First Post from Georgia

Well, this is my first post from the wonderful country of Georgia. First I’ll just say a bit about what we have done so far and what my average day is like. Also I’ll give some of my first impressions about Georgia as a country, Georgians as a people and Georgian life in general.

First of all, so far I love it here in Georgia. However, our trip got off to a rough start. After being grounded at JFK airport for more than 2 hours due to technical problems, we literally BARELY made it to our connecting flight in Istanbul to Tbilisi. We made it just in time and arrived into the beautiful historical city of Tbilisi all in one piece. However, there were about 4 PCVs who had some/all of their luggage routed to the wrong city (I believe to London). It is supposed to take at least a week before they see this luggage. But we all made it, and so far I think most of us would agree that Georgia is wonderful. Besides the extremely busy and tiring schedule that the PC had for us, our first week in Georgia was more like a vacation. In Tbilisi, we stayed in a top-notch hotel and had the incredible Georgian cuisine for every meal. After a few days we moved to Bakuriani where we lodged in a ski resort in the Greater Caucuses Mountains. This hotel was better than almost every hotel I’ve ever stayed at in the States, and the view was better than most as well. This is hardly the life any PCV should expect, but this was our life for the first week. But despite the amazing accommodations and all the support the PC provides, we still were in a foreign country, and a relatively poor country that most Americans have never even heard of let alone been to. So, this was definitely a time of reflection for many PCVs in our group on whether or not they might want to continue. We’ve already had several who have ETed (early terminated), and I’m sure there will be more who ET in the near future.

It was on Saturday June 21 where our lives changed and we were finally thrown into actual PC life. This was a nerve racking (and exciting) day because we woke up that morning all knowing only about 4 words and 4 phrases in Georgian. But this was also the day where we would finally meet our host families that we would be staying with for the next 3 months during our pre-service training. Until this day we know absolutely nothing about our host families. In Georgia, it is common for a household to be quite full. Often there are both grandparents, mom, dad, children, and sometimes other extended family. Many volunteers were placed in exactly these types of homes. I, however, am living with just a wonderful 68 y/o grandmother named Julieta in a small village called Gomi. Gomi is a sweet, but poor village located not too far from Khashuri and Gori, the birthplace of Stalin. There are 5 of us volunteers in Gomi and we all get along pretty well, which is good since we have to see each other so much.

We have now been in our villages for over a week, although it seems like a month. Our day begins at 9am with language classes and ends at 6pm, Monday-Saturday. Then when we return home it’s another 3-6 hours of speaking to our host families and neighbors in a language we barely know. Needless to say, we are all permanently exhausted. The language barrier is the hardest part that we have to deal with constantly on a daily basis. Georgian is a very difficult language and the sentence structure is nothing like English, which makes trying to understand my host mother almost impossible. For example, a translated Georgian sentence can be set up like this: “Work about yet not I think, two small children I have.” This sentence is supposed to mean “I don’t yet think about work because I have two small children.” Needless to say, I’m quite often lost in my homework, understanding Georgian’s sentences, and absolutely useless in communicating long coherent sentences to others. Georgian is also very hard to pronounce. It has about 7 more letters than the English alphabet and several more sounds that we don’t have in English and are very difficult to pronounce. Georgian is also infamously known for having many consonants in a row without having any vowels (consonant clusters). Example: gvprtskvnis (He is peeling us). This is boggling for most English speakers, and especially for me. Before coming here I thought having to learn the alphabet was going to be the biggest barrier for me, but this has actually been the easiest part. I can now read almost any sign and documents, but just don’t understand what the hell any of them say. Georgians also speak incredibly fast, especially drunk men. But we are slowly learning, one day at a time.

