’t be happier.

Given the somewhat serious and important nature of our LPI exam, you would think that studying would have taken up most of our free time, but I say unto you NAY! Why would we spent time on important matters when we could fill it with more frivolous pursuits such as the new off off off Broadway musical hit, Skrease! (If you can’t tell that is just the musical Grease with Skra, my village, worked into the title.)

On the night before swearing in the trainees and staff all gather for a farewell dinner and they are invited to prepare a skit or other entertainment offering. We have known about this for weeks (11 to be exact) and yet had had the hardest time coming up with ideas. Finally one day over lunch the idea was formed. I then spent that same evening rewriting the lyrics to 7 of Grease’s most familiar hits. After sharing them with my clustermates, Jim and I reworked a couple songs and then we ready to go. We spent 2 days practicing and memorizing music and lines for our big PC debut on Thursday night. This was definitely as important, if not more, than studying more Georgian.

Farewell dinner with Naili and clustermates

The dinner came and everyone got all dressed up. We gathered in a local restaurant and had a great time. Near the end we took our places on the makeshift stage and gave everyone a performance they were hardly expecting. It was a great time! We all forgot lyrics, tunes, and parts but that hardly mattered in the end. My only regret is not getting the whole 7 minutes of it on film. (For your pleasure I’ll include all the lyrics below) 

Last pic as trainees!

That dinner really marked the end of our time in PST. That night I went back to Skra, participated in a feat (of course), gave my family some presents, packed my belongings, and went to bed. In the morning I said my good byes to my host family loaded up my stuff and was off to Tbilisi for the swearing in ceremony. The events of yesterday are still mostly a blur. We arrived on our marshutkas. Were ushered into the auditorium. Scurried around to change into our dress clothes. Practiced a few things. Had some pictures taken. Took our seats. Then the ceremony started.

Classic swearing-in pic

The moment before swearing in

The actual ceremony was nicely down and pretty short and sweet. I joined some other trainees and sang the Georgian and US national anthems, next the Country Director gave some remarks followed by the ambassador who also administered the oath which we repeated to become official volunteers. Following the official oath taking, we had a pinning ceremony, a few volunteers spoke, and then we took our seats in the audience and watched a team of Georgian dancers present some (incredible) dances. After the ceremony there was a small reception which also served as a place to say our good byes to our host family members who had some to support us, fellow trainees who have been our constant support for 3 months, and finally meet up with our new host families who had come to bring us back to our permanent sites. It madness. There were people and emotions everywhere. I found my host mother and said my good byes, wished my friends luck, changed out of my dress clothes, met up with my host father and new counterpart, and made my way out and onto my next adventure. 

Georgian dancers after the official ceremony

That adventure ended up being transporting all of my belongings around the university to get a taxi, and then drop them off at someone’s apartment. I don’t know how those who had more things than myself managed to do it all. Luckily my host dad does not like to take marshutkas from Tbilisi to Poti, so he chose to wait for the night train. I was not about to complain, visions of a crowded marshutka with all of my belongings and 100 other people crammed into it were giving my anxiety.

My afternoon view of Tbilisi

We spent the day at his relative’s house in the hills above Tbilisi, we ate watermelon, they drove me around the area, fed me supper, provided some decent Georgian/English conversation, and gave me a place to rest- I was more than happy with it all. Finally at the end of the day we gathered up all of my belongings and headed to the train station. We got a private 2 person compartment that looked like it was straight out of the late 1980s. You can leave the Soviet Union, but the Soviet Union will really never leave you (at least visually).

Our compartment on the night train

Train rides are always a good time, and this was definitely beat the one I rode in India. After chatting with some passengers, playing candy crush with my dad, and listening to some of this stories, I as exhausted and fell right asleep. The train wasn’t stopping in my city so we hopped off on a station near my house and took a taxi in. At 5:30 am I was laying in my bed, dying from the humid heat, exhausted, and excited to begin my time as a Peace Corp volunteer in my permanent site.

Here are the lyrics to Skrease the Musical!

Skrease!

---------------------------

Bazaleti aka Summer Nights

Bazaleti had me a blast

Bazaleti happened so fast 

Met a group perfect for me LCF and sopeli

USA drifting away To, uh oh, those skru-uh-mmer nights!

A wella wella wella uh!

