August 23rd: Last night we had a dance down by the old swimming pool. It poured with rain and everyone got soaked. There was no dancing. I went as Ruth’s partner and Gill was supposed to be Garrick’s partner, but she waited for him at the dance and he for her at the hotel!

It’s all very strange. We are waiting for some folks to come from Washington to “process” us. In the interim, we’re hanging around here, trying to follow the news – what are the Russians doing (or not doing), phoning (when we can get through) people back home and in Georgia and trying to amuse ourselves to stop going crazy. Meanwhile, Georgians continue to suffer.

Today we took another trip to Yerevan. A group of eight of us went to an Armenian/Syrian restaurant which was very pleasant. The restaurant was air-conditioned – bliss! The city was brutally hot and I think I got dehydrated when afterwards we walked around an antiques/crafts market.

August 25th: Today the regional director came and in the evening all the G8s were sworn in. It was a bit emotional. The G8s had been through all the rigors of training and now were, for the most part, being shipped back to the US, but at least now they are PCVs and not PCTs.

G8s waiting to be sworn in.

CD Rick gives a speech.

Becky & Michael give a speech.

A toast (with water since it is an official Peace Corps event.)

Michael gets his certificate.

G8 PCVs.

Regional Director David gives a speech.

No. 1 wife and no. 2 wife.

Gill and Dan have a chat in the cafe.

August 26th: Medical test, report writing, form filling and countless other tasks occupy us today and in the next couple of days. That’s the official stuff. Many of us are also arranging for fund-raising in the US and UK and organizing our return to Georgia.

It is now settled that some of us will leave the hotel on Friday, August 29th. Others will be staying longer – those who have elected to take the Peace Corps provided ticket to the US. We shall go to Yerevan, stay overnight and then cross the border and travel to Akhalsikhe on Saturday. That is Carissa’s and Brenden’s destination, but Gill and I go on to Borjomi and Amy will go on to Khashuri. Ruth is taking the Tbilisi route to get Marneuli.

August 20th: Today we took a trip to Lake Sevan, which is a huge lake here in Armenia. For this land-locked country, it is significant as a big body of water that gives the impression of being a sea and allows folks to go to the “seaside” to swim and do all the other things that people do at such places.

We went to a nearby water-park to try to relax, cool off and get a dose of skin cancer.

Aida and Toni at the water park.

DJ, Ruth and Kelsey do a left-handed toast to Russia.

Mamuka, Peace Corps driver, makes a new friend.

The monastery at Lake Sevan.

A door at the monastery.

Garrick at the end of the slide.

Tengo at the beginning of the slide.

August 18th. Today we heard that Russia was withdrawing its forces from Georgia and replacing them with “Peace Keepers.” What a joke. They are sending in soldiers to replace soldiers to keep the peace that they destroyed (and are still destroying). I saw a banner on BBC World News to the effect that the Ukraine had stated that it will open up its defense system to other countries in light of Russia’s behavior towards Georgia. I hope that is true, but I’ve heard nothing since. It may only be a symbolic act with little practical effect, but it at least shows that some parts of the world are concerned about what is going on in Georgia.

We have had another meeting to work out how we can get back to Georgia to help recovery when the Russians have left and to discuss whether their departure is necessary for us to return. We will probably go to the US and the UK for a short while to raise money for our activities.

August 19th. In order to keep ourselves sane, we have started a Peace Corps Georgia Olympics. It’s just a bit of fun, but it helps to relieve tension – both because it’s fun and because it’s physical effort. The teams were based in their sites in Georgia.

This is the Samsketi-Javaketi team.

Capture the flag - first round.

The start of a wheel-barrow race.

The start of a three-legged race.

The leap-frog race.

Watching the soccer final.

The soccer final.

Gretchen takes part in the blind-folded SMS competition.

August 16th: Today we all took an excursion into Yerevan. We split into a number of groups according to desired destination. Some went to the national museum, some to the crafts and antiques market and some went to regular stores to do “normal” shopping. We went to the books and documents museum which has some really interesting material. Unfortunately, we lost a lot of time trying to get the local currency. Our Georgian bank cards did not work in the ATMs we encountered and there were problems using our American cards too. We finally found a place where they would take Lari. The sign outside showed a spread against the dollar of just under 1%, against the ruble of just under 2% and against the Lari of just over 20%! The banks would not take Lari, but they were still taking rubles, which was predictable and understandable, but still stuck in the craw. As in prior days, Armenian PCVs looked after us, giving up their time to help us. They were really great.

Mother Armenia. She looks a little less inviting than Mother Georgia.

