Wednesday, July 30, 2008

My permanent site!

My final destination is SAGAREJO, GEORGIA.

A cute little city 45 mins from Tbilisi. It's known for its wine and its very "direct and honest people".

My host family is awesome and my house is a palace.

More info and photos (if I can get them to load) to come...

Monday, July 21, 2008

Khashuri

Well, I've made it to the half-way mark in training!

There's been lots of ups and downs but overall things are moving in the right direction.
I get my permanent site this Friday, which means I'll have a little idea of what I'm getting into.

Here a little idea of what I do 6 days a week:
7:30 wake-up/breakfast
9-1 Georgian language class
1-2 lunch
2-5 teaching practicum
6 dinner
7 homework/crash


If any of you are interested in visiting sometime, here are some
reasons that make it worthwhile to come to Georgia:

1)Georgian is one of the most beautiful languages I have ever heard, though it is the most difficult I've ever tried to learn. There are 3 "k" sounds, 2 "t", dz, tch, ts, and a plethora of other guttural noises I can not make.

2) Beyond the language, the best thing I can say about Georgia is that it's people are some of the most accommodating I have every met! Everywhere I go people go out of their way to make sure the "amerikeli" is taken care of.

3) Then there's the food.
Absolutely delicious. Everything is 100% natural and needs little to no seasoning. My favorite dish thus far is the lobiani (a kind of bean quesadilla if you will).
The average (or my average) meal consists of bread, potato, cucumber, tomato, and beans.
The only thing that I really miss is chicken.

4) The last reason is both adventurous and slightly dangerous: Marshutkas! Public transportation in a van that goes around 80 km per hour...with no seatbelts! Believe me, it's an adrenaline pumping experience to say the least.


I'll try to post pics once I find a computer with a usb outlet.

Till then...