It's a Small World: Georgians in Greece too.

BBC recently reported on the effect that the Greek debt crisis will have on Georgia. This ripple effect is exacerbated by the EU structure today, but Georgians have been moving to Greece to find employment, both seasonal and long term, ever since the Soviet collapse.  I know of  many friends and acquaintances here in Georgia who have a parent working in Greece for many years, and sending money home when they can. They say about 200,000 Georgians live in Greece now, which is just under 5% of its population. Greece is also the most popular destination after Russian for Georgian migrant laborers.  But since Greece is in the news, let me tell you my personal experience...

A Little R&R in Greece

I took a little R&R to Greece, a while ago, responding to cheap tickets before it gets too late in my Peace Corps service. I had been in Georgia for almost a year at this time. It seemed like a lifetime and a minute at the same time.

I downloaded Rick Steves guide to Greece, from my favorite on line Vail library free Marmot service.  I love that service and most libraries in the US offer something like this. We had been busy at the Koda Community Education Center, trying to launch our new on-line catalog for our women's traditional handicraft items. Check it out at Art-Koda.com. If you want to order something, just "check out " and we will respond with the shipping costs and payment options. It's not automatic here, but still effective.  

I felt I needed a little break   My great world-traveled friend, Barbara, recommended Athens as a nice place before the tourist season begins.  And I stayed with new friends in Galaxidi for two nights to be near the water, and toured Delphi to learn my future.

I'm busy enjoying my R&R!

                                                        

Splurging on breakfast buffet

 But first, I splurged with one night at an upper scale hotel, the Divani Caravel, with a pool and a bathtub!  I was not sure of which I was more excited about or if I would ever leave my room. And after all those years complaining about living  in those Marriotts on IBM business trips.   Eventually I did pull myself away and ventured out to see Athens and I moved to Hotel Adonis, a lovely little family inn near Plaka, the cool old town... 

It's a Small World After All

The first evening I decided to walk down to the main center in old town, Athens. Of course I took a wrong turn and got lost, as darkness was falling.  There were very few people around and I was getting a little nervous. Finally I saw a young woman, approached her and asked her if I was going in the right direction, in English.  She motioned "sorry, no English," and I motioned that I  didn't speak Greek, but a little charades got me pointed in the right direction for town Central. 

I automatically said " Madloba"  (Georgian for Thanks) and started to move away. 

She paused and then ran up to me.

"Raton laparokob cartuli? ( Why are you speaking Georgian?)

I responded, " Ratom itsi cartuli?  (Why do you know Georgian?)

To which she answered, "ME VAR CARTVELI!  ( I AM GEORGIAN!)

It was so funny, and so out of the blue. How would the first person I spoke to in Greece be a Georgian?

We had a great conversations -  thanks Peace Corps intensive language classes.  She had moved to Greece to get work, as had many Georgians, as we discussed.  She was living there alone, missing her family.  She was taking care of an older woman.  I explained that I was living in Koda, helping the IDPs from S. Ossetia.  It was so good to talk to her, and connect the dots between Greece and Georgia on a more personal level. And we talked about Georgian men vs. Greece men too.  ( Of course Georgian men are better, she said, amazed I would even ask such a question!)

Culturally it was so nice to see men and women together,enjoying each other, socializing over a drink and meal.  I still find the sexes so separated in Georgia. And Athens, being such a cosmopolitan city, there were great, inexpensive restaurants of all types.  I also bumped into a few women from Charlotte, NC.  Imagine their surprise tat I could place their hometown so easily, but you just can't forget that accent.

History

The history of Greece is as amazing as that of Georgia.  I saw 5000 BC statues of female gods from the Cycladic islands, harp and flute from 5000 years ago. Of course the Acropolis, but I won't bother you with words.  Here are my personal pictures. You can see all the famous stuff on google. :-)

I walked around the Acropolis a while with a Spanish couple.
They had classical music blaring, they said, to
get in the mood.  :-)  Neat couple. 

