This blog has been over for a while, as many have noticed. I apologize for the abrupt halt in my writing, but I didn't want to write any summaries or reflections or ANYTHING about Georgia so soon after I left, especially since I had a lot of conflicting feelings about the place at the time. I was also ridiculously busy preparing for my Fulbright year in Siberia whilst teaching high-school Russian all summer. So... Now that I have a minute, here are my thoughts...
You can have too much of a good thing: Towards the end of my stay in Georgia, all I wanted was to go home. I missed my real family, I was irritated by village life, and I wanted to expel 90% of the students in the school. I could NOT relate to Georgian people, I considered most of them simple and narrow-minded, and we disagreed often. I felt like I had wasted four months of my life, gaining only a practical understanding of the Georgian Language, which I considered less than useful. But...
Absence makes the heart grow fonder: almost as soon as I left my Georgian family, my village, and finally the country, I saw how much I was leaving behind. I cried my heart out (as my sister would say, I'm "a crier") especially when saying goodbye to my 6yr-old host brother. He wouldn't say anything, and I'm sure he didn't really understand what was happening. I mean, how would you feel if some girl walked into your life when you were six, you called each other brother and sister, and then after four months she left forever? My whole family, and my whole village, showed me so much love, and I will never forget that. I also realized that although the Georgian language may not be the most useful, it is the most AWESOME. I love that I can communicate in this crazy gobbledygook, and that I can share it with others who ALSO think it's pretty cool. Most of all, I've realized that I want to go back. Yes, teaching in a village school was crazy. Yes, host-family situations can be stressful. Yes, 6yr-old boys are annoying to live with. But I love them. And I love Georgia. It is beautiful and crazy and cultural and messy and fun and I want to find myself there again someday. And when I do, I will be able to speak with people, I will have connections, and I will have places to stay and friends to meet me. Sweet.
Everyone should go to this awesome place. That's all.
Check out the new blog if you still feel like keeping up! www.SiberianChaos.blogspot.com
Love,
Sarah
