First Impressions

My friends have all insisted that I keep a blog of my Fulbright adventure in Georgia. On this hot afternoon in Abasha, with no clue where my host family is or has been for the past 4 hours, I have decided that this moment would be the perfect opportunity to begin blogging.  I will try and update the blog at least once a week with the comings and goings of my new small town life.

First Impressions.

Abasha is beautiful. It is extremely green. Grass and palm trees are abundant and so far the sun has been out in full force. All of the houses and buildings, at least on the main road, have a Mediterranean feel to them-- brightly colored yellow and orange buildings surrounded by palm trees and sunshine. On the outskirts of this one road town the houses turn into what I can only describe as villas. Small, cement houses, sometimes on stilts, surrounded by large green yards filled with cows, chickens and horses.

Abasha is a small town.  Having only the capital city, Tbilisi, to compare it to, Abasha is unnervingly small-- with a population of about 6,400 people. This means of course that there are almost no attractions, and it takes about 3-5 minutes to see the center of town, BUT it also means it has that small town charm. There is no traffic here, no crazy scary Georgian driving. Cars honking horns are to wave hello at neighbors and friends on the streets.  A friendly "gamarjobat" is spoken at almost every turn and to almost everybody.

Schools in Abasha are unparalleled by any in the United States that I have witnessed. Things here seem so informal. Classes start at 9, so I arrive at 8:50 only to be whisked away into the teacher's office and given grape juice, figs, bread, coffee and friendly conversation for about an hour. At 10, I am finally taken to my first class. The bell has rung, but the teachers have decided that to let already poured coffee go to waste is a shame. In class, students stand up when I walk in, yelling "Hello Teacher!" before they sit down again, hands folded atop one another on the desk and backs straight. Certainly something you'll never witness in a public school in Rhode Island. Students stand up when called upon to answer questions or when making inquiries and bad behavior is awarded by a painful pinch to the arm or a slap on the back of the head, not to mention lots of shouting in Georgian.  For the most part, I am done with teaching my classes around 2 pm almost every day. Although I am still not sure how this is, as after every 30 minute class there is a break that seems to last forever and involves food, drink, and relaxation. Out of the whole 5 hours a day I spend at school, about 50 percent of the time is spent in the teacher's lounge with my feet up. Not too shabby.

No personal space. The teachers here and people in general are comedically interested in my lack of a boyfriend/husband. I believe the exact words used over and over again are "she has no husband, no boyfriend, she has nobody" thanks a lot guys. They keep trying to set me up, introducing me to Georgians and assuring me that "he is single too." I have been introduced to the single math teacher at least 5 times, "by the way have you met the math teacher?" Yes, yes I have...and he's 45. Bathrooms at the school are what we like to call "squatty pottys." A few holes in the ground surrounded by a outdoor shack known as the "bathroom." I have recently found the personal teachers bathroom and it has been a huge upgrade from squatting (with no stalls) next to my students. Talk about awkward.

My host family here is awesome. Merabi and his wife and their 3 children, Meri, Keti, and Giorgi, ages 14, 10, and 3. I am not even going to attempt to spell out their last name. Members of the family also include a kitten, from what I can figure out named "cat", the family dog, the family cows, and the flock of chickens in the backyard. Last night we had chicken for dinner and I realized that at one time it had roamed the yard unsuspecting of its fate, like the others do now. Of course that didn't stop me! Apparently Irma, the wife, makes homemade cheese from the cows milk! Meri and Keti both go to the same school that I work in and Irma works there as well in administration. Merabi is the school director for a public school nearby and a well respected man in the community. Giorgi is very small and likes to chase the cows around the front yard and play with the kitten-- and by play I mean forcefully move the kitten's arms and legs up and down and side to side.  They are all very welcoming and very nice people. Luckily, from what I hear, I have it pretty good. Merabi's house has indoor plumbing (which you can imagine I am overjoyed about after having read about the "squatty pottys"), hot water, and heat. Yessss! BUT. it also has mosquitos. Like actually though, it is mosquito season and it is horrifying.

There is not a whole lot to do here. Once classes have ended, I pretty much wander around for a bit and then head home. As soon as I am settled more, I will start using the weekends to make trips around Georgia. And lucky for me, I am only 40 minutes away from Kutaisi, the second largest city in Georgia, where there are a few other Fulbrighters located. Next stop, Kutaisi, then Batumi, a beautiful resort town on the Black Sea.

My room

Front view of the house, dog on front steps

Just the family pets roaming

Giorgi and "cat"