Monday, February 27, 2012

A is for Apple

I know I haven’t written in a while—it’s because I want everyone to wait in anticipation for my posts.  That’s so not true. It’s just been a bland few weeks and nothing interesting has happened but with that being said,  I will recount some of the more interesting events.

2 weekends ago I was in Tbilisi where I got to meet some new TLGers who seem like decent human beings—of course I’m comparing them to the gargoyles I’m typically around.  But that meeting was short lived as I once again ended up at Ethnic Bar stone cold sober and realizing that I have really outgrown the whole drinking for no reason thing. There was tension in the air from the second I got there which just made me edgy the whole night. Every 30 minutes there would be some kind of Foreigner  vs. Georgian argument.  Whether it was about beer pong, racial slurs, or “peacocking” there was reason for me to be there. Not to say that I stand for any discrimination put forth by either group but it’s the level of immaturity that I do not want to be a part of. I made a consciousness effort this weekend to not be involved in anything of that sort.  I hate complaining about the same things over and over so I figure it’s up to me and only me to be the maker of my own happiness and sanity.  

Speaking of SANITY—I witnessed a lunatic in a restaurant.  After we left Ethnic Bar, we went to a 24 hour restaurant nearby called Khinkali house aka Denny’s according to Duncan and I.  When we got there the place was more or less deserted.  By the time we were finished around 4:30 the place was PACKED.  I noticed a couple come in maybe in their mid-30s but then again you never know in Georgia as people do not age well. They could have been 20 for all I know.  So, they come in, sit down and all of a sudden the man slams his fists on the table and starts screaming in Georgian.   I was like, oh no, a lovers quarrel.  In the meantime, the man in the table next to us comes over and starts talking IN ROMANIAN about how he wishes us success and health in life.  Long story short, gypsies are everywhere.  We ask for the bill and are in the process of paying when shit hit the fan.  The table slamming Georgian man now gets up and starts screaming at the top of his lungs.  You could have heard a pin-drop.  He then goes into the middle of the restaurant—center stage—and continues screaming AT EVERYONE.  This is one of the only times I wish I understood this language.  I had ZERO clue what on earth he was saying or what he was soooo upset about.  So after a good long minute of this crazy screaming, a man from one of the other tables gets up and says “Ra ginda bitcho?!” – "What do you want boy?!".  THANK GOD I UNDERSTOOD THAT MUCH!  They then get into each other’s face and continue the screaming.  Then a man from another table gets up and enters the lion’s den.  All of a sudden, the police are there and the crazy dude is being DRAGGED down the stairs… then up another set of stairs.  Good times at 5 in the morning! 

There have been 4 birthdays in the past 2 weeks which makes me believe that love is in the air in spring FOR SURE.  February 11th and 12th were Murman and Natia’s birthdays—my awesome host brother and sister-in-law who both turned 24.  We ended up going to a restaurant on the Sunday to celebrate and stayed until 1 in the morning Georgian dancing and supra-ing.  It was a really great time minus the fact that I had school the next day.  They even asked the DJ to play Celine Dion and dedicated it to me.  I am so blessed to have such a wonderful host family that I mesh with so well.  My host mom’s birthday was this past Thursday—she has been having a rough couple of weeks due to some drama so I made sure to let her know how much I love and appreciate all she does via a letter I wrote IN Georgian.  It took me forever but she really enjoyed it.

Duncan turned 27 on Wednesday and we celebrated his birth by finding a cute new restaurant on Marjanishvili – NO MORE RUSTAVELI FOR US! We had some food and wine and talked about science and god.  Afterward we went to Chardin and got some shisha at my personal favourite hooka bar in all of Tbilisi.  The place with the stick man tattoo waiter.  He totally recognized me even though I haven’t been there in November.  I told you guys he loved me.  It was a shame Duncan had school the next day and there were wasn’t anything dance-y happening otherwise we would have tore up a rug somewhere. So far it’s been one of my favourite nights here back in Georgia. 


