Skiing in Bakuriani is Definitely Different than Skiing in Colorado

First of all, I simply cannot believe that it's March 1st.  Where in the world did February go?? It turned out to be quite the busy month for us girls over here in the land of Samtredia.  Between computer power cord problems and losing internet due to crazy neighbors and malfunctioning cords/satelittes/i don't even know and stopped asking... blogging just hasn't been on top of the priority list!  I did want to get a quick post out though before we take off for our Armenian adventure (more about that later). 


With all the snow in February we decided it was absolutely necessary to go skiing.  The girls and I (minus Tara due to a injured foot), along with some newfound Zestaponi and Kutaisi friends headed back to Bakuriani (where we went horse backing through the mountains last fall) for a weekend of skiing and relaxing at our favorite hotel.  Both times we've visited Bakuriani we have relished in the warm rooms (you should see our faces when we realize we can wear a t-shirt and still feel warm), delicious food and the wonderful staff.  We are so taken care of whenever we visit, so we were definitely looking forward to the weekend getaway! 


We spent most of Saturday out on the slopes, which I was pretty much giddy about.  I've been itching to ski here for a while.  The last time I went skiing was in Colorado, which was clearly a great skiing experience - it's Colorado!! Let's just say that my skiing experience was quite a bit different here in Georgia.  First of all, there isn't a central ski lodge-type area where you go and pay for your ski pass for the day, find your rentals and leave any excess clothes you may have brought with you in case it's too cold or too hot.  This did not bode well for Michelle and I because we were basically dressed for the Arctic tundra! When we reached the bottom of the mountain, we were bombarded with Georgians asking us if we wanted to rent equipment from their stand.  As we looked around, we began to slowly figure things out, we were going to have to rent ski equipment from random Georgians, leave our boots with them (pray they didn't get lost or stolen) and just wear everything we brought! Finally, with the help of an English speaking man from Tbilisi, we were strapped into our new feet for the day and told to come back when we wanted to pay and retrieve our boots.  

Some of us at the top of the mountain, ready for a great run down! 

I think the most noticeable difference between skiing in CO and GE is the way we physically get up the mountain.  In CO, everyone stands in a line, waits their turn and safely gets helped onto a chair lift.  Makes sense, right? Well, in GE, everyone is crowding around the tiny little opening to get to the lift, there are ski's everywhere, people pushing, some falling over, etc. Then, rather than ride in a chair up the mountain, a man hands you a pole, with a circular piece of wood on the bottom,  that's revolving around similarly to a normal chair lift, and you quickly stick it between your legs and hold on for dear life as it drags you up the mountain! I was definitely a bit nervous and managed to only squeak out a small yelp, rather than a gut-renching scream as I struggled to maintain my balance and hold on for dear life.  But after a few times up, and after only one small fall (in which I managed to also wipe out a poor little 6 year old trying to make it up the lift as well) I'd consider myself a pro at the scary ski lift! 


The day was beautiful though, the view from the top was stunning and I loved the feeling of rushing down the mountains.  While I wished the hills would have been longer, I managed to challenge myself with some ski jumps and am proud to say I didn't fall once during the whole day!! 

Beautiful, right? 

Our evenings were spent drinking wine and playing cards, possibly belting a rendition of Elephant Love Medley with my girls and again, eating delicious food.  I really do love my life here.  I certainly can't complain!! 


As if life doesn't get any better though, the same group of us that went to Bakuriani is heading to Armenia tomorrow for a mini vacation.  We happened to have 2 national holidays (Mother's day and Women's day - yes they are holidays where kids don't have to go to school...Georgia LOVES women!!) so we're taking a couple days off of school and heading to Yerevan! We're couch surfing again and are really looking forward to staying with him! I'll be sure to post pictures when we return! Here's to a great trip!! 

Who Knew a Comedy Show in Georgian Could be so Comedic??

