Amy describes her tenure as a volunteer as mostly rewarding so far, but she readily admits that it has not been easy. “Since this is my first experience spending time outside of the U.S., homesickness has been a major struggle. “My other difficulties include many problems generally associated with living abroad in a developing country: the language barrier, electricity shortages, corruption, gender roles, lack of central heating and air conditioning, frustration with public transportation and the list goes on.” “Georgians are famous for their hospitality. It's almost overwhelming sometimes,” remarked Eller. “Everyone who has come to visit me can attest to this. I am constantly being welcomed into people's homes whether or not I know them. They offer food and favors, even as complete strangers, and I am often approached by people just interested in speaking with me. “I think as a whole, Georgians are generally extremely warm-hearted, high-spirited and friendly.”
Amy Eller lives in Georgia as a Peace Corps Volunteer
It’s a long way from Georgia to Fayetteville
2007-12-27
By Trey Alverson
Fayette County High School alum Amy Eller lives in Georgia, but when she talks to her friends and family in Fayetteville, she must contend with a staticy phone signal and an eight-hour time difference.
“I regularly talk to my family and friends back home so that makes things easier, even though the connection is exasperating sometimes,” Eller said.
Amy places these calls from the Georgia that many of us Peach Staters refer to as “Soviet Georgia,” although the country has been a sovereign nation since 1991.
After graduating from the University of Georgia in May of 2006, Eller journeyed from one Georgia to the other as a volunteer in the U.S. Peace Corps.
She now lives and teaches English in the scenic
hilly sub-tropic village of Alumbari, located not too far from the Turkish border in the Georgian provence of Adjara.
Amy recently returned to Fayetteville for the holidays, but she will soon go back to her Peace Corps site to wrap up the final few months of the two-year program.
“The Peace Corps in Georgia consists of about 80 volunteers,” Eller stated.
“We’re scattered in cities, towns and villages across the country.
“I live with a Georgian host family in a village of about 1,000 people where I teach in the village school, which is about a half of an hour walk from my house.”
Amy began to consider serving in the Peace Corps when she heard about the program during her freshman year of college, but she had no idea that she would end up in the Republic of Georgia.
“I requested Eastern Europe and they sent me to this tiny former Soviet Republic nestled in the Caucasus Mountains,” Eller said.
The Peace Corps generally allows accepted volunteers to choose a region of the world in which they would like to serve. After that, the Peace Corps places volunteers based on program needs.
Amy describes her tenure as a volunteer as mostly rewarding so far, but she readily admits that it has not been easy.
“Since this is my first experience spending time outside of the U.S., homesickness has been a major struggle.
“My other difficulties include many problems generally associated with living abroad in a developing country: the language barrier, electricity shortages, corruption, gender roles, lack of central heating and air conditioning, frustration with public transportation and the list goes on.”
Amy also noted that the Peace Corps does its best to provide each volunteer with items and services which help to mitigate potential problems.
Upon entering Georgia, Eller and her fellow volunteers attended a comprehensive, six-week indoctrination course which focused on Georgia’s culture, customs and language. The Georgian language features a unique alphabet and is unrelated to any other language in the world.
The course took place in the Georgian city of Gori, the birthplace to the world’s most notorious Georgian, Josef Stalin.
After the completion of the summer course, Amy and her fellow volunteers were placed with host families throughout the country, allowing them to really get to know the Georgian people.
“Georgians are famous for their hospitality. It's almost overwhelming sometimes,” remarked Eller.
“Everyone who has come to visit me can attest to this. I am constantly being welcomed into people's homes whether or not I know them. They offer food and favors, even as complete strangers, and I am often approached by people just interested in speaking with me.
“I think as a whole, Georgians are generally extremely warm-hearted, high-spirited and friendly.”
Russian, however, is one thing Georgians are not.
According to Eller, “Georgians are very proud of their unique culture, traditions and language, so they definitely do not consider themselves Russian. They have preserved their culture through the centuries despite being repeatedly taken over and oppressed by surrounding countries.”
Georgia also tends to appreciate America more than its northern neighbor.
“Of all the countries Peace Corps serves in, Georgia is one of the most pro-American,” Eller said.
“I have never been harassed or criticized for being American. The President visited Georgia in 2005 and the road from the airport to the capital city Tbilisi was immediately renamed: ‘George W. Bush Road’ with a billboard of him along the highway.”
Amy believes that her experiences in Georgia have afforded her multiple opportunities to grow. She insists that she will never again take for granted how lucky she was to simply have been born in the U.S.
“I think have a deeper understanding that I hit the jackpot in life being born where I was. Experiencing the daily insecurity and frustration of life in the village has allowed me to identify with of the way over half of the world lives. It's been a reality check to say the least.”
Living and interacting with a completely foreign culture has also sparked Eller’s interest in sociology. She is mulling plans to pursue a graduate degree in the field once she returns home.
Debbie Corley, a regional Peace Corps recruiter based in Atlanta, pointed out that the local connection with the Peace Corps goes beyond Amy Eller’s current service. The beloved late Georgian Senator Paul Coverdell once served as the director of the Peace Corps. The current Peace Corps main offices in Washington are located in a building named for Coverdell.
“[He] was director of the Peace Corps from 1989 to 1991,” Corley said.
“During his tenure, he created the World Wise Schools correspondence match which connects current volunteers and classrooms overseas to K-12 schools in
the US.”
Corley encourages those interested in the volunteering for the Peace Corps to consult the website www.peacecorps.gov for more information.
“The minimum requirements to join are to be a US citizen and at least 18 years old. 93% of our applicants have bachelor's degrees. If you do not, you will need to demonstrate significant work experience in areas such as business management, agriculture or construction,” Corley said.
