A short trip to the dentist in Georgia

Peace Corps has great doctors, at our office.  And they have screened and found good dentists as well.  And why is this needed?

Georgian diet consists of TONS of sweets. They call lunch their midday meal, and it quite often consists of cake, and or chocolates.  Not that I should be complaining, but...

I brush my teeth three times/day, but even with that, I was getting that achy feeling in my tooth so PC scheduled a visit to the dentist.  You might find this interesting.

First,  nice office, fill out the same #$% chart when you go in.  But they had  nice examining rooms. 

The dentist was very professional and had all the time in the world.  Her degrees were in English and some in Russian.  

Two differences in Georgia.  First I went to get an xray in their xray room.  That was smart.  What surprised me was that the attendant stayed in the room with me!  With no apron on,  she actually held the xray in my mouth!  That was a little unnerving, considering her safety from the xrays.  

The second thing I liked was,  when they couldn't find any problems, she asked me to tap my teeth and next time come back and show her the one that hurt.  Makes sense, right?  I don't recall that practicality from my dentists, but could save time and keep some responsibility back on the patient, which is always a good thing.  

They also made me a teeth mouth guard for my stressful sleeping.  It was $40, compared with around $350 in the states.  If it does the job, hey!  

Have a good week, and keep flossing, which is another new concept here.  kimi

Reverse Culture Shock on my trip back to America

I journeyed back to the U.S. for my daughter's college graduation in early December. Peace corps doesn't usually like their volunteers return to the US so early in their PC career because they might not come back. That was actually the case with one of my young colleagues this year. But for me it was a good reminder of why I decided to come to Georgia, and who I was and to bring that back with me. So all in all, it was a great time. Here are some thoughts of reverse culture shock that I experienced on my trip to North Carolina.

I deplaned on the third leg of my flight home, from the 14 hour flight from DOHA, to Phili,  

and immediately was struck by how  clean everything was in the US. Secondly, how  

complaining Americans were.  " this line is so long"... I have never heard anyone complain in 

Georgia about lines, etc. Maybe they do when the marchutka (little bus) driver stops and goes

 to chat with someone in the street, or buy fish or bread from the shop, or check the price of a 

rototiller for sale on the side of the road, leaving everyone to sit on the marsh - funny but it 

happens more than one would expect.  And they complain quietly, when they do. 

And I can understand almost everyone. Wow, English!  Hurrah.  and WATER to drink!



                       

Secondly,  I look at a grey haired guy with a spry step about him.  Unbelievable!  I feel younger

 already.  In the states, people in their fifties and sixties are vibrant looking, smiling, in shape. 

 WOW.  This is so different from many of the people I meet in Georgia - many of whom are 

younger than I, that appear to trudge through each day, with no exercise, talking about their 

blood pressure daily.  Of course this isn't everyone, but pretty close to it.  What else...

PEACE CORPS

 Next I stand in line for McDonald's.  OK So I missed a fish sandwich. And the fellow in front of 

me tells me he was in Peace Corps. It reminds that Peace Corps has over 220,000 alumni . It will

be fun to join that group!

MEAT

So much meat! Who needs all that big steak, salmon filet, half a chicken! We really struggle to 

get enough protein in Georgia. Beef, fish, pork, are seldom seen. Chicken... less than one time a 

week.  Eggs if you live on a farm, otherwise they seem to be a special treat. Lobio (beans) again

 are a treat. In my Koda host family, maybe once a month.  We eat borscht, or soup with potato

 and carrots. Maybe noodles with some cheese on it are common for dinner, and periodically a 

cabbage roll is made just for me,   Fried potatoes or porridge for breakfast, and from what I 

see is they have sweets for lunch!  I think I am the only one that brings something like a 

sandwich to work for lunch. I have to admit, in the States it was great to grill that first steak, 

but I wasn't dying for meat everyday  like I was used to before I left the US.  

RELATIONSHIPS and AGE

It was wonderful to be back in the US where husbands and wives like each other, go places 

together, and actually smile and enjoy each other in social settings. I have seen it in Georgia, 

once!  I miss that and am so thankful we can have mature relationships with the opposite sex 

on so many levels.  And since IBM most of my colleagues have always been men, it has been 

particularly different here where, especially in the nonprofit space, one is surrounded by 

women.... great women, but I really miss my mature male friendships. 

And again age... how nice to see...In the US 50 is the new 30.  In Georgia, 50 is 60+, in looks 

and attitudes. I went home and gained 5 pounds, and lost 30 years.  It was great.  

Thank you kind gentlemen for the dates,  with mature intellectual English conversations, good 

wine without toasting each sip, good Italian food,  And seeing so many friendly, healthy people 

at the Y, again in their 50s and 60+.  I really did need this reality check!

