She reports: "We're almost finished with pre-service training and will be sworn in as volunteers next Friday. Our permanent site is New Rustavi, a Soviet-era city in the south of Georgia near the Azerbaijan border. Despite being pretty unappealing visually, I think it'll be an interesting place to work and live the next two years. Our host family's neighborhood (soon-to-be our neighborhood!), contains a mix of Russians, Azeris, Armenians, Turks, Abhkazian IDPs and, of course, Georgians.
[Speaking of medical anthropology...] We've already had some exposure to Georgians' attitudes to illness as both Peter and I have been sick multiple times. Our host grandmother attributed the first stomach ailment I experienced to the cold bucket bath I had taken earlier in the morning. And the cause of Peter's fever was the fact that we left the windows open the night before. I'm anxious to learn more Georgian so I can get a better handle on these concepts."
Peter and I with our host family relatives, Mamuka and Salome.
We wish Alene the best of luck in Georgia!
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