Tell me more tell me more

Are there any cute dudes? 

Tell me more tell me more 

What's your favorite new food?

Swearing in, seems far away But, uh oh, those skru-uh-mmer niiiiights!

Tell me more! Tell me more!

---------------------------

A New Trainee aka Sandra Dee

Look at me, a new trainee
Hardly can say anything!
My Georgian is bad but my LCFs rad,
Ar vitsi kartuli

---------------------------

Pagharati aka Greased Lightning

Well this disease is automatic, problematic, quite traumatic
Why it’s pagharati!

You drank some sketchy water
and now you’re feelin’ bad, oh no
(Keep hoping, whoa, keep hoping)
You eye the anti-diarreahal
and thing about calling PCMO
(Keep hoping, whoa, keep hoping)
You can't hold it any more
You start runnin' for the door
You know it's not a drill,
Now there's only seconds til', Pagharati!
(Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go)

Shoulda eaten less kninkali
At that supra one night ago
(Pagharati, gakvs pagharati)
Though you having pooped your pants
Is the Peace Corps status quo
(Pagharati, gakvs pagharati)
It looked like cream,
it made me scream,
Pagharati!

---------------------------

Practicum Wipe Out aka Beauty School Drop Out

Bom ba do ba do 

(do do do do do do do)

Practicum wipe out
You haven't even made week two
Practicum wipe out
aught half day and now your through
Well at least to lunch you get to go,
To eat away your screw up!
Tomorrow you'll have more classes
so try to keep your head up!

Trainee don’t sweat it (don’t sweat it)
Why don’t you give it one more try?
Think what you’re doing (what you're dong)?
The toughest job you’ll ever love! 

You could plan your lessons better
If you used those training tools
Pick up that English book
and go back to Skra school

---------------------------

Where Will I Go aka There are Worse Things I Could Do

Where’s the site that I will go? 

How much English will they know? 

Will I have a didi school? 

Posh corps dreamin’, I’m a fool 

I just really want to know. 

Where’s the site that I will go?

I could go out to the coast, 

Seaside pictures I would post! 

To the mountains there’s a chance, 

I would learn some Georgian dance. 

I just really want to know. 

Where’s the site that I will go?

---------------------------

End of PST aka Sandra Dee (reprise)

Here’s the end of PST
Look what Tengo‘s done to me
Hold your head high,
time to say your goodbyes;
Nakhvamdis PST!

---------------------------

Peace Corps Volunteers aka You're the One that I Want

My vocab words they’re multiplying 

And I’m ready to go 

My host family 's ‘round me crying 

This is terrifying!

You'd better shape up

'cause you need a plan

And this work depends on you

You'd better shape up

You'd better understand

In your site you're starting new

So much left, so much left for us to do!

We're finally here!

Peace Corps Volunteers!

PCVs baby! 

We're finally here!

Peace Corps Volunteers!

PCVs baby!

We're finally here!

Peace Corps Volunteers!

PCVs we're PCVs,
Oh yes indeeeeeeeed
Yeah!

Celebrate Good Times!

The end is near! Come Friday I will be headed out to Poti to live for two years. It feels like these 12 weeks of training have flown by, but when I think back I remember how long it has really been. I’ve been living under close scrutiny and in a hyper structured environment. Once I leave PST that will all go away. It will be a relief to finally be a little more free but then the burden will be on my shoulders to see what I can do in my site. Before I get ahead of myself though, let’s take a dive into the week that was:

Summer Camp

The last of our technical training requirements was to plan and host a 3 day summer camp in our village, the catch- it had to be focused on helping participants learn English. Planning a fun summer camp, no problem. Planning a fun and educational summer camp, that needed a lot of work. We had been planning for a while and weren’t too sure how it was going to turn out. Aside from planning we had to also recruit and advertise for kids to come.

Monday afternoon was the day of reckoning and much to our chagrin it decided to rain… (Later we found out that it had only rained in our village that afternoon.) To our surprise kids came despite the rain! We played several games and tried to only use English (not hard to do) with the kids. We began by having them divide into two teams- Team Canada and Australia were the chosen names. Then each team made a banner and cheer to use throughout the week. My team Australia was pretty into their Aust-Rail-Ia! cheer. They would hop like kangaroos and shout as they moved from place to place. I’ve ever heard anyone that excited about Australia before. Our final game was capture the flag and it was a huge success, the hardest part was just monitoring the cheating. Kids are shameless about cheating, it’s crazy.

