Goals, Predictions, a New World!

*If you really like my blog/me then read the message by the little star at the bottom. If you like neither of these things and hate kittens, don't read it. Ok, carry on.

I love writing lists. Lists are great. I write lists when I'm bored, overwhelmed, procrastinating...I almost made that a list, but instead I used commas, which is like a lazy list. To Do lists are my favorite, because just making them makes you feel accomplished. And you are. Don't let your roommate that finds your fifth To Do List of the day written on the back of a Starbucks receipt tell you otherwise!

I've only been in Georgia for 10 days, and haven't even started teaching yet, but things are happening fast. Yesterday I watched my host mom switch roles from elegantly dressed matriarch, to political activist, to chicken killer (and plucker and cooker) in one afternoon. I went to the bathroom in an outhouse and used Georgian newspaper as toilet paper (add that to the list of Weird Places I Have Peed). I taught my host siblings to play Thumb War and I almost died on mountain roads in a thunderstorm.

Tonight I attended my first supra (a massive feast with lots of wine, chacha (moonshine) and toasting!), became a minor celebrity and was asked for photos, and received toasts for myself, my parents (be excited Mom and Dad!), and my siblings.

It's high time for a List!

List of Realistic Goals While in Georgia:

1.  Go to the Black Sea
2. Hike in the Caucuses Mountains
3. See Folk Dancing  (They dance with knives!) 
4. Actually teach some children some English 
5. Write everyday
6. Be able to hold a basic conversation in Georgina (past "how are you?" and without help from hand signals/broken English) 

Slightly Less Realistic Goals Due to Scheduling Conflicts: 

1.  Go to Armenia
2. Read all those classic books I have on my Kindle 

List of Predictions for Four Months from Now: 

1.  I will be fat due to the massive amounts of food made entirely of carbs
2. I will answer simple questions in SpanKartulish
 I already answer questions in Spanglish. Then today I tried to say something in Spanish and I said it     in Georgian. It's bound to happen.
3. Speak English in a Georgian accent.
        The only English speakers I am around have very thick Georgian accents. I'm prone to picking up accents accent-dentally (hahahahhaha! ok it's been a long day of supra-ing) like when I'm in rural South Carolina with my cousins.

So now that you read these lists you can all question me on my goals and welcome me home with open arms even if you almost mistake me for an overweight, unintelligible mountain lady. Thank you in advance. 





*A lot of lovely people have been telling me on Facebook that they like my blog. Awesome! I'm so glad you do! Keep reading! However, if you really like my blog, it would be even more awesome if you commented about that on here! (You just have to have a gmail account or blogger account, easy to make!) Then people will see that I have comments and be more encouraged to follow me and read more. Then more people will follow me based on those followers. Then I will be able to add "successful blogger" to my resume and get my dream job of travel writer. Then I will win the Pulitzer Prize and you will all be invited to my party where there will be milkshakes. You like milkshakes right? Right. So comment, follow, and be merry! 

Sappy Sunday Nights

This sign was on a biking/hiking trail I meandered along over winter break. 

It epitomizes how I feel about life right now.

I graduate in three months. 

What next?

I mean, I am applying to some cool opportunities, and I have an internship for the summer

and I'm not even looking for a "real" job yet....

but I am still a little overwhelmed.

I love where I am right now in my life. I am in an amazing city, at an awesome school,

with a fabulous apartment, roommates I love, great friends and a wonderful church.

It's hard to plan for the future when you love where you are so much.

(But hey, at least I didn't have a horrible college experience right?)

Back when I graduated from high school (and had really long hair and didn't know how to open my eyes) I was so ready to get out of there planning was no problem: I was going to study abroad, and explore a new city, and make new friends, and do things I have never done before.

And I did. 

Now, planning is so much further open....it's not just choosing a school. 

It's choosing a life.

Not my whole life of course, but at least a year or two. 

Some days I am so excited for that.

 And some days I listen to this song a million times and become really nostalgic and question all of my decisions and abilities and go a little crazy. 

And Sunday nights are the worse.

(The Super Bowl doesn't change that fact for people like me that pay more attention to the horribly sexist commercials than the game....media messages hurt women!)

(Ok that is another blog post. ) 

Looking back on a week, looking ahead. 

But hey, it's been an amazing 22 years thus far. 

I have faith it will continue to be amazing.