Sept. 24 - TGIF

School today was pretty much the same as every other day. Some kids were missing from grade 9, which made it a much more pleasant class to teach. It also turns out that threats of public humiliation are enough to get most 14 year olds to do their homework. Following through on said threats should be enough to get the others falling into line.

On break, Co-teach and I hung out in the cafeteria, as usual. I finally managed to prepare my own coffee cup for a fortune telling session. I didn’t actually want a reading, it was just practice, but Auntie (the cafeteria lady) told me that every time she does a reading for me, she’s going to tell me there is a boy. She’s hoping that eventually, I’ll believe her, marry a Georgian boy and stay here forever. I’m hoping that eventually, she‘ll believe me when I say that it ain’t gonna happen.

Also on break, Co-teach relayed a message to me from the director. Turns out there was another cultural event scheduled for the Kobuleti teachers. This one was in Sopheli Kobuleti (Kobuleti village). I declined, partly because I found out at 10 about an event at 3 and have no means of personal transportation. Sopheli Kobuleti is another mountain village, so I would have to get into Kobuleti proper and then take a cab, or marshrutka, up a different mountain road to the village. And I have to do this at my own expense. So I boycotted. Or, more acurately, I told Co-teach that I didn’t want to go, and she explained to the director in Georgian.

Since I didn’t go to the event, I was home when Neighbour Boy came over for help with his English homework (from private lessons). He was writing a practice version of the exam that they have to pass to get into university. The test was obviously not written by a native English speaker. Many of the questions don’t actually make sense, and one asked for information that wasn’t even in the test. What these kids need is not actually English instruction, but multiple choice test taking instruction.

While we were working on that, Neighbour Boy’s little brother, Monkey (so called because he climbs the fruit trees), brought me some persimmons. Turns out that they’re not bad once they’re actually ripe. I ate one while we worked and Monkey disappeared again. Just as we were finishing, he showed up with pears. They were for the family, but he made a point of giving one to me. I figure he’s trying to suck up, since he’s in my grade 9 class.

I ate dinner with HM and read in the living room while Bebia watched tv. After donating a pint of blood to the mosquitoes, I retreated upstairs. The rest of the evening was spent watching tv, playing on the internet and reading. All in all, a pleasant way to spend a Friday.