November updates

A lot has happened since my field trip with the 8^th 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 26^th. 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 17^th 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 40^th 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 22^nd of December and I fly back to Georgia on January 14^th. 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.           

Birthday party and a field trip

Sorry for the delay but a lack of power at school for about a week put a halt to my typing time. I know I can always type at home but I’m usually tired and on my days when I don’t have any lessons it is easy to just go sit in the computer room and type away (when there is power that is).

Last you heard I had acquired a large amount of corn and well the corn shucking got old very quickly. I did about three hours worth the day after we got our massive pile and then my host mom told me to go inside because she could see I was tired. The pile didn’t seem to get any smaller and the next day we got even more corn. Yep. More corn. I was not happy but I’ve been excused for a few days because I’ve been getting home later than usual and it is getting cold outside.

My Friday was quite nice. After school Kenneth and I started our hike to Supsa with the plan to catch the train to Ozurgeti. We were walking very quickly because it was possible that we might miss the train if it came on time. Fortunately for us some teenagers in a car picked us up but soon after I could have sworn we were going to die. Joy riding on village roads is terrifying; there is no joy in it. Makes me question my hitch hiking ways in the village but we made it where we wanted to go with plenty of time to spare so I was slightly (just a tiny bit, but mostly because I was still alive) thankful to our driver. We arrived at the station to be told the ticket booth was out of order and that we could get tickets in Ureki (next train station and town over). Then in my broken Georgian I asked if it was possible to purchase tickets on the train. He said yes it was possible. So we waited for the train.

The train came and we asked the conductor if we could purchase tickets. She said it wasn’t possible but then asked us where we were going. We told her and she told us to get on and go sit. At first I was convinced we would have to give someone some money at some point but after our two-hour journey (lots of stopping and waiting) we got off the train in Ozurgeti without paying a cent. Somehow we managed a free train ride. I think it might have had something to do with being unable to communicate effectively but I’m okay with that. We then met up with our friend Riley and met two new friends, Kuba (from Poland) and Steven (from Virginia), before heading to the restaurant to celebrate Ruth Anne’s birthday. While there we met two Peace Corps volunteers who had just been having dinner with the ambassador. The ambassador was in town to open a new US aid office in Ozurgeti. We just missed seeing him. We had been here before to celebrate Clare’s birthday about a month ago so we knew what would go down. Lots of food and lots of wine, more wine and even giant cups of wine. There was dancing and music and lots of good conversation in English. Most of the conversation revolved around teaching or bits of culture. After leaving the restaurant we headed to Kuba’s apartment where we met his friend Agata (she is also from Poland). They are here as a European Service Volunteers (or something like that) and they do different things in the community to promote education as fun and to help Georgians learn a little about Poland. I wish I had gotten more information from them about their program but unfortunately I didn’t. We just listened to more music, played some games and had an all around good time. After staying up very late people started to leave. Kuba and Agata offered to let us stay on their spare beds and then offered us food in the middle of the night. I’ve never met so many hospitable people in my life as I have run into while I’ve been in Georgia and they haven’t all been Georgians. Agata also wouldn’t let us go to bed without us promising that we would wake her in the morning when we left. Kenneth and I had to be up early to head back to the village to go on a field trip (excursion) with his 8^th graders. It turned out to be a great night and I hope to be seeing all of my friends again soon. Many of them will not be returning in January and I know I will miss them dearly.

I slept like a rock but 7AM still came way too early. We bumbled our way around the apartment in the dark because the power was out (oh if I had a dollar for every time the power went out), said goodbye to Agata and made our way to the front of the train station where we knew we would be able to find a taxi. In our luck the first one we found knew where our village was, spoke a little English and only wanted to charge us 20 lari ($13) to get back to our village. We had heard horror stories that it might cost 50 lari so we were more than pleased with this price. After a nice ride and jotting down the taxi driver’s name and number we were waiting in front of the school for the students to arrive. Just after 9AM(almost on time) we had packed 25 people into a marshutka and headed towards Kutaisi. I know that I nodded off several times during the drive but I didn’t care. It was going to be a long day and catnaps would be required. Our first stop for the day was the Prometheus Caves.

