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!

Morning of Love Day

I've been having a rough few days. I guess I've just been feeling really irritated for no apparent reason. I guess maybe it's because we just hit the two month mark of being here... many of us in my same TLG group have been feeling this way as well.
Earlier in the week I agreed to go to my 7th grade student, Nazi's house. She is the same girl who started texting me and giving me letters a few weeks ago. I was pretty nervous about this because her English isn't the best, but I figured it would be fine and I ended up having a really good time. She lives with her mother and her brother who must be in 2nd or 3rd grade. Her father lives in Russia where he works. This is a common situation here. Many of my students have one or more parent living in another country because it is very difficult for them to find jobs in Georgia. Nazi's family was really welcoming and fun and I had a great time. They took me to two nearby monasteries that I hadn't seen before, and also to a park in Telavi that I didn't even realize existed. They didn't really know much English, but I had my phrasebook and that helped us a ton.
After we went out, we went back to their house and ate and drank beer. I think Nazi had a bit too much to drink and she was a bit clumsy and hilarious. They put on music like Ke$ha and Britney Spears and Eminem and were trying to get me to dance, but I really didn't have enough to drink to feel up to dancing in the living room with two of my students. It's so funny, because in the US this would not be acceptable. Not only because these kids are so young they couldn't be drinking anyway, but also because I'm their teacher and that would be inappropriate.
After dancing for a while, the neighbors invited us over. I already knew them because they are friends with my host family and god parents of Tiko. So we went over there and I showed them pictures on my facebook (they don't have FB) and we ate ice cream. Also, I thought for some stupid reason I knew how to play dominoes so I agreed to play with the neighbor man, Gia. But as it turns out I really had no idea how to play except for the part where you have to put down a domino with the same number of dots on it. So everyone had to help me because I was like an idiot, but I ended up totally winning.
After this we went back to the house and I watched part of a really strange movie (i just googled and it is called Twin Sitters http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0122768 ) dubbed over in Georgian. Then we went to sleep.
This morning they really didn't want me to leave. This seems to be a recurring problem here. When I go somewhere people don't want me to leave and try to convince me to stay longer. I guess I didn't really have a good reason for wanting to leave, like I'm not busy until almost 2pm today, but I really wanted to go home and get ready and change my clothes before my classes. They seemed pretty disappointed and I felt a little bad, but I did tell them I wanted to leave this morning around 11.
Nazi gave me a gift for Love Day, which was a little bunny stuffed animal and a card she made. She's such a sweet girl. Also, yesterday her and her friends gave me another card they had made me. And she gave me like three pairs of earrings for no apparent reason. I guess they were from her mother as well. I felt so weird about taking them, but they insisted. I just feel so bad taking gifts because I know most people don't have a lot of money and I really don't NEED more earrings. It's very sweet though. I love the people in Georgia so much for the most part. They will do just about anything for you and to show you that they care about you. I guess in general they just seem so generous; it's unbelievable.
So Love Day is off to a good start. Soon I will go to my lesson. We will see how it goes because it's pretty hit or miss sometimes. But then it's the weekend! And I was invited to a birthday party tomorrow night (the man I was playing dominoes with), and on Sunday morning TLG is taking a bunch of us to Gori to see the Stalin Museum and then go to a cave city or something..... and then, Wednesday night we go to Tbilisi and Thursday morning we go to ARMENIA!!! YAYY!

Down by the banks...

Today I took a marshrutka for the first time by myself  (well... sort of) to Telavi. I can tell my host fam is phasing out the whole "we will give you rides whenever you want" thing, which is fine, but I have no idea how to catch a marshrutka. Today, my host mother caught one for me and started yelling for me to hurry up and come downstairs because it was waiting for me. So, I still have no idea how to do it myself, but at least I know it's possible! In Telavi, I met up with Cort, Phil and Andrea, as well as four girls from the 11th TLG group (I am in group 12). It was a good time, basically consisting of going from the first cafe (we call Pizza Cafe, because the only two words on the sign that are in English are "cafe" and "pizza") to a second cafe (we call Disco Cafe because of the really.... unique decor). I was pretty much intending on avoiding Disco Cafe for a while because I know that's where my student hangs out, but Phil wanted to know what this weird cafe was and Cort wanted pizza. So I braved the storm and we had a great time. I think the three decent sized beers I had aided my venture. Especially when my student put Hanson on the stereo. And then when his two friends were begging us to dance. I said "no" but probably wouldn't have denied it if my student hadn't been around. I like to dance like a dummy, but you know, not with my student. After stuffing ourselves with pizza and khachapuri, we went to the market and looked around. I bought cottage cheese and it really seems more like sour cream. Then, Cort and I bought cake for some stupid reason. Like I really need to eat so much crap. I'm already gaining weight like no other.
Then I came home, and this is when I realized I must have been moderately drunk, because Tiko was asking me to draw the Eiffel Tower and a turtle and they are quite possibly the worst drawings I have ever done... and I was TRYING to make them look good. Then my host family insisted on feeding me more. And served CAKE! So I ate two pieces of cake today. I don't know why I'm incapable of saying no. But... it's cake! Who denies cake!?!?!? Not Gina. No matter how tight her pants are getting!
So then my host fam disappeared like they seem to do being a lot in the evenings. This left me alone with Tiko again. And boy, that girl is crazy. I guess I don't have a lot of experience with 10 year olds. Are they all insane? I love her a lot and she's my best friend in Vardisubani (I'm obviously very social here), but she is a handful. Last night (we were alone together for about 4 hours), she was making me look at like 30 pictures of my 16 year old student who she calls her "boyfriend" and was saying he was beautiful and was wanting me to agree with her. Then she kept telling me not to tell her mom about him. By the way, this is the same 16 year old that told me he didn't like America except for American weapons. So, I'm a little confused and although I'm quite sure he wouldn't be dating a 10 year old, I can't seem to figure out if he actually is her boyfriend or if she just has a giant crush on him. I think she just has a crazy little kid crush. Tonight with Tiko, I taught her the "Down by the banks of the hankey pankey..." hand-clap game. I also tried to teach her "Miss Mary Mack" but that was sort of a failure because I couldn't remember how to do it and I'm incredibly uncoordinated. I guess the best part about teaching her the hand-clap games though, was now that I'm in my bedroom, I can hear her downstairs with her grandmother trying to teach her grandmother how to do it. They are both laughing hysterically and seeming to have a great time, so I feel like I've done a good deed.
In other news: my laundry is in the washing machine right now. THANK GOODNESS. I haven't done it in weeks.