Gerogia! Drink it in...it always goes down smooth!

Borjomi, a great town with great trails
Pauly, Johanna, and me in Borjomi
Trail maintenance in Georgia, as in the states, is a priority
There may be better places for morning meditation, but I can't think of many.
Just another Sunday at my house. My host dad is playing music. He's a hoot!


Hey all,
Sorry about the delay in posts but getting internet access lately has been as difficult as getting a world series title in Cleveland. It has been an exciting couple of weeks as I have been able to explore some more of this beautiful country and assimilate even more into the wonderful, yet sometimes puzzling culture.
Friday the 20th was a big day as we G7’s found out our permanent site placements. In HUB at Gori they brought us all into the courtyard where they had painted a big map of Georgia. One by one we opened envelopes and walked into the map, standing on our new village or town. A more cynical person would say it was like Godfather II when they cut up the cake shaped like Cuba, but we all found it a lot of fun….and a little sad. Sad because I saw some close friends will be stationed far away, but that’s what Marshutkas are for!
Pauly and Erik…my best friends, are up in the region of Racha, beautiful mountain country in the north. Ryder, my hyper-kinetic Russian-speaking buddy is in a town near the Armenian border and experienced his first earthquake the other night. Allison and Brian are in the balmy resort city of Batumi on the Black Sea. Tony and Katie are far in the East, near Azerbijan, and my dear Johnanna landed a big city post about an hour from me. Kelly, being Kelly, is staying in Gori, her training site. Ellen, my “little sis” is in Adjara, a region that includes Batumi, fairly close to the Turkish border. So, as you can see, we’ll be scattered like so many feathers in the wind come swearing-in day next month.
Me, I’m headed to the region of Samegrelo, which is in Western Georgia. My city is called Senaki and I will be teaching at the agricultural college there. My boss, Gia, is ultimately cool and is literally known by everyone in town…nice to know I’m now connected. I can say, “I know people.” My counterpart is very cool also and I am looking forward to working with her and beefing up the library with lots of English language books (first thinly veiled hint). Samegrelo is an area of Georgia where the people are not Georgian, but Mangrelian. Mangrelian is a totally different language than Georgian…softer, in a matter of speaking. Don’t worry, everyone speaks Georgian too, but I hope to pick up some Mangrelian over the next two years, just cause I have the chance. The West of Georgia is HOT and Humid…it was in the high 90’s everyday I was there. Senaki, about 45 km east of the Black Sea port of Poti, is on the main east-west road and has a train station, theater and cinema. It’s a nice town with a lot to offer.
Well, the power just crapped out and my host mom just brought me some plums that were picked 5 minutes ago, so in the interest of conserving my computer battery, I’ll end this post. Hope all are well back in the states, thanks for the coffee Mom!

some pics...i hope

We Storm the Gori Castle! Erik is really stoked, I'm into it, and Brian, not so much.
Me and good 'ol "Uncle Joe"
View from the Castle Hike in Gori
Public transport is easy in Georgia, but it Ain't Tri-met!








Hey All,
Just wanted to clue you in on some things distinctly Georgian. In some ways Georgia is the best place ever…want to walk down the middle of the road…go right ahead, if you are driving and see a friend, feel free to stop in the road and talk to them for 5-10 minutes…don’t worry cause folks will drive around you. Smoke if you got ‘em! Anywhere. If you are driving and want to pass, please remember to do so only near the top of a hill or before a blind curve! (good thing I can be very Zen about my travel in a car!) If you can find a Marshutka without a cracked windshield, you probably aren’t in Georgia anymore. Seatbelts are considered bad luck. I’m so accustomed to not having any that I forgot to buckle up in a Peace Corps vehicle and got admonished. Always keep a safe following distance (in Georgia this is 3 to 5 feet). Be sure to grab a beer at every rest stop and when cows are blocking the road, just slow down a bit…they’ll move..OR ELSE! Oh, and by the way..when you run out of gas, and you will run out, you can remedy this situation by putting a couple of liters into the tank that you have been keeping in old plastic pop bottles (they have been sloshing around in your trunk the whole time).
Drop by a neighbor’s house unannounced and get fed and watered until the cows come home (which in Bebnisi is about 6-7 PM). Really! Every night as I sit and talk or study, our cow (whom I have named “Bossy”) strolls into the yard, gives me a perfunctory glance and proceeds to continue munching various greens. Yesterday I had to shoo her out of the mint as I like to have fresh mint tea from time to time.
Much has been said regarding pedestrian safety since I’ve been here. While it can be dangerous to the uninitiated, walking in Georgia is as safe as it is in Italy…you just have to keep your wits about you. Georgians use the whole road, primarily to avoid potholes and manholes without any covers (scrap metal was big business during the corrupt Shevardnadze administration). They are very aware of their surroundings and expect pedestrians to be also. The key to being a safe pedestrian in Georgia is to use ALL your senses: depth perception, timing, hearing (most Georgian cars are noisy), a knowledge of the simple physics of car vs. human, and common sense. You are on their turf…you can say you were in the right when you are lying in the hospital or you can just adapt and live to cross another street. Georgian drivers get a bad rap and I have proof. Last weekend I was in Borjomi with friends and we rode the bumper cars. While we crazy Americans were running into each other ad nauseum, the Georgians were avoiding every collision. One was even texting during the entire ride! That’s talent.
Georgians love to eat, drink, and laugh…not necessarily in that order, but if is possible to do all three at once, you can bet a Georgian has accomplished that Herculean feat. Georgians are probably the only folks in the world who think that Americans don’t eat enough. Now my mom can lay out a helluva spread and cajole you into another helping, but with Georgian women there is no subtlety involved. I believe they stopped it centuries ago. One of the first Georgian words anyone learns is “Tchame!!” (EAT!). Know that this word CAN’T be said only once, although prime numbers do seem to be a favorite (3 times in a row is most frequent). While many of us have been yelled at to eat in our lifetimes, Georgia is the first place that it has happened to me while I had a mouthful of food.
Some of standard dishes are, and this is by no means a complete list: Khachatpuri (bread stuffed with melted cheese), Khinkhali (a spiced, minced meat (usually mutton) dumpling), Lobiani (again bread stuffed but this time with beans), pivrebi da pomidorebi (cucumbers and tomatoes) to name a few.
So there you have it folks, some musings on my young life in Georgia. I know some of you may be shaking your heads right now but I urge you to reconsider your thoughts. It IS different (that’s the point, by the way) but in many important ways Georgians have remembered and kept things I think we have forgotten: to live life, all the time realizing that it is full of both risks and rewards. To accept and balance these risks is to live (emphasis on accept). Is it always right? This remains to be seen. Is it always interesting? Definitely! Georgia knows and embraces this…and it is GLORIOUS

