Hey everybody (or to those who still even check this thing.)

I have decided to switch over and "re-start" my blog on another website, just because it's easier for me, more options for posting cool stuff, and just b/c it's straight up better than livejournal.

The new address is: georgianjohnny.blogspot.com/

Alright! Let's try this again!

It seems that recently Georgia keeps popping up in the news. Whether for good or bad it's funny how small a country can constantly gain international attention. Here's some highlights:

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8559099.stm - The oldest woman in the world is from Georgia. Apparently she is 130 years old and still plays backgammon and drinks cha cha.

news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Georgian-Olympian-Nodar-Kumaritashvili/ss/events/sp/021210olylugecrash#photoViewer=/100301/photos_ca_afp/f0a5872766dfebc9871abd909ff60922 - We have all heard of the Olympian Nodar Kumaritashvili. His death I'm sure was not only televised heavily back in the states but especially here in Georgia, where he was mourned throughout the country.

drzhk.instablogs.com/entry/mr-gay-talent-europe/ - Mr. Gay "Russia" (who is actually a Georgian refugee living in Moscow) won the Number 1 Talent contest for Mr. Gay Europe 2009. Georgia, being a very homophobic country and declaring that no gays live here, its interesting to see people's reaction when you ask them about David Baramija.

www.titanicawards.com/2009/06/10/matt-grosss-world-worsts/ - Check out this list of the world's worst, written by a columnist for the New York Times. Pay close attention to the world's worst drivers and toilets.

www.youtube.com/watch - As stated in my previous post, Hollywood has chosen to film a big budget movie here in Georgia based on the 2008 August war, where Andy Garcia will be playing the role of Georgian President Saakashvili.

Last week all the volunteers gathered together for another IST (In-service training). During that time we were fortunate enough for the Georgian Minister of Education come and speak with us about a brand new program that will start in Georgia today. They are looking for English native speakers (from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Ireland) to come and teach in Georgia for a year and are basing a lot of their ideas and operations on what the Peace Corps has done for Georgia since its inception in 2001. It seems like a great opportunity for people who are having a tough time looking for jobs back home and hopefully through my experiences you can see how cool this country is.

Here's the actual article itself:

mes.gov.ge/content.php

And this is the program's website "Teach and Learn with Georgia"

www.tlg.gov.ge/

Disclaimer: Don't read further unless you want to be extremely jealous...especially if you're another volunteer in Georgia.

During the month of January I was lucky/fortunate enough to come back to Florida for 3 weeks to get some much needed R & R. The main purpose of returning was to be a part of the wedding party for one of my best friends but then the thought of being back in the states for an extended period of time lead to some other ideas.

So as I land back in West Palm, my really good friend Joey who did Peace Corps in Nicaragua and the coolest, smartest, loveliest, sweetest, most talented, best looking, best dressed (is that good enough? ;) ) girl in the whole world...my girlfriend, Shannon came to pick me up at the airport. This was the first time I got to see Joey in 2 years, and Shannon in 8 months...so...best welcome home I could ask for. We drove to the store to get some ICEE's...mmm frozen treats, I forgot they existed...and then to a local dive bar to have a couple of beers. All the while I'm just overwhelmed by the amount of cars, lights, paved roads, and people that speak a language that I could understand. Mind bottling. (Yes, I got a little TOO used to Georgian life.)

So the next few days were spent in Fort Lauderdale with Shannon's family, where we had incredible meals that were anything but the normal borsch, potatoes, pig hoof, and vodka. Me and Stokes were able to go to her church, and then later in the evening see the movie Avatar in 3D in the IMAX. And if you haven't seen that movie yet. Stop reading this. Go here www.imax.com/ and buy a ticket. Go...NOW! I'm a huge movie cynic...but this movie blew me away. My mouth was dry at the end because my jaw just wouldn't shut. We both agreed we could see a second viewing right after the credits rolled.

My parents came down from Tallahassee and stayed at the Stokes household as well, so it was so incredibly nice to get everyone together. Mom and Pops took me out for lunch at the Bass Pro Shop and had some delicious fish tacos and then we went to the beach for some drinks. It was so good to spend some quality time with them...especially face to face and not through a Skype screen. Shannon found out that Disney was doing a program called "Give a Day, Get a Free Disney Day". If you're a Florida resident, you can sign up to volunteer at various organizations for the day, then Disney will later send you a coupon for a free day at one of their parks. So...being in the volunteer mindset we joined. We ended up working at a place called the "Caring Kitchen", in Delray, where they serve food to the local community and less fortunate. Me and Stokes were the dishwashers, and apparently good ones, because we were the only ones to get a standing ovation at the end. Plus they gave us a free meal (Roast veal, with potatoes, beans, and cake......Hrm, I need to go to these Soup Kitchens more often.) Afterwards, we headed into Orlando to stay with my buddy Erick whom I haven't seen in over 2 years either. Snagged some great cuban food and watched Inglorious Basterds.

The next day Shannon and I went to the Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom theme parks. Word of advice...never go to Disney during the summer. You have to go in mid-January. That's an order. The parks were completely empty. For example, we went on the Mount Everest ride in Animal Kingdom which is the most popular rollercoaster there...Im assuming the normal wait would be around 45 minutes to an hour and half. We got to go on it thrice! in 20 minutes. Ridiculous.

So, after some hardcore park rides, picture cameos with Baloo, and watching the fireworks at night burst over Cinderella's castle, we head over to the wedding party's hotel. Before calling it a night, my best friends Dan and Jasmine came down to Orlando and met us in our hotel room to catch up. The next day was spent gorging on Taco Bell, playing Pirate themed minigolf, and seeing all my other friends who came down to visit. We ended up all going out that night, playing beer pong in the hotel room, and almost getting in barfights at local Irish pubs. Welcome back to America eh?

The wedding itself was gorgeous, Great sermon, and two of the craziest families joined together to make for a complete riot at the reception. Hilarious dancing and margarita consumption ensued. Congrats Andy and Julie!!!

The next day, Stokes and I rushed over to Tampa to hop on a Royal Carribbean cruise that would spend the next week in Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico. We stayed at her good friend's apartment the night before and saw The Book of Eli**, drank the best chocolate milkshakes**, and ate top of the line sushi**.

**(All on her bill...thanks baby, you're the best suga' mamma ever. MUUUAH!)

To avoid angry and hate filled messages from my PC friends I'll keep the cruise recap short: Perfect, hot and sunny weather, All you can eat buffets, hot tubs, islandy drinks, shuffleboard, hot showers, casinos, and dress up fancy dinners at night. And yes, I used the adjective 'hot' 3 times. It's hard to type that as my fingers are practically freezing to my keyboard right now. Oh well...one day I'll have you again. One day.

Funny side story: in Cozumel, we ate at Senor Frogs for lunch to get some drinks and tortillas when the MC asked us to be in a drinking contest. Well, we get up on stage and he asks us whether were brother and sister or bf and gf or etc...and for some reason I just blurt out "We're honeymooners!" So, the crowd decides to cheer the "honeymooners" on while we were racing to chug our Frozen Strawberry daquiris against our competition. Well, if the Republic of Georgia has taught me anything, it would be the art form of chugging...so naturally I'm the first one to finish, with one of the worst brain freezes of the century. We get an applause and the MC announces that the prize for the winning newlyweds was a shot of tequila. Whew boy... Then out of no where, a drunk guy comes up to us and offers his burrito, which was untouched and enormous, and wishes us a great time on our honeymoon. Granted, I felt bad for tricking everybody but man...how can you say no to all of that. Haha.

So after the perfect week of spending much needed and quality time with Shannon and cruisin around the Gulf, we dock back in Tampa...but not wanting to waste precious time...we speed back to Orlando to do Disney...AGAIN. This time MGM Studios and Epcot. Ridiculous I know. I'm forever spoiled. But as it's said, good things always come to an end. Though my pictures and memories of all my friends and family who came to visit me will constantly remind me of the love I have back home. Thank you all so much for your continued support while I'm here. And especially to my parents and Shannon. I love you guys and miss you dearly.

So...when's the next vacation?

John McRae, PCV

29A Vazha Pshavela Avenue

PO Box 66

Tbilisi, 0160

Georgia

Well, back from my vacation in America (which I'll write a whole other post on later, JUST because it was so amazing.) Taco Bell, hot showers, whiskey, and best friends. Much needed...all of them. But, back in Georgia and ready to start implementing many of things that were in planning from the Fall. My counterpart and I are creating a Tourism company in which we are making tourism packages for trips around the country, merchandise, trade shows, videos, etc. I'm also doing marketing and advertising campaigns for a leather company, a local folk band, and of course the winery. Then me and some other volunteers are working on a secondary project which I will get into later as well. But to suffice to say...I'm busy.

Also! it finally has snowed in my parts. It's been freezing cold the past few months but now we have snow that absolutely makes the landscape here beautiful. I instantly thought of one of my favorite Georgian songs when I saw the snow falling. The lyrics say, Sakartvelo...Lamazo, which means Georgia...You're beautiful.

