Craigslist: Torture for Grammar Nazis

I am currently searching for an apartment for next year. Since my social life has been next to zero this year, I have resorted to using Craigslist. The roommate and apartment I'm living with right now is working out exceptionally well. While I discovered her on craigslist as well, it appears that such magic cannot easily be reproduced.

I'm a clean person; some people would say I'm obsessively clean. I assure you I've gotten much better and have lowered my standards. Community spaces are fair game for the occasional mess or such. I don't demand dishes to be washed immediately. See? I'm reasonable. It turns out, however, the rest of the world likes to leave crap laying out 24/7 and doesn't have a problem with guests seeing dirty counters and clothes laying out.

I also believe that living with intelligent people is a good idea. If you cannot post an ad on Craigslist that is coherent and void of grammatical errors, you are not a person I want to live with. For instance, this is a direct quote from an ad I read today.

     "Don't want to leave so manybe room share with female. some furnishings included loveseat and dishes but make it your own. needs a womans touch possible companionship. no cable but can add in but hi speed internet. serious inquiries only. late 40's male. send pic and brief bio."

Besides the obvious creepy factor of the ad, the grammar is terrible. No one is perfect and the internet does allow for more leeway in many situations like chat and facebook, but this is too much. 

Once you find a decent ad and establish a line of communication, a meeting or showing usually happens. I hate these. It's like a first date except weirder. Dating is awkward enough. I really don't understand the rules and usually say strange things that prolly shouldn't be said. Well, I do the same thing when meeting potential roommates. I also have this list of questions running through my head that should help me figure out if this is where I really want to live. One or two questions usually get lost in the conversation. It makes me so frustrated because I can't easily go back and ask those later without sounding crazy. 

While I'll keep responding to ads and searching, I'll be glad when this process is over!

I have been told repeatedly during the last couple weeks of festivities that my blog was enjoyed by many friends and family members (yet only I have seven followers? What does this say about my readership, eh? lol). So, rather than let this place kind of subside, I shall do my utmost to lead a somewhat engaging life and document it.That might sound like a fairly easy thing to do to you, but I'm afraid I currently am somewhat lacking when it comes to social/exciting/adventurous activities.
Most days I go to work for three hours at the State Law Library. Then I have an hour to eat lunch and walk to my second job at the University Bookstore. I get home around 7:30 and work most weekends. This is great when it comes to paying bills but not so great for finding adventures. I shall strive to do more!

My library job is a great opportunity for me to network in a field I hope to soon go into. It also allows me to add more experience to my resume and find those specific areas in the field where I hope to specialize. I can safely say law librarianship is not my specialty. It's interesting that the material updates so frequently. They use a great deal of online resources to enable quick access for the judges, lawyers, legal aids, and members of the public to the changing opinions and judgements. However, the information itself is either very dull or of the I-don't-really-want-to-torture-myself-reading-about-the-evils-mankind-is-capable-of type. Not my cup of tea. Still, the skills I'm learning will be useful and easily transferable to other jobs.

I'm sure everyone reading this has been to a library of some type before. If you haven't, I STRONGLY suggest you get up and go to your nearest public library. Motivation to explore your library does not have to come from homework; actually, it's better if it's just for the fun of it. Anyway, on to my point. . . Libraries are organized. That's kinda the point of having libraries, organizing information. This way people can find information and use it. One way of organizing information, specially books, is to put a call number (set of numbers and letters following a certain system like Dewey or Library of Congress) on the side of the books. It's a simple concept, A comes before B which comes before C, ect. .

Now, my current library does the same thing. Usually, in our system, in a series of books each new edition of the book gets a new subsection to organize it by. For example old books KF 300 R43 v.1 -10 verses new books KF 300 R45 v.1-10 (kinda more complicated, but well use this as a simple example). The old books are then shelved before the new books. This library has the same call numbers, but THEN SHELVES THEM OUT OF ORDER!!!!! It drives me crazy! Why write out call numbers at all if you are just going to shelve them willy nilly. So, they want the books in order according to the series, fine, no problem. Then the call numbers should stop at KF 300 R4 v. 1-10

New City, New Perspectives

I have recently moved into an apartment in Madison, WI. I live very close to campus and all the people and noise that that entails. It's nice to once again be around people. It's nice not having to plan two weeks in advance to do an errand run. I think I'm glad to be here, but that could change in a couple weeks when school starts up.

I won't be starting school this semester. I'm going to wait until the Spring semester to transfer. Hopefully, this gives me time to work and save up some money.  I'm working at the State Law Library part-time. It's a nice library. I'll get to boost my resume with some new programs and special skills. Training this week is just proving to be a little slow. I've done many of the tasks already. If the training was more structured, I could be done in two days. At this rate I won't be done until the end of the week. I'm also hoping that the UW Bookstore will hire me. I had an interview which went well. Now I just get to wait to hear back from them. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Work should keep me busy this semester, even if I have to do some more searching for a second position. (I have an application for a full time library position at a Madison Public library. However, I'm not super confident I'll get a call for an interview on that one. I think they're looking for someone older. Silly stereotypes getting in my way!)