VOLUNTEERING

Volunteering is still a new concept in Georgia, as we PCVs can attest to.  People take care of 

their families, neighbors and close friends, but reaching out to others is a new concept, that we

 try to focus on, by training and example.  I loved being back in the States and having the Little

 German Band let me join them one time for their performance supporting Goodfellows and 

the Raleigh Jaycees in a Christmas outing and dinner at the Marriott for underprivledged kids. 

We played and entertained with Christmas and German music.  It felt great.     

GOVERNMENT SPENDING & PRIORITIES

Another big shock, no potholes in NC.  You can actually drive down a street straight, without 

dodging small craters that haven't been fixed since who knows when. But then again, Colorado

 in the springtime can look pretty pockmarked after a tough winter.   But US roads and 

infrastructure we take for granted.

And while we are on the topic of government handling... some basic things... Universal healthcare

is still a big topic in the US. They can't fix their potholes in Georgia but they take care of their 

people's healthcare. What is more important?  Let's get over it already America.  And yes, I'm 

still paying for my kids. This is just the right thing to do, as a Christian, and as a civilized society. 

If we want to be completely Machiavellian, we are already paying for the health safety net with 

our taxes, why not force people to carry their own weight.  It will just take some years to shake 

it all out, what with our insurance and law firms lobbying for their self interests.  Let's just fix it

 and make it right.  We are smart people, and this is the right thing to do.  OK, so enough of the 

soap box. 

DOGS  

They wag their tails and are happy to see you in the US.  In Georgia they do not. They are often

 maltreated,  treated as watch dogs only, not pets, or are strays.  A little puppy today wondered out onto

the highway to release herself.  When I tried to shoo her back on the sidewalk. She yelped like 

I had kicked her, as I am sure she had experienced already in her young life. How sad.  That 

being said, cats in Georgia are like everywhere, just as independent as in the US. 

HOLIDAY EXCESS

The Christmas holiday in Georgia begins New Year's Eve, December 31st and goes to the 

Epiphany. But they don't give gifts like we do, only small ones on New Years.  So seeing the 

massive displays and  remembering all the times we rushed out to get one more toy for the 

kids so they would have "enough" seems so overwhelming, and unnecessary from over here. 

Yes the excess of  everything was so shocking - food, big plates, clothes, big washing machines, 

SUVs and minivans, trucks.  And speaking of trucks... they don't need no trucks here!   :-). 

And yes, we are lucky in the US we can afford more and have the supply, but how necessary 

are some of the things we crave? 

DIVERSITY

My US drycleaners are all Hispanic Americans.  My pedicurist (mandatory for Peace Corp 

Volunteers, you don’t want to know why)  was Vietnamese. Our lectors at church include 

Philipinos and many others  I think we celebrate our differences, where Georgians are so concerned 

about protecting their beautiful heritage that they highlight the differences, but in an 

exclusionary way oftentimes. 

CRAVINGS

What I took home, and everything was homemade: wine, cha cha, (like grappa) halva ( sesame

 seed paste) , churchkella (hazelnuts are dipped in this grape pudding kind of stuff), tonis puri,

(great bread make in special kilns) chocolates, gifts from my host families (so thoughtful),

homemade juice, and karkali mereba (walnut preserves, but the walnuts are whole- really 

good and interesting). 



My list to return with included 10 pairs of jeans from Goodwill and lots of American T-shirts 

for friends here, many donated by Amanda's friends - THANKS.  Also on the list I was missing 

was brown sugar, Crest, powdered sugar, rubber bands, a spatula, seasoned salt, and baking 

powder. Cinnamon is sold for $.50 here, but it is a tiny envelope - maybe 1 tablespoon.  So I 

brought back a big jar from the dollar store for $1. ( By the way, they Lari stores here, like our

dollar stores, but small and each one has unique products.  





ONE IS SILVER AND THE OTHER'S GOLD



 It felt great to be home – with fun captured by some pictures on FaceBook,  but here is one 

favorite with my good friends Eamon and Noreen, who hosted a party for me in their 'pub'.  

How special!  I love meeting great new friends,  but it was so great to see and be with old

 friends. My trip validated and reinforced my mission, which I know I needed. Thanks again 

everyone! 

As you can see from my blogspot, we always have to disclaim that our "monitored" blogs are our own 

thoughts and not necessarily those of the U.S. government or Peace Corps.  But I also think I 

should add the following; as I diligently try not to stereotype or make assumptions which are as 

likely as not erroneous. We are all fools in light of our future selves, someone famous once 

said. So forgive my errors and omissions, but appreciate the intent. 

So it was great to be in the US - love you all family, friends, customer service reps,  and especially 

these three. 

Now good to be 'back at site' in Koda. I'm a third way through my service... but who's counting?

