After such a long break from Poti, almost 10 days, it was nice to come home and relax for a bit. Getting back into teaching was a little rough since I didn’t have time to catch up with the teachers before jumping back into things. The first couple classes were rough because I had to spend a lot of time getting the students to behave for me again- it’s amazing what you lose just by missing a week! By the end of the week though, things looked like they were back on track.
We had our own mini Georgian Thanksgiving, and I taught them the phrase- I'm stuffed! |
I also got to celebrate back to back Thanksgivings with my American club students on Tuesday and Wednesday. I shared the history of Thanksgiving, we practiced expressing gratitude, I taught some idioms like- I’m stuffed and blessing in disguise, and we even had our out Thanksgiving feast. I love being able to share some of the best parts of American culture with my students. They are exposed to so much “America” but it isn’t always the best. Thanksgiving is a great time to showcase some of the important American values and ideas in a very fun way.
Our view for the Thanksgiving weekend |
The first moments of gratitude went to thinking about my life back home. Gratitude for indoor plumbing, western toilets, safe electrical wiring, heating, air conditioning, and many other luxuries of life back home. I was also able to be in touch with my family through the internet and modern technology which always makes home feel so much closer.
Juicing mandarins by hand, they are plentiful in the area now |
I was able to meet up with my old host father from my first house in Poti, it was the first time we’d met up since I moved in October. I was instantly reminded and grateful for his kindness and open heart. We still can’t communicate very well, but I can tell that he cares and is there to support me. It was a great reminder of all the wonderful hospitality and kindness that I have received from the Georgian people.
Sharing what we are grateful for before we dig in. |
My life since graduating High School has been an amazing journey. Literally in the sense of my physical journey away from home and around the world, but also more symbolically in the sense of the internal journey of growing up. During college one of my friends told me about some writer that started a project known as the 6 word memoir. One of her favorites was, “Not quite what I was expecting.” I think that if I had to write my own it would be something like, “Unexpected, but better than I dreamed.”
A successful weekend with this wonderful crew |
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