So, now I'm at my host family's house.
All in the Family
I have a 21-year-old host sister, Tiko, who is the only person who speaks English. She is married to a 30-year-old police officer, Dato. They live with his parents, Murmani and Eliso, who own two markets. So, strangely, everyone in my family works which is not the Georgian norm. Usually there is one woman who stays home and attends to "womanly duties" (cooking, cleaning, taking care of the kids.) So they work everyday from 9AM-6PM roughly...although it seems like their schedule always changes. Everyone works at the market except for the host bro who has a 24 hour duty cycle supposedly every other day, but I have not seen him for 4 days straight. In addition, we live right next door to my host father's brother, sister, and mom. His sister was never married, his father passed away a year ago, I think is what I understood, and his brother, Kosta, works in Belarus but is on holiday to come home for the death anniversary of his father. Kosta is divorced but has two boys who live in Belarus with their mother. In addition, to Dato, my host parents have two daughters, Sopo and Maga. Sopo has one son named Saba and is pregnant with another boy. Sadly, her husband died a little over a month ago of an aneurysm. Maga and her husband have one daughter named Qeso and one son named Luca.
Temperature
We have arrived in the heart of winter which means we are in the midst of a nearly unbearable cold front. Something our program forgot to mention is that families in Georgia have one room in which they keep warm. The rest of the house is as cold as it is outside. I talked the host family into letting me have a small electric heater in my room that I turn on an hour before bed which doesn't exactly make it warm, but makes the cold a little more tolerable. My host sister also sent me to bed with two soda bottles that had been emptied of soda and filled with hot water (instant hot water bottle). I clutch those two bottles as if my life depended on it. Once under the three blankets hugging the water bottles for about 30 minutes, it starts to warm up and sleep is possible.
Food
The food has been pretty tasty. I arrived during the period where my family was mourning for Sopo's husband which includes fasting. They did not eat meat for 40 days. They are now back to eating meat but understand that I do not eat meat. I think they are worried now about what to make for me. I eat a lot of bread, cheese, salads (cabbage, carrot, mayo), cabbage/potato soup, ghomi (a grit like food), and fruit. Still working on the protein aspect. I had beans once and haven't seen them since. My host family also realized that I like wine, so I have homemade wine with dinner every night.
The House
The houses in Georgia are bigger than what I thought they would be. They are equipped for housing parents and children and children's children. So, when you walk into my host family's house, there is a living room with 6 doors off of it. One is the front door, one is the back door, one is the parents' bedroom, one is an extra bedroom, one is the kitchen, and the other leads to the shower room and to a staircase that goes upstairs. There is a small hallway with a door at the end upstairs that leads into another huge living area. There are two bedrooms off of there, one mine, and one the bedroom of the son and daughter in law. There is a toilet inside that doesn't flush. We are allowed to use it but have to "flush" with a bucket of water afterward. To add too much information, the inside toilet is only if you have to pee. You must use the squat outhouse for the alternative. I pretty well pray that I don't have to go.
Next post will be about my job. :)
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Oh-rientation - January 21, 2012
Orientation was actually pretty fantastic. I love the people in the program and attempted to soak up all of the Georgian we were learning very rapidly as our orientation was only a week long.
Our days were packed as breakfast started at 8AM followed by an orientation session from 9-10:15. Language classes started after that and ran until lunch at 1PM. At 2PM we had another session followed by a 3 hour intercultural training. We had a final wrap up before dinner at 7:30PM. This is when we could either eat at the hotel for dinner or go out and explore.
A small group of us went out the second night to the town center of Tbilisi. It was much more modern than I had thought it would have been. We went to a restaurant downtown where we had traditional Georgian food including kinkhali which is basically like a dumpling with either meat, cheese, or veggies in it. Khachapuri is another traditional dish which is just bread with cheese in it. From there we walked passed the president's house, a fortress, and a bridge that is gorgeous when lit up at night.
Another night, we went to the restaurant next door for dinner and watch the place explode into dance and song. I am eager to learn Georgian Dance but am not sure if there will be a means to do so. We'll see.
Mid-way into orientation, our group was asked if any of us were interested in applying to teach police officers instead of at a school. About 12 of us were interested. We were asked to send in our resumes. They made a decision the next day and I was one of two selected! So I will be teaching police at a police station rather than children at a school. I'm very excited for the opportunity!
As orientation came to a close, the host families or representatives of different areas came to pick all of us up. Pavell, the other police teacher, and I were picked up by a driver from the police station. It is technically a 5-6 hour drive, but it took us about 4. Demur drove like crazy! I do not recommend ANYONE to drive in Georgia. Trust the locals that they know how to drive on their roads, so leave it to them. :)
More to come about host family situation...
Our days were packed as breakfast started at 8AM followed by an orientation session from 9-10:15. Language classes started after that and ran until lunch at 1PM. At 2PM we had another session followed by a 3 hour intercultural training. We had a final wrap up before dinner at 7:30PM. This is when we could either eat at the hotel for dinner or go out and explore.
A small group of us went out the second night to the town center of Tbilisi. It was much more modern than I had thought it would have been. We went to a restaurant downtown where we had traditional Georgian food including kinkhali which is basically like a dumpling with either meat, cheese, or veggies in it. Khachapuri is another traditional dish which is just bread with cheese in it. From there we walked passed the president's house, a fortress, and a bridge that is gorgeous when lit up at night.
Another night, we went to the restaurant next door for dinner and watch the place explode into dance and song. I am eager to learn Georgian Dance but am not sure if there will be a means to do so. We'll see.
