Tbilisi, no Kazbegi, well it's both.

I last left you as I was heading to Kenneth’s house to enjoy some fresh pork kebabs. It was a lot of fun watching the meat cook and hanging out with Kenneth’s family and playing a couple of rounds of darts (which I lost terribly). I ate way too much food and I wasn’t sure I would make it home but I did and I definitely slept very well that night. Not too much happened over the next few days. I continued to go to after school English Club at Kenneth’s school and I started English Club for the older students at my school too. They are gradually introducing English and at my school if you are above grade 6 you don’t have any English classes. I think that isn’t very fair for them so I now meet with them once a week to go over some conversational English. The basics such as; what’s your name, where are you from, when is your birthday, how old are you, how many siblings do you have? There are all the basic questions that I have been asked one billion times since my arrival in Georgia. I figure it is only fair that they are also able to answer them.

Boys working with the kebabs

On Friday afternoon Kenneth and I made our way to Tbilisi for the Halloween weekend. The plan was to go to Mtskheta on Saturday morning, the Jazz Festival on Saturday evening to see Larry Coryell Trio and then later go to one of the hostels around town to enjoy some candy, pumpkin carving and drinks. Well as usual in Georgia things never go according to plan, fortunately for me I’m learning how to deal with it. On our way to Tbilisi I get a message from the person we were going to stay with saying that she had to go out of town for the weekend for an emergency and that she is very sorry for the short notice. This is when plan B kicks in. Kenneth suggests we go to the McDonalds for dinner and use their free Wi-Fi to find a place to stay. So there we go. For the first time in all of my travels I go into a McDonalds abroad and actually eat the food. It wasn’t as good as  I was hoping for but they did have free internet so I guess it makes up for it. We found a hostel (Nest Hostel) that was offering a deal to teachers in our program for Halloween weekend. Half-price hostel stay with free internet and as much tea and coffee as you can drink. So that is when where we ended up. Upon arrival we are given beds and then shots of vodka. Welcome to Georgia. We stayed up very late and once again our plans were foiled. We made two new friends who were in Georgia on vacation from Lithuania. Their plan for Saturday was to go to Kazbegi(city with a cool church that you hike up to next to the tallest mountain in Georgia).

            Kenneth and I decided to go to Kazbegi. The weather would soon not be favorable for visiting Kazbegi and at this point neither of us knew if we would get another chance to see it. Kenneth and I put on all the clothing we brought with us to Tbilisi. After barely sleeping the four of us (Ruta, Gabriele, Kenneth and I) left the hostel shortly after 8AM to catch a 9AM marshutka to Kazbegi. The trip takes about 3 hours and it will be pretty cold where we are going. On the way we had to drive through a giant herd of sheep and goats and cows. I’ve never seen that many all squished together like that before.

SHEEP!!!

 We also got our first glimpse of snow that we could touch if we wanted to. There was plenty where that came from. We made a short pit stop to grab a bite to eat and use the toilets. In that time Kenneth almost bought a large fuzzy hat made from sheep wool. I took a picture but I couldn’t stop laughing about it for about five minutes.

Fuzzy sheep hat

After another hour of bumpy roads we finally arrived in Kazbegi (now known as Stepantsminda but nobody calls it that). We got out of the bus and were greeted by many locals eager to drive us up the mountain to the church but we had decided that we would prefer to walk. We were also greeted by a very excitable young dog that we later named Shavi(it means black in Georgian). The first order of business was to get to a pharmacy to grab some anti-motion sickness meds for Gabriele. She wasn’t feeling too well after the bus ride. So we all went in to warm up and bit and when we came out our little dog friend was still waiting for us. We began our trek up the mountain. I had read somewhere that it would take about an hour and a half to get there. We were offered even more rides as we started to walk but we were determined to not accept them. We wound our way up through a small village and asked directions several times before finding the obvious path to the top. Most of the way we were walking along the road and there were many switchbacks. Probably against better judgment we took a couple of shortcuts through the trees to the next part of the road rather than walking around the corner. It was an adventure. At one point Kenneth decided he would take one of these shortcuts and the rest of us would just meet him around the bend. Too bad there wasn’t a switchback at that point. We (the girls) followed the road and kept hoping the road would turn at some point. But it didn’t. Kenneth eventually had to climb back down and then take the road. At this point we were very far ahead of him and told him we would just wait for him at the top. I was very happy to have had a phone on that trip and even happier that they still worked at the top of the mountain. Our little dog friend continued to accompany us to the top. He would run ahead a bit and the run back to us or wait for us to get closer.

