So, I've been keeping a word document of random thoughts that I've had throughout my first month here in Georgia. Here is the list, for your perusal/amusement/confusion.
- I imaging that, relative to the Georgian language, my Mother speaks with a sort of South-Carolina accent.
- I have thus far avoided eating the chunks of boiled pig face, but eventually there will be a day when I cannot refuse. I am sure of this.
- The Georgian word for Mom is "Deda" and the word for Dad is "Mama." This is ridiculously confusing for all parties in a translation setting. I also feel strange writing "Papa Dato" when in actuality I call him "Mama."
- Georgian people love eating, and they eat insanely fast. Dinner is over in a matter of minutes, but everyone inhales more food than I can even imagine consuming in one sitting. I also find myself having 2-3 dinners every evening.
- I recently found out that although I teach in the Nabakevi school, visible from my home window, I do not live in Nabakevi. Nor do I live in Kulashi, which is apparently across the street from the school. I was told the name of my village, but I forgot because it was too hard to say. I also don't have an address. In short: I don't know where I live.
- I just watched my host grandfather eat what must have been at least one whole chicken, carefully picking out the little bones from his mouth and arranging them in a pile. That is, until the last few bites when he decided not to bother and crunched up all the bones with his teeth until they were small enough to swallow. Go Grandpa.
- A number of television shows and commercials rip off music from Western news stations/TV shows/Movies. There is a frequent bank commercial that plays an awkward variation of the theme from “Pirates of the Caribbean” and the main news station has the same entrance as one of the big ones in the US I’m sure, I just can’t remember which one… (DUN. Dun, dun, dunDUN!)
- Why do people always ask me if I have Servants?
- I think it’s much less stressful to learn a language when you aren’t incredibly invested in the outcome of your language learning. It’s cool learning Georgian, but learning it wasn’t the point of my trip, so I’m not ever stressed out about it like I was in Russia. As a result, I'm a lot more comfortable using it and making mistakes. Am I learning this faster than I learned Russian?
- Today I ate fish-jerky. Dried salted anchovies. With beer. Papa Dato is winning the family favorite battle.
One month down, three to go! Another post like this coming at the end of March.
Love,
Sarah
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