Arrival in Tbilisi and first impressions

The group of 31 Peace Corps volunteers to Georgia, ourselves included, arrived safe and sound in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, on Wednesday, April 28 via a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul. The flight was great, with some gorgeous views of the Black Sea and, as we approached Georgia, the Caucasus Mountains (snow capped peaks and all!). We were very pleasantly surprised at the airport by a large contingent of Peace Corps staff, who helped us gather our numerous bags and then, very, very happily, loaded them all into the bus for us. As we made our way out past customs, we were next greeted by the U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, the Georgian Deputy Minister of Education and a horde of Georgian press. Never before have I been treated like such a celebrity! It was a little surreal, to be sure.

We left the airport to be whisked through Tbilisi to a restaurant with a fantastic supra, or feast, laid out for us. We ate a number of delicious things whose names we'll surely learn soon and then all started nodding happily and thinking about sleep. Luckily we left the restaurant and went straight to the hotel and straight to sleep.

Now we're staying in a hotel just about 15 minutes' drive from Tbilisi, where we're holding our initial orientation, which includes beginning language classes, health and safety training and checks (getting some nice inoculations!) and other nuts and bolts stuff. On Saturday we will take a bus to Borjomi, a city in the center of the country, where we will hold the next three months of training. As we get more of a chance to move around outside and see some things, we'll take more pictures. For right now, I'm having a small bit of trouble uploading the few shots we've taken so far, but I'll try again later and see if I have more luck.