Well, it seems that yet another week has flown by. The actual weekdays were pretty much the same--though I can happily note that my co-teachers and I have begun to strike good balances in class with activities to keep students interested, and much more controlled. On Saturday, I went (with some of the other teachers as well, of course) on the 4th grade's field trip to the convent where St. Nino's relics are kept, and which bears her name (how awesome is that!--the public school's fourth grade field trip is to the monastery; there's something you'd never see in America). It was very beautiful, and the view from there is stunning--you can see the whole valley of K'akheti extending to the mountains near which I live. The church itself (dedicated to St. George) was very Western for the most part--and I can just say as an exemplification of why I don't like Western icons that showing Adam and Eve in their nakedness in Paradise in a Western (and thus fully realistic) way is not a good idea for obvious reasons (and because it's misleading; before the Fall, their bodies were subtler, without the heavy coarseness of our present flesh, as the saints say). After that, we went to Sighnaghi, which is a quite beautiful city (it has perhaps even a better view than Bodbe of the valley) before coming home.
Sunday was likewise good. I was able to set a time (Sundays after services) with one of the more fluent English speakers to translate the liturgy and other liturgical offices (now that I have purchased some blank notebooks, which I did the previous weekend in Tbilisi) into English (I have a couple copies of the liturgy in English, but I would like to have a side-by-side Georgian-English version for use in Church). After service I went to a supra held at a friend's small wine factory (and was subsequently given, as a part of the tour, two more bottles of wine to bring to my family--I hope you're prepared to drink a lot when I get home, everybody). It was an interesting supra, as, for most of it, there was no one who knew any English whatsoever. For a few moments, however, there was a Georgian woman, Ek'a (for the Georgian version of Katherine--Ek'at'erina, I think), who spoke fluent English--she lives in Ireland and, though a Brit may have been able to spot an accent, I was unsure (until I asked) if she was Georgian or from the Isles. It was also entertaining when, a bit later, I tried and failed to communicate with some new guests--not because I was speaking English to Georgians, but because I, the American, was speaking Georgian to, as it turns out, Belarussians, who didn't know a lick of Georgian--which I, at least, thought was pretty funny.
Anyway, today has been normal, except for torrential rain (and a little snow in the morning, which I have been told is unseasonally early). The electricity was out until about an hour and a half ago, and now I am watching Georgian Wheel of Fortune (it's a bit different than that of America: it's new contestants every puzzle, much less money, it seems to be an hour long, it is much harder (since each puzzle is generally only one word and the Georgian alphabet has 33 characters), and it has fun Georgian quirks--for example, during the last puzzle, they were drinking wine for no apparent reason). I was surprised to see it, actually, because I hadn't ever seen it on before--and unfortunately, Georgians like to have the TV on a lot, even if no one is watching it, just for background noise. Between the six or eight channels we get here, they seem to watch Mexican Soap Operas, the occasional way overdone comedy show, the news, the occasional soccer game, a knowledge-based game show with children contestants (around 5-7 grade or so), and a game show (which is actually fairly entertaining) in which two contestants compete in random tasks and knowledge tests. Now, I would rather not have TV at all, but Georgians (or most of them--my host mother seems to be more like me in my attitude toward the TV) generally thinik it's more comfortable to have on some background noise, and thus turn it on not only for themselves (and usually very loudly if so), but also sometimes to be hospitable to guests (including me, generally, unless I request that the blaring TV no one is watching be turned down so I can hear the person sitting right next to me). Now this is not always the case--often, if they see that no one is really watching it, and no one can hear one another, they will turn it down--but it will generally stay on even if no one is interested in it; if someone is really watching it, it will generally be somewhere between a nuisance (i.e., loud enough to be distracting regarless of what you're doing) and obnoxious (i.e., loud enough to start to hurt your ears or give you a headache and make it impossible to do anything). Just a warning for those of you coming to Georgia--hopefully you'll have someone in your family like my host mother, who has the sense to turn it off when no one is watching, and turn it down when it is making it impossible to do anything else in the only warm room in the house (in winter, that is).
