American Days in Georgia

The US Embassy in Georgia kicked off a week long celebration of American friendship and PR in June.  Smart, since July is hotter than heck.  The Koda Community Education Center Youth Club wanted to attend, so I accompanied Anano, our Youth Club Director, in taking the high schoolers to Tbilisi to see the booths, any free food, and an American concert.  They highlighted the projects that USAID was supporting, the US Embassy, and many joint projects with the Georgian government.

My picture of the little girl - top middle, taking corn off the cobs for winter feed

The Embassy had a photo exhibit on the outside of their tent. My picture was chosen - too bad I assigned away all rights. :-)  Here's the story of my little girl cleaning the corn off the cobs. 

Anano with our US Ambassador

Our Youth group

Tika Trevishvili, my Peace Corps Organizational Development program manager, at the Peace Corps booth, a great woman!

Look who is hanging out with Nate Stanford, base guitarist for dangerflow, who held a concert in the evening. My first rock concert of the 21st century, I think...

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.  

The Little Ones in Georgia

International Children's Day is coming up and we at the Koda Community Education Center are planning a festival of games, music, and performances. While planning we visited the local kindergarten to invite their participation, I was struck by how clean and orderly it was, and quiet!   It is nice to compare the school systems in other countries. 

Kindergarten goes from 9:30-5:30. They are free throughout Georgia, and funded by the government. They have a two hour nap time! We could have been in the US except for the sadsoli otaki. (the bedroom)!  Now I could go for this! 

Both kindergartens attended the Children's Festival and many, many children from the settlement.   We had a few characters in costume ( about $100 - a LOT for here, but the kids really love it ), chalk drawings, games, singing performances from young and old. We even had a flash dance... a very successful day!

Dmanisi in the spring

As a part of my birthday weekend I was invited by friends to join them on a road trip to Dmanisi.  We brought along my good local friend Luso, who is trying to start a tour business in Kvemo Kartli and a friend visiting from Greece.  Dmanisi was fascinating but even more so was the ride down.  This is southern Georgia. All the bigger mountains are north. We have a desert to the south east and across the peaks are Armenia. Who would have thought how beautiful the mountains would be just south of me.

The Dmanisi Museum
We found the museum quite a ways from the archeological site.  But fortunately we went there first, so we knew what we could expect from the site.  The museum was closed even though we checked and it was scheduled to be open on Sunday.  Fortunately someone at the building knew someone that had a key, and if we would give him a ride to that person's house,  we could get into the museum.  Gotta love this country!  The museum director was in Canada, so we were toured by an enthusiastic volunteer who gave a wonderful description of the site and history.

The Dmanisi archeological site

This was fascinating. The reason it was such a big find in Dmanisi was that there were 5 skulls all buried together, but previously seen as separate species.   "Traditionally, researchers have used variation among Homo fossils to define different species. But in light of these new findings, Dr Lordkipanidze and his colleagues suggest that early, diverse Homo fossils, with their origins in Africa, actually represent variation among members of a single, evolving lineage – most appropriately, Homo erectus.

“Had the braincase and the face of Skull 5 been found as separate fossils at different sites in Africa, they might have been attributed to different species,” said Dr Christoph Zollikofer from the Anthropological Institute and Museum in Zurich, Switzerland, a co-author of the Science paper.

To read more.  about Dmainis archeological site

Also, I blogged previously about the18 million year old demonstration of love  which I found so interesting.

Here are some great Americans enjoying Georgia!  

Mike and Marcia's favorite picnic spot

After lunch we stumbled onto a beautiful poppy field. Then, on to Bolnisi.

Bolnisi. Sioni Cathedral is a Georgian Orthodox basilica in the Bolnisi village, Georgia. The cathedral was built in 478–493. It is the oldest church building in existence  in Georgia. Bolnisi Sioni Cathedral is known for its Georgian inscriptions. These are one of the oldest historical documents of the Georgian alphabet.

I don't know why these scenes still surprises me: a beautiful country - north, south, east and west.

Just One of those Days...

You know what I mean, when nothing seems to go right...

Water Problems
I came home from the office a few weeks ago and realized that when I had unplugged the fridg to plug in the oven. There is one outlet for everything in the kitchen - oven, coffee maker, fridg. ( we are SO spoiled in other countries)  I forgot to plug my fridg back in, so something had melted all over my floor. (Un) Fortunately I couldn't get my Internet to work on my laptop at the office so I came home to work online for a while today, so it was only unplugged about 4 hours.

More Water Problems
I wouldn't have been so bothered, but just last week I had piled up the dirty dishes in my sink so I could wash them when the water came back on at 6:30am.  But I didn't scrape the plates well enough, so when the water did come back on and before I was awake, the food scraps had plugged up the drain and the drippy (heavy euphemism used here) faucet flooded my sink and the floor.  I am wondering when the downstairs neighbors will be pounding on my door.  And some of you know, my place flooded a few weeks later.

How much Water do I need?
I remembered that I had no clean underwear, so I put everything to soak in soapy water while I was gone today. They I worked late and got home right after the water was turned off until 9pm, so I can't rinse them and hang them in my makeshift clothesline in my 'front hall.'  So I will rinse and hang later.  They probably need a little extra soaking anyways. My landlady, Lali, who is fabulous, did a load for me in her new washer over the weekend, but I figured I should do my own underwear.

And the three shirts I hung outside on the clothesline on my balcony are still wet because it rained while I was at work.  Oh well, they probably need to air out some more anyhow. But how do I keep the bird poop off my clean clothes?  There must be an old wive's tip. Any suggestions? Now I just keep them on the line a few hours, then bring them in to finish drying on the beds.

