Heat Wave

After having pleasant weather for the weekend, July came back with a vengeance. I don’t know how hot it was but trust me, it was hot.

It being two days before I left Oz for good and journeyed back to the States for vacation, I figured I would pack. My things had expanded in the year of living here. More clothes, books, etc. So I knew I would have to expertly pack and put thought into it. I was also debating if I should take some clothes back to the States, as I tend to reuse clothes more often and wear them for multiple days. I decided against it, as I don’t really know if I will have opportunities to return to get them. But I did decide to leave the bulk of things here in Oz and retrieve them when I get back to Georgia. I am only bringing a minimal amount of clothes back, which is a new thing for me. I am a compulsive over packer.

I started packing soon after waking up. It was warm but still bearable. By 1 o’clock, I was in my underwear glistening with sweat.

I had planned on seeing my English club girls one more time today, but we had not set a time. But as fate would have it, Lana called at 1:30 and summoned me to come to town! Ugh. I asked was she crazy. Why not wait until the sun went down? We had to do it then, because Sofo had a thing in the evening. Ugh.

So I put my clothes on, and started walking to town. Before I got halfway there, I was sweating through my hat and shirt. By the time I got to town, I was mad.

I saw them sitting in the park, thankfully under a tree in the shade. Megi was in a funk because she had jus taken her final exam. The other girls were in a good mood. But it was too hot to sit outside. I suggested we go get ice cream. Sofo left early unfortunately to her thing, so Lana, Megi and I went to a local restaurant. I also bought them pizza and cokes. The pizza was the best I have had in Oz. I didn’t even have to tell them not to put on mayonnaise. AND the restaurant was air-conditioned! It was a great time. Hopefully if they do well on their exams, they will go to University in Tbilisi. And if they are in Tbilisi, I will see them often. We were joking that it’s a shorter travel time to travel from Mtskheta to Tbilisi than to walk from my house to town.

The education system works like this: If the student scores well enough, the University is fully paid for. Otherwise, they give you a stipend based on your score. If you don’t do well, you have to pay for the entire tuition. It’s a pretty good system because the village and town educated kids have an opportunity to get a higher education.

Then I had to walk back home in the scorching heat. Natia and Gurami had it worse than me though. They both had to work out in the sun today. Natia at the village and Gurami in the corn fields.

Day two of the heat wave.

Saturday was hot out the gate. Thankfully, Natia was home with us. She knows how to manipulate the house, it’s windows and doors to achieve the maximum cool effect. But that could only hold the heat off for so long.

At mid-day, Gurami burst into the living room and asks if I want to go swimming in the river. I thought he was saying I should go swimming at the river with the kids (Giorgi had already gone). But he said he was going and that they were going to a village.   …Adventure!!!

We packed into the neighbors’ car; Natia, Gurami, Salome (Gurami’s Goddaughter), and myself. We first had to make several stops. First Salome had to go vote. It was election day for a run-off. Then we stopped for a watermelon. We then headed out of town.

We passed some familiar villages along the way. Then, as the air became cooler, we started seeing swarms of people at accessible places at the river. Thankfully we kept motoring past. We finally got to a spot we very few cars. It was in a village called Gomi.

We shimmed down a bank to a pebbled area along side the river. The water was moving pretty fast and there were rocks of various sizes from boulders to medium sized. I had very sensitive feet, so I already knew this wasn’t going to work. But its an adventure, right?

Salome

Natia

We walked along the shore for a little bit to get away from the other people there. Natia and Salome stayed with the stuff, while Gurami, our neighbor, Zuka, and myself went to scope out the river for swimming holes. it was COLD. So cold it made my body numb. We hoped some rocks, waded through some rapids and finally found a semi-calm area. But as I said, it was so cold that we only stayed in for 10 minutes max.

Salome and me

We made our way back to the ladies and started eating the snacks we had brought. Natia brought some cake that she had baked that morning, then we ate the watermelon. They had placed it in the river to get cold, but we hadn’t been swimming that long, so it was still hot. And Salome brought some Coke to wash it all down.

Gurami and me

It was a very nice change from the sweltering heat of town and the house. But it was an untamed riverbank. So there were no convenient places to sit and actually relax. So very shortly, we were all ready to go.

As soon as we got back to town, the heat overcame us again.

***

It’s like a heat wave
Burnin’ in my heart
I can’t keep from cryin’
It’s tearin’ me apart

Heat Wave, The Supremes

Because I’m Happy

Here is the video to the song Happy I mentioned earlier. Apparently various regions in Georgia are producing their own versions. But, of course, ours is the best! It’s not the actual song( or a remix). I’m sure it’s because of copyright laws.

