I'm home

Nothing much changes in this town. The buildings get painted and old signs get replaced. The leaves fall off the trees and in a few months they come back. The people are the same. The bars are the same. There are places I avoid because I know that I will see the same people I've seen for years, doing the same thing they've always been doing, with seemingly no goals or aspirations and endless glasses of beer or whiskey.
Then there's me, and I have no goals or aspirations, either.
I just don't want to be reminded.

So I'll sit at home with my dogs. And cry a little bit when I think of Georgia, and try to remember every little detail of riding the bus down Chavchavadze, because soon I won't remember much at all. I think about saying goodbye. And walking through old town laughing even though it was hard. And watching Lydia walk away from me down the stairs crying. Sitting in the front seat of the cab, watching Tbilisi flash by me for the last time--the television tower glittering and the churches glowing, like they always do. Thanking the cab driver and dragging my luggage into the airport, realizing that was probably the last Georgian I'd speak in a long, long time. And feeling incredibly lonely.

10

I keep opening this page with the intention of writing something, but there doesn't seem to be any way I can formulate anything that can possibly compare to what I really mean or how I really feel. When I first came it seemed like everything I was experiencing was novel and unique and I should write it all down because it was funny. And now, I suppose I've become accustomed to most of the things that once seemed strange, because all I can think of is how everything makes me feel and how I want to remember everything but none of it is anything that can be put into words.

It's the way I feel when I wake up and can see the sun rising behind the crack in the curtains; how the Christmas lights looked on Rustaveli tonight when I was riding the bus thinking to myself "I need to remember this" but knowing I really won't be able to within a few months or even a few weeks; how it feels to be spoken to and not understand a word someone is saying, but know what they mean anyway. The way the children look at me between classes and giggle shyly when I ask them a question; the way it feels to have so many people love you undoubtedly for no reason at all.

I want to remember hearing the buses screeching outside of our flat building. I want to remember what it's like to be in a rush in the morning and almost fall down the icy hill. I want to remember the taste of khinkali and khatchapuri and lobio. I want to remember what it feels like to be drunk on chacha and homemade wine.

Today, Papuna told me that in 10 years I will not miss Georgia. I will miss it for a year or two, and then it will just be a memory of a nice time, and it's sad but that is how it is. But I want to miss it. I want to miss all the people I've met and grown to love. I want to remember the smoky bars and clubs and dancing, and getting lost in the nameless streets, and the way the men I tutor laugh at me like I'm crazy.....

Boring week long update

The last week was pretty easy. On Tuesday Lydia and Mary went and got pizza but I didn't go. Instead Nick and I got khinkali at the restaurant near my flat and then just hung out. Lydia didn't get home until almost 2am which meant after Nick left around 9 or something I was home alone, at night, for I think the first time ever here. I didn't even know what to do with myself. So I did what I always do: sit around watching random crap on Youtube and Googling whatever stupid thing comes to my mind.
Wednesday was "Giorgoba" so we didn't have school. It's a holiday for St. George. I'm pretty sure it's the feast holiday for him, and in the spring there is another St. George holiday. We did not feast, we did not go to church.
On Thursday, it was Thanksgiving in the US. And I, randomly, happened to have the day off because my co-teacher was missing school all day and our classes were cancelled. In the afternoon, Callie and Cody came over and the four of us made a little Thanksgiving dinner, complete with Tofurky that Meave had mailed to Lydia and I. It was amazing. We also made chocolate chip cookies, which always taste a little different because there's no brown sugar here, or chocolate chips. We substitute in honey and cut up chocolate bars. But they were still amazing and I ate about a million.
Friday was an interesting night. Mary, Callie, Lydia and I went to eat pizza at a place near Marjanishvili. First of all, Marjanishvili has been completely renovated. I was just there about a month ago and it was just construction hell. Then, suddenly, this week there was a ribbon cutting and the whole stretch is completely renovated and beautiful. It doesn't even look like Georgia. So, that was a nice little surprise to see. The pizza we got was amazing. Mine had mayonnaise on it, but it wasn't even disgusting like it normally is when they do that. And it had corn in it. Yum. After pizza, Callie and I grabbed a bottle of vodka and we headed to a restaurant near Cafe Gallery. We ordered sodas, and Mary and Lyd got beers. We also got some snacks (it would be rude not get any food at the restaurant!) and played "Never have I ever" for a ridiculously long time. After nearly finishing our drinks we decided it was time to get to Cafe Gallery. We danced for hours, met some random Marines who were really nice, ran into other friends, etc. Other highlights include: a creeper not leaving Callie and I alone, so I told him we weren't interested, okay more like I told him "No! I don't want you" in Georgian, because that's about the extent of my language Georgian knowledge, and when this didn't work, I slapped him in the face. That also didn't work. Shortly after asking the cute bartender what her name was, she started dancing on the bar and asked me to get up there with her, I hesitated for a second and then someone lifted me up on there and I did it. I think I'm still a little traumatized, but whatever, when in Georgia...?  Then on the cab ride home, I was infuriated by the taxi-driver's bad Georgian. I think he was Russian. He wouldn't listen to anything I was saying (trying to tell him how to get to our apartment) and I was so mad. Then I came home, at approximately 4am, to find that one of my friend had blocked me on Facebook, which was really the icing on the cake of a weird night!
Saturday was kind of a lazy day. We were supposed to have gone to Sighnaghi but we didn't get paid so most people had no money, and Nick was sick, so it would have meant just Callie and I trekking it out there on our own.
On Sunday, it was snowing massively. At least massively in my expert snow opinion, being from California. So I had to cancel my trip to Vardi to visit my old host fam/school. I really don't like taking marshutkas in bad weather. They are scary enough on a nice sunny day. Mix with snow and slippery roads... Terrifying. I feel guilty though because I was looking forward to visiting everyone and now I don't know that I am going to have an opportunity to go again before I leave the country. I don't think they are mad, and they must understand because the weather is shitty, but still. I really do love them and want to see them! But Kakheti's weather is worse than Tbilisi's so I can't even imagine what it would be like!
Yesterday I left school a bit early because I wasn't feeling well. Then I went to tutor the man I haven't seen in over 2 weeks because he was on a business trip. I really love tutoring. The guys I tutor are so nice and funny and interesting, I always leave feeling in a better mood that I went in with. This time, we spent the whole time just talking about whatever, including about politics in Georgia (since that's his job) and other random things.
For the last few days I've been having such a terrible time sleeping. I lay in bed for hours just unable to sleep even though I'm so tired. I guess I'm probably stressed or worrying or something but whatever it is is really lame. And then when I do fall asleep I usually wake up again around 4 and just lay there awake for a long time again. This happened last night again and today when my alarm went off I was like "noooo!!!!!!!!!!!' not to mention, I was feeling kind of nauseous still. So I called in sick, which I almost never do. But I was able to sleep for almost four more hours which was amazing. I also think that the reason I've been feeling sick is because I haven't been drinking enough water. Because I also noticed that I've barely had to pee lately either. So I've been forcing myself to drink a lot of water today. But it sucks, who wants to drink water when it's cold outside? All I want is hot chocolate!!!