But I'm home now, listening to Nora Jones, and have some left over recently defrosted food on the counter so I'm set :-)  My bina is warm, the balcony inviting and I have lots of sunlight and the neighborhood here is amazing.  It feels like those neighborhoods in NYC in the 60s - everyone around, caring for one another.  The kids are all playing outside, even 3 year olds. No one worries about them getting kidnapped or hurt.  The kids all take turns playing in the soccer/basketball court.  All ages share and I don't hear anyone ever fighting over space.    The women are sitting out on the bench chatting.  The guys are playing backgammon on the picnic tables.  I know it is going to get REALLY hot here this summer,  but I'm taking it a day at a time.  Happy Spring!

View from my balcony. Those are mountains behind the building.

A Croatian, Pole, Aussie, Greek and US PCV walk into this Spa...

I couldn't help myself with that title.  It really was funny.  I belong to a wonderful organization called Servas.  Servas is an international, non-profit, non-governmental federation of national Servas groups, encompassing an international network of hosts and travelers. The purpose of the network is to help build world peace, goodwill and understanding by providing opportunities for personal contacts among people of different cultures, backgrounds and nationalities. Some would call it a vetted couch surfing club for adults, but it is much more. 

Georgia Regional Servas Meeting
Servas Georgia had a regional meeting with visitors from 12 countries, most of which I still need to visit.  I was able to join them on my weekend off from the Center. It was a great weekend of getting to know one another and hearing more about cultures, travelling and issues in this part of the world. A lovely Ukraine family put on a presentation and musical recital. An Israeli member described how lovely and safe it is there. Russians explained how best to get around in their big country. I was fascinated, but had more to experience by our Saturday night adventure.

One of our Georgian hosts, in her lovely home

And a view from her home

Ukranian presentation

Georgian Sulphur Baths
You European/Asians can stop reading now.  You experience this all the time.  But I sure haven't. I have been wanting to go to the Georgian sulfur baths for the past year, but haven't had the opportunity. These ladies all seemed really cool, so I solicited members to come to the Baths in Old Town Tbilisi with me after our dinner Saturday night. And as I mentioned we had a broad delegation of Eastern Europeans, and Aussie and me thrown in for good measure. Fortunately several women knew the ropes and guided us through the steps of stripping, showering, soaking, and getting scrubbed down.  It was really relaxing and we had a great time.  The only BIG surprise was when our 'scrub down' lady came in and stripped too!  I guess she wanted to make us all feel comfortable, and it actually did.  It was just surprising to see your masseuse walk in naked. 

The baths were first documented in the 1st Century while discussing Roman plumbing

The baths were a tradition that quickly caught on, helped by the city’s historic position at the epicenter of the Old Silk Road. By the 13th century, there were 63 of these domes. 

Here's a before picture, no after pictures allowed.  I feel it safe to say all our visitors had a great time in Georgia, and our Georgian hosts were most delightful - spending countless hours planning, hosting, and coordinating.  

Peace Corp goal #3 is to share Georgian culture with Americans.  Well I am doing that this weekend, with Americans and with lots of other cultures as well. 

Check out more about Servas through this Ted Talk. 

My First Anniversary in Georgia Peace Corps

Hi all,  I made it: one year in Georgia with the Peace Corps and I am celebrating.  It has been a tremendous ride of ups and downs, excitement and frustration, missing home and experiencing new worlds and ideas.

The one common denominator has been the people.  They are same everywhere on earth.  I sat down tonight at a neighbor's house and talked about children's behavior and how difficult it can be. We talked about an accident and how to set a broken arm without paying a doctor.  We talked about blood sugar and how pork affects it (well maybe I didn't follow that one too well). We talked about the holy day yesterday and when church services were. We talked about when my house-grown tomato plants and basil would be big enough to put in the garden. And we talked about how the neighbors say her front window is like a big screen TV - seeing everything that goes on in the settlement.  And we conversed only in Georgian.  Not bad! But it doesn't matter.  We all feel the same things in life and can easily empathize.

Here is my Facebook anniversary quick post, since many of you tell me you don't use facebook (good for you!)

One year anniversary in Peace Corps Georgia What have I learned?

I'm not at strong as I thought
God IS her people, here and everywhere
There are two options in life: Love or Fear
Learn to accept people more, and their inadequacies. We all have them. 

Goal for the next 15 months... Courage and Grace

Now, I want to thank you all for your readership and interest, and your supportive emails back to me.  I reviewed some earlier posts:  boy they were rough.  So thanks for sticking with me as I hammered out the technology and hopefully improved my writing style.

As I begin my second year, I would like to share a few quotes that resonated with me about the Peace Corps. The first is from an article that I think truly catches the spirit of the Peace Corps experience better than I could express,  and the second is an inspiring quote from a young PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) colleague of mine here in Georgia.  It's nice to know young people can still be inspirational.

“While different people join the Peace Corps for different reasons, most Volunteers hope for what we might call the Peace Corps experience. That is, they seek a profound encounter with a foreign culture, a series of experiences that changes forever the way they think about the world, their own country, and themselves. They expect-and very much want-to be challenged, to have their patience and their mettle tested, to be pulled, pushed or otherwise forced into new ways of thinking and behaving. They want, in a word, to grow. And the Peace Corps itself wouldn’t have it any other way; this is, in fact, a large part of its mission and raison d’etre.” 

"I increasingly think it is the primary work of human beings to seek to understand one another as best we can and through understanding empower our better humanities."  Hannah Combe 

Next week my blog is entitled, "A Pole, Croatian, Aussie, Greek and PCV walk into a spa..." so stay tuned.  I'm starting to enjoy this writing and really getting to LOVE my time in Georgia!