The summer campers spelling "Georgia"

Other highlights from camp include the trash pickup game at the end of day two. I prepared a list of items of trash with corresponding point values and the kids had to see which team could collect the most trash from the school yard (not a hard task). Many were doubtful if the kids would take to the game but when it’s a competition it doesn’t matter what you as asked to do. In 5 min there were huge heaping piles of trash and we played for another 20 min. At one point I say a boy running with trash stuffed into his waistband so he could hold more. After had we bagged it all up and taken it to the street we had a small conversation about the importance of taking care of our shared spaces like school and the streets around the village. It was all in English but between our limited Georgian and their English the point came a cross and the kids understood the importance of not leaving trash on the street.

Attempting to tally points from the trash scavenger hunt

For the last day we had plenty of kids- our numbers grew each day. We played a relay game of telephone as well as a few other games and then ended with a balloon toss and water fight. All in all it ended up being a really fun activity. Now the challenge will be creating something similar on my own when I get to Poti and have to hold 15 hours of summer camp with my future students. 

The brave souls who stayed for the entire summer camp

4th of July Weekend

Friday was one of our first free afternoons in a while so we decided to start our 4th of July weekend with some fun down by the river. We had seen kids swimming in it a few days earlier and figured if 14 yr olds could swim so could we. The water was still moving pretty quickly but it was also fairly shallow. We had a blast jumping in and using the current to float down a ways. We even made an attempt to swim across (which was hard given the quick move current). We ended up having so much fun that we decided to head back to the river today. The next goal is to find some inner tubes and see if we can float into town on them.

After swimming we headed to my house where we had to finished some paperwork and prepare our dessert for the 4th of July picnic on Saturday. Our pie was such a hit last week that we decided to make another one to contribute to the picnic. When Saturday came my family was all gone, cherry picking is still in full swing and they had brought in some hired hands to help pick cherries. The picnic was meant to be a place where we could bring our host families but my brother Nika was the only one who could come.

I told Nika that if we took a pic he had to smile

At the picnic we had everything needed to celebrate the 4th. There were hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, dip, salsa, and more pie than I should’ve sampled. It was fantastic. It was a dry event which was hard for many Georgians and a few still found ways to sneak in some alcohol. The notion of not drinking at a party is foreign to say the least. During the festivities we had several spouses of US Congressmen, who were touring the area, stop in and visit with us. It was fun to meet them and tell them about our experiences so far. They all raved about their experiences in Georgia so far and were happy to be able to celebrate with us.

The Skra team being anchored by my calves

One tradition of the annual 4th of July event is a tug-of-war contest between the opposing trainee clusters. We were able to have 5 people on a team including family members so we drafter my brother Nika and started to compete. It was played round robin style which meant we had to beat almost every team. We did fantastic and to our surprise ended up going undefeated- my hands have the sores to prove it. We were shocked that we won but a little victory felt great.

Victory hug!

To end the day they brought out a giant cake, stuck some fireworks in it (per Georgian birthday tradition) and we sang the national anthem and shot off confetti cannons (which the wind blew all over me). I was coated in confetti and since I was wet from kids throwing water at me, it wasn’t going anywhere.

Happy Birthday America!

Post confetti cannons 

Later that night we got permission to stay in the city for a festival and concert with my brother. It was the first time being out of the village in the evening given our 7pm curfew. It was fantastic. The festival made it feel like we were at a fair in the US with all the rides and booths. We met up with other trainees, got some dinner, and then went to the concert. I must say it was a pretty good 4th of July. I missed having fireworks and seeing family and friends back home; however, having my new family and friends around made it just as great.

Skra Cluster family 

Every time I leave the country I love to learn about the different cultures and lifestyles of the places I visit. However, by learning more about other cultures I am also reminded of my home. There are many problems yet to be resolved in America, but I am grateful for the opportunities and lessons that have been provided to me just by being born where I was born. I hope that I can help others here find some of the same opportunities and learn some of the same lessons.

