Life in the Akh.

The weather has already started to take a turn for the worse. The G4s have warned us that we are about to experience a whole new feeling of cold this winter. I am starting to believe them. The major difference between winter and winter in the states is the obvious luxury that I will never take for granted again, central heating. There are a few volunteers who have this, one who lives about 45min from me, but again, it is difficult to have if you don't have electricity on a regular basis. However, even if we did, my family is not set up for that. We do have a few radiators, but we also have the peche because there were about six weeks last winter when there simply was not any electricity to be had. The reality of life without central heating is simply that one is cold all of the time. The joy upon entering a building and feeling the warmth will simply be a distant memory. I will be inhaling tea, hot cocoa, and hot apple cider (if anyone is kind enough to send it to me, wink, wink). Sorry, I have become shameless in the name of heat. Apparently, last winter was the worst in Georgia for over 100 years. This, of course, provides with some hope that this winter will not outdo it, however, knowing my luck, not only will this be colder, but it will set records worldwide.

It gets dark in this part of the world, now, about seven or so; in the winter around four. This means even less work at the office than I am doing now and more time at home. It's gonna be a rough and tumble winter (and I do mean that literally). It, however, will be a fantastic opportunity to read a lot of books. I am confident that I will return from my Peace Corps experience having read copious books, on a wide range of subjects. I am currently reading a book about the nature of evil, through the lens of the life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West. It is interesting so far. It charts her life, how she came to be, and the world she grew up in. I am only in the beginning fifty pages, so no strong opinions yet, but I will let you know.

I have started a putting together a seminar that will compare the rights of women in Georgia versus those of women in the states. I have been lucky enough to find a copy of the civil code in English and will be working with a few places in Tbilisi to make sure that I have all of the information that I need.

I have also started to do some real brainstorming on my master's project. This again is proving more difficult than originally anticipated, but that is half the fun, eh? I have spoken with the my adviser here and as I put something more concrete together I will share it with my professors at Tech.

I have to run to the office, so I will post more later. I do apologize for the gap. I will try not to let that happen again. There are three volunteers coming in next weekend, plus one more going to Aspindza. I will have much to say after that. I am also emailing some pics, either today or tomorrow from a hike around town that Chris, Dwayne and I did.

Take care.

Sara