For a few weeks, there had been talk of President Saakashvili coming to Kutaisi for a visit. He was purportedly coming to check on the professional education centers. One of which I work in (the vocational school,) and one of which I live in (the dormitory that is a language training center for ethnic minorities…
On my recent holiday I spent a few days in Sarajevo, and stopped by to watch the games of chess, which had given me the inspiration for the title of this blog. It wasn’t snowing (thankfully), but I did manage to snap some photos of the scene. It’s gotten me thinking about chess again, as…
So, still on Kutaisoba, last week Monday. Lots of adventures that day. Eventually the Expert had to leave for his evening lessons. I walked back to the dorms to send some emails and try to figure out what’s going on with my bank card. The Expert and I planned on making an effort to do…
Monday morning I awoke not feeling the greatest. 24 hours of travel weren’t cured by a few hours of sleeping. Just as a precaution, I sent co-teacher Bibi a text message to be sure we would have the lessons that day. When I was making my coffee I got a response. No lessons today, as…
There’s something about being on the road, the transition between point A and point B, that enables me to have the strangest encounters. I meet total oddballs, things don’t go as planned, and sometimes the entire journey is a disaster. There’s the Bilbo Baggins line that is so fitting: Bilbo Baggins: It’s a dangerous business,…
I wouldn’t say I’m a fashionable person. I don’t really follow fashion at all. I don’t keep up on trends or what’s in or out of style. From what I gather, I’d need to pick up a few pairs of skinny jeans, trucker hats, a fixie, and a self-righteous hipster attitude to catch up and…
Some days I really don’t know why I’m here. This program is an effort by the Georgian government to bring in native speakers en masse to Georgia and try to have at least one English teacher in each school in Georgia. My flight was covered, as is my housing, and my stipend is more than…
Not many tourists come to Kutaisi for the city itself, but rather for the surrounding sights. One Saturday some German couch surfers were staying with a student at the training college, who invited us all out on a trip to two monasteries about 10km outside of the city. Gelati Monastery, built in the early 12th…
A few weeks ago I went to Batumi, which is on the Black Sea. Unfortunately, it was rainy my second time to Batumi, as it had been my previous visit. About 10km outside of Batumi there is a small village named Gonio, which has an old Roman fortress that dates back to the first century…
It’s always interesting when you room with someone. Especially when you have no control over who you’re going to be placed with. The following is more or less my collection of notes I took over the past month living with Pakistani host brother. He’s now in Tbilisi, so I feel a bit better about posting…