Summer Time and the Livin's Easy

It’s been another great week here in Georgia! I’m currently listening to the thunder roll through the valley, there is bound to be another heavy rain storm tonight. First it will sprinkle a little, then there will be a loud crack and the rain will just pour for a half an hour or so. If we don’t lose power during the storm I count it as a win, we tend to lose that battle frequently. Without further ado this week’s highlights I give to you:

Learning and Using Healthy Vocab

Monday’s language lesson on health and related vocab came at just the right time. On the marsh ride home from our afternoon training in Gori I suddenly felt shaky, week, and clammy. I got home and decided to rest but didn’t want to create a health scare with my host family. I snuck up to my room and hid out until dinner. During dinner my mother, nothing my previous absence, asked how I was feeling and using my new Georgian vocab I explained that I was feeling week and thought I might have low blood pressure. She asked if I thought I might just be tired and I told her that wasn’t the case. Next thing I know she has me on the couch and is checking my blood pressure. (Georgians take blood pressure very seriously. Everyone has a stethoscope and the blood pressure thing in their houses. No idea why it’s a thing but this time it came in handy. We can talk about Georgian health superstitions another time.) My blood pressure was low: 100/60. Her remedy was a glass of sugar water and some fresh honeycomb. I was then forced to spend the rest of the evening on the couch. Her reasoning for my predicament, too much mint tea. It’s true that mint does reduce blood pressure, a good thing give the high salt content of all their foods. Now I am banned from having mint tea in the mornings, which is fine- who needs to start their day with cup of boiling water in the summer? Not me.

A Fruity Summer Love Affair

Now that Summer is in full swing here, the orchards have started to share their bounties with us. Cherries are the main cash crop in the village and buyers have been swarming the place every day. There are people from Azerbaijan, Russia, and Turkey all her gathering cherries to export. I can’t being to explain how many cherries there are in this town. My family for example has been picking and selling 100 kilos a day! In the coming weeks they will have some hired help and begin to do 200-300 kilos a day. It is insane! It also works in my favor because I am constantly being offered cherries- white, black, red, sweet, sour, you name it! It is crazy to think about how expensive cherries can bFe in the states when I am eating them by the handful every second of the day. In addition to the cherries, raspberries are also now in season. My typical routine when I get home is to head back in the garden pick of bowl of raspberries and cherries and then snack on them from my table on the back patio while I do my homework. There are no complaints about my life here, not in the least.

First World City Times

On Wednesday this week I finally got to take a trip into Tbilisi, the capitol of Georgia. It is a modern city and full of things you just can’t find anywhere else. We had an appointment with a local NGO but first we had to make a pit stop at McDonalds for some soft serve. McDonalds in the US is pretty low on the totem pole of eating establishments; however, when you travel abroad you quickly learn how nice foreign McDonalds are, Tbilisi’s was no exception. Our meeting with PH International went very well and I am very excited to work with them on some of their projects out in Poti. After out meeting we made our way to the Peace Corps offices which involved a trip on the metro and walking past a Dunkin Donuts and several US clothing stores- the city is nothing like the villages. We toured the office, met some PCVs who were wrapping up their service and then made the best decision of all- head out to a local Indian restaurant for lunch! I love the food in Georgia, it really is delicious. However, there really isn’t a lot of spice nor variety in the types of foods we eat, so a chance to indulge in a nice curried meal sounded amazing. Oh, and it was! The next stop was an actual super market where you could buy everything in one spot- much more convenient than haggling at the local market. Plus I walked out with a bag of peach gummies- a win for everyone. It was a great first trip to Tbilisi and there will be many more, it’s a bummer that it’s 6 hours from Poti. (P.S. the rain just started to pour after a loud bang- just as I had predicted.)

Cheers to the Weekend

On to the weekend! This weekend was part 2 of our cluster exchange program where we get to visit others cluster training sites. Since I went and visited Daniel in Kombinati last time, it was his turn to come and visit me in Skra. The other trainees in Skra also had some friends come to visit and we were able to double our numbers. Our first plan was to create an American version of the famed Georgian supra so we all divided out the cooking list and got to work. Daniel and I were tasked with making some sort of fruit pie dessert for the group to eat. My host dad put it the best when he saw us getting ready in the kitchen, “You guys aren’t chefs, you’re teachers!” We had no idea what we were doing but things kept working out in our favor. I had to adapt the normal recipes to work in Georgia and there was no way to use accurate measurements so it was all a guessing game. We had sugar, butter, flour, and a lot of fruit- all you could possibly need for a good dessert. My host mother kept a close eye on us and you could tell she had her doubts about the effectiveness of men in the kitchen. In the end our half pie half fruit crisp turned out amazing, and that was despite the fact that the baking sheet didn’t fit in the oven and the door couldn’t close. We earned rave reviews from all the Georgians.

