We had our swearing in ceremony on August 24. We had to leave our training sites at 5:00 in the morning. I was sick on the bus, which was a good start to the day!!! However, the ceremony went very well. Bob sang the Georgian and American national anthems along with 9 other volunteers and two volunteers gave speeches in both English and Georgian – quite impressive after 9 week of language classes. We stayed in Tbilisi with our training host family’s daughter, Nino, and her husband for the night as Gill still felt sick. The next day they gave us a tour of Tbilisi. We have included pictures of the hotel built into the cliff over the Mtkvari River and the new cathedral which was built in the classic Georgian style during the Shevardnadze period. There is also an icon from the church in which Nino will have her wedding service. We expect to go to the wedding next Sunday and it sounds as if it will be a big affair.

Gill was voted in as a member of the volunteer advisory committee, which means she will be travelling to Tbilisi once a month or so to attend meetings. This should be interesting.

We are now at our permanent site, Borjomi, which is a spa town in the mountains. The surrounding countryside is very beautiful and we are quite near Bakuriani, which is a ski area. Gill has now met the three English teachers at her school. They are all very friendly, as are all the teachers. Lots of gifts of fruit. The main English teacher speaks very good English with a strong British accent. Gill noticed that the children did not know what an apartment was, but when she said “flat” everyone understood. Bob will be having a meeting with the teachers at his school next Monday.

We have started our summer camp which has a design theme. The first day we designed pasta necklaces and paper airplanes. The second day we designed tourist maps for Borjomi. The tourist center has run out of maps. The maps – some accurate, some less so – are now on display in the tourist center. Next week we are doing masks, word games, and any design of buildings that the students would like to see in their town. Otherwise we have been setting up our room, buying extension cords, more hangers, etc.

It looks as if email in the house will be very, very slow, but there are a number of internet cafes nearby and we can use the internet at the tourist center until it closes.

Yesterday we had two Peace Corps volunteers from another town visit us and we took the narrow gauge train to Bakuriani. About ten minutes out the second carriage derailed and we all had to move to the front carriage – see picture. We rattled on eventually. The scenery was spectacular. The journey there took 3 hours and it took us 30 minutes to get back by marshutka!

Jura asked about the food here. Obviously, meat is pretty expensive and the diet tends to be heavy on carbs, fruits, cheese, beans, and cereals. The national dish is khatchapuri, which is a kind of cheese bread. It has different incarnations in different parts of Georgia. Some people put an egg inside and some people make it with flaky pastry – this is Gill’s favorite. Other national dishes include lobiani, which is a kind of bean bread. It can also be made of potatoes. The Georgians make a very good vegetable stew with potatoes, eggplant and tomato sauce. The grilled eggplant with walnut sauce is also very good. Fruits are seasonal and can be very good indeed. They also make a lot of natural fruits juices as well as wine. These tend to be a little sweet. Georgians love sweet foods and adore salty foods. They also love mayonnaise. The local beer is quite good – like lager. Coca Cola is all over the place.

Our new host mother is a great baker. She makes napoleons to sell in the local shops. She also makes the flaky kind of khatchapuri. By the way, khatcho means cottage cheese in Georgian. We have included a picture of our welcome cake.

We have been taking a bit of a rest here as we were so exhausted after our training. Gill did well in her test and Bob did so-so and will be tested again in 3 months. We both will get Georgian tutors here. At the moment we are having lessons with our host sister who is studying English at Tbilisi University. She keeps on telling us off for not doing our homework.

Congratulations to Chelsea, Sam, and Oscar on the new addition to the family. We look forward to meeting Mac. Please post pictures. Would love to hear from everyone.