Po-mo in Po-So(viet) Georgia

MOUNTAINEERING!

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 05:11:37 GMT

Hello all! This weekend was rather fun! The past weekend was orthodox easter here in GEorgia. So i got off school for 4 days! yay for easter! So i decided to take the opportunity to explore more of georgia. I went to Kaheti to visit my friend Kevin who is leaving soon. This is sad, however Kaheti was really pretty! it is all rolling vineyards and valleys...loverly.. if you squint and try to block out ugly soviet monuments it kinda looks like france!
After Gurjaani i met up with my friends John and Kevin and we headed up to Kazbegi. Kazbegi is this really big mountain in the greater caucases. It is crazy big and at the top of one of the summits is this really pretty monastary.
So john kevin and i go up. I only brought 30 lari with me figuring the other two guys could float me for the rest of the trip... well i thought wrong. John also only brought 40 lari and kevin, thinking ahead brought 100 lari, but when we did the math we realized we didn't have enough money to get down the mountain...more later director is here. ugh.

whoops! It's been awhile

Tue, 11 Apr 2006 10:42:21 GMT

Hello,
Sorry it's been so long. My mom told me that I had to update my journal again. So i will oblidge.
It seems spring is here! Everything is warm and nice. I can go for walks and all is well. I went a little nuts in march...but i think that's what supposed to happen then...no? My host mom says "Marti aris rogorts kali" which means "march is like a woman"...aka nuts. Gender sterotypes aside, i think march was a bit crazy. But i'm better now. I need to work out a better living situation which should be done by may or so. But things are moving steadily. I am working on writing a grant for my english cabinet and doing a teacher training here in rustavi this weekend. All is keeping me busy. If you want to send books for dvd's in english for my cabinet that would be awesome. I am going to try to get a tv, a dvd player, mavis becon teaches typing program, a cd player, and a bunch of books like harry potter and some art books for my class. Is very exciting. So far my summer seems to be shaping up nicely. I will camping with eco project all summer long. The first of these camps is in rustavi at the end of may. Wish me luck on organizing this camping trip, as i have never camped in my life. But i have faith. It can't be all that hard can it?
I also plan on going to greece at the beginning of june. Then I will go somewere with my parents, my mom makes ridiculous plans like I do and lord knows where we will end up. Yesterday on the phone she mentioned this itinerary: amsterdam, denmark, stockholm, helsinki, and st. petersburg. this seems rather ridiculous to me, but whatever they want i'll agree to...i'm very easy to please now. Then in July Jillanne is supposed to come visit...which i am VERY excited for! She doesn't know it yet, but i've planned a fabulous itinerary for us which indludes mountains, the beach, and Eastern turkey! yay!
Then ben mentioned he might come in august...but i'm not sure about this yet, and in september i'm gonna go to azerbaijan!
yay!
when I'm incountry i'll be camping and going to svaneti, kazbegi, and the beach!
yay for no school in summer!
yay!
I also met a bunch of congressmen who came to visit the other day, that was bizzare. but i'll write about that later
bye!

International women's day

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 06:26:39 GMT

OMG! I just made the most amazing text for my classes about international women's day! I will paste it in here! I am teaching them so much. it brings a tear to my eye.

International Women's Day

International Women's Day (8 March) is a day when women from all over the world come together to celebrate one uniting factor: their womanhood. International Women's Day celebrates all women—from those who made history, to ordinary housewives, mothers, and daughters.
Even though everyone loves their mothers, daughters, and sisters, there are still a lot of things that a lot of people think women can and cannot do.

 Can you think of a few things that you think a woman should or shouldn’t do with her life?
 Do you think a woman should get married?
 Should she have a job?
 Should she make more money than her husband?
 Can a woman live by herself?
 Can a woman run a company?
 Can a woman run a country?
 And if she does, do you think she can also raise a family?
 How do you think the lives of women in Georgia compares to women around the world?
 Are women today treated differently than women when your mother was young?
 What about differently than when your Grandmother was alive? If so how?