Arrival in the main square.

Entrance to the books and documents museum.

We now have SIM cards that are supposed to let us call abroad. We have managed to get through to Georgia, but have failed so far to get through to the UK.

Last night, we heard from our Mako that it rained in Borjomi and the forest fires created by the Russians were now out. She said that she and the rest of the family are OK. They have food and seem to be safe, but the Russians seem to be on a binge, so we are still very worried. We were told this morning that they are looting Khashuri. It is hard to fathom what the Russians think can be achieved by all this. Georgia is hardly a country suited to looting. There are a number of rich peoples’ residences in Tbilisi, but 99% of the population of Khashuri is unlikely to have anything worth dragging all the way back to Russia or South Ossetia. Perhaps they are doing it just to “punish” the Georgians. Perhaps the Russian soldiers are simply undisciplined and are the barbarians that Sakashvili says they are.

August 12th: The first full day in the Armenian resort. We had a visit from the American charge-d’affaires in Armenia who was a bit lavish with his praise of us, but otherwise gave a good speech.

We all have great admiration and affection for the Georgians. The host families all express concern for our safety when they are potentially in far greater danger than we. The Georgian staff that are accompanying us, Tengo – training co-ordinator, Teo – language co-ordinator, Tamara – medical officer and Nino – safety and security officer, work hard getting things arranged and managing the whole operation. They do it with efficiency and good humour, but their families, while currently OK, are still in harm’s way. Working for Peace Corps is considered a good job in Georgia, so Peace Corps can choose the best. They certainly chose well with this bunch. The Georgians are simply wonderful. The American staff are great too, but their families are not in danger, so our admiration for, and gratitude to, them are somewhat more muted.

August 13th: Another day in the Armenian resort. The Peace Corp Georgia Country Director came and described the possible outcomes for us. Yesterday, with the signing of the agreement between Russia and Georgia, things looked promising. Today, with Russia’s continuing operations in Georgia (despite the agreement) and after the CD’s description of what might happen in the near future we are less sanguine. It now seems unlikely that we shall return to Georgia any time soon – at least, under the auspices of Peace Corps.


August 14th: Yet another day in the Armenian resort. There is a lot of talk about how we might get involved in the clean-up and rebuilding of Georgia. The TELF folks are a bit at a loss as to suitable mechanisms, but the BSE volunteers have a lot of experience with NGOs and know something about getting funds properly channeled to get things done. All this is fine, but many of us are looking for ways to help in a more hands-on manner. If we get back to Georgia, I do not think that we shall do teaching. We shall try to find tasks more directly related to the reconstruction.


August 15th: Yet another day in the Armenian resort. Things are much like yesterday. Most people are feeling frustrated at the inaction, but do not know what options are available to us. We spoke to Mako. She said that the Russians bombed the Borjomi Gorge and had started fires there. This is part of that National Park and is not in Borjomi itself, but just outside. Although Borjomi itself was not hit, the smoke from the fires was very bad in the town and Mako asked if they could use the masks in our medical kits. Of course, we told her to take anything that might be useful.


We took a trip to a pagan temple nearby. here are some pictures.


We then went on to a local 4th century church. As we usually do when visiting such places, we lit a candle for Ben.

August 11th: We left at 11:45 – 45 minutes late for our drive to Armenia. Peace Corps Armenia has made arrangements for our reception into Armenia. We are told that we will be staying in a resort where the Armenian Olympics team does its training and is supposed to be quite lavish!

Our two buses drove down from Bakuriani to Borjomi where we stopped briefly so that our host-family could give us my computer which I should have taken in the first place. Not content with that, they gave us a big bag of food. Things were so rushed and emotional that we didn’t really think. We should not have taken the food. We were told later that all the Borjomi shops had been cleared out by panic buying, so the family definitely had a greater need than we.

We then drove through Akhalsikhe and closely followed the route we had taken just a few weeks earlier when we went to Vardzia. This time, however, we stayed on the “main” road, went through Nimotsminda and across the border. The crossing took ages. Five volunteers, for various reasons, did not have their passports with them and this may have been the cause of the delay. Or perhaps processing 90 foreigners simply takes that amount of time at this border crossing.

A brief rest stop.

Approaching the border.

The Armenian side of the border.

We then drove for another three hours to the resort. The whole trip took about 13 hours. We arrived at about 1:00 in the morning.

An eye-catching statue at the entrance to the resort where we are staying.

Yet another alphabet.

Members of a mime group adorn statuary in the nearby village, Tzakhkadzor.