But the children here are amazing, they are able to understand our frustration and difficulty with the language and are able to put complex ideas and sentences into simple phrases and one-word packages that we can understand. Also, I think it is fair to say that all of our lexiconebi (dictionaries) have become our best friends. If all other forms of communication fail, we end up having to point to the key words in the book. But we must all sound like idiots. Our conversations go essentially like this:
Me: Shorena! Hello! How are you?
Shorena (neighbor): I am well, you?
Me: I am good. Tomorrow, me bathroom? (Can I take a shower tomorrow?)
Shorena: Yes.
Me: Time?
Shorena: 7-3-0 (7:30am. We don’t yet understand how to say any hour in between, so they have to explain every number separately. )
Me: Ok, good bye.
Or another popular conversation:
Me: Julieta, tomorrow, school, 9 hour (9am). Marshutka (a minivan and Georgian form of public transportation) and in Khashuri (nearby town) 3 hour (3pm). House, 6 hour. (I’ll be home by 6pm)
Julieta: blah blah blah (extremely fast Georgian).
Me: I don’t understand.
Julieta: blah blah blah.
Me: I don’t understand.
Julieta: blah blah blah (frustrated Georgian with a frustrated laugh)
Me: I’m sorry!

So the language barrier is very difficult, but thinking back to a week ago when we first arrived in Gomi, we have all progressed considerably and VERY slowly, our sentences are becoming a little more coherent. Also, even though we can’t understand what the hell anyone is saying, every once in a while we can pick out the words we know and sometimes even understand a general idea of the conversation. And even though our language is indescribably awful, the fact that we are learning Georgian, trying it out, and every once in a while succeeding in speaking impresses Georgians. They love to teach us new words. The kids especially are great resources for discovering how to say something. They are also great translators, not necessarily between English and Georgian, but in understanding what we are saying in our simple sentences and translating into coherent Georgian for their parents, and for putting what their parents say into simple and coherent Georgian for us. The kids here are great.

One important thing that makes the language barrier bearable is that most of the people here are amazing and very hospitable. In an age where being an American abroad is a liability and safety hazard, and where it is in your best interest to not speak in English and to lie and say you’re Canadian, living in Georgia is absolutely refreshing. America is generally loved here by many Georgians. We constantly hear about how great of friends America and Georgia are. President Bush has a higher approval rating here than he does in America. The main road from the airport going into Tbilisi is even named “George Bush Avenue” and has a giant mural dedicated to him and to America. It’s absolutely embarrassing and unfortunate that most Americans have never even heard of this country before (but what can you expect from a country that doesn’t even know where New York State is on a map??).

But the fact that we’re American isn’t the reason for their hospitality, they are just famously and genuinely nice and accommodating people. And to show their love for guests, they LOVE to prepare absolutely amazing meals and push food on you. I sometimes don’t even feel like I am in the Peace Corps because of the crazy amounts and varieties of delicious food we eat every damn day. The vegetables here are the best I’ve ever had in my life with no exaggeration. I guess it is quite common for PCVs in Georgia to gain weight, and I am no different. Already, 2 weeks in country, and my pants are starting to become tight. Ugh….

Georgia is also famous for their wine culture, and the crazy numbers of liters the men drink in one sitting. Almost every family makes their own recipe of wine from grapes grown in their backyard. I have had a few different kinds of wine and it is delicious and nothing like any other wine I’ve ever tasted. But the wine, their drinking culture and their cuisine is a subject for another day….

So this is my impression of Georgia so far. Life is extremely too busy and exhausting right now to be homesick or think about anything else. But I do wish I had better access to communication with the outside world. There is absolutely no internet within our village. The closest town with possible internet is 30 minutes away. We visit there once a week for weekly PC sessions, but our day is packed so full we usually only have 15 minutes to log on to the turtle speed wireless connection on our breaks. Having 30+ laptops logging onto a single connection doesn’t help. So not being able to keep in contact with friends or family is a little difficult, but something I might have to get used to. I would revert to actual snail mail, but it apparently costs almost $3.00 or so to mail a single letter. Ugh….. Also, I haven’t read a newspaper in two weeks and have absolutely no clue of anything that is going on. This is also very difficult, but something I will have to get used to.

Anyway, I’ve been a little long winded, but a lot has happened and I don’t know when I’ll have a chance to post next. I hope everyone is doing well back home and I hope to hear from everyone, even if it won’t be for a while. And I apologize if I don’t reply right away, please understand that I appreciate all emails! Until next time….nakhvamdis! (Good bye!)