Hurry up spring!

Beautiful March weather, as enjoyed from through the window in Akhalkalaki

We spent the weekend away from site, traveling to milder climes. Spring is already upon most of Georgia, where the snow is melting and giving way to little green shoots. Akhalkalaki has certainly also seen some milder weather than in the past, and has had noticeably more sunshine of late. The cold winds keep blowing, though, and periodic snowstorms keep us on our toes (and bundled in our long underwear and sleeping bags).

We're starting to melt our way out of winter

But despite these relapses into winter, we are marching steadily (if slowly) towards spring. Our snowbanks are melting as well. They might not be yielding green shoots just yet, but we've got a healthy lot of mud everywhere, which should be just the perfect environment for green leaves to shoot through eventually. It takes a long time to thaw here, too, because the ice and snow builds up pretty incredibly over the 6-month winter.

The ice build up under the bridge is beautiful and terrifying

The morning run might still be windier and colder and less pleasant than we'd like, but we're getting there. The worst of our final Peace Corps winter is behind us and we're looking forward to some nicer spring days to help us make it through to the end.

Best possible presents for the preschool set?

Are these the best possible presents you could ever possible get for the preschool set (especially in a country where choking hazards and lower-age restrictions on toys aren't necessarily heeded)? Yup, probably.

In our last, crazed moments of America, sandwiched between a 6am flight from Philadelphia to Chicago and a 9pm flight from Chicago back to Tbilisi, Sam and I stopped in at a Target. Giving in to the culture-shock overload that being in a Target can induce, we stared, wide-eyed at the row upon row of beautifully arranged, colorful doodads and gadgets, the unnecessary junk and the much-missed, how-do-we-live-without-these-products goodness. But we were on a mission, so we clutched our Starbucks cups and marched back and forth in search of the things we could afford to buy to bring back for the little kiddos in our Akhalkalaki host family.

And what did we find? Why, jumbo punching balloons and a frog mask and butterfly boppers, of course. Of. Course. Crazy, the things you can find and buy so easily in America. Crazier how novel some of them are here, and how loved they are.

See?

That's love.

So another birthday, huh?

My custom-made birthday bracelets, courtesy of Shaen

I went and celebrated another full whirl around the sun here in the time since our last blog post. Not just another birthday, though... this was one where I got to change a front digit! It's probably true that until the recent past, I never, ever would have thought that I'd celebrate my 30th birthday in a place called Akhalkalaki, but I'm sure glad I did.

Since my birthday came only two working days after making our way back to site from our trip to America and week-long COS conference and travels in and around Tbilisi, I was still warm from the memory of visiting with family, taking lots of showers, eating salad and blueberries, and drinking lots of delicious coffee. That warm glow helped (or at least in my fogged memory of something that happened 2 weeks ago) me stay warm as I went to school and work. Also, all of my coworkers were still all excited and happy to see me again, and were all going out of their ways to talk to me and ask me about my time away from school.

Host sister Lilit got all gussied up for the party and wanted her picture taken

Host cousin Narek didn't get dressed up, but still wanted a picture

Our trip to America inspired some incorrect rumors, stemming from a misunderstanding of the American system of higher education, that Sam had successfully defended his dissertation and been offered a spot as a top professor in a university in either Chicago or Philadelphia. This led to me receiving lots of congratulations, which I at first accepted graciously, thinking they were just happy Sam got admitted to PhD programs or that they were maybe trying to wish me a happy birthday (who told?!?). Happily, though, only 2 people at school seemed to know that it was my birthday and give me long happy-birthday wishes, kissing me on the cheeks. But seeing this display just encouraged others to ask "why are they congratulating her?", which led to more spreading of the Sam's-a-new-professor rumor.

In the end, my Tuesday birthday, happily coinciding with my one-class-during-6th-period-only day at school, saw me stay at school about an hour longer than usual, giving a really, really boring lecture on the differences between the American and European systems of higher education, then going into detail on what Archaeology is (yes, I can say "digging in the dirt" in Russian), and explaining rather convincingly why in God's name someone would spend 10 years studying something after already going to college and getting a Master's degree.