 I asked several people about this big hill, prominent in Athens. But it's not in the tour books I guess so no one seems to notice it.  Finally I ascertained that is was from this hill that the Acropolis was fired upon, during one of the sieges.  Not too popular now; it is a evening disco.

Quick sidebar: In our local youth leadership class we shared the TED Talk  by Amy Cuddy, about feeling more confident by holding this posture for a short time. I thought the Acropolis was a good place to try it.  It is a great experiment; check it out. 

They start the Greek archaeology students early here

They were mesmerized!

Acropolis Museum restaurant was as lovely as they say

I also enjoyed the ancient ruins one just trips over, wandering through town.

Galaxidi and Delphi

These ripe oranges are sour if you pick them from the road, and sweet
if you pick them from someone's yard.  I tested it - TRUE.

Galaxidi - Fabulous

Galaxidi from downtown with Mt. Parnassus

Galaxidi with Mt. Parnassus 

The locals figured these had to be Russians students swimming
when it was still cool on the beach.  

Delphi - wow, how could I not know
all this great history! Glad I have no TV
and thus time to read and research more. 

Hiking in the Kasbegi Mountains, and more cultural exchanges

An incredible but quick weekend trip to Kasbegi was just what I needed: a little getaway, a new place, and finally, some hiking in the mountains.  Kazbegi is at 1700m  or 5577 ft (yep that is lower elevation than Denver, but high for here)  - and the mountain of Kazbegi  is 5033m or 16512 ft. It is the third highest mountain in Georgia (and the seventh highest peak in the beautiful Caucasus Mountains).  Yep we have big and beautiful mountains here.

According to the Greek myth, Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to humans. He was punished by being chained to this mountain (one of the two references to this region in Greek mythology).  He subsequently was attacked by a horrible dragon and the dragon eventually was turned into this rock. 

Yes, I did take these sunrise pictures - 5:30 am

Hiking to the Gergeti Trinity Church and Monastery 

  

The Gergeti Trinity Church was built in the 14th century and consists of a church and monastery. The separate belltower dates from the same period as the church itself. Its isolated location on top of a steep mountain surrounded by nature has made it a symbol for Georgia and its travel brochures.  The 18th century Georgian author Vakhushti Batonishvili wrote that in times of danger, precious relics from Mtskheta, including Saint Nino's Cross were brought here for safekeeping. During the Soviet era, all religious services were prohibited, but the church remained a popular tourist destination. The church is now an active establishment of the Georgian Orthodox Church.  I was hiking early and actually attended the monk's service early in the morning. (after I draped myself in a 'skirt scarf'and head scarf from the 'loaner box' near the church's entrance and enduring just a few stares from the young monks).  I enjoy the cadence of the prayers and calm recitations - like saying the rosary - but more active since there are no seats, and one still has to touch and then kiss the floor a few times. 

finding my way up the mtn

There are a few ways to get to the monastery but none of them are marked!  Really!  you have to guess, or get a hiking/tourist book.  I asked and gave directions several times during the hike.   How funny, considering it is probably the biggest mountain tourist attraction in the country in the summer.

I love this shot of the opposite mountain range in the valley.

And just like in Colorado, the clouds start accumulating in the afternoon, as I was leaving.

A little excitement on the trip to Kasbegi 

So here's the rest of the story.  We had lovely views driving up - 2 hours from Tbilisi.  We drove through this lovely valley, past the Zhinvali Reservoir, and then started climbing to the 5000 feet elevation to kasbegi.

 

As we began the switchbacks the marsh driver slowed to a stop and pulled over to the side of the road.  After opening the hood and contemplating the engine for a little while, another driver happened by and stopped to discuss the situation. I was sitting in the seat right behind the driver, so could see what was happening, to my dismay.  The accelerator coil had broken, so the accelerator wouldn't work.

