Life Goes On

Getting back into the routine and commuting to my village has been good.  I meet people on the marshurtka that are teachers from other schools in my village (we have a total of 4 schools that go from 1st to 11th grade).  I have been to two other schools, working with the English teachers and I had mentioned in their classes that I have conversation club and if they like they are welcome to come.  I had decided that I needed to split my conversation club into two groups as it was getting just too big. So on Tuesdays after 28 students showed up with a Georgian teacher from School #3, I told the students that grades (grades are called forms here) 5th-7th will meet on Thursday and 8th-11th will meet on Tuesdays. I figure that splitting them up will give me a smaller classroom and I can work closer with the students and I won't be so tired.  So today (being Thursday) I went up stairs to prepare for my club.  I wrote a word on the white boards (thank you Bible group again for the white boards) for each desk.  We played "first letter, last letter" word game. The word I wrote on their white board they had to make a new word from the last letter. And then the next word had to be the last letter of that word.  The winner had 52 words - wow.  I had 2 students at each desk around 16 students, a good size group.  But this was at 1:30, (they always come early), so around 2 PM, I heard a knock and suddenly students from the other two schools start arriving and all of a sudden I now have 30 students again!! I ran out of seats, so I need to put a couple of more desks in that room. Again, I taught them a new song, and we played which is their favorite "Teacher Says" and I had to give candy to 8 of them because I could not trick them!!  I love watching them walk out of my class with big smiles on their faces, what a great satisfaction I get, they are so awesome! Here are some pictures of the kids that came on Tuesday.



Walking to the corner to wait for my marshurutka, I met two women (I think they were teachers), we tried to have a conversation (my language skills still suck!!) but they asked if I lived in Zaqatala and when I said yes, they asked me if I wanted to share a taxi and of course I asked necayadir (how much will it cost?).  The same as the marchurutka (40 qepeck) Bali (yes) and I was in Zaqatala within 15 minutes.  So once I got here, said good by to my new friends and walked the mile and half home, I am now making dinner, chicken rice soup with fresh homemade bread.  Life is good!!

Life Challenge: (I love this one) Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.... Abraham Lincoln