If only I had bought the Sam keychain at the Field museum! I could have explained it all so much better!

Coming home from school was a nice reprieve (for whom, for me or for my poor fellow teachers, who were just subjected to my long-winded lecture?). It was made nicer by the smell of baked goods being baked. Our host mom was in the process of making a delicious cake! Happy day! Then Sam greeted me with "well, I wanted to make you a surprise for your birthday, but now the kitchen is busy and I'm not sure if I'll have time, but at least if I don't we'll have 8 bags of M&Ms."

In the end, Sam made it into the kitchen that night and made a really great batch of M&M cookies (which were a big hit with our host siblings) and we still had 4 bags of M&Ms left over to eat in coming days. After dinner we had Armine's cake, Sam's cookies, and a huge, beautiful birthday cake (baked confection #3 for my 30th!), courtesy of Shushan, our host grandmother's sister (and Marianna's mother).

Beautiful and delicious

And as we settled into our sugar comas around the table that evening, the kids provided us with a dance party entitled "We all really know how to break dance." Enjoy the videos!

Being There

We've logged a lot of miles in the past few weeks. In mid-February, I got word that I had been accepted to PhD programs at the University of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania and invited to visit the departments—at the end of February. A few frenzied phone calls and Kayak searches later, we figured out a a way to make it work. And so we were unexpectedly off to Chicago and Philadelphia for the week.

To me, international travel always carries with it something of the surreal, the more so when a trip comes, as this one did, with little time to plan or prepare. But the chance to see the universities (neither of which I had visited before) and our families (after nearly a year) made it a great trip. Also, Girl Scout cookies.

I got a really good impression of both schools and had a warm welcome at both departments, which doesn't make a difficult decision any easier, but we're planning to have that decision made by the beginning of next week, and the next big step in our lives mapped out.

After only a week in the States, we had to hurry back for our Close of Service conference in Tbilisi. It's hard to believe, but we're less than 4 months out from the official end of our Peace Corps service, and the conference is where we start thinking about all the logistics of leaving—plane tickets and health insurance, saying goodbye and finding jobs, filling out all our paperwork and returning to an America in which everyone has a smartphone.

Peace Corps Georgia, in keeping with its amazing ability to make things nice for us, managed to snag space at the Holiday Inn, one of the nicest hotels in Tbilisi. There are worse ways to transition into Georgia from America than three days in a hotel with waterfall showers, king-sized beds, and Internet-equipped treadmills from the future. And having all the volunteers together, for maybe the last time, was a reminder of how lucky we've been not only to have this experience in Georgia, but to have it with some remarkable people.

Peace Corps Georgia 2010-2012

All this time spent thinking about the future can make it hard to live in the present. Especially for someone like me, whose mind is often drifting six months in the future, a hundred miles away, or 200 million years in the past: the Time of the Dinosaurs!


Peace Corps volunteers, like everyone else, find themselves wishing away time, counting down the hours, shutting out the world around, trying to forget where we are. And this is a good thing; at times, a necessary thing. Everyone needs a recharge and an escape. But in these last few months I want to try to be as present as I can, taking my cue from Montaigne on the value of “living to purpose.” It's hard, dodging angry dogs on the ice-walk home from school, head splitting from trying to yell over the yelling of the kids, to think to store up memories to treasure. I doubt I'll be sitting in my rocker at the Old Folks' Home thinking about how much I miss careering down mountains in a hot minibus too full of people and potatoes, knees to my chest and someone's elbow in my ribs.

But we are here, and it's our life, for now. And it's a remarkable and a blessed life. That being the case, it would be a terrible shame not to live it. We will miss the places, and the experiences, and the people most of all. We still have lots to learn about this country, about our villages and towns, about the people we meet and their own stories. We still have lots of work to do. My aim for the next three or four months will be to try diligently to stay aware of that, of where I am and what I am doing, and what the possibilities are.

After the Close of Service conference, we and some other volunteers headed to the Monastery of David Gareja on the border with Azerbaijan. It is a cave monastery complex established by one of the missionary Syrian Fathers, but quite different in its setting and set-up from the cave monastery of Vardzia. I especially like the caves built into the big slanted rock face.