A couple weeks ago, the girls and I were looking to get out of Samtredia for the day, so we of course, headed over to Kutaisi.  After sitting in McDonald’s for a while trying to decide with some friends what we should do that day, we finally decided to venture over to Satoplia, a park where we can see dinosaur footprints.  Cool, right? We thought so.  Well, after making the drive full of winds and curves up the mountain, we arrived at a closed, locked gate and several guards looking at us very strangely.  We tried our hardest to convince them to let us in, but they wouldn’t have any of it.  ‘Come back April 1^st and we’ll let you in,’ was basically the advice we were given.  Ok…now what? We got back into the cabs (thank goodness they hadn’t left) and were left to walk around the center of Kutaisi, hoping to stumble into something. 

Good thing we did! After a quick tour of the brand new Kutaisi opera house (they let us backstage and everything -- and we even got to listen to an audition! The man’s voice made my heart melt, just in case you were wondering).  Anyway, after the tour, we meandered over to the theater, just to make sure we covered all the arts.  Much to our surprise, there was a comedy show, that afternoon! Well, we don’t understand Georgian, but it’s supposed to be a comedy show, so it’ll be funny, right? Again, we thought so. We bought tickets and went off in search of snacks (because who goes to a comedy show without snacks??)

Once the show began, we realized which comedy show we were actually seeing.  We were watching a live version of the cast of the late night famous Georgian comedy crew that plays in our host family’s homes nightly.  I recognized all of the cast members from their tv show.  Imagine getting tickets to the Jay Leno show, without realizing that it was the Jay Leno show.  It was quite hilarious.  The show was about 2 hours long, and while there were some definite slow parts because of the language barrier, overall, it was quite entertaining (well, we were reallllllly bored, so my opinion might be a bit skewed).  They sang a lot of American pop songs, with a Georgian flair, of course, danced a bit and put on several skits. 

I think the best part was being able to come home and tell Cici where I ended up that afternoon and see the look on her face.  It was like telling an American 16 year old I had just been to see Justin Bieber’s concert.  The next day, we happened to turn on the tv and the crew was on there performing a taped version of the exact same show I saw the day before.  I opted not to watch it for a second time, but enjoyed being able to assure Cici, that yes, this was the exact show I saw yesterday.  No, Amico didn’t sing Single Ladies, but he sang Shakira!

Oh, Georgia, how I love thee.  

Have I really reached the point where I’m frustrated, not elated by snow days??? I think so…

Pretty tree :)

Well, it’s officially winter in Samtredia now.  We managed to last until February 1 without a single snowflake, but now this snow/rain mix they call tovli here, is ever present in our little town.  Like always, I was extremely excited on the first day of snow.  I woke up and felt giddy as I looked out the window (and then really relieved when I heard that Mishiko came home to drive us to school).  The kids were marveling at the snow all day long so we scrapped all lesson plans and just talked about the snow and fun things to do in it (hey, it was all in English, so it counts, right??).  We even got out early and then I had the wettest, coldest snowball fight I’ve ever had with a bunch of my 8^th grade boys…all the way home.  However, that excitement has quickly (considering it’s only the 16^th) dwindled to pure annoyance. Snow seems to cause this town to come to a complete standstill.  Kids have just stopped coming to school! “It’s too cold out,” “It’s raining/snowing/it looks like it could rain/snow,” are excuses I’ve heard from kids for the past month and as weary as I’ve become of it, I’ve begun to accept that this is how it will be until the snow dissipates.

Students outside school before the bell rings throwing snowballs up at the classroom windows.
Kids over here in Georgia are just as crazy as the kiddos in America! (if not more)

I’m telling you, American children could learn a thing or two from Georgian kids about getting out of school! Some of my older kids will all text each other in the morning and decide whether or not their going to go to school! I don’t think I’ve taught a full set of students for a full week since I got back from Israel.  Let’s just say that it’s been difficult to move forward with lessons.  It’s just frustrating because the teacher’s can’t really do anything about it.  We don’t have control over whether students show up; I accepted that a long, long time ago.  However, the kids that are showing up are getting lots of small group review sessions and help with what they actually need help with.  Plus, we’ve been able to play more games and do fun activities, like make Valentine’s Day cards for each other.  I guess there is a silver lining to every cloud. 

