Loving Every Minute!

Well, another great week has flown by!! School is still just as adventerous as ever! Still have no concrete schedule, but this does allow me to get off earlier than expected some days!

Started out the week meeting up with a couple of friends in Akhmeta for coffee, it sure is great to see everyone again!! The rest of the week was pretty relaxed, I went grape picking with the fam and managed to hurt my back (shocking, I know.) which led to no school for this gal on Wednesday, but it thankfully didn't last long :)

Friday afternoon I headed to Tbilisi to (what I was hoping) catch a train to Batumi. I have never been so absolutely terrified in a vehicle in my entire life! I got it and looked out my window to see there was no rear-view mirror on the passenger side. When we finally left Telavi, I went to put my seatbelt on only to find out it didn't work. The cabbie just grabbed it and wrapped the belt around the e-brake (yah like thats going to save me). We were only abou 5 minutes out of Telavi when he started motioning to the dash that something was wrong. I glanced over and noticed that the car was over-heating. Fantastic. We pulled over and he dumped in a bottle of water and we continued on our journey. We get up to the top of the winding rode in the mountains and he is constantly shutting the car off because it was still over-heating. Keep in mind we are driving about 100 km/h on a freaking mountain!!! I did plan on taking a little cat-nap but needless to say it wasn't going to happen.

I got to Tbilisi, met up with Neema, went out for supper and at 10:30 headed to the train station. (We found out earlier that the train was sold out so we would have to take a bus. When Neema went to purchase the tickets they said that she couldn't right then but to come back at 11 and get it then) So anyways, we get to the train station and go to buy tickets, only to be told that there were no more seats on either the bus or the marshutka heading to Batumi, and the next train didn't leave until 6 am the next morning. After a lot of begging, we were granted "seats". We get on the bus only to find out our "seats" were legit on the floor of the bus! It was a very long and comfy bus ride to Batumi, but it was well worth it!! The black sea is GEORGOUS. I saw and held my first jelly fish :) When I went in the water, I noticed something floating and thought it was a plastic bag, I was quite discusted until in moved in a very jelly fish like manner. I have never exited water so fast in my entire life!! The thing was HUGE!!! Then some Georgians just went in and took it out like it was a fuzzy little kitten. I dont know about you guys, but getting stung then having to get Neema to pee on me wasn't really an ideal situation!! We spent the next two days lounging on the beach and exploring Batumi. We had one of the best meals I have had here at a Lebanese restaurant on Saturday night, then went and caught our train back to Tbilisi (which was a much more comfortable ride!!).

I cannot wait to explore more of this beautiful country, horseback riding is next on the to-do list!!

Until next time!!

Love and miss you all :)

Duck, Duck, Goose!

Well, this week has been great! Started school, catching up with friends and fam, teaching, grape picking, and supra tonight!!

This week started out quite interesting though. I get to school on Monday to find out I have no schedule for teaching yet and probably no classes that day. I was there for 3 hours for a 10 minute presentation.I still am not sure what time I need to be at school on Monday because the teacher that I am suppose to be teaching grade one and two with had no idea about our classes on Wednesday and I was there 2 hours before I actually had to be. I am actually getting to do some teaching this semester though, which is so much fun :) I also found out that aparently, the English World books refer to an eraser as a rubber. I found this out when Mari (my co-teacher) was doing translations with my grade 4 class and one girl put her hand up and answered "Do you have a rubber?". OMG I legit almost spit my water all over the desk. I casually mentioned to Mari that we should call them erasers from now on! I am really looking forward to this semester, I can't wait to dive into the teaching and see how much these kids learn this semester :)

On Friday, I took my grade 3 class out and taught them how to play duck duck goose as a reward for finishing their homework, it was SO MUCH FUN!!! I now have grass stains all over my jeans, but it was totally worth it!! It was hard getting them to get the hang of it at first because my co-teacher (who usually translates things into Georgian) was inside with the other kids that didn't finsish their homework. It is such an amazing feeling though, when the kids actually start to catch on to what you are teaching them. We eventually had an audience of kids looking through the windows of the school, even other teachers were coming out to see what we were doing. Im pretty sure I enjoyed it just as much as the kids did :)

Yesterday I went into Telavi, then spent the night at Neema's in Zemo Alavani, which is another village close to mine. It was nice to catch up and have a girls night. When I got home today, I spent the afternoon picking grapes. It was a lot of fun and a lot of laughs. Thankfully there was a couple visiting from Russia who spoke a bit of english so I could actully communicate with everyone :) Then at 6, I was invited over to their house for a Supra, where we had even more laughs and all the toasts were translated for me by the Russian couple so I actually had an idea of what was being said. Lots of food and lots of laughs made for a great night :) I can still hear the party going on next door!