I've been feeling depressed for a couple days.
It's cold and dark and I'm leaving in 20 days.

But today I woke up and everything was covered in snow,
and it's so damn beautiful.

Weeks, Weekends, the Future

Time goes by so quickly it's unbelievable. The weeks feel like they are going by so slowly because in the mornings our apartment is cold and the bed is so warm; the schools heating leaves something to be desired (though it's a million times warmer than the village school was!); the children are screaming and not responding to discipline. But then suddenly, it's 3pm and you don't really know where the day went and all you can remember is how fucking adorable the 2nd graders were and how genius your 4th graders are and what little turds the 5th graders were being--but how creative their bullying each other is--seriously, one kid ground up a piece of chalk and folded it up in a piece of paper like a note and handed it to a girl, so when she opened it chalk dust got everywhere. So sad, but also... creative.
And then there are the weekends. Friday comes and goes in a wine/vodka/beer haze. Saturday morning is either slept away or sometimes you're so thirsty you wake up at 7am and can't sleep anymore, so you lay in bed and stare at the wall or at someone else or text your friends to ask what else happened after you went home. Normally, we get lunch around 12, for the past two weeks we've gone to Elvis, which is a restaurant (Elvis themed) with all different types of food: Thai, Italian, sushi, American, German, desserts. Then we wander slowly around the city some more stopping here and there for snacks or drinks or anything else we can think to do.
For the past few Sundays, I've been busy visiting with different Georgians. Four weeks ago, I went to the house of a little 12 year old girl named Natali, who is the niece of my former co-teacher (in Vardisubani) Nona. I had met her a couple months ago when in Kakheti visiting Nona, and she has been texting me every so often since, asking when I could see her. Nona and her husband came to Tbilisi (Natali lives here) and Natali's family had me over for dinner with them. Three weeks ago I went to Mtskheta, a nearby town, with my co-teacher Lali and her family. Mtskheta has some of the oldest and most famous churches in Georgian. It was a really beautiful place, and it was the first time I had gone, so it was nice that Lali could tell me the history of each place we went to. Afterwards, they took me to eat khinkali, naturally. Last Sunday I went to Vardisubani to visit my old host family. It was a nicer visit than I ever could have imagined. I had some problems living there last semester, but I couldn't justify being in the same country and not even going to see them-- especially Tiko, the little girl who loved me so much. They were all so happy to see me, and had cooked my favorite Georgian foods and bought cake. They gave me kisses, and the little boy was so much bigger (after only 4 months) I couldn't even believe it. I missed them a lot, despite any issues we had, sometimes people just aren't good to live with. And then yesterday, I met up with my co-teacher Nana and another English teacher at the school (who I don't go to classes with) named Manana. They took me to a restaurant so we could eat khinkali. They ordered me 10, which I told them I was incapable of eating (my normal amount is like 4), but... they kept pressuring me, and I found that it is in fact possible for me to eat 8 khinkalis without dropping dead. Even though afterwards I did want to drop dead.

Today I woke up and out of the window I could see the hill was covered in snow. And it was still snowing. All day. It's not really sticking during the day, but I'm still impressed. It's much nicer to have snow than to have rain, though it's freakin' cold. I'm wearing three pairs of socks and it still doesn't seem to cut it.

In unrelated news, I'm getting a little anxious trying to think of what the heck I should do when I get home. Part of me just doesn't want to think about it at all, and to just enjoy what's left of my time here without any pressure. But I really DO need to think about it. And as time progresses, I consider going to South Korea to teach even more. I have been on the fence about it for a while, but it's a good and reasonable option. I get nervous because it's a longer commitment and I really don't know if I'd like it there! But then again, I came to Georgia having no idea what to expect and it's been amazing.  I also feel like I should do things like this while I'm young and don't have an "real" responsibilities. The money is good. When I was at home for summer my step-dad was really encouraging about the option, saying he thinks I should do it, which helps, but also I don't know if I like the idea of being away from my family for a year, especially since my brother's baby is going to get so big in that amount of time. I don't know. Any advice is welcome!

foreign birthday

Thursday was my 23rd birthday, and the first time I've ever been away from home on my birthday. I went to school in the morning and my co-teacher, Lali gave me a flower pin as a gift. My other co-teacher, Nana, gave me a headband with a bow on it. Three of my classes sang to me in garbled English and it was adorable. After school I went home and vegged out for a bit until Lydia came home and Nick came over. We went to my favorite asian food place with a couple other friends and allowed myself to get fried ice cream afterwards. Then we went to a restaurant and had some wine. I came home and talked to my dad and then to my mom on the phone. It was a more laid-back birthday than I usually have because everyone had to work the next morning. I, however, took the day off because at home Veteran's Day is the day after my birthday and I've never had to work the day after my b-day because of it, so why start now?
So yesterday I slept in and relaxed and had a nice day by myself. I went to tutor Irakli and then got ready for my "party." We went to a hostel where some friends were staying and got ready and drank some homemade wine Lali had given me. We then drank vodka. Then went to a restaurant and ate and drank more. I elected Callie to be tamada so she made some ridiculous toasts as usual and it was amazing. We went to Cafe Gallery where they brought me out a little cake with glow in the dark candles on it. We took some crazy photos. Then we found out it was tango night so we left and everyone ended up in different places. Lydia had a bit too much to drink and had to leave early. I ended up leaving not-so-late and went to eat shawarma with Nick on some steps outside of a random pet store.
It was a nice birthday.

