I go to a club called the American Corner where we practice English and learn about the culture and history of the United States. My native languages are Georgian and Megrelian. In Georgian, "Hello" is Gamarjoba and it's the same word in Mingrelian. Everybody that lives in our region, Samegrelo, speaks Mingrelian, but it's not a written language, it's only spoken. Most young people talk to one another in Georgian, though, and that's the language used in school. Mostly, Mingrelian is spoken at home and people will switch between Georgian and Mingrelian. In my home, Mingrelian is spoken more often than Georgian. Mingrelian is a language that's passed down, so you learn it by listening to your family speak rather than having lessons in school. There's kind of a stigma around using Mingrelian outside of Samegrelo, however. For instance, if you speak in Mingrelian in a big city in Georgia, others might think you're not well-educated or something. There's a chance that the language will die out, but I hope families will continue speaking Mingrelian with pride and pass it down to their children.
I had a little dog until last year. I grew up with him and really loved him, but he barked a lot. I also had a beautiful rabbit that lived in the garden. He had a little rabbit house and everything. He was black with green eyes, and I even sewed clothes for him. It was really cute!
I traveled to Bulgaria to perform Georgian national dance at a showcase with other dance groups from all over Europe. We actually drove there from Georgia, which took almost three days! We drove through Turkey and made a few stops to explore.