Other than that, there are a couple of changes here. The Peace Corps office has moved and I hope to move to my very own apartment next month. So, very exciting! I'll have new addresses posted soon.

Hope all is well, and I'll get back to posting on this thing. Peace

This is an excerpt from our Country Director's email that he sent out to all the Volunteers giving us some background on the Georgian holidays. I found it interesting and thought you might too. Enjoy!

New Year and Christmas in Georgia

Because the Georgian Orthodox Church follows the old, Julian calendar, New Year’s Day is celebrated before Christmas in Georgia. New Year is the biggest secular holiday in Georgia, celebrated country-wide. Preparations for the New Year start at least a week before the actual day. The house is decorated with the New Year tree (Georgians call it New Year tree and not a Christmas tree) and other embellishments. One unique decorative element that Georgians are using is called Chichilaki. It is made of nut wood and usually decorated with fruits and candies for New Year. Chichilaki is more common in Western Georgia; it originates from pre-Christian times and is believed to support fertility and happiness

Great time and effort is invested into preparing a New Year Supra. More than 10 different dishes are prepared for New Year’s Eve. There are several must dishes for New Year Supra: Satsivi (which is turkey or chicken in walnut sauce), Gozinak’i (which is nuts baked in honey sauce) and Churchkhela (nuts in grape sauce). The New Year supra is laid late evening on December 31. At midnight, the President and the Patriarch of Georgia wish a happy New Year (broadcast on all TV channels), families toast to New Year and treat each other with honey or Gozinak’i. Starting from the late evening there are fireworks and firecrackers going off all over the country, reaching a peak around midnight. In the regions you may witness the families shooting guns in celebration, as well. Look out for that practice and stay away!

People here believe in the tradition of a first footer, meaning that the first guest in a new year coming to the family can bring happiness or misery. Many families make prior agreement with a neighbor or a relative, who will serve as a first footer to the family. The first footer is supposed to bring a full plate or basket of food and sweets to the family. In general, people always bring candies or chocolate bars to every place they go on a New Year’s Day and even during the first week after New Year. Georgians believe that the day after New Year is a “luck day”, which means that how you spend this day pretty much determines how you spend the whole year.

During the first week of New Year families visit one another and they visit even multiple families during a day. New Year has traditionally been a family-oriented holiday usually spent at home or at friends and relatives’ homes. Recently, a new tradition of greeting New Year in open air had been initiated. For the past few years the Tbilisi city council has organized grand events the people attend open air concerts throughout the night of New Year’s Eve.

Many families around Georgia, especially in the regions, also celebrate the old New Year on January 14. Families prepare Supra for this day, too, but not as big as for the first of January.

Christmas is the biggest religious holiday after the Easter. It is celebrated on January 7th in Georgia. Due to the fact that New Year here is celebrated before Christmas, the latter one has more a spiritual value and no secular importance.

Religious people fast 40 days prior to Christmas, which means that they are fasting during the big Supra times of New Year, too. For the reason people who are fasting until Christmas celebrate the old style New Year on the 14th of January more.

On Christmas Eve there are religious ceremonies in almost all churches. Churches are usually packed with people. The religious ceremony in the church lasts sometime before 5 am and is followed by the traditional “Alilo” in the morning. Alilo is a religious song sung on the Christmas day, so the tradition of Alilo carries the name of the song. Alilo is basically a charity event. Alilo participants go around the community and collect contributions for charity purposes. The tradition of gift-giving during Christmas or New Year is not so common in Georgia unlike America or European countries.

In Soviet times the tradition of Alilo like many other religious rituals was banned. It was restored again in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Although the cold here is numbing and bitter, and I can see the snow on the mountains behind my house slowing creeping its way to my town, I can't help but become excited about the holidays. To get myself and whoever else more in the spirit, I created a profile on a music site and loaded a Georgian Christmas CD. I'll also use this site in the future to load more Georgian music (folk, rap, rock, and yes even reggae). But for now, enjoy some classic Georgian holiday cheer. Tovli's Papa (Santa...but translates into "Snow Grandpa") will be glad you did..... Even though I have to wait an extra week for Christmas this year (Georgians celebrate Shoba "Christmas", on the 7th of January). Love this time of year!!!

www.imeem.com/georgianmusic

This is a great video explaining how amazing this country is and my futile attempt to convince you to come here on your holidays and visit little old me. :)

Greetings everyone! Well, I'm sitting downstairs next to our newly installed heater, thawing off...and thinking my fingers are once again spry enough to pump out another blog entry. I'll try to briefly catch up on the past month. So, not only does America have a crap load of holidays around this time of year but during the past month I've noticed that there seems to be several special Georgian days always lurking around the corner. But, it's alot of fun to share our holidays with the locals and vice versa (try explaining Halloween when you're cutting out a pumpkin to carve a face...they were more than a little confused). You know it's a Georgian holiday because most likely the day is named after a major city in Georgia (there is a celebration of each city on a certain day of year...such as Tbilisoba, Telavoba, etc.) or it's named after an important historical Georgian figure: but both end in -oba, which means "(insert)'s day".

I was able to visit Tbilisoba this year, which is held on the last Sunday of October every year. Though this year they didn't go all out like they usually do, there was plenty of free food everywhere, smoking Mtzvadi, carnie games, live music, outdoor entertainment, carriage rides, gypsies, etc. I got my face painted with a Georgian flag on one cheek and an American flag on the other, and I guess the Georgians loved it cause I was asked to be in about 10 pictures. But it was alot of fun and a nice walk because most of the festivities were placed alongside the main river and underneath the Presidential Palace where Saakashvili hangs out. I could also start to feel the end of fall and the brisk chilliness of winter setting in. Got me really excited for the holidays.

Then the next weekend was 3 important days back to back to back. On Sunday was the important Georgian holiday of Illiaoba, in my town of Kvareli. Illia Chavchavadze was an extremely important Georgian figure (famous writer, public figure, 1st Georgian banker, humanitarian) from my town and the people here practically worship him. In fact, they do worship him because he was named a Saint. (if you ask someone here who he was, you would either get a stare of disbelief or a 2 hour lecture why he's the greatest man to have ever lived.) Each house here has a portrait of him and my town is riddled with signs full of quotes from him. Regardless, whenever it's Illiaoba, all the Kvarelians flip out. There was a concert full of local music and dancing which was spectacular, the opening of the new exhibit at the Illia museum, and a huge bazaar set up for people to rummage through. Me and all my friends decided to hike up to the Illia Chavchavadze statue which overlooks Kvareli and were stunned by the gorgeous view it provided...also gave us some respite from the holiday before...yes, the one and only McRaeoba. A group of my friends were able to celebrate my birthday with me this year. And we decided to have dinner at a local restaurant with my counterpart, his wife and child, and also my other Georgian friend. My counterpart provided 15 liters of wine...and to save you the drunken gory details...yes we did the limbo, with a scarf, in the middle of the restaurant, with random Georgians. And yes, we did that while listening to Wham - Last Christmas (Which the owner of the restaurant loved so much she felt the need to replay the song 3 times.) But I missed all of you this year on my birthday and thank you so much for sending me carepackages, letters, cards...it really meant alot to me and was nice to have a little piece of home with me.

Last week, we all had our first IST (In-Service Training). Peace Corps rented out a beautiful resort on Bazaleti Lake (about 30 minutes from Tbilisi....absolutely gorgeous...pictures coming soon!) for all the volunteers to stay for a full week where we would review languages, safety and security in Georgia, hear from guest speakers, and have Thanksgiving!!! It was nice to see many of the volunteers whom we haven't seen since PST. All of our old PST teachers came to stay with us and facilitated our language classes that were held in different hotel rooms. It was really nice to reconnect with them, and I think my cluster group from PST will see Tamta (our teacher) in Gori next week! Then we had a representative from the US Halo Trust company come to talk with all of us. They are the biggest organization in the world that deals with the disposal of mines and unexploded ordinances. Very interesting discussion, because he showed us a map of Georgia and locations of where there are threats of these type of things. Obviously their main focus is near Gori and South Ossetia/Abkhazia where last year's war went down. But worldwide, Afghanistan is their biggest problem. Kids are still finding these things on the ground and in the woods, and after his stories...it brought us back out of our bliss from vacation and reminded us that we are still in a very dangerous and unstable place in the world.

Also, Peace Corps was able to get the brand new US Ambassador John Bass( georgia.usembassy.gov/ambbio.html ) to come visit us and introduce himself to us. He gave a great presentation on the realities of Georgia today, what type of things are happening, etc. It was nice to get the honest and complete truth without any BS. I actually felt like a government employee for once! But, an extremely interesting and intelligent guy, and though he's only been in country for a couple of weeks, I have high hopes for the precedent he'll set for the United States here. But besides hanging out with fellow volunteers, playing bootleg beer pong, and watching movies, the best part of the trip was our Thanksgiving! Prior to the trip, all the volunteers went shopping for various foods for dishes that we would prepare later. The hotel let us use their kitchen, and the head chef from the Radisson (who knew past PCV's, and volunteered out of the goodness of his heart) prepared 2 huge turkeys for us. Gadaserevia!