Happiness

Sometimes I can't help but wonder if all the happiness I've felt in the last year was some sort of cover-up that I've begun to believe so much that I don't even know what's real anymore. Because how is it possible that after all this time, I'm only now happy? And so happy that sometimes I think I could explode with it? In a place where no one knows me, and I get so stressed and frustrated and feel like I couldn't possibly last another minute. Only to wake up the next day to know that I am living the most wonderful life I could have imagined for myself. And the way the light is coming up behind the ugly flat buildings and beautiful hills makes me appreciate everything I've ever been given, both the good and the bad-- because I'm here, somehow. And soon I'll say goodbye, because life seems to be a series of imminent farewells that will sometimes circle back to delighted hellos but there's no way to know. And if I knew now who was gone forever, maybe I would not want to know anyway.
I have loved so many people, things, places, emotions. I sometimes can't believe it was the truth, and that it wasn't a fabrication of a feeling to make myself suitable for loving and for life. Because I'd rather feel excitement and elation in even the most mundane world than to be pessimistic any longer. And maybe it was an act, because I was falling apart, and I needed to be someone different. Or I grew up, and realized that everything I depended on would fail eventually, and adaptation is simpler in terms of love and acceptance than of futile resistance and anger.
But maybe not. Maybe I just fell in love with the feeling of wind on my face, and eyes wide-open, and with all those who have and will love me while I wander recklessly for a while, feeling for the first time that I'm free.

dating, sex, blah blah blah

And now, since it's a hot topic in the blog-world, I'll write about dating, sex, tlg, blah blah blah in Georgia. My entry isn't the most serious of blog entries, but I'm not the most serious person. Just thought I'd give a different perspective on a topic that seems to be debated sometimes. I mean, doesn't EVERYONE considering coming to Georgia worry about getting laid alllll the time? Ha.

Here are some things I have heard about sex/gender/dating/etc.:
*Georgian guys are sleazy

This can be true. But saying every Georgian guy is sleazy is stupid. I mean, we all get annoyed when guys hit on us like crazy, but this happens in the US or Canada or England or where-ever else as well. Georgian guys can be forward. Sometimes they will ask for you number a million times and will not accept "no" for an answer. Sometimes you will give a normal-seeming guy your number and he will call you eight times in a row from multiple phone numbers when you don't answer. But really, have you never been to a bar and gotten a creeper bothering you? If you haven't, you don't go out enough. In a way, I think the persistence of a Georgian man almost deserves some respect. He sees something he likes and he goes for it. Better than some wimpy whiny kid who will write a song about never being able to be with you after seeing you on a subway once (p.s. you'll probably get hit on while riding the metro).

--prime example--

There are a million normal Georgian guys. My friend C gets guys driving her home all the time. I don't particularly recommend getting in a car with a strange man who pulls over next to you and says "I see you walking a lot. I want to meet you," but if you are daring, may as well try it. C has made some pretty nice friends this way! And gotten free rides! And so far they haven't done anything creepier than this. Well, one of them professed his lover for her and bought her roses, but he took it like a man when she explained that she had a boyfriend back home. They are still friends. Not sleazy. And definitely not a date-rapist.

Of course, I say all this, but there are some sleazy guys here. I have had one bad experience so far, but the guy was actually from Azerbaijan. He got me on a balcony and was trying to kiss me and wouldn't let go. It was scary but I escaped. Take note, though, this could happen anywhere. I have friends in my hometown that have been assaulted and/or raped, and we live in a relatively safe place. Be careful girls, no matter where in the world you are.

*Georgian guys suck in bed

This is something I have no personal experience with. Sorry, I haven't slept with a Georgian, or really anyone  here for that matter. I have made out with one Georgian guy. It wasn't the worst thing in the world; it wasn't the best thing in the world. I have friends who have slept with Georgian guys. I know people who have Georgian boyfriends. If the sex was THAT terrible, I doubt they would stay together too long. Maybe that's shallow of me to say, but... if you're only in the country for a short period of time, wouldn't you want a boyfriend who at least was good in bed? Good reasoning, right? As for the one night stands I've heard about, seems like they haven't been the best. But then again, it's drunk random one-time sex, if the guy isn't paying all that much attention to what the girl wants he could just be being selfish--after all, he'll probably never see her again; who cares what she wants? I mean, that's rude of the guy. Guys should always care about what the girl wants! But you know, some times a girl doesn't want to give a guy a blow job either! It's your prerogative  And keep in mind, if you suck too bad--word will get out and you may never get sex again! That's my advice to guys who don't try to make the girl happy while they are hooking up. Guys around the world!!! Not only Georgians. 

*Georgian girls won't have sex with you

Even if they won't have sex with you, I won't either, and I'm an American.
But yeah, because girls are a bit more repressed in society here than they are in more Westernized countries, it's generally frowned upon for girls to be sexually active before marriage. I don't think this means every girl is necessarily against hooking up with someone they are into, but don't expect it to be like going to Sweden or something where sex is pretty acceptable. If you do date a girl, if she isn't into having sex with you, don't push the idea. There's nothing worse than a douche who tries to persuade you to do him when you just don't want to! Deal breaker for sure! But I see so many girls and guys making out in parks that I can tell there's some action to be had at least, maybe not "home run" status, but it's something, if you're really worried about it. And if you are REALLY worried about it, get a prostitute (see following bullet points). It's less effort and might even be cheaper in the long run-- no wining and dining. 

*Georgian girls suck in bed
If two people both suck in bed and don't know it, do they still think the other person sucks in bed? If all Georgian guys suck in bed, and all Georgian girls suck in bed, then wouldn't it not even matter? Until they try to get with a person who claims to not suck in bed. And what if you suck in bed and just don't know it?
Anyway, I've never had sex with a Georgian girl, so who knows. But I'm sure there is not an entire country full of people (of any gender) that just innately sucks at having sex. Maybe they don't get as much practice as some people in more promiscuous countries, but I'm sure 16 year olds who are having sex in the US aren't very good in bed either. If you want to have sex with a Georgian girl, from what I've heard, it's probably going to take a bit of wooing on your part anyway, so if you're willing to put in the effort to get that far into the relationship, you should probably be nice enough to not judge her abilities in bed anyway, unless you're an asshole... which maybe you are if you are dating someone JUST because you want to have sex with them.

*All Georgian men sleep with hookers

During orientation we were told that Georgian men all sleep with prostitutes because the Georgian girls were expected to be virgins until marriage. And after marriage it is still acceptable for the men to sleep with other women besides their wives. I really am not sure if this is true. I haven't asked enough men to know and in this case I think I might be better off not knowing. I did have one friend, though whose host-brother took him to a brothel somewhere in Tbilisi and the whole experience seemed incredibly awkward. This is reasoning enough to know that some Georgians go to hookers, but I can't really believe that everyone of them does. As for hookers, I heard a rumor that a lot of them are Ukrainian or Russian. But then again... (see next bullet)

*Some TLGs sleep with hookers

The same friend who went to the brothel with his host-brother slept with a Georgian girl. Of course, he told me that he "met a Georgian girl" and slept with her. We were a little surprised because from everything we've heard, Georgian girls don't usually sleep with guys they just met. Come to find out (through the grapevine), he indeed picked a prostitute from the brothel and slept with her. I have also heard (through more grapevines) about other guys who like to sleep with prostitutes every so often in Georgia. It doesn't seem totally outlandish. My advice--if you're going to do it, don't tell anyone, because everyone in TLG will find out. Unless of course you are proud of the fact that you have to pay for sex. Then by all means, tell people. As a side-note, this "grapevine" analogy makes perfect sense to me today for the first time. After a trip to Kakheti to pick grapes, I see how easy it could be to whisper interesting tid-bits through the vines to people also picking grapes on the other side!

