A Month of First Impressions
Posted: February 23, 2012 Filed under: Home and Community, Host Family | Tags: birthplace of wine, culture shock, Gurjaani, homesick, host family, Kakheti, language, translation, wine 2 Comments »People are right when they say culture shock kicks in after a month or two. My bright-eyed ‘everything-is-new-and-wonderful’ stage is over, and I’m starting to miss the United States and wonder why on earth I chose to come here to Georgia. And then, as I walk through the hallways at school, I’m accosted (an exaggeration, but sometimes it feels like it!) by ‘Hello!’s and ‘How are you?’s from students of all ages running past, and I remember that they’re the reason.
I have been placed in Gurjaani, a town that’s, population-wise, somewhere between the the size of my university town (8,000) and of my hometown (20,000). Midsized towns seem to be, socially, the same regardless of geographical location. Everyone here knows everyone else—and everyone else’s business—which is familiar to me. My school is in Gurjaani proper, but I live in Zemo Gurjaani (“Village Gurjaani”), which is about 3 kilometers away from the city center. (…I think. I still have no real concept of how far one km is.) It’s about a half-hour walk from my school to my village, and it’ll be quite nice, I think, to walk home when the snow and ice melts. Gurjaani is located in Kakheti, Georgia’s eastern-most region. Kakheti is renowned for its wine, and in fact, is considered the world’s birthplace of wine. In addition to hectares upon hectares of vineyards, farmers here grow peaches, apples, quinces, dates, figs, and all sorts of other subtropical fruits. We have a persimmon (? I think…) tree in our backyard, which still has edible fruit on its branches, even in February!
My host family has accepted me as their eldest daughter, niece, and cousin, for which I couldn’t be more thankful. I have a 14-year-old sister, who’s just like every other 14-year-old I’ve met (“Boysboysboys! Clothesclothesclothes! etc.”). She’s wonderful, and has made me feel right at home. She speaks good English, and is going to be the best Georgian-English translator in the universe by the end of the year. My host deda (mother) and mama (father) are wonderful as well—while they’ve welcomed me into the family and treat me as their daughter, they’ve also let me keep much of the independence I’m accustomed to. We speak a conglomeration of Georgian, English, and Russian (which I studied in university, thankfully) at home—there’s been more than one occasion in which a single sentence involves all three languages. A typical conversation goes something like this:
Host parent says something in Georgian. If this is received with a blank stare from me, they repeat it in Russian. If I still don’t understand, either the English-Georgian dictionary, English-Russian dictionary, or computer comes out—or we do an elaborate game of charades.
Luckily, these situations have been happening less and less as we begin to understand each others’ respective languages. Instead, we’ve started anglicizing Georgian words and kartulizing (the Georgian word for ‘Georgian’ is ‘kartuli’; I claim artistic license) English quite a bit, which can get amusing. See: “chickenebi,” “Vashli laptop” [‘vashli’ = ‘apple,’ and I have a MacBook], etc.
So yes, I’ve gotten homesick more than once, and there have been mornings that took me every ounce of willpower to get out of bed and face my new Georgian life. I don’t doubt there will be more of those in the coming months. However, I have chosen to remain optimistic. Perhaps it won’t be easy, but I have a feeling this year is going to be worth it, both for me and, I hope, for everyone I encounter.
With Friends Like These, Who Needs Running Water?
Posted: February 22, 2012 Filed under: Advice and Guides, Home and Community, Life in the Village | Tags: charity work, cheap wine, flying spaghetti monster, grubby hands, hot showers, reagan youth 1 Comment »Pipes frozen? No showers? No washing machine? No fun? Wrong! Sure, no running water ain’t no tooth-chippin’ rad party time, but it sure ain’t as bad as your mommy said it’d be either.
I’m fairly certain that I’ve never before gone such long periods of time sans bathing. Greasy hair, grubby hands, and crusty pants used to be a thing of my hitch-hiking summer-vacation days, back when I listened to Reagan Youth and drank lots of cheap wine. Shucks, even when I was just a baby and couldn’t even wipe myself my mom would occasionally dunk me in the dirty dishwater.
Praise be to the almighty Flying Spaghetti Monster that I live relatively close to the big city, bright lights, and hot showers that are to be found all over Tbilisi. The FSM works in mysterious ways, and, probably because of my charity work with disabled marsupials, s/he has awarded me with some radtarded friends who rent a flat in Tbilisi.