The church(yeah that's far)

As we got closer to the top it got colder and there was more snow but it wasn’t snowing. I made a snowball and threw it at a tree. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced snow in October but there is a first time for everything and in Georgia I’m sure I will experience many more firsts. We finally turned a corner and we could see the church. At last! Although we were determined to not take a car up to the top there were moments when we all regretted that decision. The view from the top was amazing. It was a bit windy but that was expected. Kenneth also finally joined us and we had our lunch of bananas and bread and water. We hadn’t really planned too well in advance for a climb up a mountain but at least we had some food.

Shavi and the church in the snow

We trudged across some mud and snow and made our way to the church. We went inside but before we could do that the girls had to put on skirts. They were provided for us on a bench outside. It was a very small and quiet church. There were lots of candles and icons. I could feel the sacredness of the space and I didn’t want to ruin the peaceful silence, not even with a sniffle. It was a journey that was worth taking. Unfortunately what goes up must also come down. We were trying to guess how many of us would fall on the ice on our way down. I ended up being the only one. Just a step and a slip and BOOM, my butt was in the snow. Fortunately I recovered quickly and didn’t get too wet. But I will say that my leg hurt a bit the next day.

 Mt. Kazbek

New friends

We made our way down the mountain and just before we got back to town our little dog friend left us for a lady dog who wanted nothing to do with him. We found a restaurant to eat some hot food. I had the most delicious bowl of chicken soup I’ve had in a long time. I don’t know if it was because it was hot or if I was that hungry or if it really was that delicious but I really enjoyed it. Our bus back to Tbilisi was just outside of the restaurant and while we were waiting for it to leave Shavi the dog found us again. He tried to get on the bus to come home with us and if it was had been possible we would have taken him in a heartbeat. Unfortunately we had to leave him there but hopefully he will accompany more travelers up to the church in the future and they will enjoy his company as much as we did. It was a quick ride back to the city, probably because I fell asleep for part of it. We made our way back to the hostel and things were just starting to pick up for the Halloween party. Many of our fellow teachers had also shown up in the time that we were gone. It was good to see a lot of them again. There was lots of music (even some Disney songs) and drinking and food and an all around good time. I was really tired so I went to sleep around 1AM but after barely sleeping the night before I feel like that was acceptable even if there was a Halloween party.

It just wouldn't be Halloween without jack-o-lanterns

The next morning, Sunday, we were awake around 10 and Kenneth, Ruta, Gabrilele and I went out in search of the market where we could buy some Georgian gifts. The Lithuanian girls were leaving the next day to go back home and needed gifts for their families. I also was looking but I didn’t find anything that I really had to have or that someone I knew really needed to have as well. But it was really interesting trying to bargain in Georgian and they all got excited when they noticed I knew more than just how much does this cost, and a few numbers. Even strangers were calling me kai gogo (good girl). After some shopping we made our way to a little café that was serving tomato soup and croissants and other familiar foods. It was a bit expensive by Georgian standards but it was comforting and delicious. We then said goodbye to our Lithuanian friends and made our way back to the hostel.

It was in those next 15 minutes that I made the decision to stay in Georgia for a second semester and to complete an entire year as an English teacher. I had made a list of pros and cons and there weren’t that many cons. I am also reasonably adjusted and happy here. I do miss people from back home but I will get to see them during my holiday break. Upon arrival at the hostel I pulled out my computer and sent my contract extension request to the legal department. I also sent my flight requests and I have requested to fly back around the 21^st of December but my flight could be + 3 days from there. School doesn’t end until the 23^rd so I didn’t want to leave my students for a very long time without me. When I have my actual dates I will be at home I will let all of you know. Thank you so much for supporting me in this adventure and I can’t wait to see you when I get back home. Please continue to pray for me as I need it even more in the next two months. I don’t want to say that I’m homesick but I do miss many people from back home so waiting until the end of December could be very difficult.

I have told my teachers and my host family and some of my students that I will be returning in January. They are all very excited to have me. Plans for this coming weekend include a school excursion with the 8^th graders at Kenneth’s school. On Saturday morning we will be going somewhere near Kutaisi. The details are a bit fuzzy at the moment. Should be fun. Also last night about one ton of corn arrived at my house. I will be busy shucking corn for the next few days.