A Soviet Easter Holiday

Well I'm back from my Easter Weekend travels. Anthony and I decided to travel to Chiatura and Kutaisi for the break. We met in Tbilisi on Wednesday night for dinner and then prepared ourselves for the long trip ahead of us the next day. We started our journey early Thursday morning on a marshutka headed out to Chiatura. The driver and the passengers inside the marshutka thought we were German tourists, calling us guests of Georgia and even allowing us to sit up at the very front of the marshutka where the driver sits (a real treat because you have more space and you can see the countryside through the front window). I'm sure my huge camera slung around my neck also had something to do with our Germany tourist appearance. Our trip to Chiatura took about 2 1/2 hours. The ride itself was beautiful because Georgia had just had its first week of real spring weather. The trees were in bloom, the sky as blue as the ocean and all the colors of Georgian life just seem to thrive in the new spring air.

Once our marshutka made it to Chiatura I, in good ole Anneke fashion, dashed in and out of stores asking the shop keepers where the nearest bathroom was located (darn those two cups of coffee and a liter of mineral water!). Finally I found one in what I think what might have been the mayor's office...not sure but there was a security check, two security guards posted at the door and a place to scan a card. I quickly ran up to them, backpack and all, and did my best pee dance impression while asking if I could use their facilities. I must have been a sight for those security guards....they were stifling their laughter.

 After the crises was averted, Anthony and I explored around the main square for a few minutes. Anthony is a pretty big history buff and quickly took over my camera taking pictures of everything known to man around the town. Pictures of soviet buses, trains, buildings, signs,...you get the idea. Our friends Danae and Eric met us about twenty minutes later to show us around the town. Danae is a second year Peace Corps volunteer who lives in Chiatura while Eric is a G13 like myself who lives in a neighboring town of Chiatura.

With Danae acting as our tour guide and Anthony adding pieces of historical information about  Stalin, the soviet era and practices, we got a pretty good snapshot about what the town had gone through. The town was the only Bolsheviks stronghold during the Russian Revolution. The town worked day and night with over 3,7000 miners working 18 hour shifts and later sleeping in the mines. The river and the water around the town are toxic, full of manganese from the mines. We saw a lot of old Soviet era cars, apartment buildings, propaganda, and tributes to Stalin. In order to honor this we decided to ride one of the town's infamous Stalin's Cable Cars. These cars were and still are used today to transport people and miners above the town and to the mines. With the help of an ancient weight system, the cable cars travel up the steep mountainside 24 hours a day. We managed to survive although our trip coming back town the cable car was hindered by a spur of the moment thunderstorm...that was intense.

Stalin and Lenin mosaic tribute made out of river stones

Scary Stalin Cable Car

Guess this is the end folks. Danae, Eric and I are scared. 

Flashback Soviet bus

We also decided to explore Katskhi Piller, a 40 meter pillar outside of Chiatura that houses a monk who lives there year round in isolation. All of us, that is to say me, Eric, Anthony, Danae, and Danae's fiance Gela, all squished into Gela's car and traveled about 10 mins to the base of the pillar. Unfortunately we couldn't go to the top of the pillar because it is just reserved for Georgian orthodox men, and even then for the most devout. Still the pillar was extraordinary to see and even more extraordinary to imagine people trying to haul materials and such up its steep cliffs in order to build the chapel and small cottage that reside at the top.

Beautiful Katskhi's Pillar

From the base of the pillar

Not a bad pic actually...just wish I had my Tennessee Flag to out do the University of Kentucky representation....hmm..

....Wait! Here it is!

 After our day travels in Chiatura Anthony and I headed to Kutaisi to meet up with our friend Ann and her crew. We mainly walked around the city and took pictures of urban life. We somehow got coaxed into accompanying our friend Chase to look at baby piggies at the animal bazaar. I was not happy to find that they were not in fact baby piggies but rather large pigs that were screaming as they were being pulled out of their pins by their back legs and given a once over. That was not my idea of fun...animals such as sheep, pigs, goats, chickens and turkeys crying out because they knew they were being sold for the big Easter feast coming up two days later. We had to head to happy hour in order to console ourselves from the ordeal. Our trip ended with a few friends coming over to our hostel and playing card games while enjoying the cool evening breeze on the veranda. I wasn't looking forward to the next day because I knew it would be an all day travel day....and it was. It only took me five hours of marshutka riding, two traffic jams by two different car accidents, and one metro ride to get me back to Sagarejo.