Mid-way into orientation, our group was asked if any of us were interested in applying to teach police officers instead of at a school. About 12 of us were interested. We were asked to send in our resumes. They made a decision the next day and I was one of two selected! So I will be teaching police at a police station rather than children at a school. I'm very excited for the opportunity!
As orientation came to a close, the host families or representatives of different areas came to pick all of us up. Pavell, the other police teacher, and I were picked up by a driver from the police station. It is technically a 5-6 hour drive, but it took us about 4. Demur drove like crazy! I do not recommend ANYONE to drive in Georgia. Trust the locals that they know how to drive on their roads, so leave it to them. :)
More to come about host family situation...
What do you mean 57? - January 17, 2007
Sitting in the O'hare airport, I look across to see a group of people chatting outside the gate to Warsaw, Poland. Strange. Surely not all of us could be on the same flight randomly. So, naturally, I eavesdropped until I felt quite certain that they, too, were through the Teach and Learn with Georgia program. Sure enough...9 of us met in the airport all the while I was thinking I would be the only one. My recruiter left some details out. Many people went through a recruitment agency named GreenHeart or FootPrints. I went through Reach to Teach. I missed out on a LOT of information as I would come to find out.
No worries. Adaptation and flexibility is the name of the game. About an hour into our flight toward Warsaw, I realized that the guys on either side of me were also TLGers! Ha! Sweet. We got to chatting. One of them had just finished a one year stint of teaching in Thailand and the other just finished an unsuccessful attempt at the Peace Corps.
The 9 original of us that met up in the O'Hare airport went out into Warsaw which was a bit of a gong show. We went out in the freezing cold, hopped on a bus, and went into the center of town. After walking into the Old Town, we found a nice warm place to sit down and have a bite to eat. All but 5 of us went back to the airport, but with a 13 hour layover, we had plenty of time to kill, so the rest of us set out to see if we could find the Warsaw Ghetto. Big mistake. Apparently it doesn't exist anymore... We walked around in the cold and snow to walk into a Radisson Hotel which responded to the question, "Where is the Warsaw Ghetto?" "You are in it." Haha. Very well. We headed back to the airport to meet up with other TLGers who were on the same flight to Georgia. After another 5 hours of lying around on the airport floor, we finally boarded the plane to Tbilisi.
We were met by a TLG representative, Tamara, who took care to get us all to the hotel. I was interviewed by a tv crew about why I was in Georgia. At the hotel, we were left to sleep or explore until our medical exams at noon. My roommate, Krissi, and I passed out and woke only to head to our exams. With all said and done, there were 57 of us in the program and we were to spend the next week getting to know each other and Georgian culture.
No worries. Adaptation and flexibility is the name of the game. About an hour into our flight toward Warsaw, I realized that the guys on either side of me were also TLGers! Ha! Sweet. We got to chatting. One of them had just finished a one year stint of teaching in Thailand and the other just finished an unsuccessful attempt at the Peace Corps.
The 9 original of us that met up in the O'Hare airport went out into Warsaw which was a bit of a gong show. We went out in the freezing cold, hopped on a bus, and went into the center of town. After walking into the Old Town, we found a nice warm place to sit down and have a bite to eat. All but 5 of us went back to the airport, but with a 13 hour layover, we had plenty of time to kill, so the rest of us set out to see if we could find the Warsaw Ghetto. Big mistake. Apparently it doesn't exist anymore... We walked around in the cold and snow to walk into a Radisson Hotel which responded to the question, "Where is the Warsaw Ghetto?" "You are in it." Haha. Very well. We headed back to the airport to meet up with other TLGers who were on the same flight to Georgia. After another 5 hours of lying around on the airport floor, we finally boarded the plane to Tbilisi.
We were met by a TLG representative, Tamara, who took care to get us all to the hotel. I was interviewed by a tv crew about why I was in Georgia. At the hotel, we were left to sleep or explore until our medical exams at noon. My roommate, Krissi, and I passed out and woke only to head to our exams. With all said and done, there were 57 of us in the program and we were to spend the next week getting to know each other and Georgian culture.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Georgia, I have arrived! - January 15, 2007
As I attempt to re-integrate myself into the blogging community, I realize it has been quite some time since my last update. My hope is that this won't again be the case.
I have journals of Andy's and my travels from this summer, but conveniently have left them on my other computer. When I manage to extract them, I will also post them on this blog. We had the amazing opportunity to travel through Pittsburgh to DC, up to New York City via a stop in Delaware to visit my cousin Carrie, and on up to Boston. We then drove up through Maine on our way to Canada where we camped in Quebec City before heading to Sutton Montreal for a friend's wedding. To finish off our road trip, we traveled down through Niagara Falls and finished with a trip to Cedar Point to fulfill Andy's and my love of roller coasters. We also spent two weeks in Alaska. After my cousin's wedding in September, I headed to New Zealand to meet Andy for the Rugby World Cup. We rented a camper van and traveled all over the country stopping occasionally for rugby games. In between the last main game and the final, we traveled to Australia for two weeks where we also rented a camper van and traveled from Melbourne to Sydney. We returned to NZ for the rugby final where luckily the kiwis overcame, for if they had not, the country would have fallen apart. We then traveled to Fiji for two weeks to visit friends before heading back to England for a month.
That brings me to now!! I am in Georgia (the country!) It came about quite quickly, but I decided that this was the best option for me with the amount of time I had. Andy stayed in England and continued his search for a job, and as it is quite an ordeal to get a visa for an American in England, here I am. I am here teaching until June before hopefully heading back to England to complete a masters in International Development. I have already been accepted to the University of Manchester and am waiting to hear back from the other three universities.