(cinnamon swirling)

The weather is getting nicer.   It was mild this weekend so I got to do a little bit of walking around alone which made me very giddy and smiley. Today I officially felt like a teacher.  I don’t even know how to explain what I mean when I say that.  You never really think about how you are perceived by others—I mean I don’t think about it.  But the more I do this and the more they call me “mas” the more the title of teacher is cemented in my own mind. A few weeks back I was teaching the days of the week to a grade 2 class and halfway through teaching one of my many songs, I look over and I see this super cute kid named Lasha (one of my all-time favourite names) just coloring away not giving a damn about anything going on around him.  I figure that I just let him continue as I’d much rather kids do their own thing, in their own little worlds then be disruptive.  After class he comes over to me and gives me what he was coloring—a smiley blue cloud!  And here I was thinking he was wasting time; he was totally working on a present for me.  Today, in the same class, I come in, set my bag down and we start working on our reading.  This grade 2 class really is such a pleasure to be a part of.   They are such amazing kids—Nika (aka you are my sunshine) is in this class too—they are all such little miracles.  I think I am too emotional at times but it is surreal knowing they can read when a few months back they didn’t even know the alphabet.  So Lasha comes up to my desk and hands me an apple.  My first apple.  What a feeling that was.  It was one of the first REAL times it occurred to me.  I really hope I never forget that moment. These kids see me as a teacher and not as Herta.  

At the end of training week in September, there was a panel of other TLGers that came into the hotel and talk to us about their experiences in Georgia. We got to ask them questions and they candidly answered them.  I honestly hated my panel, they were so negative and cynical.  From the second I realized that this type of panel existed, I wanted to be a part of it no matter what.  I wanted to give people the positivity that I never got. I mean, it always good to prepare people for what is coming their way but at the same time, that week long training is filled with so many unknowns and is such an emotional roller coaster that all you really want to know is that yes, although you will face some hardships, you will be fine as long as you have a super positive attitude. So I totally got to be on a panel last weekend!!  I was so happy when Tamara, the orientation organizer, called me and asked if I was interesting in doing it.  The energy in that room felt exactly like it did when I was in their shoes.  All the new people had the same concerns we did back in September-- fear about host families, safety, hygiene and school relations.  It was really nice meeting people with a fresh outlook to this experience.  I think I needed to experience that panel, those questions and that energy to remind me "where I came from" and how much I have grown since I was in their shoes. 

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Aloysius (and sanity) Out


I really find I have ZERO purpose in Georgia when I am not in school.  This past week we had a 3 day snow day that was effective throughout the whole country—so it would be exciting to have a 5 day weekend except for the fact that its cold and there is nothing really to do if I leave my host family other then sit around at someone else’s place trying to stay warm. 

Wednesday night I headed into Tbilisi to visit Duncan at his apartment.  The whole night was ok at best—we ended up going to a bar filled with a bunch of question marks.  From the white Estonian in one corner to the wannabe Georgian Rastas in the other it really wasn’t my scene.  We decided to leave his roommates there and made our way back to the apartment to realize that they had “couch surfers” over and we would have to share a bed the size of a matchbox (no seriously, it wasn't even a big enough for him without me in it) together instead of me sleeping on the couch as per usual. That was legit one of the worst sleeps I’ve had in a very long time. The room had ZERO insulation and more than enough loud snoring to last me a lifetime.  Long story short—never again. I’d much rather sit and die in Rustavi until the weather warms up then gallivant around in this “everywhere cold” country.

