I got my sweatshirt back! Oh and I met the president. But I'm sure I should mention my time before then; it seems I'm gotten slack and am constantly playing catch up, but actually after reading the end of my last entry there isn't too much of a gap.

I arrived late on Thursday, which seems to be a common theme and it's out of my control so at least I'm not just lazy like I was when I was at my old school; a product of hating my environment and not giving a shit. So being at a bit of a distance, but relying on being driven has its ups and downs, but the ups far outweigh the downs.

So far my two disjointed days at school have had me dropped off, a little teaching, then I talk to some people, tried to learn a bit of Russian and Georgian vocabulary from the Russian teacher and there's even been a bit of lesson planning, which out does any planning at my old school.

After school I have been picked up by my host brother, we get some food in town and I go to his work which we kill time talking and using the internet. It's been simple but I'm really loving it.

Friday was a big day. I was told by my co-teacher who can parrot English that I needed to be there at 9am. I got there and there wasn't much for me to do, except point out that the new plaque had 'Education' spelt wrong. It was impressive how quickly they got it fixed with the president coming. As the hours dragged on and more and more security arrived, first the police, then the presidential people started showing up and making a perimeter and sweeping the school. Mean while I'm standing inside their perimeter with some fellow TLG people who live nearby.

By 12pm a helicopter had arrived in the distance and we had to leave the school and get screened to come back in. It was kind of a token effort as one of the girls left her jacket by the school, got screened and then went back to it. But, I guess we're the definition of low risk. For me I had to turn my camera on, show it could take photos without exploding, show my laptop could operate without killing anyone and explain any metal that was detected by the wand. It's okay, it makes the situation feel way more authentic.

As we're waiting in the middle of the school grounds I see my director and ask where I'm meant to be, of course it doesn't come out as clear as that it came out as "where you want/need me?" I get approached by a lady in red who speaks English and tells me I have to be with the children in class, who have already made it through security and are waiting in a designated area outside. I'm also told it will be a few hours. I relay this info to my friends and part ways.

Inside the school is swarming with security and we go into our class and proceed to play hang man for over four hours. During that time some media bursts in, gives me an akward interview that never made it to television (thankfully) and then departs as quickly as they arrived. It would still be a few hours before the president came in but when he did it was like a hurricane. The door opens and a marshutka's worth of media spill into the room and then Misha walks in (that's the president in case you didn't pick that up) I can't remember the exact sequence of events, but I thin khe said something to the cameras or class, walked to me, shook my hand asked me a few questions, like how did I find out about the program, were the books we use acceptable and he also knew I was from New Zealand. I'm sure he found that out not long before he met me, but it was a nice touch. In answer to his question about the books I said they were okay, but had a few mistakes. When I told my friends this they said they would of used the word shit. I guess I do have some tact, plus I think they're full of shit for saying that.

He shook my hand again and then left; the whole process took less than a minute. My class had this stunned look on their face and I get their disappointment. I was more shocked that he would have the time to sit through a 40 minute lesson. Oh well.

The next day a lot of us were meeting in Tbilisi. A friend was hosting a Thanksgiving meal and also Georgia was playing USA in the rugby. I told my family as best I could that I wanted to be on the marshutkas by 8, we got there a little after 9, but a lot of that was a joint couldn't be fucked at that hour kind of effort. It didn't matter that much as I'm under 4 hours away, which may sound like a lot, but it's not too bad; compared to my last place I'd be looking at 9 hours of travel easily.

I get off at the final stop and ask directions to the nearest Metro. It turns out that I was behind the main train station, which is right next to a Metro stop. After much back and forth with a friend on the phone I tell her to meet me, instead of vice versa, as I want a milkshake from McDonalds and to use their Wifi.

We meet up, make it to the game and it turns out to be a cracker. I meet up with an English guy I know there and the game has one of the most dramatic finishes I've seen in a long time. It ended with Geogia down by 5 and time all but up. America had a feed to the scrum under their posts and they bungled the scrum and there was a pile up for the ball, it emerged and Georgia dotted down. The events leading up to it were crazy; USA looked like they were almost trying to throw the match, not kicking for touch and losing their own lineout even though it was uncontested. Great game, well worth the 5 lari. And for an added bonus I met up with some people who had grabbed my Penn State sweatshirt that I had left in Batumi so it was great reunion.

After that, we went to the hostel I was at last week and I returned a multi plug thing I took accidently. The lady knew my name even though we barely talked; she was so lovely and was happy I thought to make the effort to bring it back. We went to the massive convenience store that is between the hostel and the Metro stop and we got some stuff for the Thanksgiving party. I go all out and buy a half litre of vodka, two bottles of banana juice (love it) and two boxes of cookies and a pack of gum for a nice 29.50 GEL. I shouldn't be surprised at how cheap vodka is, but when you compare it to whiskey it becomes crazy cheap. A litre of vodka is like 15-20 GEL and 1L of Jack is 65 GEL.

We take the Metro as far it goes and take a marshutka to Steve's using his surprisingly straight forward directions. His place is nice and I run into many old faces, including Nino, our old leader. We all love Nino. It was great to see everyone again and hear how everyone is.

We chat for a while and I decide to go as some Georgians were going into town and I thought it best to go with them as my host brother had arranged his brother (whom I guess is my host brother by default but I want to differentiate between the three as only one lives with me) to set me up with his friend for a place to stay. I went to an expat bar and somehow by taking the Metro and leaving early am the last to arrive at the bar and it's already 13-6 to the AB's. It was great to see them there though as I was expecting to be watching the game alone or with strangers, even better that my friend is Welsh; so that provided lively banter to the amusement of Georgians and the other nationalities that had assembled.

After the game I followed some other friends out, but we got to a club and my dislike of them is remembered and my obligation to meet this new friend who is hosting pulls me away.

I call him and I give my cell phone to the nearest cabbie. I ask how many Lari and he tells me 7, I say 5 he says 6 and I agree. I had no idea where this place was so I didn't no how much of a concession it was. Apparently the fair I got wasn't too bad. Giorgi (yet another one) told me that 4 is good, but being foreign makes it too hard and he says if he tries getting a cab in Kutaisi and they suspect he's from Tbilisi they drive the price up on him too.

We don't do much that night, we chat for a while and I surf the net after he goes to bed, luckily he has an HP as I forgot my charger for my laptop.

The next day we lounge about and then go out to a lake outside of the city to meet his friends for a game of football and basketball. Afterwards I get driven to the marshutka station and he finds me the right station, explains to the driver to tell me when we're at Tejola and more importantly stop as it's on the way through and he even insists on paying for it. A weekend down and I'm still using last months pay.

I'm thinking hard about getting a root canal in Tbilisi after my Turkey trip, provided that isn't too much. I'm tired of waiting for it to hurt and I've had so many issues with that tooth I'd rather just rebuild it at this stage; I've already replaced three of it's fillings and it has a big hole in it right now. I know I could hope the Navy would get it, but as my recruiter tells me it's a competitive position and I'm not guaranteed a job.

That makes me think of the what if I don't get it scenario. I'd actually consider coming back here. I really would, I'm digging it here, granted it wouldn't be the same with a lot of the people gone, but I mean it's just a consideration; I'll cross that bridge should I fail to get into the Navy.