We walked around the complex and up into the sometimes muddy and icy hills behind, but failed to find the path to the monastery of Udabno, where some 12th-century frescoes are still to be found. But the view from the hilltop was something.

Behind Davit Gareja

That evening, we went to Sighnaghi, an extensively redeveloped town in Kakheti, famous for its wine and a hub for tourists in the summer and fall. It was quiet when we were there, but luckily the Mexican restaurant (possibly the only one in Georgia at the moment) was open. We walked around the town as the sun set, and saw the fires in the fields below as the farmers got ready for the planting season.

Fires in the valley

Sighnaghi has drawn some criticism for having been overly remodeled, but I was really pleased with the look and feel of the town. I don't know what the social effects for the people living there have been, but, as a tourist, you didn't get the feeling of walking through Disneyland, but of being in an old Georgian town, well kept and well cared-for.



The next day, we set off for Bodbe Convent, where St. Nino, one of Georgia's most revered saints, lies. We managed, as usual, to take the long way there, thanks to a sign turned just the wrong way, Wile E. Coyote style. Eventually, after making our way down a mountain on a dirt road, a couple of miles beyond where the convent should have been, we debated turning back. But the memory of missing the frescoes at Davit Gareja was still fresh, and so we pressed on, and at last we came across: A Clue!

A clue!

Using our detective and archaeology skills, we managed to piece the sign together and found our way to St. Nino's Spring (where, thanks to some miscommunication with the nuns, we were almost baptised), and then up to the monastery, where we were able to kneel at last to touch the grave of St. Nino.

Church where St. Nino of Cappadocia is buried

Another lesson from the week: you may not always get there, but sometimes, even if you take the long way around, you do.

Library Project

I wrote in December about a project at the Akhalkalaki Library. We wrote a Small Project Assistance (SPA) grant proposal for just under $2000 to purchase materials for the library, all with the purpose of making it a more community-focused center for interactive programs. We were able to make almost all of our purchases in January and get things physically set up in the library through January. But the real meat of the project, the trainings and preparations and planning to actually create a programming series at the library, is currently underway.

A warm-up "ice breaker" at our first training

On two Saturdays in February, I was able to hold two training sessions for the library's 13 employees (all women, mostly in their 40s or older). Although we had discussed the idea of having a calendar of events for Akhalkalaki residents, the library staff was still having a difficult time thinking about interactive programs in any realistic way. It seemed like an overwhelming amount of work required of them, and like maybe it would still be impractical. I did my best to win over the nonbelievers and get folks pumped up for the idea, and I think we're on the right track.

Brainstorming!

Our first training session was just focused on interactive library programs: what are they, why are they a good thing, how can we do this here, and what do we need to do to realize this goal. We started off a little quiet and it was a little tough getting people to give their ideas and ask questions right at first. Then, something just clicked and everyone was giving ideas and getting really into the brainstorming session. Women suggested starting a read-aloud program, having an English club or discussion group, getting people together for poetry readings or to celebrate holidays or special occasions. I had made a list of about 15 different types of programs we could consider, to use as reference if the brainstorming session fell flat. Not only did the library staff come up with all of my examples (which I pretty near exhausted myself in coming up with), they thought up an additional list of programs. The initial excitement after the first training session felt really, really great.

Training One

The second training session, last Saturday, had me more nervous than the first. How do I keep their enthusiasm up as we start digging into the nuts and bolts? How do I keep them hooked on this idea when the work starts?

I had a slightly smaller turnout for my second training, but most of the participants from training one came back for the second. The big controversy at the beginning was over the idea of finding volunteers to help organize and lead programs in Akhalkalaki. No one, they said, will do this for free. Why would someone volunteer, teach a class, read a book aloud, without getting paid? What's in it for them?

Going over the calendar

I knew this question would be one of the biggest hurdles, but if I could convince the library staff that it could work, I also knew that they could go out and convince their friends and family and neighbors to come in and volunteer. We talked about volunteerism, about the benefits of it, and mostly, about how we can find people who love something (say, poetry, or movies, or English) and ask them to share that love with others for just an hour a month. Slowly, even the biggest naysayers in the group started coming up with ideas for finding volunteers in Akhalkalaki to help lead different interactive programs.