We did the classic tradition where we went around the table saying why we were thankful. And I hope today, on the actual Thanksgiving you all do too. Because if this experience has taught me anything, is to be extremely thankful for my country, our freedom, and all the opportunities we have been given that others in the world aren't able to have. Happy Thanksgiving!

საქართველოს სახელმწიფთ ჰიმინიSakartvelos SakhelmTzipt Himini

ჩემი ხატია სამშობლო My painted country Chemi khatia samshoblo

სახატე მთელი ქვეყანა The whole country is a canvas Sakhate mteli kvekKana

განათებული მთა ბარი Bright mountains and valleys Ganatebuli mta-bari

წილნაყარია ომერთთანა Shared with God tzilnaKaria ghmerttana

თავისუფლება დღეს ჩვენი Our freedom today Tavisupleba gdhes chveni

მოიავალს უმღერს დიდებას Sings glory to future Momavals umghers didebas

ცისვრის ვარსკლავი ამოდის First star at night rises Tsisvris varskvlavi amodis

ამოდის და ორ ზღვას შუა ბრწყიდბა Shines between the two seas

Amodis da or zghvas shua brzKindeba

და დიდება თავისუფლებას Glory to freedom Da dideba tavisuplebas

თავისუფლებას დიდება Glory to freedom Tavisuplebas dideba

There is a nearby village from Kvareli called Gavazi. My good friend Tom is actually a TEFL volunteer teaching there. Apparently, the people that live there are notorious for not always being the “sharpest” knives in the drawer. Most Georgians swear that it’s something about the water in Gavazi that makes them a lil cooky. Well, my counterpart keeps telling me story after story about these events that have happened to the locals there. For the longest time I thought that they were just jokes aimed at Gavazians, but no, these actually happened, and I felt the need to share some with you. An elderly lady came hobbling into the hospital with a giant opened wound on her head. The doctor was alarmed and rushed over, asking her what happened to her head! She kept mumbling, “Brick”. Well, after the doctor stitched her up and she was given time to recuperate. She explained that she was milking her cow. But the whole time, the cow’s tail would twitch and keep smacking her in the face. After a couple of minutes of this, she got fed up and decided that the only way she could prevent this was to tie something to the end of its tail to anchor it down. She a found a brick nearby. But…apparently the brick wasn’t heavy enough… There was a Gavazian man jogging through the village one day when he accidently tripped and scrapped up his knees and his hands. It wasn’t a bad a wound but it was bleeding a little. Fortunately, a friend saw what happened and brought over some bandages. After they wrapped up his hands and knees, the man realized that he should’ve disinfected the wound first just in case anything got into the cut. So he and his friend did some thinking, and in a flash the friend was back with a bottle of homemade cha-cha (Georgian vodka). They soaked the bandages with cha-cha, knowing that it would seep through the fabric and help clean the wound. Then, they noticed that the bandages were a little too long and started dragging on the street behind him. They looked around for something to cut it but neither of them had any knives or scissors. So, again, his friend rushed back with a lighter telling him he could just burn the excess off. Well, as he lit the bandages on his knee, the cha-cha lit up like gasoline and both knees were aflame. The man panicked and tried to pat the fire out with his hands…also igniting those bandages. There was a popular Spanish soap opera (which Georgians can’t get enough of by the way…) that most of all the Gavazians watched die-heartedly. Well, on a particular episode one popular character was going to be sent to jail (not real prison, just on the show). The next episode was to see if his lawyer could bail him out. Well, some other Georgians knew about Gavazi’s “reputation” and tried to see if they could capitalize. They ended up going door to door asking for money to help raise funds for the (fictional) lawyer to get the man out of jail. Sure enough, they were received a couple of thousands from the villagers. Then, when the next episode came on and the lawyer was able to prevent the man from going to prison, the village of Gavazi celebrated because they knew their money was spent well.

There are so many more...it's ridiculous, haha, I jus hope Tom is careful about which water he drinks.

So, I realize that unless you are on Facebook, you weren't able to see any of the pictures I've been taking throughout my experience here. But don't you fret! I have the first set of pictures from PST, now online, and will continually add the rest over the course of the week. Enjoy!!!

picasaweb.google.com/McRaeJohnny/PreServiceTraining#

Alright. Time for me to stop being lazy...I have waaaaay too much stuff to cover from the last month, so I’ll just make some highlights.

Well, it's finally fall (shemodgoma), which means three major things here in Georgia. a) It's getting cold now...I already see some snow on the mountains behind my house, b) school has started for the kids (the TEFL volunteers are now teaching and lesson planning), and c) it's wine making season!!!

So all the families are bustling around town, helping one another with the harvest (rtreli); picking the grapes, taking them to their maranis, crushing them, and then wait eagerly for the new wine. Trust me, everyone is running low on their wine supplies because the little bit that’s left...is a little...well...tangy. But it’s nice to see Kvareli come alive now.



I was fortunate enough to help my friend and her family in the process of the vintage. I thought it was a lot of fun but some Georgians think you’re crazy for wanting to go out on the weekends and work. But once they see you out in the field, cutting the grapes, and hauling heavy barrels back and forth, they instantly admire you and invite you to a supra, which is held after every type harvest (be it grapes, corn, wheat, etc.) But naturally, the grape-harvest supra is the biggest and most important to the Kakhetian people. So first, I went to my work at Kindzmarauli because they invited alot of big wigs from Tbilisi and the Minister of Agriculture to a tour of their winery. Then they treated all of them to a supra and wine tasting at our restaurant which I was a part of. Afterwards, I had to rush over back to my house because it was my host dad's birthday. I had some more food/drinks and sang 'Happy Birthday" in English to him which they loved. Lastly, had to hurry over to my friend’s house to take part in the supra to celebrate the rtreli from earlier on in the day. Let’s just say, that I didn’t get much accomplished the following day.

During the last weeks of September, there were nonstop rains in the Kakheti region, and especially my town of Kvareli was horribly flooded. I was getting calls from the Peace Corps and some Georgian friends that live in other parts of the country, asking if I was alright because they saw news reports of my town on television. Everyone was getting worried, because of all the rain; their grapes might have been ruined. Livestock, homes, and many crops were unfortunately destroyed. Later, I found out that the state of Georgia was going through the same thing, with horrible flooding and weather. Just not a good month for the Georgias. But fortunately now, the weather has cleared up, autumn has set in, and all is beautiful here in my town.

www.rustavi2.com/news/news_text.php



So, later on I'm going to make a whole other post about my work, detailing all of the activities and issues I am currently working on, because I have been busy busy busy, but just recently at the winery, I was appointed to be the English speaking tour guide for a group of 50 Americans that were visiting. Some of them were from the US Embassy, but the majority, were US Marines that are stationed in Georgia to help train Georgian troops. So, my company had arranged a wine tour throughout Kakheti to let them experience Georgia and have a brief vacation from their training. So, their first stop was at the Kindzmarauli winery. Previous to all of this, my counterpart had written all of the history of winery, the wine creation process, and types of wine the guests would be tasting, on a document for me. (Mind you, this was all in Georgian). So, I went to get it translated, then had to re-translate it later so that it made sense, and ended up studying the material all night for my first time at being a tour guide. Thankfully, I remembered all the facts and was able to answer many questions that they had for me. It seemed that they really enjoyed the tour, and I actually got some useful contacts with people who work at the US Embassy, USAID, and a couple numbers of the marines so that I can show them a good time in Tbilisi next time I’m in.



Apparently fall is also wedding season, because I was able to attend one last week at my friend’s village. There is also one next week that I’m in invited too as well. Call me crazy, but dancing to Euro techno music and old American 50’s songs with random Georgians in a village, out in the middle of nowhere…was a fantastic time. Lastly, this past weekend I was able to go to the nearby town of Lagodekhi to go hiking in the mountains with some other volunteers. We had an amazing time, and I was able to really see what Georgia was like in the fall, with all the vineyards and trees becoming red, orange, and yellow…absolutely gorgeous. After about a 2 hour hike, we reached a set of waterfalls that’s located in a valley between the mountains. We set up camp, and made a fire where we roasted hotdogs, bootleg smores, and drank an ungodly amount of cha-cha (Georgian vodka). Also, this upcoming weekend is the Georgian national holiday of Tbilisoba. Can you guess where they celebrate it??? Ding ding ding! Yep, right in the heart of Tbilisi. Apparently its a celebration of the city, and they have dancing, music, food festivals yadda yadda. So hoping to have some free time from work to hit that up. But for now…I have to return to work (have about 10 -12 hour days). So much to do! Agh!