*Guys and girls can't be friends with each other
Maybe a guy wants more from a girl, but if she friend-zones him, what can you do? And the other way around. One of my Georgian friends told me once (while he was wasted, after threatening to bride-nap me to Batumi) that you can't be friends with the opposite gender unless you want to do them, at least a little bit. I have other (American, girl) friends who have many Georgian male-friends. The guys basically are in love with her, but she's made it clear it's just not gonna happen, and they are still friends. Maybe they will every once in a while send some awkward texts about how she's so amazing, but that's flattering and easy to ignore for the sake of keeping someone as a friend. I'm still friends with the dude who threatened to bride-nap me, and I don't want to kiss him these days (it was a long time ago!), but we're still on good terms. He helped me find my apartment. I ran into him the other day at the store and we had a nice chat. Then he sent me an awkward text about how gorgeous I looked, but it was flattering. Still friends. I'll just ignore the weird parts. I have friends like that at home too. My last boyfriend was always saying he thought most of my male friends wanted to hook up with me secretly; I don't believe it, but you never know I guess. I mean, I have male friends who I secretly think are hot too. But we are just friends, and neither one of us care enough to do anything about it, so we can just be friends. That's how it works.

*In TLG everyone hooks up with each other

TLG is so incestuous it's disgusting. You are in a random country with a lot of people who speak minimal amounts of English. When you get with others who speak English fluently, who understand weird slang and innuendo, it feels like complete freedom! And of course, our get-togethers usually involve alcohol. Things happen. People you may never have spoken to while at home are suddenly your best friends. You rely on these people a lot. When you have a bad day, you call them. When you get lost, you call them. When you are annoyed at a particular student, you call them. When you miss home, you call them. You get close quickly. And in the same way you become friends, it's easy for other things to happen. You're annoyed at a Georgian guy who called you 8 times in one day? You drink some vodka and kiss a TLG boy instead. You are feeling repressed by the village gossip? You go to Tbilisi where no-one knows you and drink some vodka and kiss a TLG boy. Yeah, it happens. Sometimes people make out on the dance floor. Sometimes people go hook-up in parks or unfortunately in the hostel dorm-room you are trying to sleep in.  Sometimes people fall in love. In my group last semester, a guy from England and a girl from Oklahoma met during orientation and we all watched and waited as the two love-birds slowly started a relationship (we could all see from a mile away), and it was adorable. Still it's pretty adorable, if you like that nauseating boyfriend/girlfriend stuff! Of course, that doesn't happen quite as often as the random encounters.

*Everyone hooks up in parks

The young'ns seem to like this tactic. Parents don't like their kids to do things under their roof. I don't think parents particularly like that anywhere. It must be traumatic for a parent to walk in on their teenage kids doing inappropriate things. In Georgia, the young people go make-out in parks. Chances are, if you go to a park, you'll see some very interesting happenings. It's sort of like watching a car-wreck. You just can't look away. Yesterday there were a couple teenagers making out on top of a big rock in a park in central Tbilisi. And by making out on a rock I mean the girl was on top of the guy and his back was arched in a very uncomfortable looking way over the rock. And then the policeman patrolling the park got mad at my friend for having his shoe on the bench, but said nothing about the make-out kids. I guess he must remember what it was like when he was a Georgian 16 year olds trying to get his kicks somewhere.
As for TLGs, I have also heard of people making out in parks. Most TLGs live with host families, which I suppose makes having sex awkward. I can't imagine anything weirder than trying to bring home a guy/girl while living a room away from a family you don't know very well and maybe don't even speak the same language as. So, TLGs get creative. Sometimes it just ends up that they go to a hostel for a night, which sucks, because usually there are other people in the hostel room and it sucks for those people who are sleeping innocently and wake up to see someone's naked butt and awkward sound affects from the next bunk over (I know this sucks because I've been the sleeping person woken up by not-so-quiet couples multiple times). Other times, they go to parks. Or make out on balconies. Or benches. Or bathrooms. Pretty much anywhere except at home. But watch-out. I heard a rumor that one person was doing some inappropriate things where there were biting ants around and she had an allergic reaction to them and had to go to the hospital. Pretty gnarly. 

*You will be bride napped

You will not be bride napped.

ქართლის დედა

Look to the right, then to the left.

I love this place.

Never gets old

No way, no how!

Tutoring:
Tutoring man #2 for the first time went alright. Moderately awkward but nothing too unbearable. Next time (Friday) we are going to have a lesson about music where we talk about song lyrics from songs we like. Hence me going on a while Hanson video watching tangent. Tutoring man #1 is still fine, I've been there three times this week already and going again on Friday. We were going to be meeting 8 times a month, but we are halfway to that point in like one week, so maybe we will meet more. He said he would pay me every 8 lessons. Hooray! It's so weird reading a guy's unfinished screenplay. Especially since he's actually planning to film it next year. So does this mean if it sucks it's partially my fault? I'm not an editor, just trying to fix major issues. Thank God I have a decent knowledge of grammar rules, otherwise it would be difficult. Have you ever, on the spot, had to explain someone when to use "intense" vs. "intensive?" That's one I had to think about and get back to him on. Also, I got to explain comma vs. semicolon, "then" vs. "than," the difference between "massage" and "message," and "score" vs. "scholar" (random, right?).  Also, our lessons always end up being over and hour long but it's not weird at all. He probably thinks I'm weird though. But then again, he was the one who was hungover the other day asking "what do you drink in America when you have a hangover?" and then he offered me whiskey (I declined) and he drank a glass of vodka.

Today I was finally given copies of textbooks for school. I got copies of every book EXCEPT book #1. Including book #5 and #6 which NONE of my classes use. But guess what? 12 of the 20 hours I teach each week use only book #1. Typical.

I'm averaging about 5lari a week on bus/metro tickets. Adds up quick. I guess it doesn't help that I am now going to school, back from school, to Freedom Square/Rustaveli and back home from Freedom Square/Rustaveli almost every day now thanks to tutoring as well as wanting to do fun things (that usually ends up meaning going downtown). But whatevs, could be worse! And bus #61 is the shit. Takes us right up to our apartment practically, but doesn't come as often as some of the other ones like #87, 88 or 140. And 88 has the worst breaks that are super loud and screechy. Bus 87 is smaller. Yeah. I'm on my blog listing out facts about the bus. Lame.

