Updates Updates Updates

So a few friends of mine have begged me for a new blog entry. I certainly owe everyone a new one, and often I will sit at my computer and say, “This is they day! This is the day I will write a new blog entry”. But then I’d start doing something else and completely neglect my writing duties. So what has brought me back so suddenly to write? Well, for the first time I’ve had numerous people tell me that I am a good writer, and they actually READ my blog. So, I decided I’d let everyone know that I recognize your desire to read my blog, but I won’t promise to write more, because I know I’d be lying.

I participated for the first time as a Pre-Departure Orientation Teacher for the FLEX Program. If you don’t remember FLEX (or Future Leaders Exchange Program) is a US exchange program for students in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It’s part of a broader exchange program called American Councils. So, another PCV and I were teachers there for three days. It was a great experience, and really awesome working with highly motivated and excited students. For my first PDO it went pretty well. I’m pretty sure some of my students thought I was crazy. During two lessons we had a talk show format, and I had a tendency to get a little eccentric, but then other times I’d be way too tired to do anything interesting. Nonetheless, I have another PDO in mid-July, and now I’m more ready and prepared for everything. My Teacher Assistant and I have more experience and know more about what to do. Also, the other PCV did PDO’s last year, and he’s been a great guy to ask questions and get some advice from. I’m pretty excited, and I think the students were pretty pleased.

One thing is that we had to do nightly activities with the students. So the other PCV and I decided to do sports both nights. American football and volleyball. Now as many of you might know, my skills with ball sports are pretty limited. In fact, I think it’s gotten worse since I was younger, but I have bad eyesight, and refuse to wear glasses most the time (because once you start wearing them continuously you will only need a stronger prescription every year). Then at one point we played basketball, also something I’m not terribly good at (besides setting up a pick here or there which at one point got me a good elbow to the face). In general, I have felt a complete downfall in my athletic abilities since coming to Georgia. The first weight I lost on coming was all the muscle I had spent a year gaining. Since then I’ve traded a lot of muscle for fat, and don’t get nearly enough exercise. Meanwhile, my host family insists on getting me back to 77kg, but without realizing that if I were to weigh that again it’d ALL be fat. So when I’m saying “No, I’d rather not have four eggs and seven scoops of sugar” they go “No, no, no, eat! You must be 77kg again!” No that summer is around I should start getting out more and taking runs every morning. The hard part about that is everyone stopping me while I go and asking me if I’d drink wine with them, then getting offended when I refuse, BECAUSE I’M RUNNING!!!!!

School ended last Wednesday. It certainly doesn’t feel as if it ended. In America when school ends everyone feels it happening. We sign yearbooks, we take pictures, and we rejoice in the end of a “successful” school year. Here, the last day of school didn’t even faze me. We played Bingo, and I cleaned out the desk and cabinets (or attempted at least, I mean who leaves a bottle of ketchup in the desk?), but other than that I just didn’t care that much. This would actually conclude my official first year of teaching. What it successful? Well, it’s over, and I can honestly say… No. Most people think I’m being too hard on myself, but I think based on the amount of support and training I’ve had in the past this year was not nearly as productive or satisfying as I would have wanted or liked. I know the first year is the hardest, and I’m not an English teacher, but I would have expected a little more excitement from my students about me being there. I expected more interest in have a more cooperative learning atmosphere. Sometimes I’d get myself so frustrated that my students got the impression that I was done with them (not what I wanted).

There are some teachers around me who have the most amazing relationship with their students, and I’ve always wondered why it was. Well, my one good friend (who is officially coming back next year), who is also the most experience foreign language teacher (he taught Latin) I know summed it up well. He assured me I was doing fine, that his first year was an “unmitigated disaster” and that I WAS a good teacher, and working hard. But most of all, he’s in a village, and I’m in a town. Keda isn’t a big town, but it’s still a center. Class sizes are bigger, and students have a little more going on outside of school. It’s harder to truly integrate into a larger community. Everyone knows who I am, but nobody KNOWS me, which lends itself well to rumors and gossip (good and bad). It doesn’t help either that I am ALWAYS away. From FLEX stuff, to Peace Corps stuff, I am only in school about 75% of the time. This doesn’t help my reputation amongst teachers or students, but what else am I to do? These absences are not my doing, and I never missed a class out of pure laziness or to go somewhere just for me, they were always for a specific purpose, but nobody else in my school sees that.

