Photos, Disappointment, and New Surprises

PHOTOS OF ISTANBUL (FINALLY!)

Inside the Blue Mosque. I was disappointed that it wasn't THAT blue.

 Another one inside the Blue Mosque. Called the Blue Mosque because 1) It's a mosque and 2) They used a bunch of blue tiles in it.

 Blue Mosque. Not blue on the outside.

Inside the Grand Bazaar. It was HUGE and pretty cool.

Georgia has given me a sense of fashion.

NOT ISTANBUL:

This is Vardzia. It's a cave monastery. It once was a cave city. It was pretty cool. Inside were like mini caves. Most of those small pockets didn't connect.

I didn't take that many photos and actually all of the photos of the trip were taken by one of my travel companions. I'm not a picture taker. I'm going to Yerevan (Armenia's capital) in the first weekend of May. Don't expect many photos. And don't expect them up until mid-July. It's just how I roll. Are there any photos of things you all actually want to see? I guess my next assignment should be taking pictures of my host family. Maybe that will be a summer thing. Or a thing that won't happen. Ever. They're not much for the whole "Let's take photos" thing. I guess that's good since neither am I.

DISAPPOINTMENT:

School is still school. I *FINALLY* started my "American Club". Our first session was about American Holidays. So far we've met once out of three possible occasions. Back home I would think, "Only one of three times? That's a failure." Here I think ".333 is a great batting average." Regardless of how you might think your idea/club/project can better your community, you have to accept that not everyone will think the same way. Also, you learn to accept that not everything and everyone work on similar schedules. Even if they like your idea, there is no guarantee they'll show up. You learn to accept disappointment.

So I march on. This Friday, I will wait again as the day continues for 6th period and hope that my counterpart and students will find time in their schedules to stop by.

NEW SURPRISES:
I recently have realized that by living in a (by American standards) conservative village of a country much older than the United States with different cultural norms and values, some things surprise me that never would have before.

1) Women smoking in public: When we first got to Georgia, we were told that though some woman smoke, you would rarely see it (in villages and smaller cities). Mother's would never know that their kargi gogo (good girl) smokes. It would be on the hush-hush and would rarely be seen. So when I do see it, my first thought is, "What *would* your mother think?"

2) Women driving: Also pretty rare. I'm not as taken back by this as when I see them smoking, but still. You don't see it as often as you do back in the USA.

3) Dogs on leashes: That not only means that the dog has an owner, but the dog is actually cared for (more than just fed and not killed). We have a dog. He is like most dogs in Georgia: tolerated but not adored. He doesn't come in the house. He's only fed. Otherwise he's on his own. He doesn't attack. Only barks when people come by. So most dogs serve as guard dogs but their level of being cared for does not exceed being thrown food.

I'm sure other things that I can't think of now.

Later days,
Alex