My mother thinks this is interesting...

Thus, she has asked me to send it to my family and friends with a brief explanation. She said everyone asks her what I'm up to and that this would be a nice way to fill some folks in on my life abroad. Apologies to those of you who may have received this last night. I was falling asleep but so excited and I wanted to send it to a few folks right away.

As many of you know, in 2007 I was introduced to Georgian culture through some clients at work. What began as learning a few words to help me communicate with my clients, turned into a serious undertaking - at the age of 40 - to finally learn a foreign language. I began an independent study of Georgian language which eventually led me to my big trip to Georgia in 2009 so I could attend the International Summer School in Kartelology (Georgian Studies) at Ivane Javakashvili Tbilisi State University. That summer brought about incredible personal development for me and the changes were some of the most significant I've experienced in my adulthood. Over the next 18 months I would make the three-flights and twelve-hour journey three more times to feed my insatiable desire for experience and learning, to immerse myself in Georgian culture and most of all to be with the Georgian people who touched my heart with their hospitality, friendship and kindness.

I know it is hard for some of my beloved friends and family to hear me talk about a place that is 12 hours past Dublin, Ireland. The idea that I might 'up and move' to Georgia someday scares me too. However, I am remaining open to life's possibilities and trying to 'listen to the river'. The older I get, the more seriously I realize the gift that is 'everyday.' It seems beautifully tragic that our learning and our experiences go away with us when we die. Simultaneously both for selfish and for sharing reasons, I want to grab life with as much gusto as I can, while I can. No plans are in place for anything
right now and I still have my good solid employment in Ireland to protect, I'm just saying...and maybe daydreaming a little too.

As I prepare to make my fifth visit to Georgia within two years this coming July, my relationship with the Georgian diaspora in Ireland has also become a primary focus in my life. I am now living with only Georgian housemates and my language is improving daily! I have been told that it is quite likely I am the only non-Georgian person in Ireland that speaks 'Kartuliena,' the language of Sakartvelo (Georgia). I don't know if this is true, it may or may not be, but with this thought and my new Irish naturalization and citizenship, I realized that I would love nothing more than to someday become Ireland's first ambassador to Georgia. Wouldn't that be a great job for me? I think so!

As it happens, Georgia has finally opened an embassy in Ireland. Ambassador Irakli Koplatadze heard about me from some members in the Georgian community here. He invited me to meet with him, which of course was a great and exciting honour. We met for about two hours and it was a lovely visit. Last month, I received another invitation from Mr. Koplatadze AND the Lord Mayor of Dublin Gerry Breen to attend a reception in Dublin's City Hall to celebrate for the first time in Dublin, Georgia's National Day on the 26th of May. I put on my glad rags and attended with my friend Eka Peikrishvili. (You should have seen her shoes!)

The attached image is of us with the Ambassador and his wife Irene Giviashvili (also born on the 28th of July).



Thanks for reading THIS far!! :-)


Thomas