June 19, 2008 Orientation is OVER.

A week went by in a way I cannot describe. I went from two jam-packed days of introductions in Philadephia to a whirlwind experience when landing in Tbilisi. The group of PCT’s (Peace Corps Trainees) was taken to dinner, orientation breifings in the restaurant, and finally our hotels. Once we were done with our walking tour and our logistical office tasks on Monday, we had a wonderful picinic with current PCV’s (Peace Corps Volunteers). It was fun to meet the surviving group and to see their excitement as they interacted with each other. Apparently most of them get to see each other a decent amount due to the size of the country…especially considering the fact that a bunch of the country is not able to be visited, hence no PCV’s being stationed in those parts of the country!

On Wednesday we finished our orientation to orientation at the University of Georgia haha. We then packed onto three buses and were taken to Bakuriani about three hours away from the capital. We stayed in a beautiful ski resort and finished the week full of safety, language, culture, and training breifings. The week went by quickly and my brain is ready to explode. On top of having all the Georgian information, we had policies to learn, not to mention we are all excited about getting to know one another!

All the volunteers that have made it this far are awesome, and I do miss the ones who did not make it any further. I have been incredibly blessed to have met a few people I really relate to and one is particularly like me (it is on the verge of creepy). Amanda is what God decided to make me if I were from Texas haha. I can’t wait to travel with her more. I also found a girl Katie who has my same spiritual views so it is awesome to have chill people that I know have my back, ya heard?! Haha. Even being here until now I have a feeling I will not know for some time just how difficult my life is going to become. Adaptation is not always quick or painless, even for people who are especially gifted in that area…I have a lot to learn!

The language is so difficult that my brain is nearly rejecting it at this point. Add some teacher training and basic emotional development and I feel like a tornado! My english grammar has already started to become terrible as I attempt to learn Georgian. All in all this is going to be so awesome.