The supra itself turned out amazing as well, we had: hamburgers, fried potatoes, fresh salsa, fruit salad, garlic bread, our delicious dessert, and of course tons of Georgian wine. The Georgians just can’t seem to grasp the fact that I don’t drink- it is a foreign concept. Everyone makes their own wine and seems to think that I only don’t drink because I don’t like other wines so I am generally reassured that their wine is the best or that I should drink with them because of course Georgian wine is the best medicine. Regardless of the misunderstandings the supras are amazing and the toasting is always fun, I just keep my pear soda nearby and it often passes as a decent substitute- at least it is local right?

Too much food, per usual

Sunday Nature Walk

Today we gathered back together for our next great activity, a hike deep into the mountains behind Skra. I had asked my family for help to drive us back into the mountains a way so we could try a new hike. They were more than willing to help and I hadn’t asked them much about their plans otherwise. While we were waiting for the others to arrive my family’s plan began to manifest itself. My mom started by stuffing our backpacks with food- fresh bread, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, and chicken for a picnic. More food than we could ever eat. Next my brother showed up with a shotgun and a few cartridges. I was assigned to hold the cartridges while he would carry the gun. I guess you never know when you will encounter a wild animal (including the still missing tiger and hyena). I tried to explain that we never carry guns on hikes in the US but my mother countered with- you don’t generally have zoos on the loose.

Just a normal Sunday walk

With an over prepared tour guide (aka my host brother brought shotgun)

Once everyone arrived we loaded into my brother’s Soviet jeep and drove out of town and into the mountains. We went about 7km until the gravel road ended and then we unloaded and started on the trail. I hadn’t realized that my brother was going to be our guide either. Vaniko led the way and we followed for hours. Georgians don’t really go hiking nor are they very outdoorsy so this was a new site for all of us. We walked for 2 hours or so and ended up climbing several hills and climbing up streams of mountain runoff water. We had no idea where we were being taken and were equally confused by the fact that we weren’t actually climbing up a mountain either. After a particularly steep climb Vaniko took a turn into the trees and then appeared a few minutes later for us to follow. Just a short stroll into the thick trees and we found a lean-to canopy for our lunch. More impressive however was the hidden building up on the hill further in the trees.

Lunch Break

The hidden 16th century monastery

Some of the remaining frescos

We excitedly climbed up and entered into what turned out to be an old monastery from the 16th century. Used by the Georgians as a retreat during the Persian invasions when Christianity was basically outlawed in the country. The inside was spacious, dark, and damp. We used our phones for flashlights and explored the various rooms. On several walls you could still see the remains of old frescos painted on the walls. It was hard not to feel like we were not suddenly transported into an Indiana Jones movie. We stayed in the area for about an hour relaxing and eating the copious amount of food my mother had sent with us. Then we headed back and took time to stop and soak in the small river falls for a bit. Last but not least, we were greeted back home with several of my mom’s delicious baked goods- all in a day’s work.

We didn't even think twice about getting in

P.S. The rain has also stopped and I think we still have power, another win!

The Week Where Nothing Happened

I have little to report on this week, the only picture that even came out of this week is one of me getting to know the pig in Alex's barn (see below).

You might say that we are HAMming it up!

Things that catch me off guard in Georgia:

- Cars are imported from all over the world. This means that some cars are British and the driver's seat is on the right side. This leads to a lot of mental confusion when you see a car approaching with what looks like a driver-less car with a passenger in the front seat.

- There is now set drinking age for minors. Parents often let children sip from their wine or beer. I was really caught of guard when a mom gave her 10 year old daughter some wine to drink.

