Tbilisi...Revisited.

I have yet another great time in the 'blissy. I went this time because one of the staffers, Adam (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer) invited the volunteers over to his house for dinner on Friday and then we were invited to another RPCV's house for dinner Saturday night. There was also a GLOW meeting Saturday morning that I had wanted to go to, so it worked out well. However, I did not decided until rather late that I wanted to go to Tbilisi and there was no room at the inn. Our country director, along with our new Program Training Officer (or something like that, her title is PTO) have been working hard to locate RPCVs and Embassy workers who would be willing to house volunteers. As it turned out the couple hosting the dinner were more than willing to house a few volunteers, they actually said that they could fit ten of us. We had that many Saturday night.

Last time, my travel to the 'blissy was broken up by a visit in Khash, this time I went straight there with another volunteer, Dwayne. Dwayne is the G4 at my site and as a result of our 3hr. marshutka ride, my PC brother. He's great. After an uneventful marshutka ride (finally) we arrived in Tbilisi and headed to the Peace Corps office. I have been meaning to sit down with my NGO boss, Tika, and discuss my situation here.

I got really nervous/overwhelmed when I first got to site and my NGO said that basically I would be teaching English six days a week. That is a lot of lesson planning not to mention that it does not allow me to go to the 'blissy for work or much else for that matter. I put my foot down and said that I don't want to teach Saturdays. I also put my foot down when it came to me teaching at NGOs that are not mine. I have two NGOs here, so there will be plenty for me to do. I don't need to tack-on extra NGOs just for the fun of it. Thankfully, the other NGO was understanding. I did say that I would revisit the issue when I had a better idea of what teaching entailed as well as what else I can do for my NGO. Tika was great about everything.

I have had some rather interesting personal space/cross-cultural issues with my host family, particularly grandma. She is clearly glad that I am now a part of the family, but we just have to find a better way for her to express it. [This was intentionally crytic and diplomatic.] I want to handle it myself because that is a part of adapting and learning how to deal with new situations, but if I am unable to make headway, then I know that there are a few people who are willing to step in and help.

Later that day, I made my way, thankfully with a few other volunteers, to Adam's for dinner. It was amazing. We had chicken enchiladas. Wow. I have missed good mexican food. His wife is an extraordinary cook. We had peach cobbler and many other delicious treats. I can't remember it all, but my mouth is watering. I haven't eaten that well since the supra at Yuta's house at the end of training.

On Saturday, I had my GLOW mtg, where I was elected as co-chair of the fundraising committee. I will be working with a G4 on raising money for the camp. The goal is to have as much funding as possible come from Georgia, as opposed to international NGOs, because the G4s really want to turn this into an NGO run by Georgians. I now officially have one secondary project. This won't take up too much time, but I will have to go to Tbilisi with her and network, nice. It's such an awesome cause that it will totally be worth it.

After the meeting, a bunch of us headed to this great restaurant that serves amazing khinkali, yeah you read that correctly. It is basically a dumpling that can have a variety of things in it, I prefer the meat ones, but they had mushroom, potato, cheese, again, a wonderous variety and not expensive. Oh, and these things are huge. I had four and a beer for three lari, not bad. I spent the rest of the day wandering around until it was time for dinner number two.

They grilled for us. We had ribs, kabobs, corn salad, basically another feast. Dana and Don (she is the rpcv) were extremely generous hosts and we had a great time. A bunch of went out and hit a brew pub, while others headed off to dance. It was a great time for all.

I was able to hang out with some different people, so that was pretty awesome. Sorry, once again, I have to rush out and meet one of my georgian friends, Teona. She works at the UNDP women's office, I have mentioned her before. I haven't seen her in weeks, so I owe her a coffee break.

I teach english for the first time today. I don't know if I've mentioned that yet, but if I have, oh well. I'm pretty nervous, but it's all good. I'll definitely update everyone on that tomorrow. Take care.

Sara