A lot has happened since my field trip with the 8th graders from Kenneth’s school. I will try to sum it up. Not too much happens during the week around here so I’ll go ahead and skip to my weekend. On Friday afternoon we called our taxi friend and had him take us to Ozurgeti. We met up with Riley at his house and met his host family. There was supposed to be a Polish party happening with our new Polish friends but one of them was very sick so instead Kenneth, Riley, Harriet and I went bar hoping in the city. There really isn’t too much of a nightlife scene but we made our own fun. The first place we went to was the classy restaurant that we have been to for the birthday parties. We shared a jug of wine and some khachapuri before heading to the next place. It’s a little more of a local place that had booths with swinging doors. Felt like a tiny private old west saloon. We didn’t stay there for too long. When we arrived at the next place we found our local friends. Rezo, Zura, and some of their friends invited us to join them. We sat around and listened to them sing drunkenly in Georgian and English. It was a lot of fun. We were out very late but eventually we made our way back to Riley’s house to get some sleep.
We woke up to bad weather. It was hailing outside and it almost looked like snow. Covered everything in white. The day’s plan was to have Riley come back to the village with us. We invited Harriet to come too. We eventually left the house and met up with our Polish friends. We went with them to the bazaar where I had to buy myself a new umbrella because my old one died a terrible death by wind, rain and hail. We also went to the grocery store and Riley made friends with the Shroma (sliced meat sandwich) guy outside of the store. He is a Georgian who lived in Greece for 17 years and taught English while he was there. He is now an English teacher and sandwich stand man in Ozurgeti. He was a really nice guy who we had a nice conversation with and this automatically led him to bring out some vodka so we could all take shots with him. Very interesting and I think that would only happen in Georgia. We left the store and the sandwich stand to go back to our friends’ apartment where they made us some mulled wine. We called the taxi from there and headed back to the village with Riley and Harriet. After a quick tour around Kenneth’s house we were sat down for a supra to honor our guests. As usual there was lots of food and toasting. Kenneth was the toastmaster for a while and then we just started going around the table and making up toasts as we went. I think that after a while things just kept repeating. It was getting late and Harriet and I were thinking about heading to my house but then we were informed that our usual designated driver (Kenneth’s host brother) wasn’t going to be going anywhere because he drank too much wine. So against the typical rules of the village two girls were going to stay at a boy’s house. OH NO! I was shocked when that happened. Things are very traditional here. But we stayed up late listened to some music and just hung out in general and eventually we went to sleep. It was nice not having to rush home before the party was over. The next morning we bummed around Kenneth’s house for a while. Then we walked to my house where my host mother was excited to see some new faces. I gave everyone a tour of my house and I guess I hadn’t realized how nice it was until I got everyone’s comments. We had a little bit to eat and then we started the walk to Supsa so that Harriet and Riley could catch the train back to Ozurgeti. We gave ourselves plenty of time to walk just in case a car didn’t pick us up. It was a beautiful day for a walk, which was fortunate for us because that would have made village life seem terrible if the weather had been terrible.
We made it to Supsa with no problems and plenty of time to spare. We stopped at our favorite shop for a drink and we asked the woman who runs the shop if she happened to know the English teacher in Supsa. I had heard a rumor that there was another foreigner nearby so it couldn’t hurt to ask. She said she did know of him because he is her neighbor. After a few phone calls we found out that he wasn’t around today so we wouldn’t be able to meet him. When the time came we put Riley and Harriet on the train and while were there we were introduced to the host father, Elguja, of our mystery English teacher. We found out his name is Mike and he is from Wales. Elguja is something like a city official. We went to the host father’s office and drank some beer and ate some wafers. He was very excited to meet us and wished very much that Mike was around so we could meet him too. He gave us his number and took down our numbers. Elguja walked with us to the road and helped us a hitch a ride back to the village. Maybe one of these days we’ll get to meet Mike.
My next adventure happened on Tuesday when I went to school with Kenneth in Gulian. I had nothing better to do because I did not have lessons at my school. It is a school that is much smaller than mine. There are maybe 30 kids in 8 grades. It is quite cozy. There was the usual snacks and coffee and very friendly conversation. The English teacher seems to know English very well but he is very quiet so I have a hard time understanding him. I did understand that I was invited to his wedding on the 26th. His dad, the school director, wrote the date on the back of my hand so I couldn’t forget. I don’t know how I’ll get there but I was invited. After class was over we sat around and Kenneth played chess with the math teacher. I watched. At some point the director went to get a bottle of wine for us to share. He was thrilled to have a guest at his school. We finished the bottle and it was time for us to leave because Kenneth and I were going to Lanchkhuti to pick up a package for me. There was a bus that goes right past the school so that made it easy for us. Lucky for us a woman who was also going to Lanchkhuti offered to walk with us to the post office. I don’t think we would have found it without her help. I was happy to get my package from my mom. Peanut butter, nutella and warm socks, what more could a girl ask for. We also stopped by the educational resource center to grab some paper so we could have our students do some projects out of their books. On our way back to the bus stop we run into Elguja. Strange after just meeting him the other day but then again our region is a small place so running into people you know should never surprise you.