The view of our school yard

We’ve all had lots of extra time on our hands with so much of school being canceled.  You’d think that would have allowed for a lot of blogging, but unfortunately my power cord needed some technical attention and I was without a computer for a week or so.  Luckily, author Stieg Larsson came to the rescue and provided me with great entertainment in the form the three novel saga that follows Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest).  As Michelle pointed out to me, I think I read over 2000 pages in about 3 weeks!  They are simply addicting and I highly 

recommend them if you’re looking for a great read.  

With all this snow, I’ve learned how much I appreciate and miss central heating back in the states.  I love our wooden stove downstairs, but my bedroom is mighty cold!  I’ve learned the art of layering, the necessity of warm drinks and the fact that showering when it’s cold out is completely overrated.  On that note, I think I’ll help myself to another cup of tea.  Hope you all are staying warm, wherever you are in the world!

An Unforgettable Journey!

Hello to all those who have been following my blog! It's been quite some time since my last entry and not surprisingly, a lot has happened since December 9th! One school semester ended, another began, I wished my Georgian family farewell and then returned to welcoming arms and we held a large supra in honor of Mishiko's 49th birthday.  Most importantly though, I visited the Holy Land of Israel and Palestine and embarked on a 30 day journey backpacking through both beautiful countries, rich with history, culture and pretty amazing people.  

Tara and I eating delicious hummus and pita (a staple of our Israeli diet) in Akko

A beautiful sunset in Tel Aviv

Because I could go on and on writing about my trip, I've decided to revert back to my high school days and play a game called Top 5.  The following are my top 5 favorite (in no particular order) memories, events or places from my trip.  Enjoy!


1. CouchSurfing

Instead of paying for hostels and hotels throughout our trip, we decided to couchsurf our way through Israel and Palestine.  It ended up being the best choice we made our entire trip because of the amazing people we met.  Our first couchsurfer was particularly great because he completely opened up his home to us and after only knowing us for 3 days, offered to let us keep our large bags at his place for the month.  We obviously took him up on his offer and so Jerusalem became our home base for the month.  We went back every few days to exchange for new clothes and I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to feel like we had a home in Israel.  We had our fair share of funny stories from later couch surfers, such as the couchsurfer who wouldn’t stop talking, or the one who thought it’d be a good idea to wake us up at 6:30 am to watch the sunrise…but we also had the amazing couchsurfers who cooked us wonderful meals, gave us entire apartments to stay in, and introduced us to other amazing friends.  All in all, couchsurfing definitely made our experience unforgettable and I highly recommend it if you’re going to go backpacking in the near future, or are just looking for a way to meet new people!

Hanging out with our amazing couch surfer, Eran! 

2. Swimming in the Dead Sea and Hiking in Ein Gedi

Swimming in the Dead Sea was quite the experience.  Because there is so much salt in the sea, it’s impossible to do anything, but float on your back or stomach and try to keep your head above water! We only lasted about 20 minutes in the sea because after a while, the salt becomes quite painful and it undoubtedly gets in your eyes and mouth and feels/tastes pretty awful.  

Tara, Michelle and I floating in the Dead Sea! 

We went in unscathed, but came out looking like a group of girls that had just been attacked! Our feet were all bloody from the rocks on the shore, my nose was running because I had gotten salt up there and I was crying because my eyes burnt so much from the salt! It sounds quite terrible, but after a cold shower everything felt much better and we were able to laugh at our ridiculous selves.  We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the warm sun and taking advantage of the oasis where we were staying. 

A beautiful view of the mountains we hiked in Ein Gedi

Hiking in Ein Gedi the next day was absolutely wonderful! We walked along a path from waterfall to waterfall, took lots of pictures and oohed and ahhed at the various desert animals we saw.  Later, Tara, Michelle and I decided to trek up the mountains a bit more off the paved path.  Along the way we picked up several other loner hikers and turned into quite the eclectic group of people! We hiked for about an hour and made it to the top of a small mountain, but had to turn around and head back so that we could catch the bus back to Jerusalem on time.  It was such a beautiful hike though.

3. Walking around Old City in Jerusalem

The Old City of Jerusalem is divided into 4 quarters: the Christian Quarter, the Jewish quarter, the Armenian quarter and the Muslim quarter.  Each quarter contained its own unique history and it was so wonderful to walk around exploring the markets and sights within.  I was fortunate enough to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus was supposedly crucified and buried.  It was quite the experience that I can’t exactly put into words.  We also visited the Western Wall in the Jewish Quarter several times because it was just such a calming and soothing place to be.  Exploring the markets in each quarter was a blast and we enjoyed lots of different foods including yummy falafel and shwarma in the Muslim quarter. 

