Sharing is caring!

Like what you read? Share this with everyone you know to encourage me to write more!
Don't like what you read? Want to know more about something in particular? Suggestions? Send me some feedback!

Sunday, July 20, 2014

The hardest thing I've ever had to do...

...is this... this is the hardest thing I've ever done. Yup. I'm pretty sure of that.

I truly have to apologize for the delay on this post. A more accurate and in the moment description of what I've experienced would have been best, but I'll try to describe things as accurately as possible. I was incredibly busy since I arrived in Batumi, I know I've mentioned it before, but seriously, it was really a challenge to find some "me" time. If it's not obvious enough by the fact that I've only posted once in the past 8 weeks, and that I'm retroactively posting... considering I finished writing  this on a plane to New York and am finally posting it days later as I wait for my flight to Orlando. Sorry. The adventure may be over, but that just means once I'm settled in Tally again I'll go through photos and post things in more detail.

Anyway, going back to why this is probably the hardest thing I've ever done... the following post is based on what I felt for about my first 2 weeks there, and I'll even give you a spoiler just for some peace of mind: things changed...

I think this is what culture shock feels like. I didn't really experience it in Moscow, because big cities don't scare me, and I got reacquainted with dorm life last summer, so nothing was all that new. Yeah, I sounded like an idiot plenty of times when I tried to communicate and looked like a deer in headlights plenty of times, but nothing really put me out of my comfort zone.

Here, on the other hand... what did I get myself into? I can't read any signs, I don't understand most of the languages spoken around me (yeah, there are plenty of people around here who speak little to no Russian), and I know nothing of the culture, customs, food, or area. Oh did I mention the amount of fear the officials in the program have tried to instill in us? I know they just want us to be aware and cautious, but I feel like I'm in a dangerous and hostile place. Not fun.

Have I also mentioned that I haven't lived in a nuclear family since I was 4ish? That's over 20 years of living without a patriarch in the house, and certainly no little siblings. All of a sudden, I have a mom, dad, and 3 little siblings. How do I do this? How do I acclimate to family life? How do I get used to new family customs, and not being able to communicate with everyone in the family? (Yeah, I'm not allowed to speak English at home, and my littlest sister speaks more English than Russian. Frack.) WALK ON ALL OF THE EGGSHELLS!

In addition to the stress of getting acquainted to a new style of home life, and dealing with changing dynamics in old friendships while trying to make new ones again, let me tell you about some of those things  the officials kept warning us about:

Don't stay out at night, and if you do, make sure you're not alone, preferably have a male with you. -- Honestly, it was the males that were likely to get in trouble. By the end of the program I felt perfectly safe walking home alone at night. Safer than in Moscow.

Watch out for suspicious characters. If someone is overly interested in the fact that you're American, they're probably a spy and you need to report it. --ok... I'm not totally sure if this actually happened to someone, but I think I overheard some people talking about it happening once.

Watch out for men following you. The whole kidnapping wives thing still happens on occasion. -- this actually got worrisome on occasion. One girl did notice someone following her on 3 occasions, and someone else confirmed it. -- and I think we came pretty close to getting wived once in the Southern Caucus Mountains, but that's another story. Another fantastic and unforgettable story...

Then there's the things I kept hearing from other girls in the program: the men are really aggressive, they don't know how to take no for an answer, they think because you're friendly that you want to date them... --well I had zero problems with that. It seems like they could all tell just by looking at me that I'm an old maid. (Cue sad trombone)

And to add to all of that stresss, the CLI program is intensive. 1 year of Russian in 2 months, nbd. I know people here from last year, so it's not too bad, but showing up a day late, with a zombie brain, means I had no clue what was going on the whole first day. My teacher seemed nice, but I spent the first few weeks trying to feel out if she liked me. Doesn't help that I'm a slacker. Yeah, doing homework for a few hours every day, but not studying for hours for the test totally puts me in slacker zone around here.

Despite all of this, I'm still glad to be in a place I never thought I'd ever be, making some awesome memories and learning a lot. Still haven't really gotten homesick yet either.
So, bring it on CLI Batumi!
Batumi's famous Cha-Cha Tower, where at 7pm, for 10 minutes, Cha-Cha flows freely
Students of the Maritime Academy in Batumi disperse after Maritime Day Celebrations in June, 2014
Batumi's Alphabet Tower - letters of the Georgian Alphabet glow green at night as they spiral up to the ball of the tower. 
Another beautiful sunset over the Black Sea
SOMEONE made the mistake of petting one of Batumi's stray dogs. He followed us for the rest of the day. We named him George. He stalked us for the rest of the summer, knowing we were happy to feed and pet him.
Being buried on the beach here is a wee bit different than back home.
A statue depicting Madea and the Golden fleece, with Batumi's only skyscraper in the background.
One of the best (and worst) things about Georgia: Khatchapuri

No comments:

Post a Comment