A temporary home
January is the first month of a new year, and for me, it went by far too quickly, just like the last few months.
If you read my last entry, you know that I spent the first few days of the new year at home with my family. Early in the morning on 5 January, I arrived back here in Rustavi. I can hardly describe the feeling I had during the drive from the airport to Rustavi. The first time, in mid-November, everything was still new to me, but now everything felt so familiar. I knew that the taxi had to turn right twice before I was back at the flat. Somehow, it felt like coming home again. Yes, I think that's how you could describe it – a temporary home.
This feeling showed me that I had really arrived here: in a country, in a city so far away from my home.
An unforgettable birthday
The beginning of the month is also special for me because it was my birthday – hello 21! I can't wait to start this new year, see as much of this beautiful country as possible and have new experiences.
It was my first birthday that I didn't spend with my parents, and the first in a long time that I didn't have to write an English or maths test at school :-)
But Annii and Lisa made the day truly unforgettable for me. We stayed up until midnight and toasted – not with champagne, wine or a cocktail, no, we toasted with coffee, as you do when you get older and can't stay up that late without coffee. To pass the time until midnight, we made our own gnocchi. Those were the most eventful first hours of my birthday.
After getting up at some point that day, I was greeted with a decorated kitchen and a small gift, which was really lovely. For lunch, we had our homemade gnocchi, of course. In the evening, we wanted to go out for dinner together at a restaurant here in Rustavi, but unfortunately they didn't have any tables available. So we thought about what we could do – and what could be more fitting for a birthday in Georgia? Exactly, we decided to make khinkali ourselves. No sooner said than done: on the way back, we stopped at a shop, bought a few things and started right away at home. It was my first time, which was obvious, because my khinkali didn't look as nice as Lisa's and Annii's. But it was fun, and they tasted delicious.
Welcome to the adventure
The next few days were business as usual with our daily tasks – until the end of the week. Because not one, not two, but three new volunteers joined us.
I was very curious to meet them, and I hope you are too. After you have finished reading my post, feel free to check out the posts from the others.
Now our team is finally complete, and we will be living and working together for the next six months, hopefully travelling a lot and making memories that will last a lifetime.
First shared memories
We decided to do something special this weekend, as it was a long weekend due to a public holiday. So we drove to Tbilisi to show the new volunteers a little bit of the city. But that was only the second part of our day, because first we visited the Chronicle of Georgia and enjoyed the view from there. You really do have a great view of Tbilisi from there.
On the way back, we explored the city together. And what's the best way to show someone a new country? With food, of course! So we went to a restaurant and ate khinkali and lobiani together.
But the trip wasn't over for us yet, because we also wanted to see Tbilisi's nightlife. So we went to one – or rather two – bars ;-) We had a lot of fun together. The highlight for me was that it started snowing during the night. When we came out of the bar, everything outside was white.
Gori: cold, wet, beautiful
Not much happened on Sunday, except for a little walk through the snow. That day, I remembered being told at the beginning that it hardly ever snows in Rustavi. That's why it was something very special for us. During the day, we thought about what we could do on our next day off. After a few ideas, we decided on a day trip to Gori.
The journey to Gori was an adventure in itself, as we first had to take the bus to Tbilisi and then change to another bus, which unfortunately went in the wrong direction. This meant that we had to get off again and look for another bus stop. As it had snowed for the last two days, there was snow everywhere, which was slowly beginning to melt. This wasn't particularly pleasant and meant that almost all of our shoes and socks were wet.
And we weren't even in Gori yet – just a little reminder ;-)
Once we were on the right bus and in the right marshrutka, we were finally on our way. By the way, it was my first real ride in one. When we arrived, we were cold and hungry, so we looked for another khinkali restaurant. Afterwards, we took a short walk through the town and then wanted to walk up to the fortress. The path there was very beautiful, but also a little challenging due to the snow. When we reached the top, however, we had a wonderful view over Gori – and everything looked even more beautiful through the snow.
On the way to the bus station, we considered whether to go straight back or make a stopover in Mtskheta. The majority decided in favour of the latter. In the relatively small town, we visited two churches. It is always nice to visit churches, as no two are alike. Afterwards, we sat down in a café and had something warm to drink before it was time to make our way back. The return journey was another little adventure.
Art, coffee and winter sun
The next weekend arrived just as quickly, and I keep asking myself: why does time pass so quickly here?
I had two options for this weekend: either go skiing or spend Saturday relaxing and go hiking on Sunday with Lia and a few women from Rustavi.
The difficult thing about the decision was that I had never been skiing before and would really like to try it. But that will surely happen another time.
So on Saturday, I went to Tbilisi with Inga. There we walked around the city a bit, ate lobiani, got a cappuccino and drank it in a small park. It was very nice because there was still some snow on the ground, but at the same time the sun was shining.
After our little break, we visited the Museum of Modern Art. There were lots of beautiful and interesting works of art on display. After that, it wasn't too late, so we continued exploring the city and came across a beautiful neighbourhood with lots of colourful graffiti on the walls.
Unfortunately, the hike was cancelled due to too much snow in the area. Which is why we enjoyed Sunday very relaxed.
I think I've arrived
The last few days of the month consisted of the usual tasks at the English Conversation Club and Edu Step, as well as planning the information day and opening day for the Scout School. Fortunately, I didn't have to do this alone, as I had the other volunteers and the Georgian volunteers to help me.
The weather in the last few days of the month was very changeable: from beautiful sunny days with temperatures of up to 16 degrees to grey rainy days, we had it all. On the sunny days, I often went for a walk in the park after work or at the weekend, enjoyed the sun and even wrote part of my blog there.
I think I have really arrived here in Georgia, here in Rustavi. I am no longer afraid to go out alone and maybe get lost. I now know the city and know which way to take to get back home – even if it is a different way than the one I came.
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