Well, hope to update soon. Send me some love and let me know what's up with you all in your part of the world. Oh yeah, if you have Skype, look me up. My screen name is: johnny mcrae. Surprise surprise. It would be great to talk to you all!

Kargad!

Last night I was watching television with my host family...kinda tuning out because I can understand about 2% of everything that is being said. Until there was a news report (done in English!) regarding a new upcoming movie that is being filmed, in Hollywood, about last year's August War. It's being filmed by the guy who did "Die Hard 2", and Andy Garcia is playing the role of President Saakashvili. Crazy stuff... Apparently ole Garcia will be in Tbilisi for awhile shooting his scenes at the President's house. Might have to go in and check it out.

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=109039

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091019/film_nm/us_garcia

So, I know I'm a little late on this...but an EU sponsored report states what exactly happened in last year's war. Despite the information, it is still saddening to see how much Georgia was set back because of this conflict. Tensions are still very high between the two countries and much has yet to be resolved. Please pray for peace, stability and resolution for this part of the world!

www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/09/30/georgia-russia-south-ossetia-eu-report.html

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8281990.stm

www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php

My buddy came across this website that shows real-time camera feeds from Georgia's biggest city centers. It also gives weather forecast information, current time, blah blah. So if you were interested in what different areas of Georgia looked like, or you just wanted to creep around and secretly watch Georgians go about their everyday business, this site is for you. I'm currently at a Project Design Workshop in Signagi with the other BSE crew, but I'll come out September 23, 6:00 P.M. my time and wave to you via the Signagi camera! :)

http://www.livegeorgia.ge/index2.php?city=telavi&location=central_square

*You have to copy and paste the link into your address bar*

Other than 6.2 earthquakes and insane flash floods, everything here is great! I'll update soon with all that has happened. Paka! (Russian - Bye!)

Good God. So...having sworn in and now become official Peace Corps Volunteers, our goal is to go out in the community and make a difference. Right? Well, that would be a little difficult since, in the first week mind you, we have a volunteers who have...actually, lets make some bullet points shall we?

Got surgery in an old Soviet hospital to get their appendix taken out Fell down the stairs and fractured their backWithin 5 minutes of getting to the site, gets bitten by a dog and has to go back to Tbilisi for rabies shotBroke their fingerGot a parasite, and was bed ridden for a few daysHost family situation turned really sour and had to leave and find a new homeLost their bank card in the ATM...twice.Was playing basketball and landed the wrong way, and received a herniated disc in their backHahahah, Oh man...Fortunately for me, I didn't have anything to dire, except my bed broke on me in the middle of the night and I had to sleep at 45 degree angle for a couple of nights and then during a board member meeting at work I sit down and the chair breaks on me too. I must be eating too many Khin Kali's or something. Geez. But despite all those occurances, most of the volunteers have fully healed and are back in the game, to the relief of their host families, community, and I'm sure the PC medical staff.

In other news, maybe some of you have guessed, according to my frequency of posts lately...I--H-A-V-E--F-A-S-T--I-N-T-E-R-N-E-T--N-O-W!!! I decided to sell out, and also shell out, some Lari bills and bought the most popular local phone service that the country offers. Its a little expensive, but to know that I can take my lappy anywhere, and use Skype, Facebook, load pictures, download music, waste countless hours on YouTube, oh yeah and do work on it..... makes it totally worth it. So yeah, sweetness. Or has the Georgians say, "Magaria" "მაგარია"

Last week was pretty insane as well. At the winery I gave a marketing strategy proposal to the board of directors, one that I worked on for close to 2 weeks, I also had a translator help me get my points across thankfully, and it seemed they liked alot of the ideas I presented. But, so in a nutshell, these will be my main projects in the meantime with Kindzmarauli. I'll first do some marketing research and try to find distributors in America, Canada, but also internationally. This is no easy task, but I think it will be very worthwhile of my time and they certainly need someone on staff who can speak English. Secondly, they are in the process of creating a website and want me to join the team in making it user friendly, adding graphics, stories, or whatever may interest the consumer. And lastly, what I am most excited about and get giddy every time I think about it is, I am to head the team in completely redesigning the label for their wine in the American and Canadian markets. I've already put together some ideas but it would be great if any of you had a certain type of wine you like because of the label, and let me know. I'm open to any suggestions. I'm just thrilled that I get to use my creativity in this project, and have very high hopes for something cool, unique and innovative that this corporation has never seen before.

August 28th, is a national holiday here in Georgia, in order to pay homage and worship the Virgin Mary. Or in my friend's case, go out in the middle of the mountains and have a supra, to which I was invited to. So, after driving close to an hour into the Caucasus Mountains, we reach a little area that has some tables set up. The women and the girls started preparing vegetables, and setting up the table; whereas the men were in charge of the meat. So, we were just cooking lunch, having some drinks, chatting it up, till the *dun dun dun* crazy uncle shows up. This guy was an absolute riot. After practically siphoning cognac (his favorite apparently) into my mouth, he holds up his finger and tells me to wait 1 minute. Well, after 30 minutes of hanging around, I see this little guy emerge from the woods with a goat slung over his shoulder. I don't know where, when, what, how...this guy snagged this live goat from the wilderness, but I definitely know why. Partially, cause we have to eat. But it was more for the horns, so we can drink more cognac from them. So he rested the animal's head on a tree stump and motioned me to come over while handing me a hatchet. The look in this goat's eye will haunt me forever. Haha, but I couldn't disappoint the whole family who were eagerly watching my every move by this point. So after two good thwacks, the head rolls off. Then crazy uncle and I, saw off its horns and place them in the boiling bucket of water to get the rest of the meat out. About 20 minutes later, he takes them out, makes sure their drink worthy and sure enough. They were. What is happening to me? Haha killing goats, eating tomatoes and mushrooms, flicking the underside of my jaw if I want to drink with someone (yes, they do that), wearing my clothes multiple days in a row...ok, so that's nothing new. But still, I can feel myself becoming a little more Georgian each day. God help me.

Then, during the weekend I went over to the village of Katchreti to help my friend with her summer camp that she had to organize for the kids. We taught them Ultimate Frisbee, and in turn they taught us a Russian card game that seems to be really popular here, Bura. So, that was alot of fun, to be able to meet her students and to take a break from business "work" and play with kids. Then, together, we went to Tbilisi for the weekend and met up with our other friends. Great weekend: Smoked Hookah, ate Thai food, bar hopped (which by the way, can anyone explain to me why a bottle of vodka costs 2 Lari, and a glass of OJ at a bar costs 3 Lari? Haha...Silly country.) and then topped it off with a lunch at the one and only, McDonalds. Since they don't have the letter "F" here, I ordered a "McPlurry". But damn it was everything I hoped it could be and more.

The only thing that I could think of that could make this weekend any better would be if I could ride in a taxi on my way back to Kvareli listening to 'The Final Countdown' seven times in a row. Oh...wait. Check. Man, I love this country and its randomness.

Being a combination of boredom, curiosity, and just having a sick sense of humor, I have embarked on a journey to document all of the Georgian...and I use this term loosely...toilets. You've got your bad, your very bad, and your...very...very bad. Though I pride myself at being an ole pro at using the Turkish toilet already, one still can't help but be amazed and entranced by these places. So...if you have the stomach...or just nothing better to do, delve into the land of the Georgian Toilet!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42410585@N08/sets/72157622326880658/

*You have to copy and paste the link into your address bar*

My buddy Miles put together a short video about life in his village of Didi Chailuri, which was about 10 minutes away from where I lived. Its a great movie that shows our new home and where PC had assigned us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_7tIp8Dxhk

