Tchala, What What

I know its been awhile and I’m sure most of you have given up hope of me ever updating or making this blog mildly interesting but listen the Starbucks in my village does not have free wireless. Sure you can get a delicious double caramel mocha chip latte with half skim, half 1% and no one makes them better than Tchala’s baristas (Tchala= my permanent residence for the next two years) but god forbid you pick up a WiFi signal. Also I think the Banana Republic in my village has been pawning off last year’s fall line as this year’s new arrivals,. The nerve.

Ok, so what is my life really like aside from all my retail troubles…actually I don’t have retail troubles at the two “stores” in my village, because naturally the customer is always right. Enough with the lame jokes…I have been in my permanent site, Tchala, for over a month. I was picked up in Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital, after being officially sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer -- that’s right you can now officially say you know a Peace Corps Volunteer and rack up the street cred--by a family I had never met but surely would grow to love over the next two years. Scary. Luckily they are pretty awesome and buy me ramen and pomegranates. I have a host mom, Nana-34 a host bro, Beso- 13, a host sister, Teona-14, a host granny (bebia) Gulnaze- a youthful 65, and a host dad, Roini- 39. My host dad works and lives in Tbilisi most of the year but comes home occasionally for a week every few months. We also have a dog who didn’t materialize for a couple weeks after I arrived. His name is Paco and I will never touch him. Did I mention our cow? She comes home everyday at 5 o'clock.

I live in a village of 900 people and countless cows, chickens, pigs, donkeys --these animals have got to make the most god awful sounds-- and lambs. They all run wild-- yes, the people too. Tchala is nestled in the foothills of some mountains and is pretty flippin’ picturesque with a nice little river running through it. Tchala is located in the Imereti Region of Georgia. The Imereti region is know for its Khatchpuri (cheese bread type thing, somewhat like a quesadilla, that I don’t like) and its temperamental people, haha. Luckily I have not come across the latter very often. It takes about 3.5 hrs to get to “The Big City” -Tbilisi- and the closest volunteers are just a hop skip and jump of about 1.5 hr. Georgia is roughly the size of South Carolina but it lacks good infrastructure so traveling can be on the difficult, frustrating “I could get there faster on my bike” side but I am getting the hang of it and no longer eating before I travel. Most transport is via old school soviet buses or vans--think one of those obscenely large vans for sports teams or very fertile families. My village is about 10km (40 mins on unpaved road--yeah i'm racking up the sympath--did i mention i suffer from motion sickness? haha) from the nearest town. That’s where most people go to purchase perishables they don’t themselves grow and non-perishables at the bazaar (huge outdoor market---should be interesting in winter). People in my village are pretty self-sufficient as far as food goes. My family grows their own corn, tomatoes, apples, beans, plums, cucumbers, potatoes, grapes, onions and garlic--makes their own bread--raises chickens--and cans various produce for the winter months. Eating is a very important part of Georgian culture…to be continued. Pictures aren't posting, i apologize.