Near the entrance to Old City in Jerusalem

Standing in front of the Western Wall

4. Christmas in Bethlehem

It was quite surreal being in Bethlehem for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but it was definitely one of my favorite memories.  The town was packed with tourists from all over the world and it was just really exciting to be a part of all of it.  We attended a Christmas Eve service at a Lutheran Church that was conducted in 3 different languages, English, Arabic and German.  At one point, we were all singing Christmas hymns in our own languages, all at the same time! It was so beautiful.  We had a delicious Christmas Eve dinner at a Mexican restaurant with some friends we had met that evening.  I was fortunate enough to meet up with Trena, a friend from college, who was volunteering in Israel/Palestine for the year.  It was so great to catch up with her; plus seeing a friend from home just lovely as home definitely felt far away!

Trena and I after the candle lighting procession

Christmas Day we visited the Church of Nativity, saw (rather quickly) where his manger supposedly was, went to Saint Catherine’s Church, visited Shepherd’s field (where the shepherds saw the star in the East on Christmas morn…) and enjoyed walking around Manger Square.  We also happened to make it on National television! There was a Fox news correspondent right near the entry to the Church of Nativity and he wanted people to say Merry Christmas in their native languages! We wished everyone a Merry Christmas in Georgian!

Posing in the Church of Nativity with our new friends from the Philippines!
(they were on the news too!)

This was taken on Manger Square in Bethlehem.  Notice: balloons, a man dressed
as a bee and a mosque and palm trees in the background.  Too funny!

5. Spending time in Ramallah, Palestine and other Palestinian cities

This part of our trip was a surprise because it was not originally planned, but it was probably my favorite aspect.  Seeing firsthand what is happening between the two countries and the effects of the conflict was a lot to handle, but incredibly eye-opening.  We explored many of the larger cities in Palestine including Nablus, Hebron, Ramallah and Bethlehem.  I also attended a demonstration in the small village of Bil’in.  I can’t even begin to explain how wonderful the people in Palestine are.  I met some that I will never, ever forget.  I felt so connected to several people that I had literally met the week before, which was what made it so difficult to leave.  I’ll be the first to admit that I was not terribly informed regarding Middle Eastern politics and the Israel-Palestine Conflict itself, but after spending a month directly immersed in it, I have such a craving to know more.  While I have no idea when it is I’ll be back, I do know that I’ll be back there, someday.

A beautiful sunset in Nablus

The four of us in front of the Tomb of Patriarchs in Hebron

Spending time with our couchsurfer/amazing friend Sam!

Ok, I should stop because if I don’t now, I never will! If you have more questions, please feel free to email or comment!

Wonderful Christmas Surprises!

With December upon us, there is definitely a Christmas vibe in the air.  Well, at least for me there is! My itunes is always set on my Christmas playlist...I'm even starting to drive Cici crazy with all of my humming of my favorite ones. The girls and I decided to ring in the Christmas season on December 1st by watching a favorite Christmas movie of mine, Love Actually and drinking hot chocolate.  It was absolutely lovely and a bit of a taste of home. This past weekend was the first weekend where it felt incredibly strange to not be back at good 'ol Luther College, singing in the annual Christmas at Luther show.  

In order to distract myself from the fact that I was wanting to be 'there' and not 'here,' the girls and I took off for a quick trip to Batumi to bid some friends 'adieu.' We had quite the interesting marshutka rides there and back... On our way to Batumi, our crazy driver was going a bit too fast and he ran into another car, completely totaling it.  It was a bit scary and quite dramatic, but thankfully, no one was hurt.  Luckily, we were herded onto another marshutka and then only had to pay 1.50 Lari for our entire trip from Samtredia to Batumi! After a lovely visit full of delicious food, wine and good company, we said good-bye to many friends that will not be returning after Christmas.  It was so sad to leave Katy, my good friend from Orientation, but thank goodness for Skype! As we boarded the marshutka to head back to Samtredia, about half way through the trip, a huge family got on, including a guy carrying a branch full of mandarins, (which he begged us to eat) and a little boy who later ended up getting sick and throwing up berries all over the marshutka floor (just barely missing Tara).  After that happened, Melissa, Michelle, Tara and I just looked at each other and had to laugh because of the craziness that was our marshutka rides.  Did we bring this on ourselves??? Who knows.  