Not only do they let me sleep in their place and use their shower, but they also provide some scintillating conversation regarding the works of Pauly Shore and which character from the cast of Gilligan’s Island is babe-liest of all.
Some say Mary-ann, others say Ginger, personally I’m totally hot for Gilligan
A place to sleep, hot showers AND friends? You might be asking yourself how it could get any better. Well I’ll tell you. Sunday afternoon? Hungover? Cook up a super-gnar breakfast to start the day!
All we need is some cocksauce and we’ll be unstoppable
Now at this point you might be thinking, “Well why doesn’t he quit mooching off his friends and just take a bath like they did in that Wild West movie with Jackie Chan?” Well, for one, I ain’t no cowboy. Two, I ain’t livin’ in no sa-loon. And three, that would mean getting out of my chair, putting on clothes (yes, I sit at my computer nude), finagling some buckets, finding snow that isn’t brown or yellow, filling aforementioned buckets with said snow, hauling buckets back to the stove, melting previously mentioned snow, hauling buckets to the bath, taking off my clothes, pouring snow (now magically transformed into hot water) on myself, scrubbing myself with some sort of soapy bar, and well…you get the idea. Now why would a FSM-fearing-he-man like myself go to all that work when I can not do all that stuff and just sit here, in my stanky birthday suit, providing you heathens with detailed information surrounding my boring life? The answer: I don’t know…and it doesn’t matter cause I don’t do all that stuff anyways.
Now not all of you fellow stinkers out there have been blessed as I have by the almighty FSM. I realize that some of you might be way the shuck out there with no nearby access to hot showers, or no friends, or no friends with showers. Whatever you’re situation might be, fear not, for I have not just one, but three get-stoked solutions that I will share with you now cause I’m such a swell guy.
1. Imagine it’s the 60’s.
2. Imagine you’re a homeless person with a temporary home (i.e. a recent liberal-arts-major grad sleeping on their parent’s couch).
3. Imagine you’re living post-apocalypse.
It’s amazing how a little imagination can take care of all of your self-conscious personal hygiene issues.
Until next time, take care & stay stinky!
Georgia’s Revolution Against Corruption
Posted: February 20, 2012 Filed under: Georgia Links | Tags: evolution, fighting corruption, Georgia in the news, reforms, revolution, thieves-in-law, World Bank 7 Comments »I prepared to read the World Bank’s report on Georgia’s anti-corruption reforms with some cynicism. As a long-time government employee in the U.S., I read many self-aggrandizing reports designed to make the administrations du jour look good. Hell, I wrote some of them myself!
Yes, I knew that Georgia had transformed itself from a society living in fear and (literal) darkness to one of relative freedom and light, where families with young children could walk outside til late at night, on walkways illuminated by working street lights, without worrying about physical assault outside or the discovery of a burglary when they returned home. I knew this from what I learned in TLG’s volunteer orientation and from stories told by my hosts and their neighbors.
But still …. I was surprised to find myself reading a report, not about reforms, but about a true revolution in Georgia. I emphasize these words deliberately. To reform is to effect change to improve an existing system. To revolutionize is to overthrow a system and replace it with something new. What Georgia has accomplished! Thieves-in-law: Imprisoned or chased out of Georgia (for now). High-level, corrupt officials: Imprisoned or allowed to pay restitution for their freedom. Police: Thousands fired in one fell swoop, replaced with new officers, hired on merit, and trained as professionals. Universities: Sham schools shut down; placement exams overhauled and taken out of the hands of corrupt faculty. Power and water: In most areas in Georgia, predictable access, where the opposite used to be true. Technology and processes: The application of technology and new processes to prevent corruption and to provide better service to Georgians.
The World Bank listed the variables it believed to be key factors in Georgia’s revolution, such as a sense of urgency, an unblinking frontal assault, a clear mission, unconventional methods or approaches, consistency in enforcement, and strategic communications. What the Saakashvili administration achieved is stunning, really.
But a political truism is “what have you done for me lately“? The talk I hear from Georgians is that maybe the exciting sense of urgency is gone. Maybe the once-revolutionary team has become complacent; interested in settling into power permanently or amassing private fortunes.