And what happened next was amazing... As they say on Internet enticements.  The good Samaritan fellow went back to his car, pulled out a rope, tied it in the engine and then took the other end and hung it inside the drivers window.  And off we went!  The driver accelerated with his left hand, with a hand held accelerator and drove  AND  shifted with his right hand, up the switchbacks.  We did pretty well until the phone rang!  Thankfully he let go of the accelerator (not the steering wheel) and we coasted along until he hung up. :-).  It was quite an introduction to the kasbegi mountain.

Here is our driver manipulating his handheld accelerator up the mountain

Anano's Guesthouse - an interesting melting pot. 

I didn't have a reservation for the guesthouse and no one answered the phone number I had, so when I saw a school boy and asked for directions I was escorted directly to a lovely little home. After knocking on the door unannounced the man answered and said his wife was in Tbilisi on vacation, he had no food to serve, and he was full.  But being good at customer service, he offered me his room for the night, and he slept elsewhere.  It was a lovely room, with a great view of the mountain.  I captured this top picture as I rolled over at 5:30 am and caught the sunrise.  It really was magnificent and understandable that this room was chosen as the owner's room. 

The main room had a huge table - an inviting place for gathering all the guests - which tonight included 2 journalists from Siberia, a Ph.D. student from Zurich, two folks from Poland, and two from the Ukraine.  Our host pulled out his custom-ordered wine, a kakheti white with just a little saperavi (red) to make a nice pink color.  How interesting to mix one's wine for the color!  And didn't taste too bad either. 

As we discussed the day's hiking and bird watching some had come to do, I commented that it was really nice to have a Franco lingua of Russian so they all could communicate.  Well that went over like a lead balloon!  One fellow said that 50 years of the Soviet Union does that to people. But he didn't say it with a smile.  I then commented about the common supply chain during the Soviet Union times.  I recalled and shared a story of a fellow volunteer, a young woman from the Czech Republic who was part of GLEN volunteers and helped our Koda CEC for a few months.  She  joined me on a trip to a friend's house in a remote village near Koda one afternoon and she was shocked to see the kitchen cabinets were exactly like the ones her grama had in former Czechoslovakia.  How amazing that one place in all of Soviet Union was responsible for making kitchen cabinets for the entire Union - from Siberia, to Georgia, to Czechoslovakia!  The Siberian commented that the chacha decanter our host in Kasbegi had shared with us was exactly what her mother had.  To which the Lithuanian chimed in that his grandfather had the same set ,  with 12 small matching glasses.  

I couldn't tell how that felt about it all - comfort, resentment?  In the US it is endearing to see vintage common items: old Hoosier hutches, fiesta ware.  But maybe it is different here. We had a choice of buying these items and they were special to us.  In the USSR, there was only one choice.  So maybe they felt nostalgia now, but it was not so special.  I'm not sure.  I was going to bring up a few positive things I have learned about the USSR, like their decent and affordable health care I have heard about,  or the constitutional right to a paid vacation! But it probably wasn't a good time to discuss old politics, after the cha cha that is.  So I retired and left them to their Russian discussion.  :-) 

 All in all, it was a peaceful quiet time, and I look forward to discovering more of Georgian mountains, people and visitors.

... 

A day in the life of a Georgia Peace Corps IOD volunteer

Many of you have asked me what my normal day is like at the Koda Community Education Center,  so I am happy to comply. Everyday is different of course, but here is a summary of how we work and what my day is like.

Our office opens at 10am.  I know, what a luxury it is.  I remember it was just last year that I and those of us in Mountain Time Zone started work at 6am each day at IBM.  It is so nice not to set an alarm and rush off to work.  I cook, clean, wash, go get some water from the middle well, get caught up on personal and business email, try to do some yoga or Pilates, then at 10am walk 100 yards to the office.  I'm usually tired by the time I get to start my work day!  Today I was invited for coffee downstairs before work.  Our building has 3 entrance staircases, 5 stories, and 3 units on each landing, so I have 15 'close neighbors'  more than half have invited me in for coffee or dinner. I keep saying how great everyone, is, but it is worth repeating.

