Castles and village life

Ok, its been a while since I’ve checked in so I figured that I would give everyone an update on what has been going on in my village.  For the past few weeks I have stayed in Akhuti experiencing the best village life that Georgia has to offer.  My friends Corey and Derrick came in for a whirlwind adventure two weekends ago, which included a trip to a ruined castle and making friends with lots of people in Nogha.

So Derrick and Corey came in after school on Friday, and experienced dinner at my house.  That included lots of food for the guests, and of course lots of Georgian wine.  My family was very much entertained by a group of two Americans and a Canadian eating at their household.  The next day we set off to find some caves and visit the castle ruins.  We could not find the caves, and took a very roundabout way to the castle. 

In our trekking we found yet another example of Georgian hospitality.  We stopped at a house and asked to fill up our water bottles, and before we knew it they had laid out a full spread for dinner complete with shots of cha cha.  From there we were off to the castle.  We made it there and explored it to the best of our ability, but it was time to get going as it was getting late.  In our attempt to get back we got extremely lost in the backwoods of Samegrelo.  It became dark and we were still more than 5k away from home, and not heading in the right direction.  Luckily for us Georgians are extremely hospitable, and a nice older couple put us up for the night.  We made it home the next day, and got some much deserved ribbing from the guys in the village.  Oh well, it was all in good fun and we were the ones who didn’t plan well for the excursion. 

Since then I have been teaching as well as chopping firewood, and peeling dried beans.  There is plenty of work to be done around the farm because it is harvest time for most of the foods.  Everyone is clearly stocking up for the winter.  This weekend it is Derricks birthday, so a group of us are meeting up to celebrate it.  It will be good to get out of the village, as it has been three weeks since I have left. 

Lumber mills, making cha cha, and a pilgramage

Georgia, and the village of Akhuti continue to provide interesting times day after day.  Last week my family was preparing for winter, so they were chopping wood and moving the wood stove inside.  After the heavy wood stove was moved inside we soon saw that there was no where for the smoke pipe to be vented.  Never fear, Georgians always have a creative, albeit not the smartest solutions to any problem.  My host dad and proceeded to pound a hole in the stone chimney until the pipe could fit in.  Now the fireplace is going to be ineffective, but at least we have the wood stove.  Since it was raining and there was no outdoor work to be done it was time to feed everyone who came over to help with the process.  This meant the usual of lots of food and wine, what better to do than drink on a rainy day.

In the days after we cut logs into lengths that would fit in our newly relocated wood stove.  For this they pulled out a 30 to 40 year old table saw that did not have a plug.  It had to be hardwired into the houses electricity, and all the lights would dim dramatically when the saw was turned on.  The blade was clearly dull, but that did not stop my host brother and I from continuing to force logs on it.  We would work for hours each day chopping wood, and in reality we are still not done with it.  Like everything there is no hurry, and we will work on GMT (Georgian maybe time).

Our recently relocated wood stove

Now to the weekend.  We spent the entire weekend making cha cha.  Cha Cha is a Georgian liquor made from what is left over from making wine.  All the grapes, seeds and stems are put in the still and the alcohol is boiled off of it.  So on Saturday morning out came the still, and it would run almost constantly until Sunday afternoon (we stopped late Saturday night).  With all the Georgian practicality, my host dad set up up under the overhang to the main floor of the house.  So, there was no ventilation for the smoke, and it billowed around the entire house.  Not the best planning, but it had clearly been done before.  On Saturday I tended the fire, and did simple tasks like changing the jar when they got filled.  I pulled out my computer and we listened to 80's jams while making the drinks.  Let me say, Georgians are really getting hooked on classic 80's music.  By Sunday my host family went off to do other things, and left me in charge of the Cha Cha making.  Needless to say I made a pretty mean Cha Cha and we have plenty of it.  All the liquer we made was enough to fill a 55 gallon drum.  But hey, Georgians love to drink and I'm sure that it will be put to good use.

Heres the cha cha still at work

Sunday night my host brother (gym teacher) said that a group of people from the village were going to church in Kutaisi.  They said that it was a religious holiday, and I did not have to go to school on Monday.  With that in mind I went along for the ride.  It was a minor Georgian saints day, and many people were doing pilgrimages to see his reliquary.  The church was small and up in the mountains near Kutaisi.  It was packed with Georgians, as well as news crews and reporters.  It was great to see the religious side of Georgia, and their religious practices.  There are no pews in orthodox churches so everyone stood as the priests were chanting their prayers.  When I returned to school it turns out that we did have school on Monday, and we were just skipping out.  Oh well, the teachers didn't mind at all and were actually interested in my views on the church.  Today after school my village is going to another village to play in a soccer game.  I will tag along and see how high school sports work in Georgia. 

