05-05-2012

(A three sentence summary)

After a long and very bumpy bus ride, we arrive in Telavi where our host families will meet us and take us to our homes.  All I can reliably say is “hello”, “from/in America”, and “nice to meet you”.  Also, “toilet”.  Thus, when my host mom showed me her home and chickens on that day, I, exhausted and far, far past the point of information overload only managed to say, “Me … chicken? … in America.”

A Letter from Orientation

Dear USA,

I've been staying for the past few days at the training site about 15 miles from the Russian occupied territory South Ossentia.  It's all peaceful and beautiful here, though.  We are staying in what our fearless leader Tengo refers to as the "that old, awful, run-down Communist era hotel".  The building, in reality, is clearly very nice by rural Georgian standards.  I was told to enjoy the nice flush toilets while I had them.  I share a small room and we have our own tiny bathroom.  You know, the kind with a drain in the middle of the floor so when you shower the toilet gets wet.  It feels a little like summer camp.

There are a lot of gutted Soviet-looking buildings alongside the road.  Otherwise it's deserted here.  I would really like to know why the buildings are gutted (as opposed to just empty) ... it's all done in the same pattern.  They're kind of cool and creepy.  It's strange to look inside and see where the chimney was and the stove was ... I wonder who lived in them.

Mostly for the past two days we've been attending meeting after meeting--security, food safety, Georgian politics, security, safety, security, Georgian customs, and health (safety).  The best part has been the language classes, even though they're really hard ... which is to be expected in a language that has like five different sounds for the letter "K" ...

All of this staying indoors in conference rooms is driving me crazy.  Each time they let us out I just bolt for the door.  I hate sitting indoors for that long.  It feels like all I've been doing since last Tuesday.  Sitting in a meeting room, sitting on a bus, sitting at the airport, sitting on the plane, airport, plane, airport, bus, conference room, conference room, language room, dining room, conference room ... I also sat when I got the first of my rabies vaccine set.  Which stung.  Awesome.  I am so excited to get my host family and to be free of some degree of these endless security meetings.  Even though I am sure that they are very important.  Sigh.

Overall it's pretty isolated here.  They're busy teaching us Georgian phrases like, "Where is the bathroom?" and "I don't speak Georgian, I am a Peace Corps volunteer."  The best phrases, though, come from my Georgian phrasebook--the one I got on Amazon about two months ago.  It has gems such as, "Will you help me clear the rubble?" and "It's OK, I have my own syringe." 


 It's been fun learning the culture, though.  The hardest part for me is going to be adjusting to not smiling so much.  Georgians don't really smile, and Georgian women don't smile at men unless they mean something by it.  So I'm going to be spending the first few months of training trying not to cause like an international smile incident.  Did you know that smiling actually sends endorphins to your brain that can make you happy, though???  Is it weird that I'm a little nervous that I won't be as happy of a person if I'm not allowed to smile as much???  I think I'm nuts.

They showed us this video and told us to pretend that the EU was the US and Italy was Georgia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28-P_pc8tmM

Love,
Me

First Day

 Cuban food in Philly.

 Flying to Istanbul.

 Outside training site.

Our view.  Which apparently will get even better when we change locations in two days.

First language class today.  So many crazy new sounds to learn!

 

Philly, Istanbul, Tbilisi

Well, it's 11 am right now back home in California ... and it's 10 pm here outside of Tbilisi, the capitol of Georgia (the Republic of).  I'm really tired but I am not sleepy.  I think I might dose myself with NyQuil for this first night to try to set myself straight ... even though I only have one bottle and I'm sure it's going to be a precious thing.  On second thought, I'll stick it out.

It feels like ages ago that we left Philly to bus to NYC to fly to Istanbul to fly to Georgia ... and, well, wait ... yeah, it was.  I woke up at 7:00 am Tuesday morning and it is now 11 am Wednesday night (both times are East Coast), or what it more accurately feels like--7:00 am on Tuesday to 10 pm on Wednesday.

Highlights?

I SAW THE SPACE SHUTTLE ENTERPRISE IN ITS HANGAR ALONG THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY GOING TOWARDS THE AIRPORT.

I think my life is honestly complete now.

Also, my experiment of flying with a guitar was a complete success.  I never had to check it once.  It was bulky and awkward and a total PITA, but it arrived safe and sound.  I might even try to tune it tomorrow.
We waited in the airport for 5 hours in NYC for our flight.  Everybody was starving and wanted to go to a restaurant in our wing.  The only restaurant anybody could agree on was Chili's.  That was my final true meal in the states.  At least I didn't have to look at the menu.

