No matter what the weather, we always sit on the steps.
So I get to school for class at 8:30am. I will note that almost any person I meet on the road to school I greet with either “Gamarjoba(t)” or “Dilamshvidobis”. The first a general greeting (t makes it formal!) and the second is like “Good Morning” just a bit more dramatic and cool. People respond in different ways but it was exciting the first couple of weeks. I was disappointed to discover that you should only “Gamarjoba(t)” someone once a day. Needless to say, I keep a few greetings in my pocket just in case.
When the kids were in school, I would inevitably walk with a few and I exhaust my Georgian in a few feet. They like speaking the little English they can and we both walk away pretty satisfied with the exchange. As I entered school yard, various students would come up and ask “Good morning, how are you?” I reply with an enthusiastic if formulaic ”Very well, thank you!” I quickly discovered that the kids expect a British response so I oblige them. This exchange is followed by the very Amercian high-five and I go in for class.
We have a 4 hour block of language in the morning. There have been schedule changes and shifts and accommodations, but the majority of days are like this. We have 2 fifteen-minute breaks at about 10:15 and 11:30. Some mornings can really drag on. There are 5 students in the class and our teacher is Ana. The class is generally pretty well behaved with an undercurrent of sarcastic side comments aimed at each other. The teacher is young and earnest and rarely deserves criticism.
After class, we head to lunch at one of our houses. My house is the least popular due to its proximity or lack there of to the school. One of the trainees (what we are until we are sworn in) attends classes in a different village so he generally joins us late. We have a standard sort of meal which I will try to get pics of. Side note: traveling with rechargeable batteries is absolutely worth it. D’oh!
So that is the afternoon. The kids are out of school now so breaks are pretty boring. Before we would go out and engage groups of children in a string of introductions or high-fives but now, well sometimes I throw rocks. Occasionally one of the trainees will try to catch a chicken or we will walk to the closest makhazia (tiny store) for snacks.
One correction from the last post: It isn’t ramemshvidobis it is ghamemshvidobis. The gh is like a french r.
kargad!
I can think of no one better to throw rocks with than you !