Village Life

My host family lives in Etseri Village, near the town of Lanchkhuti in Guria, Georgia. They are great! I have a dad and mom, a 17 year old sister, and a 5 year old brother.

My host dad, Amiran, is super smart and has studied radio engineering, economics, and public relations. He has a black belt in Karate and is well traveled. He’s the head of a local NGO, and his office broadcasts free wifi into the park in Lanchkhuti. He speaks English quite well (better than anyone else’s host family members, it seems) and is so helpful in translating things for me.

My host mom, Ketino, is a great cook and is always telling me to “sit down” and “eat” (in Georgian). She used to work at a tea factory and has a degree in agriculture/nutrition. She teaches me food/kitchen words in Georgian, and I teach them to her in English.

My host sister, Tamuna, is really sweet. She’s a very dedicated student, and she will be off to University next year. Her English is really good as well, though she doesn’t give herself enough credit. She has a private English teacher already, so I mostly just help her by reviewing her exercises and giving her lots of speaking practice J.

Then there’s Gigi. Gigi (Giorgi) is an extremely energetic 5 year old. He’s cute, but a handful. He loves the TV/Computer/IPhone, and usually has a fit if he’s not getting to use at least one of the above at all times. On the plus side, he watches Disney movies (so far Aladdin and Hercules) on repeat. He’s the type of kid that I might be reluctant to babysit, but since his parents are here, I get to just sit back and laugh at his antics. I think he’s getting used to me, and it’s really adorable when he tries to talk to me and then gets annoyed with me because I don’t understand Georgian. Last night he even sat on my lap briefly and then sat next to me and put his head on my shoulder. This would be even more endearing if I hadn’t noticed that he’s been coughing a lot lately and is likely coming down with a cold.

Oh, there’s also the cat named Mahmud. Unlike most pets in Georgia, he is allowed inside the house! He’s a funny Turkish cat. My host dad loves Mahmud the most, and Mahmud reciprocates the affection. My favorite is when my host dad puts Mahmud around his neck. Sometimes Mahmud will sit on my lap as well. There’s also an outside dog, named Cory. She’s cute but always very dirty and muddy, so it’s annoying when she occasionally tries to jump up at me.

My family’s house is nice as well. They even have an indoor Western style toilet, a washing machine, and a hot water heater despite being in a village! As I mentioned, my room is upstairs on a separate level, and the staircase is outside. I have a bedroom and a sitting room, which is really nice. There isn’t any form of insulation, which isn’t a problem yet, but we will see once it gets colder. I did pack warm layers and some hot hands, so I think it will be fine.

My house is about a 15-minute walk from my school, Jurukveti Public School #1. On the way, I dodge cows and pigs, and therefore lots of cow poop as well. I have one co-teacher, Tamo, and we teach together on Tuesday through Thursday. She’s at another school on Monday and Friday, so I technically have those days off. It will give me free time to either travel on weekends, go into Lanchkhuti for the day, or help set up extracurricular activities at my school. We teach grades 1 through 7. More details on school and teaching to come later!

Food in Georgia can be quite tasty, though it is heavy on the carbs. My host mom makes delicious crepes with homemade pear jam and an amazingly moist cake (sadly, the secret for the latter is mayonnaise… oh well). The other night I came back from a day in town to find my host mom making what I am calling both sweet and savory grits! The sweet variety – pelamushi – was flavored with sugar and pear juice. The savory was pretty similar to the grits we have at home, made with cornmeal and salt. Tonight my host mom fried some fish (looked like maybe tilapia?) in a cornmeal coating – delicious! A restaurant in Lanchkhuti makes a dish called “odjakhuri” which consists of delicious bites of pork and the most well seasoned French fries you can find outside of a Bojangles.

The one food I seem to be struggling with here the most is the cheese. You all know how much I love cheese, but this variety is just not agreeing with me. It’s also not my favorite tasting cheese. Probably has something to do with the fact that it is rarely refrigerated and is likely made with unpasteurized milk? Unfortunately this cheese is put in a lot of things (there seem to be an infinite number of cheese stuffed bread dishes in this country), and it can be hard to avoid.

As for hydration needs, I drink a lot of tea. I gave up on the “drink only bottled water” thing despite TLG’s warnings because there just isn’t anywhere to buy it here, and I don’t want to boil it and wait for it to cool every time I want a sip of water. I’m officially drinking the well water now. So far so good, I think?

So far village life is nice and relaxing, and the stars are beautiful with the absence of streetlights! There aren’t many luxurious amenities, and accessibility is a bit of an issue, but overall I have everything I need to be able to live here happily for at least a few months. Everyone here is so friendly and so happy to have a foreigner in the village! A lot of times when I set out to walk somewhere, someone ends up offering me a ride. I would never get in the car with strangers in the US, but here it’s different. Everyone picks each other up because it’s the neighborly thing to do. I like that.