I don’t make an appearance until towards the end of the video. As I said in the other post, I freestyle danced for almost two full songs, which is a LOT of dancing. But the part they chose of me to show are Not my best moves.   …oh well.

Also in the video is my friend from Peace Corp here in Oz, Jessica. She is sporting the US soccer jersey.

Enjoy!!!

 

 

***

Because I’m happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do

Happy, Pharrell Williams

 

 

 

Starships: Senior Banquet Video

The videographer finally finished with the footage from the senior banquet. I’m not gonna lie, he did better than I thought he would with the editing.

*Although Georgia is an impoverished country overall, I still can’t explain the abundance of 3oo Series BMW’s.

 

 

***

Starships were meant to fly
Hands up and touch the sky
Can’t stop ‘cause we’re so high
Let’s do this one more time

Starships, Nicki Minaj

The Spectacle

I saw Sophia while walking into town the other day. She told me that she was coming back from the theatre. As there was a repeat performance the next day, I decided to go. And Sophia loved it so much that she wanted to go again with me and my friend, Ashley.

But because this is Georgia, of course there was miscommunication. It was not a concert. Sophia corrected herself and told me it was a “spectacle”… whatever that means. Lana (who also came with us) further explained and said it was a film.

We met 15 minutes before, and walked to the theatre together. They escorted us through the back way. When we got to the actual seating area, the usher escorted us to the front. That’s when Ashley and I realized that we were going to see a play. Lana and Sophia left us to go see some friends back in town, so we were left to our own devices in terms of deciphering what they were saying. Fortunately they explained the gist of the play and we were able to follow along.

So the story goes: There is a family with one little daughter. She is taken one day by two rouges. Through a series of events, the little girl ends up in the hands of another husband and wife who takes the child and raises her as their own. The girl grows up and learns to love her new family. Well, her real father finds her and brings her back home, but the little girl (now a teenager) doesn’t recognize them. Her parents are obviously heartbroken. But the girl hears a lullaby from her childhood and the memories of her past come flooding back.

Although we didn’t understand all of the conversation, the acting was sooo good, that we not only got the gist of action, but we also felt the emotion. My only criticism was that the songs were lip-synced. With all the talent in Georgia, they surely could have found some singers. Oh well.

Also, one of my students, Nini, played the teenage abducted girl. She didn’t have a lot of speaking parts, but she was a great dancer and was beautiful actress. And her mom, the dance teacher at my school, Mariko, was the choreographer for the play.

 

Nini

Marika and Nini

 

I am so glad that I went to see it. I need to find out the name of the play and more information about it.

***

“The Stories are centuries old. They shout of discovered love and lost hope, of humor and anguish, of mystery and maidens and tragic farewells. Within three plain walls and a curtain lies a world in which we’ve never lived. A world we think we know. The Performing Arts are beacons of the times. They reflect the best of us and the worst of us. As they tell their tales, on a stage, shining in the light.” – Anonymous

IKEA Kids

Kids here take summer break very seriously. When they break, they BREAK. They do not want to do  anything  school related. I don’t blame them. It starts to heat up around 11 am.

TLG wants us to organize a summer program in order to get paid. But the problem is, again, the kids don’t want to do anything in the summer that even resembles school. So we have to scramble and beg the school administration to brow beat and rustle kids up or try to coerce the kids that love us the most to come to whatever program we have put together, using up valuable goodwill capital doing so.

This summer, I went to an NGO here in town and asked them if they had a willing group of kids in place already that I could hook up with. Fortunately, this NGO is in touch with the populations in Oz that need social services, old folks homes, orphanages, etc. My contact gave me the run down on one of the group homes and scheduled a visit.

I was a little nervous at first, because of the unfortunate stigma of orphanages in the States. But from what I saw here, the government takes great care of their troubled population. (Except for the gypsies. They roam the streets with seemingly no assistance.) The house was situated on a main road right along with the other private residences. Inside was pleasantly and nicely furnished. Actually, their furniture and household things were much better and modern than anything I had seen in other Georgian homes. From the kitchen to living areas to common rooms, it looked straight out of an IKEA catalogue.

I fell in love with the kids immediately. When initially meeting a new group of kids, I always have a phobia that they will ‘see through me’ and reject me. And although they sized me up at first, they took to me quite rapidly by showing me THEIR rooms and drawings. I was put at ease and knew we would work well together.

Badri, Mariko, Kristina

Badri

There are 8 kids at the home between ages of 10 and 16. I saw one of my 1^st grade students there, but I had erroneously been told she was an orphan, too. Her mom is the caregiver. I decided to split them up into two groups for their lessons, which worked out great according to ability level. (With the exception of one older boy, Ruslan. He doesn’t know any English. So I will tutor him individually.)

 

Kristina

Badri, Mariko, Kristina

 

Giorgi, Kristina, Mari, Resi

Resi

It’s a pleasant surprise to have a small group of attentive students all who want to learn. Today Mariko was perturbed that our time was up. I could not have fallen into a better situation.

***

I’m Gonna Make A Change,
For Once In My Life
It’s Gonna Feel Real Good,
Gonna Make A Difference
Gonna Make It Right . . .

I See The Kids In The Street,
With Not Enough To Eat
Who Am I, To Be Blind?
Pretending Not To See
Their Needs
A Summer’s Disregard,
A Broken Bottle Top
And A One Man’s Soul
They Follow Each Other On
The Wind Ya’ Know
‘Cause They Got Nowhere
To Go
That’s Why I Want You To
Know

I’m Starting With The Man In
The Mirror

Man In The Mirror, Michael Jackson

HAPPY

I hadn’t really looked at my phone last Monday. I was content to be with the people I was with. When I finally did look at it, I had several missed calls and texts from my student, Lana. She texted, “I am trying to get in touch with you. As soon as you get this message, contact me. It’s very important!”   …okay.

She said they were making a dance video the next morning and wanted me to be in it. I am NOT one to turn down an invitation to be in a dance video. I told her I was visiting a friend in the village, but I would do my best.

Next day, I arrive back in Ozurgeti and Lana tells me to come to the park in front of the theatre. When I arrive to the spot, I notice a computer next to a huge speaker with an extension cord sprawling away into a shop across the street. I don’t see any kids (or anyone, for that matter) around. When I get to the speaker, I notice a gang of people walking towards me from all directions. Boys and girls all dressed ‘hipster Georgian’. I immediately feel out of place as I was wearing a thrift shop mix of Adidas shorts and a batman t-shirt. Whatever.

 

 

We mill around for a while. I am confused as to what I should be doing. I think they were collectively getting artistic inspiration. I was told that I would be dancing alone, but could do whatever I wanted. But first they were going to do their part.

They had the cutest choreographed dance!!! We danced to the song, Happy, by Pharrell Williams.

 

 

 

They videotaped it three more times for editing purposes. Then everyone (most people) left and the videographer took down the speaker. I was again confused. I simply followed the choreographer, Marika, back to the theater. She apparently just needed a cigarette break. She had gathered with her crew of young ,seemingly single, females. They hid behind one of the giant pillars in front of the theatre. This was a cultural thing. Women who smoke are frowned upon in Georgia, so the ones that do smoke tend to hide their activities from the watchful eye of the public. Girls who smoke are seen as ‘loose’. I guess she didn’t mind if I knew, figuring that I was not Georgian or American and knew those social mores didn’t apply with me.

Once they were finished, we walked to another area of the park where the videographer was setting up again. This area was to be my stage.

The music started. Action!

 

I love dancing, but dancing to a fast paced song without stopping is a daunting, exhausting task. Surely I used to, I think. They wanted to do it all in one take. I couldn’t think of enough dance moves to fill the space without repeating or think of dances that fit the tempo. By the end I was spent. I’m getting too old for this.

Then they wanted me to do it again in another place! Thankfully they let me rest. In the mean time, they taped a little girl doing a solo dance, too. She was soooo cute!!! And mort importantly, she had the right idea; short, concise, manageable movements. I was going all out, whereas she was in her lane. Kept it simple. Noted.

So it was my turn again, I threw in some ‘robot’, ‘grocery store’, ‘sprinkler’, etc. I still was winded by the time the song was over. but they were happy. Mission Accomplished.

Note to self for future. No more dancing to entire songs for me. I am resorting to music video dancing, which is to get down for short bursts of a dance, then stop for others to be seen or have a turn. It’s all about conserving the energy.

***

One more thing…

This year there were a LOT of programs at the school. I don’t know why I didn’t put one and one together that they were all choreographed by our dance teacher, Marika. She is so talented!

Marika, the Choreographer

She came up with all the single class dances for their programs and all the dances for the senior banquet and programs. I appreciate that she CAN dance, and we dance well together. I think she has been used to ‘leading’ for so long now, that its awkward for her to be led in a particular dance.

Anyway, cheers to her and her bringing the art of dance to the kids! This is a picture of me with Marika and her crew (and her daughter, in green).

***

“Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do”

Pharrell Williams, Happy

The Time Of Our Lives

I have been waiting for this day for a year now. MY seniors’ banquet. I knew some of the seniors from last year, Lado, of course. But I didn’t know them or as many as I do this year.

This senior group was one of a kind. Everyone said so, its not just me being biased. They have a high percentage of talent and beauty. Several of the girls are on track to be national dancers, they have fantastic singers, and I saw one of the boys on a national quiz show. They are loved by the younger kids because they are kind and inclusive (as opposed to last years seniors who were mostly jerks). They are light hearted and just like to be happy. So to be able to toast to them and dance with them was special for me.

I had to walk from my host family’s house to town in my suit, which makes me feel awkward. Imagine being dressed up and walking 20 minutes on potholed, dusty roads past pigs, nosey neighbors and dodging cowshit. Not fun. But on the way, I was stopped twice to take a picture with a baby.

The venue was changed from last year. So I didn’t know exactly where I was going, I figured I would get to town and see people. Which is exactly what happened.

They were gathered in the circle in front of the theater…. waiting. Eventually the seniors started trickling in. A speaker system was produced from the heart of the theater building and blasted music. They called it a flash mob, but it was in fact a mini concert by the seniors!!! It was so good I couldn’t stop smiling.

 

 

Then they walked off like nothing happened onto a red carpet that just happened to be in the middle of the street to the restaurant. No Big Deal.

I gotta give them props. That was ballin’ status.

Once inside the venue, they of course had to dance to ‘We are the World’. They the night was sprinkled with choreographed dances mixed with Georgian dances. (This is definitely residual from Soviet times, where EVERYTHING had to be rehearsed) After ten or so toasts and the rehearsed dances were finished, we all danced and danced and danced.

 

Once the moms had some shots of cognac, they too started dancing. I was passed around like a top to first take photos, then to dance with them. Oh so fun!!

The food just kept coming and coming. I still can not wrap my mind around the abundance of food at supras. I KNOW that the idea is to overwhelm guests with food, I KNOW that, yet I am still always overwhelmed.

Of course my English Club girls were beautiful. They had a great time. Sofo and Megi had the foresight to bring a change of clothes. Sofo went a step further and had what seemed like multiple costume changes.

I looked up and it was 3 in the morning. So I stumbled home, drenched in sweat, and went to bed.

My camera was not charged fully, so I was not able to get the amount of pictures that I wanted, but these hopefully will paint the scene. I ripped some from the Interwebs.

Lana

Sofo

Tamuna

 

Theo

Mari

***

“Now I’ve had the time of my life
No I never felt like this before
If I swear it’s the truth
And I owe it all to you
‘Cause I’ve had the time of my life
And I owe it all to you”

(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life, Bill Medley

 

Community

Another reason I love Ozurgeti is its size. It’s a small, intimate community. I love reading books or seeing movies where everyone in the town goes (usually by walking) to see the latest production at the theater or the auditorium is packed for the kids’ production of ‘A Christmas Story’. That’s how it is in Oz. Every event is met with overwhelming support from the community.

I had thought that the seniors were the only ones with an end year production. Boy, was I wrong. It seems as if EVERY class has one. And Tuesday was my 4^th graders turn. Natia had told me about it the night before. Fine. And although she told me it was 12, it actually was to start at 1, which meant it didn’t start until 2.

All the teachers were there, as well as all of the parents and their friends from other grades. I guess they stopped all the other classes to do this because it was performed in the main corridor of the second floor of the school, which is its heart. AND this was during school, which meant the parents that were working had to get off work to come. Community.

The performance, although long, was the cutest thing ever! They of course dressed uniformly and made ties out of construction paper. These performances consist of songs and dances and recitations of poems and speeches. Given the length of the program, they had to have practiced for a long, long time. Adding to the cuteness factor was that there is ALWAYS one or two kids who steal the show by their obvious talent over all the others. And also the couple who forget their lines or ad libs to add flavor.

 

 

 

 

Georgia does not separate the disabled (mental or physical) students from the rest of their classmates. I have my own opinions about that philosophy, but I have heard it argued that under Soviet rule, these kids were segregated and dismissed so utterly, that society has now swung the opposite direction in how they are treated. So there is no separate curriculum for them; “one size fits all”. One positive about this cultural set up, is the classmates respond beautifully. They learn from 1^st grade that something is ‘different’ about Giorgi, but he’s a kid like us. So Giorgi is accepted as he is. And they are together until they graduate.

In this particular class, there is Tornike. I don’t know what is medically wrong with him, but he literally bounces off the walls during class. The teacher gives him direction when things get out of hand, and the other kids shoo him away like a fly when he becomes too distracting.

