3 Months In...to my second year.

I've been in Georgia for nearly 3 months now, and I'm finally getting around to writing a blog post. As I've had no angry hate mail sent to my address, I assume no one is actually sitting on pins and needles, waiting for the update of my life. Don't worry; I don't take it personally. 

The experience of living in Tbilisi (Georgia's largest city) is much different from that of living in an unknown village. There are days when I'm thrilled for these changes, yet I still have days where I would give anything to sit on the swinging bench and read Pride and Prejudice again. I have an appropriate appreciation for the freedom I gain by living in the city gained through public transportation, constant internet availability, and friends who speak English. But I miss the beauty and simplicity of life in the village. 

For those who aren't aware, I now share an apartment with a Georgian girl who is around my age. We get along well, and it's good that I'm not sitting at home, alone, every night. That would be depressing. 

I work at an international school - British-Georgian Academy - where I teach English 12 hours each week in the Georgian Department. Between lesson planning and teaching classes, I coordinate school events for students, create marketing plans for the school, counsel high school students who want to attend university outside of Georgian, assist in overseeing Media Club, lead Student Council for years 3-6, and attempt to put together a Student Council for years 7-12. Most of the time, I love my job and the diversity it provides, but there are the occasional days that last until 7pm instead of 4:30, which makes me question my sanity. 

I'm also attending a church...at which the service is entirely in English..., and I have recently joined a small group that meets every month to create connections within the church. I even helped take offering last week. Woot...woot. 

I no longer feel like a tourist. I no longer feel like if I can get to the one main road, I can figure out how to get around from there. Instead, I can get to my house from almost anywhere with almost any form of public transportation. My Georgian is improving (at least, I like to think that it is), even though I'm not surrounded by only Georgian speakers, and I'm taking lessons once a week for 2 hours to practice my grammar and verb tenses (and they say English is difficult...). 

After living in the village for 10 months, I was completely befuddled (yes...I just used befuddled) as to why I wanted to live in a big city; the thought of going anywhere that had more than 10 people overwhelmed me. However, as much as I love the village, living in Tbilisi reminds me that I am a big city person; I could be forever content with a permanent life in the city and a cute little house in the village to vacation at in the summer. 

Soon I will be home for Christmas, but I don't think there will be as much of a transition as there was when I came back in the summer. Maybe it will catch me off guard, and I'll be thoroughly overwhelmed, but I think my biggest problem will be maintaining a constant flow of English, as my speech here has developed into a strange combination of Georgian and English. 

I have nothing more to say, but I feel I should end this in a much more clever sort of way than just stopping with that. Maybe something philosophical or a fun story, neither of which I have. I guess I'll just opt for the abrupt stop.