After a year of countless medical forms, interviews, essays, etc. and then an additional 2 months of intensive in country training; I am actually a Peace Corps Volunteer! It has been quite the rollercoaster ride that’s for sure. My last 3 weeks during PST was a myriad of different activities, tests, and mental/emotional self evaluations. The BSE tract had to present a training practicum to the local community our 2nd to last week during PST, and after doing a needs assessment and a survey to see what the parents and youth wanted; we concluded that the theme be about AMERICA. All the kids were extremely curious about our fashion, how “Amerikeli Pekhburti” – American Football – was played, etc. The parents wanted to know if Americans liked the nature (if we had parks), about our business practices, if people watched soap operas, etc. So we ended up starting with our geography, with tons of activities for the kids and then blended in culture, music, housing, sports, holidays and traditions. We got a lot of great feedback from both our trainers and the villagers themselves. All in all a very rewarding experience. Plus, a couple of girls ran up to me after, while giggling, said that music (one my sections) was their favorite subject during the training. At least I know I still have the ability to swoon 11 year old girls. Haha.Later that week, the Peace Corps had a farewell dinner for all the trainees. It was held in a very nice restaurant that was located near all of our villages, and it was a time where we could reflect on all that happened the past 2 months. Our training manager Tengo created a slideshow with pictures from throughout PST including day 1 when we landed in the airport. (That feels like a lifetime ago to me…) Also, I talked to Tengo and a couple of the heads of Peace Corps Georgia before the event to see if we could have our final Moustache Contest and Judging ceremony that evening. And I don’t know if it’s sad or not to say that this was by far the greatest moment in PST. So, all the guys who participated in the contest congregated in the back of the restaurant, and I had Tengo put on the disco lights the restaurant had located in the middle. I put on “It’s Raining Men” and we straight up had a fashion show-cat walk of guys with the most impressive yet disgusting moustaches I have seen in awhile. The audience hooted and hollered, and we eventually took a poll of who should win. 3rd place was awarded 5 Lari, 2nd got 15 Lari, and the 1st got a whopping 30 Lari. Unfortunately none were given to me, but when you get a chance to see pictures of the winners…you’ll know why. So freaking funny. Also, unbeknownst to me, Peace Corps actually created official Moustache Certificates to all the guys and they even created their own categories. So good!…well, it was certainly a way to pass time in PST that’s for sure. Then the rest of the evening was full of awkward karaoke and dancing. Good farewell I think.Then during our last week, we had our final LPI (Language Proficiency Interview), to see if our language skills were advanced enough to continue in the “real world”. One of the most nerve racking experiences I’ve had in awhile. It is a 30 minute interview with one of the PC trainers, where you are in a room alone with them. The door is closed. They turn on a tape recorder. And just riddle you with questions in Georgian, and you have to do your best understanding and answering them with all the knowledge of vocab and grammar you’ve learned. Well to say the least, I left the room feeling pretty crummy on how I performed. Not only that, but I had to walk home and pack all of my belongings for the next day, when we “graduate” to become PCV’s and move to our final posts. Again, another depressing experience, because my bebia started crying and holding me, then when she couldn’t get any words out she left to do yard work to just keep herself busy and not think about it. THEN, Tornike came in and gave me a piece of paper where he wrote: Johnny McRae – You are my big brother, I love you. – both in English and Georgian, and after reading it I looked up and saw he had tears in his eyes. AND THEN, Soso my host dad came in and hugged me telling me I was his 3rd child. I saw tears in his eyes too and that’s when I, myself, lost it. It’s amazing how much these people care, and they certainly will always have a place in my heart, I just like to think I do in theirs.So after tearful and sad goodbyes, the PC marshutka picked me up with all of my luggage (an embarrassing amount) and took me to the spot where the Swearing In Ceremony was going to be held. It was tastefully done, PC got a group of Georgian singers and dancers to entertain us and our audience. Then we heard some speeches from the staff and then 2 volunteers gave speeches both in English and Georgian (with help from our LCFs…our language is still veeery limited). Also, me and some other volunteers sang both the Georgian and American national anthems. Despite my horrible attempt at singing, the crowd really liked us. They then called our names one by one and as we stood the crowd applauded, news cameras rolled, and pictures started flashing. It’s finally official.So now, after all of that, I am writing to you in my new town of Kvareli. Things seem to have come to a screeching halt. It’s odd not having a set time and classes to go to everyday. But I’m trying to adjust. It’s giving me a chance to catch up on some reading and to review all the language info we studied. But I get my key to my office tomorrow, and I think I get internet as well, so I hope to post more from now on and finally get all my pictures up that have been on standby on my desktop. Oh also, my address is going to remain the same, for those of you who were wondering. Peace Corps says it’s more reliable for mail to just come into Tbilisi than Kvareli. So again, much love from Sakartvelo! And hope to talk to you guys soon.

Ok, lot’s to catch up on. So two weeks ago we were able to visit Biden in Tbilisi as I noted before. Well, just as we arrived in the city limits, we were told to take out our Passport ID’s to show security, who had the middle of the city on lockdown for the VP. (Drug dogs, metal detectors, soldiers with assault rifles, etc.) Well yours truly of course forgot his. I started to get really depressed thinking I was so close to meeting Joe in Georgia, and also having freshly shaped my handlebar mustache….just to sit in the van and wait for everyone. Luckily for me, the Peace Corps Country Director is coolest guy ever and was able to pull some strings and sneak me down into the conference hall. Biden finally came in and gave a great speech, and fortunately had enough time afterwards to take some one on one pictures with the audience. Also, I got him to do the Nole chop. Suck it Gators! Then, that weekend we had a “cluster exchange” where you’re able to visit another volunteer’s village for the weekend. I went to my buddies’ place in a nearby village called Didi Chailauri. He told me that someone in the village was getting married tonight and that they invited him and me to the celebration afterwards. Well, for reasons I can’t explain, they put “our” (the Americans) table right next to the bride and groom’s table in front of all their family and friends. Super awkward, because frankly, we didn’t know anyone there and it felt strange to get such special treatment. But after a good hour and a half of just smiling and looking stupid, the wine started flowing and music started playing. A couple of Georgians asked me and Tom to get up and dance, and after we obliged, the night was a blast. It was a haze of khontsi drinks, shimmy-ing to “Johnny B Good”, and getting random Georgian’s telephone numbers. This past weekend was finally the trip where all the volunteers would meet their counterparts; find out where they would be working, and what their job description is. So Peace Corps took us to the nearby city of Sighnaghi (also in Georgia, called the Love City). And let me tell you, now I know why all the Georgians come here for their honeymoon. Absolutely gorgeous. It was just newly reconstructed by President Saakashvili in order to promote more tourism within the country. The look of it is completely original compared to the rest of Georgia, as it is perceived as more of an Italian or Spanish villa than anything else. The town is set on top of a mountain that allows you to see all the landscape of the Kakheti region of Georgia. So once we arrived, they took all the BSE (Business group) volunteers to a hotel that was set up higher than any other in the town. I’m assuming Peace Corps dropped a pretty penny for us that night. Me and my two buddies somehow were lucky enough to get the penthouse suite on top, which not only included a toilet (YES!) but a Jacuzzi in the bathroom. I made it a point to make the use of both as much as I could while I was there. Haha. So the moment of truth. My new town I’ll be moving to is called Kvareli. It is based in the bottom of the Caucasus Mountains, which is amazing because when I walk out of my room I can look up and see the whole mountain range looming over me. It has an internet café, tons of restaurants, discoteka, museums, parks, etc. and it’s only a 30 minute drive to the bigger city of Telavi if I need anything important. It sits right on the border of both Russia and Azerbaijan…so it looks like I’ll have to be learning a bit of both once I get my Georgian down.

Here’s the best part. I am working with the NGO Caucasus Meridian, who is implementing the “Georgian wine road” project to develop wine tourism in Georgia and specifically the Kakheti region. There is a huge winery in the middle of the city owned by the Kindzmarauli Corporation (which is a very well known wine company in Georgia and parts of Europe), which is built inside of a 15th century castle. And that is where I will be working. I was in utter disbelief when I realized that…”I will be working with Wine marketing and tourism inside a castle.” You have to be kidding me. So the President and the Director of the company took me for a tour within the winery. They showed me how they bottled their goods, where the kegs that keep their reds, whites, brandies, etc were held, and other various aspects of their winery. Very impressive company. Also found out that they are on their way to develop the 1st whiskey within Georgia using classic Scottish techniques. Told them if they need a taste tester, they knew where to find me. Afterwards, they drove me out of the city to the acres upon acres of vineyards that they currently owned. I’m the luckiest kid ever. So after talking with the board, I have an idea of what my first tasks are going to be when I move there permanently in August. They want me to help choose the bottles, and design the label for their next wine. Be an English tour guide at the winery. Write a proposal to Lufthansa airlines and various networks, because they need help with translating in English and probably some grant proposals. Also, to help them find distributors to get their product in America. And having tasted many of their products within my short time there, Kindzmarauli would be an instant hit if marketed the right way in the USA. Keep in mind, Georgia IS the birthplace of wine. ;) And the Association Caucasus Meridian with whom I’ll be working with does a lot of youth projects around the area which I am very excited about. So much to look forward to in the future! Busy and an absolutely incredible weekend. So, 1 hot marshutka ride, 2 supras, and 4 wedding proposals later, I am finally back in Ninotsminda relaxing. Missing everyone, but things are certainly looking up from over here. Also I want to thank everyone who has sent me things. I cant tell you how good it feels to be thought about back home. And I just want to personally say how much I appreciate your love and thoughtfulness!

1/2 over, and only 4 more weeks to go. After looking back on the past month, though it has flown by and I feel that I couldn't have possibly done or learned much, realized how many things the Peace Corps had packed into such a short amount of time. I can read the language, write it, somewhat pronounce it, and speak to the locals (on a very basic 4 year old....no, 3 year old scale. But still. Im impressed.) Alot of things are ahead of us volunteers and I feel the 2nd half of our PST will go by even quicker.

Last weekend, I was able to go to Telavi, which is a city about an hour and a half away from my village with 4 of my good buddies. It was nice to get away from all the rush and stress of PST and just have time to chill out, explore the city, talk to the locals, haggle with merchants, yell at gypsy's, etc. We rented an amazing guesthouse for the night which was in the center of downtown for only 25 Lari, and it included breakfast, where we played beer pong, the Full House drinking game (yes, I brought Full House on DVD) and just soaked in the freedom. P.S. From Telavi, you can see the whole Main Caucasus Mountain range. Very impressive and beautiful sight.