Beautiful sunset over Samtredia when we got back from Batumi

Then on Tuesday, Melissa asked me to go for a walk with her in the afternoon.  We had a lovely walk and made plans to make peanut butter with the girls at my house later that evening.  When we arrived back at my house, I walked into my room and discovered the most wonderful surprise! Michelle, Tara and Nini popped out from behind my room and yelled 'SURPRISE!' As I looked around the room, everything registered.  They had decorated my entire room with Christmas decorations! Cut out trees, snowflakes, paper chains (made out of scrapes of Michelle's classroom activities) cut out presents, real Christmas lights and Christmas chocolates from the states (including red and green m&ms)! Tara had brought several of these items back with her after her sister's wedding and had been keeping it a surprise all this time! It was the happiest surprise I could have had and was so sweet of them to think of! We spent the rest of the evening chatting, eating waaaay too many m&ms - the red and green ones really do taste better - and listening to Christmas music.  

REAL Christmas Lights!!! All thanks to Tara!

I have my own Christmas tree!

Because Georgians don't celebrate Christmas until January 7, it's still a bit early for Christmas to be in full swing here though.  We are excited to head to Tbilisi next weekend and see all the city decorations before our flight to Israel though! Samtredia, being the small town that it is, doesn't really get into the whole 'decorating your town for Christmas thing.' Which is fine because I have lots of Christmas in my room! While this time is hard being away from home, it's been fun chatting with Cici and her family about their Christmas traditions and how they compare to our traditions.  While I'm sad to not be able to celebrate Christmas with her family, or my own family in America, I'm truly looking forward to spending Christmas with the girls in Bethlehem.  If you asked me last Christmas if I thought I'd be in Bethlehem next Christmas, I would have told you that you were crazy.  It's insane how life takes you in directions that you never would have expected! 


I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful Christmas season, wherever you might be!

ABC's of the Last Two Weeks

Hello all! Forgive me for not writing for the past several weeks.  I honestly haven't been incredibly busy, but somehow time always seems to get away from me.  In order to properly catch you up, I've come up with the ABC's of my last couple weeks.  I hope you enjoy it! 

A, an, some - grammar lessons! Sadly, it is quite difficult for me to explain grammar to students who don't quite understand English.  Therefore, Nino usually does the boring job of explaining the actual grammar in English and I get to come up with games to reinforce what was just explained.  I like my job... :)

Bazar-ing: I had my own version of Black Friday shopping in the Kutaisi Bazar this past weekend.  On a hunt for slippers, I definitely haggled with retailers, waited in long lines of crowds, got claustrophobic as I waited in small areas, and agonized over which pair of slippers was the cheapest, cutest and therefore the most worthwhile to buy.  I ended up with an adorable pair of comfy Mickey Mouse slippers.  Hearing Lela say 'Mickey Mouse' in her Georgian accent made them all the more worth it.  

Chocolate Chip Cookies: We baked homemade chocolate chip cookies this weekend as well! They were so delicious! They tasted slightly cake-y, and we burnt the first pan, but overall, it was a delicious success! My family is requesting more - and my mom is requesting me to teach her how to make them.  Yay family bonding :) 

Drinking hot drinks from MY mug: You know you're part of a family when you have your own place at the table and your own mug. Cici and I both always use these adorable heart shaped mugs.  Hers is pink, mine is blue.  No one else drinks from these mugs.  Even when friends come over, they know whose mug is whose.  Love it.  

Eggs, eggs and more eggs! Recently Lela made the most delicious banana cake I have EVER tasted.  It was honestly the best thing I've eaten in Georgia - and Michelle can attest to this.  It was moist (hate that word) and creamy and fabulous.  However, I later found out that there were over 15 eggs put in this cake...I was slightly grossed out, but honestly nothing surprises me anymore.  I say, bring on the banana cake!!