As a TLG volunteer, I am proud to be a part of Georgia’s historic evolution. TLG is a good investment for Georgia, not just for the cultural and educational exchange, but for the redistribution of wealth from the government coffers to the local communities via the TLG volunteers’ stipends. TLG volunteers also attract their friends and family to Georgia as tourists, who will spend money here and attract more tourists. (I have two friends coming in April, as a matter of fact.)
Yet I feel impatient for reforms in the public schools. Basic public health amenities such as running water and soap in the school washrooms to prevent the illnesses that rampage through schools, families, and communities, costing untold lari for medical care and hours in lost productivity. A living wage for teachers. Safe school buildings. Concern about the mission creep of mandatori from child protectors to teacher watchers. Where is the sense of urgency for public school reform at the rudimentary level?
Georgia has pushed its way out of the darkness and into the light. I hope it doesn’t falter.
First Impressions.
Posted: February 19, 2012 Filed under: Host Family | Tags: first impressions, host family, host mother, Kutaisi, meetings Leave a comment »Readers, I’m sure you can relate to that feeling of anticipation that comes with the unknown. The slight quivering of your knees, the flip-flopping of your stomach. And the hoping! The wishing that things will go well, that you won’t mess up, that you’ll be well-liked, that everything will work out….
This is how I felt as I got out of the car, grabbed my bags, and glanced nervously at the two faces before me: my new mother and sister for the next 5 months. Despite the fact that suspense had been holding me hostage for the past few weeks–and so strongly for the past few hours!–the warm smilies and friendly kisses quickly subdued my nerves. They grabbed my bags, and we made our way through the front door of the red brick house. The following moments moved all too swiftly to accurately record– the walking up the steps, the steady flow of questions, the opening of the beautiful, white, french doors to my room, setting down my bags, being led downstairs to the kitchen…
But here my memories refresh themselves, and the details come pouring in. The first thing that strikes me is the sharp contrast in temperature between the stairwell and the kitchen/living room. It’s warm in here. Qati, my new little sister, leads me to a chair and sits me down. We start speaking in English, and I immediately learn a lot about her. I’m a little skeptical about her age, though, when she tells me that she’s only 13, as she looks much older. To test this I ask, “Do you work?” Her face contorts to a puzzled look and she replies, “No! I am but a child!”
At this point, my host mother, Irma, brings in the food. A lot of bread, beans, coffee, tea, and wine. She has also prepared a chicken especially for me. Explaining to her that I’m a vegetarian is more heartbreaking for me than for her, I think. I feel so guilty. My host mother doesn’t speak a word of English, and I but two words of Georgian. So Qati translates, and I answer the questions about my family, which food I prefer, how long I’ve been in Georgia. The phone keeps ringing; it seems as if all of Kutaisi knows that I’ve made my arrival. At one point, my host mother says something to Qati in Georgian and gestures to me. Qati turns and says, “How old are you?” I reply, “22.” Qati and her mother discuss this fact and then Qati looks at me again and says, “My mother says that you are a child, and while you are here you will be her daughter.” This sentence wards off all the anxiety that the warm smiles and friendly kisses of earlier hadn’t, and I fall completely in love with my new family, home, and city.
The next few days pass quickly. I am overwhelmed with the feelings of immediate love, friendliness, and hospitality. The idea that Georgians are the most hospitable people on earth is a rumor I’m happy to defend. In order to have a better understanding of my relationship with the school I’ll be working in, I meet with my two co-teachers, director, and regional representative. All four are welcoming, helpful, and eager to answer and questions I have. At the school, all teachers go out of their way to assist me, even walking or driving me to and from school (I have since insisted that they stop). The students, while a little rambunctious, are sweet and starving for my attention. I’ve never felt so well-liked.
The city is old and beautiful. I had the opportunity during the snow days we had to explore its streets and buildings. While it’s not nearly as modern as what I’m used to, the delicacy of its careful architecture and handsome sculptures tell a story of adoration and appreciation for citizen, city, and country. This charm is worth much more than a western toilet.
I’ve only been in Kutaisi for a little over a week, and already I am considering extending my contract and spending the next year here. That’s the impression this place and these people have had on me: that I’ve found a home that’s worth enjoying for awhile.