I am very much looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow and having a very relaxing day! Next weekend we are taking a trip to Batumi (the Black Sea), and I will hopefully get a chance to post some pictures!

Love and miss you all!!

Back to the Grind

Well, I think it is safe to say, that was a good weekend. Very relaxing :) School starts tomorrow and I am very much looking forward to it. As much as I enjoyed laying around trying to get over my jet-lag this weekend...I dont think I could make it an every day thing!

At supper last night, Nineli asked me to go to the market with her this morning. We set a time for 9 am...Well, I was fully awake at about 6 -_- I spent the majority of the morning in Akhmeta browsing around. Walnuts are in harvest right now and everyone is buying/selling them to make various Georgian foods. Right now, practically the whole deck at my house is covered in them. The grapes are also almost ready at my house :) They are still green but I have still been sneaking the odd one as I walk by!

Sofi still isn't back from Batumi yet, where she is playing in a basketball tournament. I am very excited for her to come back on Thursday, its weird not having her around.  :)

Sorry this hasn't been a very exciting post, I can't think of anything to write at the moment. I have been thinking all weekend "oh I have to put that in my blog" but when push comes to shove, I can never remember any of it. I guess I'm going to have to start writing things down...jeez I hope this doesn't mean Im getting old... hmm. Well, TTFN folks :)

P.S. A certain unmentionable may or may not have fallen off the clothes line into the neighbours yard (all the yards are separated by a short concrete wall and the clothes line is on the deck). Any ideas on how to retrieve this certain unmentionable? (reaching down to get it isn't an option!)

Finally!!

Well, after what seemed like ages, I am finally settled in to my Georgian home, and couldn't be happier!!

The plane landed last night at 11pm and I was warmly greeted with a bottle of Georgian wine from passport control. I then headed down, collected my bags and exchanged my money. I organized my things and headed outside to grab a taxi to my hostel. It is nice to know that I haven't lost any of my negotiating skills as the driver tried to charge me 40 Lari for a cab to my hostel (the same ride to the airport from the hostel only costed 20 when I left for home), after a short broken english/georgian conversation he called a taxi for 20 Lari (I win :)). To my surprise, I was exstatic to be here, thinking I was going to be missing home more than ever when I landed, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. When I arrived at the hostel, I settled in, called home and tried to call it a night, but with no success (I have the time change to thank for that). I finally fell asleep at 4:30 am, and didn't wake until 11. I made myself presentable, and headed out to enjoy Tbilisi until my Marshutka left at 3.

When I got to the bus station, I was told that the marshuta wasnt leaving for another hour (for my fellow Canadians, 1 hour in Georgia is not 1 hour, GMT=Georgia Maybe Time). I waited for almost 2 hours and we set off to Akhmeta. When I finally arrived in Matani, after negotiating another cab from Akhmeta, I could barely contain myself as I knew my family was waiting for me through that large steel gate. I thanked the cabbie, dropped my things outside of the cab and practically ran up the driveway. My host mama was sitting down cleaning walnuts, and quickly dropped everything and ran to me. I could feel the tears welling up as I opened my arms for her hug. I barely set my things down and Nineli, says "Katie, eat?", this didn't surprise me one bit! I brought my things to my room and went downstairs. I get to the kitchen and she had made me scrambled eggs, and soup(she knows what I like!!). After dinner, I made some tea and sat out by the fire with my mama. After my tea I decided to head upstairs to unpack and set up my room. Now, I have taken up my usual spot on the balcony/deck and am enjoying all the sounds Georgia has to offer :).

Man, I can't even begin to describe how happy I am to be here. I miss everyone and everything at home tremendously, but I am quite content where I am for the time being!