The church and monastery we went to

Mestia

This past weekend I may have found the most beautiful place in Georgia.  Thanks to TLG I was finally able to pick up my teachers books (three weeks into the school year, and a month and a half into my stay in Georgia).  All we had to do was take a day off school and travel to Zugdidi, find the educational resource center and pick up our books.  Two friends (Cory and Derrick) and I decided to take this day on a Friday, so that we could enjoy the perks of a three day weekend and travel out of our respective villages.

All of us have been trying to get to Mestia, a small town in Svaneti.  It is most easily accessible by a 5-hour marshutka ride from Zugdidi, so it fit perfectly in our plans.  After picking up our books we continued the voyage into the Caucasus Mountains.

When we got there the weather was not the best, as it was drizzling with no end in sight.  The weather prognosis was not good for the rest of the weekend, but we were ready for it and determined to see the mountainous region around us.  Saturday morning we set off amid fog and threat of rain to hike 8 km up the mountains, to some pristine lakes.  It was not an easy hike, as clearly Georgians do not believe in switchback trails but 4 and half hours later we made it to the supposed lakes.

The three of us up in the mountains.  Yes that's right we hiked above the tree line. 

 As it was late in the season, the lakes were more like large puddles, but the view was amazing.  After fighting through fog and rain, the skies finally opened up and we were able to see the amazing views around us.  It made the hike defiantly worth it, and made the mountains by far my favorite part of Georgia.  It was a perfect respite from village life in the foothills. 

Life, Death, and Election Day

The Republic of Georgia never ceases to amaze me, and this past weekends events have continued that trend.  Like all things in Georgia plans are subject to change, and I ended up not leaving the village of Akhuti.  My host dad informed me (through a difficult translation with the neighbor girl) that we had plans for the weekend and that I should stay.  I was kinda bummed but figured what the heck I’ll see what this little town has to offer. 

Saturday morning after breakfast my family went to another neighbors house for a somber early luncheon.  It turns out that one of my students Anastasia’s grandpa had passed away and they were having a prefuneral lunch.  It was a nice event and it seemed that many of the men from the village were there to help out.  The lunch and preparation of everything really enforced the community aspect of Georgian village life.  After the lunch I returned home while my family went to the church.  They then told me that they would pick me up at 9:00 and we would go to the supra.  I though that it was another funeral related event, but once again I was wrong.

The nighttime rolled around and my host dad and I walked about 15 minutes past the neighbors house to the supra.  It turns out that we were invited to a Georgian wedding, and it was quite the time.  There was lots of food, wine, dancing and celebrating for the new couple.  Traditional Georgian musicians played for part of the feast while Georgian dance was preformed.  The dancing was quite the spectacle and it was great to see what everyone had been talking about first hand.  It concluded with the lead girl placing a cup of wine on the ground, doing the splits, grabbing the cup with her mouth, and then drinking it without using her hands.  Very impressive. 

After that concluded there was much more wine and more modern dancing, with everyone getting involved.  The party lasted until 6:00 in the morning, and believe me everyone was having a good time.  The Georgians must have drank through an entire barrel of wine and then some that night. 

The next morning (as every morning) I was woken up early by the sun shining in my eyes.  My host dad is up, and I’m very much sure that he was still drunk.  Now we went back to the funerals house where they had the body on display and had another somber lunch.  It turns out that that day they would finally burry the grandpa at the cemetery on the hill.  After the lunch we all returned to take some much needed naps and showers.

Finally Monday the Election Day rolled around.  It was quite interesting to see how everything was handled.  The vote was held in an old Soviet concrete building that I had honestly though was abandoned.  It turns out that it was the only thing available (even though they have a brand new school that had the day off) and the broken windows were not to be minded.  The ballots were just pieces of papers that people would circle their selection on, then dropped in a clear box.  It was jam-packed and it seemed that everyone came out for the vote.  As of right now both sides are claiming victory, but I believe that the Georgian dream party (the opposition) may have eked it out.  In the coming days I’ll try to find out what any fallout from the election is.  All in all it was a great 3 day weekend, and I am very glad that I chose to stay in the village this time. 

