Halfway through Pre Service Training!

-
I have been living in Georgia (საქართველო) for a month and a half now! Time sure flies when you have no free time and so much to see. I don't even know where to start describing my beautiful new home country. Georgia is small but full of diverse climates and wonderful people. I am currently in pre-service training, which means that i have not sworn in as an official PC volunteer yet. I have Kartuli classes, teacher training and Peace Corps workshops to complete before I move to my permanent site. Today marks officially being half way through training!

My home for training is in a village in the Gori (გორი) municipality. I have 5 other english education volunteers in my trainee cluster and another 6 volunteers in the IOD (individual and organizational development) cluster of our village. Every morning i wake up and have tea (ჩაი) before heading off to school. All of my language classes and teaching practicum take place at the Khidistavi (ხიდისთავი) public school. I have a charming Kartuli (ქართლი) teacher named Nino (ნინო). Kartuli is a challenging language. With an alphabet made up of 33 letters, all with a sound equivalent to one or a cluster of Latin letters. There are no capital letters and everything is spelled phonetically, and consistent clusters are far far too common. Last week I had my first language proficiency test, in which I was quizzed over describing myself, my home and family, preferences and my ability to ask and comprehend questions. It has been a wild ride and I am hoping to improve drastically by the swearing in ceremony. Fingers crossed!


Since being in country, I have been fortunate enough to visit the capital Tbilisi (თბილისი) twice, several ancient churches with a long history and rich traditions and the municipality of Dmanisi (დმანისი). An english education volunteer named Jenny was nice enough to host me and another trainee for the weekend to visit her school and get a feel for the job. After meeting more children and the teachers at her school (many of whom generously offered up sons, family friends and nephews as potential husbands) I can say with certainty that I look forward to my next two years of service in this country. Who knows, perhaps I will stay even longer?


On a walk in the Kvemo Kartli region in the Dmanisi municipality
 A spider web covered in dew we found while walking along the river in Dmanisi
 the river in Dmanisi
 Felecia and I saying goodbye to EE PCV Jenny after our job shadowing weekend
 The view from atop Gori Fortress
 One of the Georgian Warrior statues at the base of the Gori Fortress. These were originally placed at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Tbilisi, but were moved to Gori in 2009. They were made by Georgian artist Giorgi Ochiauri (გიორგი ოჩიაური)
 My wonderful host family and friends posing in front of the churches we visited. One is a convent and the other is famous for marriages. Many Georgian couples get married there, including my host parents.



 My cluster mate Mfon-Abasi and I posing with one of our teaching counterparts, Ana, while attending our first supra in Tbilisi with my Host Family (მასპინძელი ოჯახი). The supra (სუპრა) is a long held tradition in Georgia. It is a feast of traditional foods that often lasts hours and has many toasts made by the men at the head of the table. Toasts hold special meaning in Georgian culture. it is not uncommon to have a plethora of toasts at a supra. Normal meals are not exempt from this time honored tradition either.
 more from the Tbilisi Supra
 My host father (head of the table) leading a toast during a supra held at my host families home for Khidistavi day (the village day). this holiday is specific to our village. Many families prepare a large supra meal and guests will wonder in throughout the day and evening to take part and share in the celebrations.

I hope you have enjoyed my first peek into the culture and life of Georgia. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more!

Comments

  1. StaceyMay 29, 2018 at 9:57 AM

    So excited to be the first to comment. Keep up the good work. -Love, Aunt Stacey

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Some Georgian Proverbs

-
ძალა ერთობაშია - dzala ertobashia The national motto of Georgia, this proverb means “there is strength in unity” or “stronger together”. It is common to see this motto on signs, buildings and all around the country. It really illustrated the communal mentality of Georgian culture, with everyone living, working and sharing together. It is a motto that I have adopted for my service to remind myself that no matter what I want to do, I can’t take over everything. I have to work with others because while it might be faster alone, it will be better together. ჩემი ენა ჩემი მტერია - Chemi ena chemi mt’eria This is my favorite Georgian proverb. I use it all the time. It literally translates to “my tongue is my enemy” and it speaks to the power of words. So often we say things that we regret, but we can never take them back. Our tongue has betrayed us like an enemy would. While this has a deeper meaning that really makes me think of the power of my words, I often use it in a more p...
Read more

English with Ms. Reeka: Teaching Abroad

-
  Teaching freelance in a foreign country can sound like quite a luxurious career. Traveling to new places, working with international students, and getting paid to live abroad sounds like the dream for some people. But how to go about getting there? It can be challenging to navigate a new education system in general, but adding a foreign language and culture shock makes it a pretty daunting task.   One teacher who made this plunge into the world of international English education is Erika Copeland, or Ms. Reeka, to her students. Reeka is not a recent transplant to Tbilisi, Georgia. In fact, she's been here for years, working in schools, giving private lessons, and learning the ins and outs of the TEFL hustle here in Georgia. She's done every kind of teaching you can since she started her education career back in 2009. Reeka has made her way around education from teaching abroad in South Korea to every grade school subject to substituting in America. She started her dance team...
Read more

Georgian Cuisine

-
Image
I love food and I LOVE to cook! I also enjoy learning about and preparing food from around the world.   I collect cookbooks from other cultures, so I was thrilled when I received a Georgian cookbook from a member of my daughter’s “Georgian Family”  Rachel is serving in the Peace Corps in the region of Imereti, we visited her in July of 2019. During our time in Georgia, we traveled to several areas and met many people who shared their food with us. Rachel’s “Gori family” were excited to share Georgian culture with us, explaining traditions and gifting us with books- one of which is a cookbook. I, of course, practiced some of the recipes as soon I as come home. We especially like the Shkmeruli which is a creamy garlic chicken. Georgian food heavily features garlic and that is fine with me!   This month Rachel asked if I would prepare a few of the recipes from my book and review them, so I chose Shkmeruli as my first dish.   I love t...
Read more