The flight was exhausting and long and I fell asleep on the stranger next to me ... he wasn't even a PCV, but he was very nice about the whole experience.  He's gonna go home and tell his family that a strange hippy girl slept on his shoulder on the flight from NYC to Istanbul ...

Also, I remember international flights being a lot nicer.  No little computer on the back of the seat in front of mine for this ten hour flight ... first world habits died hard in the first 30 minutes of that flight.

Istanbul was sort of like a normal US airport in another language.  Strange currency, crazy language over the loudspeaker.  Also!  Advertisements for Turkish Delight!  Too bad I couldn't find any!  I always wanted to know what was so good about it that it convinced Edmund to fall victim to the White Witch!

In Georgia, there was (as another PCV so accurately put it) a small media storm waiting for us at baggage claim.  We were surrounded by Georgian movie crews and photographers in a little roped off area.  We were exhausted, but they were all so kind and welcoming.

Then we had dinner out and they just kept bringing dish after dish after dish after dish.  Max, you would have had a field day.  I tried everything, including the liver ... but meat is just hard on me, I'm so not used to it and I really have no taste for it.  There was some very tasty cheesy bread and tomato and cucumber salad ... and lots and lots of other wonderful things (like some tasty mild cheese and a chili tomato sauce).  Some unusual and very tasty spices.  Shemomedjamo in Georgian means to eat past the point of being full and then keep eating just because the food tastes good.

To drive through the capitol city is like going past tons of old run down Soviet buildings ... and then there will be a brand new skyscraper in the middle of everything.  It's a little disconcerting.  There's a huge river that runs through the capitol too but I couldn't for the life of me think of how to pronounce it right now.

And now we are in our training center in the middle of nowhere.  It's nice as long as you don't go breathing in in the bathroom.

Love,
Me

DC

DC is super clean ... and suuuuuper trafficy.  In two days I saw two motorcades.  Both times it was Obama out doin' his business.  You can tell because aside from the 15 motorcycles and 10,000 black SUVS, there is also an ambulance.  And the towncar Obama is in has little American flags out the windows.

I'm learning so much!  Like how when there is a motorcade and a wall of traffic, the bus driver is more than willing to run over pesky corner street signs in order to escape down side streets.  After that incident I DID notice a plethora of suspiciously crooked arrows.

Unfortunately, I did not see any rainbows.  I guess Obama did not fart while going around Dupont Circle.  SO rude.

 

I'm sure Robyn told me what this building was, but I forgot.  It's directly to the left of the White House.  Another weird thing about DC (well, now that I'm in Philly, I'm noticing in general) is the crazy juxtaposition of very old buildings next to very new ones.  (In CA, you are thinking, what????  Everything isn't made to look like a Spanish style hacienda???)  Oh, East Coast, you crazy minx of American History!

At the Vietnam Memorial.  I've wanted to see this ever since I studied it in a sculpture class.  Did you know it was designed by a 21 year old female American-born Chinese college student?  She won the anonymous design contest and beat out all of the big leagues!  Memorials are often hard to connect with for me, but there is something so truly moving about the Vietnam memorial ... and the way all of those names (some 60,000+) are listed in the order that they died.

If you ever plan a trip to DC, take at least a week!  And if you're like me, and you like to legitimately READ every exhibit in a museum, take a month!  Two days didn't even begin to cover it!

Awesome!

Updates and Thoughts

NorCal trip planned.  Going away party planned.  Other things in the works.  Check and check and check!  I can't decide if I'm more excited to do all of the fun last-minute things in my last month in the States or to do the move itself.  Officially on my last week of work.

I should be packing right now.

I feel so silly updating this sometimes.  I tell myself it's for you, Max.

Sleepy Days

Today was one of those perfect days.  The temperature was just warm enough for a t-shirt and just cool enough for jeans.  There were a light ocean breeze that made my sleepy walk to the dog park cool and lazy.  Not too dry.  Not humid at all.  There was even a perfect amount of water in the creek for Zoey to chase ducks without hitting too many deep spots.  She hates those--they always interrupt a perfectly wonderful flat-out run.

A pot of tea on the front porch until 4:30 watching the world walk by ... I could have stayed there for another hour if I didn't have to go to work.