A Conversation

The following is a conversation I had (in Georgian) with a man who approached me in the center of my town; meanwhile, he is holding a bottle of vodka:

Man: Tom, how are you?
Me: I'm fine, how are you?
Man: I am, *****'s father in the * grade.
Me: Oh, really? Nice to meet you.
Man: Why doesn't my son/daughter know English yet?
Me: Well, they don't have the books. You need to buy the book for them. We use the books in class. Student draw and color in the books. They are good books.
Man: Books? No. Books are expensive.
Me: It is 18 lari
Man: Yes, expensive. You must be a better teacher so my son/daughter will learn English.
Me: How much did that bottle of vodka cost?
Man: 15 lari.Why?
Me: Just wondering... walking away


Sigh... I should have and could have said more, but I didn't want to start an argument in the middle of the road. I decided the best thing I could do is just walk away.

My Packing Mistakes

I was going to make a Part II to my last entry, but I think I’ll write something a little different. A G12 wrote on my last entry and was interested in some advice about what I would have liked to bring with me and things I wish I hadn’t brought. It’s impossible to answer the question for somebody else. Some people just need things that other people don’t need. With that said, there are certain things I brought with me that I consistently have not needed, and I know I won’t need (and have likely already brought home).

My Peace Corps timeline was VERY short. Most people have to wait at least 6-months, some one-year, but I think the average—from the interview date to invitation—is about 8-months. From my interview date to invitation was almost exactly 2 months (application to staging was 4 months). I really didn’t have a lot of time to think about what I needed and plan for it. I basically just got whatever I THOUGHT I might need. I didn’t know what to expect, and I didn’t have a lot of time to think and rethink my packing situation. I don’t even quite remember everything I brought, but some of it WAS ridiculous. Here we go…

1. More than 3 pairs of nice pants.

It’s not that you don’t need nice pants from time to time, but you learn to wear the same pair of pants for several weeks before washing it. There are some pants I brought that I STILL haven’t worn yet, and most of those I brought back to the States, because I know I’ll wear them as a teacher next year.

2. More than 3 button-down shirts.

Along with number 1 I realized that I had certain shirts that I’d go to natural, and they aren’t all black or gray. The truth is, I always look like a foreigner, so having a blue shirt on isn’t going to make me stick out as much as my blue eyes and blond hair. As one PCV put it so eloquently once: “Tom, what are you going to do when you go back to the States and you aren’t special anymore?”

3. Batteries

Bring a few if you want, but batteries are HEAVY, and you can definitely find them all over the country. I brought a Ziploc bag full of AA and AAA batteries. I still haven’t used all the batteries, but overall it was a complete waste of space and weight.

4. Flashlights

Now one flashlight (specifically a head lamp) is an excellent idea to bring, but the phones Peace Corps give you have flashlights on them. If you are going to bring your own phone that won’t have a flashlight then bring a small one, because there are many dark areas.

5. Tons of pens/pencils

You can buy these in Georgia, or have them shipped to you. Don’t waste your valuable space on these things. I’ve turned a lot of my mechanical pencils into prizes for students.

6. Medical supplies

Will be given to you.

7. Binders and notebooks

You will get so many of these through Peace Corps meetings and conferences you will go nuts. I would bring one NICE notebook for PST. I didn’t have a good notebook (Lacey stole mine) for PST and I wrote in a tiny journal like book for the whole time that got me teased a lot. A good bind will help you organize your notes.

8. Teaching materials (except stickers)

Leave any activities or games at home until you’re sure you know that you need/want it. The exception being stickers. I brought a 1000 pack of stickers from the Dollar Store and it’s been the best dollar I’ve ever spent.

9. DVDs

I brought like 5 cases of DVDs. You really don’t WANT or NEED all that much. I brought my entire collection DVD home in the winter. If you want you can rip them to your hard drive.

10. Sports coat/Blazer

Wore it once when Hillary Clinton came. Not worth it.

11. Baseball mitt/Football/Soccer ball

You will use a football or soccer ball, but enough of those will be left here in Georgia I doubt you’d use it much anyway. It’s really only a few times in PST and during All Volunteer Conferences that you’ll end up playing. If you want it for your summer camps and stuff then maybe ask a G10 or G11 to let you borrow. I personally brought a football and a baseball mitt. I never got to play baseball and the mitt got damaged from the humidity and cold. The football I lost during FLEX training.

