In part, this is perhaps because of all the republics which make up the South Caucasus, Georgia is arguably the most open and Western-leaning. Indeed, since the 2003 Rose Revolution, ties between the country and the United States have strengthened considerably as The Georgian Life explained upon stepping foot in the country this summer.

In an age where being an American abroad is a liability and safety hazard, and where it is in your best interest to not speak in English and to lie and say you’re Canadian, living in Georgia is absolutely refreshing. America is generally loved here by many Georgians. We constantly hear about how great of friends America and Georgia are. President Bush has a higher approval rating here than he does in America. The main road from the airport going into Tbilisi is even named “George Bush Avenue” and has a giant mural dedicated to him and to America. […]

But the fact that we’re American isn’t the reason for their hospitality, they are just famously and genuinely nice and accommodating people.

Since that post made in July, however, the situation in Georgia for the Peace Corps has changed considerably. During the short-lived war with Russia over South Ossetia, PCVs were evacuated to Armenia with no prospect for return in the near future. As with other PCVs, Gretchen's Great Adventure used her blog to let family and friends know that she was safe.

For a person that loves to travel and wants to see the world…I am pretty sad to be in Armenia. Peace Corps Armenia has been incredibly kind to us. The country is pretty and we are staying in a safe place.

I am at a loss for words right now, so I apologize if this is boring in comparison to older posts. The news leaves our ability to re-enter completely up in the air. Basically we are all sitting ducks, hoping that Washington D.C. will tell us what our options are soon. We are all really safe.

[…]

My heart hurts for the people of Georgia right now. Our staff is absolutely amazing and I am beyond grateful. There is not much more to say right now. There are about 80 volunteers hanging out in this random hotel in Armenia…but we're safe. :(

Others such as Its All In The Journey wrote accounts of the outbreak of war prior to their evacuation.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

The day started like any other – I got up around 7:00, used the outhouse, had porridge and tea for breakfast, and brushed my teeth at the well. […] That morning I heard that some fighting had broken out in South Ossetia but I was not too surprised or concerned as current volunteers had warned us that this often happens, especially in August. […] We heard from host families and Georgian friends that the Ossetia’s had pushed the Georgians back and were invading Georgian towns in South Ossetia. Around 5:00pm we got a text from Peace Corps telling us that there was an emergency meeting in Khashuri – the home base for Peace Corps training this year. As we drove the 30 minutes from Gori to Khashuri we passed convoy after convoy of Georgian soldiers and equipment – hundreds and hundreds of soldiers, tanks, and field artillery.

I went back to Agara not too concerned about the situation. […]

Friday, August 8, 2008

Around 2:00am I went outside to use the bathroom and I could hear the boom, boom shelling and the sharp bangs of gunfire in the distance. Friends of mine in villages closer to the conflict later reported that the shelling and fierce fighting started around 11:30 and that their houses were shaking from the blasts. […] I checked my phone but there was no word from Peace Corps so I went back to sleep. […] Phil, a friend of mine, lived so close to the conflict that he went up on the hill behind his house and watched the Georgian troops move into South Ossetia.

[…]

This attack and the upcoming invasion has shaken my view of the world, like 9/11 - you just don't think something like this should happen to a beautiful, hospitable nation who wanted nothing more than to be a part of Western society and who's location made it ideal for a gas pipeline which would bypass Russia.

One PCV who had just finished his service in Georgia a week prior to the start of hostilities was not of the same opinion, however. Cuttino's Georgian Life blamed both sides.

A few people have asked about my opinion of this situation, and I can give it now that I am a private citizen. As I see it, no side is innocent in this conflict. The Georgians were reckless to initiate the conflict in South Ossetia. The siege of Tskhinvali (the South Ossetian capital) was brutal and probably unnecessary. If the Russian statistics are true, the death toll of the battle will be around 2,000. Of course, the Russian response has been totally disproportionate and totally out of line with any international norms. The Russian regime has proven itself to be a brutal, oppressive 19th century-style power. The West owes it to Georgia and all emerging democracies to stand up to Putin and Medvedev.

In the meantime, the innocent civilians of Ossetia and Georgia are caught up in the crossfire. These people have been my friends and family for two years and it is heartbreaking to see what is happening to them. Fifteen years of progress is in jeopardy. […]

Following their departure from Georgia, The Georgian Life details how difficult it was to leave and especially when it came to informing his host family that he would not be returning.

The hardest part for all of us are the phone calls we receive from our Georgian families and co-workers asking us when we are returning. “The Russians have left our village, the bombings have stopped,” they explain to us, pleading with us that it is safe to return. How do I explain to them, in my limited language abilities, that it isn't my decision to return, and that the situation still isn't very safe or stable?