A little background on Koda CEC:

 CEC's mission is to provide ongoing educational opportunities, which include the development of competencies and skills, to aid in personal and career goals; encouraging a lifelong quest for knowledge.

The center facilitates the integration of internally displaced persons in local communities. Every year up to 2000 persons benefit from participation in a wide range of vocational and personal development programs which increase their employability and improve quality of life.

 Youth development programs, Adults non-formal education and Civic engagement are a priority of the KODA CEC team.  KODA CEC management team has experience in development, project planning and implementation on both a local and international level. The CEC was opened and continues to be supported in part by DVV International, the Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association. As a leading professional organisation in youth and adult non-formal education, the Institute has supported lifelong learning in developing and transitioning countries for more than 45 years now.  

The CEC also facilitates an Elder Council, which is composed of 10 elected members, one from each of the 10 IDP buildings, who gather to discuss and take action on issues that affect the IDP settlement.  It has been successful in getting apartment water issues addressed with a more frequent availability of water to 4 times/day.  They are addressing a gas billing issue now.

Some days we just work on projects - computer work - and today was no exception.  We are submitting a grant proposal for 2 irrigation wells in the settlement from a federation of women Councils, called ACWW.  This is just one of thousands of big and small great organizations are out there that support what a wide range of issues and needs around the world. This organization, headquartered in UK supports many small organizations, like the "Organization to Support Women of the Village" here in Georgia.  And here are our office manager, Nunu, a great, hard worker and always has a smile on her face,  and one of our greatest volunteers and good friend, Ilia.

Here is our director, Madona, in a meeting with residents, discussing some gender issues in Georgia,  Madona was a business owner and also an elected official back in S. Ossetia, is well respected in the settlement and with the local governments.  South Ossetia is where the war happened in 2008 and they were expelled.  Our current projects include education for retraining for new livelihoods since they were mostly farmers in their old villages, and lifelong learning, business consulting / proposals that Madona supports,  the Elder Council, a Youth leadership Club, English clubs and classes and our social enterprise, Art-Koda. (art-koda.com)

Culinary class - sharing traditions 

Children's development class



Computer classes twice/week, with Jemo, another great volunteer, 

Art-Koda women

The women and men of Art-Koda  are making traditional Georgian handicrafts and also teaching these techniques with others in the settlement.  Our new web catalog is www.artkoda.com.  Due to shipping difficulties and lack of automation we only ship in Georgia now, and have to make other arrangements for other countries.  USA and Germany have also purchased our product!  Thanks for your support!



This woman taught teaching techniques to local teachers.  She was fabulous, funded by the US Embassy, and .... a former Peace Corps volunteer in China.... very cool  lady.  And the women loved her. They wouldn't even stop for a coffee break!

Our Youth Club had a cleanup in the settlement.  And I love this kid. He is in 10th grade, and wants to study science.  This is rare, from my experience.  Everyone here wants to be a lawyer or do international relations.  San Diego State University is opening a satellite here in Tbilisi and I want to make sure he is looking at it.  He rides about 40 minutes each weekend with his sister to come to Koda to be exposed to more opportunity.  Good for him... good for his parents!



Photography club

Our office has no lunch - the snack is to have coffee and cake/sweets almost every day about 2pm.  I try to be good. Sometimes I come home for lunch, and sometimes pack a cheese and tomato sandwich.   People not at work eat about 2pm,  and sometimes when I am not working, I get invited to nice dinners - lobio (black beans, sort of like mexican, with spices, like a soup) great bread, always tomatoes and cucumbers with spices, green beans with herbs,  lots of other good things. I do have to work on getting protein... daily...



Feldenkrais Method exercises

The office closes at 6, or later if we are working on something  Tonight some were printing on cups and t-shirts in Art-Koda so they worked very late.