I'm not sick yet, but I feel like I might be on the verge. I had a sore throat the last two nights, nothing too bad, but enough to make me paranoid. Mostly because Lydia's had a cold for about a week now and Nick got strep throat. I REALLY don't want strep. I've heard nothing but terrible things about it for years and have been lucky enough not to have gotten it yet. Considering we are all sharing food/drinks/whatever-else all the time it seems like I might be doomed. Maybe not. I'll hope for the best.

Oh and best news! We have this Friday off! Three day weekends are the best! Even if I have to tutor on my "day off;" it doesn't count!

little bits

Living in Tbilisi is basically the best thing ever. It's like I'm living a normal life for the most part. I can do whatever I want. I can go wherever I want, whenever I want. I cook my own food. I shower when I feel like it. It's great.
School could be better. I could be doing more. I could have books. I could be more respected by the crazy 6th graders. But it's not terrible, and compared to what it was like before in the village I can't complain at all.
I feel generally happy. I get a little sad when I think about December and leaving and knowing that this time I won't be coming back. I try not to think about it. I don't know how I'm going to be able to stay content in Chico after living somewhere I think is so great and lovely for the most part, but I'll figure it out.

In other news; Lydia and I have spent so much time watching bad music videos from 10 years ago that it's ridiculous. And about half of our conversations are dominated by "what should we be for Halloween?" I am pretty sure I'm going to be a unicorn, but not quite sure I'll be able to pull it off. Especially with not knowing how to get anything I want to get for it while in Georgia. Like, do they have tinsel here? They must, but where? Who knows? Or like, the strongest hair spray ever. And body glitter.
Today we bought a hair straightener after complaining about how we wished we had one for the past almost-a-month. It cost more than I probably should be spending on a hair straightener, but I'm just that vain.
We eat pasta every day. And friend potatoes a lot. And khatchapuri way more than I should ever admit to anyone.

Today I learned how to say the word "60" in Georgian. (samotsi)
I found my school, which is "Tbilisi Public School No. 126" and was way harder to find than it should be. It's also massive. My first day is going to be awkward--wandering in and trying to ask random students where the director's office is. I'm sure the first month will be a lot of getting lost in the huge building and being in general awkward, as usual. I hope the rooms are numbered, because in Vardi they definitely were not. It took forever for me to start knowing which room was which based on distance from the main hallway and stains on the walls/brokenness of the doors.
Lydia and I went to the store today for groceries and I gave the girl a 50lari bill. There was confusion with the coins and blah blah blah. An hour or so after getting home I realized I didn't get approximately 30lari of my change back! I almost panicked because I'm so broke right now and have at least another week until I get paid. We went back to the store and I had someone from TLG explain to the cashier what happened. After they looked through the surveillance videos for about 15 minutes, they realized that I wasn't lying and gave me my change. The girl was so nice and I think felt really bad about it. Now we will always go to this grocery store, because even though they made a mistake, they cleared it up and were very apologetic.
In other news-- I've eaten khatchapuri EVERY DAY since getting here. Yesterday I had at twice (that's what a couple beers will do to you). Today I told myself "NO KHATCHAPURI TODAY!" but... we had quite a trek looking for my school (the streets here are beyond confusing), and then we couldn't figure out where on earth the bus stop was and when we finally found it, it was too late. All we had eaten all day was one egg each (pretty low on food in the apartment) and it was about 3 o'clock, sooooooo we had to get khatchapuri. Luckily we've been walking SO much lately I probably won't gain a ton of weight this time around. Although, I have kind of established that 60% of my diet is khatchapuri and 40% is beer. Somethin's gotta change!
Tomorrow we are going to Batumi to see some "Georgian version of Romeo and Juliet but with a happier ending" called "Keto and Kote." A ton of other TLGers are going and we get free transportation, food, and a night at a hotel! And the president is going to be there and supposedly make an announcement afterwards about how great, lovely, and awesome all of us volunteers are. So... that's something!

updates

In Georgia this time around things are already completely different. I can't emphasize enough how different it is (already) living in Tbilisi than it was in a Kakhetian village. Not only is it because we aren't living in a host family, but also because there are just so many more options on what we can do on a day-to-day basis.

We moved into our apartment two days ago, after a few days of complete torture not knowing if we were ever going to find a place to live or if we may have to resort to living with a host family again. We had TLG call SO many places for us and we had one place lined up but the owners backed out and decided not to rent it out last minute. At that point we really thought we were screwed. But then my friend D from the hostel said we should get a newspaper, so we did and he called a few places for us. After less than an hour we were at an apartment talking with a landlord (with D translating) and the next day we were moving in. Our landlord is the coolest landlord ever. We've already had to knock on her door (she lives next door) to ask stupid things like how the hell do we turn on the hot water? and the stove? And she's so happy to see us and even know she knows barely any English she tries to hard to talk to us and we do a lot of weird pantomiming but everything works out. Today when we went over to get help with our stove, she invited us in and gave us coffee and cake and tried to tell us all about Tibetan medicine (I guess that's her job), and it made some sense but not much. She also has two sons, the younger of which is really good looking and seems pretty sweet but he doesn't know any  English.
Today we dyed my hair with Russian box hair dye again. It's not dry yet but it seems better than last time and luckily the water did not turn off before I could rinse it out like it did last time. But the water pressure in the shower is really low so it took forever to rinse it out. I was pretty scared actually after last time, but my roots were looking so terrible I felt like I had to take the risk, for vanity's sake.

We've made a few new friends since we've been back. We met a Canadian guy who is just traveling for a couple weeks, but we went for a night to Borjomi with him. In typical Georgia fashion, we met some nice people are the marshrutka who brought us to their friend's guesthouse. Then the man decided to be our Borjomi tour guide and took us all around and made us drink Borjomi water which I still find to be absolutely disgusting. Back in Tbilisi we've been hanging out with Nick who is from New Zealand who we met once last time we were in Georgia because he lived in Rustavi where Anita lived. We went to a beer garden with him and  a girl named Callie, also in TLG, a few nights ago and again last night.
School officially starts today but we were not allowed to go to the first day because we haven't met with co-teachers and directors yet. Tomorrow we have a meeting with them and then I guess will start going to classes on Monday. I'm looking forward to it and kind of dreading it at the same time. But at least we will have something to do and be less bored/spending money all the time. Especially since we haven't been paid yet and I'm so broke after having to pay first/last months rent at our apartment.