- The Georgian system for counting is base 20 rather than 10. For example in English it's easy to count once you know 10 numbers, things just repeat ie. twenty-one, thirty-three etc. However, in Georgian instead of saying thirty you say twenty and ten and then twenty and eleven and so on. The number 50 is said as four twenties and ten. Needless to say I am still trying to figure out how to recognize numbers more quickly; I just hate having to add them- 4 twenties and 15 = 95

- I am not allowed to do ANYTHING helpful around the house. I am constantly trying to sneak in some way to help my hard working host mother. Most often this included washing the dishes after a meal. It only works when my mom is not in the kitchen and also out of earshot as well. As soon as she hears the sink start to run she rushes to the kitchen to shout, "iqos, iqos" meaning "leave it." Sometimes I play dumb and ignore her, the other times she wins and then shoos me out the kitchen.

- A meal of pasta, bread, rice, and potatoes is perfectly acceptable and common. I mean I love me some carbs so I never thought I'd have to be the one to ask for at least a cucumber to add some variety.

- People whom I don't know and have probably never spoken to feel the need to tell me that I am a "good boy" when I see them around the village. Good boy and good girl status is something you have to maintain, once you've been given the coveted good/კარგი status you have it made.

- Sometimes bees fly out of my toilet while I'm using it. It doesn't just catch me off guard, it terrifies me.

- If you were tuned into the news earlier in the week you may have run across an interesting story taking place in my part of the world. Late Saturday evening a mudslide dammed a river in Tbilisi which then caused the river to flood over its banks and into the surrounding area. These floods destroyed several homes, displaces many people, ruined a stretch of important freeway, killed about 19 people, and also flooded the zoo- this is the part of the story that has been most reported.

Due to the flood many of the animals in the lower half of the zoo managed to escape their enclosures. This sent lion, tigers, and bears into the streets of Georgia's capitol and largest city. The pictures looked like something out of a movie, it was by far own the most sensational news stories of the day. Slowly the police, zoo keepers, and others were able to locate most of the missing animals. Some 300 animals have died as a result of the flood and its aftermath. On Wednesday one many was killed by a tiger that had been hiding in a warehouse in the city. Other than that one incident, nothing too dangerous has been reported.

However, yesterday we caught word that there had been a potential tiger sighting in a nearby village. This immediately led to all trainees being placed on lock down in their homes. Thus after a rather uneventful week I was left with a rather uneventful weekend as we waited out the lock down. I will admit, when I accepted the invitation to serve in Peace Corps Georgia I never imagined this scenario taking place. I don't know what I will do if I run into a wild tiger in these parts, it would be too surreal and I'd probably be unable to process and sort of rational thought or escape plan. (P.S. There is still a report of hyena and one white tiger on the loose. I still can't comprehend what is going on here.)

გაუმარჯოს to a beautiful country full of surprises!

A Preview of Poti-ntial Adventures!

**Long post warning**

(But I added lots of pics!)

I’ve been sitting here for ten minutes to try and start typing but I keep getting distracted by my many mosquito bites and stop to itch them all and then forget what I am trying to do-focus Logan you can beat the itch!

This week has been quite the exciting roller coaster! I have finally received my permanent placement assignment and can now begin to plan out my two years of service, training has been wonderful (and I still have another month of it) but I can’t wait to dive into my service.

Classic map pointing pic

Monday was the big day and everyone was buzzing with excitement as we gathered together for our day long training. We tried to wait patiently through a few meetings and trainings but it was obvious where our minds were. When it was finally time they brought us all outside to where the staff had taken rope and made an outline of Georgia, then they placed slips of papers on the map according to where they were going to be volunteers. Next every volunteer was given an envelope addressed to another volunteer. The first person stepped up, called out the name of the person whose envelope they had, and then proceeded to read out the region and city where that person was being assigned. The volunteer would then go stand on that spot on the map and read out the name of the person whose envelope they had. It was such an exciting process to hear where everyone was going. Slowly the volunteers all moved onto their places and there were fewer and fewer of us standing outside the lines.

Stole this from the PC Georgia page, you should like/follow it

By the time my name was called there were only two more people still waiting for their assignments and it was difficult to see which sites were left. My friend Andy called out my name and shouted out my assignment- Poti! (FYI- it isn’t pronounced like potty, it’s more like P-oh-tee) I was floored. I remember when I first saw a map of Georgia and began to look at all the cities, the name Poti had stood out because I knew a town in Brazil by the same name. From that first moment I’d told myself I was going to go to Poti. I didn’t think much of it after I had arrived here because there weren’t any volunteers there and hadn’t been any for years. However, it stayed in the back of my mind and every now and then I had coincidences where it would come up and I’d think about going there. I’m not a psychic by any means, but that’s close enough right?!