However, while one representative of the Peace Corps in Georgia confirmed to Global Voices Online that it is uncertain when PCVs will return, the blog also notes that some have decided to continue to be involved with the country as private citizens. Working under the auspices of The Megobari Project, a blog has already been established to detail the post-conflict work they hope to undertake in the country.

Johanna Holtan spoke to Global Voices Online about the project.

The Megobari Project, working on establishing The Megobari Foundation in America, is run by returned PCVs who are now working seperately of the Peace Corps. I work for the same organization, doing the same thing. Rumors are flying about when the new PCVs will come to Georgia, but I can't be sure. Maybe the spring? Of course it all has to be approved so we can't be sure as of yet.

Until then, there is a list of past PCV blogs from Georgia at http://www.peacecorpsjournals.com/gg.html. The blog of The Megobari Project is here.

Since then, according to the Peace Corps Wiki, over 190 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in Azerbaijan and as was the case in Armenia, a number set up blogs from the beginning of 2006. Operating outside the capital, Baku, the blogs detail life in the regions of an oil-rich country that few would otherwise experience.

One new PCV in the country this year is Chris Sensei in Azerbaijan. In an extended post accompanied by photographs, the blogger introduces readers to his work site.

We are staying in and around Sumgait. A place that could have been a beautiful resort town on the Caspian but instead the Soviets built refineries and chemical factories here. It was one of the most polluted place on Earth for 20+years, with cancer and child mortality at astronomical rates but Independence brought the collapse of those industries. Its gotten much cleaner since then. Many crumbling factories and pipelines remain but the streets are cleaner than those I saw in India and rural China and the water is clean enough to drink without filtration. […]

In the suburbs most of the roads are unpaved and lack drainage so. It had been raining that morning so as we were being dropped off we had to deal with mud roads and puddles like small ponds. Most of the housing around here is brown concrete Soviet built apartment complexes and family compounds surrounded by walls built from brown concrete, limestone, and rusted scrap metal. The outsides seemed depressing at first but years of Soviet oppression taught people to let the outside look drab and uninviting while the insides are generally very nice and inviting.

In addition to writing about the problems, however, PCV bloggers such Eric's Peace Corp Adventure In Azerbaijan have also detailed what steps are being taken to address them.

Things have been going well lately. Yesterday the trainees took part in an environmental clean-up initiative sponsored by a new recycling company in the area. Until now, there has been no system set up for the recycling of plastic bottles in the Sumqayit region. Bottles, along with most other waste, has been disposed of by burning. With the help of this new company, however, there will be an opportunity for people to dispose of their plastic trash in an environmentally safe way.

The trainees met yesterday near the beach by the Caspian Sea, armed with rubber gloves and garbage bags, with the goal of picking up plastic bottles. Although the large truck was filled up quickly, we made only a small dent in the overall plastic problem near the beach. But the important thing is that it was a start, and media coverage of the event might publicize the dangers of plastic to the environment. […]

But, with patriarchy prevalent throughout the South Caucasus region, posts can irk some Azerbaijanis. At the beginning of October, for example, Jeff at 27 Months in Azerbaijan describes one of the better students attending his English-language class.

My student’s name is Fidan. She’s awesome. […] After she scolded a boy in the class for actin-a-fool, I told her she needed to calm down a little bit. She responded by saying “Mr. Jeffrey, today I am calm like a cat.”

“Wow. What are you like when you’re angry?”

“Like a tiger.”

I almost fell down it was so good. For context, no one in my school speaks English this well. Not only did she know the words she was saying, but she spoke them with an ease and attitude that was missing from my other students. […]

She also had a great attitude. Most young Azerbaijani women are shy and reserved, following the be-seen-and-not-heard mentality (this is true at least for young women around men, which by definition how they are around me. […]

[…]

[…] Fidan’s family falls on the more ‘rusified’ part of that mix which makes them, and her, seem to have a more western mentality. She listened to different music, is critical of injustices in society, and has a strong intellectual curiousity. […]

An Azerbaijani male reader, Atilla, took exception to the post and attacked the PCV blogger.

Hey dude, I would suggest that you be a little careful about the language you use in describing the Azerbaijani culture and women. Yes my way of living, life style and understanding of honor is much different than American men (thanks to God), but it doesn’t make my culture or way of living abnormal. […] I would suggest you to refrain from assesing cultures and women of other nations. I am proud of being Azerbaijani and being a real men vs. the girly men like creatures in USA who can’t have no understanding of honor and extremly immoral. Soo keep your morale and propoganda for American women. Nobody here wants to listen your “precious” and highly subjective and illogical advise. […]

27 Months in Azerbaijan responded in a separate post and highlights why information from the regions of the country is so important.