Notes on a day (of travel)

I left town at four in the morning. Four in the morning isn’t really even morning. I guess especially to a person who sees four am more than she used to--but usually through the lens of alcohol and late night shenanigans.  Four in the morning when waking up after having gone to bed is more like weird surrealist torture where everything is more confusing and time doesn’t seem to pass at all and suddenly you are in an airport terminal and it’s light outside and you can barely even remember checking in.  I remember saying goodbye to my mom and watching her disappear when I went up the escalator.
The plane was the smallest thing I’ve ever seen. I tried not to panic and instead went to sleep. I woke up when the flight attendant brought me water. I didn’t wake up when she came by and took away my garbage. We landed. I was confused. My dad picked me up. I went to a couple jobs with him and I fell asleep as we drove from Hollywood to Redondo Beach, with my mouth wide open and my tongue drying out. We got to my grandma’s and in her usual manner, she made way too much food and kept offering to make more. She seemed especially happy to have made so many vegetarian options for me.  I fell asleep on the couch. I acquired over $100 from cards given to me by my aunts and uncles and my grandmother. I feel a bit more relieved knowing I have that extra cash in my pocket. Maybe I won’t wilt away from starvation while homeless in Tbilisi. My grandma blabbered a bit about how I wasn’t allowed to leave the airport in Istanbul, and I definitely wasn’t allowed to start dating a Muslim and began on a tangent which was basically racist and ridiculous. I zoned out and thought about how amazing it would be to get a Muslim boyfriend and tell my grandma about it.
I’m waiting at the gate for my Turkish Airlines flight. When I called my mother to say goodbye she was really excited to hear about the different types of people who may be on a flight to Istanbul. I hadn’t even thought about it. So far, most people look Turkish. The children are adorable. Especially the little girl wearing Minnie Mouse ears and a pink dress with a long black braid going down her entire back. She pushes her little sister’s stroller back and forth in front of me and says “hi” and smiles at me every time. Her baby sister stares at me with giant brown bug eyes as glittery as her earrings.  Their mother is covered from head to toe in rose pink silk with only her eyes showing.  A few other women are wearing colorful scarves over their hair. There are typical middle-aged tourists with their passport holders hanging around their neck. And a few young guys with their iPads, headphones and tapping feet. There is an orthodox Jew with an impressive beard. I heard some people checking in at the desk who are connecting to Israel.  There is a young guy who looks just like a guy I knew in college, and I keep making awkward eye-contact with him. The man who printed my boarding passes pronounced Tbilisi how it’s meant to be, and I suddenly felt excited to go back when this whole time I wasn’t sure if I was. But, მე ვარ ბედნიერე.  It’s kind of like going back home.

--

I'm tired of how I am expected to fawn over every baby I see on the street and say 'what a lovely baby!' even if it isn't all that cute, and how they seem to think it's rude if I make no comment at all. I really don't care about a random baby in a pharmacy or mini-market! I live with a four year old and ten year old and I'm pretty sure just being in their presence has made my uterus shrivel up and die because it is terrified of the prospect of ever procreating.

In other news:
Last night I didn't drink and everyone else did, yet I still found myself in the midst of a supra table sing-along of the US national anthem and America the Beautiful.
Turkish marshmallows are nasty.
In four days I will be in Kiev, Ukraine.
I still haven't gotten my flight home yet. I just want to know so badly so I can start counting the days, hours, minutes until I get a damn burrito. Burritos are haunting my thoughts. It's almost like my brain can't function for more than 1 minute without a little flash of Mexican food like a subliminal message image in a movie.
Yesterday I signed my contract to come back in the fall. So now it's official. Tbilisi, here I come. After two months in Chico with no money. I hope I can find people to hang out with there; all my friends are gone.

Turn out

Sometimes I try to formulate in my head what I am going to write before I start writing it, but then I just feel like writing is work. Like school or something. And also, I guess if I think too much before I go for it it won't sound normal. My blog is usually just random firings from my brain typed into a white text box, and although I basically come off as a spaz (most likely because I AM a spaz), I think that's probably what makes my blog "mine." So, I'm not going to try to make it sound good. I'm just going to write exactly what I'm thinking. Like, right now I'm thinking about how I always feel so dead and depressed on Sundays when I return to the village after a fun weekend with my friends. And normally it's just the dread associated with another long week of boredom, but this time it's because this last weekend was basically THE LAST WEEKEND with all of my friends.... most likely forever. And I start to feel all nostalgic and wonder how time goes by so quickly (because it's been almost 4 months since we got here, and I don't know how that possibly happened). So I try to imagine what it will be like in the fall when I come back here and no one is left except a couple friends and it's so depressing. And I think about if I will ever see them again, and I'd like to think that eventually in my life we will all see each other again, but who really knows? Is that pessimism? The world is just so big... 
But, it was a good last weekend.
We went to Tbilisi and stayed at our usual hostel and stayed up late and woke up fairly early. Of course with a large group of people, everyone sort of splits up, but we all converge at the hostel again and then the groups change up a little bit, and we all go to dinner together.....
I guess I don't have much to say.
On Friday we drank in the hostel. D was there and when I wouldn't agree to go to Batumi with him, he threatened to kidnap me Georgian style by putting a black thing over my head. Then he continued to beg me to go with him and said he would even put on a leotard and try to dance ballet if it meant I would go with him. I still refused.
Last night we ate dinner at a Thai restaurant. The waiter remembered my name (it was the same restaurant where I met the LyingAboutHisAgeGuy a while back). The power went out so we were in a restaurant lit only by candles until it went back on. We made cookies in the hostel and they were amazingly delicious. I made a new friend who is from a city only a couple hours away from my hometown. We went dancing. When we got back to the hostel the power was out so we hung out in the dark kitchen for a while and then went to sleep.
Today we ate McDonalds. I bought a ring from a man selling things on the street. We hung out in a park. We said our goodbyes to our friends who we won't see again before going home.
Now I'm home. And it's weird that in two weeks this won't be "home" anymore.

