New Friends and Bug Bites

I've officially been in Samtredia for a month! My fourth week here definitely did not lack in the excitement.....

Over the past few weeks a Geography teacher, Sopho, at my school has asked me to come to her office. She would get as far as "Come to my office," and then I would always be at a lost for what she would say afterwards. All I knew was that, her office was full of journalists, and an English teacher comes to help children with their English, and they wanted me to come in and help out. All I could imagine was little Georgian children that were having trouble with English in a room writing a newspaper! I was still a little confused to what they actually did, but on Tuesday we finally went together.

As we walked through a field full of destructed buildings and cows, she told me that her office was in the government building of Samtredia (Ahhh! One light bulb went off in my head.) And that they write for the Samtredia Internet site (another light bulb!) When we finally did arrive to her office I was greeted by several smiling and excited Georgians. They quickly got me some coffee and we started conversing in English/Georgian (my favorite language). They were so excited to meet me that it made me wish I had come earlier. They showed me their website which you should all go visit although its still all in Georgian. http://www.samtredia.com.ge/

Walking through beautiful Samtredia 

Soon their English teacher came, and I was able to sit in on their English lesson. I was really impressed by how much they already knew and their eagerness to learn. The English teacher was extremely sweet and it was a pleasure to chat with her since she could understand me and I could understand her (a lot different than most English teachers I have met here so far). I promised them all I would return later that week.


The next morning I woke up with my right ankle all swollen, and itching like crazy! I've been getting a lot of bug bites since living in Georgia. The girls and I have looked all over for bug repellent and anti-itch cream but we haven't had much luck. Since it started to get a little cooler out I thought I would be in the clear, but then it got hot again, and my ankle was bitten really bad. I could barely get my shoe on! I show it to my family and they didn't think it was that bad. They actually asked me if I ate bread haha. I have Celiac Disease and they know I can't eat bread so I thought that was really funny when they said that. No its bug bites! They put some cream on it and we iced it for awhile and that was that. 


On Thursday with my swollen ankle I went to my sister Nino's ping pong tournament. It was a lot of fun. I never saw so many kids into ping pong! My American Dad would of enjoyed it. After the tournament I went back to Sopho's office to say hi. They were all so excited to see me again. They told me how Iraqli's birthday was the other day and they wanted to invite me to the party, but none of them had my number (cue 10 minutes of them practicing their English numbers as I gave it to them). Then they started telling me about how we should all go to this museum about a famous Georgian, and then we can go to a disco! "Lets go next weekend!" they said. Haha. I was like "I would love to, but I'm actually flying to America for my sister's wedding. But as soon as I get back I would love to!" Its really exciting to have new Georgian friends. Most of the teachers in my school are in their 40s or 50s so its nice to meet people in their 20s and 30s. I'm excited to start helping them out in their office and go on a road trip with them! Oh, and I also found out they are receiving a Peace Corps volunteer in their office in March. One more person in Samtredia! Yay! Should be a lot of fun!

Nino rocking at the ping pong tournament

So back to my bug eaten foot. I got home from school on Friday and it was pretty swollen again. My Bebia took one look at it and was like, "Forget the Borscht! I need to take you to a doctor!" Just leave it to Bebia! She grabbed my hand and off we went to my friend Michelle's Dad pharmacy. They gave me some pills, ointment, and valves and needles for shots! Our neighbor Nino has been coming over to give me the shots in my butt. Who knew she could do that? Haha. I woke up this morning and I could actually see my ankle which I think is a good sign.