I decided to go back to the Republic of Georgia for one week because I hadn't been back since I left in 2004. I wanted to see all my old friends and see how the country had changed in the last 5 years. The first thing I noticed right away was the new airport. It was a real modern nice airport. A far cry from the one I remember from 2002 when we arrived in the middle of the night and they turned the electricity off at the airport before we left. This airport has ATM machines, cafes, baggage carousels etc. It is great. Americans don't even need a visa. The police just stamp your passport and let you go. No paper work, no money, no questions, nothing. The war undeniably hurt little Georgia there is no question. But still Tibilisi is looking up. There are new stores and cafes spread out along Rustaveli Ave. There are still some empty shops too and a lot still seems to be under construction such as the old department store. But things generally seem to be headed in the right way. People all over the country now have better roads to drive on and 24/7 electricity. These are two huge things I didn't have from 2002-2004. Everywhere you look in Tbilisi something seems to be under construction or soon to be. Nestan is working for a Turkish construction company in Tbilisi. Right now her company is working on remodeling the old intourist hotel. It will be a 5 star hotel called the Radison. A lot of foreign investors pulled out after the war but Georgia is still moving ahead and hopefully in a few years the foreign investors will come back. I didn't see a lot of tourists in Tbilisi and in Ambrolauri they told me tourism was way down from this time last year. But my friend Nino told me that Kazbegi was full of tourists when she recently went there. So there are still a few adventuresome tourists who want to come to Georgia. Tbilisi does a much better job of catering to tourists than Dushanbe, Tajikistan. There are few to no souvenir shops in Dushanbe but I saw a lot to buy in Tbilisi. My little town in the mountains Ambrolauri also is looking up. It seemed like the whole town was under construction. All the main roads were fixed this year and the side roads are due to be fixed next year. The road from Ambrolauri to Oni is now paved all the way with a white line down the middle. Tkibuli also has new roads in town. All the roads in Racha seem better except the road from Oni to Shovi is still the same. There is a new bridge though in Shovi because the other one was bombed. I don't know about the road up to Uravi but I suspect that it hasn't been done yet. There are also all new road signs for people pointing out hiking trails and points of interest. There is a new camp at Shauri Lake. Some of the cabins up at Shovi have been remodeled too. The Stalin statue hasn't been fixed (yeah). Considering Oni was bombed less than a year ago it looked pretty good. I didn't have an opportunity to look around too much but it looked like the hotel in the town center was being rebuilt and the main street was nice and new.
Valeri my host brother said the war set them back about 5 years. I don't know maybe it did. But Racha is starting to look-up a bit and its potential is huge. There is a lot to see and do there for outdoor lovers. There is still of course a lot of work to be done and some people in Racha are still just sitting on their hands and not helping. But it looked like a lot of people were helping and trying to make things better. Change takes time and 5 years really isn't that long but if the people in Tbilisi and Racha continue at the pace they are on their country and city will be a lot better in the not too distant future. I took a lot of pictures some of which are on this blog. There are even more new blds. in Ambrolauri that don't appear on this blog. There is even a Chinese family living in Ambrolauri now and they have a shop selling Chinese stuff right next to the Magti shop as you come into town. The Khavanchara wine still tastes as great as it ever did.
When you take the marshrutka from Didube you see a lot of refugee houses in rows along side the main road through the country. There are even refugee house in Oni. Most of the refugee houses are near Gori though.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
The old Soviet intourist hotel is now the Radison
The company Nestan is working for is remodeling this hotel. She has been working for this company for a year and a half. The hotel should be open in September 2009. It will be a five star hotel.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Farewell
If all goes according to plan I will leave Tajikistan Sunday the 19th at 3 am. I'm going to the Republic of Georgia for a week to visit some old friends. Then I'll be back in Seattle July 27th in the evening.
It has been quite a ride. The students threw a farewell party for me yesterday at the A.C. Madina made a slide show for me with pictures from throughout the year. Looking at all the pictures from throughout the year just reminded me about how many friends I have made and about all the fun we had this year. More than 40 students came. Then we all went and ate ice cream at a nearby cafe. Then many students came to a local park, that is next to the river, with me. We walked around the park and we all rode on the ferris wheel it was a lot of fun and we took a lot of pictures. The park has recently been reworked. It has been a fun year.