[…] I could be completely wrong about this, but I’m 95% sure that this Atilla character is a Bakuvian. When I go to Baku, especially after having spent a long time in the regions, that I’m going to different country. People move differently. They act differently and have access to more information, entertainment, and opportunities that those in the regions. Because Atilla comes from such an environment (again, that’s my assumption), my description of Azerbaijan doesn’t fit the one that he has. […] Still, I stand by the claim that I don’t think that everyone in Baku is in touch with the situation in the regions. If the entire country was like Baku, they wouldn’t need Peace Corps Volunteers. Things are quite different out here,and that not only goes for the development that has taken place over the past few years, but also the mentality of the people and the culture. So while it may be alright in Baku for young women to do something like go outside by themselves, or use the internet, or take a test to see if they are qualified to study in America for a year, it can be very different situation in the regions.

The issue of gender in Azerbaijan also cropped up on another blog run by a PCV volunteer in Azerbaijan, KZ in AZ.

[…] the project is basically informing women about the Azerbaijan Family code funded by the Norwegian Embassy. To briefly explain if women get divorced here the law states that the husband gets 100% of everything. It doesn’t matter whose fault it was or who asked for a divorce (which in this culture is only men anyways.) Women who have experienced divorce often have to orphan their children and move back in with their parents. This is because they don’t have money to support their children and a divorced woman is “spoiled” and will never be able to be married again. It’s a very tragic situation and although taboo happens much more often then people would like to believe.

Our project aims to reach over 150 young women from Khachmaz, Mingachevir, Zagatala and Lankaran regions on the Family Code and incite discussions of this issue within the regional population. […] We talk about family and marriage explaining the juridical aspects. We inform these women about Family Code and Marriage Contracts. […] We hope this will lead to participation in the restoration of the violated women rights and create sense of self-confidence among women. […]

Veemo in the Azerbaijan also touched upon the subject.

Discussions with other volunteers about blogs have made me feel that I say very little about my perception of the local culture. In truth, there are so many nuances I'm still trying to understand about Azeri culture and we've had it drilled into our heads that it isn't our place to change or judge their culture (not that I want to anyway, if I were a local I wouldn't be too kind to some foreigner coming in and telling me I am wrong about everything I know), and yes there are a lot of things that for me as a fiercely independent, single woman raised in the Western world that I have a hard time digesting.

[…]

I recently met a young woman, probably younger than I am, whom I tried to comfort in Baku. A fellow volunteer and I were walking behind her and her male escort (which we determined to be her brother or her husband by the “protective” way he treated her) and as soon as he left, she burst into tears, and rightfully so. […] I tried my hand at comforting Azeri but she spoke English well and she told me that he was her husband and she did not love him at all, her parents forced her to marry him and she was unhappy. […]

[…]

That is not to say that all Azeri men have unchecked behavior towards women, my current host family has me living in a home with a married couple and their 2 young boys. The boys call me aunt since their parents are so close to my own age, my host brother treats his wife quite well and is affectionate with his sons. […] It makes me hopeful for an improvement on Azeri gender relations and roles for future generations.

Of course, PCV blogs are not only full of posts on gender or the environment. Indeed, in among the reflections on life in the regions of transitional countries such as Azerbaijan there are posts on the cuisine and also reflections on their stay when the time comes to leave.

I learned that we live WAAAAAY in excess in the States and am sure I will feel that for a long time to come and hopefully live a little more within what I know is fine for me.

The people of AZ are amazingly kind, friendly and caring people and I am extremely grateful for their hospitality-they made trip unforgettable

There is a list of past and present PCV blogs from Azerbaijan at http://www.peacecorpsjournals.com/aj.html.

It's not surprising, therefore, that most bloggers are part of a small and somewhat exclusive group of foreigners and locals working in the media or civil society and international organizations. Most are Yerevan-based and information from outside the capital is lacking as a result. However, in recent years the U.S. Peace Corps has allowed its volunteers to set up blogs to update friends and family back home.

That wasn't always the case, as the Unfocused Wanderer detailed on one of the first PCV blogs from Armenia in January 2006.

I apologize for not posting before, but the internet connection in Berd where I'm assigned to an NGO is very poor at its best. I've been somewhat concerned with the Peace Corps policy on posting information on the internet as well, but I've gotten over that lately. So, what I'm going to try and do is go chronologically from training until now until I can simply point my friends and family to this blog to keep everyone updated on what's going on here in Armenia.

Since then, PCV blogs have begun to offer a rare insight into life in the regions of the country. Mark in Armenia, for example, talks about the problem of giardia, “a nasty parasite that reproduces in our small intestine.”

[…] I have had a couple horrific days of stomach problem, but I haven’t been lucky enough to get giardia so far. One of my friends, a fellow A-16 (since we are the 16thgroup of volunteers to come to Armenia (‘A’), starting in 1992 till now, 16 years of volunteers helping Armenia), had giardia and he look deathly ill after having it for 2 days. His face was stark white and he looked like he was now only made up of 60% water, before he was a fairly big guy from Wisconsin. I think he is better now, but I’ve been told everyone gets giardia during their tour in Armenia.

