First 100 days report
Well, 100 days down. I'm starting to get used to life here, but I still have moments where I realize how far from home I am. Georgia can be a confusing and surreal place to be sometimes with all of its contradictions and incongruities, so my cultural adjustment gets a little thrown off. Starting work has definitely been the rockiest part of the road so far, but I'm sure things will get easier with time.
Now at least I have a routine. I wake up reluctantly every morning at 8:30 and head downstairs to the kitchen for some fresh khachapuri and tea. Khachapuri is fried dough stuffed with cheese. It's pretty good but the Georgian cheese is a little too salty/sour for some people's tastes. When I first got here, I was sure the cheese was going to be the bane of my Georgian existence, but now I usually like it, especially when its fresh and it squeaks in your mouth.
At nine I go to school. The children in the schoolyard greet me with laughs, hellos, and handshakes all around. I inspire laughter everywhere I go. 6 hours of yelling at school (the teachers seriously scream at each other and the kids about the most mundane things) with a khachapuri break, and I get to go home. Soon I should start doing something productive. I will be teaching the 7th and 10th grades.
My evenings I spend playing nardi (backgammon), listening to my bro's radio (russian techno, american hip-hop), or staring at the epic view from my balcony, with coffee breaks. In the evening I get some more tea and khachapuri. Then I read and go to sleep. Its not exactly an adventurous lifeslyle, but its nice.
Every weekend I usually take a trip to the city, Tbillisi or Batumi, which is a nice break from the village. In the village I have to have a little conversation with everybody I meet on the street, which is nice but it gets a little exhausting. But then again everything I do here is a little exhausting...
The news here is Adjara is the new tunnel between Kobuleti and Batumi, which shaves about ten minutes off the trip. Also today there are parliamentary elections in goblet. The weather is getting cooler, but its still warm enough for some swimming in the Black Sea. Unfortunately, I discovered there are jellyfish.
These internet sessions are so stressful with my time counting down, but its almost up so adios!
Now at least I have a routine. I wake up reluctantly every morning at 8:30 and head downstairs to the kitchen for some fresh khachapuri and tea. Khachapuri is fried dough stuffed with cheese. It's pretty good but the Georgian cheese is a little too salty/sour for some people's tastes. When I first got here, I was sure the cheese was going to be the bane of my Georgian existence, but now I usually like it, especially when its fresh and it squeaks in your mouth.
At nine I go to school. The children in the schoolyard greet me with laughs, hellos, and handshakes all around. I inspire laughter everywhere I go. 6 hours of yelling at school (the teachers seriously scream at each other and the kids about the most mundane things) with a khachapuri break, and I get to go home. Soon I should start doing something productive. I will be teaching the 7th and 10th grades.
My evenings I spend playing nardi (backgammon), listening to my bro's radio (russian techno, american hip-hop), or staring at the epic view from my balcony, with coffee breaks. In the evening I get some more tea and khachapuri. Then I read and go to sleep. Its not exactly an adventurous lifeslyle, but its nice.
Every weekend I usually take a trip to the city, Tbillisi or Batumi, which is a nice break from the village. In the village I have to have a little conversation with everybody I meet on the street, which is nice but it gets a little exhausting. But then again everything I do here is a little exhausting...
The news here is Adjara is the new tunnel between Kobuleti and Batumi, which shaves about ten minutes off the trip. Also today there are parliamentary elections in goblet. The weather is getting cooler, but its still warm enough for some swimming in the Black Sea. Unfortunately, I discovered there are jellyfish.
These internet sessions are so stressful with my time counting down, but its almost up so adios!
posted by Paul Stephens at 1:05 AM
2 Comments:
Hey Paul! I am glad to read a new report, as always. Hey, do they feed you anything besides khachapuri? I love you,
Beau
I eat a lot of khachapuri. Luckily, I have an extremely high tolerance for cheesy bread, so I haven't gotten sick of it yet. Lunch is the main meal and I get a lot of good food then like soup and meat and potatoes. This week I got to eat a lot of really tasty and elaborate georgian dishes, because monday was my host bro's birthday. Georgians are pretty funny about food. They only use the verb "to love" with food. You either love a dish or you dont love it. And georgian food is good, but kind of monotonous. But they get really excited about things like khachapuri even when they eat it twice a day, everyday. They'll be like "Oh man, this khachapuri, this is good khachapuri." And I'm like "It's grilled cheese, people." Anyway, that's the story with the food. My mom's a good cook, and I eat well. And... oh yeah, she makes really good khachapuri.
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