This past Tuesday, all the Business people, were given money to travel into Tbilisi to talk with some big name NGO's (Non governmental organizations) with whom we had to call ourselves and make appointments. It gave us some good experience to plan trips and time out marshutka destinations and explore the city itself. I myself was able to talk to the representatives with Save the Children and the EurAsia Foundations. Just within the 1 hour meetings I had with both organizations, I was able to learn so much from their missions, fundraising strategies, marketing tools, pros and cons, etc. Extremely insightful and inspiring, and it reignited my desire for being here and wanting to help the peoples who live in this country.

So after our meetings, we had about 5 hours to just explore the city and let me tell you....utterly jaw dropping. Besides maybe Athens, Greece, I would say that this is my favorite European city. There is so much culture here, old monuments everywhere, 5th century walls and churches, gorgeous architecture. I just cannot put it into words, so instead, next time I get a chance, Ill put it into pictures. Haha. But luckily for us!! All the volunteers go back to Tbilisi tomorrow to personally meet Joe Biden, who has come to visit Saakashvili. We are all super pumped. He personally called us to come in so he can thank us and give us a speech or hopefully share a beer. But probably not the latter. I'm gonna ask if he wants to be on the moustache judging panel. ;) Certainly an exciting time to be a PCV.

Then this weekend I'm going to a Georgian wedding with my buddy who lives in a nearby village. It will be interesting to see the similarities of their ceremony and ours. Plus, as always, there will be a supra and dancing which I'm always down for. Speaking of supra, yesterday, I went to one for a family friend's daughter's birthday (dabadebis dghe). And throughout the evening of eating, playing backgammon which is huge here (called nardi), and toasting, I get handed a drink and am asked to toast to the birthday girl. Well, I'm a little caught of guard and every single Georgian word I've ever learned speeds through my brain. Well, I sorta black out...say some things, and then come to. When I realized my mouth stopped talking and I raised my glass, everyone at the table (30 - 40 Georgians who don't know any English) stand up, applaud, and clink their glasses. I felt like Will Ferrel at the debate club in Old School, because I apparently said something that they all loved and was comprehendable, but even if you gave me a million dollars, no way would I be able to tell you what came out of my mouth. Haha, great experience, and I was even asked to come to their next party. But time to go back and study just in case I dont get the lucky "auto pilot" syndrome again.

And last but not least. we get our assigned placements next Monday to see where we will all be stationed. The most important day to a PC volunteer. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. Other than the extreme heat, which definately gives Tallahassee and Florida a run for its money, all is well here. It is watermelon season and about every 5 steps you'll see another vendor on the street selling his batch of watermelons. So thats been keeping us hydrated and happy. Hope to update soon after the Biden visit.

ნშვიდოგით!!! (Peace!)

So I started a moustache contest in our program with all the guys. Surprisingly all the men were all about it and are taking it to heart which is absolutely hilarious. It is a 5 lari bet in, and I've comprised a panel of judges who consist of 3 staff members and a fellow volunteer. So at the end of our PST well be judged and to the best (length, style, most creative/creepy) goes the winnings. Takin some suggestions for styles. Haha, thinking handlebars but open for ideas ;)

I went to Tbilisi today to get a shot, from the PC doctor, that I missed earlier within our training. Since Tbilisi is so close to our village, I was there and back within 2 hours. I tried to explain that I was going to do this, the night before with my family. So with my broken Georgian and my amazing charades skills I felt that I got the point across ok with them. Well, I returned today and met up with my LCF (Language and Cross Cultural Facilitator aka my teacher) and she told me that last night my other host bebia called her and asked why she was letting Johnny go to Tbilisi by himself to get a tattoo on his arm. Which by the way, tattoos are a huuuge taboo here in the villages; they mean you’ve either been to prison or in a gang and are highly discouraged. So my LCF explained the situation to calm her down, but in hearing that I assumed the motion I used for "shot" looked alot like "tattoo". Haha, now everyone in the village thinks I have a tattoo. So, after hearing that I drew a huge heart in permanent marker on my arm with Natella's, my bebia, name in Georgian in it. She. flipped. out. Oh man, miscommunication is the best. Also, here in Ninotsminda it has been distractingly hot. So I open the windows to my bedroom to attract any sort of breeze I can. Well, it was about 4-5 in the AM, and I am sound asleep. Till I hear a whiring sound and then a THWACK. I jump out of bed because of the loud noise and notice that the weirdest looking bird I have ever seen flew through my window and into my room. Scared the living kuili (see below) out of me. So it is flying at me with a vengeance, bumping off the walls, until it finally lands on the floor and scuttles under my bed. Screw that! I’ve seen Poltergeist, I know what happens when you look under the bed, so without hesitation I leave and go back to sleep in the other room. Well, I go to my classes for the day without even checking my room, in fear of a surprise attack, but left my windows open so that he might get smart and find his way home. Eventually, my school day had come to a close and I come home fairly apprehensive. I crept through my room, looking in my closet, under the table, finally under the bed and other hidden locations. No bird. Taking a sigh of relief I get changed and head over to my suitcase to pull some socks out. Out of nowhere the bird came bursting out of my bag!! Being the manly man I am, I ran downstairs and told my family that the chiti (bird) was still there. Everyone got excited and came up to investigate. My bebia makes her way in front of us and into my room where she strikes like a cobra and snags the bird by the wing in one shot. It was amazing. She took it outside and threw it into the air and to the relief of both me and the chiti. So of course this is a running gag from now on with my family, and me and Soso toast to the chiti with our beer.

My buddy here one morning woke up early to help cut down some of the weeds that was growing around his host family's house. He started in the early morning hoping to get most of it done before his host family woke up. Well it just so happened that he was cutting their whole supply of potato crops from the ground. Hahah. His host dad came running out yelling, freaking out. The Peace Corps staff had to come from Tbilisi and pay them what the potatoes cost and also gave them a bag of veggies. Ben's never heard the end of it.

Going to Telavi, which is one of the bigger cities of eastern Georgia, this weekend for our “Cultural Trip”, where we have to use the skills weve acquired to book a hotel, find the transportation to get there, spend all weekend and come back in one piece. So stoked.

To make things interesting during our long daily language class I established a time, which my teacher was very enthusiastic about, where we can ask her any questions such as Georgian slang, superstitions, urban legends, etc. So...I have a small list that I've started and will probably be adding to over time. Thought I'd share some with you!

"Toasting/cheering with beer is considered bad luck and not done. So if you cheers with it, you have to do it toward someone or something you dont like." - Me and my host dad jokingly always do it to the other guys at the table to rile them up.

"Whistling indoors will bring poverty to the household." - Learned this the hard way when I started whistling, like always, in the kitchen and my bebia yelled at me and smacked me. Hahah

"If women sit down on the concrete floor it will make them sterile and cause their womb to become barren" - Harsh.

"Killing frogs will bring rain" - Someone must of been killing alot of frogs this week.

"Dropping your fork while eating - you must immediately rinse it off and continue to use the same one, if you get another one instead, you will be 'cursed' with losing your first or current wife and having to marry another." - I've noticed some men not abiding by this rule. ;)

-Also-

Dropping your utensil means that you will be blessed by certain types of guests in the near future. If you drop a spoon, then a girl will come. A fork, a boy. A knife, a man.

Found out that they have a "boogeyman" named Bua that parents use in stories to get their kids to eat their veggies or whatever. He apparently comes down from the hills at night, sneaks into the house, snatches the kids, and whisks them off to his lair. I have a mental picture of the thing from Pan's Labyrinth. So just in case, I eat another helping of Jon Joli when my bebia is watching.

Here's some words I picked up that you probably wouldn't find in the dictionary:

moustache with goatee - blanje

70's dirty moustache - ulvashi

girlie man/extremely feminine - khalatchuna

crazy in the head - gizhi

drunk - mTvrali

lame (as in the way Cartman would use it) - Pui

cool or awesome - magaria

sexy - seqsualuria

sketchy or creepy - tvinsTchams

swoll/when working out (this one is for you Dan) - dakuntulia

poop - kuili

July 3rd; My presentation with the locals today went great. I had a translator help me converse with my audience, which was strange at first but kinda cool. We had a group of women and men from the community and I provided a session for them that had them disperse into 2 groups, male and female, and describe their community and draw it on a piece of paper. Detailing this map with their favorite places and least favorite; in addition to some other information. We then got back into the main group and discussed our findings and compared maps to the opposite sex. Got some very good feedback. I then had another activity where they were given the task to come up with some top ideas and suggestions for a training session that we will provide to them in 2 months, to either themselves, friends, or for the youth. Found out that they are extremely interested in America. Our favorite sports, if there are housewives, what our history is, if we have national parks, if women watch soap operas, etc. So it gave us some great ideas on what we have to do our Business Practicum on. On a random note. Found out that Biden is going to be here in a couple of days, about 30 minutes from where we are. On a more random note, JaRule is coming here. Haha…I guess he’s gotta take any work he can get. Got my first offer for a Georgian (tsoli) wife today. I hear that it’s going to happen a lot. Oh boy. Don’t worry Shannon, I tell them, “Me Maqkvs Megobari Gogo Amerikashi.” But it still doesn’t seem to deter them. I’ll be on my best behavior I promise ;) Next time I’ll be able to post might be another 1 to 2 weeks. But love getting comments from all of you. And miss all of you. Except you Feit. Have a great 4th of July!! God bless.