Hillary Clinton: A Strong Woman

Hillary Diane Rodham, Dorothy and Hugh Rodham's first child, was born on October 26, 1947. Hillary's childhood in Park Ridge, Illinois, was happy and disciplined. She loved sports and her church, and was a member of the National Honor Society, and a student leader. Her parents encouraged her to study hard and to pursue any career that interested her. As an undergraduate at Wellesley College, Hillary mixed academic excellence with school government. Speaking at graduation, she said, "The challenge now is to practice politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible, possible."
In 1969, Hillary entered Yale Law School, where she served on the Board of Editors of Yale Law Review and Social Action, interned with children's advocate Marian Wright Edelman, and met Bill Clinton. The two were soon inseparable--partners in moot court, political campaigns, and matters of the heart. They married in 1975. She joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas Law School in 1975 and the Rose Law Firm in 1976. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the board of the Legal Services Corporation, and Bill Clinton became governor of Arkansas. Their daughter, Chelsea, was born in 1980.
Bill Clinton was elected President of the United States in 1992 and Hillary became known across the United States as “First Lady”. As First Lady, her public involvement with many activities sometimes led to controversy. Undeterred by critics, Hillary won many admirers for her staunch support for women around the world and her commitment to children's issues.
In 1998, Hillary Clinton faced a one of her biggest dilemmas. The Republican opposition party discovered that her husband, President Bill Clinton, had had an affair with a young girl who was working in the White House. Because of this Hillary found herself under attack from everyone. Traditional men and women were angry at Hillary for being such a powerful woman and seemingly “un-feminine”. But Feminists were mad at Hillary for sticking by her husband though the crisis and not divorcing herself from Bill. But Hillary stuck by her husband though the crisis and remains his friend and his wife to this day.
She was elected United States Senator from New York on November 7, 2000. She is the first First Lady elected to the United States Senate and the first woman elected statewide in New York.

Oh my stomach

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 12:33:59 GMT

My stomach hurts. I just ate a bunch of suspect dates and now i don't feel so good. i hope i either feel better or develop some type of stomach ailment that makes me lose about 20 lbs. Ugggh. Speaking of losing weight, i'm going swimming! I bought a swimsuit and cap and goggles online the other day and am waiting for them to come! i figure if i spend money on it i will do it! so i am beginning on march 1st swimming and that gives me 3 months before june to get in shape! and shape i will! after all am planning on going to croatia and greece this summer.
oh, speaking of greece i showed my big fat greek wedding to my afterschool club today, and they LOVED it!
my site mate jamie is back with a vengence! i am so glad he is back because he knows how to do everything and is very helpful and will go eat pillmeni with me. it is all good.
oh well,
I needs to get off the computer.
more laters!
bye!
lizzie

Warm again or Tbilia!

Sat, 11 Feb 2006 09:44:49 GMT

Fear Not, for I am warm. After my week in bed (not in the fun sense ala Yoko Ono and John Lennon), I finally made my way to Tbilisi and to warmth and luxury. We had a week for language In service training at the Varazi hotel in Tblilis. It was fabulous, showers, heat, the works. To my dismay I found that i am truly awful at georgian compared to everyone else...but i get by. At least i look georgian, so no matter how gramatically incorrect i speak i still seem to be understood better than anyone else. There's no dissmissing the beauty of BODY LANGUAGE.
Anywhoo, Now i am getting back into the swing of teaching and things are going pretty well. I am working away on Eco Project and now my school has enlisted me to create a website for the school. Not much has really happend too exciting. This past week i have really been craving bagels and lox, and, strangely enough, steak. I have never craved steak in my life, but eh, c'est la vie.
Oh, I am trying to create an english library at my school. If you would like to ship me old children's books i would be very greatful! i can give you all my address if you are serious. also, if anyone would like to send me season 3-6 of sex in the city i would also be very pleased.
Well, that's all for now. I'm pretty lazy. Oh, one of my students gave me the sweetest card. i will see if i can post it later this week. And, i am teaching my students old elvis songs like "are you lonesome tonight" and "I can't help falling in love with you" for valentine's day. it is very cute.
ta!
lizzie

COLD!

Fri, 27 Jan 2006 10:49:12 GMT

I'm Cold. As you may or may not know the gas pipline to georgia was blown up sometime last weekend. Since then Georgia has not had gas. This situation also affected the electricity supply...probably because more people needed electricity all the sudden... so electricty has also been on the fritz in the country. Adding to this apparent problem is the massive drop in temperature as of late, and crazy snow storms that have ravaged the country.
The hardest hit because of these events are, naturally, urban areas. In the villages, where gas and electricity are rare anyways, people know how to deal with harsher situations. they have petchi's to heat water and provide warmth in the winter. In cities, however, people generally have no such percautions. SUch is my situation in RUstavi.
My family heats the house with one gas Karma. This karma serves to heat one room in the house. My room is heated with an electric heater. however, with no gas or electricity, i am screwed...and cold.
ALso, the peace corps have placed a travel restriction on all volunteers in country because of the severe weather. THus, i am stuck in rustavi.
I think i have developed a type of SHAD: Shuki (electricity) affected depression. when the electricity comes on for short periods of time at night i am filled with joy and delight. However, when it goes out i get steeped in a deep depression ( I am of course exagerating a bit...don't freak out mom). I also have not had school this week so i literally am in bed all day long. I only leave for a few hours to buy mono (so i can harrass people via text messaging) and to escape to a warm cafe. Luckily my host mother came home last night with a gas bunson burner so we can heat liquid. I almost died yesterday when i couldn't have my morning cup of coffee. Luckily i had stowed away a diet coke and my caffinee headache soon departed.
But, enough complaining. being shut in is kinda fun and self indulgant. You sort of just lie in bed (which is very warm mind you) and sulk. When we have electricity i immediately plug in my lap top and generally at night i am able to watch movies. I also have tetris on my computer. I tend to dream about tetris. I see visions of it when i close my eyes. COnsequently, I think i need to stop playing...
Also, wasting the day away with small tasks is also kinda fun. I spent an hour today lying in my bed singing along to show tunes on my ipod. It is crazy and very luxurious almost.
So this is my life right now. I hope to escape to blissy tomorrow if they lift travel restrictions. Thank god my mom and dad brought me warm underware when they visited. Ihaven't taken it off in a week.
Oh that reminds me, I also haven't showered in a week and don't plan on doing it anytime soon. I refused to wash my face yesterday and am also shunning bras. what is to become of me!
ahahah!
it really is kinda fuN!
hope the electricty comes back soon at least!
i was able to write this at an internet cafe using a generator. it also has taken up part of my day and given me a purpose today! hoooray!
miss you!
call me, I'm bored!
love,
lizzie

I'm back...whoops, been awhile.

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 12:45:56 GMT

Hello,
I'm back!
My chirstmas pagent was a sucess! Crazy, but sucessful. Then i went to Bakuriani for christmas where i froze, ate impromptu mexican food, and lit a firework! it was fun! Two days later i went to paris wwhere i met my mother, father, and friend ellena for new years! that was fabulous. had a disturbing experience in the plane bathroom trying to readjust to western culture though. apparently i have been using the squatter too long cause i actually sat down on the plane toilet while the seat was up, cause i just didn't notice...whoops! needless to say, i spent too much money in france and was kinda happy to get away from all the spending, shopping, and consumer culture (although i dearly love it). Then my rents and i headed back to good old georgia for a week full of fun. I think my mom was a bit more freaked after visitingm e than she was before she came, but all in all we had fun.
Now am am getting back in the swing of things, my work is picking up and i am glad. I am currently doing eco project, teacher training, and designing an alternate handbook on top of my teaching responsibliites, so i am very excited to be busy.
on the fun end, i went to a really sweet georgian club this weekend full of really fun and stylish georgians. i also made a russian best friend!
yaya!
lizzie

I'm freaking out

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 11:22:36 GMT

Now I know how my mom feels.
I am freaking out about christmas. The christmas pagent at my school is blowing up. It is getting way out of hand. We have added a grade so now it is not just my 6th and 7th forms, but also the 8th as well...and i never see the 8th form. OY! There is more. My pagant has turned into a cafe and we are going to have a supra then too. Today we just added on three dancing santa's and i have to make massive amounts of decorations. I AM FREAKING OUT. we are not ready and i don't know when we can have rehersals for all the students..
I also have to figure out how to put a techno dance into my christmas script. KACK!
okay enough for now. but know i am freaking out.

Conferences conferences and supra's

Tue, 13 Dec 2005 13:33:49 GMT

Oy vay!
I'm bushed! I have been running around for the past...well lord knows when! We had an all volunteer conference for thanksgiving, then a week off imediately followed by another tefl conference...with our counterparts! then this last weekend i had to go to a birthday supra for my friend erin, and this weekend i am off to another b day supra for my friend austin! then i have to go skiing and am off to paris! my life is so hard!
hahah, just kidding.
but seriously, i have been running around alot lately. I am also improving my "tamading" skills.
To clue you into what it means to be a "tamada", i realize i should give you some background information on the georgian supra.
A supra is essentially a big dinner .. Usually they coincide with some sort of celebration or something..but sometimes they are just impromptu. When you go to a supra cold dishes are usually set out for you. They include bean dishes, cabbage dishes, mayonaise dishes, cold meats, etc... . The immediate food in front of you can somtimes be a detriment. You can't fill up too soon because MULTIPLE hot courses are sure to be on the way.
There is, however, some semblance of order to a supra. A "Tamada" sits at the head of the table and his (or her....not normally women do it, but somtimes we can at all women's supra's or if you are a brash american, like myself, and decide to blur the gender lines!)job is to give toasts throughout the night. THe first toast is usally to peace followed by various other toasts--to love, partents, america, georgia, the dead, women, etc...the list goes on... It's nice to be a woman cause we don't ahve to drink at all the toasts...men however have to pay attention.. whereas the women just gossip the entire time.

So this is a supra. Well over the tefl conference i went to an impromptu supra at at a restraunt and i stole the position of tamada from these old men! and lemme tell you, i was FANTASTIC. Even though my georgian kinda sucks...cause i live in rustavi where everyone speaks english...i was still amazing. Tamading is all about style over substance, and as we all know i have always been a bit deeper on one end than the other.
I liked being tamada so much i stole the postion at my friend erin's bday supra! I kinda sucked there though, but i hope to be tamada again at austin's supra this weekend. we will have to see though, sometimes the gender dynamic gets a little fishy and i might not be allowed! thank god i don't live in a village! i can do whatever i want at my site and still be a good girl!
yay!
oh well, btw's. just to let you know, i am having a blast here. crazy times continue and i am very happy.
oh, but my xmas extravaganza is getting alittle out of hand. i just wanted to create a pagent with a few x mas songs, but now my school is calling it a carnival. food and a disquoteque are now being added on and in my 6th form today we decided to swing dance to rocking around the christmas tree.
I think this extravaganza deserves a big fat OY VAY! And i'm clearly MASHUGNA for getting involved with these gentiles!
paka!
lizzie

Hello!

Sat, 26 Nov 2005 11:15:36 GMT

Hello everyone,
Well i was getting good at this for awhile...but then I started to lag... sorry. Let me think for a second about what has happened since i last logged in. To begin with I shall relate the events of the all volunteer conference we had a week ago.
Essentially we had a conference on safety and security...which was bupkiss. The whole conference was basically an excuse to have a thanksgiving dinner! and it was delicious. I made roast veggies and eggplant, which i thought would be disgusting but wasn't so bad! so good job lizzie! we also went to the ambassadors freaky mansion for cocktails before the dinner. the mansion was hideous and modern (i have come to the conclusion that american buildings abroad and in the states have no care for asthetics and are henious and large buildings built with no imagination or design and the only thing they care about is if it can be secured... and even that varies!). THe house was really modern but inside it was really kitschy. there were quilts and kitsch memorabillia lining the walls... very bizzare.
Oh the conference also focused ALOT on the avian flu, and what happens when we get it. But i'm not too concerned. if I die from the flu i die from the flu... you know?
Oh, I got in a fight with a preist the other day because he didn't feel that teaching kids about a pagan holiday like halloween was appropriate...that was pretty annoying. there is absolutely NO separation of church and state in this country.
Hmmmm, what else. Oh well that is all for now.
More later! am thinking about going skiing for christmas (never mind that i don't know how) and then off to gay paris!
am still having a blast here!
miss you all!
lizzie

I'm getting really good at this!