It can be very difficult explaining cultural differences, simply because certain things don't always make any sense from one culture to another. For example (hypothetically; they're too polite and hospitable, generally, to ask these questions bluntly): "Why wouldn't you want the TV blaring in the background while you read?" (I haven't ever said anything on this subject, but if no one else is even in the room, I will often turn the TV down or off, and I think they've noticed.) "You don't want to watch TV for hours? Really?" (Luckily, as I mentioned, some Georgians understand this much better than others--probably in that sense Georgia's not that much different from America.) "Why don't you eat much for breakfast, and usually only go for the bread, jam, and fruit instead of last night's fresh-slaughtered pig's feet and ears (here I should note that pig skin and pig feet are actually not bad, but certainly not breakfast food, at least for my palate)?" "Why don't you want to get uncomfortably stuffed to the brim at every meal you eat?" Even with questions of Orthodoxy, it sometimes takes some explaining, as it can be unfortunately easy in Orthodox countries not to delve too deeply into the Church, trusting in ethnic identity/nationality as giving enough knowledge of the Church (i.e., I'm Georgian, therefore I'm Orthodox; I'm Greek, therefore I'm Orthodox, etc.). I do not mean to judge anyone by this statement--forgive me if I do, I'm certainly not one with any ability to see the speck in my brother's eye, considering the giant log in my own--I am simply trying to acknowledge one of the the factual causes of the occasional lack in knowledge. For example, "Why don't you have fish and alcohol on fast days?" (granted, this might actually be a true difference in the Goergian typicon--but considering the differences (this gives no room for partial-fast days, like the Annunciation and other important feast/fast days), I would be more inclined to belive this is a simply lack of knowledge of fasting rules, and I would rather be safe than sorry--liturgics and the rules governing them are there for a reason). Or, "What is that weird ring you're wearing?" (while I wear a ring-sized prayer rope, most Georgians, unless they have good knowledge of monasticism, don't know anything about the Jesus Prayer). Knowledge of liturgics and liturgical prayers also seems to be a bit lacking (there being obvious exceptions, of course), but I suppose it's not necessarily that different from the average lay Orthodox in America--I can easily acknowledge my over-expectations in certain things, coming into Georgia, as an Orthodox country. I can also recognize under-expectations in many things, however; for example, thier wonderful (although sometime a bit overwhelming) hospitality. Though one would, of course, hope that more people would wish to delve more deeply into the Church, glory to God for the great things present here in the people and the place--glory to God that all Georgians are, at least, baptized members of the Orthodox Church, and believe in and confess as many of Its Truths as they know! Obviously, the environment of an Orthodox country really gives great opportunities to those who do want to delve more deeply and fully into the Church.
But anyway, I've babbled for too long about things above my ability to speak properly (namely, this last paragraph). God forgive me if I have spoken anything inaccurate or have passed judgement on anyone--and my readers, please forgive me if I have have unneccesarily offended anyone or have inaccurately depicted anything about Georgian culture or the Orthodox people here in Georgia. Hopefully, God has granted me the grace to speak truthfully and give helpful information for any of you Orthodox traveling to Georgia, and for anyone from a Western culture coming to live in Georgia.
Sunday was likewise good. I was able to set a time (Sundays after services) with one of the more fluent English speakers to translate the liturgy and other liturgical offices (now that I have purchased some blank notebooks, which I did the previous weekend in Tbilisi) into English (I have a couple copies of the liturgy in English, but I would like to have a side-by-side Georgian-English version for use in Church). After service I went to a supra held at a friend's small wine factory (and was subsequently given, as a part of the tour, two more bottles of wine to bring to my family--I hope you're prepared to drink a lot when I get home, everybody). It was an interesting supra, as, for most of it, there was no one who knew any English whatsoever. For a few moments, however, there was a Georgian woman, Ek'a (for the Georgian version of Katherine--Ek'at'erina, I think), who spoke fluent English--she lives in Ireland and, though a Brit may have been able to spot an accent, I was unsure (until I asked) if she was Georgian or from the Isles. It was also entertaining when, a bit later, I tried and failed to communicate with some new guests--not because I was speaking English to Georgians, but because I, the American, was speaking Georgian to, as it turns out, Belarussians, who didn't know a lick of Georgian--which I, at least, thought was pretty funny.