Tornike was in rare form during the program. He was trying so hard to be on his best behavior and trying to stay on tune with the rest of the songs. He was if anything, super excited. Well as I said, throughout the program all the kids had speaking parts, either of a poem or a speech. Towards the end, it was Tornike’s turn. His first three words were loud and clear. But I think he scared himself. You could see it on his face. He had a ranging of emotion from excitement, to shock, to forgetfulness, to OH SHIT!, then embarrassment. The teacher came up behind him and lovingly tried to coax the words out of him. But by that time his emotion turned to tears. Not the uncontrollable sob tears, but the hot unbidden tears of emotion. When that didn’t help him to continue, the rest of the class chimed in to assist. When he finished, his face had a look of gratitude and embarrassment for not doing it on his own. But his classmates kept on with the pace of the program as if nothing happened. Tornike wiped his tears, smiled nervously at his classmates to the right and left, then got into character and joined the chorus of the next song. Community.

I started to daze towards the end of the program. It was hot and stuffy in the hall and it was all in Georgian. But I was jolted back to alertness by hearing my name in one of the monologues. I looked over to my co teacher for explanation and she said that they were talking about me. And I would have to go up there. Oh goodness. So I made my way through the dense crowd (I was at the back). Once at the front of the audience, they were still speaking about me (in popcorn fashion), all in Georgian. It was so humbling. Then the strongest student in English (speaking) looks directly at me, smiles and says “We don’t want you to go. You are home.” That was followed by the second of the one-two combo of the strongest student in English (written/ grammar), “We love you and will miss you”.

I couldn’t take it. I was overwhelmed by love and started crying then and there. Then they invited me to dance a Georgian dance with them. Of course.

Community.

***

“It takes a village to raise a child” – African Proverb

Take It From The Top

Several months ago, my director informed us that we would be having what I interpreted as a day where other education officials and teachers from the town can come and observe our classes at our school. At the very same time, he expressed a desire for me to dance in said observation. Now, although I love to dance, I hate doing so upon request. Don’t know why, I’m weird that way. But my director is very persistent and he gave me a student dancer who was to choreograph the dance and privately instruct me. Fine.

Elene was one of the teachers chosen to do a lesson for that day and she was to give a presentation of her last two years of being trained to instruct other teachers on different methods. And because she was chosen that means I, too, was chosen. So for the next several weeks we brainstormed ideas for both.

I remember when I was growing up, watching movies or videos of ‘demonstrations’ in Communist countries; Soviet Union, China. These demonstrations would basically take the form of a huge parade of massive amounts of people in a town square either dancing, singing or marching. I remember thinking then, “They must have practiced for hours to do such synchronized movements…”

When the observation day was announced, one class, my sixth grade, was on a section in the book called, “Old customs in the New World”. And that’s where we stayed for the next several weeks until the observation. The students were drilled back and forth as to how to pronounce and recite several pages of information on Tibetans, Sami peoples, Incas and Bedouins. She expanded the lesson and coached them on how to talk about cultural aspects of Georgia. Now the perplexing part is where one day, she took me aside and said that she HATED when teachers practiced with their kids what to say during an observation. So obviously she saw a difference, but what that difference was is beyond my comprehension.

I started learning the Georgian dance almost immediately. My instructor was a student named Tatia. She was super strict and not friendly AT ALL. Which is good for me, because I just wanted to learn the dance. She had a friend, Ana who came with her, too. Eventually Ana would become my dance partner. We practiced during school, which was weird, but only once a week. Closer to the day of the observations, Tatia started becoming more and more absent. Ana took more and more of a commanding role. Actually we had been practicing without music, but Ana brought in the track we were to dance to. She also changed some of the steps to fit better.

Ana

 

 

The day before and of the presentations, EVERYONE was cleaning and preparing. Scrubbing the walls, hiding broken equipment, etc. The guests would not arrive until noon, so there was one last dress rehearsal at 10. This is when I found out I would NOT dance with Ana, but with the dance teacher and her daughter. Not only would I dance with new people, but they were going to change the song and choreography. …Okay. So I learned this new choreography as fast as I could, then found out the teacher’s daughter would not dance with us after all, because Ana heard about being cut out and started bawling and she didn’t understand why THIS student could dance with me but she couldn’t. Drama. So it ended up being the dance teacher and myself.

So we performed the open lesson for the other teachers in town, did the presentation of Elene’s experiences then had the mini concert. In addition to my performance there were other singers, dancers and poetry recitals. We have a depth of talent at this school.

 

Mariam, prettiest voice in Georgia.

 

 

 

All in all, I would say it was a very successful day. The rehearsing paid off.

 

***

Til The Cows Come Home

 

 The neighborhood cows on a leisurely stroll. (None of these cows are ours.)