All in all, these first two training sessions have been like a dream. The library staff remain excited, energized, and invested in the project. I've assigned minor "homework" assignments for them at each training, and I hope that the homework from session two gets done, as it will give us a great start towards designing our April events calendar and volunteer database. We'll have one more training, focused on bringing the programming to fruition, implementing the volunteer database and program calendar, and then advertising programs. My biggest concern now is that the enthusiasm stays up while I'm away.

It could turn out to be fortuitous to have this two-week break from site; at my most optimistic, I think about how this time will give the library staff an opportunity to really work on building this project on their own, without my controlling the strings. At my most pessimistic, I see all of the progress from our first two training sessions going down the drain and needing to be repeated when I get back, or worse, the project losing steam altogether in my absence.

Whatever the result, there's not much I can do about it right now. So I'll go and gladly enjoy my whirlwind tour of Chicago and Philadelphia, and then our Close of Service Conference in Tbilisi. Then it'll be back to Akhalkalaki, back to work, and, hopefully, not back to square one. (And one more plug: if you want to donate any materials to the library, we'd still be super excited to receive them, and extremely grateful. Check out this older post for more details, or send me an email if you have questions!)

How is it possible that the ToT is already done?

The Training of Trainers. It was one of my big mile markers in the march to the end of our Peace Corps service. All winter break I worked on preparing PowerPoint presentations, tweaking the conference agenda, and sending ridiculous numbers of emails back and forth with other Life Skills Committee members in preparation. The 2012 Healthy Lifestyles and HIV/AIDS Education Training of Trainers was scheduled for February 2-3 and sat, marked on my calendar, as a far-off, distant to-do, a big project that needed lots of work and was one of my first big time-markers leading to close of service. These signposts went: January 8, putting me 6 months out from COS; the ToT (as we call it, since the official name is too much of a mouthful to say more than once), right around the 5-month mark; the Close of Service (COS) conference March 5-6, almost right on the 4-to-go; April's spring break that comes around Easter; May's various Georgian and Soviet holiday celebrations that get us out of school; June 15 that heralds the actual end of school; and BOOM, end of service in July.

January 8th came and went more quickly (and coupled with the consumption of more pieces of cake and other calorie-laden fare) than I could have imagined. At least the ToT, my February signpost, was still a long way off.

Until, suddenly, it wasn't any more. It was happening, ready or not.

Fortunately, the amazingly talented and wonderful people that work on the Life Skills Committee with me put in hugely long hours and had everything completely ready to go. We worked and reworked our presentations, gave each other feedback, edited and revised, and were ready for whatever the ToT would throw at us. And throw it did.

Materials for the ToT

Our conference was held in Bazaleti, Georgia, about 45 minutes north of Tbilisi. All the conference participants and Life Skills committee members were staying at the conference center and our Peace Corps staff members and guest speakers and translators were staying in Tbilisi, to drive up each morning for the start of the conference. Or so, in theory, we thought. Wicked wind kept me up most of the night before our opening day, banging metal roofing pieces back and forth and making me think that maybe someone had a whole lot of New Year's fireworks leftover and was passing time by exploding them all right outside my window. The 6 inches of snow that had so pleasantly and beautifully covered the grounds of the conference facility the day before turned into an odd landscape of bare earth and huge drifts by morning. The road from Tbilisi to Bazaleti wasn't spared the drifting. We got our first call during breakfast, letting us know that our PC staff and translators were a little delayed due to drifting on the roads. We decided to aim for a 30-minute start delay for the ToT to give them time to get in.

Beautiful, fickle snow

Looks like people were paying attention, right?

Then the car brining our staff members up got stuck. In a giant snow drift. In a village about halfway between Tbilisi and Bazaleti. Oh, and the doctor who was going to present a session on HIV/AIDS as our expert guest speaker? Canceled. She couldn't get out of Tbilisi due to the snow. Yikes.