Improving Your Caffeine Fix
Posted: February 17, 2012 Filed under: Food and Drink | Tags: beverages, cafe americano, caffeine, coffee, drip coffee, espresso, moka coffee, moka pot, tea 2 Comments »I come bearing good news for coffee addicts: Georgia has just as much of a caffeine culture as, well, any other place in the world. For those of us used to Venti Caramel Mocha Frappuccinos, it can be a little rough adjusting to the various varieties of coffee that are more widely available and the means of making coffee that are popular in Georgia, but armed with a little knowledge you can improve your caffeination experience a thousandfold.
My first coteacher in Georgia, at the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, was giving a lesson on coffee last September. I had been in Georgia for only a few weeks, and was finding my caffeine options highly limited – I couldn’t drink Georgian Coke or Pepsi, because they made me nauseous; there appeared to be zero options for espresso-based beverages, like the latte; drip coffee was completely unheard-of – and I had functionally switched to tea as my primary morning kick. Earl Grey has been my favorite tea since before I even drank Earl Grey (thanks to one Jean-Luc Picard, consummate gentleman and Earl Grey enthusiast) and fortunately for me, they have tons of it in Georgia (in fact it’s basically the only flavored tea actually made in Georgia, as far as I can tell).
So this coteacher asks me, “Neal, do you prefer instant coffee or Turkish?” which my brain, cynical, bitter, and overly critical of everything due to 28 years living in New York, immediately translated into “Neal, which undrinkable sludge do you prefer?” I proceeded to explain lattes, cappuccinos, cafe Americano, and cafe au lait, including the proper proportions of milk to foam to espresso (or water, in the case of Americano) and threw in a bit about “latte” and “lait” both meaning “milk” and deriving from the Latin word “lacto,” at which point I realized that I was teaching an Elementary class of cops and lawyers and not training new baristas for a coffee boutique in Park Slope, so I figured I should also throw in a description of drip coffee too.
The point of this sordid tale is that to many Georgians, “Turkish” and “instant” are the two kinds of coffee. In Tbilisi many people know about espresso, but it’s generally something that you get in expensive cafes and I think that those cafes are generally targeted at expats who already have a taste for espresso. But don’t let them fool you into thinking that those are the only options open to you, the intrepid volunteer.
So without further ado, I present the guide to improving your caffeine fix:
1. Instant Coffee
Instant is the easiest option and it’s one everyone will be familiar with. If you’re forced to drink Instant, choosing the right brand can help. Sample different brands to find your preferred taste – I actually kind of like Jacobs, but Davidoff is probably the gold standard. For Davidoff you might have to travel to a city.
If you’re stuck with instant, try brewing it into milk instead of water. Add cinnamon and sugar. Trust me, it’s delicious.
2. Turkish Coffee
Learning how to make Turkish Coffee plays a big role in making Turkish a viable option. Everyone in Georgia basically knows how to make Turkish Coffee, but there may be significant variation between approaches.
A well-made Turkish coffee should have a thick foamy substance floating at the top – generally this will contain coffee grinds, but the less noticeable these are, the better. If that sounds disgusting, try to remember that many of life’s great pleasures are an acquired taste (see: beer). You can drink this foamy substance, wait for it to subside, or blow it out of the way to get to the delicious coffee underneath.
Most people who make bad Turkish put in too much water. Turkish is supposed to be a thick, and about as strong as espresso, so if it tastes really weak or thin that’s the problem. Common wisdom is to heat Turkish on low heat for several minutes (boiling it for a long time causes bad flavors to develop) but I personally find high-heat, quickly made Turkish coffee to be just as good.
Turkish coffee is really good with cardamom. If you’re looking to enhance your Turkish experience, that’s the first thing I’d recommend. Cinnamon, vanilla, and whatever other flavors you like are also viable options, but cardamom is probably the most popular. Don’t use too much – literally, a tiny pinch of cardamom will flavor the whole drink; too much and you’ll only taste the cardamom.
There are tons of different brands and roasts available – of the mass market, widely-available in Georgia brands, I recommend Lebo’s Africa blend, but your mileage may vary. If you happen to fly through Istanbul, pick up some Selamlique at the duty free. Mehmet Efendi is also good.