This cave was pretty amazing. It is probably the tallest cave I’ve ever been in, definitely did not have to worry about hitting my head in this one. It was beautiful and surprisingly tourist friendly. I can’t find anything about it in my guide book and there are very few resources online. I wish I could remember all of the facts but one that sticks out to me was that one of the halls we walked through was 30 meters high. It was a 1 km hike through the caves and it included lots of stairs. I don’t think I’ve even had to take so many stairs while inside of a cave. Here are some pictures for you but I can’t claim them as my own. I found them online.

Next stop after the Prometheus caves was Sataplia. Sataplia means the place where honey is but I’ll explain that more in a bit. It is a nature park that has caves and dinosaur footprints. Yep that’s right, dinosaur footprints that are just sitting on top of some rocks. They have built a covered area and walkway over them so you don’t disrupt them. It was still pretty cool to see it. Some parts of the park are like a bad Disney. You walk into the cave and there is cheesy music and the lights keep changing colors. Even with all of that this cave was less impressive than the Prometheus Cave. The best part is walking around the park. There is a lot of natural beauty and there are some cool stories to go with it. There are some cliffs with small holes in them and bees live in those holes and from those holes you can gather honey. I thought that was pretty cool. There is a great view of Kutaisi and the surrounding area from the very top of the park. There is a glass floor in a u-shape so you can walk out over the edge of the cliff. Moderately terrifying but Georgia seems to have a love for glass floors so I’ve gotten a little bit more used to them. After Sataplia we made our way to Gelati. On the way we stopped at a house where we set up tables and all of the kids started pulling food and drinks out of their bags. I was quite hungry and hadn’t realized that we were carrying a feast around in our bus with us. It was very different from the food situation on an American field trip. After we finished eating the bus driver cranked the music and all of the kids started dancing in the road. Kenneth and I were required to participate even if we didn’t want to.

Gelati is an impressive cathedral and former monastery complex about 10km from Kutaisi. King Davit built it in the 12^th century. The frescoes inside the cathedral were beautiful but it was getting dark when we arrived and I know it must be even more impressive during the day. Just outside of the cathedral you can find King Davit’s tomb. While I was visiting Gelati I bought a bracelet that has my name written in Georgian letters on it. I like the way my name looks in Georgian. ლესლი. Yep it’s pretty cool. I was sad that we were only able to spend a few minutes there but it was worth it. Next stop was Motsameta. Motsameta is another old church/monastery near Kutaisi.

It was very dark when we arrived but from what Kenneth told me (he went there with his host family in September) the views are amazing. Georgians have a particular knack for placing their churches on top of hills that have spectacular views. When you visit this church there is a cool and interesting tradition that you must take part in. After walking into the church you go to your right and there is a side altar raised on a platform. You are supposed to make a wish, cross yourself and then crawl underneath the altar. You do this three times and then your wish will be granted. The bones of two monks who were killed in an Arab massacre in the 8^th century are in this altar. I don’t remember exactly what happened to make them so special but I’m sure I can look that up somewhere. After spending some more time in the church we made our way back to the bus where more dancing in the road ensued. I don’t understand their love of this but it made the night interesting. I was very tired because of a lack of sleep the night before but the students didn’t care they just wanted me to dance. Eventually we piled back into the bus and made our way back to the village. After a long two days I was quite happy to make it back to my bed and go to sleep.

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.



Life in Georgia

In the past week since my trip to Armenia I haven’t done much, which is probably good for you guys. I tend to write novels when I actually do things. Kenneth started after school English Club at his school, so I walked down there twice this past week to help him out. The rain on Wednesday and Thursday was positively miserable. It rained constantly for 2 days and the temperature never got above 55. We finally lit the stove in the living room to help keep us warm. It’s pretty hard to want to do a lot of things when you just can’t get quite warm enough. Especially if you have a cold nose. My mom would always say that her nose would get cold and then she couldn’t get warm and I finally understand that. Someone really needs to work on making nose hats.