Mon, 07 Nov 2005 09:33:16 GMT

I am doing really well at updating this journal! but that's probably because i have quite a bit of time on my hands.
Since I last wrote I went back to my training site to visit my first host family. I had a really fun and nice time there. When I got in on thrusday night the family had arranged a small supra for me and it was amazing. Manana cooked fresh khatupuri (the georgian cheese bread...delicious if fresh), we had chicken in baje (walnut sauce), delicous fried cauliflower, homeade rose liquour, and more! I love the village but it is probably good i don't live there cause i would get FAT! I also had copious amounts of homeade dairy product. At least 5 cups of fresh cow's milk and several different types of homeade cheese over the course of 2 days! whoops! but i love dairy! they also sent me home with 3 different types of homemade jam, a block of fresh cheese, and homemade churchella (a type of candy made out of grapejuice and nuts!) i was quite pleased with this trip. I was a little concerned about going back to my training site and being alone with out my training group around. but all was well. I went to borjomi for the day with my host sister sopo and for some reason mtv was on in english so i was set! It was fun returning to the village life, huddling around a petchi (wood stove) for warmth, and eating incredibly. But on sat. I went to the blissy (aka tbilisi) for a taste of the city!
I met up with my friend carole and we had a day of extravagence! We wandered around the city after lunch and stumbled into a salon. The salon or spa was pretty insane! I asked for a pedicure and they replied asking if i wanted a massage. Of course i thought they were talking about massaging my feet, so i said "okay". (This by the way is my life here in georgia. I am constantly confused and never know what is going on, but it always is interesting and I haven't died yet) THe massage was naturally a full body massage which i was totally unprepared for! I felt pretty bad for the lady massaging me as i hadn't showered in a week at that point. But, c'est la vie. So I end up naked on the table getting a pretty intense massage. I won't go into the details, but massages in georgia are a LITTLE bit different than massages in the state. let's just say they get a tad more intimate.
I then got my pedicure and carole got a massage. Georgian women are obsessed with nail designs. They go for tiger stripes or flowers or multi colored crazyness. So, as a way to further "integrate into my community and build sustainable projects" i decided i might as well get crazy designs as well. So now i have blood red toenails with crazy sunburts on them! it is fabulous! Then while i was waiting for my nails to dry the spa assistants wanted to give me a tour of the facility. It was insane. there was a yoga room, which the ladies informed me i could do yoga at 3 times a week for 60 lari's, a pool, a work out room, a sauna, and more! it was insane!
So carole and i went back to the nikka and hung out there for a bit. The night was pretty fun, we ended up at the shereton night club and i think some prostitutes were having a birthday party because there was cake and a lot of prostitutes roaming around.
Sunday was pretty fun too! i walked all around blissy and when i came home i found out my host mom bought a new car! she sold her 15 year old BMW and bought a 10 year old opel ( a type of german car). it was fabulous!
Oh well, i have to go administer a letter writing club with my kids from the 9th form!
bye!

Let's try to make this entry coherent

Thu, 03 Nov 2005 07:24:14 GMT

I am currently at school in my lesson. For some reason the kids are listening to a tape about father christmas. I am not sure that they are doing an activity but i am of course on the internet. A little later in the lesson I will play a game with my 7th formers that of course perfectly illustrates the PC "communicative method" of teaching english. But for the time being I am just fine sitting at the computer updating my live journal.
This week I had my site visit from pc where they review your progress with school officals. Things are going really well here at school. I like teaching and my counterparts are really eager, responsive, and nice. I am lucky in this regard. I have a fantastic school. My kids are practically fluent, we have internet, and all my teachers are pretty well versed in english. Oh god, the kids are now singing "we wish you a merry christmas". it is novemember 3rd. i'm not ready for christmas yet. I still need to get through thanksgiving.
But not to get too off topic. Eka, my pc boss, thought I was progressing quite nicely and am well prepared for the winter to come. The only complaint was that my host family wanted me to speak more english with their kids. This kinda pissed me off and i was miffed with my host family with a good 2 days. However, yesterday they had a chat with me because they were worried about me moving out after 6 months and changing families. I told them that i was very comfortable with them and didn't want to leave. So all is well. I think the only problem they have with me is that i perpetually leave the lights on all over the house. My parents in the states have similar problems with me so I should probably work on breaking this habit.
This weekend I am going to sojourn back to my first host family in Kvishkheti. I am not sure how long I will stay or if it will be weird but i am sure looking forward to the fresh cow's milk i got every day during training. Straight from the udder into my mouth and oh so good. I will probably leave Kvish on sat to spend the night in blissy before venturing home.
Oh this little boy who is in one of my classes ( i don't know anyone's names yet and am a horrible person) brought me a pumpkin he carved for me over the weekend. It was pretty impressive and he did everything right, candle and all. Uh oh, the kids are staring at me while I am typing as if i should be teaching them...which i should...whoops! But it's okay they are still listening to their freaky tape.
I bought lonely planet east europe over the weekend and have been obsessivly reading about moldova. I am excited to be able to travel this summer, but you really can't find anyplace cheaper than georgia...cept moldova...and everyone is really young and fashionable there! and always ready for a party! thus i have decided that the country I absolutely must travel to is MOLDOVA!
For new years I will be going to paris! am very excited for my venture into the first world, and nothing gets more extravagant than paris! plus my friend ellena is coming to meet me too! am getting very excited for all the things i can buy and all the hot showers i can take! it will be fantasmic!
oh well, this update is pretty worthless and gives little to no information...but hey , it got me out of teaching for a bit!
now i must do my job and play some communicative games!