Anyway, today has been normal, except for torrential rain (and a little snow in the morning, which I have been told is unseasonally early). The electricity was out until about an hour and a half ago, and now I am watching Georgian Wheel of Fortune (it's a bit different than that of America: it's new contestants every puzzle, much less money, it seems to be an hour long, it is much harder (since each puzzle is generally only one word and the Georgian alphabet has 33 characters), and it has fun Georgian quirks--for example, during the last puzzle, they were drinking wine for no apparent reason). I was surprised to see it, actually, because I hadn't ever seen it on before--and unfortunately, Georgians like to have the TV on a lot, even if no one is watching it, just for background noise. Between the six or eight channels we get here, they seem to watch Mexican Soap Operas, the occasional way overdone comedy show, the news, the occasional soccer game, a knowledge-based game show with children contestants (around 5-7 grade or so), and a game show (which is actually fairly entertaining) in which two contestants compete in random tasks and knowledge tests. Now, I would rather not have TV at all, but Georgians (or most of them--my host mother seems to be more like me in my attitude toward the TV) generally thinik it's more comfortable to have on some background noise, and thus turn it on not only for themselves (and usually very loudly if so), but also sometimes to be hospitable to guests (including me, generally, unless I request that the blaring TV no one is watching be turned down so I can hear the person sitting right next to me). Now this is not always the case--often, if they see that no one is really watching it, and no one can hear one another, they will turn it down--but it will generally stay on even if no one is interested in it; if someone is really watching it, it will generally be somewhere between a nuisance (i.e., loud enough to be distracting regarless of what you're doing) and obnoxious (i.e., loud enough to start to hurt your ears or give you a headache and make it impossible to do anything). Just a warning for those of you coming to Georgia--hopefully you'll have someone in your family like my host mother, who has the sense to turn it off when no one is watching, and turn it down when it is making it impossible to do anything else in the only warm room in the house (in winter, that is).
It can be very difficult explaining cultural differences, simply because certain things don't always make any sense from one culture to another. For example (hypothetically; they're too polite and hospitable, generally, to ask these questions bluntly): "Why wouldn't you want the TV blaring in the background while you read?" (I haven't ever said anything on this subject, but if no one else is even in the room, I will often turn the TV down or off, and I think they've noticed.) "You don't want to watch TV for hours? Really?" (Luckily, as I mentioned, some Georgians understand this much better than others--probably in that sense Georgia's not that much different from America.) "Why don't you eat much for breakfast, and usually only go for the bread, jam, and fruit instead of last night's fresh-slaughtered pig's feet and ears (here I should note that pig skin and pig feet are actually not bad, but certainly not breakfast food, at least for my palate)?" "Why don't you want to get uncomfortably stuffed to the brim at every meal you eat?" Even with questions of Orthodoxy, it sometimes takes some explaining, as it can be unfortunately easy in Orthodox countries not to delve too deeply into the Church, trusting in ethnic identity/nationality as giving enough knowledge of the Church (i.e., I'm Georgian, therefore I'm Orthodox; I'm Greek, therefore I'm Orthodox, etc.). I do not mean to judge anyone by this statement--forgive me if I do, I'm certainly not one with any ability to see the speck in my brother's eye, considering the giant log in my own--I am simply trying to acknowledge one of the the factual causes of the occasional lack in knowledge. For example, "Why don't you have fish and alcohol on fast days?" (granted, this might actually be a true difference in the Goergian typicon--but considering the differences (this gives no room for partial-fast days, like the Annunciation and other important feast/fast days), I would be more inclined to belive this is a simply lack of knowledge of fasting rules, and I would rather be safe than sorry--liturgics and the rules governing them are there for a reason). Or, "What is that weird ring you're wearing?" (while I wear a ring-sized prayer rope, most Georgians, unless they have good knowledge of monasticism, don't know anything about the Jesus Prayer). Knowledge of liturgics and liturgical prayers also seems to be a bit lacking (there being obvious exceptions, of course), but I suppose it's not necessarily that different from the average lay Orthodox in America--I can easily acknowledge my over-expectations in certain things, coming into Georgia, as an Orthodox country. I can also recognize under-expectations in many things, however; for example, thier wonderful (although sometime a bit overwhelming) hospitality. Though one would, of course, hope that more people would wish to delve more deeply into the Church, glory to God for the great things present here in the people and the place--glory to God that all Georgians are, at least, baptized members of the Orthodox Church, and believe in and confess as many of Its Truths as they know! Obviously, the environment of an Orthodox country really gives great opportunities to those who do want to delve more deeply and fully into the Church.
But anyway, I've babbled for too long about things above my ability to speak properly (namely, this last paragraph). God forgive me if I have spoken anything inaccurate or have passed judgement on anyone--and my readers, please forgive me if I have have unneccesarily offended anyone or have inaccurately depicted anything about Georgian culture or the Orthodox people here in Georgia. Hopefully, God has granted me the grace to speak truthfully and give helpful information for any of you Orthodox traveling to Georgia, and for anyone from a Western culture coming to live in Georgia.
In Christ,
Teopile/Theophilos Porter