On Thursday after class, (well, we actually left class early) I went to my co-teacher's house which is in a village about 15 minutes away. It was her daughter's 8th birthday as well as some church holiday where everyone eats fish. At her house we ate a massive "snack" and drank a couple of glasses of wine. Then we all, (Darejani, her husband, her daughter, her niece and her husband's friend) hopped into her husband's friend's mini van and he drove us to Gremi, which is a big old church. We climbed up in the church on some very dangerous narrow stairs. It was a very beautiful place and the view from the top of the church was great. Then we went to some monastery that I don't remember the name of. It was very cool and up really high on a hill so the view from there was REALLY cool. After this we went back to her house and ate more food and cake. Also, news got out that my brother's bday was on Friday so we had to drink numerous toasts to my mother and brother and may they have long lives. And when we have a toast, we have to down the whole glass of wine apparently. I drank quite a lot of wine and so did everyone else (not the kids) and it was a good time and there were only a few awkward questions like "will you get married here if you meet the right boy?" followed by "i have a nephew who is your age you should meet" and so on.  The next day I was supposed to come back to Vardi for my "club," but Darejani really wanted me to stay another night and called the school and canceled my club for me so I stayed another night. I ate SO much food while at her house I thought I might explode.
I was supposed to go to Sighnaghi on Friday to visit Shay with Cort, but the only marshutka was leaving Telavi at around 3 and I couldn't get there in time (because I was supposed to have my club). So last minute I called up Lydia and instead decided that we should go to Tbilisi on Saturday because we really didn't want to have another uneventful village weekend. On Saturday morning I wasn't even sure I was going to make it to Tbilisi because I had a stomach bug that made me feel really nauseous. But I decided that I would fight through it and go anyway.
Lydia and I didn't do a whole lot in Tbilisi, just ran some errands and I bought a couple of books at the bookstore there that sells books in English. I finally put more money on my cell phone--I've been at like 3lari for over a week and I thougth Cort was going to kill me because I hadn't been able to text him all day every day like we normally do. Lydia and I also got some noodles and made pasta at the hostel. Then we drank really cheap vodka that the workers at the hostel kept telling us was so bad and not to drink it. It didn't taste all that bad in my expert opinion. But they were right; it's a terrible hangover.
We went to a couple of bars with the guys from the hostel. We already knew them because I stayed at the same hostel, Boombully, last time we were in Tbilisi. I guess nothing especially memorable happened, except next to Bude Bar there was a dirt pile that Lydia and I found to be extra exciting for some reason and we have a lot of ridiculous pictures of us standing on the dirt pile. After this we went to a club to dance and then we went back to the hostel. At the hostel they asked if we wanted to go to a party so we said OK but the party ended up being us sitting around the living room of a thirty-something year old woman's house while they spoke a lot of Georgian and drank vodka. Then the woman's 15 year old daughter came out of her bedroom and starting drinking with them. During this time, I was mostly sitting there and giggling at the ridiculousness of one of the guys we we were hanging out with. He was an enthusiastic insurance salesman who "could sell insurance products all day every day and all night every night" and was very angry when he found out that Lydia was not Jewish (no idea why he even assumed she was). At one point he was trying to slap me with a piece of ham. I was laughing so much I ended up laying down and falling asleep. I woke up confused when Lydia was telling me that the cab was there to take us back to the hostel. Insurance salesman wanted to come back to the hostel with us but Lydia said no and then he told Lydia she was "black listed" and looked out the window and wouldn't talk to her anymore.
I ended up only getting about 3 hours of sleep, which seems to be what always happens when I go to Tbilisi. I felt terribly sick and had a raging headache this morning thanks to the crap vodka. We took a weird shared taxi cab back to Telavi. There was a kid who was probably 18 sitting next to me trying to converse with me in English but it was kind of awkward. I think he was just nervous about speaking in English and had a bit of a crush on me. Shortly before his stop, he invited me. And yeah, that's what he said. "I want to invite you" (this is a common phenomenon I've experienced here with people who aren't fluent in English. They will "invite me" and not say where they are inviting me). So I asked him where and he said "where you like" which could mean anything. Either way, he asked for my phone number and I gave it to him, which may not have been smart but I thought he seemed nice! Then he told me I had beautiful eyes and got out at his stop. After this, Lydia and Mary (another TLG girl who lives in Telavi) were saying they thought he seemed weird and sketchy, but I really didn't think he did. I guess the saying this made me feel weird about the whole thing even though I thought it was all perfectly fine.
So, if I start getting crazy phone calls I guess I will know I made a mistake.
And now I have another week of school. But in 10 days I will be going to Armenia! I am very excited.

Sakartvelo! Sakartvelo!

My computer broke and I'm on the family computer. So I'll make this snappy.
Yesterday I returned to Vardi after a weekend in Tbilisi. We stayed at a new hostel called Boombully which was in a great location and really awesome and fun. The guys who work there/own it are really awesome and with the exception of a couple people, the rest of the place was booked to TLG people for the weekend.
On Friday night we got a bottle of cheap vodka (and wow.... it was cheap--tasting). I drank a lot of it and stayed up late. We didn't even leave the hostel. We played Kings Cup for a while and then did who knows what else. I guess a lot of sitting around and talking. And throwing pretzels out of the third floor window for a stray cat. And I forgot to bring clothes to sleep in so I had to sleep topless. Luckily I was just in a room with Lydia, Cort and Helene so it didn't really matter. Except for that every time I needed to leave the room I had to put on a different shirt. I'm pretty sure I ended up in the kitchen wearing Lydia's sweater and then 4 minutes later wearing Cort's sweater. I don't know where my own sweater was.
I woke up at 8:30 on Saturday morning, which is what happens when I am a bit hungover... and by I bit I mean incredibly. Like I said, the vodka was BAD. So I climbed into Cort's bed and made sure he was awake for reals (misery loves company) and we slowly all got it together and left. We wandered around the city and went to the big ferris wheel on a hill that was at the WEIRDEST theme park place I eve ever witnessed. The ferris wheel was super slow moving and basically just there for the purpose of getting a good view of Tbilisi. We ate sushi for dinner. Then we had to get back because we had tickets to the big Georgia vs Croatia soccer game at the stadium.
The stadium was HUGE. It was more people than I have ever seen in my life. And it was all so confusing and exciting. Everyone was chanting and yelling and we couldn't figure out how to get in because there were so many people and mobs and nothing in Georgia is organized. We ended up getting in through a part that was just a bunch of security guards who I think only let us in because we were foreigners. Then we found our seats and it was great except for when the girl next to me (another TLG girl) asked for my drink (a juice and vodka mix) and I gave it to her and she apparently gave it to a little kid (like 5 yrs old!) because she thought it was just juice and he was thirsty. I felt guilty about that. And then i had to pee SO BADLY i thought i was going to die. And it was close to the end of the game so I was trying to hold it but I nearly panicked and felt like I might cry so I just made Cort go with me and we got back right in time to see Georgia score like 2 min before the end of the game. And Georgia won! So everyone was SO EXCITED. The city was crazy with guys cheering and screaming and hanging out of car windows/sunroofs/on top of their cars waving flags and singing. It was great!!!!
Then at the hostel we all hung out and drank and cheered to Sakartvelo (that's Georgia in Georgian) and the hostel and then we went out and stayed out until 5am.
Yesterday we took the marshrutka back to Telavi and then I came home to find that my computer doesn't want to start at all, and when it does it just keeps saying "not responding" when I try to open anything. It's lame and depressing.
Today was a bad day, which is a mix of being incredibly tired, stressful situations at work and the feeling I get after having a nice weekend and then having to go back to "normal." I'm feeling better though this evening, so I don't want to think about it anymore. Tomorrow will be better! :)

