Anniversary of Stalin's Birthday

Wow 2 days until Christmas and I haven't even started my Christmas shopping. Well in all fairness I have another 2 weeks to do so since Georgians don't celebrate it until January 7th. This week Gori has had a facelift with lights and decorations put up around Stalin Park. In the town center they'vre erecting a Christmas tree, well actually they're called New Year's tree, that's so tall it almost rivals the jolly green giant himself. Speaking of Stalin, his birthday was on 21 December and have I got a story for you...

So that morning as I'm in my room my Hdad yells at me to look out the window, which overlooks the park. As I look out imagine my absolute shock (and yes some delight!) at seeing WWII vets, grannies and grandpappies, marching in a parade decked out in their uniforms (medals galore) waving USSR flags. They marched to his statue and held a rally. Ah just one of the many perks of living in Gori!

Last Sunday happened to be a huge PC milestone: 6 months in country! Trust me when I say there were many times when I didn't think I'd make it to this point. PC has proven to be one of the most intensive experiences I've had to go through- physically and mentally. But I'm here! I'm 25% done with my service and now that I've been living in my permanent site for 4 months, I feel semi-competent as to what I'm doing. I've completed my first semester teaching in a public school. I've managed to pull off having 3 english clubs a week. I've made some wonderful friends, many who will be life-long. I've had some amazing adventures and plenty of awesome stories to share. Has it been hard? Oh "hard" is an understatement, but I'm happy. I know I made the right decision doing this and I don't regret it.

Now to reward myself, I'm going to Turkey. I'm spending New Years in Istanbul with some friends. My first vacation since I got here and I plan to make the most out of it. You know what'd make me really happy? I'd love to get my hand's on a monkey paw amulet---sheidzleba?!