Moore From The Source introduces its readers to “nightlife” in the country's second largest city of Gyumri.

[…] nightlife is not really something that I get on a regular basis. Really, unless I’m in Yerevan, there isn’t much of what we would call in the states a “nightlife”. But, that’s not to say that there aren’t exciting things that happen at night. So, I’ve decided to sketch out a few nocturnal events that have happened recently.

1. Wolves! In a daring effort to reclaim the land for nature’s original tenants, a pack of wolves deftly sneaked into the city of Gyumri under the cover of night’s darkness. The citizens of the city awoke to the terrified sounds of cattle being slaughtered and devoured by the hundreds. When morning dawned, a total of 300 head of cattle had had the likes of life removed from their bones, courtesy of countless encounters with the vengeful jaws of relentless wolves, who incidentally turned out to be fairly efficient at what they do. […] So that’s exciting.

The blogs also unintentionally introduces oversight and transparency into regional development projects as well as highlight some of the needs. A recent PCV who left Armenia this summer wrote about his project in Noyemberian late last year.

I haven’t mentioned much about the school and our handicap accessibility projects lately, as our work from the ramps is pretty much done. The biggest step, which the school director and I started discussing over a year ago, is renovating their bathroom and sewer system to make them accessible (and usable, really). Right now, students and teachers have to go to the bathroom outside, which is horrible in the winter and completely unsanitary, as there’s no place to wash up afterwards. And considering the whole facility is on a muddy slope, it redefines the word “inaccessible”.

Others, such as Staci in Armenia, simply detail daily life in the regions of the country.

It’s starting to get cold here and there is snow on the surrounding mountain tops. It won’t be long until it’s on the ground here. Everyone in the village keeps telling me how long and cold the winters are, when I tell them there’s snow where I live in the United States they seem to think I’ll survive here. The difference is the lack of central heating and heat in the buses and cars. The wind chill is also a factor here. On the bright side they make great quilts here that are filled with wool, not processed but actual clumps of sheep’s hair. They are really warm and even though the bedroom is cold sometimes, the blanket really keeps you warm. If nothing else I’ll just wrap myself in one of these all winter.

At times of political turmoil, however, it is often impossible to avoid commenting on the situation. During the recent post-election unrest in Armenia, for example, Kyle’s Journey in Armenia updated its readers back home.

With the country essentially on lock-down, Peace Corps has put us on high alert and is requiring us to stay at our sites until further notice. Outside of Yerevan (and Noyemberyan is no exception), things are functioning as normal, and we have not had any problems with civil unrest here or in our region at all. Schools and businesses are open, and we are going forward with life, albeit with a black cloud looming over the country. […]

[…] We will see in the next couple weeks, but until then life will remain tense and uncomfortable. It can only get a lot better, or a lot worse, from here. Hopefully this State of Emergency will do the former and at least keep people off the streets. It has, of course, disrupted some things in my life (for instance, my friend was supposed to come teach a class here this week, and my skiing trip was canceled) but I am safe and not worried about the situation getting worse here in Noyemberyan.

Interestingly, the blogger was later instructed by the Peace Corps to password protect the entry so that only those who requested access could read it. However, the password was revealed a few days later.

[…] Due to the delicate political situation in the country, and Peace Corps’ role as a non-politically affiliated organization, I was asked to password protect my last post about the situation in Yerevan, and any future posts about politics in the country. The password is, and always will be, my last name. […]

Blogs have also been used to discuss the activities and purpose of the Peace Corps in countries such as Armenia. An account of a rare visit from a local Armenian based in Yerevan to a PCV site in the north east of the country posted on my previous blog prompted much discussion and an opportunity for volunteers to counter any criticism leveled against them in the comments section of the post.

There are 80 of us all over Armenia. Americans who are not Armenian who speak decent Armenian and are here to simply help. I would like for people […] to come see the work that can be done. More importantly, the work we are doing is not about resources but about change. It is about throwing off the blanket of Soviet era thinking and being cheerleaders to help our communities improve themselves. […] Resources, although nice, are not required for change and improvement. Hard work, community and a vision for a brighter future is all that is needed to improve rural Armenia.

Come one, come all. Find a Peace Corps Volunteer in a rural area of Armenia and see the country as you would have never experienced it other wise regardless of your ethnic heritage.

And, as a sign that blogs are now being taken seriously by the Peace Corp itself, posts from many of these blogs are handily available from one source — A PCV Wiki at http://www.peacecorpswiki.org/journal/. There is also a list of past and present PCV blogs from Armenia at http://www.peacecorpsjournals.com/am.html.