Weekend in Tbilisi

On Friday, approximately 14 of us TLG 12ers met up in Tbilisi! It was awesome and definitely a much needed bit of freedom from village life. Plus, I cannot emphasize enough how great it is to be around people who understand what I'm saying after being around people who can't speak more than a "good morning" in English for the most part.
So we all checked into Tbilisi Hostel, which I thought was a great place. It was fun and I liked how it looked. The showers weren't exactly warm, but it's Georgia, and a hostel. It isn't surprising.
Summing up  my weekend in keywords (I like to do this apparently): vodka, beer, rum, Buddha (but not spelled that way), smokers, food, sunlight, English, confused, street dog, pop music
Friday night we went to a place called buddha bar, but it wasn't buddha like buddha. i don't know how it was really spelled, someone just told me it wasn't spelled "buddha." We were taken to this place by a guy named Anik or something who we met in the hostel. He was in TLG group 2 or 3 or something. He seemed to feel very good about himself for being in TLG for so many more groups longer than us. Anyway, he took us to this place and it was small and full of smoke, but also full of English speakers! I was very excited by this. Half of the group left after like 2 min and went back to the hostel because it wasn't their scene I suppose. I still love you guys! Even if you didn't stick it out at the weird bar! :) The ones of us who stayed... had fun. I drank rum and coke because that's like the only thing they had. We danced a lot... to great music such as "Hit me baby one more time." There were a lot of trips outside to the alley next to the bar. The end of the night is kind of a blur. It took us a while to leave because everyone kept forgetting things inside of the bar. Then it took a while to round us up and get into a cab. Helene and I were distracted by a street dog, which we should not have been petting. But it was so adorable......!!!! I probably ended up asleep by 5am or so. This was after the other tlgers got mad at us for being too loud in the hostel when we came back. And apparently some random guy barfed in one of the hostel rooms, but not in mine, thank goodness.
The morning didn't feel so good...  But a bit of asprin helped. We sent Andrea, Shannon and a few of the guys we met the night before out to buy us breakfast. They came back after a ridiculously long time with some kachapuri... Big surprise. But it was good and filled me up. I took a cold shower, and spent a lot of time basking in the sun in the porch of the hostel. It was the most beautiful day I had seen in a long time and I was very happy to be with my friends and to see the sun. We listened to some bad 90s music on my phone, along with some good 90s music. We went to a little tiny cafe with a really sweet owner. Wandered around a bit. Took the metro to the main part of Tbilisi where a cop got mad at me for taking photos of a building... apparently because the president's motorcade was about to come through, but I didn't know this. Afterward, a police stopped traffic so that four of us girls could safely cross the street. (We must have looked clueless). We wandered around more and ended up getting some delicious street food that was probably the closest thing I'll get to a burrito while I'm here, but was actually nothing like one really. Then we got some amazing ice cream and ran into Tony. The rest of the group was at the KGB restaurant so we went and said hello to them but then headed back to the hostel because Shay was feeling like she might barf. She didn't barf, and instead suppressed the nausea by... drinking vodka?
We met two Germans in the hostel and they hung out with us in our hostel room and we all drank vodka and or wine and listened to Daft Punk among other things until it was time for us to go out. We went to a bar that seemed pretty far away, and it seemed to be someone's birthday party when we got there. There were people wearing face paint and party hats all over. The toilet was up higher than the rest of the bathroom... like you had to climb up 4 stairs to get to it. We got ahold of some of the face paint and drew cat nose and whiskers on ourselves... well, Helene and Shay had someone GOOD do their face paint. Lydia, Anita, one of the German guys and I just had the crappy cat whiskers. Then we went to a restaurant and got way too much food (we kept ordering thinking we had eaten it all, but more was still on it's way). We also ran into some more TLG people, like one of the ones that came and spoke to us during orientation about their experiences. When we got back to the hostel, Helene asked if we wanted to hang out with her in the kitchen so Shay, Anita, cat whisker German and I went down and we all sat on the floor in there talking about gassy water and Helene's water bottle cow that the hostel owner was rocking like a baby talking about how he will be a good father someday. Then we went to our beds.
The next morning we had to wake up kind of early and get all our stuff together. We said goodbye to each other at the metro station and then got on our marshutkas to our various areas of Eastern Georgia. On the ride home I sat next to Cort and we listened to pop music on my ipod to try to drown out the bad music the bus driver was listening to... except for of course when "My heart will go on" came on in the  marshutka and we had a sing along until the bus driver got annoyed and switched it off. The Georgian countryside is starting to look quite beautiful now that it isn't so snowy and foggy and I could actually see it. I felt very happy sitting there with Cort and looking out the window and listening to music. I think I even told him that I was very happy. I am lucky to have made such great friends over here! And to be in such a beautiful place where I am experiencing things I never would have expected to in my entire life. I am very happy to be alive.

Nothing

Nothing has happened for approximately three days. I had a weekend, and nothing happened. I had today, a Monday, and nothing really happened. It stopped snowing and I could see a little bit of blue sky for the first time. I felt incredibly hopeful for a few minutes because I could actually see some hills in the distance and it looked quite beautiful and I was feeling optimistic as I was considering how many stars I'll probably be able to see at night once the clouds go away for good. And spring. And summer. And I'll be able to walk and be alone and it will be quiet.... But then I will run the risk of running into one of my students.
Should a teacher be so weirded out by the prospect of running into her students?
Maybe I wouldn't be if one of them wasn't chatting with me on Facebook right now and offering to show me Telavi's "beautifulest places." 
Ugh. Next weekend my other friends from orientation and I are going to Tbilisi to escape our small towns and villages and I can't wait. I wanted to get out of Chico because I knew everyone... and I ended up in village, with a nearby "town" that is 1/4 of Chico's size. Hilarious!

Tonight my host mother invited me to her nephew's birthday, and I had nothing to do so I said OK. But, as it turns out, her nephew was actually a niece and she was only turning 3. So I had envisioned a supra (finally), but really ended up hanging out with three months, two husbands, a 10 year old and 3 preschoolers. We did have delicious homemade khinkalis though (they are like meat dumplings) and khachapuri of course. I ate SO much. And my host father was giving me shots of brandy, which was awesome since I haven't had any alcohol since I moved in with them and I was told to expect a never ending amount. But I didn't drink a lot, just enough to be happy that I finally saw some, hah. And now, I am starving, even though I ate a massive amount of food at dinner only like three hours ago. All this eating has just turned me into a food fiend, and I sit here fantasizing about Taco Bell like some crazy person. I can't believe I am going to go without Taco Bell for four more months. It's things like that that make me home sick.

Oh, side note. Thursday is Mother's Day here. And on Mother's Day, THERE IS NO SCHOOL! Awesome! And Woman's Day is next week, and once again, NO SCHOOL! Another awesome. P.S. There is no Father's Day here, ha!