June 24th; My host father Soso used to be the old police chief but retired a couple of years ago and took over the family business which is this amazing restaurant that is set off of the main road into Sagarejo. So the kids brought me to it today to eat and show me around. They treated me to drinks, soko (delicious mushroom dish – and yes I eat mushrooms now…who would’ve thought), cheeses, mTzvadi (BBQ pork), and my favorite, khin kali (dumplings). We had a private singer and dancer, and I did a couple of balomde’s (chugging your drink) with our hosts. Had a great time. But when we got home…I started not feeling so well. Eating over 10 khin kalis I hear does that. So for the next 2 days I was a little incapacitated. My friend, who was placed in another village, called me up and we got to talking. He said that his host family heard about an American in some village that ate too many khin kalis and got sick…and he thought it was me. Haha, good guess. But that alone showed me how fast word travels here. June 27th; My family wanted to take me and some of my friends to a place in the hills where they harvest their crops and make wine etc. So we took a long hike through trees, hills and over river streams where we finally reached our destination. Absolutely beautiful location. It overlooked miles and miles of farmland, mountains and the rich scenery of Kahketi. To my surprise (even though now I should know better) they brought tons of food and wine, enough to have a supra with everyone. I helped build a fire with Mamuka to make some mTzvadi, while Natella sang to us, and the kids played. The Georgians then wanted us to sing an American song, so we busted out with the national anthem, followed by Journey – Don’t Stop Believing. They laughed and clapped throughout the whole thing. The rest of the evening was filled with food, toasts, laughs, and balomde’s. Once we got home, Tornike and I watched Dumb and Dumber in Georgian. Which I found interesting…Georgians absolutely love American films, especially movies with Jim Carrey and Mel Gibson. Also on that note, Tornike and the neighborhood kids listen to 50 cent, Black Eye Peas, Bob Marley, and their personal favorite Eminem. Haha, don’t ask me. Louis Armstrong – What a Wonderful World, can be heard playing in about any car driving by, restaurant, bar, etc… Random. That night, me, Tornike, and Mamuka watched the America vs Brazil soccer game. Like everywhere else in the world, soccer is huge here. Unfortunately America ended up losing after such a promising start. But it was great to be able to watch it with the family. P.S. MJ is dead?? I’m gone for 2 weeks and he’s gone. Geez. But of course we did a Gau-mar-jos to him. July 1st; Tekle is trying her hardest to teach me this certain Georgian dance, but my lead feet are making things hard. I underestimated the difficulty of their dances. Not that I am a good dancer anyways…but I digress. Found out today that my host father is a “Patroni”. This term is borrowed from Italian syntax, but here it means, to be frank…being the badass of the village. People in the community come to the Patroni for help, advice, etc. If you were ever to be in trouble, whether it be, people bothering you; need help to build something; lack of funds to support your family…ask the Patroni and he’ll take care of it. So it’s nice to know that I have a sort of “force field” wherever I go. I have my first meeting with some heads of the local community this weekend. My group and I are doing an assessment of what types of needs these people have and find ways to fulfill them. We got the mayor to make some calls and get a group together for us. Peace Corps also supplied us with translators, because our knowledge of the language right now is laughable. So I am very excited to be working with these people finally. That’s why I’m here! Then to celebrate were having 4th of July with all the volunteers at a local park. There’s talk of hamburgers, hotdogs, potato salad, and sweet tea. I’ll believe it when I see it. Either way, busy week.

I decided to split up these posts just because the internet is craptastic here, and it’ll only load certain amounts at a time. June 21st; So we arrive the next morning at the party (Soso’s brother’s house). Found out that his brother, Giorgi, lived in Spain for 6 years for work and in turn knew Spanish. So I was able to talk to him for a long while…it was nice to be able to communicate again, the English Georgian language barrier takes some getting used to. But he told me all about the village, places to go, things about his family, etc. So for the supra, we had soup with garlic, salt, and pig parts in it (snout, stomach, and things I don’t think I want to know) and cha-cha. Cha-cha is homemade grain alcohol, and you can practically run your car off of it. At each supra there is a tamada (toastmaster) who makes toasts about almost everything by the end of the event. The first toast is always to Sarkartvelo and its beauty. Second is usually to family. Then the next to women, etc etc etc. After each toast everyone says “Gau-mar-jos!” and takes a shot. So…interesting breakfast. After breakfast, my family took me to this old 5th century church that is still standing in the middle of the village. Very impressive, and they still hold church services there on Sundays. So I hope to go to at least a couple of Sundays while I’m here. Then we returned home, and I played soccer, volleyball, and basketball with Tornike and all the neighborhood kids. The kids are really great, most of them are about 10 years old or younger…and they always want me to play games with them. They like me a lot probably because I’m 3 times their height and I make weird noises. Also, showed them how to play Frisbee, none have ever seen one before, and taught them some handshakes. June 22nd; Tsisana called me a Kargi bitchi (good boy) today which made me happy. Word travels like the speed of light here in the villages and if anyone does something bad, people will start calling you tsudi bitchi (bad boy) and apparently it’s hard to recover from that. So I’m gonna try to keep this nickname for as long as I can. I then met the rest of my host family’s family. Natella, my other bebia (my absolute favorite person here. She always calls me over to eat, sings me songs, kisses and fusses over me. She says I’m her shvili shvili (grandson). Haha.)Then Imeda, her husband. Then my other uncle, Mamuka, awesome dude too, he’s always interested in learning English words, and he sings with Natella. His wife Tina, and their kids Ana, Imeda Jr., and the cutest kid on the planet, Sandro. I couldn’t have been given a better family. Today was my first day of class, 4 hours of language in the morning, lunch, then my Business technical training in the afternoon. Lots of info, but I’m getting the hang of the anbani (alphabet). I can at least read signs and slowly sound out words. After class, I head home…and eat more. I’m telling you, Georgians ALWAYS have food at the ready. And you will always be hearing the phrase “Tchame Tchame!!” Which means, “Eat, eat more!” Ha, and I was worried about coming home too skinny, there goes that. Also, they looooove their drink. Don’t blame them though; they have the best wine I’ve ever tasted. Drinking over here is about as opposite to the USA’s take on it as you can get. There is no drinking age; a 9 year old bought ME beer a couple of days ago. There are drinks at every meal. No drinking and driving rules, and we saw first-hand what the effects of that are. First night in Georgia, me and my buddy hear this screeching sound outside our window and see this guy taking a corner too hard, drive off the embankment and into a ditch. The guy gets out with his bottle, laughs, and walks off singing. Crazy country… Looking forward to September though, that is when all the grapes are ready to be picked and when they start the wine process. I have 3 families who already want me to come back and show me how it’s done. Can’t wait.

Ok...got some catching up to do, we finally have access to internet but are only allowed to use it on weekends. And even then, it’s super slow. So forgive the lateness...and this long post, alot has happened in two weeks! Well on June 20th, we left our hotel to move to our respective villages for the next 9 weeks for our PST (Pre Service Training). Having very little language class before departing, everyone was getting nervous on the bus knowing that in less than 2 hours we would meet our host families who speak little to no English. Super awkward haha. So we finally arrive to the town of Sagarejo, the main place where all of our villages surround, to meet our new families. They took us to this old school gym and inside all the families were already waiting on one side, and here all of the Americans on the other side. It was like high school prom where no one wanted to get in the middle and dance. But it was funny because both we and they were all looking at one another wondering who would end up with whom. Tengo, the man in charge of everything, then announced the Georgian family names and the Volunteer who would live with them. They then would meet in the middle, hug, kiss, and everyone else would clap. Kinda cool. Except I totally kissed my host family on the wrong cheek. Naturally. But...I can't believe how lucky I am with the pairing of me and my host family. They are awesome. I have a host dad (mama in Georgian), Soso, his mother (my bebia - grandmother) Tsisana, and Soso's kids: Tornike (my host dzma - brother) and Tekla (my da - sister). And lucky for me...Tornike and Tekla both can speak a little bit of English. Which has made this whole transition so much easier. I later found out that Soso's wife is actually in America in New Jersey working for the time being. So after the meet, they took me to their home in the village of Ninotsminda (Saint Nino), where I absolutely have to be honest, I got the hook up. Having buzzed my head a day before because I didn’t want to bother with washing myself with bucket baths often, found that they have running water with a shower. Bang! Also my room is crazy awesome. I have pictures that I hope to post soon. Electricity is pretty stable for the most part, and yes I have a "squatter" toilet. But I'll be damned; I have gotten pretty good at it. Though going at night in the pitch dark takes some accuracy. But there is something satisfying about going to the bathroom and not having to flush. That day I arrive, they immediately ask me if I want to go to a party, and being the newbie I am and not knowing anyone I gladly say yes. Well...it was my first supra. Wow. I get to the friend’s house and there are about 40 Georgians, all who have had a bit of gh'vino and speak no English. Except the phrase "Hollywood". But despite a little awkwardness, the foods/drinks/and friendliness of Georgians is unmatched. Great first experience. Little did I know that my family then asked me if I wanted to go to another party the next morning. ...Gotta say, Florida State University definitely prepared me in more ways than one I found. ;)