I have been here for two weeks but will make separate posts about my experiences as to not overwhelm with details.
I have journals of Andy's and my travels from this summer, but conveniently have left them on my other computer. When I manage to extract them, I will also post them on this blog. We had the amazing opportunity to travel through Pittsburgh to DC, up to New York City via a stop in Delaware to visit my cousin Carrie, and on up to Boston. We then drove up through Maine on our way to Canada where we camped in Quebec City before heading to Sutton Montreal for a friend's wedding. To finish off our road trip, we traveled down through Niagara Falls and finished with a trip to Cedar Point to fulfill Andy's and my love of roller coasters. We also spent two weeks in Alaska. After my cousin's wedding in September, I headed to New Zealand to meet Andy for the Rugby World Cup. We rented a camper van and traveled all over the country stopping occasionally for rugby games. In between the last main game and the final, we traveled to Australia for two weeks where we also rented a camper van and traveled from Melbourne to Sydney. We returned to NZ for the rugby final where luckily the kiwis overcame, for if they had not, the country would have fallen apart. We then traveled to Fiji for two weeks to visit friends before heading back to England for a month.
That brings me to now!! I am in Georgia (the country!) It came about quite quickly, but I decided that this was the best option for me with the amount of time I had. Andy stayed in England and continued his search for a job, and as it is quite an ordeal to get a visa for an American in England, here I am. I am here teaching until June before hopefully heading back to England to complete a masters in International Development. I have already been accepted to the University of Manchester and am waiting to hear back from the other three universities.
I have been here for two weeks but will make separate posts about my experiences as to not overwhelm with details.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Back in the Loop - April 24, 2011
*Most recent update to family and friends.
It's been way too long since my last update, and I've stayed in touch with some of you much better than others. I apologize for that.
A lot has happened over the past two years, and I can't remember the last email I sent out.
Was it two...almost three summers ago even? Hopefully not that long.
I am now nearing the end of my second year in Kuwait. Last year I taught grade 6 girls and this year I have taught a coed kindergarten class at an "American school that respects Islamic values."
I quickly realized how very different Kuwaiti culture is compared to western culture, to far eastern culture, and well...to every culture I had experienced previously. The culture seeped into the school inevitably. Though we are an American school, I teach all Kuwaiti students and Islamic values rule the school. We are to dress a certain way, to teach a certain way, and to leave most of our personal touches out of teaching.
I had a hard time with the culture last year. There is an underlying, very visible hierarchical system in Kuwait. This year, I'm starting to understand it even more but last year it was almost unbearable. Kuwaitis are at the top of this hierarchy. They just are. They have the money, they have the expensive cars, they have the enormous houses. Westerners, I would say, are the next rung on the hierarchical ladder. However, we are still servants; servants to the Kuwaitis' children. Below westerners are immigrant workers. There are a LOT of them. Workers come from the Philippines, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Egypt mostly. There are also many workers from other areas of the middle east. There are only 1 million Kuwaitis living in Kuwait with a population of 4 million. What do all of these immigrant workers do? They do the jobs Kuwaitis do not want to do. They are family cooks, family drivers, nannies, taxi drivers, car mechanics, restaurant workers, etc.
Toward the end of the school year last year, I had almost had it. I had almost had it with my school's administration and with the structure of Kuwait's society.
Why come back?
Awesome travel opportunities. Good friends. To continue learning about Islam and the middle east. To save money for grad school.
People say to me, "You must like it if you're going back." I can't phrase it that way. Most of us can't phrase it that way. There are things that I like about living here, but I do not like living in Kuwait. This was hard for me to admit. Still hard for me to admit.
What do you do when you dislike living somewhere? You find things that get you through. I joined rugby, started taking zumba lessons, and took up ultimate frisbee. I also found a very dear friend who was as willing as me to drop everything and do anything - a fellow explorer of sorts.
Rugby allowed me to get out of Kuwait every other weekend or so. We played internationally within the middle east. We played several times in the UAE (Emirates) and were also able to travel to Qatar. I met Andy, my now partner, at the biggest middle east rugby event of the year - Dubai Sevens (December 2009).
Because of our holiday time last year, I was able to travel to Ethiopia during our November Eid break with a fellow teacher who had set up an NGO (Non-Governmental Org) to help former sex workers and orphans. During my 2 week February break, I traveled home to meet my new baby brother, Ryan David Carmichael! :) During New Years, I traveled to Abu Dhabi with two good friends. I spent a few days in March exploring the beauty that Oman had to offer. Spring Break was spent in Istanbul with a friend and fellow rugby mate. Finally, Andy's and my first official trip together in May was to the oddly European Middle Eastern country of Lebanon.
When summer came, I spent a week with Andy and his family in England. He is from Guildford, just 30 minutes south of London. We also visited a friend of Andy's in Wales. I then spent 3 weeks traveling solo around Europe by train and staying with fellow couch surfers. Couch Surfing is an amazing network of people who put up their couches or extra rooms for fellow travel lovers. I met many interesting people with varying levels of travel under their belts. The best part is that it is free. It is simply focused on a cultural exchange. I had only wonderful experiences with CS. I traveled to Brussels and Bruges, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna Austria, Budapest , Zagreb, and Ljubljana and the surrounding areas of Slovenia.
Berlin was my favorite. There is a very unique sub culture that I was able to explore through the use of New Europe Free Tours - 3-4 hour free walking tours. The tour guides are incredible, hilarious, and international. They work solely for tips.
