A few first thoughts about Georgia:
On my first day, I went on a walk around our area of the city with some of the other volunteers. We are on the outskirts so did not find a lot. That said, we saw several grape vines, fig trees, pomegranate trees (I'm sooo excited for when they are ripe!), and some kind of plum tree. This was awesome. There was also a Lenin head carved on an old bridge. It's strange the things that sights of communist architecture do my heart, making me feel a little at home.
We walked around Tbilisi that afternoon on a more official tour. We ended up in the tourist part of the city, which isn't even that touristy. They have lots of cafes, restaurants, etc., but no hordes of foreigners, which gave the city a very chill atmosphere.
I've been able to use my Russian a few times, which has been cool, especially since the 2nd time I saved me and my walking companions from being lost in Tbilisi. I am committed to learning Georgian, but I still want to improve my Russian. It also feels nice to have a way to communicate when my Georgian is nil (now at a few words, but still waiting to master important phrases like 'Do you speak English?')
Georgia seems like it is undergoing a lot of reforms and seems in the midst of rapid change. Even our program seems fairly dynamic. In 20 years, I think this experience will be even more unique than it feels now because the country will be so different then. The people behind my program seem pretty committed to changing the country and increasing tourism, etc. It'll be interesting to see what people in the countryside think about all of the changes.
On my first day, I went on a walk around our area of the city with some of the other volunteers. We are on the outskirts so did not find a lot. That said, we saw several grape vines, fig trees, pomegranate trees (I'm sooo excited for when they are ripe!), and some kind of plum tree. This was awesome. There was also a Lenin head carved on an old bridge. It's strange the things that sights of communist architecture do my heart, making me feel a little at home.
We walked around Tbilisi that afternoon on a more official tour. We ended up in the tourist part of the city, which isn't even that touristy. They have lots of cafes, restaurants, etc., but no hordes of foreigners, which gave the city a very chill atmosphere.
I've been able to use my Russian a few times, which has been cool, especially since the 2nd time I saved me and my walking companions from being lost in Tbilisi. I am committed to learning Georgian, but I still want to improve my Russian. It also feels nice to have a way to communicate when my Georgian is nil (now at a few words, but still waiting to master important phrases like 'Do you speak English?')
Georgia seems like it is undergoing a lot of reforms and seems in the midst of rapid change. Even our program seems fairly dynamic. In 20 years, I think this experience will be even more unique than it feels now because the country will be so different then. The people behind my program seem pretty committed to changing the country and increasing tourism, etc. It'll be interesting to see what people in the countryside think about all of the changes.
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