One month

I have officially been in Georgia for one month and I must say things are going just fine.  I haven't transformed into a superstar teacher or learned enough Georgia to hold a conversation beyond ordering food and beer and buying snacks at the corner store.  Nonetheless, I feel very good about how things are going.

A few weeks ago I went to Tbilisi for the weekend to see my friend Mallory.  The first day we met up with a bunch of fellow teachers and walked up to turtle lake.  I don't think either of us were expecting a "walk" to turn into a "hike."  Needless to say I was only kind of properly dressed for the occasion.  As we made our way around the hills overlooking Tbilisi we took in some gorgeous views and has a small picnic.  Every Georgian that walked by greeted our group with Garmojoba!

Later, as Mallory and I walked around the city with our backpacks and pleasant demeanor Georgians kept approaching us and saying "Mast! Mast!"  (short for teacher in Georgian).   They assumed (correctly) that were are Americans and (also correctly) that we are here as part of the government's English language initiative.  In bits of English, Georgian and Russian we had a few conversations about how happy they were to see us here in Georgia.  And of course they called us "kargi gogos" -- Georgian for good girls.  The following day while at the large church in Tbilisi, some young choir boys kept racing ahead of us to take our picture.  An Iranian man squealed with delight when heard us speaking English and also wanted a picture.   

I have never felt so popular.

As I walk through Gori my students and fellow teachers all greet me with "Hello!" or "Hello teacher!"  Even the students who I cannot coax into speaking in class suddenly can converse with me while standing on a street corner waiting for the light to change.  I highly doubt I will ever again live in a place where everyone greets me on the street, therefore I am embracing it.

Between teaching my 5th grade the hokey pokey,discussing Lady Gaga with my 8th, 9th, and 10th grade, and dancing with my mandators I have been having wonderful time.  Yes, there are tough days when I feel like nobody can understand me when I speak or I cannot think of a game that will inspire my 11th grade to participate more enthusiastically.  But even on the tough days I still get to sit down with my new family, talk about how our days went and laugh together.