Some Pics from Gori

Howdy hi everybody!
Me Erik, Paul Johanna and Allison are in Borjomi this weekend and of couse it is raining. Hence the post. Normally rain doesn't bother me but when you live in a country that has zero clothes dryers, you have to be careful. Nothing worse than riding in a packed Marshutka with soggy clothes...the scent stings the nostrils! Looks like I won't be able to include any pics this time...technology problems.. bummer too as they are some sweet ones from last week.
Borjomi is a famous town known for its mineral water. We tried some right from the spring yesterday. It smells very "sulfury" but tastes quite good. The rain did put a bit of a damper on things but it is blissfully cool.
This coming Friday we recieve our permanent site assignments which is pretty exciting as we will know where we will spend the duration of our service. We also have a language exam, and we TEFL folks have "practice school " all this week. Things are very hectic and the days are very full. Hard to believe I've been here a month! I can't describe how wonderful and challenging each day is and how one's perception changes so quickly about what are needs and what are "wants".
For instance, the highlights of last week was having a real shower (hot water with pressure that you don't have to ladle over you) as opposed to a bucket bath and getting our latrine pumped....everyone says I now have the nicest "squatter" in the village! Good Times:)
Well, there are lots of kids here in this internet cafe and it's getting loud so I'll get going. Hope all is well for everyone back home! Stay Cool!
All the best,
John

Tales from Stalin Land!

Hey there all,
Spent the weekend in Gori with some of the crew. Last night we all got together for dinner and drinks...well mostly drinks. Potent potables are very inexpensive here...a 375ml bottle of vodka goes for about $2.25. Never to be the types to pass up a bargin our group ordered 4 bottles. Today me Erik, Brian, Kelly, Dan and Ellen hiked up to the Gori Fortress and then spent a couple of hours hanging out at the Joseph Stalin museum. I will post some pics next time. It rained like crazy yesterday but today has been beautiful. It kind of sucks spending time in a dark internet cafe right now but I won't be able to post for another couple of weeks because of my schedule.
I am having alot of fun and really working on the language, which is very difficult! Right now I feel like I'm in one of those glass booths that have lots of money swirling around. Pretend each bill is a Georgian word and I am frantically grabbing at them. When the fan stops, I have $3...a noun, maybe a verb (not conjugated correctly), and an object that I can't recall if it is dative or nominative. Ain't new languages fun?
Well, I'm gonna sign off for now. I promise some pics in the next post and a lengthy post about my host family and Georgian culture. Stay cool back there...heard it has been hot!
All the best,
John

Alive and Well

My Training cluster after a grueling day of language training
Things to do in Munich during a flight delay. (does this count as a DWI?) Brian, Erik, and Kelly

My balcony and door to my room (it's mine all mine!)

Rush Hour in my village :) Mooooo!

The view south from my village.

Hey all,

Sorry about the delay on communication but as you can see, we don't exactly have broadband where I live. Georgia is wonderful. It is a very beautiful country and the people are very kind, humorous and generous. Right now were are spending alot of time learning the language (4 hours of class a day and then homework at night). Don't worry though. We also manage to squeeze in some fun too. Our group is really cool and I am fortunate enough to be geographically close to Erik and Paul , who have become good friends.

My host family is really cool. The dad plays guitar and we spend the quiet evenings listening to music and realizing how bad my Georgian really is! (hey it's only been 2 weeks!) I just realized that I have no idea what's going on in the world. While it is an odd feeling, I'm not really missing all the death, war, and violence that I would see on the news anyway. I know it doesn't go away when you turn off the tv but for right now, ignorance is bliss.

The food in Georgia is really good but somewhat repetitive....lots of bread, cheese, and soup. Cherries are in season right now and I eat a ton of them every day. I have home-made yougurt from our cow. I do miss real coffee (it's all instant here) so a good gift, if you're keeping track, would be a small french press and some good coffee would be awesome. I'll make more impassioned pleas for western goods in private emails...don't want this to turn into a begging board!

Well, times almost up and I have to get to the aformentioned emails. Thaks to everyone who wrote..you all are in my mind as well. It's getting pretty crowded up there! Again, I am well and happy (smiling like the buddha!)

All the Best,

John