I traveled back to England, home, and to Colombia in the span of 4 days. I went to Colombia with CPT on a delegation focused on the human rights unrest in and around Bogota, Barrancabermeja, and the Las Pavas Community. This is a link to an article my friend wrote about my experience and the internally displaced peoples of Colombia: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-solis/colombias-internally-disp_b_715186.html
After a month at home, I stopped back through England and Scotland to meet up with Andy on my way back to Kuwait.
This year has taught me very much that I am not cut out to live in Kuwait long term, but I cannot say I regret the decision to stay this second year. I have had a chance to go to some amazing places and experience some incredible things that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise. For this November Eid break, Andy and I traveled to Sri Lanka for a week. I am now convinced that I will once again visit Sri Lanka; I fell in love with its beauty and kind people. I spent New Years in England for a friend's wedding. For the winter break, I traveled to Dubai for a few days to visit Andy's parents while his father was on business and then traveled to Sudan and Uganda with New Community Project to learn about the projects they sponsor for girls' education and reforestation. Most recently, Andy and I just returned from a week trip to Jordan. I was there for two days before he came out to meet me. We visited Petra, Wadi Rum, Aqaba, Jarash, the Dead Sea, etc. Jordan is a very versatile and gorgeous country; it has so much to offer in terms of landscapes and natural beauties.
I might have caught you up on the past two years of my life. I'm sure some of you are wondering what's next. Your guess is as good as mine. I know I am leaving Kuwait and traveling this summer, but I'm not sure about much beyond that.
Andy and I will spend a part of the summer as a road trip up to Montreal, Canada with stops in DC and Niagara Falls on the way to a friend's wedding (a couple I taught with last year). We are leaning toward traveling Central America for a few weeks before heading out to New Zealand for a month and a half as Andy managed to acquire tickets for the Rugby World Cup, including the final! There is a 3 week break between our last game and the final where we are going to try to hop over to Australia for a bit. How are we going to afford this? Lots of camping, couch surfing, and WWOOFing (organic farming in exchange for room and board). Beyond that the vision gets blurrier. A few ideas have been tossed around which mostly end Andy and I up in England...at least for a little while. Grad school is somewhere in the future with a focus on International Studies/Human Rights. Stay tuned as I figure out my future. ;)
Here's to the next adventure.
I would love to hear from those of you I haven't heard from in a while...and from those I talk to on a regular basis. I miss you all! Don't think for one minute that this crazy life I lead stops me from missing home, friends, and family.
Much love.
~Stacey
It's been way too long since my last update, and I've stayed in touch with some of you much better than others. I apologize for that.
A lot has happened over the past two years, and I can't remember the last email I sent out.
Was it two...almost three summers ago even? Hopefully not that long.
I am now nearing the end of my second year in Kuwait. Last year I taught grade 6 girls and this year I have taught a coed kindergarten class at an "American school that respects Islamic values."
I quickly realized how very different Kuwaiti culture is compared to western culture, to far eastern culture, and well...to every culture I had experienced previously. The culture seeped into the school inevitably. Though we are an American school, I teach all Kuwaiti students and Islamic values rule the school. We are to dress a certain way, to teach a certain way, and to leave most of our personal touches out of teaching.
I had a hard time with the culture last year. There is an underlying, very visible hierarchical system in Kuwait. This year, I'm starting to understand it even more but last year it was almost unbearable. Kuwaitis are at the top of this hierarchy. They just are. They have the money, they have the expensive cars, they have the enormous houses. Westerners, I would say, are the next rung on the hierarchical ladder. However, we are still servants; servants to the Kuwaitis' children. Below westerners are immigrant workers. There are a LOT of them. Workers come from the Philippines, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Egypt mostly. There are also many workers from other areas of the middle east. There are only 1 million Kuwaitis living in Kuwait with a population of 4 million. What do all of these immigrant workers do? They do the jobs Kuwaitis do not want to do. They are family cooks, family drivers, nannies, taxi drivers, car mechanics, restaurant workers, etc.
Toward the end of the school year last year, I had almost had it. I had almost had it with my school's administration and with the structure of Kuwait's society.
Why come back?
Awesome travel opportunities. Good friends. To continue learning about Islam and the middle east. To save money for grad school.
People say to me, "You must like it if you're going back." I can't phrase it that way. Most of us can't phrase it that way. There are things that I like about living here, but I do not like living in Kuwait. This was hard for me to admit. Still hard for me to admit.
What do you do when you dislike living somewhere? You find things that get you through. I joined rugby, started taking zumba lessons, and took up ultimate frisbee. I also found a very dear friend who was as willing as me to drop everything and do anything - a fellow explorer of sorts.
Rugby allowed me to get out of Kuwait every other weekend or so. We played internationally within the middle east. We played several times in the UAE (Emirates) and were also able to travel to Qatar. I met Andy, my now partner, at the biggest middle east rugby event of the year - Dubai Sevens (December 2009).
Because of our holiday time last year, I was able to travel to Ethiopia during our November Eid break with a fellow teacher who had set up an NGO (Non-Governmental Org) to help former sex workers and orphans. During my 2 week February break, I traveled home to meet my new baby brother, Ryan David Carmichael! :) During New Years, I traveled to Abu Dhabi with two good friends. I spent a few days in March exploring the beauty that Oman had to offer. Spring Break was spent in Istanbul with a friend and fellow rugby mate. Finally, Andy's and my first official trip together in May was to the oddly European Middle Eastern country of Lebanon.