It has been quite a ride. The students threw a farewell party for me yesterday at the A.C. Madina made a slide show for me with pictures from throughout the year. Looking at all the pictures from throughout the year just reminded me about how many friends I have made and about all the fun we had this year. More than 40 students came. Then we all went and ate ice cream at a nearby cafe. Then many students came to a local park, that is next to the river, with me. We walked around the park and we all rode on the ferris wheel it was a lot of fun and we took a lot of pictures. The park has recently been reworked. It has been a fun year.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Fan Mountains
It took me about a week to wrap things up from summer camp and do various things. But by Saturday I thought I had it all under control enough to go on a little excursion. So two of my 18 year old students and I set out at 6 am on Saturday morning the 12th. Our goal was Panjakent, Tajikistan. We hired a car, a RAV 4, to drive us there. We were in the back seat and other woman was in the front. It was a long and bumpy ride made even longer because we had to wait two hours because the road was closed due to repairs by the Chinese. But we got to Panjakent and went to the homestay place listed in the Lonely Planet. It was a great place with a friendly English speaking man who had converted his house into a sort of B and B for foreigners. Panjakent is a medium size city but the culture there is very different. The people there are very strict muslims and more conservative and less modern than Khujand people even their dialect of Tajiki is different. It is so different that my students had a hard time understanding it at times. A lot of people speak Uzbek there too. Sunday morning we went to a good (by Tajik standards) museum about the ancient history of Panjakent. Then off to the ancient castle in the city. It was mostly destroyed though.
Then we took a jeep taxi up a primative road that paralleled a river. We went up to a string of lakes 7 in all in this valley. They were called the Marguzor Lakes. The taxi dropped us at the 6th lake and we walked up to the seventh and had a picnic. I guess you can't drive to the 7th. Then we walked back to our accomodations which were a man's house between the 5th (Khurdak Lk.) and 4th (Padrut Lk). It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get back to the house. When we encountered village women on our walk back they would either hide or walk away from us. They were like afraid of us. It was interesting for Aziz and Moni they were almost as much foreigners as I was. After a good dinner prepared by the man's wife we slept outside listening to the sound of the river. It was cold at night this high up. We were the only ones staying at this man's house this night it was really beautiful and I wasn't cold because they provided us with warm blankets.
The next day we went back to Panjakent 2 1/2 hour drive. Then we caught another bus up another valley to the Poet Rudaki's Masoleum. It was a bumpy, dirty, slow bus ride. We looked around the masoleum and ate and then went up to the Camp Artush. We went with a local man's car it took a 4X4 vehical. Then we got up to this old soviet mountaineers camp and found a room. It was raining and cold so we couldn't do any hiking this day. The food wasn't very good and it was expensive and there was a disco party downstairs this night so it was too loud to sleep. But the next day Tuesday we got up and went on a good hike. We left at about 7 am and got back about 2 pm. We saw some high mountians and pristine alpine lakes. There were people living in huts near these lakes for the summer. One of the prettiest lakes we reached was called Kulikalon Lake. I'll have to put a picture. The hike was hard because we gained a lot of elevation in a short time and I'm not in that great of shape. But the weather was perfect. We made a loop and went out a less steep way than we came in.
After that we just wanted to eat, rest and sleep. It was a great hike the mountains, and lakes were breathtaking. When we were on top of a ridge resting and eating lunch an empty plastic bag got loose and got caught up in the wind. Aziz tried to go and catch it but it just elluded his reach. To our amazement the bag kept going up higher and higher like a balloon. We watched it travel a 1,000 feet or so up to the clouds so that it was just a little speck in the sky. We finally lost it in the white clouds but it was seemingly headed for space.
