Scenes from a classroom
While teaching my resource officers prepositions-
Me: Where is the statue of Stalin?
Levin: In the city center.
Me: No, it is not in the city center anymore. Where is it now?
Giorgi: Not in the city center, but always in our hearts.
Me (suppressing laughter): No Giorgi, it is in front of the museum.
Teaching my 5th grade-
Georgian teacher: Which words do you not understand?
Tango: Mike
Georgian teacher: Mike, it's the English version of Mikheil.
Irakli: Mike Saakashvili!
Teaching my resource officers present continuous-
Me: Add "ing" to the ending. Running. Walking. Sitting.
Giorgi: Drinking and driving!
Me: Ara! (no!)
Chatting with my 3rd grade-
Student 1: Manuela you are very beautiful!
Me: Aww
Student 2: Manuela I love you!
Me: Aww
Student 3: Manuela how old are you?
Me: (provide confidential answer)
Student 3: That's my mom's age!
Me: Oh
Scenes from home
At the dinner table-
Georgian dad: Drink! Drink!
Me: Ara, ara. (No, no)
Georgian dad: Drink! Drink!
My Georgian sisters and mom in unison: No!
Me: Thank you!
(hysterical laughter)
Over breakfast-
Me: Maya do you have (WWII) Victory Day off from work?
Georgian mom: No. I work for a German bank. It was no victory for them.
In the living room-
Georgian sister: The woman in the market told me these ribbons bring you different things. This one is for luck, this one for love, this one for marriage. Which do you want?
Me: I'll take the good luck one.
Georgian sister: Me too. I don't want to be married.
Me: (picking up the marriage ribbon) Let's just put this one very, very far away.
Standing on the balcony watching a helicopter fly overhead-
Me: Whose is that?
Georgian sister: The military's.
Me: (after a pause) The Georgian military's?
Georgian sister: Yes, of course! (laughs)
One morning whilst drinking my coffee in the kitchen-
Georgian mom: Manuela! Look outside!
Me: (wander out on the balcony and witness a dead lamb hanging from a post, being skinned) Oh how nice. (sip my coffee and walk back inside)
Walking into my building I stop to study a neighborhood chicken hanging out in the garden. I feel eyes on me and look up to see a man leaning out the window studying me, studying the chicken-
Me: Garmarjoba!
Him: (gives me strange look)
I take my exit.
Scenes from the street
Walking over the bridge on my way home a woman stops me and points behind me eagerly while smiling and speaking rapidly in Georgian. I look behind me to see a beautiful, huge rainbow framing Gori fortress-
Me: Oh! Dzalian Lamazia! (Very beautiful!)
Woman: Kargi gogo. (Good girl)
Waiting to cross the street a car pulls over and a nun sticks her head out. She asks me for directions-
Me: Oh! Bodishi (excuse me), ar visi. (I don't know)
Nun: (laughs and drives away)
While teaching my resource officers prepositions-
Me: Where is the statue of Stalin?
Levin: In the city center.
Me: No, it is not in the city center anymore. Where is it now?
Giorgi: Not in the city center, but always in our hearts.
Me (suppressing laughter): No Giorgi, it is in front of the museum.
Teaching my 5th grade-
Georgian teacher: Which words do you not understand?
Tango: Mike
Georgian teacher: Mike, it's the English version of Mikheil.
Irakli: Mike Saakashvili!
 |
| My 5th grade |
Teaching my resource officers present continuous-
Me: Add "ing" to the ending. Running. Walking. Sitting.
Giorgi: Drinking and driving!
Me: Ara! (no!)
Chatting with my 3rd grade-
Student 1: Manuela you are very beautiful!
Me: Aww
Student 2: Manuela I love you!
Me: Aww
Student 3: Manuela how old are you?
Me: (provide confidential answer)
Student 3: That's my mom's age!
Me: Oh
Scenes from home
At the dinner table-
Georgian dad: Drink! Drink!
Me: Ara, ara. (No, no)
Georgian dad: Drink! Drink!
My Georgian sisters and mom in unison: No!
Me: Thank you!
(hysterical laughter)
Over breakfast-
Me: Maya do you have (WWII) Victory Day off from work?
Georgian mom: No. I work for a German bank. It was no victory for them.
In the living room-
Georgian sister: The woman in the market told me these ribbons bring you different things. This one is for luck, this one for love, this one for marriage. Which do you want?
Me: I'll take the good luck one.
Georgian sister: Me too. I don't want to be married.
Me: (picking up the marriage ribbon) Let's just put this one very, very far away.
Standing on the balcony watching a helicopter fly overhead-
Me: Whose is that?
Georgian sister: The military's.
Me: (after a pause) The Georgian military's?
Georgian sister: Yes, of course! (laughs)
One morning whilst drinking my coffee in the kitchen-
Georgian mom: Manuela! Look outside!
Me: (wander out on the balcony and witness a dead lamb hanging from a post, being skinned) Oh how nice. (sip my coffee and walk back inside)
Walking into my building I stop to study a neighborhood chicken hanging out in the garden. I feel eyes on me and look up to see a man leaning out the window studying me, studying the chicken-
Me: Garmarjoba!
Him: (gives me strange look)
I take my exit.
Scenes from the street
Walking over the bridge on my way home a woman stops me and points behind me eagerly while smiling and speaking rapidly in Georgian. I look behind me to see a beautiful, huge rainbow framing Gori fortress-
Me: Oh! Dzalian Lamazia! (Very beautiful!)
Woman: Kargi gogo. (Good girl)
Waiting to cross the street a car pulls over and a nun sticks her head out. She asks me for directions-
Me: Oh! Bodishi (excuse me), ar visi. (I don't know)
Nun: (laughs and drives away)
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