In the evening, sometimes I go check on my tomato plants. A kind neighbor gave me a little piece of her garden for my 7 plants and basil. Much of their basil is purple here, so my green plants are somewhat unique and a fun present to take to people who invite me to coffee.

Many families have supper at around 8 or 9 pm - too late for me.  I come home, have a light dinner, salad, and some protein if I can find it. This day I got a knock on my door about 9pm.  A few girls about 12 years old had an invitation in English for me - all written up, about a little performance they are putting on in the field next door on Thursday at 4pm.  Of course I will attend.

Evenings are a luxury for me.  I have time to do research on the Internet, read, sometimes watch a show or movie through the internet, discover new music, and finally, I can FaceTime with family and friends.  This is so special and I just was able to get wifi set up.

I sleep early for Georgians - I DON'T LOOK AT THE CLOCK, I just turn off the light when I'm tired.  I know this sounds so simple, but in the States I NEVER did this. And I NEVER set an alarm for the morning. I just get up when I wake up - What a concept!  With the patent laws in the US so flexible now, maybe I can patent this :-).  ( sorry all my patent friends)

Zila Nebisa!  Good night.  Thank you all for your notes and comments.  I love to hear from you. I know I am learning a lot and hopefully helping a little.  But I still sure miss my life back home: friends and family.  God bless!


Here I am trying to learn the Georgian dances with the folk group!

Davit-Gareja...nature and entrepreneurship in the Georgian desert

Georgian desert in the spring

Davit-Gareja is a desert region in the SE corner of Georgia, on a mountain ridge that becomes a natural border with Azerbaijani. I had an special opportunity to ride out there with friends and a Polish couple touring the area. The ride through the springtime desert was lovely, full of poppies and other wild flowers, sheep and cattle and a variety of eagles. 

Interesting to note that this is a very early example of environmental damage.  The area was forested during the Bronze age but iron smelting eventually led to deforestation in the 1st millennium BC, resulting in climate change and desertification.  

 1500 year old monastery

  Syrian St. David established a community of monks in the 6th century and built a monastery in caves cut out of sandstone rocks. The naturally worn steps in the rocks reminds us of its age.  The Udabno monastery was about a 2 hour hike up the sandstone cliffs and is located at the edge of the natural border of Georgia and Azerbaijan. It is important for its frescoes from 9th up to 14th centuries. The area and frescoes were pretty well preserved, considering that the Soviets used this area for artillery practice during their occupation, due to the similarities between this desert area and Afghanistan.  The Azeri guards were friendly and spoke English and told us we were on the "buffer zone" but could hike up to see the chapel and frescoes.  Then further down, the Georgian guards were stationed and told us this is Georgian land. 

There were a a handful of tourists; surprising for such a remote place.  A fellow from Holland showed me a snake eagle - a first for me.  And their guide pointed out some interesting details of the frescoes, such as the fact that heaven is always drawn on the east side of the cave, hell on the west side. (Philosophical analysis welcome).

Also, I found it interesting to learn that these caves were made, not only found.  They used a small opening in the sandstone, and expanded it by heating the rock with fire, then pouring water on it to split it. 

Entrepreneurship in Georgia

 Here is a coffee cart in the parking lot.  

 It's good to see entrepreneurship alive and well in Georgia, but in this case it was all imported.  First, at the monastery we were happily surprised to see a coffee bar parked near the entrance.  In speaking with the Georgian manager, we were told it was really owned by a couple Ukranians, but he was running it for a while.  It was a treat to have it in this really remote area of the country.  


Next,  our Polish guests told us of the Oasis Cafe,  a little restaurant in the middle of NOWHERE, run by 2 Poles.  They had been there for about 3 years and had a lovely place, catering just for tourists. And in the middle of the desert, it really was an oasis.  The cold drinks, food, and clean western bathrooms were just was we needed after that hike.  Good for them!

And here are our new Polish friends, standing in front of the only public place in the area.