Communication is happening!

Since I didn't have time last weekend to do a full post, I decided this week, I will do two, but I couldn't think of things, so I decided to go with the most recent fun stuff and see what I end up writing.

First of all, Margo, my host grandmother, and I have gotten interlingual communication down to a science. It might help that the only thing we communicate about is food, but we have gotten it figured out, from my end at least. Today, I will be going out to eat with a bunch of TLGers, but I didn't know we were getting together until after she had started making me some ghome (mame-lige) and I still don't know the name of the other food, basically a boiled chicken in some sort of stew with a tomato sauce base. Not my favorite, but what can you do. Pelamushi isn't to be eaten morning, noon, and night, though I wish it were. So I ate half the ghome and had some pieces of chicken and looked up and told her “tchame””restaurnani” and pointed toward town. This, to me, meant, “eat””restaurant” “in town”, and she laughed and said “kargi tchame” or “eat well”. Even bigger than that was earlier this week when I came home from school and she let me cook my own eggs! Admittedly, she came in and switched the pan I was about to use and turned on the stove and cut some bread. And then she seemed to feel that I hadn't used enough butter (yes, I was shocked , too) and added butter. But I was able to remove two eggs from the fridge, successfully decline a third egg, take out a bowl to mix them in, put them in the pan and fry them until they were done. All by myself! I told some of my friends here and they were jealous. One of my friends is still trying to do her own laundry. I have it good here.

So, I just got back from going out with the other native English speakers of Poti where a trip to Kutaisi was agreed upon for this weekend. I came home and Lela was not here, it is just Soso and Margo. Soso, my host-grandfather, and I are still in smile and say “hi, how are you” land, so I wrote a note to Lela explaining my plans to be gone for the weekend and walked in to talk to Margo about my plans so that I told someone, at least. I went in and said “go” “Kutaisi” “Saturday” “and” “One day past Saturday” (I forgot how to say Sunday, but the word for Monday is two days past Saturday, so I thought this might work). It DID work, because she responded “hotel” and gestured sleep. I said YES! And she started laughing hysterically at how wonderfully we can communicate. It is a whole lot of fun when it works out.

Well, I plan to have a GREAT time in Kutaisi exploring mythology! I have been using my Nook to read up on the stories of the Golden Fleece, taken from the land of Colchis. Did I mention that the western part of Georgia is called Kolkheti? Ya, I am living in the land of the Goldan Fleece and near the mountains of Prometheus' imprisonment. And that is where I am headed tomorrow. Prometheus Cave. If my camera gets over its hatred of me, I will take lots of pictures. And if it doesn't, I am going with friends who will send their pictures to me as soon as they are able.