God bless,  kimi

New Routes: Flying through BAKU and DOHA

I am writing this for a few people that asked me what it was like flying through strange new lands.  So I captured this for you.  TBL -> BAKU -> DOHA -> Phili -> Raleigh ... and back.

Qatar Airways was less expensive than flying through Germany,  so I took the scenic route to save a few hundred dollars. And I had not been to Baku, and never heard of Doha, nor Qatar. But what was I thinking?  It was long and  interesting for the first time.  Next time I will explore another route perhaps. 

The flight from Baku, Azerbaijan to Doha, Qatar had only about 4 women on it.   After all those years in IBM Networking Division, I thought I was used to being in the minority, but this felt really weird.  And it was even worse when I had a layover in Doha for 8 hours on my return flight,  The resting lounge was full of men and families that took off their shoes.  As we say here, OY MAH!   But I probably smelled just as bad after the 14 hour flight.  I found out later that they had women only lounges.  And there was a whole airport full of men that don't smile.  Here are a group of young women, that were smiling. 

Here is a pictures of the DOHA airport, with a big playground for kids.  They had a store that sold the burkas – very interesting, fancy black robes with a few jewels on them and fancy stitching, but I was chicken to go in.    And DOHA, where liquor is forbidden, they had the biggest duty free store I have seen outside of London, with every kind of liquor.  That was interesting.  Johnny Walker liter for $20,  :-) !

There were 345 people were on the B777 flight to Phili.   The attendants are so incredibly friendly and accommodating. I asked for a bottle of water when we took off, she came back with a liter bottle, and you know I drank it the whole 14 hour flight. They fed us well.  Menu consisted of Indian lamb and rice salad, some curry dish, or meatloaf. Of course, drinks are free.  They had two malbecs, one very good and a syrah  that was a little off.  Chardonnay not so good, but the sauvignon was better.  Mint / lemon water was a very nice touch. And they had the usual blankets, socks, touthpaste and toothbrush, snacks, wet towels, cheese and fruit, and NY Times.    

Attendants were Nordics, Arab, Asian, speaking every imaginable language... well. Of course Russian and English were the most common languages,  Russian being first.   I can never tell the between different folks usually except for this big guy I would swear was from Saudi. When I said excuse me in passing him, he answered with a big Texas accent. That was a surprise. (My colleagues always laughed at me when I taught in Brazil and couldn't tell the Asians from the Brazilians. They really are very similar in looks, or maybe I am just not very perceptive... probably the latter) 

Security concerns:  DOHA had a security checkpoint when you got OFF the plane coming in from BAKU, even just for transfers.  And then the DOHA to Phili flight had another full security check at the GATE, with full scan and x-ray of luggage. 

The seatmates were fascinating.

- an American fellow that manages a oil drilling platform in Baku , then goes to Tennessee to visit his girl friend for a few weeks.  And he does this almost every month.  OY!

-  the daughter of the Peace Corps country director of Azerbaijan that is just closing.  It is a hard time for everyone there, but I’m sure the mom is just as classy as her daughter, and will do well in her future. AZ decided they didn't want Peace Corps there anymore. 

- an interesting American company rep that boosts output on power plants by cooling the machines ( like the old raised floors in the computer rooms) … potential sales job when I finish my service?  They aren’t in Georgia yet, but hope to be.
- a male couple going to Malaysia, with whom I discussed the Buddhist philosophy. He says it is not so much a religion as a way of life - simplicity.  One thing he said is that he only chooses one goal per day, accomplishes it, then relaxes. Interesting. I think I could like that. 
- met several Peace Corps volunteers going home for the holidays from many countries, how fun?

Fees:  coming to US I had no charge for my bags.  But I had to fill out the big form to enter the country, had my picture taken and answer  questions.  Of course that Peace Corps passport is pretty cool.  Coming back I had a $100 charge for my second bag.  In Doha they weighed my carry on and since it was over 20 lbs (I think), they requested that I check it at no charge. That was fine, but interesting.  Good thing they didn’t weigh me. Beside the 5 pounds I gained while in US, I also was wearing 2 big winter coats, since they didn't fit in the luggage.  Memories of my youth flashed before me, when we did crazy things like this. 

On the way to the  US we had darkness the whole way. So I expected light the whole way back.  But I miscalculated.  We left Phili at 10 am, and 5 hours later, it is pitch dark out over the ocean, and probably 8pm local time.  We saw the sunrise over Qatar, which I wanted to see, since the man made islands are so interesting.  I tried to capture them here, but the lighting was bad.  You can see the little islands, most of which are little marinas. Fancy oil money!

 I made it back to Tbilisi and they were most welcoming. They even had a line for 'service personnel.'  left Raleigh with sadness to leave after such a wonderful, validating time.  But on the plane I was reinvigorated to return to Koda, with great people with great ideas. 