On Friday the weather cleared up and it was beautiful and sunny. The kind of weather that makes you want to be outside. It wasn’t the warmest but the sun is a wonderful thing. After school the power was out at home and my host mom had left to make a trip to Lanchkhuti so I went to Kenneth house. We decided we were going to make pizza again. We had just enough flour but no tomatoes. So his host mom pulled out some stewed tomato and onion thing that we cooked down and added a small can of tomato paste. It is always an adventure cooking and making pizza this time was definitely easier and less messy but it didn’t taste as good. It was still delicious but didn’t rank as highly as the first time. After dinner we were playing darts and they divided us into America and Georgia teams. We lost terribly and that was mostly my fault. I’m pretty bad at darts especially when I don’t get to practice. I was eventually taken home and I went to bed soon after that.

Saturday was a lazy in bed kind of morning. After breakfast we hung the bedding out on the line because it was nice and sunny. They do wash the sheets and things but they also hang the pillows and mattress toppers outside and beat the dust out of them. I guess it keeps things cleaner. Kenneth came over around noon and then we left my house to go somewhere. We didn’t know where we were going but we went anyways. On our walk towards Supsa we got picked up by one of the local cab drivers that was heading back to his house so he didn’t charge us anything. We grabbed a beer at the store his wife manages and I gave our friend Ren a call. She was in Lanchkhuti and told us we should come too. So there we went. We sat in the park and talked some about our Georgia experience. Ren’s friend from the village who speaks English also decided to join us. A little bit later a Peace Corps volunteer who lives in Lanchkhuti also joined us. We went to a little restaurant just across the street from the park in Lanchkhuti and shared some more stories. Someone said that they met a guy in Georgia who had been to 50 countries and he said that he had never been in a place that was quite as weird as Georgia. I think that says a lot about this place. It’s kind of backwards in some ways, it’s very different in other ways and you really can’t explain it. One of these days I’ll post a list of things I’ve learned while in Georgia. Many of you will get a good laugh out of it.

We finally headed back to the village and fortunate for us there is a 6PM marshutka that passes Supsa and goes to our village. It was running late yesterday but I made it home just as it was getting dark outside.

Today is Sunday the 23^rd of October and I haven’t done much except write my blog. It’s that novel writing that keeps me busy. Aniko(my host mom) and I went to our neighbor’s house for a little while to take some food because the mother in law is sick. While I was there I ate a piece of candy that was like chocolate covered cherries. I’ll have to find me some more of those. I also just got a call from Kenneth saying that I’ve been invited over for kebabi at his house. Sounds like a plan for me. It will get me out of the house again for a while and that is always a good thing.

 As of today I have one week to decide if I want to extend my contract and stay in Georgia until June. I would still come home for Christmas but then after that I would come back here to finish out a school year. I don’t exactly have anything lined up for me to do at home but everyday I go back and forth between wanting to stay and wanting to go back. It’s really a 50/50 battle but I have to decide and soon. Thoughts from you on the topic would be most appreciated.

Trip to Armenia

Friday the 14^th of October is a holiday is Georgia. That means no school. Yay! The strange thing was that most of my students didn’t seem to know that Friday was a holiday until I mentioned it. I know that when I was in school I always knew when the next day off would be, but that probably had something to do with me writing everything down in my calendar at the beginning of the year. On Tuesday Kenneth suggested possibly going to Armenia and I didn’t see any reason why that couldn’t happen. A visit to the world oldest Christian nation always sounds like a good idea.

As I said before I bought our overnight train tickets to Tbilisi on Thursday morning and then we just had to wait. The train wouldn’t come through Supsa until 10:30PM. I had English lessons with Giorgi as usual. I had dinner and then around 9:15 Kenneth’s host Dad picked me up to take us to Supsa. It took the usual 20 minutes to get there, so we still had some more waiting to do. Fortunately it had stopped raining. The train arrived right on time which honestly surprised me. I have come to realize that transportation generally runs on time even if everyone else doesn’t seem to. I’m not quite sure how those two balance each other out but somehow it works. We arrived at our train compartment and realized one of us would have to take the top bunk on one side and the other would be taking the bottom bunk on the other side. The two other people in the compartment were already situated. I felt bad because I think we woke them up. Anyways after getting settled we called our two friends who were also on the train and went to go say hello. They had already fallen asleep because there isn’t anything to do on a train but we woke them up to make plans for the next morning. This consisted of trying to find the McDonalds and getting breakfast. I normally try to avoid the golden arches when I travel abroad but sometimes even smelling something familiar is nice. So with that we retired to our compartment.

