I think most English teachers in Georgia on this program are becoming experts in wasting time. I hear that the crew in Tbilisi get together regularly and see each other often, but they have cafes and bars at their disposal. There are a few cafes and bars in Kutaisi, but not a great many. Living…
The dormitory has an interesting dynamic now that it is full of Azerbaijanis, and isn’t just me and my Pakistani host brother. (Who has since moved to Tbilisi. He took off yesterday, and has been replaced by a delightful British chap whose first concern about our rooms was whether we had a kettle or not.)…
It’s turning into a strange week. Woke up Tuesday morning for class. I figured today would be back to normal, I’d teach my lessons with my co-teacher (let’s give her a name…. how about Bibi?), and it would be a normal Tuesday. Got to my lesson at 9:00. On time, that is, which is early…
Over the weekend, the dormitory has filled up. On Sunday about 100 Azerbaijanis moved in. They are here from villages from all over Georgia, and they are here in the dorm in Kutaisi for a one month crash course in Georgian. The dorm is a government run program that brings in ethnic minorities to teach…
Answer me these questions three, ‘ere the other side ye see… Upon meeting new people, I’m always asked the same questions. Everyone’s very curious… I’m asked three questions, and after I’ve answered the three questions, I’m invited for wine and Mts’vadi. 1. Do you like Georgia? Or: Do you like Kutaisi? This first question is…
I eventually make my way to my classroom where I teach my lessons. In the breaks between classes or before classes, some students I don’t teach like to try to say hello. There aren’t many that are up to it, but there are some. I’m told that the students I do have take great pride…
Georgians, from what I gather, rarely walk anywhere. Why walk, when for 40 tetris (25 cents), you could just take a marshrutka? When I first arrived in Kutaisi, I asked my co-teacher how long it would take to walk to the school from the dormitory. She said (and whatever she says is in a delightful…
I am in my mid twenties, and go in and out of being comfortable that I’m nowhere near being a proper adult, and that I don’t see myself arriving at adulthood any time soon. A proper adult, I would say, could support him/herself with a reliable income coming from a steady job, and would have…
Dormitory director, his assistant, Pakistani host brother and myself all make up our own little “host family,” not too unlike the host families the other volunteers are living with. Director and assistant help out with pronunciation, reading the Georgian alphabet, menus, ordering us food, showing us shops, covering meals, making sure we’re fed and housed,…