When summer came, I spent a week with Andy and his family in England. He is from Guildford, just 30 minutes south of London. We also visited a friend of Andy's in Wales. I then spent 3 weeks traveling solo around Europe by train and staying with fellow couch surfers. Couch Surfing is an amazing network of people who put up their couches or extra rooms for fellow travel lovers. I met many interesting people with varying levels of travel under their belts. The best part is that it is free. It is simply focused on a cultural exchange. I had only wonderful experiences with CS. I traveled to Brussels and Bruges, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna Austria, Budapest , Zagreb, and Ljubljana and the surrounding areas of Slovenia.
Berlin was my favorite. There is a very unique sub culture that I was able to explore through the use of New Europe Free Tours - 3-4 hour free walking tours. The tour guides are incredible, hilarious, and international. They work solely for tips.
I traveled back to England, home, and to Colombia in the span of 4 days. I went to Colombia with CPT on a delegation focused on the human rights unrest in and around Bogota, Barrancabermeja, and the Las Pavas Community. This is a link to an article my friend wrote about my experience and the internally displaced peoples of Colombia: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-solis/colombias-internally-disp_b_715186.html
After a month at home, I stopped back through England and Scotland to meet up with Andy on my way back to Kuwait.
This year has taught me very much that I am not cut out to live in Kuwait long term, but I cannot say I regret the decision to stay this second year. I have had a chance to go to some amazing places and experience some incredible things that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise. For this November Eid break, Andy and I traveled to Sri Lanka for a week. I am now convinced that I will once again visit Sri Lanka; I fell in love with its beauty and kind people. I spent New Years in England for a friend's wedding. For the winter break, I traveled to Dubai for a few days to visit Andy's parents while his father was on business and then traveled to Sudan and Uganda with New Community Project to learn about the projects they sponsor for girls' education and reforestation. Most recently, Andy and I just returned from a week trip to Jordan. I was there for two days before he came out to meet me. We visited Petra, Wadi Rum, Aqaba, Jarash, the Dead Sea, etc. Jordan is a very versatile and gorgeous country; it has so much to offer in terms of landscapes and natural beauties.
I might have caught you up on the past two years of my life. I'm sure some of you are wondering what's next. Your guess is as good as mine. I know I am leaving Kuwait and traveling this summer, but I'm not sure about much beyond that.
Andy and I will spend a part of the summer as a road trip up to Montreal, Canada with stops in DC and Niagara Falls on the way to a friend's wedding (a couple I taught with last year). We are leaning toward traveling Central America for a few weeks before heading out to New Zealand for a month and a half as Andy managed to acquire tickets for the Rugby World Cup, including the final! There is a 3 week break between our last game and the final where we are going to try to hop over to Australia for a bit. How are we going to afford this? Lots of camping, couch surfing, and WWOOFing (organic farming in exchange for room and board). Beyond that the vision gets blurrier. A few ideas have been tossed around which mostly end Andy and I up in England...at least for a little while. Grad school is somewhere in the future with a focus on International Studies/Human Rights. Stay tuned as I figure out my future. ;)
Here's to the next adventure.
I would love to hear from those of you I haven't heard from in a while...and from those I talk to on a regular basis. I miss you all! Don't think for one minute that this crazy life I lead stops me from missing home, friends, and family.
Much love.
~Stacey
Friday, September 11, 2009
Philippines - August 2009
Hi everyone!
I'm carrying the same list from Korea over to my experiences in Kuwait.
*If you'd like to be taken off of the list, please let me know.
I've been in Kuwait for about a week after an amazing summer vacation! My flight got in around 3AM, and I was met by a woman who is originally from Palestine but has lived in Kuwait for over 40 years. We had orientation for 5 days and are going to start working at the school on Sunday. My work week is Sunday through Thursday and we'll start school September 27th as long as the H1N1 paranoia doesn't push the school start date back like it is predicted to do so. Kindergarten isn't starting until December because of the scare. We arrived at the time of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting. It is illegal at this time to drink (even water), eat, smoke, and chew gum in public between the hours of 4AM and 6PM. I'll start trying to type in my blog again. I've changed the name and address to: www.stashiwanderer.blogspot.com
This summer I spent a few days in California visiting two friends of mine, Chris Cosner and Nick Kauffman. After that, I spent 3 weeks at home with family and friends.
From there, I traveled to the Philippines, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and India. I visited friends in each of the countries for 10 days minus Malaysia. I spent only a day in Malaysia with a woman I met on Couchsurfing.com, a website that allows you to connect with people all over the world willing to house travelers that are passing through.
I'm going to break them down into three emails. Always so much to say. ^_~
PHILIPPINES
I arrived in the Philippines on August 3rd late at night. Having not booked a guest house in advance, I asked at the information desk for a recommendation. Because of that, I spent an interesting taxi ride trying to find a place to stay. I settled on a room more expensive than the "dorm" which consisted of bunk beds behind bamboo screens in what appeared to be the hallway of a building. When I realized there was A) a cockroach roaming around the community bathroom and B) there was no toilet paper, I decided to NOT go the bathroom. However, around midnight I finally gave in and decided to brave the cockroach. After getting semi-comfortable with the presence of a cockroach, I look over and there is a worm crawling on the side of the toilet tank. Ha! I didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night.
I had coffee with a family who was on vacation in Manila from another part of the Philippines in the morning. The father and daughter offered to take me to meet my friend, Malcolm - a Kiwi friend of mine who I met in Korea while volunteering at the House of Sharing together. The traffic in Manila is HORRIBLE so we transferred to the metro.