Week two and making wine

This week I was hoping for school to get into more of a rhythm and for everyone to settle down.  Once again I found that scheduling changes by the day and that nothing is to be expected.  The schedule continues to change daily, so I just go to school at the beginning and figure it out from there.  The teachers at my school are very nice, and they have been extremely helpful for the most part.  They have even invited me to their houses after school, where we have had mini supras. 

I have gotten to know my two radically different coteachers by now.  One is extremely helpful, works me into her class plans, and allows me to teach the class.  The other is commanding in class, and does not let me speak out loud in the classroom.  The only way I get to talk is if a student has an individual question while they are doing workbook activities.  Hopefully this will get better over time, however she avoids me outside of class so we can not talk about how we would do lessons together.  She did seem to get nicer today when I mentioned that I had to fill out my monthly reports for the program.

My family has continued making wine.  My host dad took the van that I never though would run and drove it cross country to buy more grapes.  He returned with four new barrels of grapes that will be added to the giant metal vat.  We cleaned out one of the oak barrels, transferred filled the wine up and replenished the grapes in the big vat.  It seems that wine making is very important to my family because they get really energized when talking about it.  As we worked I played classic 80's jams off my laptop for the fam, which made it a lot more fun.

Heres a mancho my host brother stirring the vat.

This weekend I will be able to get out once again, because there is no school on monday (election day).  A group of friends and I will be going to Batumi again to relive the adventure for round too. 

One week into school

Ok so I know the weeks not over yet, but I have time so I figured that I would post about my first week at school.  Georgian schools have been quite the trip so far.  There appears to be no scheduling or planning for the school year.  Each days schedule is brought out on a handwritten piece of paper in the morning and everyone crowds around to read it.  I have been teaching everything from 1st to 7th grade depending on the day.  So far I have not had more than 3 classes in a day and it rotates what classes I am teaching.

The teachers are nice and spend their free time hanging out between classes in the lounge.  The English teacher that I was supposed to work with teaches the upper grades, so I was paired with a teacher who just graduated from college and has no teaching experience.  That just seemed like the perfect Idea, throw two people who have never taught before in the same classroom and see what will happen.  That lasted for two days, when I was informed that she would be transferring schools.  Typical Georgia to pack up you bags two days in the school year and find another school to go to.  As of right now the original teacher is teaching every class in the school until they find a replacement and I have been helping her when I can. 

Now to the classes.  Most of the students do not have books yet, but I am told that they will get them as their families gather enough money to buy the English text book (8 lari).  Us teachers do have one level 2 teachers book, so at least we have something that we can go from now.  English is a very new subject in the lower grades, so basically everyone is at level 1, but we are supposed to use the respective books for each grade.  That means that we are supposed to use book 5 for 5th grade even though they are clearly not that far yet.  So we have just been winging it and teaching everything from the beginning.  My classes for the most part have been well behaved.  Of all my classes 6th grade is defiantly the worst, with the boys who just want to goof off all class and the girls who just giggle whenever you look or say anything to them.  We will have to keep a tight leash on those kids so they get used to paying attention in class.  All in all it has been a good week, and I have gotten used to just going where I'm told because the schedule gets all messed up.

On another note my package from home finally arrived, so now I have some movies and essential things that I was missing at home. 

This is a pic of my school, Akhuti Public School #1

First day of school

So the last blog was about my activities outside of the village, this one is about the first day of school.  So I got up early shower, shave, quick breakfast and off to school.  After a half hour hike I was at the school by 8:15 (my host family didn't know when it would start but figured it was around 8:30 to 9:00.  It turns out the school day does not start until 9:00 and my first lesson is not until 10:00.  The school then threw another curve ball at me.

The teacher that I was expecting to work with actually does not work with the grades that I am teaching, so I have to work with another teacher.  We had done no training together (didn't attend the intro meeting about lesson planning) and were both not expecting it.  In addition she has never taught a class before, because she just graduated university and they do not do student teaching.  Never less us two 22 year olds found ourselves in front of three classes of students and their parents in the corners.  We teach 3rd grade, 5th grade, and 6th grade.  There were no books avaliable so we had to wing another plan (now were up to no lesson plan and no books).

The classes were small (7 to 15 students) and for the most part well behaved.  My 6th grade class is definitely the most rowdy and we will have to work to reign in all their energy.  Hopefully it will die down as they get into a rhythm and get used to the school year.  They don't stop with the questions about me and are fascinated by everything American.  It was great to be doing something and actually have a job to do in Georgia.  I am looking forward to the school year and how it plays out.