12. Georgian language books

You can get some money to buy language materials after PST. You’ll get a lot of good material during and after PST. In fact, if I could give a piece of advice to G12s: DON’T STUDY GEORGIAN NOW!!! I know you’re excited to come and excited about this language, but enjoy your free time now. In 2 months you will be studying for 4-hours a day 6 days a week. No matter what studying you do from now ‘til then you might only buy yourself one day of lessons. So, relax on the studying now, and save your time for enjoying the things you’ll miss.

13. Clothes

I really did not need as many clothes as I brought. Think of it this way: the more clothes you have the more laundry you’ll be doing. During PST/service you’ll be doing your own laundry (at least females will) and you want to do it quickly. Do bring enough that if you’re washing something that you have something clean to change in to.

Again, this is just my personal opinion, and you don't have to do everything I say here. Everyone is different, and you'll undoubtedly find something you wish you could bring that you left back in the States. This happens, but try to make sure your bags don't weigh you down too much, because you'll be carrying them all around the first two or three months. Feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me: talyon1986@gmail.com

A Look Back (OR 5 Months Left)

 My host sister just finished using all the hot water. Now I get to wait a couple hours until more water is ready. I haven’t bathed in a week, but it’s not that bad because I’m always wearing the same clothes that do a great job at holding in nature’s smell. It’s either that or get hypothermia in my room whenever I want to change my underwear. Give me a break. So, while I wait for the water I’ll write a blog entry.

As of last Wednesday I have officially 5-months until COS (Close of Service). 5-months compared to the 22-months I’ve been here already seems like a piece of cake. In fact, our COS conference will be the first week of March, and that’s the last official Peace Corps conference I’ll ever attend. It’ll be exciting to leave; about as exciting as it was to arrive. I’m full of anticipation, but also fear. I know I am not the same person I arrived as. It's even funny to think we're anticipating the arrival of the G12 group, but I'll be leaving just as they swear in. So, they are reading about me as I'm preparing to leave, meanwhile they are just preparing. Weird thought (my group didn't have that issue because G9s were the first group back in Georgia since 2008 War) We can even look at pictures of the progression I’ve been in since leaving the USA. First, there is pre-Peace Corps Invitee Tom:

I enjoyed kayaking, backpacking, camping, and all manners of outdoors things. 

On the other hand I had a fun party side. This is in Atlantic City.

Right before being accepted to Peace Corps I was in a bit of a dead end. I was a teacher without a classroom. I first thought “I’ll be a teacher with a Masters; schools would love to hire me”. We all know 2008-2009 was a hard time for jobs and especially for people my age. I always knew I wanted to be Peace Corps, and I decided that this was the PERFECT time to apply, you know, instead of sitting around my house playing Modern Warfare 2 and Halo (though the skills I earned help me wipe the floor with Carsten and his brother here in Georgia). So this became:

I packed WAY too much in my opinion. Attention G12s: YOU DON'T NEED THAT MUCH!! 

Archimedes the Kitty. This is back when she used to love me and let me pick her up. Now she's a mean, junk-yard kitty.

Last picture in front of my house.

Wow, this day was scary. I have that scared yet excited look on my face. It was the last time I’d see my house until this past Christmas. Staging in Philadelphia was great. I met some good people that are still my close friends today. In fact, with pretty much the same people I went to Cheesecake Factory with the last night I am going skiing and snowboarding with later this month:

My final American dinner--at the Cheesecake Factory.

\I can still remember a female friend saying: “Tom, you’re gonna be THAT guy aren’t you?” “What guy?” “That guy who is too charming for his own good.” Awwww…

Me (as a much muscular "Tom") and my cluster-mate. We became good friends.

My first view of Georgian soil. It's VERY green.

I don’t remember Orientation very well (even though what we “learned” was later used against me when I accidently violated some whereabouts policies). I can’t tell you what’s going on in these pictures:

Learning to play Backgammon (Nardi) was a lot of fun. This girl is REALLY good and she kicked my butt. I did take out my Nardi Vengeance in September.

There was a lot of studying. I believe I’m just trying to learn numbers 1-10. 

My three best friends (we didn’t know it yet, though). The guy on the left was really mean to me at first, too.

This post is already WAY too long. I’ll continue it next time with pictures from PST and then my first few months of service. Basically, whether you’re a current PCV in Georgia, an Invitee, family, friends, or PCV in another country—this experience is nothing we can explain to you in a 5-minute conversation, e-mail, or blog posting. I cannot tell you everything I felt and saw (even those first five days) in a way you will ever understand. You will never understand the excitement, fear, euphoria, depression, anxiety, loneliness, friendship, love, and adventure we have. If we sound negative sometimes that’s our right. We aren’t miserable, depressed, or hate Georgia or Peace Corps. We have good and bad days just like anyone else, but it’s on a whole other level we will never explain. In fact, if you’re too positive we’ll probably make fun of you a little bit—nobody can be THAT happy about bread and cheese every day for 2 years.

