Local Color

So, it seems my company has decided to keep us out of trouble during orientation week by putting us up in a hotel well outside of the city center, and also keeping us trapped in an airless windowless room from 9:00 AM until 8:00 PM.  Yeah, there are breaks, but when you are hellagone from anything really neat, 30 minutes or even our 2-hour lunch break isn't good for much but unwinding.

Language in the morning, which luckily has a really great teacher because it goes all week and also is something we all actually really need.  Today in the afternoon we had Methodology, which unfortunately lasted four goddam hours and was taught by someone I didn't rather care for.  Also my stomach was really acting up because the hotel food gives a decidedly bad impression of Georgian cuisine.  So I wasn't in the best of moods this afternoon.  I skipped dinner (8:00 after we also met with both the bank representative and the insurance representative, having completed a full day of Windowless Classroom Overload).  But after my roommate Suzanne got back from dinner, a few of us went next door to the local watering hole, which is nothing short of wonderful.

Fellow teachers Julie, Dani, Mark

My roommate Suzanne, and BEER!

Georgian bar band.  They sounded wonderful!

This was hanging from the ceiling.  I have no idea.

Decor.  Puts Lamar Alexander's Congressional office to shame.

Um.  Great?

This was at 11:30 at night.  Perfect time and place for small child dancing lessons, yes?

Having skipped dinner, I successfully managed to order Georgian dumplings.  The hotel food is frankly barely palatable so I wasn't too enthusiastic about eating anything.  But these were delicious.  Fantastic.  And they cost less than 50 cents apiece.  Love.

An American and a Brit dancing in a Georgian bar.

Congrats?

Now it's just after 1:00 AM and we have another fun-filled day in the AWR tomorrow.  I've had amazing time hanging out with the actual Georgians, and only wish I could spend more of my time in Tbilisi actually experiencing the people and culture.

I think tomorrow night we all find out where we are posted.  And if we're lucky maybe actually get some kind of straight answer on our summer assignments.  Here's to a brand new day! :)