3. Moka Coffee
Ah, now we’re off the beaten path. A Moka Pot is one of those little Italian-style home “espresso” makers. The coffee is stronger than drip but not a true espresso – but it is delicious. You can buy a Moka Pot at various places in Tbilisi – including the Lavazza outlet store next to School #51, and at the coffee shops near Vagzlis Moedani/Station Square. One will run you around 40 lari.
I use Lavazza Rossa coffee for my Moka – you can buy a can with 250g of coffee for 16 lari and a vacuum-packed bag(same amount) for 10-13. Each can/bag lasts me between two weeks and a month, depending on whether I make one pot a day or two and how hard I pack the grounds.
Making good Moka coffee is pretty easy – fill up the bottom chamber with water, put the filter in, pack the filter with coffee (I tamp it down with a spoon – not too hard, but enough to get it evenly packed), screw the top on, and heat. Generally my best results come from using medium-high heat until the water starts to boil, then lowering the flame a bunch once the steam starts shooting out.
A good pot of Moka coffee is good enough to drink black, no sugar, but if you want to get fancy, you can heat some milk in your Turkish coffee pot, stirring briskly until the milk gets a little foamy and hot, and have yourself a Moka latte.
4. Espresso
By far the most expensive option, the hand-held espresso maker bears mention but is hardly in the spirit of volunteering in Georgia. On the other hand, if you plan on making a go at a life of travel, this could be worth it in the long run. For $100 and up, you can buy a Handpresso or Mypressi handheld espresso machine. These operate with either a hand-pump or a gas cartridge, depending on the model, and take espresso pods, which make the whole process incredibly clean and easy. They produce real espresso and get rave reviews. As far as I know these are not available in Georgia, but you can buy one off Amazon and ship it using USA2Georgia if that’s what it’ll take to get you through a year here. Just make sure you also buy plenty of pods; I don’t know if they’re available here either.
5. Drip Coffee
This is probably another “import” option since I’ve never seen a drip machine for sale in Georgia, but you can certainly buy a European-voltage drip coffee machine from various places (for instance if you have a layover in Warsaw) or get one shipped from the internet.
6. Tea!
Tea is not coffee. However, as I mentioned earlier, sometimes it’s what you’ve got. Tea is actually highly caffeinated and will work to alleviate the physical effects of lacking coffee, if not the psychological ones.
Gurieli is a Georgian brand of tea that is really quite delicious. I recommend you try it at least once before leaving Georgia, if you have any interest in tea at all. It’s available in black, black with bergamot (the aforementioned Earl Grey), and green.
Epilogue: Fresh Ground Coffee
The Turkish, Moka, and Drip preparation methods I mentioned here can be combined with the fresh-ground coffee that is, in fact, available in various places in Georgia. There’s a place in Vake with like thirty different varieties of bean and roast, and they will grind it for you in-store, to your specifications (Turkish, espresso, etc). I’ve also seen less impressive selections elsewhere – at bazaars or other coffee stores.
The point is, if you’re really suffering from the lack of good coffee, don’t despair! Ask around, ask your host family, or drop a comment and ask me!
Here’s a map to the some of the coffee shops near Vagzlis Moedani. There’s a courtyard that has a number of coffee stores, a Dollar Store (worth checking out) and some candy shops as well. The star marks where the courtyard is – it’s easiest to access from Tsereteli (the unmarked street between the star and the stadium).
TLG in the News
Posted: February 15, 2012 Filed under: TLG News and Updates | Tags: marketing, new volunteers, news, recruiting Leave a comment »TLG in the News! In this episode of TLG in the News, we find our most excellent Marketing Coordinator, Mallory Lohmeier, at UC Berkeley, in a recruiting drive to get graduating seniors to come to Georgia. Mallory is targeting schools with traditionally high rates of foreign volunteerism – for instance, high numbers of people joining the Peace Corps.
In the coming weeks, we here at the TLG blog may have some special surprises related to this marketing drive… maybe an insider interview or two… who knows? In the mean time, enjoy sfgate’s coverage.
TED Comes to Georgia
Posted: February 9, 2012 Filed under: Georgia Links, TLG News and Updates | Tags: cultural exchange, culture, Tbilisi events, TED, TEDxTbilisi 6 Comments »For those of you unfamiliar with TED, do yourself a favor and take a moment to peruse their website. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design and touts itself as promoting “Ideas Worth Spreading.” Recently, TEDx was created to give local communities a chance to organize TED events of their own. Hundreds of such events have been organized and executed over the world on topics as diverse as “intolerance” in post-revolutionary Tunisia, “Time and Change” in Boulder Colorado, and now, “The Long View” in Tbilisi!