My sister Mari awaiting the fire 

Upon my arrival at home, around 6 pm, I unpacked, told my family of my travels, and showed them pictures of my adventures. I was tired from the trip but I wanted to stay up and ring in the Easter holiday with my family. So at 11:30 pm my family and I walked in the dark to their church and lit candles while listening to the Georgian scriptures (none of which I could understand but I thought they sounded nice). The bells tolled at 12 am and then the crowd waited for the fire to come from Tbilisi (kind of like the Olympics...the fire is lit in Tbilisi and then it is passed village to village lighting the churches...not sure how that pans out for people 6 hours away on the west coast...I didn't get much of an answer about that). Anyway we didn't get home until late that night/super early that morning (try 5am).

Women wearing head scarfs and waiting outside the church. 

Hope you all who are reading this had a happy Easter as well and that the weather it treating you well wherever you are. Happy Easter!

Cheers,
Anneke

Istanbul: My colorful, patterned paradise of a city

“Go to Galata Bridge,” the only instructions I had from my friend about where to find him in Istanbul. Fresh off the plane from Brussels I made my way to the line of taxis out in front of the airport in Istanbul. With this one line of instruction I feebly attempted to talk to my taxi driver…hoping that he might know Georgian or English…unfortunately he didn't but we did manage to communicate where I wanted to go after I had shown him this cryptic message. We took off into the darkness where I hoped Galata Bridge, where ever it was in Istanbul, laid. After 30 mins in the taxi and a 110.00 lira fare (all my Turkish money that I had pulled out at the time…roughly 50 USD) we made it to Galata Bridge.

Cold, confused, tired from a day’s worth of travel and weighed down with my luggage, I wandered along the water front looking for my friends. I was confronted by restaurant hosts who were offering me promises of authentic Turkish food and even an offer to be my friend for the night since my friends were nowhere to be found. I finally stumbled on a restaurant that allowed me to use their Wi-Fi so I could send out a Facebook message from my kindle…an SOS addressed to the other members of my travel group asking where they were and that I was lost and without any money. Hoping that they would magically decide to be online and check their Facebook account, I sat at the restaurant and awaited a response. About 40 mins later my friend Anthony replied asking where I was and then stating that he and my other friend Aaron were on their way to retrieve me.

My flight had been delayed and I had no way to let the other members of my party know that I would arrive late. During my delayed departure the rest of the group had manage to find each other, locate and check into our apartment that we had rented for the week, have a great Turkish dinner, and were currently watching the Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations episode of Istanbul’s cuisine when I was turning down friendly offers along the waterfront. About an hour and a half later after I had first heard back from Anthony, I decided to try and find them in one of the restaurants on the opposite side of the river. They were doing what I was doing and ducking into restaurants in order to use their Wi-Fi to contact me. By luck I passed them and Aaron’s big arm wave gestured me into the restaurant. We quickly had a beer to celebrate the reunion and headed to the apartment where the rest of our party awaited.

The next day I awoke to the call to prayer at 6am. The mesmerizing prayer echoed from the mosque and through our suburb of Fatih. We made breakfast and then we took off to explore the Grand Bazaar, the Blue Mosque, and the Hagia Sophia. I quickly found out that Istanbul is my spirit city with its beautiful use of colored tiles, Ottoman Empire architecture, spiced foods and friendly people. We hit the touristy sights hard that day knowing that New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day would be a bit slower. We returned to the apartment excitedly chatting about our favorite place we had seen that day.

The Grand Bazaar 

More of the Grand Bazaar 

Outside of the Blue Mosque

Inside the Blue Mosque...it was so pretty!

