Rabati Castle

After a couple of busy days, I've made it to Akhaltsikhe, where hopefully things will calm down.

Anarchists in Tbilisi

Capitol Building with concert hall being built below

Two days ago I explored Tbilisi some with the Fulbrighters/ELFs. We visited Prospero's Bookstore, your run of the mill expat hangout. We passed through Freedom Square (the old Soviet style military parade ready town center) on the way to Narikala Fortress, which we took a gondola up to. From the Fortress we had a great view of the capital, sulfur mud baths, and the river that ran through the city.

I'm sorry to report Georgia's McDonalds is the same as those in the U.S. There is something called a McToast for breakfast I've never seen before, but I bet you can guess what it is. I didn't actually eat there though; I had a beer and 10 dumplings for $4 dollars at a local restaurant. And if you ever get hungry, they have grapes literally everywhere.

Yesterday I attended an orientation at the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, where they gave us safety briefs and informed us of the various education and outreach programs the Embassy sponsors.

You can't have a party without a little Iran.

I discovered the U.S. gives Georgia the fourth most per capita aid ($3 billion total, $1 billion in the last four years, $100 a person). If you're wondering why, look at a map and observe what friendly neighbors it has.

Who would you rather have a ლუდი with?

The Georgian parliamentary election will occur on October 1st (the presidential election is next year). The two main parties are best represented by their leaders: President Saakashvili is the head of the United National Movement Party, and Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia's richest man, is the head of the Georgian Dream Party (he is worth $8.4 billion; Georgia's GDP is $14.4 billion). Both parties believe in pretty much the same things, except each party thinks they can improve the country better, so the election is based on personality more than anything else. This doesn't stop Georgians from seeing the election in black and white and becoming heavily emotionally invested in it, often protesting (violently, by our standards) in the streets.

Law and Order fun facts: the legal BAC for driving is 0%, so driving after drinking anything is a no-no. In 2005, corruption was so bad among police that President Saakashvili fired all of them (~3,000) and hired a new police force. Somehow, this actually solved the corruption problem.

If you get in a fight with a Caucasian Mountain Dog, you're going to have a bad time.

I also learned that not only are there feral dogs everywhere, but Georgia has eight different kinds of poisonous snakes, two of which have incurable venom. I'm still more afraid of being attacked by a pack of 150 pound rabid Caucasian Mountain Dogs.

I also bought a phone and $8 minutes of talk time for $20. $8 may not seem like a lot, but international calls are 1 cent a minute, so feel free to call on skype (if you want my number, email me).

Today I was escorted by two State department officials to Akhaltsikhe. First we dropped off another one of the ETAs in Khashuri, a town whose defining feature is that it is in the middle of Georgia. While it doesn't really seem like an exciting place, the ETA there found an awesome place to live with a nice garden with a police officer, so nobody is ever going to try and mess with him.

On the way to Akhaltsikhe we drove through Borojomi up the mountains. The valley of Georgia, where Tbilisi and Khashuri are, is very similar to the rolling hills of Claremont or Irvine in Southern California. Borojomi resembles Big Bear and the more mountainous parts of California. Akhaltsikhe is like nothing I have seen before, however. Currently it is like a warm tundra; there are few trees anywhere, but the weather is nice.

I feel blessed being stationed in Akhaltsikhe. The town is beautiful, and it doesn't hurt that Saakashvili funded a massive renovation project in the town. This included rebuilding the castle which looms over the town that was destroyed by invading Ottomans many centuries ago. Unfortunately, they weren't too concerned with historical details when they renovated it, so they built it with concrete, and electrical wires and security cameras dot the premises. Worst of all, they built a gift shop in the center of the castle which sells, among other things, toiletries and cell phones. Basically there is one shop like a Rite Aid, and another like a Verizon store. But its still a freaking awesome castle.

I was a little worried when I visited my school. It looks like it's from the projects circa 1970 on the outside. The inside, however, is quite nice, and all the faculty inside were very friendly. There are Armenian and Georgian students at the school, so I will be teaching English to both Georgian and Russian speakers.

In Soviet Russia, bike exercise you.

I was able to choose between three different homestays in town. Two were next to the school, so the crumbling Soviet style apartment building were pretty intimidating, but inside the apartments were very well kept and would be comparable to any Armenian home in the states. I decided to stay about 15 minutes away from school in a private home with an Armenian family with two sons. Their living room has two bear skins in it, and one of their two sons speaks English (he won a creative writing award from the U.S. Embassy and wants to start a rock band in Seattle), so it was a no brainer. They fixed a delicious dinner for me, and though we can't communicate with each other (they speak Armenian, Georgian, Russian, but not English), we enjoyed an episode of Russian dubbed Castle together. Nathan Fillion is the international language.

School starts tomorrow...
EAHeiney