But what am I to do when I'm not working? I'm on a very, very tight budget. That cuts out going out and meeting people in bars and such. I'm not in classes or even a student, so those welcome week events aren't open to me. I am living with a nursing student, Sarah. She seems really nice, but she's at home this week. I'm not sure if we'll have a close relationship since we haven't spent much time together, yet. I could look up some of the people from Rio who are attending Madison. I just think it would be weird if I'm like "Hey, we haven't talked for six years or so. Want to hang out?" I wasn't super close friends with the people in my class from East Troy who came here, either. I'll just have to do some brain storming I suppose. Who knows, maybe I'll meet people when I go to give plasma tomorrow.

The Summer Between

I'm long overdue for an update here. Once I arrived in the US after my week long journey filled with miscommunications and cultural frustrations, I wasn't really in the right mind set to post on what the readjustment has been like. So, a month later I'm finally writing this.

There are days where Georgia seems like a long ago dream. There are others that make me regret my decision not to renew my contract. Overall, I'm making the big adjustments (transferring to UW Madison in the spring, moving to Madison this fall, getting a job) that I need to in order to continue on in life. I'm enjoying seeing friends and spending time with family. I can once again drive and understand all the conversations around me not just bits and pieces. I have all my luxuries like free wi-fi and easily accessed libraries. It's been a good month back.

However, I still say "modloba" instead of "thank you" sometimes. I think our money looks weird and really, really miss Georgian coins (kinda an odd thing to miss, but I never said I was normal did I?). I have a ton of stories to tell people, but when I'm asked about my trip I'm at a loss of words. I can no longer cross the street like an American and find myself bracing for the crazy driving of Georgia. I miss bargaining for things at the market. Almost everyday I see or read something that gives me an idea for a lesson plan. Those are the days that I want to jump on a plane and fly back.

I don't know how to bring this to a close. I'm still in an inbetween place when it comes to my thoughts and feelings about the whole experience. I wouldn't change my decision to go to Georgia, but there are many challenges that I wish I could have been more prepared to handle. I recommend the program to anyone who is considering taking the risk of volunteering overseas. I walked away knowing and being more than I imagined (I had some pretty high expectations about how I'd change too, so that's saying something).I want to go back, and I want to travel more.

I'll just have to find some more adventures while I save up the money to do just that.

The Neverending Ticket

From my last post you might be thinking that I'm on my way back to the states. Sadly, you would be terribly wrong.

Getting your ticket from a Georgian travel agency is like trying to solve non-linear equations with your 8th grade math book. The basic skills should theoretically help you at least gain a very general idea of what is happening. Can I, using my skills of traveling in America, gain a general idea of what is happening with my trip home? Nope. It just isn't going to happen. A difficult task has become completely impossible and not the fun impossible of "oh, look I found infinity."

Many, many mouths ago I emailed TLG telling them I would not be extending my contract. I would need to fly home between June 15-17 because I would be assisting a mission trip in Chicago. I did this probably three times all within each new deadline. Two months ago I specifically emailed Alex, the flight coordinator, to make sure he received my email since I hadn't heard anything from them. He said they had. I thought great. I knew I wouldn't get my ticket as early as I might like, but I would at least get it a week before I flew out.

Well, two weeks ago I called Alex again asking about tickets and when he thought they would be sending them out. He was very noncommittal and said in a couple days. I then get worried when last week I still don't have anything after he tells me two days. I call a couple times that week and finally get him to tell me that it will be on the 16th. I don't have anymore information. That at least, thankfully, gave me enough to plan on how to get to Tbilisi on time.

  Tuesday night before leaving for Tbilisi, I check my email for a ticket. No ticket. I take the train (and yes I love foreign trains, too) on Wednesday morning. I get into to Tbilisi and take a taxi to the TLG office to hand in my phone and get my certificate before leaving on Thursday early morning. Only when I get to the office I find out that they are still waiting for my ticket. OK, I'll admit panic sets in a bit. Alex gets my ticket in about an hour from when I arrive. The ticket says I'm leaving on Friday and on a different airline!! Ah this so was not in my back-up plan.

I spend the night in a wonderful hostel called Old Town Hostel . They literally have everything that a nice hotel will have all at a cheaper rate. (Wifi, showers, TV, clean rooms, a common room, great location) They have been great.

Tbilisi Peace Bridge

This morning I woke up obscenely early for Georgian time, 7 AM. I then proceeded to check out all the tourist hotspots before the sun gets hot and people are crowding the walkways. It was wonderful. I'm glad in many ways for the extra time. I didn't get to explore the city much when I was here for training. It has costs me a bit more than I anticipated. I was supposed to be paid the day before leaving. However, even this morning I hadn't been paid for the month of June. It's a good thing I had some savings from each previous month to use for this extra day. I've done a lot of walking and free sites. Yet, food is more expensive in the city and I still have to get to the airport tomorrow.

Now, I've checked my ticket twice today online. The first time today I noticed that I'm back on Turkish Airline. They are who I flew in on and have better luggage requirements than LOT. It's still on the 17th. However, I can't check-in online. It looks like I'm on some sort of wait list for my first flight. I should just go with the flow, but I'm still a bit nervous about the whole thing.