Friends Episodes: I found this great online website that has tons and tons of tv shows and movies on it.  For those that know me well, you know I am an avid fan of the 90s tv show Friends.  Luckily for me, this website has all 10 seasons of shows available online. I started with season 1 and have been enjoying one every night before bed.  I haven't seen these episodes for so long and I've found myself laughing out loud at lines I've nearly forgotten.  It's great to smile and laugh before bedtime :) 

Georgian Lessons: This month I started Georgian lessons full on.  It took forever to figure out schedules and who was actually going to be my Georgian teacher, but I'm feeling much more confident with my Georgian and am able to understand a decent amount.  That being said, I have a long way to go! 

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all had a wonderful Thankgiving! We didn't do much here, nor did it it really feel like Thanksgiving.  Here, they only eat Turkey on Christmas.  We did eat boiled pumpkin and roasted pumpkin seeds (which I have become quite addicted to).  However, I am very thankful for my family, both in America and in Georgia, my friends and this incredible experience and all it has taught me thus far.

Iviko's Birthday Party: My English teacher's son, Iviko, turned 8 this past Friday and I was invited to his birthday party.  It was a very surreal experience accompanied with 20 eight year olds running around, beating each other up (playfully, of course), drinking wine and practicing the traditions of toasting the man (boy) of honor.  Us adults sat upstairs and toasted to Nino for raising such a wonderful boy and then a ridiculous amount of food.  I met Nino's family and quickly connected with her father in law - a geography teacher who loves Google Earth.  We found my house in Iowa City, and then he showed me his house in Samtredia.  What a fun way to bond! 

Jump That Rock! This is an awesome song that always proves to be a great pick-me-up whenever I'm down.  It has prompted many dance parties, whether it's just me dancin like a fool in my room, or several of us dancing around Samtredia.  It's also a great song to run to! I discovered it at Core this summer as it was one of the last tracks in our Body Attack class.  Great. Song. 

Here's a link if you want to listen...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0DTm_bWEjs

Kutaisi: This last month has been pretty quiet.  We haven't gone a big trip since Borjomi and Bakuriani, but we have spent quite a bit of time in Kutaisi.  We attended a big supra with some Georgian girls (who are studying to be English teachers at Kutaisi University) and their friends.  We've found several great restaurants and coffee shops and have done our fair share of exploring the city, the bazars and other shopping centers.  

Lesson Planning: I've fallen into a nice routine of knowing my students and what activities work best for them and what they like doing in class.  It's been fun to come up with creative ways to teach somewhat boring concepts like whether to say bigger or biggest in a sentence.  I love seeing the kids' smiling faces when I say it's time to play a game or when I have a new song to teach them.  

Megobrebi (friends - both Georgian and American!) It's been great meeting new Georgian friends, especially those that are our age.  Like I mentioned earlier, we went to a supra with lots of Georgian kids our age and it was great to chat with them! However, I am also loving my friends from TLG, especially my Samtredia girls.  Not sure what I'd do without you Tara, Michelle and Melissa!! I think all our families are quite used to us being together lots and I'm so excited to travel together in Israel! 

Nino, Marina and Angela: These three women are all English teachers in my school.  I'm primarily working with Nino right now, but after Christmas break I will work primarily with Marina and maybe a couple classes Nino and Angela.  I'll be sad to leave my kiddos from this semester, but plan on checking in with them often! I'm excited for a change of pace and a new teaching style with Marina, but I hope Nino keeps some of my ideas going.  For example, I started a point system with my 6th and 7th graders to motivate them to do their homework.  There wasn't any sort of incentive to do it before, and nothing happened to them if they didn't do it before.  Well I'm all about positive reinforcement, so when my students do their homework, they get 5 points.  Once they earn 30, they get a prize. I've finally started to see positive effects of the system - in fact ALL of my 6th graders did their homework for today.  I can't tell you how exciting it was! 

Omari, Levani, Imeda... and sometimes Giorgi.  These are my 9th grade boys - and I love them. They are so much fun to work with - when they come to class.  I've been off and on with them the past 6 weeks.  They were coming a lot in the beginning, and then they stopped showing up regularly and I was really discouraged by that.  I think they realized they were actually going to have to start working and learning in English class.  However, I had a breakthrough with them a couple weeks ago and they've been attending every class for the last two weeks.  We've been making so much more progress and it's exciting to seem them working hard! 

