Georgia on My Mind and Body

Philadelphia

Not just an Oscar-winning film, Philadelphia is also home to real-life events. Like PC Staging, for example. I got in on Monday afternoon, 12 June (I think) and got picked up from the airport by Katie. (And…my grammar leaves much to be desired. But don’t worry; the Georgians will think it’s perfect. Mainly because I will tell them that it is.) The wads of cash mentioned earlier fruition-ed just as I hoped they would. The money went a long way towards not only the copious amounts of food and drink that I consumed while in Philly, but also for the (mostly) obscene prices I paid for the privilege to do so. But the Mexican place was good, and apparently Mexican food is not popular in Georgia. I, at least, have not encountered it in the first week or so that I have spent in-country. You like that PC slang I’m throwing out there? Yah, I thought you would. It’s groovy. At least I’m not throwing the 400ish acronyms I should have learned at you.



Speaking of groovy, I have noticed a complete lack of hippies in the Georgia group. No dreadlocks, nobody that overtly reeked of pot, and nobody from San Francisco. We do, however, possess half the population of North Dakota, as one of the married couples has come from there. And, 2 (that I know of) of the 55 even voted for Bush. But they are both from the South, so we know that their vote was just a result of the having too many gay marriages in that part of the country.

Vienna

Vienna was awesome, thanks for asking. Maybe some of you did actually ask, but I’m typing this from various locations along the ol’ dusty trail and haven’t accessed my email in quite some time, so I’m sorry if you, in a Dan Quayle-esque moment, expected an expeditious reply. Oh, and sleeping is for losers. No day hotel equaled an extra 55 euro plus seeing more of the city, and I don’t regret not sleeping (or being forced to bathe in the airport bathroom…which did not have a shower, as you might have guessed). If I can figure out how to do it on the computers in Gori, Vienna will soon be added to my Cities collection on Webshots. The link is on the side. Oh and by the way…has anyone else ever been to St Stephens in central Vienna? What’s up with the tile mosaics on the roof? Muy feo, verdad? But the rest of the city was gorgeous, especially the old Hapsburg Palace and the Belvidere (art museum and gardens). And the market with a German name was cool too. Somethingstacht. Post a comment if you know the correct name. Maybe you’ll win a PanAm Award.

I even use super-cool Peace Corps humor now too. While definitely an improvement over my drier-than-the-Sahara fare, you probably still don’t think this is actually funny. But it is.

Tabakhmela / T'bilisi

We got into T’bilisi at 4am. I had last been asleep at 6:30am two days prior. It was awesome. After collecting a cool new stamp on my brand spanking new Peace Corps passport, we boarded a bus bound for Tabakhmela, a village about 10 miles from T’bilisi as the crow flies, but about an hour away. Make that about an hour up, as in straight up the hill. Awesome views of the city, though. After moving into my room with Patrick and Seth (maybe I’ll post some pictures of the room. But then again, maybe not.) I toured the compound (it was walled) and then finally caught up on a few hours of sleep.

Oh – before I forget, I have a cell phone now. Texting is ridiculously cheap, but I likely can’t call you due to that being not-so-cheap. You’re welcome to call me, though. That’s free. I guess email me for the number. I would just start sending some out, but I lost my hand-made, last-minute phonebook. Bodishi and lo siento.

About ten of us stayed up until 130am in Tabakhmela to watch USA vs. Italy. Was there outrage in the USA (if such a thing can exist regarding soccer at home) about the inequality of the red cards? Ridiculous. Ok, done with that. And I’m not sure what has happened in the World Cup since that game ended. Someone let me know, please. I can’t read the newspapers (yet).

Sveneti

So I’m in Sveneti now. It’s 2km outside of Gori, which is a large town (one of the five largest towns/cities in Georgia, actually). It’s in the center of the country, pretty much. My host family is awesome. There is the mom, the dad, the grandma, the son, two daughters, two cows (oops, was that a comma and not a slash? My bad. Maybe.), a dog, and a roost of birds of an unknown type.

Also of note: I saw a woman walking her pig as other people would their dog. The existence of a leash is still unconfirmed. And, shepherds wear suits (complete with jackets) while shepherding. Just thought you might like to know. Furthermore, ketchup here is nuclear-glow orange. So if I come back with the cancer, that might be why.

Living without air conditioning here in Sveneti (and in Tabakhmela too, for that matter) is actually really cool. Wow, sorry about that one. But really, doors and windows are always open, there is a breeze, and it’s generally very comfortable despite the temperature outside, which has approached 90 (F).

I (finally) finished going through my PC health manual. AND, we had an hour-long session today exclusively about diarrhea. Did you know that diarrhea comes in different forms, ranging from casual to chronic? And, a feeling of general apprehension is a sign of rabies. Not to make you paranoid or anything. The health manual is a good 150+ pages and a very entertaining read. So far though, all is going well mind and body wise, despite the diarrhea presentation (complete with testimonials) that I sat through a few hours ago.

Madloba for reading the whole thing. Droebit.

The pictures I am trying to upload dont seem to be working. Check your email or maybe my webshots, maybe that will work better.

Tim