First week in Zugdidi

By -





I arrived in Zugdidi on the 18th of June, not knowing what to expect.

Now it has been one week. What are my thoughts? Let's try to organize them.

So, the first thing on the way from the airport to Zugdidi that I found interesting, funny and heart-warming was a free pig walking on the road. Cows - yes, I am pretty sure we all have seen them free, chewing a grass by the road. But pigs? - I loved the fact that cows and pigs seem to have a happy life in here.

The city itself is smaller than I thought, however the centre is full of people. Another surprise? It is also full of palm trees. As I was told, the climate of Georgia is sub-tropical.

The office - women working at the Merkuri association are amazing. Super kind, helpful and supportive. I have to say they encouraged me a lot.

The job - my task will be to work within the area of domestic violence and on a CEDAW report, so I am excited to do it. But even though it has been only week, I already met some interesting people and took part in important events. For instance, I went to a meeting with the EU ambassador for Georgia! I also met with the beneficiaries and by seeing them smiling I made sure that they must be doing a great job.

Food - oh yes :) The food here is amazing. The ladies invited me to a beautiful restaurant so I could try several Georgian dishes, including  khachapuri and the wine of course.

Other events - the protests in Tbilisi just started few days ago and are still ongoing. Here in Zugdidi they were only few demonstrating people on the street so it feels pretty safe. I am hoping for the situation to be resolved soon.

Let's see what is going to be like to work as an EUAV :)














Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

First month, first impressions

By -
Image
I came to Zugdidi on January 31st. Together with Elena, the Italian volunteer who has been travelling with me since the day before, I met Olga, our coordinator. She took me to my future home where I met Tika, the owner. She showed me the room, prepared me some food, and we chatted for a few hours, amidst her uncertain English and my tiredness after the long journey. I thanked her, went to my room, layed down on the bed, and gazed at the ceiling. Despite the whirlwind of emotions, I was happy. It has been a month since that day, and even though I had ups and downs, the feeling of satisfaction has been constant. I’m part of an exciting project, the women from the NGO are kind and helpful, step by step I'm creating new connections with locals and expats, and my host family has been incredibly welcoming from the very beginning. Honestly, I couldn't be more satisfied. I'm not saying there are no difficulties! Language barrier is a big problem (few people speak English in Zugdidi...
Read more

Being able to stay

By Anonymous -
Image
I am Elena and I am from Italy. I selected this project because it was one of the few that allowed me to be in contact with the beneficiaries and because I have always been curious about living in an eastern country. The first days here were really hard for me. Before moving to Georgia, I was afraid of the potential linguistic difficulties. Then, when I arrived, I found that all my fears were real. Most of the people of Zugdidi don't speak English, except for the youth. My main problem is that, during my daily life, I have to interact with mean age or old people who usually only speak Georgian or Russian. I also live in a family with two old people and their son. Communication difficulties strongly frustrated me. Despite this, they pushed me to find the few expats who live here.  I know these manners of saying which really expressed my mood and feelings: “drink or drown” or “when life gives you lemons, make a lemonade”. A good idea was to go to the library where, at the American Co...
Read more
By Anonymous -
Image
    M y first month in Georgia: I would like to have a communicative blog, do not hesitate to comment, ask, add information… I believe in the collective intelligence, so let’s share our point of view, opinion, feeling... How I came to Georgia: First to promote green travel I expose you my trip without taking a plane (plane it responsible of 3.5% of global warming but only 7% of the world population has taken a plane in their life; so in an equal world with everyone taking the plane the global warming would be nearly 50% higher).  It is a long trip (9 days, but with 4 days in Budapest), interesting as a transition to feel the environment changing, culture changing… it is for me a way to understand a little bit more the world and to be active part of the journey. Mondo and Merkuri supported me to do that (we needed to solve some administrative issues and they have followed me in my trip), thanks to them. The city if Zugdidi: Zugdidi is located in northern-west...
Read more