On to a great 2015.  My service ends July 2016, and I have no plans to return to the US before that time.  I hope to conquer the Georgian language some more, make some good friends,  and accomplish the Peace Corp mission:

To promote world peace and friendship by fulling three goals:

 -  To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women, 

-   To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served

-  To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.  

Kimi

:-)  People at home asked about my name.  In Georgian all nouns, and names, end in a vowel, with no capitalization,  so here I am kimi.  or kim dixoni.  I kind of like it :-)

Georgian Christmas Holidays

How fun to be somewhere new and different for the Christmas holidays, especially since I was already able to spend MY Christmas with the kids and Mom, Beth and Steve, Meg & John, and great friends.

So holidays in Georgia really begin on New Year's Eve, the one on December 31st. Church is at 11:00pm, and  fireworks go off at midnight, everywhere!  Every home,  360 degrees. So that was fun. My Koda host family had a small dinner at midnight. But I hear others that have big ones. Here is my 'host brother' with his fireworks.

New Year's Day is a day for family to visit and make the rounds.  It is also a fun tradition to share chocolates with everyone.  When guests walk into a house, everyone distributes them, those coming and the hosts  No one told us, so a friend and I were surprised when we caught a marshutka to go hike to a famous 10th century monastery and the fellow passengers were passing around chocolates to the driver and others.  Then we caught a ride up to the monastery and they gave us chocolates ( ok, so we didn't hike that long ).  I hate when we don't learn about local customs.  But it could be kharma payback for the times when perhaps Gary and I weren't as sharing as we could have been with our au pairs, when the kids were small. There are so many little things that make a cultural exchange so much more pleasant, be it the Peace Corps, or an employment situation like a au pair.  Here is the Shavnabada Monastery, with PCV Karen and one of its monks, on New Years Day.

Still on the 1st we were invited to a friend's home for a supra dinner. It was the best supra my friend ever attended, she said. Why?  Because it was young people that aren't tied to the somewhat arbitrary traditions of drinking, toasting, eating and drinking too much.  We had a great time, sang, danced, sang American songs, heard some lovely Gerogian songs.  We were complimented when we could sing the Georgian national anthem. The anthem, whose title means "Freedom", was adopted in 2004, along with the new national flag and coat of arms. The symbols' change was brought about upon the successful overthrow of the previous government in the bloodless Rose Revolution. The music, taken from the Georgian operas Abesalom da Eteri ("Abesalom and Eteri") and Daisi ("The Nightfall"), by the Georgian composer Zachary (Zakaria) Paliashvili. I Think it is beautiful. Check it out. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxvkzbArNf4

Half way through the evening a fellow guest, an local voice instructor, said our American names were too difficult, so we became Kete and Eka instead of Karen and Kim for the rest of the evening.  Again it reminded of our au pair from 20 years ago. Her name was "Mi".  After Matt came home from kindergarten being chastised for calling someone "me", we asked her and Americanized her name to Myra for the rest of her stay with us.  So it was a fun night. No one got drunk, the parents enjoyed their time with the kids. I enjoyed everyone.

Next comes Christmas, January 7th. I have already written about this, with my special training host family in Khashuri, some won't bore you again, but suffice to say, it was a wonderful time. And although I skipped midnight mass, which lasted until after 4 am, standing the whole time! I will never complain again about our Catholic Masses running over an hour.  It is traditional in Georgia to go on Alilo (a modified pronunciation of Alleluia), a mass walk in the streets, where they collect food and clothing for the poor. And to see the maumaus (priests) walking through the entire town after standing most of the night, it humbled everyone, and I think made more people add to the collection.

 Here is Gocha, making my favorite - pork BBQ Georgian style ( no sauce and no vinegar, but special spices)

I  should mention that homes have very small artificial trees, and few decorations. Just enough to be festive, and colored lights, etc.

Next comes old calendar New Years, January 14th.  We had off from work this day, and there was more partying and visiting, but not enough to ask for the following day off, which was Friday. Finally, Epiphany wraps up the holiday season, with more church.

Visiting tbilisi I found some beautiful lights and arrangements on govt buildings and in the parks, as well as strung over the roadways, shaped like chandeliers.  Very nice and it not overdone. No Grizwalds here.

The upside, not a lot of commercialism, lots of extended family time, and it doesn't run From Halloween to New Years.  On the down side, most of January is a waste, with partying and a string of reasons to have supras.  Oh well, maybe that's not a bad thing?  But then we could say the same thing about December in the US, but with end of year sales forecasts and EOY closing, I never felt we could goof off too much.

I hope to have more steady Internet this year, so can blog more consistently.  Please email me with your thoughts and comments. kydixon@earthlink.net I love to hear from you too! Happy new year!