The next day Wednesday we took one car back from the camp and then another car back to Khujand. We would have been home at 1 pm but the Chinese closed the road from 7 am to 7 pm. We arrived at the fray at 11 am. So we had to wait 8 hours by the side of the road for the road to open so we could continue on our way. This is the main road from Dushanbe to Khujand. But in our direction (North) only 80 cars and trucks accumulated from 7am to 7pm. Going South I think it was more. So we didn't get back to HOT Khujand until 9:30 pm. I was dead tired. I was happy to be back to a modern city with "good" food. But the trip was unforgetable.
Then we took a jeep taxi up a primative road that paralleled a river. We went up to a string of lakes 7 in all in this valley. They were called the Marguzor Lakes. The taxi dropped us at the 6th lake and we walked up to the seventh and had a picnic. I guess you can't drive to the 7th. Then we walked back to our accomodations which were a man's house between the 5th (Khurdak Lk.) and 4th (Padrut Lk). It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get back to the house. When we encountered village women on our walk back they would either hide or walk away from us. They were like afraid of us. It was interesting for Aziz and Moni they were almost as much foreigners as I was. After a good dinner prepared by the man's wife we slept outside listening to the sound of the river. It was cold at night this high up. We were the only ones staying at this man's house this night it was really beautiful and I wasn't cold because they provided us with warm blankets.
The next day we went back to Panjakent 2 1/2 hour drive. Then we caught another bus up another valley to the Poet Rudaki's Masoleum. It was a bumpy, dirty, slow bus ride. We looked around the masoleum and ate and then went up to the Camp Artush. We went with a local man's car it took a 4X4 vehical. Then we got up to this old soviet mountaineers camp and found a room. It was raining and cold so we couldn't do any hiking this day. The food wasn't very good and it was expensive and there was a disco party downstairs this night so it was too loud to sleep. But the next day Tuesday we got up and went on a good hike. We left at about 7 am and got back about 2 pm. We saw some high mountians and pristine alpine lakes. There were people living in huts near these lakes for the summer. One of the prettiest lakes we reached was called Kulikalon Lake. I'll have to put a picture. The hike was hard because we gained a lot of elevation in a short time and I'm not in that great of shape. But the weather was perfect. We made a loop and went out a less steep way than we came in.
After that we just wanted to eat, rest and sleep. It was a great hike the mountains, and lakes were breathtaking. When we were on top of a ridge resting and eating lunch an empty plastic bag got loose and got caught up in the wind. Aziz tried to go and catch it but it just elluded his reach. To our amazement the bag kept going up higher and higher like a balloon. We watched it travel a 1,000 feet or so up to the clouds so that it was just a little speck in the sky. We finally lost it in the white clouds but it was seemingly headed for space.
The next day Wednesday we took one car back from the camp and then another car back to Khujand. We would have been home at 1 pm but the Chinese closed the road from 7 am to 7 pm. We arrived at the fray at 11 am. So we had to wait 8 hours by the side of the road for the road to open so we could continue on our way. This is the main road from Dushanbe to Khujand. But in our direction (North) only 80 cars and trucks accumulated from 7am to 7pm. Going South I think it was more. So we didn't get back to HOT Khujand until 9:30 pm. I was dead tired. I was happy to be back to a modern city with "good" food. But the trip was unforgetable.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
American Corner Summer Camp Summary
July 7, 2009
The American Corner Summer Camp was a huge success for all involved. From the opening day on June 29th to the final day on July 5th students were actively engaged in fun learning activities. All the activities and workshops were conducted in English and students' English began to improve. We had community meetings every morning at 7:30 before breakfast. These meetings were well attended throughout the week by students even though they were often tired. At these community meetings we talked about what went well from the previous day and what needs to change. Almost all the feedback we got was positive. The only negative was the lack of water or hot water in the students' rooms. This was a reoccurring problem throughout the week but by the end of the week the situation had gotten better. At these community meetings we also went over the days' schedule and played a fun game. For example, one morning we played Simon Says and another morning we played musical chairs with all the students. Our goal was to wake students up and have a fun time.
