March Review

March was a good month, although I realize that a lot of this month's review is just weird... But these are the things that have stuck out the most this month, so I'll leave it as is. Enjoy!

- March 3^rd is Georgian Mother’s day, although I didn’t really know what that at the time. All I knew was that my host grandfather brought us champagne, cakes of all sorts, and some bad bread (which my host mother and grandmother commented on multiple times, saying “what bad bread, this is so bad…”). This is also when I found out that I am the only family member that will drink champagne.

- Why does my host grandmother love the smell of nail polish?

- We do everything in the main room, except for sleeping and full-on bathing, since it’s the only warm room in the house. That means changing clothes by the pechi (wood-stove), naps on the couch, half-baths from a wash basin, face-shaving, toenail-clipping, and in the case of my awesome host grandfather, trimming your body hair at the table. My personal bubble is on vacation.

- One day, my host grandmother decided to make pirozhki with NADUGHI (whey?) inside them... BEST EVER. From my count, my host grandfather ate at least ten pirozhki the size of my forearm. I love him.

- I am starting to miss comfortable seating and indoor plumbing.

- I cannot for the life of me learn all of my student’s names. Some of the names I’ve had down since the beginning --- Most of the boys are named Giorgi or Dato, and the girls are called Tamuna, Ekka, Nino, or Shorena. It’s just that sometimes I ask “What’s your name?” and the response sounds like a car backfiring. I'm making progress deciphering them, however slowly. I recently mastered the name “Irakli.”

- I am considering adding Georgian to the list of languages I speak. It's kind of funny that I can have a decent polite conversation with just about anyone even though I only know a few verbs (to be, to go, to come, to like, to love, to work, to do, to want.)

- The Georgian words I know the best are the ones I hear the most at home: “Moitsa” (Wait!) “Kido/Kideh” (More!/Again!) “Gacherdi” (Stop it!) “Tkiva” (That hurts!) “Cheitsue” (Get dressed!) “Raiya akhla” (What is it now?!) and “Ra ginda” (What do you want?!) ...Did I mention I live with a six-year-old boy?

Love from Georgia,

Sarah