The event will take place all day long at Tbilisi State University on Saturday, February 11th. The theme of the event is best described by the event organizers themselves:
The theme for TEDxTbilisi 2012 is The Long View; a perspective inspired by Tbilisi itself. Tbilisi, a city with 1500+ years of recorded history, is currently going through a dynamic and exciting time of growth and change.
New buildings, new shops, new ideas appear – seemingly on a daily basis.
We wondered: How can one be consistently mindful of the perspective and lessons offered by a long view … when dealing with the immediate and short term day-to-day realities of building a company, a city, a country, a life?
To help find perspective, we set out to create an agenda for the first ever TEDxTbilisi that will perhaps open minds to new ways to find balance, or create links, between the far and the near of both time and place.
The speakers we sought out are passionate about their ideas, and the topics they will present span a broad spectrum of issues that touch us all – language, arts, medicine, culture, and diplomacy to name just a few.
As we get closer to the day of the event, we will post the final agenda, with speakers and topics.
The wide range of speakers will discuss topics from anthropology to politics to film-making and will include such notable personalities as Katie Melua, the renowned Georgian singer; David Lordkipanidze, the anthropologist who discovered and identified Dmanisi Man (homo georgicus); and our very own Neal Zupancic, Official TLG Blogger and long-time volunteer. (For a full schedule of events, click here)
Neal will be discussing Georgia and the impact of Language Education and the Cultural Exchange between Georgia and the West that TLG has facilitated. Though the event is closed, you will be able to watch it stream live on the TEDxTbilisi website. Neal’s talk about TLG and culture will be around 4 pm on Saturday, February 11th. If you cannot view the event live, fear not! A video and transcript of the video will be posted on the TEDx website and on YouTube.
This lecture series will be a fascinating presentation of all sorts of topics relevant to Georgia specifically and I highly recommend tuning in! I know I will be!
Raughley studied the history of the Caucasus at Georgetown and Stanford Universities and has been with TLG since August 2010. He currently works as the TLG Social Media Coordinator and spends his precious little free time writing Raughley Goes to Georgia.
Snow! Also, Snow Days!
Posted: February 8, 2012 Filed under: MES News | Tags: monty python, snow, snow days, snowmageddon, weather 2 Comments »Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Snow is all I ever talk about these days. Oh, by the way – it’s snowing again.
So due to Georgia’s unusually snowy and cold winter (part of a plague of snowiness sweeping across Europe, apparently), the Ministry has officially declared that schools will be closed until Monday, February 13th. TLG tells us that at some point classes will be held on Saturdays to make up the missing time.
(As a side note, one thing I notice in all this coverage about Europe’s “deep freeze” is that there is a complete lack of the kind of histrionic and sensationalist coverage that snow always seems to get in America these days – no “Snowmageddon” or “Snowpocalypse” or whatever… just a steadily rising deathtoll going solemnly unmocked. To paraphrase Monty Python, “on second thought, let’s not go to America… it is a very silly place”).
I’m really excited about these snow days because they will give me time to study my Georgian and maybe cook up a pot or two of chili with the cumin I brought back from America.
What will you do with your snowdays?
Georgian Climate Calendar
Posted: February 5, 2012 Filed under: MES News | Tags: chacha, climate, science, snow, weather Leave a comment »I know, I’m like, obsessed with the weather lately. It’s been snowing and then snowing some more, and then this last week it’s just been unusually cold. My friends in the mountains are talking about getting snowed in and having their pipes freezing over and there’s even been consideration of possibly having to ration the chacha!
If only we could have known that this cold snap would come and prepared in advance… but luckily, the Ministry of Education and Science just unveiled their new climate calendar. I know, right now you’re probably thinking, “wait, the Ministry of Education and Science also does Science? I thought they just did Education!” I was as shocked as you are. But in all seriousness, I had always wondered what kind of science the MES does since as TLGers we only ever really hear about or interact with the education aspect.
Also, I love living in a country where a government agency can openly admit to taking “the results of human impact on the environment” into consideration in its climate models. Back home the outcry would be immediate because science is a matter of politics rather than reality in the US… sad but true.
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