What To Do?

When I woke up this morning I had the inspirational sensation that I needed to be productive today. I took out my daily/weekly planner my mother so kindly sent me from the USA and began planning out my day and week. On the list I have exercising and running, study Georgian for 45 minutes, study Russian for 45 minutes, write in my journal, start thinking of a SPA grant idea, and write a blog entry. I’ve been getting a lot of happy vibes from people who enjoy the new layout and the tabs up at the top. I’m glad you all enjoy this layout so much, and as for the new title you have my PCV friend to thank for that one.

I spent this past weekend in Batumi. It was another PCV’s birthday, so he and his wife came all the way out to Batumi to enjoy the last two weeks of summer. The weather was great! I sat on the beach for hours and hours, and didn’t get any sunburn. Maybe I’m not as albino as I thought. I was hanging out primarily with a group of G11’s, and it was awesome getting to know all these new people. I enjoyed their perspectives on things, and they seem to be pretty motivated and fun. Still, it’s weird when they look at me to answer some cultural question that I really don’t understand myself. So I might just make my best guess and then the group will talk about it. It was a great weekend, and a good summer sendoff.

On the 19^th was Peristsvaleba (meaning: “change of color”, or the day of the Transfiguration of Jesus according to the Orthodox Church. I’m not exactly sure what this supposed to mean, but it also marks the day that the weather is supposed to change and winter makes its first move. Legend has it that somewhere in the mountains a big lamp of ice falls into the water and the weather becomes milder. Now, this summer was already pretty mild. Last summer I remember burning everyday and being so sweaty and sticky I had to take a shower twice a day. Last year the weather did get mild around late September or October, but it didn’t get downright cold until December. Hopefully this mild summer doesn’t mean a freezing cold winter.

This also marks my final summer in Georgia. Yep, I’m counting down my days and seasons. I will leave next June, a week before the summer season actually starts. From here I just need to get through Fall (a breeze), Winter (shoot me), and Spring (often still a bit chilly), and then I go home. It’s weird to think about everything I’ve been through here. From training all the way to now, and I’ve been in country 16 months.

I have a lot of plans and ideas for my final year, but I don’t know if I’d consider my first year a huge success. There was so much I should have done but didn’t for whatever reason. There was a lot of battling frustrations in work trying to integrate that I didn’t do some of the things I really wanted to. Now in my second year I am more determined than ever to get things done. I have all these ideas in my head, but I need someone to come and help me write the grants for them. I hate writing grants. There is nothing enjoyable or fun about writing them. I’d rather stick my finger in an electrical socket and use the insurance money to buy the things I need. It all just requires so many tiny details I don’t really think about, and half the questions they want answered are almost exactly the same as one I already answered. I mean, I understand the function and purpose, but REALLY!?!?! Do I really need 17 pages of grant writing for $3,000? Really?

Also, a G11 asked me what my plans were for after Peace Corps. Wow, those types of questions just make me feel so old. Is it really getting to that point I have to think about the next step in my life? I guess if I’m interested in graduate school I should start deciding on applications. The truth is, I’m not sure what to study, and to be honest, going to graduate school for the sake of going to graduate school sounds like a horrible idea. I would consider going back to find a teaching job, but that all depends if Governor Christie is finished screwing teachers over. Then I could look for a federal job, which my good friend tells me “Well, it’s stable and pays well, but it will eat your soul”.

Thanks, Harley. So what would I study in graduate school? History has always been my specialty, but getting a degree would mean years of work, a dissertation, and entering a job field that is so oversupplied that I would never really justify the time and money spent. Then there’s Psychology. My friend is getting his PhD in clinical psychology and I think he is pretty busy. I would consider school psychology. Still, is psychology something I want to spend years studying and my whole life working in? I could do social work or something, too, but again, do I really want to do it and then spend the time and money on something I may never use? Then again, do I really want to teach at a high school or middle school and be an underpaid and unappreciated worker? I’ve seen teachers who burn out so quickly and I could feel those feelings build up inside me during my teaching here in Georgia. Sure, there are differences, but is it something I want to get myself involved in? If it was between teaching at an urban school or going to graduate school in history? I’d probably take graduate school.

Alright, time to go achieve the other things on my list for the day. Have a great week everyone.