The ceiling above me in the previous picture

The Hagia Sophia

Window in the Hagia Sophia

Inside the Hagia Sophia

The next day, New Year’s Eve, we went out to wander aimlessly around the city with no agenda at all. I had so much street food that day: stomach sandwiches, lahmacun, doners, shawarma, spiced lamb, mussels with dirty rice and so much more.

We had a celebratory dinner and then made our way back to the apartment to get ready for the night’s festivities. Our kiwi friend Steve who we had previously met in Georgia before he had moved to Istanbul to become a full time teacher, drank so wine with use before escorting us to Taksim Square for the New Year’s Eve fireworks. We huddled together as a group staying warm and waited for the countdown to begin…though none of us knew Turkish numbers so we just waited until the crowd exploded with cheers. As soon as the countdown was over our group left the square as quickly as we could since there was rumored to be a political protest that night that if occurred would be accompanied by water cannons and tear gas. The fact that we saw a group of 20+ people wearing V for Vendetta masks and chanting didn't help the situation either. We made it back to the apartment safe and sound and played a few card games before going to bed .

Our third day there, New Year’s Day, was a recovery for most of us. We had been up pretty late the night before and had worn ourselves out pretty early in the week. We hung around the apartment for most of the day and went out for dinner at a nearby café.

Basilica Cistern 

New Year's Eve in Taksim Square

Our last remaining days we toured the Basilica Cistern, Topkapi Palace, the Grand Bazaar again, and Beyoglu, the hipster side of town where our friend Steve lived. On our last night we went to a bar and toasted to our good fortune and to our amazing trip together. The next morning we got up early, did one last clean up around the apartment and then boarded the mega bus that would be our home for the next 24 hours as we traveled across Turkey and back into Georgia. Istanbul was amazing and I've already got plans to visit it again in my lifetime. Happy 2014!

The whole group in Taksim Square for the New Year's Celebrations 

Bustling Brussels

December 23rd I embarked on my first journey abroad since arriving in Georgia this past April. It was exciting to leave Georgia behind and explore some of the world’s most exotic and historic cities.  My trip began in the early hour of 3am. My friend Kayla and I left our Tbilisi hostel and began our 30 min taxi ride to the airport. Both of us were nervous/excited about our trips. For me, it would be the first time that I would be back in a country where my blond headedness and my identity as “the American” would not apply. I would go back to a land of food, music, and culture that more resembled America.  For Kayla (an older volunteer who came to Georgia in April 2012), this would be her first time going back to America in 20 months. Like I said we were nervous.  Struggling to stay awake we checked into our respected airline kiosks and waited to board our planes. At 5:30 I boarded the plane that would take me to Istanbul’s airport where a 3 hour layover was waiting for me before boarding the plane to Brussels.  By the time I’d arrived in Brussels, I had been up for 2 days and 3 hours.

 Despite my slightly haggard appearance my cousin and her family claimed me at the Brussels’s airport exit. My cousin Natalie, my second cousin on my mother’s side whom I've only met maybe 3 times in my life…the last of which being 13 years ago at her wedding, was gracious enough to invite me to spend the Christmas holidays with her family and to show me around Brussels and the towns around it.  The first night Nat took me to go see the Christmas marketplace in downtown Brussels before we headed home to her very cute and very picturesque European farmhouse.

 Her two kids Allen (five) and Annabel (five months) were the cutest things ever and didn't waste any time in making me a member of their family.  Gino, Natalie’s husband and a policeman at the airport, arrived back from work later that night. The next day was a day of rest and preparation for the family’s big Christmas Eve dinner with Gino’s side of the family.  There were 17 of us that sat down to dinner that night.  In the house there was cacophony of languages ranging from French, Dutch, English and the occasional word in Georgian when I was asked to speak a few words of it.  The night was full of great food, Allen’s magic tricks and party favors.  Christmas morning around 6am, I found my name being called by Allen downstairs telling me to come quickly because Santa had come.  I came downstairs to find that Santa had also left me a little stocking full of American goodies such as peanut butter, syrup, Starbursts, long johns and woolen socks. We spent the rest of the day watching movies, taking naps and eating the leftovers from the night before.