Until next time!! <3

Nino

Wow, I am really starting to suck at this whole blog thing! Anyways, the past week has been great and really relaxing! I booked my flight to Italy this week and I am extremely excited for it! Also, booked my flight home for the wedding! I can't wait for all of it but, I am going to miss Georgia sooooo much, especially my host family! Sofi, and her mom and I were sitting at the table eating sunflower seeds and I told her how much I am going to miss it here while I am gone. She replied with "Me too! My mother and I, so love you!". This made my day :) I am so greatful that I was placed with such a fantastic, loving, and caring host family! To top this off, later that day I went to sit with Nineli and Sofi and Nineli said (in Georgian) "My two daughters" with this huge smile on her face. :)

Tonight I was unexpectedy brought to the neighbours for my first Supra! (which is a traditional Georgian feast, usually a celebration of some sort) There is more food and wine on the tables than any one could imagine! They ran out of table space and were literally piling dishes of food on top of one another. More people kept coming and everyone just shifted to the left to make more room. Toasting is also a crucial part of any Georgian Supra. Im not exactly sure what the purpose of this supra was but I am guessing it had to do with an expecting mama, as most of the toasts were directed at her and her husband. The supra wasn't as big as I had expected, but a great experience, none the less. I took a couple of pictures to share with all of you :)

This Georgian adventure is still a fantastic experience, even with the stressors of things going on at home, I am still loving every minute of it. I cannot begin to describe all of the fantastic opportunites this decision has brought me. I have learned so much and am growing as a person because of all of it. Dont get me wrong, not everything is sunshine and dasies (i.e. constant staring) but I wouldnt change any of it. If anyone is EVER blessed with this kind of opportunity in their lifetime, you would be crazy not to jump at it. It brings you a whole different outlook on the world and the people in it. It shows you many different ways of life and teaches you more than you could imagine!

Here is the picture from tonight's supra :) Nineli (host mama) is in white on the far left...

Can't forget about the cake!

To wrap this all up, I want wish my amazing Dad a happy Fathers Day! Dad, you are the most important man in my life and I dont know what I would do without you! You are the person who taught me everything from how to ride a bike, to how to drive standard (and drive properly over all! lol) and most importantly played a huge role in who I am today. I can't even begin to thank you for everything you have done for us over the past few years (you know what I'm talking about). When things get tough and life knocks me down, you are always right there to pick me up and put me back on my feet.

My Aim is Impeccable

So, due to technical difficulties, I have been completely slacking on my blog! This past week has been good, I spent a fantastic weekend in Tbilisi with fantastic people! Unfortunately though, I ended up with a nasty cold, and when you are sick in Georgia, it is like you have the bubonic plague or you've lost a limb. I told my co teacher that I was sick and proably wasn't going to make it to school Monday morning and she was extremely concerned about my well-being, she sent me a text saying "don't worry, everything will be fine". I felt like she thought I wasn't going to make it. She was all set to come to my house and visit me to make sure I was okay. I honestly can't say that I mind it though :) School gets out next week and I am still unsure of what I am going to do for the summer. My host mom has been setting me up to teach English lessons to students over the summer for 5 Lari/kid/lesson which will thankfully give me something to do :) I went and bought a new computer this weekend because the new power cord I got managed to fry my other one...not at all impressed about that one! And me and my infinate wisdome, once again went and lost the warrantly paper for it. I honestly would loose my head if it wasnt screwed on, but I'm sure I dont have to tell most of you this! Georgia is turning out to be a great experience, I really enjoy going to school every day and working with the kids. I have been getting more care-less when it comes to being 100% sure if the Marshutka is actually going back to my village or not, because I will eventually end up back where I started if it doesn't! After supper tonight, I helped my host mom round up the baby chickens which was a blast! And now I'm going to watch a movie and get to sleep! Love and miss you all!

Im going to start forgetting what day I'm on, so I will have to think of some catchy title...