Me finding out that mine and Alex's sites are only 30 min apart!

Post placement activity excitement

Anyways I couldn’t have been more excited. It is a medium sized town on the Black Sea and home to Georgia’s main sea port. It is also one of the oldest cities around. Legend links it back to the time of the Greek empire and the myth of Jason and the Argonauts. They sailed to Poti, then called Fasi, in search of the Golden Fleece. Given its key location, it has always been a center for commerce on the Black Sea. It’s more recent history is full of wars has it changed from Ottoman, to Russian, to Georgian control several times. Even recently in 2008 during the brief war with Russia, Poti was under attack from the Russian Navy. I’m definitely excited to learn more about its history and culture.

Following lunch we were divided into groups based on which of Georgia’s 11 regions we had been assigned. My group of seven have been assigned to the Samegrelo region. The people from the area are known as Megrelians (I’ve taken to calling us Megremlins, we’ll see if it sticks) and many speak Megreli which is a dialect of Georgian only spoken in that region. Luckily everyone knows Georgian as well because I don’t think I could handle another language at this time. In our group we learned about our region and what it’s most known for. My takeaways include: the diversity and beauty of its nature, its love for spicier foods, large hazelnut crop, humid climate, and worst of all the large mosquitoes near Poti.

The new Samegrelo crew- Randi and Zach on my left will be in Poti near me

After our trainings had finished I came back to my village to find my family waiting excitedly to hear were I would be going. I’m pretty sure they were just as excited as I was, I love them! After spending the rest of the evening reading about Poti I finally remembered that I actually needed to pack because I was leaving the next day for our conference in Borjomi and then to visit Poti for a few days.

Tuesday after lunch we all gathered together again and load onto our buses to travel to Borjomi (the mountain city I visited my first weekend here). We pulled up to a swanky hotel and were all shocked. We definitely had not expected anything this nice. We were all in heaven as we got to our rooms and found western toilets, full showers with hot water, robes, and various other amenities. We had little time to take it all in before we were brought outside to meet our new supervisors (aka the principal at our new school). There were so much excitement on their end as they called us out one by one to match each volunteer with their supervisor. They people have been waiting a long time, attended various trainings, and filled out endless paperwork all to then hopefully be selected to receive a volunteer. Why my name was called the wrong director actually stepped forward so there was a bit of a mishap however we quickly corrected things and were able to meet and start chatting (using my limited Georgian skills). The rest of the night and the next morning were spent in various meetings together getting oriented to what the first 90 days at our permanent sites would be like. With each step things keep feeling more and more real and I get more and more excited!

My new director, Nona, and I at our conference

Finally Wednesday after lunch we said goodbye to the other trainees and the Samegremlins loaded onto a bus with our supervisors and headed west for our new sites. It was a long ride, luckily my trusty ipad kept me entertained with Thor 2 (now that I am all caught up I can finally watch the new Avengers movie, whenever it comes to Georgia). We pulled into Poti around 7pm and I was exhausted. My new host father was waiting for us at the bus station and quickly loaded me and the director into a car to take us home. I got a brief tour of the town before we pulled up to my new place. It is a nice house and very different from the village I’m currently in. My new host family also has a 15 year old son which should be fun. It was just surreal to stop and think that this would be my home for the next two years. (Don’t worry though, I’ve still got an outhouse so those stories aren’t going away anytime soon.)

The next morning I was up at my normal time 7:30 or so and started to move around and get ready for the day. I quickly realized that life in a town is very different from the village. We don’t have animals to take care of and nowhere near as many chores, so I was the only one awake. I’m used to my parent’s getting up at 6am every morning and then trying to come up with ways to avoid eating all of whatever morning feast has been prepared. Around 8:30 my brother was ready for school so my Dad called a taxi and the three of us headed into town. My school is about 2km from my house and my dad’s work is another km from there so we carpool together in a taxi. (Not sure if that is an everyday occurrence yet).

My new school built in 1928, I think?