(This is what I actually look like right now)

I got to talk to Albart for 3 hours on Skype—that definitely made my Saturday night in awesome! I have never been home on a Saturday night in Georgia before.  I was debating a bath before the impromptu Skype date but I figure I take one tomorrow at some point and  maybe straighten my hair for the coming week, I don’t know.  With all this free time I could maybe count how many hairs on my head there actually are. I’ve been home pretty much ever since Friday morning sitting on my bed just wasting time. I cleaned my closet, my room, did pretty much all my laundry except for what I have ON me, watched a movie and uploaded some old pictures I found on an old hard drive during the break on Facebook. I also (out of sheer boredom) found that if I scrape my house slippers along the carpet really hard over and over, I can clean it and get all the matted hair off of it much better than the vacuum cleaner.  So my area rug has NEVER been/looked cleaner than it does right now!  I had finished all my little self-imposed school projects before this whole lame “snow storm” thing hit so now I’m just playing the waiting game for Monday to roll around so I can be happy again.



Tuesday, February 7, 2012

"I didn't come here to play cards!"


The weekend was good.  On Friday night I stayed local with a fellow group 24er Nikhil and showed him around Rustavi a little. A very little seeing as it is freezing outside.  Saturday I went into Tbilisi to check out Duncan’s new apartment and got to officially meet his roommates.  I got to meet some new people from TLG —most of whom aren’t worth mentioning except for the only other SANE Canadian I have meet here named Kiyoshi from Vancouver! Nothing too interesting happened except for a game of Kings that resulted in a lap dance I am still trying to forget *UPDATE: a lap dance that I received*. Duncan decided to fall asleep at midnight thus leaving me to rot and die as I went out with the rest of the gang to a "club" named Art Galleria. “This place is the suckiest, suck that ever sucked.” Sunday consisted of a nice Tbilisi family breakfast and talking to loved ones via Skype.
("sideways E, little b with a visor, backwards N")

So I thought I would be smart and take advantage of my free health insurance and get an eye examine here in Georgia.  I figured why the heck not get a free eye exam and possibly free stylish glasses so I decided to call up my insurance provider and see what I had to do to get this big ol’ ball of free rolling.  She ends up making a doctor’s appointment for me the same day I called which I thought was a wonderful idea until it was time for me to leave and I wanted to do everything in my power to reschedule.  But instead I got dressed and figured I would be back in an hour tops.  I got the address to the Rustavi hospital and headed over via taxi.  So I get there and I realize I really should have stayed home.  That hospital was made of childhood nightmares but at least no one was smoking.  AT LEAST. After about 15 minutes of completely useless wondering I call the rep and say I am in the lobby.  She then informs me that the doctor will be right down to get me.  10 minutes pass and still nothing.  The rep calls me and asks where I am—since I have ZERO clue where I am—I pass the phone to a “hospital” personal and it turns out I am not only in the wrong hospital, but also the wrong part of the city.

With that, I leave the hospital, find a taxi, get in it and make the driver talk to the rep, who then tells me to take the number 15 marshutka and it will take me where I need to go.  So I start walking, and walking, and walking and realize I have ZERO clue where I am.  During the walk, all I could think about was A. why did I decide to wear a leather jacket and vest and not my winter jacket B. why didn’t I just stay home C. where the devil am i? and D. why am I so damn cheap?! So I finally figure out where I am, hop on a marsh and get myself to the medical building.  I call the rep and tell her I have arrived. *sigh* Another 15 minutes of waiting results with the phone ringing in the lobby, the building personal picking it up, looking at me, saying something in Georgian and then gesturing for me to talk to the person on the phone.  I legit felt like I was in one of those “go to this location, wait for the phone to ring in the phone booth and I will tell you the rest of the instructions then” movies.  It was the doctor I was supposed to meet—she was again NOT in the building I was in but at least I was getting closer.

So I march myself up a steep hill and finally find the Rustavi Clinic. *cue heavenly choir* I go in and I tell them I want an eye exam—they then keep asking me what is wrong with my eyes. I tell them I don’t know but one seems to be weaker than the other one.  I then get an “exam”, am told there is nothing wrong with my eyes but I should rest them if I am tired. Did you hear that everyone?! A doctor told me to sleep if I want!! Long story short, this whole DEB-acle resulted in me getting prescribed eye drops.  Totally worth the hypothermia and searching for the clinic of Narnia.