I'll be home, hopefully, late on the 17th. I  am missing family and friends and normal sandwiches and my animals. See you soon. 

The Cliche Good-bye Post

Shannon and I overlooking Kutaisi

Of course, the last two weeks I'm here things have to get super busy. I've had a great deal of intriguing adventures to write about and no time to do so. I went to Kutaisi to see some fossils and a cool cave. There are new volunteers in Poti. I wrote and then re-wrote some final exams about five times per grade level. But, you'll just have to ask me about them when I get home if you want more details. (I still don't have my ticket home, so who knows if I'll actually get home. Just kidding, Mom, I'll get there somehow!) For now I'm going to discuss the ending of my Georgian adventure.Be forewarned, you are about to read many a cliche. (I think, after reading other volunteer blogs, this post is required. I hope that the pictures of me with EXTREMELY frizzy hair will entertain you if you don't like reading about me changing and Georgia changing and yadda yadda)

My 4th Graders: i.e. the Cutest Kids Ever!

I knew that saying good-bye to my classes and teachers would be difficult in some ways and a relief in others. We only have a couple more days of school left. I've already had my last lesson with most of my classes. I told students how much I enjoyed teaching them. I explained that I hoped they would continue to study. Most students have already zoned out and didn't seem to be paying attention. Then I told them that I wouldn't be back in the Fall. A surprisingly heartfelt groan was issued by every single class I had. It made me realize that despite my many frustrations in trying to bridge the cultural and educational gaps, I had actually made some sort of impact. That was my goal but somewhere in the last 2 1/2 months I lost hope for that to be accomplished. You certainly won't see my co-teachers actually writing out lesson plans. There are still many students who refuse to participate most days and can't answer the question "how are you?". Cheating still occurs in most of the classes, too. Yet, students do have better pronunciation. My 4th graders have an almost perfect mid-west accent. They no longer call each other stupid (at least not in school, I'm not that naive). The most exciting change I've seen is their growing courage and confidence. On the street or in a shop students will initiate conversations with me. They don't mind making mistakes, even in front of their parents, because they know that I'll reward their initiative and gently correct without yelling or tattling to their parents. These are good changes that their Georgian and future TLG teachers can improve upon.

Some of my 11th Graders

I'm sure that Georgia has impacted me as well. Besides developing a perfect "teacher look", you know that look teachers give you when you are in trouble that makes you feel more guilty than if you had robbed a bank, I have a better handle on classroom management. If I can keep Georgian kids quiet, I can keep anyone quiet! I'm more patient than I every used to be. I still have some work to do on that front, but I've made some noticeable progress. I'll never be entirely comfortable at a supra, but I've learned the important cultural lesson of how to relax and to just go with the flow. I can now make Katchapuri, which will be quite useful when I get home. I've been told by many Georgians that I would make a fortune if I opened a shop selling Katchapuri in America; they're probably right. I'm not sure this next one is an accomplishment or a sign of a deteriorating character, but I can hold my ChaCha pretty well for an American. Maybe it's a sign I'm more fun? Eh, probably not, I'm still pretty nerdy!

10B: A Class I've Only Had for a Couple Months

Traveling has always been a dream of mine. My passport finally has a stamp in it. A large part of me would like to just continue on traveling and teaching. There are plenty of programs that would satisfy my travel bug and give me some money to make it happen. But most of those programs require a college degree. So, I'll keep my promise and come home to finish my degree. I think I'm ready to focus again. I still don't know if I'm transferring to Madison in the Fall. I won't be going back to Creighton. If need be I'll start working or just taking some basic classes to fill out some general requirements at MATC or something. It doesn't bother me as much as it once did that I didn't know what I'm doing in the next couple months. I'm sure it will all work out. I need to stop trying to do everything at once. The first step is just getting my Bachelor's in physics, in whatever University allows me to do this with the right combination of support and opportunities.
I'll be home in about a week. . . so, Good-bye Georgia. I'm starting the next chapter of my adventure.

Independence Day Protests

So, one more post today about something that is making the news here and in the US. Thursday was Georgia's Independence Day from Russia. Most of my neighbors had supras long into the night or celebrated with family. Many major cities like Tbilisi and Batumi had protests run by the Opposition. They hoped to oust the current President, reunite ties with Russia, and encourage freedom of speech. The last issue seems odd to me. My host family or co-teachers have never complained about not having freedom of speech or feeling restricted by their government. The news found on the TV do not paint the protestors to be very peaceful or searching for civil rights. (Yes, I know this has a strong pro-government bias) I see images on the TV of protestors with large white sticks and even an attack on a car. It's hard for me to support the idea of these protestors when I see first-hand the good that the president's reforms are doing, especially in education.

There were some earlier protests last week and then again this week. The embassy sent out emails warning US citizens to avoid the areas where the protests were taking place. I'm certainly very safe here in Poti and didn't have any plans to travel to those cities during the weekend. I get to instead observe the changes from a safe distance. I've attached some links below about the events. If you're interested I suggest you read the short articles. Each one has a different bias.

TIME
  New York Times
    RT Video (Russia but in English)
      A georgian video to come, when my internet decides to cooperate