The students and parents decorate the halls according to the season

My new school, like everything else in Poti, it very different from the village as well. Public school #1 is the oldest school in the town and has about 625 student enrolled. There are 6 English teacher for me to work with as well. I first headed to the director’s office where I met up with Nona. Next Nana the head English teacher came and took me on a tour of the school. We visited every class and greeted all the students and teachers. Everyone seemed very excited and made me feel wonderful as well. Despite it being the second to last day of school the students were all fairly well behaved as well.

The bathrooms are outside unlike in Skra where they stink up the whole hallway

After my tour we met to discuss various details of my visit and the school’s needs then I helped teach a few classes before I left. I can already tell that it is going to be a great place to work and is also a great fit for my knowledge, background, and interest. Unfortunately school won’t start up until September so I’ll have a lot of downtime to navigate before I start teaching.

Searching for the sea

After lunch I went on a stroll around the center to familiarize myself with the town some more. It seems like a great place but it also seems really old and has probably struggled adjusting to the post-Soviet realities, much like the rest of Georgia. After my self-guided tour I returned home for lunch and a quick nap. Afterwards I was back in an exploration mood and decided to find my way to the sea from my house. My brother’s directions were simple enough. Just go straight. Straight let me to the end of my street, across a cow pasture, through thick brush, narrow cow trails, and finally to the beach. Unlike Batumi the beach here is a mix of black sand and dirt and more comfortable for laying out. However the beach is full of wandering cows and washed up debris. I’ve already started planning my summer cleaning up a section of the beach for my own use- there wasn’t another person in site.

"Cow Beach"

While I was exploring the beach nature came calling and I couldn't avoided. I found myself reverting to my boy scout roots and sat out to find leaves which would work as toilet paper and weren’t poisonous. Next I found an old cement structure which happened to have some nice holes near by and deemed it a suitable bathroom. Given I was still the only one around I wasn't too worried about the lack of privacy. It was definitely one of the better views I have had while using the bathroom. Also the whole process was fairly simple given that fact that I’ve been squatting for weeks now. Overall it was a great reminder that despite being in a larger town I was still in the Peace Corps.

What a view!

Later that same evening after dinner my host father borrowed the neighbor’s car to take me on another tour of Poti. He showed me where the national park is nearby as well as the WWII memorial. Next we visited his “summer house” where he is growing various fruits and veggies. The house itself is a lot more rustic and I couldn’t follow most of what he was saying but I am hoping it didn’t include living there during the summer, on the plus side the walk to the sea from there is a lot shorter and doesn’t include cows and thick brush. Next we headed to the ports and the gas station he manages. It was a pretty fun time out together, I definitely think that I won’t have any worries getting along with him.

The rest of my stay in Poti was fairly uneventful. I headed back into the center on Friday morning to familiarize myself with where the various stores were. Then at 2pm I headed to school where I sat in on their last day of school faculty meeting and then introduced myself. Of course I was a sweaty mess because I had had to speed walk to the school because I was running late and it was a hot and humid day. Not having AC in a humid climate can just be cruel, it is like being in Brazil all over again. Hopefully the people here also won’t mind the sweaty American who can’t ever seem to cool down.

My afternoon in the park

That night I borrowed my father’s bike and went for a ride and eventually made it back to the beach. Being as enamored with the sea as I am, I decided to walk the 1.5 miles back up to where I would be able to find the path back to my house. Unfortunately it took a lot longer than expected and by the time I made it up the beach I couldn’t see anything so I had to get creative before I found the right road home. It was too dark to ride the bike without light so I had to stick my iphone in my chest pocket with the flashlight on and use that light to navigate the uneven dirt road back to my house. I really need to stop having these little mishaps out in nature.

I was exhausted by the time I finally made it home and after going to my room I next remember waking up at 3:30 am with the lights on and me flat on my back. When I woke back up in the morning my dad was ready to take me to the bus station for my trip back to Skra. He made the driver stop at the store so he could buy me some travel snacks and even bought my bus ticket for me, I’m telling you he is a wonderful man.

An afternoon break in Kutaisi, Georgia's legislative capital 

I met up with the other volunteers in Poti and we headed to Kutaisi where we spent the afternoon with the other Samegremlins to break up the long trip home. When I finally made it back into Skra around 7pm I was hit with that ever comforting feeling of home. I have just 4 more short weeks here in training before I head out for good. I never thought that I would grow so attached to my little village and family in such a short amount of time. I’m definitely not looking forward to those goodbyes.