So, as I look back, at the past 22 months I am left with a sense of pride at everything I have (and have not) accomplished. Most of my lessons failed, every club fell apart, but I’ve done so much, and learned so much in the meantime. Even if I never did a real project, the personal growth I’ve developed here will last me a lifetime. 

The First Post of the New Year

It’s been a long time since I’ve updated my blog. Funny to think the last time I updated was last year. I have been meaning to write a blog post for a long time, and I’ve had the time to do it, but I just haven’t felt the need to update. Nonetheless, I do understand my blog isn’t the most entertaining thing to read, but I think I should let people know what I’m doing. I owe everyone, especially considering all the help I’ve received from people for my fitness club.

I should let everyone know that I got all $1800 funded through Wide Awake. So, THANK YOU! In fact, I had only planned on $1000, and the extra $800 was a real surprise and will help us achieve our goals. The town is fixing the room right now, and they stripped away all the paint and put in new electrical sockets in three new places (I was only hoping for one, but they surprised me). Now they are patching the holes and getting ready to prime and paint. I went to the sports store in Tbilisi and found almost everything we wanted to buy. I decided to trade out some pieces of equipment in order to get higher quality. For example, I don’t see many people using a bench press, and I am worried about kids being in there, therefore I probably going to try and get two treadmills, or something along those lines. Nonetheless, I’m certain that within one month we’ll have our equipment in the room. At that point it’s all about getting everything translated on the machines and then making my healthy lifestyle/fitness lessons. I’m hoping for PCV assistance and presentations in that phase. Still, I’m very excited.

I’ve also been going to school here a lot more since university is on break. It actually got me thinking about how much I miss teaching kids instead of adults. I love being in the classroom, and although I don’t normally enjoy teaching English (I prefer History), I really like planning lessons that let me students hit the “Ohhhhh” moment. That “Ohhhh” moment is rarely reached in History class (it’s not that kind of learning), and it’s nice to be there. Unfortunately, my first day back a student asks my counterpart “With Tom here again, are we going to play games again?” I don’t think that comment made me counterpart very happy, and it doesn’t make me happy either. I don’t want students or teachers thinking that’s what I’m about, because I’m not.

Anyway, the winter is upon us. This winter is definitely worse than last year. There is more snow and it’s considerably colder. I mean, not as cold as it is in Ukraine or Czech Republic, but still cold. Last week I was at a conference in a town near Tbilisi. I was asked to lead a session on teaching multi-level classrooms to G-11s and their counterparts. I was there for a few days, but on the way back our bus kept getting stuck and we got into Tbilisi much later than we were supposed to. Back to the conference, I was happy with my session, and many counterparts and Volunteers came to tell me that they enjoyed it. Better yet several counterparts told me they were going to use some of my ideas in class. That’s something every instructor likes to hear.

I am somewhat surprised that my last post seemed to make people think I wasn’t returning to Georgia. A bunch of people who read my post from when I was in the USA thought I wasn’t coming back. I’m sorry that it created any frustration, but I hadn’t seen my home in 18 months and I was just happy to be home. So kill me. Firstly, I’m doing some great things here, and I’m actually hitting my groove as a Volunteer, and I’d be stupid to leave. I would be especially stupid if I decided to leave, especially with only 5-6 months left in my service. It’ll be an exciting, fun, and busy rest of winter and spring.

I’m also aware that a large number of G12s have received their invitations to serve in Georgia. I’m hoping that while they look through posts from me and other Volunteers that they understand there are good and bad times to be had in Georgia—just as in the USA. Also know that when you receive your invitations we are in the middle of winter, and few of us can always be positive. It’s not that Georgia is a bad post; of course there are good things and bad. I generally keep my frustrations to a minimum on my blog and focus them more in my personal journal. One of my friends suggested I write entries when I’m upset, but only post them after I leave Peace Corps. That way I would be able to write something and post everything when I’m no longer a Volunteer. Then people can read the positive and negative posts together and get a more accurate view of my experience in Georgia. I think instead I’ll write a few posts at the end of service and describe my negative and positive experiences together. I guess we’ll see when the time comes.

I’m looking over everything I’ve written now (not editing, because even with grammar mistakes, I want to keep my writing honest and without rethinking anything) and I think this is prime time to end my entry. I’ve also heard some funny comments that I end my posts abruptly Therefore, here it goes.

THE END!