Peanut Butter: still obsessed.  We've started making it in bulk and are hoping to begin marketing in Samtredia.  Tara's grandmother got envious a while back and tried competing with us by making Almond butter, but it just wasn't the same :) 

Quick Feet! Samtredia football rocks! We were lucky enough to be able to attend a Samtredia v. Tbilisi football game a couple weeks ago.  It was hilarious watching the fans go CRAZY when Samtredia won 2-0.  Kids were jumping on the fence, yelling, throwing sunflower seeds, you know, the usual.  It was also entertaining to realize that you were one of maybe 10 women in the entire stadium.  We went with a couple of other Georgian girls, but when we looked around, it was mostly men in attendance! More staring ensued...obviously, but it was all very fun! I think my favorite part was participating in the cheers: SAM-TRE-DI-A!!! Gaumar-jos! (Cheers for Samtredia) 

Restaurant Hopping: This past weekend in Kutaisi we were the ultimate restaurant hoppers.  We began in McDonald's with just a quick coffee and muffin.  Stopped in a little shack for an afternoon beer while waiting for other friends to meet us.  Headed to the Kutaisi Brewery for a fancy lunch.  Stopped for some shwarma because our friend Taylor desperately wanted some.  We then ended our restaurant brigade in a little bakery that has a soft serve ice cream machine and enjoyed delicious twist cones for only 60 tetri (about 35 cents).  Needless to say, we were incredibly full, but we enjoyed our food tour of Kutaisi! Made for a great afternoon!

Skype! My lifeline to home.  I'm not sure what I would to without it! It was so lovely to be able to skype with my family while they were all home for Thanksgiving.  Even though I'm 10 hours ahead, I'm so grateful for family and friends that find time to chat and fit me into their busy schedules.  I love hearing about the happenings at home!

Turbo Jam: While I enjoyed running here for a while, it's been nice to change it up with some workout videos that Tara brought back with her when she went home for her sister's wedding.  We've been doing Turbo Jam and plan to start Pilates.  So much fun to jump around in my garage while watching the video on my computer.  We sure are resourceful! I love kickboxing though, there's nothing like punching and kicking to get the energy out of you!

Under my covers is my favorite place to be: It's officially turned chilly.  While it's still somewhat warm in the afternoons, morning and evenings get pretty cold.  We brought in our stove and rearranged the family room to make room for it.  It is sooo warm.  Thankfully, my room is right above it so I'm fairly warm at night.  However, I love being warm and cuddly underneath my 3 or 4 blankets.  It's just the best.  

Vodka shots with Mom and Dad: It's become somewhat of a common occurrence that whenever my Dad is actually home for our big meal in the afternoon, he often wants to do a couple shots with me.  I think it's his way of showing that he likes me.  He always says a sweet toast or calls me 'chemi gogo' (my girl).  Today, Lela broke out the fruity vodka, so we all enjoyed  shots of it together.  Lela then explained to me how they make it so that I would be able to come back to America and make it for my family and friends.  Get excited! 

We WON!!! Volleyball games galore! Along with football games, I also attending a championship volleyball game at Michelle's school.  She's the only one of us with a school that actually has a volleyball team that competes.  It was great to go to her school, meet some of her kids and participate in the cheers.  It was quite surreal seeing several teams that were 'dressed and ready to go' wearing jeans and sweater vests.  Michelle's team was all about it though - uniforms and everthing! 

eXcited for Israel! It's official.  We found out our flight information today! We're leaving December 20th for Israel.  For those of you that were unaware, I will be spending my Christmas break (about a month long) with Michelle, Melissa and Tara traveling around Israel.  We're spending Christmas in Bethlehem, and then spending time in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the North and the Dead Sea.  It should be an amazing experience!

