გამარჯობათ! მე ვარ საქართველოში და არ მჯერა!
(Hello! I am in Georgia and I can’t believe it!)
Right now it is 19:08 on 4-10-11 – just two of the things I’ve been working on adapting to over the last few days. And although I continuously remind myself that in the Bazaleti Hotel (sast’umro bazaleti) I am placed in a little bubble, from what I’ve seen so far, I like Georgia and can’t wait to experience more.
As of right now, the most Georgian experience I have had was
on Saturday when four friends and I went into Tbilisi. We took a taxi to
Freedom Square, which is where the Rose Revolution took place. Although the
taxi driver didn’t speak English, he made an effort to engage us in conversation
about his lovely city with some English phrases he had written down on a piece
of paper that he then recited to us while zipping in and out of traffic and
creating a third lane between two already-very-close lanes of cars. We walked
down Rustaveli Ave and sampled some bakery treats. Although not exceptionally
Georgian, they tasted wonderful. After walking several miles, seeing the first
Georgian McDonalds, taking the metro a bit closer to the hotel, and walking to
Sameba – one of the largest Eastern Orthodox churches in Europe – we took a
taxi back to the hotel in time for lunch.
Mainly, our days here are filled with training and
preparation for the next 9 months in Georgia. In the morning – after an 8:30am
breakfast, we go through 1 hour of culture training, which provides us with
practical information about what we will be doing and specific details about
Georgian life. After a 10-15 minute break, our group of 102 splits up into 4
groups. My group goes to language class first, where we are immersed in
Georgian language for 2 hours before a 15 min coffee break, after which we jump
right back in to conjugating verbs, greeting each other in Georgian, and
introducing one another to the class for an additional 2 hours. By this time,
it is 2:15, I am starving, overwhelmed, thinking in a combination of Georgian,
Russian, French, and English because the foreign language side of my brain has
been active for so long. We have until 3:30 to eat, at which time we have 2
hours of intercultural training, 15 mins coffee/nap break, and 2 more hours of
intercultural training. During this class time, we are given the extremes of
Georgian culture in order to prepare us for anything that we may encounter over
our stay here. At 7:30, we are dismissed – although we go out 1 hour early
today and yesterday – and head to dinner, which is available until 9:30. After
dinner, I attempt to study the language, Skype with the family, respond to any
FB notifications, and manage to keep my eyes open for as long as it takes for
me to read a chapter of my book. And then I sleep…quite well.
As you may be able to see, it makes for a long day – full of
Georgia. However, throughout this whole time, I haven’t really been able to
experience Georgia. Sure, I went across the street to the bus stop to activate
my phone and buy a Pepsi. And yes, I went next door to the hardware store and
bought an adaptor that doesn’t work for 0.80 USD. I have a lot of theoretical
knowledge about my new home; however, I have not yet been able to experience
the country’s culture.
So until Friday when I begin the transition into my host family and the
city in which I will spend most of my time – which I do not know yet – I will take
advantage of the Georgian cocoa puffs for breakfast; I will relish the lovely
cream puffs available at every meal (including breakfast), and I will enjoy
them with a cup of “yellow label tea”.
ნახვამდის.
(Goodbye)
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