SPOOKY

Mon, 31 Oct 2005 06:07:52 GMT

Hello again!
I am doing pretty well at updating this journal! I did NOT end up going to Mt. Kazbegi this weekend...but that is okay cause i am a bit exhausted from all of the going on's in Gori. Needless to say I went to the halloween party as an ex pat that got beat up, it was pretty fun, and more importantly super SPOOKY. The hotel didn't have any water or heat, it is probably the shittiest place I have ever stayed in. but c'est la vie, that's spooky-ween for you. My friends and I also went to the Stalin museum as that is a perfectly fitting place to celebrate halloween.
What else... oh am at school now and my counter part didn't show up, so my director told me to just work on my school newspaper, which as you can plainly tell by this journal entry, i am hard at work on. My newspaper is fantastic. I had my students write about anything they wanted, the stories range from "red skinned indians" from america's past to an article about elizabeth taylor. It is fantastic.
Hmmm, what else... oh i thought i had a week off school this week and i told all my students and teachers and they all started jumping around and screaming, then i found out i was mistaken...so whooops!
OH! Gori was super creepy because of all the stray dogs running around. Georgia has made me HATE dogs. They are dirty and bad and will bite you. I had a crazy dream last night that I got bit by a dog but i didn't want to go to the office to get the rabies shot because that would mean i had to take 12 awful shots, so i just dealt with the possibiblity that i might get rabies.
Oh, so just to explain my permanant site a little better. I Rustavi is to Tbilisi as Jersey is to New York city. Or as Gary indiana is to chicago. SO yeah.
Okay i will make this short.
bye!
lizzie

Halloween!

Tue, 25 Oct 2005 13:40:14 GMT

Hey everyone,
I am still alive...though barely. I started drinking Rustavi's water, cause my filter kept leeking, and things might go a little funny with me. Evidently factory runoff contaminates the water supply so i may get something like manganese poisoning...but oh well.
Halloween is coming up and i am making a halloween extravaganza at my school. As you may know they don't celebrate halloween here, but i am making up for it by buying copious amounts of candy and doing crazy halloween things like decorating persimmons to look like pumkins, etc. It should be awesome.
This thursday i think my friend austin is coming to blissy to visit me and we are going go to the new fashion cafe that opened in tbilisi. evidently they have "face control" and it is tough to get in, but i have high hopes that i will manage. Then on friday after my halloween party at school i am booking it to gori, birthplace of Stalin, for a freaky peace corps halloween party in the middle of a freaky ex-communist hotel. it should be sweet, but i don't know what i will go as. I was thinking of going as either lizzie from teh year 2034 or as an expat who was beat up by thugs in tbilisi.
THEN, on sunday i am going to go up to Mt. Kazbegi, which is the highest mountain in georgia at around 5000 meters above sealevel, and go to a crazy monestary to visit. hopefully i won't get snowed in up there!
This past weekend my friend carole came to visit rustavi. I also went to the biggest flea market in georgia with my friend clint to buy warm clothes for the winter. i still need to buy a heater though. it is really funny. my site always has water, electricity and gas, unlike everyone else. My friend austin didn't have electricity for a week, but the other day i didn't have electricity for an hour and freaked out. It is strange cause in training i used a squat toilet and didn't have electricity for days at a time and was fine. but i got used to the finer things in life and i enjoy my posh corps experience.
My host sister and i also talked about religion in georgia this week. she said jews, catholics, and muslims were A-OKAY. Orthodox christians were naturally the best though. and then she told me that baptists and protestants were people who wouldn't give family members their blood for a blood transfusion, even if their family was sick and dying.
it was crazy. but really interesting. they REALLY hate johovas witnessess over here though. but it's nice to know yours truely is okay!
more later!
lizzie