Tomorrow is the moment all of us have been looking forward to, we get to meet our host families that we will be staying with for the next 2 months during training. Georgian families are usually very close knit and can be large within a small household. So chances are I'll have a maspindzeli deda (host mom), mama (dad), dzma (brother), da (sister), papa (grandfather), bebia (grandmother), and other members in the family all staying with me. The Peace Corps says don't get used to our American privacy anymore, because we will become like local celebrities to these villages and everyone is going to want to know about us. For most of these villages, they have never seen foreigners before. So it will be interesting how all of us can interact with them. But luckily for me, my teacher told me that my host mom will be absolutely ecstatic that I like to eat alot food, Georgians love when outsiders can eat and drink large quantities. Ill be hearing tchame tchame!!! (eat more eat more) alot, looks like Ill be fitting in just fine :) Plus, as I mentioned before, the Republic of Georgia is the nexus of the creation of wine, and the region Kakheti, where Ill be, is the nexus of the nexus center where wine is made. So every family has their own winery and family specialty wine that they make themselves and keep in their storage. Like 200 gallons of this stuff. Oh man.

But Im super excited, because Georgians are such an open people, they are always hugging and kissing us, and the ones who can speak some English say that now the Peace Corps is allowed back in the country their lives are going to ok again. Its really flattering and sometimes overwhelming to see these people who need us so much and depend on the Peace Corps and similar agencies to make their lives better. Once we begin our lives in the village we wont have much contact with the internet. Some villages dont have any signal at all, plus our schedules will be packed during our training. We have language class from 9 to 1, then technical business training for the rest of the day.......6 days of the week. But it will be good, becuase I feel this will completely ready us for the real thing come September. So on that note, I probably wont be able to update this blog often or at all for a while. But Ill send postcards, letters, and presents to those who I have an address. To everyone else, I love you and miss you. And wish you all the best.

Nakhvamdis!

I cant tell you how amazing it feels to finally be laying down in my hotel bed, after taking a shower,...in Tbilisi. After our 11 hour flight across the Atlantic, and 3 more to get to Georgia from Turkey, we are all here. AND with all the luggage!

First impression, Georgian people are one of the nicest and easy going peoples I've met. They could definately give us a couple of pointers on southern hospitality. When we landed in the airport, we were greeted by all the Peace Corps country staff, half of which are from the US and the others, locals, who are associated with Peace Corps Georgia. So as we are walking out of the airport we were stopped by the US ambassador and some important big wigs from the Georgian government. They were there to thank and welcome us to this beautiful country and announce to the public that the United States Peace Corps is back in business in Georgia. We all felt like celebrities, there were camera crews and photographers flashing away to get our picture. And of course, yours truly couldn't resist doing an interview which our Country Director said will most likely be played on the Georgian news tonight! Anyhoo, it was really great and it amped all of us up about the whole ordeal. So after all of that died down we took a bus to an amazing restaurant where Peace Corps treated us to an incredible Georgian meal, which most likely resembles their supra (gigantic Thanksgiving like feast). Cheese breads, garlic chicken, beans, salmon, barbeque pork, veggies, potatoes, salads, etc etc. It was unbelievable..the food kept coming out and I was trying my best to keep up.

But the best thing by far today, was the city itself. Though alot of it is run down and is slow in trying to build itself up, there is so much history and culture in Tbilisi. There are old castles and statues everywhere, gorgeous multicolor lights illuminating the city itself. Our hotel is actually on a mountain side peering over the city. And at night, the view is undescribable. Just so happy to finally be here. But it will be another quick night because we have to wake up early and start language classes already! So wish me luck, and hope to fill you in on the next couple of days.

So Delta screwed up a couple of the people's baggage destinations. One of those volunteers, being me. It may end up in Istanbul...it may not. But they said be prepared to wear whatever you have with you for the next couple of days. Great start! Hahah

Man. So after only running on 45 minutes of sleep, I get to Charlotte airport, randomly run into a friend from FSU, finally arrive in Philadelphia, and bump into a person from a MTV reality show and then finally get to the orientation and have a chance to meet the other volunteers. Awesome people. Very excited to work and learn alongside this group of peeps. There are 30 of us, 27 around my age and 3 which could be my parents. But everyone has a positive and energetic spirit. Also found out, there are 20 teachers and only 10 business volunteers, 6 of which speak Russian and gonna be in a different area from us. So it ill be interesting who I actually study with. But yeah, busy day.

So I finally get to the hotel where we do our staging event and we are stationed in a conference room for 6 hours to go over policies, anxieties, aspirations, etc.; most of which involved skits or group discussions. Afterwards, we were given 140 bucks for a dinner and a night on the town fee which we took to our advantage. By advantage I mean $10 bucks worth of raffle tickets, 2 slices of pizza, endless pitchers of Guiness, pool and karaoke. It was an awesome first night in Philly to say the least. By the by, Philly cheesesteaks here are the bomb. Obviously. Anyways, we have an early morning tomorrow...driving to JFK to fly to Istanbul and eventually Tbilisi. Looking forward to arriving there though, because since we are the first volunteers back since the Russain/Georgian conflict there is going to be alot of press and media on us. TV crews, journalists, the US Amabassador, etc etc. Who knows, yours truly might have a picture on the front page of the Georgian Times...haha.

Well, gettin late. Missing you OTL.

PS. Got my number for my PC phone. you can call me or text me whenever youd like. Its free for me if you call. I get my phone this Thursday I believe. Yeah!!! Here it is: 011-995-91-917-128. Cant wait to hear from yall!!!

Found out that the address I posted before is a little outdated. Disregard that one.

Here is the updated address on where I'll be during my 3 months of training.

</fck:meta>Haha, ok so I was right the first time. After going through my orientation, they say to use this address, as it is more accurate. Sorry bout the mix up!

www.youtube.com/watch

Watching the clock tick.

Well, I have one more week left here in Tallahassee, and feel that there is so much left to do. Nervous, anxious, but overall excited for this next chapter in my life. For those of you that don't know, I will be traveling to the Republic of Georgia, or as they call it Sakartvelos, with the United States Peace Corps as a Business advisor and consultant to help small businesses get on their feet. I have been slowly trying to learn and get accustomed to their language, that is composed of 33 different characters, in which most sound like your hawking up a loogie. Though it won't be too useful back in the states, it'll be a sweet party trick to speak it. Either way, I'm ready and excited to learn.

Here are two maps of Georgia, so that it can give you a little idea where I'll be. All volunteers will be in the Kakheti and Kvemo Kartli regions of Georgia, although we wont know any more than that until we complete our pre service training, which they say usually takes 3 months.

In Georgia we will learn Georgian, a skill I am sure every future employer will be impressed by, haha. But really, how many people can say they speak fluent Georgian? The answer: just over 4 million people speak it in the world, most of whom reside in Georgia. Despite the relatively small number of people who speak Georgian it is one of the oldest languages in the world. Some historians believe that the alphabet and script date back to the fourth century B.C.E. Most linguists consider Georgian to be a unique Caucasian language that is not related to any Indo-European or Semantic languages, which means it should be fun to learn. We are told that their are 17 dialects of Georgian that can be identified across the country.

Since my audience is a bit varied I will try my best to explain things about where I am and what I am doing. Since you can now see that Georgia is, in fact, a great distance from the US, in the future I will do my best to explain more of what their culture is like and what I will be doing as a volunteer.

I will hope to post stories, going-ons, and my Peace Corps activities as often as I can here. It will be exciting to share this wonderful and beautiful country with all of you. Below I have my address if anyone feels so compelled to send me anything, haha, I won't mind ;)

Lastly, I just want to thank everyone for being so positive and enthusiastic for my decision to go. Without all the support from family, friends, and especially my OTL, chances are this wouldn't be the leap I would be taking. So thank you once again, and I'm looking forward to sharing my new life with all of you.

Feel free to leave any comments below, it'd be great to hear from you guys.

Nakhvamdis!!! (Good bye) I will miss all of you.