The Girl who Squats

The Boy Who Pees

The next few days Natalie took me around Brussels and showed me some of local atmosphere as well. We saw two castles, Brussels’s main square the Grand Place, the boy who pees statue, the girl who squats statue, the military museum, the Leffe brewery museum in Dinant, the Caracole brewery, Waterloo, and even a small German town across the border called Monschau.  I found out local secrets such as where to get the best Belgium waffle (Brico apparently…a home improvement store that resembled Home Depot….Nat swears by their waffles) and some lesser known bars such as the Old Oak, an old Irish Pub that is popular with both the locals and the expats. Allen, Annabel and Natalie were great sports about seeing these touristy places for the umpteenth time and I very much appreciated their enthusiasm.

Me in the Grand Place at night

More of the Grand Place

Beautiful Cathedral in Dinant

The second to last night I was there two American soldiers that knew Natalie through  a friend of hers took me out one night to experience the Brussels’s bar scene.  That was a fun night to let loose a bit and meet people my age both country nationals and expats who lived in Brussels. I even made it to Delirium Café, a bar known for its long beer list, standing at 2,004 different brands and for being in The Guinness Book of Records for having the longest beer menu. The next day, my last day in Belgium, Natalie took me across the boarder to Germany where we spent the afternoon in a cute German town called Monschau. It was a perfect way to end my Western European adventure and to finally say that I've been to Germany.  Later that night I did laundry (my clothes were really confused, it was the first time in 8 months that they had seen a dryer) and packed up my backpack for my departure the next morning to my new destination….Istanbul baby!

Allen and I in Monschau

And the story continues...

Giving Thanks: A Not So Short Sappy Thank You Note

It's officially that time of year in America where we all gather together to share a meal together and reflect on the things that we are thankful for. This might get a little sappy so I'm giving you a heads up now. It was this time last year that I opened my email to find an invitation to come and serve in the Peace Corps for two years in Georgia. I was excited, shocked that it was actually happening, and kind of bewildered at the same time because I didn't know that much about this country. After going through numerous interviews, medical shots, paper work, tearful goodbyes, awkward hellos and language ups and downs, I've realized how much I have to be thankful for.

I'm thankful for the families that have taken me, a stranger who constantly butchers their language and probably causes more cultural faux pas than one can count, into their homes and their families during my service. I thank them for putting up with me at times, for being supportive of the ever busy life of a PCV, and having more patience than Gandhi, the Buddha and Mother Teresa put together as I try to understand the language and culture here. We volunteers sometime joke here at Peace Corps Georgia that it should be called Posh Corps Georgia because we are shown so much kindness, warmth, hospitality, patience, food and wine during our service. Definitely nothing compared to what any of us were expecting when we signed our PC applications so long ago stating that we would serve anywhere under any conditions. That's not to say that there aren't any hardships here, there definitely are, just ask my parents about how many times I've complained how cold it is in my room (currently 42 F by the way) or how many times that I've told them that I miss the luxury of taking a hot shower.

As hard as it can be sometimes, the comforts and what you gain here far out weigh those moments. Students greeting you with hugs after a week long absence from school, your host brother thrilled with himself that he just learned to carve his first jack-o-lantern, or the moment when one of your worst students actually learns  how to use go in the past tense. It's moments like these and many others that make up for your string of bad/uncomfortable/frustrating experiences that one often has in life. No one ever said Peace Corps was easy, but it's the experiences and the relationships that you form with others that make it worth it.

I am also thankful for my family back home and friends both old and new. To my family back home: I miss you tons, more than you will ever know. Your fb messages, skype dates and care packages have helped me get through some of the more discouraging moments of my service. I'm grateful for the times I get to talk to you and even more thankful that you continue to listen to me even when it sometimes seems that all I do is complain about the latest thing that happened to me at school. Your support during these past few months and your curiosity about life here in Georgia always keeps me looking forward. I'm going to miss you all this Thanksgiving and Christmas.

