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Am I becoming Georgian ?!

Location: Georgia

Since my last blog a lot of things have happened, and I can’t talk about all of them OwO. But let’s start maybe with the routine.


My “job” here in Georgia consists of mainly two things : English classes and workshops/weekend camps for the kids of Rustavi. Both of these activities are hard to put in place, but at the same time it exalts your motivation and self-confidence. So far, I have only organized one workshop (yea, I am a fraud xD) around Origami (here’s the link if you're interested). It was fantastic, the kid really enjoyed it, and some of them, the youngest sometimes, were surprisingly pretty good at it. Even their parents or nana tried it too and seemed to like it. The exercise was maybe a little difficult for some of the kids that were struggling to follow the folding, and that even stopped trying at one point.


Picking up the rest here. Writing a blog is long and exhausting, OwO. So what happened since this origami workshop that took place on the 19 of November. Life continues as usual. On a macro scale, Georgia has seen continuous political unrest until now (16 of January). The firm grasp of the Georgian dream weakened by the international sanction continues to hold. The people have been in the street for 47 days. Does this impact our activities in the scout center? Yes, mainly in two ways. First, the parents don’t bring their kids to the workshops because of the unrest. Why, who knows, but we have seen a decrease in the number of participants the first week of the protests. Second thing is the impact on the organization directly. Funded by a Swiss foundation, and active in the Erasmus and the Council of Europe project does the organization become a target ? And who would agree to a youth exchange with the actual political situation ?


Now for the weather, (macro too I think) I have to say that Rustavi has a very good weather, actually close to the one of my hometown Toulouse. 


Now, on my level, life has been going pretty good. I’ve made a lot of nice and new friends. I’ve been invited to two supra which was kind of a crazy experience for a foreigner. The Georgians in general are very curious people and open-minded. They are always asking questions and trying to understand where you're coming from, what you like, if you drink (really important), what you think about marriage (really important too) things like that. They are also very welcoming, they really make you feel like you are at home, always pushing you to eat and drink more. Very often at one point of the supra they grab their instrument in between the endless toasts to sing some Georgian music. For the toast, it’s crazy stuff. Only the heaviest drinker of the west (Germans and Czech) could probably keep up with the georgians. Usually the person organizing the supra chooses a Tamada (head of the table) who will during the whole thing (which lasts 5 to 6 hours non-stop) in a very specific cycle. First come the family, then the church then the moms, then the country etc. etc. and everyone can add his own toast. So it’s kind of an endless, crazy drinking party. TO conclude, if you're ever invited to a Georgian supra, should accept head-on and engage wholly in this adventure.

Speaking of how Georgians make excellent friends. My birthday was the 10th of December, and I was pleasantly surprised by my new friends on the 9th at midnight who came to my house with champagne, confetti, and gifts. Was really cool. Do I love them ? (Saabo, Khatia, Giorgi and Mariam).

The next day I tried with my horrendous cooking skill to organize a supra, and it was really nice.

Now, before talking about the Christmas vacation (which might be in the future blog) what happened in the volunteering part.

As I said before, a kind of habit has been established. Until now, I’ve mainly taken part in English related activities. With Yets, I give English class to 3 kids 2 times a month, with Edusteps I give around 5 classes mainly to adults. And for the English CC that we have at the Scout Center, I’ve done it 2 or 3 times. Overall, it’s a fantastic experience that is in phase with my future projects.


Now about the holidays part. We had a 2 week and half holiday from 21 December to 7 of January. Firstable I made an economical (and psychological) decision that I still haven't recovered from : renting a car. 

I rented for the whole time a black Toyota Prius that I named Senua. With my comrade Vibeke and Charlotte, we travelled through Georgia with it. First we went to Uplitsikhe and Gori. We slept there and visited the city. Cold, grey, and Staline everywhere. A lot of good thrift shops and a nice view from the castle. Overall I'll give Gori a solid 5 out of 10. Didn’t really like the vibe. From there we tried to go to Bateti lake. But we needed to hike and no one brought equipment. So we just went back home. We went to Mtatsminda at night, from which we had a really nice view of Tbilisi (8 out of 10). We had to climb the stairs for around an hour to reach the place. It was still worth it. Our second trip was to Sighnaghi. We stopped on the way in Sagarejo to try to visit Mariamjvari natural reserve. But too many dogs made us rethink this decision. We visited Sighnaghi the same day as Christmas. We saw a really nice show with giraffes and monkeys, and when we left we saw a beautiful firework show. Overall, Sighnaghi is 8 out of 10.


Cities : 

Uplistsikhe : Charlotte 7/10, Vibeke 8/10, Oubayda 7/10, Renée 8/10

Gori : Charlotte 5.5/10, Vibeke 5/10, Oubayda 5/10, Renée 5/10

Sighnaghi : Charlotte 9/10, Vibeke 9/10, Oubayda 8.5/10, Renée 9/10


3 songs that represent the more our trip : Pompeii, Doin’ Time, Ik Wil Dansen.

Rating of Gori’s éclair degustation : Charlotte 6/10, Vibeke 6/10, Oubayda 8/10

Road trip rating : Charlotte 10/10, Vibeke 10/10, Oubayda, 10/10

Driving (my abilities) : Charlotte 8/10, Vibeke 10/10

My rating of my navigator and my DJ : 10/10 


Gori’s restaurant : Fancy one Georgia Gold = Charlotte 6/10, Vibeke 6/10, Oubayda 6/10

2nd Restaurant Café 22 : Charlotte 7/10, Vibeke 5/10, Oubayda 3/10

Sighnaghi restaurant Burjj : Charlotte 10/10, Vibeke 10/10, Oubayda 10/10

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