Cheating

Tonight I did something pretty unforgivable - I taught my host sibs how to play Egyptian Rat Slap. Apparently, much like "Johanna," "Egyptian Rat Slap" is too much, so Ani calls it "reetchee."  This game, if you're not familiar with it, is one of the most disruptive card games on the planet. There's lots of slapping, and yelling, and sometimes even some hand injuries. Neighbors hate this game, especially due to the slamming of extremities on wood and the profanities. My host mom seemed unphased by it (no, I was not swearing around them - I'm able to keep my sailor mouth in check when I want!), which isn't surprising given Georgians natural volume is 11.

My sibs, in keeping with typical kids all over the world, unabashedly cheat. Constantly. Blatant, look-you-in-the-eyes-as-they-do-it, cheating. It made me remember the days when I was that small and adorable that I, too, could bend the rules to my every whim with little to no consequence.

It's fun having little kids around, even if they're not that little. Being the youngest, I never understood a few very important things, like how little siblings are constantly in your shit, and how they will make you play the same thing over and over and over again because they are just having too much fun. Mary, I am so, so sorry. I almost understand the level of my obnoxiousness. Almost. 

My host sister is pretty badass. The other day she completely floored me. She was saying how my being 26 and unmarried was weird because she is in school with some girls who are already married. So I asked her if she wanted to be a wife soon, and her response was, "No, I do not want to get married. When you get married you cannot go on walks when you want, you cannot see who you want when you want, you cannot wear whatever clothes you want. You stop having fun, and I do not want that." Pretty incredible mindset in a culture laden with such traditional gender roles. She also wants to go to university in Tbilisi, as well as go to America someday (hence the reason she works so hard to be a good English speaker). It's a really, really nice change of pace to see such a radical opinion on her future from a little girl. And it's even nicer to know that my host mom is clearly the big push behind all of this, as she is constantly encouraging Ani to talk to me and ask questions. 

It's fun to hang out with my family a bit more. My brother and father have both gotten much friendlier, and I'm able to talk to my mom in a slightly more conversational way as I pick up more and more Georgian. I'm looking forward to the day that I can say exactly what I want to say and have someone understand me immediately. That will be so nice!

This past weekend I went to the Black Sea coast, and I'll put up a post about that tomorrow. For now, enjoy a teaser pic!