Each trainee was allowed to invite 2 host family members to the party. The PC staff told us it was a day to try to fulfill the second mission of Peace Corps: "Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served." We went to Borjomi Park, a popular tourist destination for Georgians and international travelers. It was a beautiful day (as you'll see in some of the pictures).
We had a spread for the party that was like what you'd find at home--almost. We had hot dogs and ham and cheese sandwiches (although the ham and cheese weren't quite what you'd find at home). Our host mom thought it was strange to put meat and cheese together in a sandwich. There were chips, including tortilla chips, which, aside from various flavors of Doritos (Hot Corn or Taco, take your pick!) are not easy to find here. And there were desserts--individual apple and cherry pies (an interesting take on the American version of said pies) and "chocolate chip cookies" that were tasty, but somewhere between and muffin and a cookie. Our host families got a kick out of seeing us play games (we had a water balloon toss and a three-legged race). At first they were pretty confused as to what to do. Their version of a big party like this would be more structured, with everyone seated around a table with food in the middle and someone (the hostess) constantly urging them to eat. Our 4th of July party was picnic style. We had tables set up all around and food out in a buffet style, where you could just help yourself to whatever you wanted and go sit where ever you wanted. Some of the host families just stood around until we all assured them that they could indeed just go get the food they wanted and take a seat anywhere. When we got home later, my host mom couldn't stop talking about how odd it was, but how nice as well, that she could just take what she wanted, no more, no less.
It was nice for all of us, too, to have a meal where we were in charge of the intake of food and not consistently pressured to eat this or that or finish this or take more of that. The hospitality is fantastic here, but sometimes a little smothering!
The water balloon toss was a big hit
Happy Birthday, America!
Self-portrait (of course)
The three-legged race was also a hit and luckily did not end in any injuries
The view from the plateau in Borjomi Park (where we held our picnic)
The crew from Kortaneti
The cable car up to the plateau, where we had our picnic
A table full of mini-pies
Borjomi Park's Ferris wheel (stopping the wheel when loading or unloading is for wimps)
No comments:
Post a Comment