Blogs from Tbilisi District, Georgia, Asia - page 10

Today we began the morning by heading into the city to get our medicals done. We were a little nervous about where we were going and the kind of health standards that we were going to subject to ourselves to. After a short drive we pulled up outside an old soviet block building which did not improve my nerves, those who know me well know that I hate needles and am a bit of sook. Inside was actually quite modern, the doctor was nice and had visited Sydney before. He said that he thought Australia was a very pretty country. Our nerves were quickly set aside when nature started calling - having drunk a lot of water under Aaron's guidance I was more than ready to pee for our urine test. People were actually jumping at ... read more

Having arrived a day before other people in our group we spent the day exploring the city by foot with two of our fellow TLG members. Gerogian drivers are crazy, a zebra crossing does not mean that they will stop or even slow down - there were definately a few close calls today. We explored some of the old city and wonderd through streets and parks. The majority of the buildings were built in the soviet era and are in very poor condition, it is facinating to see how destroyed buildings can look if they are not maintained. It was good however to see that they are in the process of rebuilding and repairing the old buildings with construction work going on all over the town. Not only does this provide jobs but the buildings that ... read more

Ok, I’m going to warn you in advance that this is going to be a fairly whiney post. I don’t mean for it to be, I just had a bit of a rubbish week. A combination of no electricity (and therefore no shower), no sleep and being ill (albeit only a little bit) just conspired to make it a bit miserable. I’m up and off to school with the kids on Monday morning but the marshrutka doesn’t stop for us so we have to walk and we’re about ten minutes late. If I had my way we’d walk every day, partly for the exercise and partly because if the marshrutka fails to turn up or is full then by that time it’s way too late to walk to school in time. Mari and I have the ... read more

Monday morning involves a bit of a mad rush for school. I always forget that Eka has no lessons on Monday so I’m generally waiting for her to put her shoes on as a sign that our departure is imminent. It doesn’t really matter anyway because we wait until 8.45am and, with no sign of the bus, Mari and I start walking to school as fast as our little legs will carry us. When I get home our neighbour’s two grownup daughters are over visiting so everybody sits in the living room chatting and I sit there trying to pretend I have a clue what they’re talking about. Later Eka tells me that Gala wants her to go to his friend’s birthday the next day in Senaki but that she has three classes. It’s not the ... read more

Monday was pretty brutal at school. Our director phoned Eka in the morning and told her I didn’t need to go to school if I didn’t want to cos it was so cold but I assume none of the other teachers were taking it off because of the cold and anyway, it’s going to be cold tomorrow too, and the next day. I can’t stay home for the rest of the year! By about 1pm I was seriously regretting my decision. The heater has disappeared and I was freezing. My lessons finished at 10.30am and I didn’t leave school until 2.30pm. Another five weeks of this is going to kill me. The upside is that I managed to get onto the internet for the first time in ages so I emailed my agency and said I ... read more