When you've got pain in your belly, And you make some liquid smelly...

Yesterday was my first time calling the doctor. Don't worry. Nothing I have to be hospitalized for. Everything is better now. It just throws off my day having to sit around and do nothing. Some days I feel like the language is coming along then others are the complete opposite. The people I surround myself around make the days a Hell of a lot easier. 2 weeks down! Only 9 more (of PST) to go! If I ever remember to bring my camera, I'll upload pictures.
Classes are going well. It is interesting to work with teachers who learned English under a way different from how we are expected to teach this generation of kids. Many of the teachers have never met a native speaker so the kids definitely get a different perspective. I really enjoy teaching and am always looking forward to a new lesson. I do my first lesson planning with the other trainees (in Ruispiri) and an English teacher tonight. If I could write in this everyday, I could probably have more to say. But I don't.
Goodbye.

Alive

Just dropping a note to let you all know I am alive. I have been taking picture but I do not have time to post them now (sorry, Liz). All is well. My host family ran into unforeseen circumstances so I will be moving into a new one today. No worries, it happens. The language is slowly (and not always surely) coming along. My old host family is great and I expect the same will happen with my new one. PST is still really intense (as all of us PCTs[Peace Corps Trainees] will agree). I get overwhelmed from time to time but I'm surviving. Met a lot of great people (American and Georgian). The food is great. I live near mountains and surrounded by farm animals. Already had many awkward moments where nothing but hand signals and a few Georgian words were used to get my ideas across. Hopefully it won't have to stay like that.

I only get one day off so don't expect much from me unless it is on Sundays. And even then, everything is iffy. Only 10 more weeks to go before I become a REAL volunteer (hopefully).

Landed!!!

After a 2+ hour bus ride from Philadelphia to JFK, 10-hour flight to Istanbul, a 2-hour flight to Tbilisi, and countless hours in airports; I am now an hour or so outside the capitol, Tbilisi. We are staying in a former-Soviet compound...or so Tengo tells us. Don't worry. It's not as shady as it sounds. The living conditions will only go down from here.

The food is good. The people (staff and trainees[aka future volunteers]) are really nice. I had my first language session today. One word describes it all: intense. My training will consist of 5 4-hour sessions. I'm in way over my head.

I'll keep you all updated!

"See you in a couple of years"

I've said the phrase a few times already to some friends who I won't be able to see again before my departure. It hasn't sunk in just quite yet. Similar to when I studied in the Dominican Republic, it probably won't hit me until a day or two beforehand. Or I may not even feel it until I land in Philadelphia for a brief orientation.

I started to think about those who will be sad for my departure and how I should feel that sadness too. But I shouldn't because I'm not doing this against my will. This is an active decision that I will take full responsibility for. "It'll be an adventure," one friend told me. Yes, I will miss many of you, but I need this.

Some of you have asked me why I decided to do this. Not one reason drove me in the direction of the Peace Corps. A few did. Here are they below (in no particular order):

1. I Have Nothing Else Better To Do
         I am at an interesting crossroads in my life right now. I have put my college years behind but haven't quite stepped into full adulthood. So I figured that I have nothing else better to do. Why not go live a different and new life for awhile?

2. Advance My Career
         Once I complete 3 months of training and 2 full years of teaching, I will have the experience to either launch a career as an ESL teacher abroad or go back to the States, possibly after further certification and college courses.

3. I Can't Sit Still 
          My Dad once told me that he believes weekends my sister and I spent with him just riding around in the car nurtured my thirst for travel. Now when he calls, he asks "Where in the world are you?" Every time I returned from a vacation, I would figure out where the next place I would visit would be. So now I decided to go off the radar for a bit and hit up a part of the world I don't quite understand just yet (if I can even say with certainty that there is ANY part of the world I do "understand").

4. I Want To Help People
          I know that my presence in the Peace Corps will not change the world, but I believe I can do more good while in the Peace Corps (or do something similar) than I could sitting in a cubicle, typing away my days.

5. Doing Something Different (and not for the sake of being different)
         Too many people surrender to the 40-hour workweek in the cubicle, surrounded by others in the same prison system. They live in the suburbs, get married, and have kids. They do the same song and dance as everyone else. I can't see myself doing that. I need something different, something with a kick.

Maybe after 27 months, I'll be so burned out that the lifestyle I sneaked away from will be the same lifestyle I'll come crawling back for. Who knows? Only time will tell.

First Entry (Countdown: 30 days)

I created this blog. 30 days remain. I'll book my flight on Monday. Hopefully I'll have more interesting things to say in the weeks and months to come.