After both breakfast and lunch we had a two hour workshop on various topics. We had workshops on the following topics: democracy, intercultural communication, community service, tolerance, leadership, gender equality, studying in the U.S., mutual understanding, and the Fourth of July. We split the 36 students up into three countries with 12 students in each country. All these workshops were conducted for students in their countries except for the workshop on studying in the U.S.
As as country, students had to vote for whom they wanted to be their president, speaker of the country, and fun director. Each of these elected offices had specific tasks to complete. This helped students feel more empowered in this camp. In addition, to electing students to these offices, students in each country had to create their own laws, name, religion, and flag for their country. We fostered the students' competitiveness by having an Olympic Games competition between countries, with nine different events. We included games such as, tug-o-war and a raw egg toss in this competition. Throughout the week students stayed in their pre-determined countries but counselors taught different countries every day so that students had different counselors all the time.
After the afternoon workshop we had watermelon break every day. We had the kitchen staff cut up five crisp cold watermelons so students could eat as much watermelon as they wanted. Counselors and students alike enjoyed this much needed break. Then after the break students had free time from about 3:30-6:00. Most students chose to go swimming in the reservoir during this time. It was very hot and students enjoyed getting in the water and cooling off. We had both girls and boys swimming together. Some of the girls didn't know how to swim but they used an inflatable swim ring to keep them afloat. By the end of the week two or three girls said they had learned how to swim and everyone was swimming much better. There was a little beach where the students could swim and counselors could sit and watch or join them. We never had any problems with students swimming but a few of our balls blew away on the water. During free time we also had students playing volleyball. The students loved playing volleyball and played it in their free time throughout the week.
After dinner each night we had another community meeting where we showed a slideshow of pictures from the day. A different counselor each day worked hard during free time to put together a slide show. This was a great idea because the students smiled and laughed at all the funny pictures that had been taken throughout the day. At this meeting speakers of the countries also gave a report on the days' events. We asked them for both positives and negatives and we usually got a lot more positives.
The final activity for the day was always a fun one. We watched three movies, had two discos, and went bowling with half the students one night and the other half the next night. We watched the movie "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" for fun. We watched the movies "Bend it Like Beckham" and "Island of the Blue Dolphins" to teach students about tolerance, mutual understanding, and intercultural communication etc. All of our fun activities were great but the students especially loved the bowling. Many of them especially the girls had never been bowling before so it was a lot of fun for them. We had one girl bowl 100 and it was the first time she had ever bowled! The Halloween disco was also great but the speakers were a little weak and so was the music. Therefore on our last night, Saturday night, we hired a better DJ who had better speakers. At Saturday's Hollywood disco the music was much better and everyone had a blast. The location for both discos was great. We were on an outdoor terrace overlooking the reservoir with the moon shinning bright. All the students were in attendance and wanted to keep dancing all night- it was magical. On the last night we danced from about 8:30-11:00pm. Many students stayed up and talked the whole night and then wanted to go watch the sunrise in the morning. So after about three hours of sleep on Saturday night I had 22 students knocking at my door wanting me to take them out of the building to see the sunrise. I groggily got dressed and went.
We finally got back to the American Corner at about 10:30 am Sunday July 5th. Everyone including me felt the same; we were all super tired and happy. It had been an incredible action packed week. Students just kept thanking me over and over again for organizing this camp. They said they never wanted the camp to end and that they will never forget it as long as they live.
As part of the camp we required each country to plan, present, and implement a community service project. Already this week we have had students, who participated in this camp, meeting at the American Corner to organize community clean-ups and trips to the orphanage. We want students to become empowered leaders in their community and it looks like they are on the right track. We had terrific young people attending this camp.
The biggest challenge was the changing personnel. We had one student tell us she couldn't come one day before the camp on the 28th. Luckily, we found a girl to replace her within minutes. We had two other counselors leave after two days because they had to take care of their families. Luckily, we had Masuda a U-Grad alumnus step-up and fill the void. But we were still down one counselor all week. We wanted six counselors and we only had five most of the time. The other counselors and I were all constantly busy and we appreciated all the help we could get. We are all young energetic people though so we coped fine. In short this summer camp was a huge success, and I hope that there will be more American Corner Summer Camps in the future.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
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