HI!!!!!

I don’t know what is up with all these blog posts but I say ENJOY EM while they last. Yesterday I decided that I couldn’t live another day without house slippers so I got bundled up and took a marsh to the big market in new Rustavi.  Well, let me tell you that not only did I find super awesome red “leather” slippers with super thick soles but I also found *drum roll please* HANGERS. I was very excited so I bought 10.  Then I went into another store to pick up some shampoo and I found more hangers there so I bought another 6.  It literally felt like Christmas I was so damn happy!  I also happened to find a random tanning bed in the basement of a beauty shop.  I don’t know what the big deal with Tbilisi is anyway; Rustavi just kicked its ass two-fold in a matter of minutes.  I then proceeded to skip home filled with glee! 

This morning I got hug/kiss assaulted by a group of kids right as I walked in the school door as their mothers said hello and laughed as I struggled to get past the ever growing ring of children that have now formed a human hoola hoop around me.  This continued in the halls during “recess” and in each of my classes. Oh my little bacteria machines how much I have missed your little arms around me. My first class today was grade 2 which has 'HI' in it -- a little boy I have mentally named that.  Here is a picture of him I took before I went on break.

(He looks so scared in this picture)

Here’s a little background on Denis—I learned his name today.  *pause* ok so before I tell the story I want to explain why it is pretty much February and I just learned his name today.  I teach 13 different classes with anywhere from 15 to 32 students in each class.  It is almost impossible for me to learn that many names especially if some of them I only see once a week. So back to my little lovable Russian—I also found that out today… well not found out more so confirmed because he looks Russian compared to all the kids around him with dark hair and eyes. At the beginning of the year, there were some issues with my schedule as I wasn’t in every class.  There would be this one little kid who I didn’t teach that would always run up and say hi to me.  I didn’t even know if he went to the school because he would always say hi to me outside or near the buildings by the bus stop.  As I would be getting to school, he would run up to me and yell hi then run away. Other times, I would be waiting for the bus, he would run up and scream hi and then run away.  Then run halfway back, say hi then run away again. This would continue 3 or 4 times everytime I saw him. There was one time I saw him with his grandma coming out of the store; he let go of her hand, ran over to me, screamed hi and ran back to his grandmother.  Initially, I was like what is going on? Who is this kid? but after a while I would crack up laughing every time he did it and found it so endearing. This went on for a couple of weeks until one day I get my new schedule and go to this grade 2 class and there he is in all his 'HI' glory. So today when I walked into the class, his head could have EXPLODED he was so excited to see me.  Up he jumped from his desk, screamed hi as he ran over and leapt onto me.  We get the class settled and I put down my bag on the teacher’s desk then look up to see him looking at me, as he is doing this little "seductive" hi wave with a half smile.  I couldn’t contain myself and burst out laughing.  It was honestly the best way I could have started my day.