Well, I figured I should do an update since I have beek slacking lately! So School last week went good, still cant believe the lack of structure in these schools though, but it keeps things interesting! I actually witnessed one of the teachers grab a kid by the ear the other day because he almost took us out with a soccer ball, it was kind of amusing lol. So as many of you might have seen on facebook, my computer was down for a couple of days. My computer cord got fried and my computer was dead so I was kind of SOL. Me and my infinite wisdom, didn't take the manufactures advice on my power bar. It said, "Do NOT plug anything into the bar when the outlet is switched on". Well, most of you know how well I listen to instructions on a good day, so I'll let you use your imaginations to figure out what happened next...(disclaimer: nothing caught on fire). So due to my lack of charging abilities, I went into Telavi on Friday to get a charger, when I finally found one they couldnt sell it to me because their register thing was closed so I had to go back on Saturday. After another hour marshutka ride, I was finally able to get my charger. After that, I met up with some friends and did some shopping :) Today was a very "im going to do nothing by lay in my bed at watch movies" kind of day. The most I did was walked to the store to get minutes for my phone :) Anyways, I am going to Skype some fellow Canadians and head to bed! Love and miss you all!

Matani, Day 7

Hey all! So, I started teaching yesterday and it has been great so far! My co-teacher is super nice and always asking for my help and input. Man, the kids here are nuts though! There is absolutely no order in the class room, Im not sure what I get my head aches from at school, the kids or the teacher constantly yelling at them to be quiet! The first class I taught was a grade six class, and the frist thing they wanted to know was how to properly pronounce "shut up"...fantastic. The grade three classes gave be a bouqet of roses today and all the kids are always saying hello and goodbye, its so cute! Took a walk with B and her host sister to a beautiful church today and walked around the village a bit. I seriously wonder if I have something growing on my face everyday from the stares I get. But, people are just curious I guess...Dont really know what about since multiple people have told me I look Georgian lol We (we as in me and the other Kakheti volunteers) are planning on a trip to Telavi this weekend for more adventures and shopping. My back pack took a crap so I am in desparate need of a new one! I wish you all could be here to see how amazingly beautiful this country is! School gets out on the 15th of June so I will have the whole summer off! Hello, Italy!!!!! We all have big plans for travelling this summer so stay tuned! Love and miss you all!!



The outside of the Church we visited today :)

Matani, Day 5 :)

Woke up this morning, had breakfast and got ready for my first day of teaching! I left for school and got stared at the ENTIRE way (as usual) and when I got to the school every single kid and teacher was staring. This is starting to get really old, I get that they haven’t had many foreigners in this village but seriously!!! I can’t even go into a store without being stared at constantly! But anyways I got to the school and the went into the teachers room (where more staring occurred) and the principle handed me his phone and my co-teacher was like “ Hi Kaitlyn, I’m in training today so I won’t be at school so you can just go home”.  So, that made for a very short day of school! So I came home and just relaxed on the deck for a little bit then B and I went into Akhmeta to do some shopping (where more staring occurred) there wasn’t really a whole lot of selection when it came to stores or shopping so that was a short trip. I came home, ate supper and host mom and I went for a walk around the village. When I got back I played some piano then took some “me” time and sat out on the deck with some tunes until the bats came out. Now, I just finished talking to my boy and  I’m going to get ready for bed, watch a movie, listen to another thunder storm :), and go to sleep and hope I don’t get woken up at 6 a.m. by the dog or the roosters! Love and miss you all!!

Matani, Day 4

Woke up today and had breakfast with the fam, then Sofi and I went for a short walk to the store and went and picked some fresh cherries with one of her friends. It was a pretty chill day today, not a whole lot going on. Sofi wants me to go to some Georgian grammar class tonight but I kind of just want to stay home and watch some movies and go to bed early! This morning Sofi asked me what kind of meat I like, and to be honest I don’t really want to eat any meat here, but I said chicken just for the hell of it. Well, that was not a wise idea because I came home and her mom had just killed a friggen chicken for supper! I feel like such a murderer! I start school tomorrow and I’m super excited, I really enjoyed teaching Sofi and her mom English last night and I am hoping I will enjoy teaching at school just as much. The food was really good at first, but now her mom is starting to cook weirder and weirder things that I’m not fond of, and we eat dinner super early (today we ate at 3:45) so by the time 10 pm rolls around, I’m STARVING. Sofi decided that she wasn’t going to her grammar lesson so her and I and a couple of her friends went for a nice long walk around the village for about an hour. Now, I am going to take a much needed shower, watch a movie and head to bed. I have a big day of school ahead of me tomorrow! Love and miss you all!