Peace Corps Staff, making their way to Bazaleti from Tbilisi

While we were really concerned about how our staff members and translators were faring, stuck in a snowdrift in no-man's-land, we also had 36 PCVs and their counterparts ready and raring to start. So we did the best we could with what was available, thanked our lucky stars for our over-prepared session plans and PowerPoint presentations (which were translated into side-by-side English-Georgian), and imposed upon one of the counterparts to do live translation as we presented. McKinze kicked off our welcome and introduction session and I transformed into our HIV/AIDS "expert" presenter. We were a little nervous at first, but then our preparation work paid off and we fell into our grooves. Connie, Jason, and Jana did presentations all about the Life Skills Program, Stigma and Discrimination and the Health Education Lecture Series DVD and Companion Guide. Everyone did an awesome job presenting and by mid-afternoon, when our PC staff and translators were finally freed from the snowbank and made their arrival, we looked like old pros. They all joked that really they hadn't needed to make such an effort to get there after all.

Presenting...

Day two of the conference was a more technical day, all about behavior change communication and designing projects based on the principals of this theory, but our participants were great. They took everything in stride and were active and engaged throughout. They all seemed to come away with really excited counterparts, great ideas about starting up a health project at their sites, and a lot more understanding of what kinds of projects have been done previously by PCVs in Georgia and what kinds of resources are available to help make these projects more effective and easier to implement. McKinze and I did most of the day two presentations, and by the close of the conference, I was about as close to a vegetable as I've been in the nearly two years I've been here.

The Life Skills Committee of PC Georgia, celebrating the close of a successful ToT

Now, looking back on the way things went, I'm immensely proud of the way our committee handled things. I think we presented a very professional training that gave lots of helpful information and made implementing health projects in Georgia seem both doable and fun. I'm excited to track how ToT participants move forward with their project ideas and hopeful that they learned something useful during the training. Most of all, I'm glad for a (slight) reprieve in the flurry of activity. Not too much time off, though... I've got other projects to tackle and the clock is ticking!

Winter

It's been quite a while since our last post. January has come and gone, along with another New Year's celebration. As usual, tables and stomachs groaned under the weight of the dolma, blinchiki, cakes, cookies, fruits, and roast piglet.

Shaen got to play Santa Claus this year, throwing his little cousin and sister into paroxysms of joy. Lilit quickly learned the true meaning of New Year and promptly put all of her presents into a bag which she carried and around and wouldn't let anyone touch.

After the fireworks, the toasts, the visits, and the tripe soup to wrap up the season, we still had a little time to recover before the start of our last semester as teachers in Georgia. We took a trip to Tbilisi to run some errands -- I had volunteered to look over applications for Georgian students looking to study abroad in America, and Melissa was beginning to assemble materials for her library project -- but otherwise we took advantage of a little quiet before the storm.

Tbilisi Decorations

Then it was back to school, with lots of hopes for the spring. Melissa's library project is off to a great start -- thanks to everyone who has donated books, CDs, or DVDs! The two of us are agreed that whatever Georgia's charms, it's going to be nice to be back in the land of Office Depot and Staples the next time we need to buy supplies in bulk. But the Language Resource Room Melissa is working with the library to develop is off to a good start, and staff trainings begin Saturday!

Almost immediately after starting school, on a snowy Wednesday morning, Melissa headed to Bazaleti to help conduct the Healthy Lifestyles "Training of Trainers" conference, which brings volunteers and their counterparts to discuss ways to implement projects and share information on health and well-being with people in their communities. The conference was a big success, and even more impressive because, with staff, guests, and translators stranded in the snow for the first morning, Melissa and the Healthy Lifestyles Committee managed to run the whole show by themselves.

Afterward, we met in Kortaneti for the first weekend in February, and, as usual, it was a really nice, really relaxing time.

Kortaneti

We came back this week and headed to school, only to have a pleasant surprise waiting for us today: thanks to the snow and the cold, schools across Georgia have been cancelled through Monday! And here I thought we just didn't get snow days.

So it'll be a lot of hot tea and good books for the next couple days, and, come Monday, we'll be just about halfway through February! Hard to believe, but we'll be finishing up before too long. Stay warm, everyone!