After being late to meet my friend, I found out that we couldn't take the boat to the island we were headed to because of a typhoon. It had made the water unsafe for travel. We spent the night at a dorm where volunteers are trained for my friend's organization (Meaningful Volunteer - meaningfulvolunteer.org) and an organization called CERV. They work together on projects mostly based on the island of Romblon, in the village of Sugod (pronounced "So Good").
The next day after a taxi ride, a 2 hour bus ride, a 10 hour boat ride (I slept the whole time - there were beds provided), an hour and a half jeepney ride (a vehicle extended at the back to be made into a form of public transportation by the local population after Americans abandoned a large number of jeeps after the war), and a 30 minute walk, we arrived in Sugod at 4AM.
We had crabs! Ok...just one. Literally a little crab had wandered in from the ocean which was a 2 minute walk from our front door and was chillin' with us in the dorm. We also had a few cockroaches scurrying about and tons of geckos which are absolutely adorable!
Malcolm and I stayed in a "dorm" with two volunteers, Camilla, a 22-year-old from England and Emily, an 18-year-old Korean from Canada. Just down the road, two more volunteers, Ingrid, a 26-year-old from New Zealand (whom I also met in Korea) and Rita, a 20 year old from Cali, were living with Ma'am Tess (Mom Tess) and Felix. Mom Tess and Felix cooked all of our meals for us and are absolutely incredible people!
Although I had come to the Philippines to visit Malcolm, I was lucky enough to be able to do some volunteer work while on the island.
There are many projects that Malc has been working on. 1) Building a school and bringing in volunteers to teach students English. Currently the students are taking English classes at the school that already exists in the village. 2) Computer classes for teachers. 3) Mangrove replanting because a good majority of the mangroves which help protect against typhoon damage on the island have been cut down for firewood or made into charcoal. 4) Lifecycle project working to education women in a Catholic nation on a natural birth control method. *If you want to know more information, please don't hesitate to ask me or visit the website!
These amongst other projects are currently in the works in Sugod. Malc wanted me to interview and take pictures of students and their families to put on the Meaningful Volunteer website so that students can be sponsored in the future. In doing so, I interviewed nearly 35 students and their families and was able to take pictures of the homes of almost all of the students.
After getting 3 hours of sleep the first night, I headed home with two students, Baby Ann and Jude Ann. They were released from school to show me their home so I could interview their parents and take pictures of them with their house and family. Their home...is on the top of a mountain; it is over an hour trek up. This is the story of so many students; they hike down the mountain for school and back up after school. Many of the families living on surrounding mountains must do the same with the crops they have planted.
I also helped teach one of the computer classes for teachers. We were teaching how to use excel spreadsheets. Teachers, listen up! These teachers were spending hours upon hours calculating their grades by hand because that had no such technology to help them. By teaching them the methods of calculating standard deviation and simple multiplication, it will take HOURS off the work they have to do. The problem is is that they don't have a computer that can be left at the school to be used by the teachers. They are learning on computers that were donated to the organization and they will be transferred to the new school once it is built. A single computer will cost around $350 USD. *If you're interested in donating, especially teachers who can understand what a pain hand processing grades can be, I will be sending out an email soon about how you can help.
We had a going away party one night for a few of the volunteers who had been there for a while. We rented videoke (video karaoke)! All of the students came and we fed them each! ^_~ We sang and danced the night away. Camilla's students came down from the mountain (where she teaches) with hair cuts and their nicest clothes on. So cute!
Besides that, we swam in the ocean, climbed a waterfall, and took showers in our outside shower when we couldn't stand the heat.
Taking a shower in the outside shower with four walls and no roof was incredible! Especially early in the morning when you could barely make out the mountains and palm trees surrounding the dorm but had the sunshine on your shoulders and just before bedtime while gazing at the stars.
I am continuously amazed at how attached I can become to a place and to a people in such a short span of time. As I left the village after only a little over a week, I had tears in my eyes at the thought of leaving the incredible people who had my short stay so memorable.
I promised Camilla I'd visit her in England. You can hold me to that promise..."Inshallah".
I flew from the island to an area called Dau and met up with Malcolm's Philippino girlfriend, Sel, and one of her friends. They showed me a not so nice area of the Philippines. There was an active American Air Force Base in Angeles. And because of the base, a localized prostitution street grew around the area. Since the base was cleared in 1991, there are fewer Americans visiting the area, but the prostitution area is still thriving with men from all over the world frequenting the bars and strip clubs. I was disgusted to see the manner in which women are treated in the area. At one club, we waited for a male friend of Sel's to show up because women couldn't enter unescorted. Inside, the women who weren't dancing, were responding to men's signals to come over. After a man had "chosen" a woman, the others were dismissed with a flick of his hand.
I chose to go to this area because I believe it's important to experience different sides of a country; to see the beauty but also understand where the problems of a nation lie. I hope to return to the beauty of Sugod someday and see how the children have grown.
MALAYSIA
I flew from Clark airport to Malaysia. I spent a very short time in this country and don't have more to report. I made a rookie traveling mistake and paid WAY too much for a taxi to the apartment of a woman I had met through Couchsurfing.com. Once I dropped my stuff off at the apartment building, I wandered the city of Kuala Lumpur by foot while I waited for Zurin to get off work. She, her roommate, and I spent the night talking and hanging out around the apartment. The next day, Zurin and I had breakfast together at a small Indian restaurant and she dropped me off at the metro. I ventured out to find the towers of Kuala Lumpur before heading to the airport by bus (which cost 1/8th of what the taxi ride cost). I flew out from Kuala Lumpur to Bangladesh...