Am going to start keeping this journal...wish me luck

Tue, 18 Oct 2005 13:32:46 GMT

Okay,
So i feel like i should revive my live journal again. I have to keep my wildier escapades off of this live journal as the peace corps and my parents will be reading it. It makes sense that I keep a journal as i am probably the one peace corps volunteer in georgia with constant acess to e-mail. it is not fair really. I wanted to be placed in a village...but here i am in the third largest city in georgia, and the closest volunteer to the capital...a whole 20 min away by marshuka. but hey, i can't blame myself. I am currently stationed in Rustavi. a new city in georgia planned 58 years ago by stalin himself.
I decided to keep up with this because it is an easy way for me to post pictures. i plan on doing that either today or tomorrow when i go to tbilisi for my language lesson.
I have got it into my head to travel to lebanon. I just seem to think that turkey is too tame. i think i am going insane by the way...but that's the peace corps for you. I was reading my old entries about leaving my coture at home and i really regret not having brought all my clothes! in my permanant site at least everyone is dressed to the nines. mini skirts and heels are a must...it's just part of good community intigration really. so my mom is sending my clothes in packages a little at a time.
I will write more tomorrow. There is something I was supposed to do but i can't remember what it is...this is going to bother me all night.
hmmm
pictures up tomorrow!

LEAVING

Mon, 13 Jun 2005 03:38:28 GMT

So,
I am leaving tomorrow! am v. excited/a little freaked, but i think i will be okay. I meet my group tomorrow in D.C....weird, i will be spending the next 2 years with these folk! but what is 2 years anyways--nothing these days. my brother ben was in this weekend. i think he has finally accepted me going to georgia. I also filled out a bunch of paper work, gave power of attorney to my rents, and made a will! geuss what!? if i croak craig gets $20,000 dollars! I'm worth $100,000 total! which i think is a bit low considering the cost of my private education. anywhoo, i told craig if i die and he gets the money i want a memorial fund, or a huge party, or a documentary to be made about me. Or the money can go to pay off craig's drug/gambling/pornography debts he is sure to aquire in NYC.
hmmm what else. I played golf this weekend, shot a 91, all time best. Although those reading this journal are sure not to know what that means. I also bought a whole bunch of crap that i have no room to pack for GEORGIA! I AM LEAVING ALL OF MY CLOTHES, and freaking out about it. I can't believe i am leaving my couture, it is the hardest part. I also have grown a fond attachment to a cowboy hat that i found amongst my things and am regretting parting with it. I may just stuff it in my bag! hahah. i think i might just stick my versace top in too! help! am going to the second world and going insane and need all my clothes! AHHHH! in the words of nick lachey, it's the hardest thing i 've ever had to do" oh well, must continue packing, early flight tomorrow!
wish me luck!
will miss you all!
lizzie

Freak out! (not like the disco anthem)

Tue, 07 Jun 2005 23:01:39 GMT

Okay,
So i am beginning to freak out about going to Georgia. what keyed me into my tender emotional state was the fact that i thought i lost my plane ticket this morning. I then go streaming through the house desperately searching for my missing boarding pass. However, the pass was not to be found. I then started yelling at my dad from downstairs regarding my missing ticket. He says he doesn't know where it is, then i yell more. Next my mom calls and i start to yell at her over the phone about not having my pass. surprise surprise my ticket was tucked away in the book shelf in the kitchen, howeveri did not find it until after my mom called the travel agency and ordered another ticket. whoops! am awful! I also bought 4 dvd's today to watch in georgia. evidently i will be watching a lot of movies on my laptop, or says other volunteers currently in georgia. also, through my intense search on the peace corps website for georgia i found out i will most likely get ameobic dysentary and lose alot of weight in georgia. I know this doesn't sound like good news, but seriously after senior week and ann laurie's cooking it don't sound too bad at all! if any of my friends want a quick diet, i will be sure to send a bottle of georgian tgap water home to the usa! Oh well, tonight looks busy, i have to search for children books to show to my georigan school children!
hahah!

So...

Sun, 05 Jun 2005 19:02:08 GMT

So i am just now starting live journal. I think i will copy a journal entry i wrote for craig's journal and put it in my own to add more depth to my page. I am leaving for georgia in a week! ahhh! i still have not cried or freaked out...instead i am shopping! btw's i convinced myself that i needed $200 rock and republic jeans for georgia. I keep buying crap like juicy track suits that i think i NEED. Am seriously derranged. Also, am typing on my new ibook laptop! i love it. is amamzing andhas wireless and i can type in bed sans a cord! Will try to keep this updated while abroad, but am unsure of internet connection in the third/second world. Hopefully i will have my mafia boy toy then. I was contemplating getting married and having a baby in georgia, and then coming home after two years leaving both my husband and child. However, my friend hatton pointed out that i would probably be killed or beaten for trying to escape my husband, who would probablyl own me by georgian standards! wish me luck!