Today is my last day in Gori. Tomorrow, barring craziness, I get sworn in. So it is only fitting that I talk about the time and town some now that I have time available. 

The placement process began before we even assembled in Washington D.C. For EE a list of 100 schools was vetted for security, bringing the number down to 99. The list was further refined taking in account our skills and interests. Where I would have liked some place warm, my only real request was that there were also science teachers that I would be able to work with too. I also asked that they clone my training host family in Gori because they are so awesome.

We often think of math as universal, specifically how we use those numbers in every day life. As may languages stem from the same sources, they share similarities in their math. Shifting bases (e.g. binary) isn't a modern phenomenon. After all, our time keeping is a base 60 system. None the less, I was surprised to see how numbers in Georgia turn some notions on their head

When my host family asked if I wanted to go to Gorivari for St. George's Day, I was sure it was a typo. We "talk" a lot with Google Translate, and they said they wanted to leave at 6:30am and get back by 8am. I've never seen a family member awake before 8am, and most of Gori is still asleep at 9am when I start class. So the idea of leaving at 6:30 was a bit odd, but they meant it!

When I learned I was coming to Georgia I read up a little on the food and found out it was mostly bread, potatoes, and pork with some other foods thrown in. Other people said they'd heard Georgian food was so good it would make me fat. None of that research was really accurate, nor did it at all prepare me for the customs surrounding food.