August 8th: Today, the separatists in South Oshetia shelled a number of places in Georgia – that’s the Georgian version. There have been provocations for some time now. Explosions in Gori and other incidents have put us on "stand-fast" a number of times recently. Georgian troops entered South Osetia and took a number of villages. Each side claims that the other started it. Georgia claims that Russia is aiding the separatists and Russia denies it. Planes, probably Russian, have bombed Gori, Kareli and Zugdidi. We are probably pretty safe here, but a number of volunteers in other areas have been evacuated to safer places.

We have been put on “stand-fast” again, which means that we cannot leave our site and have to pack essentials ready to leave. We spent most of the day organizing our belongings into (a) what to take with us, (b) what to leave but hope to recover eventually, (c) what to leave for Georgians – host family, schools, etc. and (d) what to toss out if we have to leave.

Erica, Julie and Giga have left to go to Tbilisi, but we know that they have encountered difficulties because Gori is on the main road to Tbilisi and the road is closed to all but small vehicles. Erica has an appointment in the British consulate on Monday in order to get her visa for her year at Kent University. She needs her visa before Giga can get his to be with her.

Now we wait to see what will happen.

August 9th: Things are getting more serious. We were told to get ready to leave. A Peace Corps vehicle was supposed to pick us up at about 11:00. It arrived at about 2:00, but things are a bit chaotic and so the delay was understandable. We are told to take only one bag with just the necessities for a few days. We decide to take Gill’s computer, it being the lighter, and the backup drives for both machines so we will be able to access my data too. Wrong! Gill’s version of Windows is earlier than mine and, as we later discover, cannot read my backups! Thank you, Bill Gates (yet again).

August 10th: First full day at the Hotel Tbilisi in Bakuriani. All the volunteers are here now – all the G7s except those who were already out-of-country, all the trainee G8s and a few G6s who, for various reasons, are still here. Everyone is watching the television trying to find out what is going on in the rest of Georgia. Borjomi and Bakuriani are considered safe because the is nothing of military importance nearby and we are some distance from the current military operations. The phone system is a mess. People are trying to get through to The States to reassure their families there and to various places in Georgia to find out how their host families are managing and to reassure them of our safety. Because of bombing, the biggest problem area seems to be Gori where we had a few volunteers and hence have some host families and, a close second, Zugdidi where another volunteer couple, Lisa and Mark, were stationed. Things are beginning to look bleak.

Peace Corps meeting in Bakuriani.

We have been told that tomorrow at 11:00 we shall go to Armenia by bus.

August 7th: We have just returned from a trip to Oni. This is a place up north not far from the Russian border. We were visiting our fellow volunteer Eric who was running a sports camp for a some of the students in Oni.

Eric - one of the best!

Eric’s dog, Bombura, has just had pups and she is busy with, and tired of, feeding them! Motherhood is getting her down.



The camp was a lot of fun. We played a number of team sports in the local sports ground and cooked ourselves some great dinners in the evening.

On the third day, after an abbreviated camp, we took a vehicle into the mountains. The vehicle was an ex-ambulance and was very, very uncomfortable. You see these vehicles all over the place. They may be uncomfortable, but they seem sturdy and good at dealing with rough roads and countryside - and we had a lot of that.

We stopped at a dilapidated summer resort which was probably quite the place to go in the soviet era. It had a delightful stream running through it and we stopped on the bank to have a late lunch and cool down.

Beside the stream.

Beside the stream.

Beside the stream.

Georgia is littered with derelict buildings, many of which were probably once rather grand - some dating from the Romanov era. This was an example, although this shot does not give a true impression of its state of disrepair. The place was literally falling down. The stairs inside were in quite good shape, but in many places the floors were soft an in a few had completely collapsed. Cows were tethered up in the basement!

However, the view from the top of the building was spectacular.

On the way out of the resort we saw two interesting sights. The first was a caged bear. He/she looked so sorrowful in a very small, dirty cage with only an old tire to play with.

The other was a decaying statue of Stalin. It seemed to summarize everything.

Later we visited a man who was camping in the woods. He was minding his bee hives. It is common here to move hives up into the mountains here in the summer time and move them down again in the fall.

Here he is centrifuging the combs to get the honey out.

Gill takes a walk in the woods.

Later we took a rather scary ride higher up in the mountains. The road was very rough, narrow and right on the edge! However, the views were spectacular.

Our driver, Koba (in red), decided that one of us, Jess , should marry his son and spent most of the time calling her “daughter-in-law”. She (far left) was tolerant of his attention, but not in favor of the idea. When this photo was taken we were just two kilometers from Russia.

At a pit-stop on the way back, we reviewed some of the day’s photographs.