Yes, we are still the English teachers from America... Even after being here for 3 months, we are still getting stopped in the street, the bazar, the bank, everywhere and are asked if we're the teachers from America.  Sometimes I find it sweet, other times I'm annoyed and just want to say, YES WE ARE! You've seen us for the last 3 months, the excitement should have died by now!  Sometimes being a local celebrity has it's perks though - people are incredibly kind and are always excited to show you around and sometimes even give you free things.  A man who works in the market where I like to buy my coffee will sometimes give me free chocolate :) 

Zzzzzz's I've finally grown used to sleeping here.  I've only woken up once feeling really confused about where I was.  Bring on the crazy, loud, angry dogs at night, or the neighbors who like to yell at each other at 7 in the morning, or the OTHER neighbor who likes to bang on some sort of metal at the same time.  I can sleep through anything now! Well...with the help of heavy duty earplugs and the spare set that I keep on my chair in case the first pair falls out... ;) 

Phewf!! That was long.  Thanks for sticking through! Hope you enjoyed it - I had fun writing it!! 

My Dad is the Coolest

Well, I may have taken my love for coffee a bit too far today.  I zealously decided to drink 4 cups throughout the day and am now paying for it as it's after 11 pm here now and I feel completely wired and ready to go! Good thing I have this blog... 

Mishikl and Cici

I know in my last blog that I mentioned writing about school, but honestly, it hasn't been the greatest this week and I don't feel like writing about it now! What I do feel like telling you about is my Georgian host father.  Chemi mama (my dad) is just an all around pretty awesome guy and this past week has been particularly stellar for him.  Last Thursday, Michelle, Tara, Lela and I were all hanging out in our living room area when Mishikl (side note, this is his nickname, short for Mikheli) called Lela.  He was obviously very excited about something as we could hear him from across the room over the phone.  Next thing I know Lela is coming over to me with the phone, telling me that he wants to talk to me! First thing that crosses my mind is 'Oh crap.  I can hardly understand people on the phone when they're speaking to me in English, let alone when they're speaking Georgian!' Needless to say, I nervously say, Gamarjobat! After a little while of him rattling off something to me, Cici thankfully walks in and explains that he is celebrating with his friends because they caught a bunch of robbers that were planning on stealing 25 computers from a school in Abasha.  It was his turn to toast and he wanted to me to know that he was blessing me and my family in America.  Isn't he sweet?? 


Then, literally the next day he headed out into the forests for a 3 day camping venture to try and catch another group of thieves that have been stealing domestic animals from people's homes and then selling them.  However, he came home after only one night to 3 surprised faces.  We all were so curious what he was doing home so early, and he simply gave us a shrug, a small smile and told us that they caught them all! 


The icing on the cake happened tonight though.  Cici told me that Mishikl had been offered a higher position within the police force.  He would be the police chief of an entire region, instead of just a city.  He would work more closely with the Ministry and would most likely get a pay raise.  However, he would also be working 2-3 hours away from home and wouldn't get to come home very often.  Probably only once a week or so.  For this reason, he decided not to take the higher position and to stay working in Abasha.  He said he didn't want to be away from Lela and Cici and that he likes working in Abasha because the other policemen are also like family to him. He said it was a great honor to get offered the position and was really happy to be considered for it! 


Being around Mishikl has made me much more aware of the police system in Georgia and how much it truly does for the citizens of Georgia.  Not too long ago, the police used to be an incredibly corrupt system, but so much has been done to change that.  Cici has told me stories about how people used to not be able to walk around a night because it was too dangerous, but it is completely the opposite now.  The crime rate has drastically decreased, and I always feel safe walking around at night.  Mishikl works so hard, there are several weeks where I feel like I only see him for several minutes at a time because he's just popping home quick to see us, grab some food, or head out to go hunting.  He is incredibly dedicated to his work, but clearly loves his family.  Whenever he's home, I catch so many adorable moments of him and Lela cuddling on the couch, or of him giving Cici a big kiss on the cheek.  He seems to always win with us girls, whether he's bringing home lavashi (amazing Georgian bread), kiwi, or simply saying 'hello' as he walks through the door.  The mood always is lighter when he's home because everyone is so glad that he's there! 


If you can't tell, I'm pretty thankful that he's my substitute father for the year.  However, here's a quick shout-out to my father back in the states: Thanks for always being there, putting family first and for reading my blogs. I love you!