To my PCV friends: I don't have to say much to you because I know that you all feel the same way about me as I feel about you. You all are my rock. We have grown together through this journey so far. Facing strange cultural practices, backwardness of village life, going through the agonizing learning process of trying to pronounce the two different "k" and "t" sounds correctly and then being able to differentiate between the two of them, and leaving our family and friends behind for a world unknown to us. Your support and the fact that you won't judge me but fully know where I'm coming from when I say that a good poop status update text from your friend means it's going to be a good day, means the world to me.

To my friends back home: Quit posting pictures of really good looking food and ballin parties! That's so cruel! But for real, thank you for always having my back even if it is a million miles away. I love that I can skype with you weeks or even months at a time a part and we still pick back up as if I still lived down the street in the hood of Knoxville. You are an amazing group of friends whose late night skype dates and crazy town gossip help me when I get slightly homesick. I know that I've missed some of the bigger moments in your all's lives these past few months: weddings, new jobs, engagements, new relationships, babies...yada yada but I want you know that I've trolled that facebook a time or two to keep up with all of it. I'm there in spirit and in laughter.

So i guess what I'm saying in this long sappy post is that I'm thankful for all the support and happiness that you all bring me. My life is very full, very vibrant, and very rewarding because of it.

Halloween in Sakartvelo!

So I don't know about you but I'm a huge fan of Halloween. Each year I try to decorate my apartment, create the perfect Halloween costume, watch all the scary movies I can, carve pumpkins, and of course pig out on candy. I decided that though this year will definitely be different, that I would try to bring Halloween to Sakartvelo (What Georgians call Georgia). Georgians, like most of the world don't celebrate Halloween, so finding Halloween themed stuff was difficult. I was fortunate enough however to receive some Halloween decorations in a care package that my aunt had sent me.  My brother, my sister and I hung orange and black streamers around our living room.  Finding pumpkins in my town was also a challenge because the pumpkin season doesn't start until around Christmas time and even then, the pumpkins that are available are usually more green than orange and are often cantaloupe sized. (This proved to be a problem when we tried to use the pumpkin carving kit that my mom sent because all the pumpkins were way to small for the designs). Despite this, we were able to create some very cute jack-o-lanterns. My family and I had the most pimped out house in all of Georgia.

Persimmon/rouge apple jack-o-lanterns

My family's pumpkins 

Seeing as I'm a teacher to 100+ kids, I decided to do a fall festival in the school gym after school on Halloween. To prepare for this I asked each grade to draw and label pictures of bats, monsters, ghosts, spiders, skeletons, or pumpkins. (These pictures served as decorations in the gym during the party). I also asked if students could either donate or bring their own pumpkins/persimmons from home since the bazaar in my town was not selling pumpkins yet. (Most of these kids have a pumpkin or two growing in their backyard. The persimmons were for backup if they could not locate a pumpkin). On Halloween afternoon after classes, my students dressed up in their costumes and attended the fall festival. We had a game of duck duck goose, bobbing for apples, apples on a string, pumpkin carving contest, costume contest and a make your own scary popcorn hand station (those of you from east TN know what I'm talking about).

My sister, my brother (part cat, part superman, part TN volunteer) and me as a cat

Apple bobbing

My counterpart Zaira and I 

The party was successful but in a chaotic way. It was just me, my two counterparts and a few leader girls that were trying to keep the 80+ kids out of pandemonium. I had kids swarming everywhere demanding plastic spider rings and candy....a little less organized than I had planned.

After all of this planning and facilitating, I decided to attend PC volunteer party in the city of Kutaisi planned by my friends Ann and Lady. About 20 something volunteers from all over Georgia got together this past weekend to play a city wide assassin's game. We were handed a map of Kutaisi with all of the mission spots labeled on it, as well as the name of the person in our group we were trying to "kill" and how to "kill" them. For my target, I had to somehow get a hold of my friend's phone without them knowing that that was my mission. When a new group of friends approached us in the city, we would all become suspicious and paranoid of them until we learned who was "dead" and therefore not playing and who was still alive and hunting. It was definitely a good way to see the sites of Kutaisi while still having some kind of involvement with the rest of the larger group.

Some of us at lunch (first time I've had Chinese food in Georgia!!!)

Assassin Mugshot ("Arrested for kidnapping a wine truck")