So in other updates… I managed to get 30 Georgian-English, English-Georgian dictionaries for my school. I am awaiting another 40 to distribute to some of the surrounding villages. Basically they are classroom tools that will help me do more reading and writing activities. Right now we only have a English-Georgian dictionary, and a Georgian-English dictionary (that I brought from home) in our class. So next year the students will be use a dictionary in class to help them read and write. I am also considering a check-out system, but it’d need considerable oversight. Next on the list is a book cabinet for these books (and future books), and new chalkboard for the English rooms throughout the Keda region (yes, I am biased because I am an English teacher)

Next week the head of the resource center and I are heading to the nearby town of Shuakhhevi to pick up bees. Yes, bees. Another project I’ve been doing is getting some beehives for families in a nearby village. This project was initially thought of, by a former Volunteer in that village who has been a HUGE help for me in getting a lot of these projects going and finding funding. I met him last year, and I’m hoping I’ll see him again this year when he comes.

Today I went into Batumi to check out a catalog of exercise equipment for my planned fitness center. I’ve been a bit concerned with the grant for this, though. Not sure how to really get started, and I’m not a very detail oriented person (nor are the Georgians I’m working with), so basically I say, “I want a fitness center. Where’s my money?” Grant people say, “How much do you need?” I say “$5,000”. Then they want to know where all that money is going!! Can you believe that?!? It’s all those little tiny things that always get to me (like money for a marshutka to bring the equipment). I guess such is life, and if you’re asking for US taxpayer dollars it’s expected. Here’s my question, though. I have all this oversight for how I spend my money… why doesn’t everyone else? It seems with all this oversight and grant stuff we shouldn’t have a debt problem! Still, I did find some exercise equipment that was pretty expensive. THEN, I was patiently (okay, not patiently) waiting for my counterpart while he was talking to the Minister of Education in Adjara (my region) and being bored and hot. He comes out and tells me he ran into a guy whose brother bought $17,000 worth of exercise equipment from Germany, but then didn’t use it. His brother then took off for Ukraine and left him with all this stuff. So this guy is selling all of it for $3,500. That’s right in my price range! If I could get that I’d be extremely happy. We’ll see what happens, but it’s looking more and more like this project will actually happen.

I am planning some vacation time as well this summer. On July 6 I am going to Istanbul with a few friends, and from there I am flying to Kyiv for another few days. I’ll be spending my birthday (July 11) somewhere in Istanbul of in the airport awaiting my flight the next morning. I’ll be away for a few weeks, but I’m pretty excited to see Istanbul, because I’m told it’s an awesome city. My friend from Austria, may also come meet us there if possible. It’s been almost 11 years since I’ve seen her, so that should be awesome. And about Kyiv, well I love the city. I wish I had had more time to spend in it back in March, but that’s what this vacation is for.

This past weekend I went on a one night backpacking trip with some other Volunteers. I was pretty excited, seeing as this was my first backpacking adventure in over a year. Well, it also turned out to be the worst backpacking experience of my life. It rained the entire time we were out. Everything was wet. The trail was well made, but the people who made it don’t know how to climb mountains via proper switchbacks. So we gained 700 or 800 meters of elevation in about 3.5km. That’s pretty steep! I was exhausted, and didn’t expect a trail this difficult. Needless to say, I was not happy, and it also highlighted the whole being out of shape.

Anyway, this is long enough, and I going to keep working on this grant… siighhh.

‘til next time.

Oh and happy late Father's Day, Dad.