*I've been slowly trying to upload pics from my camera to my computer to PhotoBucket. I finally got my pics recovered from my memory card that isn't working. There are some pics from the Philippines up on PhotoBucket now but not all.
Peace and Love from the Middle East,
Stacey
I'm carrying the same list from Korea over to my experiences in Kuwait.
*If you'd like to be taken off of the list, please let me know.
I've been in Kuwait for about a week after an amazing summer vacation! My flight got in around 3AM, and I was met by a woman who is originally from Palestine but has lived in Kuwait for over 40 years. We had orientation for 5 days and are going to start working at the school on Sunday. My work week is Sunday through Thursday and we'll start school September 27th as long as the H1N1 paranoia doesn't push the school start date back like it is predicted to do so. Kindergarten isn't starting until December because of the scare. We arrived at the time of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting. It is illegal at this time to drink (even water), eat, smoke, and chew gum in public between the hours of 4AM and 6PM. I'll start trying to type in my blog again. I've changed the name and address to: www.stashiwanderer.blogspot.com
This summer I spent a few days in California visiting two friends of mine, Chris Cosner and Nick Kauffman. After that, I spent 3 weeks at home with family and friends.
From there, I traveled to the Philippines, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and India. I visited friends in each of the countries for 10 days minus Malaysia. I spent only a day in Malaysia with a woman I met on Couchsurfing.com, a website that allows you to connect with people all over the world willing to house travelers that are passing through.
I'm going to break them down into three emails. Always so much to say. ^_~
PHILIPPINES
I arrived in the Philippines on August 3rd late at night. Having not booked a guest house in advance, I asked at the information desk for a recommendation. Because of that, I spent an interesting taxi ride trying to find a place to stay. I settled on a room more expensive than the "dorm" which consisted of bunk beds behind bamboo screens in what appeared to be the hallway of a building. When I realized there was A) a cockroach roaming around the community bathroom and B) there was no toilet paper, I decided to NOT go the bathroom. However, around midnight I finally gave in and decided to brave the cockroach. After getting semi-comfortable with the presence of a cockroach, I look over and there is a worm crawling on the side of the toilet tank. Ha! I didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night.
I had coffee with a family who was on vacation in Manila from another part of the Philippines in the morning. The father and daughter offered to take me to meet my friend, Malcolm - a Kiwi friend of mine who I met in Korea while volunteering at the House of Sharing together. The traffic in Manila is HORRIBLE so we transferred to the metro.
After being late to meet my friend, I found out that we couldn't take the boat to the island we were headed to because of a typhoon. It had made the water unsafe for travel. We spent the night at a dorm where volunteers are trained for my friend's organization (Meaningful Volunteer - meaningfulvolunteer.org) and an organization called CERV. They work together on projects mostly based on the island of Romblon, in the village of Sugod (pronounced "So Good").
The next day after a taxi ride, a 2 hour bus ride, a 10 hour boat ride (I slept the whole time - there were beds provided), an hour and a half jeepney ride (a vehicle extended at the back to be made into a form of public transportation by the local population after Americans abandoned a large number of jeeps after the war), and a 30 minute walk, we arrived in Sugod at 4AM.
We had crabs! Ok...just one. Literally a little crab had wandered in from the ocean which was a 2 minute walk from our front door and was chillin' with us in the dorm. We also had a few cockroaches scurrying about and tons of geckos which are absolutely adorable!
Malcolm and I stayed in a "dorm" with two volunteers, Camilla, a 22-year-old from England and Emily, an 18-year-old Korean from Canada. Just down the road, two more volunteers, Ingrid, a 26-year-old from New Zealand (whom I also met in Korea) and Rita, a 20 year old from Cali, were living with Ma'am Tess (Mom Tess) and Felix. Mom Tess and Felix cooked all of our meals for us and are absolutely incredible people!
Although I had come to the Philippines to visit Malcolm, I was lucky enough to be able to do some volunteer work while on the island.
There are many projects that Malc has been working on. 1) Building a school and bringing in volunteers to teach students English. Currently the students are taking English classes at the school that already exists in the village. 2) Computer classes for teachers. 3) Mangrove replanting because a good majority of the mangroves which help protect against typhoon damage on the island have been cut down for firewood or made into charcoal. 4) Lifecycle project working to education women in a Catholic nation on a natural birth control method. *If you want to know more information, please don't hesitate to ask me or visit the website!
These amongst other projects are currently in the works in Sugod. Malc wanted me to interview and take pictures of students and their families to put on the Meaningful Volunteer website so that students can be sponsored in the future. In doing so, I interviewed nearly 35 students and their families and was able to take pictures of the homes of almost all of the students.
After getting 3 hours of sleep the first night, I headed home with two students, Baby Ann and Jude Ann. They were released from school to show me their home so I could interview their parents and take pictures of them with their house and family. Their home...is on the top of a mountain; it is over an hour trek up. This is the story of so many students; they hike down the mountain for school and back up after school. Many of the families living on surrounding mountains must do the same with the crops they have planted.
I also helped teach one of the computer classes for teachers. We were teaching how to use excel spreadsheets. Teachers, listen up! These teachers were spending hours upon hours calculating their grades by hand because that had no such technology to help them. By teaching them the methods of calculating standard deviation and simple multiplication, it will take HOURS off the work they have to do. The problem is is that they don't have a computer that can be left at the school to be used by the teachers. They are learning on computers that were donated to the organization and they will be transferred to the new school once it is built. A single computer will cost around $350 USD. *If you're interested in donating, especially teachers who can understand what a pain hand processing grades can be, I will be sending out an email soon about how you can help.
