December

Wow, it's December already. My time in Georgia is almost over. It's been another quiet time for the most part. I spent last weekend sleeping and recovering from my cold. It was also a rather dismal weekend, gray and rainy, not very conducive to doing much. The highlight of last weekend was going to my neighbor's Suphra. It was a party for the neighbor's son, I'm not really sure why beyond that. There was, as usual, plenty of food and wine. Hajapuri and fruit were my food of choice.On the plus side, I'm mostly recovered from my cold. I only cough occasionally and my nose is just a little runny.

On Tuesday it rained. A lot. It was rain complete with thunder and lightning. Luckily the rain lightened up around the time I went to and from school so I didn't get drenched. Then on Wednesday it snowed. A heavy and wet and beautiful first snow. I got home and had to take some pictures, even if my fingers went numb. Thursday was just kind of slushy and ick, and by now most of the snow has melted. It doesn't stick around very long here. :(

Thursday as well, Natalie came to my host family's and we ate a lot of food. Veggies, and cheese and bread and cake things with apple jam in them. My host family made plenty of food since there was a guess. It was interesting though, to compare our two very different experiences again. Hers is a lot louder than mine...Natalie quite enjoyed the quiet of my host family. And we're both fans of Georgian cheese...that is salty. Good and salty with some good bread.

Yesterday, Saturday, Natalie and I went to Kutaisi again. This time we didn't meet up with her friend. Instead we walked around and went to the Georgian equivalent of the mall to go shopping. Stores there are certainly not like ours...no brand name stores and they're all small. We also took a taxi to Bargreti (not 100% on the spelling) Cathedral on the recommendation of one of her Georgian co-teachers. It was under construction so we couldn't go inside, but it was a church that was built in 1003, and you could still see the foundation. There is also more snow in Kutaisi and it was nice. After that we ate at a cafe, bean bread and cake, and then headed back.

Only 16 more days! I already know that I have no desire to return to a developing country in the winter ever again. Once is definitely enough.