Kutaisi +

I have stories to tell you all, but I'm not having a hard time finding words tonight as I watch Russian TV with my host sister. This weekend I went to Kutaisi with a group of PCVs. On the first day we went to Martvili Canyon to swim. The water is so cold, but with how hot is has been it felt amazing. It's a funny place, you get off the bus and all you see is dirt and rocks. You have to hike down into the canyon where everything is green and fresh. It's even cooler down there. The water is so clean you can watch the fish swim.
The one thing you can always count on when PCVs get together is food. We eat so much it's crazy. I don't know if it's because so many of us live in villages and can't go out much or if it's just a easy thing to do as we talk, but there it is. When your in a big city the go to place is McDondalds. It is so good here. I'm not a big McDondalds person in the states, but I eat it every single time I come across it here. I eat there twice this weekend. It was amazing and I don't even feel bad about it. Enjoy the photo of my food. You can see that it looks just like it does at home. We went to some really good restaurants this weekend other then McDondalds, and eat some great Georgian food. I got a milk shake at one of the restaurants and it was not a milk shake at all. That was a bit of a let down.  
 Sunday we went to Prometheus Caves. They are really amazing. I had no idea how cool they really were going to be. The lighting is perfect for seeing the caves and they play some music as you go. There is a river with boats on inside the cave, but the boats weren't working so we didn't get to ride.

Sunday Thoughts

Hi,
It feels like it's time to write again. Life is good here. One exciting thing that happened this week was the X Factor concert held in Poti. That's right, the stars of X Factor Georgia came to Poti. Some of us PCVs that love X Factor Georgia. One reason being that lots of the songs are in English and another being that it's just amazing. The concert like a festival, with booths and food vendors all over the park. We even found some cotton candy.
I'm working on my Georgian, and even started to go to tutoring twice a week. I don't know if I will ever be good at it, but I'm hopping to be able to talk to people more then I can now. I have also started an English Club with the other PCVs in Poti. It is twice a week for anyone who wants to come. We just started it, but we want to share some of America's culture and some English skills. Don't worry, I will not be teaching the grammar part of this class.
Some other PCVs came to visit Poti this weekend. We went out to Pizza and saw the beach. There is a special bond shared with other American's, and a even bigger one shared with other PCVs. I think it comes from the shared experience of being so far from home and everything you are use to. You learn two languages in the Peace Corps. One is the language of your country the other is the language of the Peace Corps. There are words I use everyday now that I never used at home, and they love the acronyms.  Words like integrate pop up in my inner monologue all the time.

A frog on the lake by my office

There are times when something happens and I think, "boom pow integrated". This normally happens when I do something right that I failed at the first few weeks here. One example is riding the marshrutka to work. If the driver doesn't know you and the bus if full you are not getting on. They just keep driving and don't care that you are running late and need to get somewhere. The first week here that happened to me. I ended up walking to the station and getting on one there. The first time the marsh stopped for me, with standing room only I felt so cool. It's something that happens to the people that live here all the time, but for me it was a special moment. It meant I was a little more apart of the community the I was yesterday.
In other news I have some photos of our garden. Some of you have asked what it looks like, and now you can see.

Their just chilling on a hot summer day