We had a going away party one night for a few of the volunteers who had been there for a while. We rented videoke (video karaoke)! All of the students came and we fed them each! ^_~ We sang and danced the night away. Camilla's students came down from the mountain (where she teaches) with hair cuts and their nicest clothes on. So cute!
Besides that, we swam in the ocean, climbed a waterfall, and took showers in our outside shower when we couldn't stand the heat.
Taking a shower in the outside shower with four walls and no roof was incredible! Especially early in the morning when you could barely make out the mountains and palm trees surrounding the dorm but had the sunshine on your shoulders and just before bedtime while gazing at the stars.
I am continuously amazed at how attached I can become to a place and to a people in such a short span of time. As I left the village after only a little over a week, I had tears in my eyes at the thought of leaving the incredible people who had my short stay so memorable.
I promised Camilla I'd visit her in England. You can hold me to that promise..."Inshallah".
I flew from the island to an area called Dau and met up with Malcolm's Philippino girlfriend, Sel, and one of her friends. They showed me a not so nice area of the Philippines. There was an active American Air Force Base in Angeles. And because of the base, a localized prostitution street grew around the area. Since the base was cleared in 1991, there are fewer Americans visiting the area, but the prostitution area is still thriving with men from all over the world frequenting the bars and strip clubs. I was disgusted to see the manner in which women are treated in the area. At one club, we waited for a male friend of Sel's to show up because women couldn't enter unescorted. Inside, the women who weren't dancing, were responding to men's signals to come over. After a man had "chosen" a woman, the others were dismissed with a flick of his hand.
I chose to go to this area because I believe it's important to experience different sides of a country; to see the beauty but also understand where the problems of a nation lie. I hope to return to the beauty of Sugod someday and see how the children have grown.
MALAYSIA
I flew from Clark airport to Malaysia. I spent a very short time in this country and don't have more to report. I made a rookie traveling mistake and paid WAY too much for a taxi to the apartment of a woman I had met through Couchsurfing.com. Once I dropped my stuff off at the apartment building, I wandered the city of Kuala Lumpur by foot while I waited for Zurin to get off work. She, her roommate, and I spent the night talking and hanging out around the apartment. The next day, Zurin and I had breakfast together at a small Indian restaurant and she dropped me off at the metro. I ventured out to find the towers of Kuala Lumpur before heading to the airport by bus (which cost 1/8th of what the taxi ride cost). I flew out from Kuala Lumpur to Bangladesh...
*I've been slowly trying to upload pics from my camera to my computer to PhotoBucket. I finally got my pics recovered from my memory card that isn't working. There are some pics from the Philippines up on PhotoBucket now but not all.
Peace and Love from the Middle East,
Stacey
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Kuwait: A New Chapter - Sunday September 7, 2009
I got into Kuwait 3 days ago. Today was my first day of orientation.
I've met many wonderful people. Very few are my age from what I can tell. My neighbor, Lisette, is very friendly and despite the fact that she looks 25, she is 30. Most of the teachers, like Lisette, are Canadian.
I have met 3 other people from the states. They are all from Michigan, one couple and one girl my age. The girl my age, Addie, is soon turning 25 and is a Korean adoptee. We have shared our passion for Korea. Even though she hasn't been back since she was adopted at the age of three, she hopes to visit one day soon.
My brain is all over the place right now because I'm exhausted. Sorry for the randomness.
Today we met our admins minus Diane who is my principal and my mom's friend. Diane is the one who recruited me to teach at ACA, American Creativity Academy. She was delayed a day because her flight was canceled without warning. She is coming with my two suitcases because I traveled directly before coming here. I will post blogs soon about my travels this summer.
I also realized that the two boxes I sent from Korea to Kuwait may never make it; I have heard horrible things about postage to Kuwait. Things often disappear and/or never make it. All I can do is keep my fingers crossed.
I think the most surprising thing for me right now is that we live in a "concrete jungle." There is no nature. Not even sand. I have yet to really see much of the city or the country, so I'm sure I'll find nature in unexpected places still. Until then...concrete jungle it is. ^_~
As soon as I figure out how to get pics off of my camera, I'll put pics up on facebook and on photobucket.
I've met many wonderful people. Very few are my age from what I can tell. My neighbor, Lisette, is very friendly and despite the fact that she looks 25, she is 30. Most of the teachers, like Lisette, are Canadian.
I have met 3 other people from the states. They are all from Michigan, one couple and one girl my age. The girl my age, Addie, is soon turning 25 and is a Korean adoptee. We have shared our passion for Korea. Even though she hasn't been back since she was adopted at the age of three, she hopes to visit one day soon.
My brain is all over the place right now because I'm exhausted. Sorry for the randomness.
Today we met our admins minus Diane who is my principal and my mom's friend. Diane is the one who recruited me to teach at ACA, American Creativity Academy. She was delayed a day because her flight was canceled without warning. She is coming with my two suitcases because I traveled directly before coming here. I will post blogs soon about my travels this summer.
I also realized that the two boxes I sent from Korea to Kuwait may never make it; I have heard horrible things about postage to Kuwait. Things often disappear and/or never make it. All I can do is keep my fingers crossed.
I think the most surprising thing for me right now is that we live in a "concrete jungle." There is no nature. Not even sand. I have yet to really see much of the city or the country, so I'm sure I'll find nature in unexpected places still. Until then...concrete jungle it is. ^_~
As soon as I figure out how to get pics off of my camera, I'll put pics up on facebook and on photobucket.
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