I have six weekends left in Georgia.
Well, that’s not entirely true. I’m spending one of them in Ukraine. And then I’ll have a couple more with my parents, but those are already planned. I’ve got a long to-do list of things to see and places to go, and I’ve got five weekends to fit everything in.
WHAT?
I’m just really not sure how it happened, seriously. Suddenly winter’s gone, things are green, and I realize that I’ve spent a lot of time in Kakheti and Tbilisi, and not a lot exploring the rest of the country. I’m starting this weekend in Borjomi, an old Soviet resort town, where the famous mineral water of the same name comes from, but man, after all this time here, I’m feeling like I don’t have a lot left.
There are good things about that. Starting around July 29th, I’ll be in living the dream, like, literally — I’m going to Prague for a month before going up to Liberec to start my actual Fulbright work, so every day is a day closer to that. That’s one thing that’s pushing me to look forward.
Another is something that this experience has taught me — I’m a city girl. I never knew for sure, growing up in a small city, going to school in a big one, never having the experience that I’m having now. And now I’m having it, and I’m incredibly happy to be having it, but man, this village (well, small town, Gurjaani is decidedly not a village by Georgian standards) life is stifling to me. This is the first time since I can remember, practically, that I haven’t had the grand majority of my time scheduled, and apparently that’s part of what keeps me going at all. I miss the activity, the living feeling that cities, even small ones, have.
Not that there aren’t inspiring parts about living here; I’m still blown away by the mountains every time, and today there was even a rainbow after a few hours of sun showers. Where else will a see a herd of cows pass by on the street while I’m eating my dinner-snack fresh Georgian bread with honey? Where else will my walk home include regular sitings of a shaggy, brown donkey? And this has come to be something that bothers me the most, but where else will I get the rockstar treatment? Not in the Czech Republic, I’ve been promised.
So, let me finish with something I hope to do more often in my last two months here — something I loved about Georgia today, and something I miss about America, because let’s face it, there are things, and sometimes they’re pretty funny.
Something I loved about Georgia today (well, more than one today)
– how my sixth-grader came up to me after her dance class (which we saw some of, because either we were early or they ran late) to give me a kiss goodbye, just like she had just done for our teacher before that
– the lilacs in my room that a colleague of mine handed me the other day
– Mtiuluri (Georgian dance), man!
One thing I miss about America:
– BAGELS.
One thing I don’t miss about America:
– Vanilla Chai Tea, Cheez-its, and Reese’s Cups, because I have some right now, thanks to the very kind boyfriend of one of my travel partners in crime
Expat Bound 