Thursday the 17th was my host mother’s birthday. If I hadn’t let it slip that I knew about it I’m not sure she would have told me. The night before she was busy making a lot of food. I guess if you are going to have people over you still have to cook even if it is your birthday. We had some family members come over and Kenneth was invited to come too. Just like any party there was lots of food and toasting. On a birthday all of the toasts revolve around the birthday person. It was interesting. Aniko (my host mom) didn’t seem to sit down at all for a moment. She was busy playing with her grandchildren, which I guess is a great present for a grandma. I don’t know how she felt about the birthday. She didn’t seem to want it but she had all of these people over anyways.
On Friday after school I got a call from Kenneth saying that he got final confirmation that we would be flying home on Sunday. He had been waiting for about a week for that to be confirmed and of course they wait until the last minute. He didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to his kids but luckily he will be coming back in January so it won’t be the last time he gets to see them. It was also fortunate that there was a supra at his school to remember the 40th day after a teachers’ husband died. Kenneth was at least able to say goodbye to his teachers. I was invited to come to the school as well. It was good for both of us. I made plans with the English teacher to continue to hold English club on Mondays for the students and Thursdays for the teachers. After that we walked to the house of the English teacher in Gulian so that Kenneth could tell him he was leaving sooner than expected. We left there and then went back to Kenneth’s house so that he could pack. He would have to leave the next day in order to make his early Sunday flight. I decided that I would go with him to the airport but luckily I didn’t have to pack anything except a toothbrush in my bag. We finally got that done and I went home. We made plans to ride with Kenneth’s host father to Supsa where we would catch a bus.
Saturday morning came and we ended up going to Poti to catch the bus from there. It was a slow and tight ride to Tbilisi and from Kenneth’s side it was even a little smelly. When we arrived in Tbilisi we called our friend Clement, we had met him on our trip to Yerevan. We met up with Clement and his friend (and fellow French teacher) Lola and we took Kenneth’s suitcase to their apartment and then we went out for food. We decided to make it a French night in consideration of our company and we had crepes for dinner. I quite enjoyed having something other than the typical Georgian food. Don’t get me wrong I like Georgian food but sometimes you just want something different. We got drinks at a different French café and then we went back to the apartment to rest for a few hours before going to the airport. We wrote a small thank you note and left their apartment at 3AM. Kenneth checked his bags after waiting for a few minutes for the counter to open and then we had some food. Airport food is overpriced and overrated everywhere, just in case you were wondering. I saw him through to the area for passport control and then we said goodbye. I cried of course but then again I cry about everything. I knew that at that point I still had 1.5 hours until the train would leave the airport to go back to the city so I sat down and waited. I called Kenneth and got some last minute important numbers from him and even took down a note from him to his students. I cat napped for a bit in the airport until it was time for me to leave. I got on the train and I expected the conductor to come around and collect our 50 cents for the ride but that never happened so I got a free ride back into the city. This would begin my first journey alone in Georgia. I made it to the train station and tried to get a train ticket home but they were sold out. It would have been cheaper and more comfortable but there is always the marshutka option. I took the metro to the bus station and hopped onto the first one I could find back home. It was an uneventful and quick trip. I slept through most of it because I didn’t sleep much the night before. I got to Supsa and walked back to the village. I was home by 3:30PM. I forced myself to stay up until 9 and then I went to bed.
I called Kenneth in the morning(his midnight) and he was in Florida safe and sound. I went to school and had an uneventful day. After school I didn’t go to Kenneth’s school for English club because a teacher there called me to say there weren’t any students today. So I went home. Remember all that corn we had at my house? Well it’s still here. It is all shucked. Guess what the next step is? Corn chucking. There is a house thing on stilts in the yard and all of the corn on the porch has to go into the tall house. So I spent 3 hours today chucking corn into said house. There is snow forecasted for Thursday and now my host mother wants to get all the corn in there before then. I think we have something like 2 tons of corn. I don’t know if it will happen. I have a feeling I will be sore tomorrow but I have some more things to add to my village resume. Expert corn shucker and chucker.
I’m not going to be home for Thanksgiving but I have lots of things to be thankful for so I won’t have any trouble remembering to give thanks on that day.
Sorry for the delay. I’ll try and keep on top of it in the future. In other news my flight home is for the 22nd of December and I fly back to Georgia on January 14th. I’m excited to come home but sad to leave here. I have one month left until I come home. I also have a birthday in that time. Who knows what will happen for that. Until next time, stay safe and say a prayer for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment