Blustery March and the Shift into High Gear

With generally warming but unpredictable weather, I finish my Russian study grant and move into the research phase of of the Fulbright.  There are many ideas I have to pursue and so much I could write up just now, but I feel I cannot do that until I have had my on-the-ground time in schools.  Everything up to now has been hearsay. 

And so off it goes...

This next week I will be in Akhalkalaki, Akhalsikhe, and the surrounding areas surveying the Armenian community (in Georgia) for language perception.  Hooray for traveling somewhere I've never been.

Map from http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/georgia_map2.htm

The study?  I am undertaking it with a friend and another acquaintance.  In short, what people think of someone speaking a given language based on where the speaker and listener are from and which language is being spoken.  So, what do Georgian Armenians feel about a Georgian speaking Armenian and vice versa, versus an Armenian speaking Armenian or a Georgian speaking Georgian.  I know...gripping research!  But, it does have importance when it comes to educational inclusion in language minority areas and governance.  So, it is a start on some broader themes I am interested in.

In the following weeks I will be making direct school contacts, doing interviews with aid agencies that work in education, data mining, copy-editing an archive's journal, applying for visas to Armenia and Azerbaijan, making travel plans to both those countries, and planning some domestic travel.

A big few months ahead of me, but exciting indeed.