It was a long night and I think I might have slept or at least I recall waking up several times in the night. My alarm in the morning was a woman walking up and down the train selling K’ava(coffee) and water. She might not have been speaking that loudly but the sound carried in the train. We got off the train and made our way towards the taxis. I thought I remembered seeing a McDonalds on Rustaveli near the Radisson, so that is where we headed. We arrived to find that there was indeed a McDonalds there, but that it either wasn’t open yet or was recently closed down for renovations. We obviously weren’t meant to eat it that day. So instead we wandered down the street in search for breakfast. Clare, Erica, Kenneth and I ended up in a small grocery store where we purchased food for breakfast and Kenneth and I bought some snacks for our trip to Yerevan.

We walked Erica and Clare to the hostel where our other friends were staying and in the process we picked up another TLG teacher who was going to Yerevan. His name is Dan and he is from England. Together the three of us took a taxi to Ortachala bus station (the international bus station) to catch a marshutka to Tbilisi. We arrived just in time to catch one that would be leaving in the next 15 minutes.  It is always better to be on one that is leaving sooner rather than later. On the marshutka we also met Clement. He is from France and is in Georgia through a French program to teach French language. The ride itself was pretty uneventful. We spent most of it talking about school stuff and learning how to count to ten in Armenian. Yet another language to try and learn while traveling in the Caucuses. I really wish I had studied Russian too. The Armenian countryside is very pretty, lots of mountains all over the place. And it was the beginning of fall so there was some great color splattered all over the sides of the mountains. The strangest things about the geography were probably the random rocks sticking out of the grass. 

 Armenia

After about 6 hours of traveling we finally arrived in Yerevan. Our French friend had been to Yerevan the previous year and said the walk to the hostel wasn’t that bad. So rather than braving public transportation we hit the pavement. It was a good 40-minute walk but we got to see lots of things. A giant market, the brandy factory, beautiful people and we were able to enjoy the weather.  We got to the hostel, checked in and then went out on a search for food. We ended up finding this place that served traditional food and the inside of the restaurant looked vaguely like a church with its stained glass windows and wall frescoes. After filling our stomachs we took a tour of the city. We walked up the Cascade a giant set of stairs that has galleries and works of art in, around and under it. At the top of the stairs there is a monument that celebrates 50 years as a soviet nation. We did some math and figured it had been there since the 70’s. Unlike Georgia, Armenia still has good relations with Russia so many of their monuments to the Soviet Union are still around.  We wandered around a lot and after a while we headed back to the hostel to get some sleep. 

 The Casacade in Yerevan

The next day Kenneth and I got up, threw breakfast in our snack bag and grabbed a cab to a bus station. We were headed to Khor Virap. We arrived at the bus station just after 9am but fortunately our bus hadn’t departed yet. We rode 40 minutes and then had to walk 1 km to the monastery. Khor Virap is a monastery near the foot of Mt. Ararat, but on the Armenian side. Historically Mt. Ararat was part of Armenia but borders today have it in Turkey. The church at the monastery is quaint and we saw two christenings and one salt blessing happen in the three hours that we were there.  History says that St Gregory the Illuminator was held captive by King Trdat(a pagan) in a well at Khor Virap for 12 years. That well is still at the monastery and you can go down in it. It’s a terrifying straight down ladder into what would have been a very dark hole if it weren’t for the light fixture that is now there. The view of Mt. Ararat is stunning and would have been better if there had been less clouds but I’m definitely happy we made the trek out there. The trek back to the main highway was 4 km and definitely less fun. After reaching the main highway and waiting for several minutes I flagged down a marshutka that was already very full of people so we had to stand most of the way back to Yerevan. 

 Mt. Ararat

We got back to the bus station, walked through a tunnel under the train station and saw some delicious looking street food. We were trying our best to point and use Armenian numbers to order food but it turned out that the woman who was selling the food spoke great English(well it was good enough to sell us food and explain what the different things were). Always a bonus when that happens. Kenneth was also a bit adventurous and purchased a white beverage. The lady said she liked to drink it so we figured it couldn’t be that bad. Well it was. I didn’t try it but it smelled like spoiled milk. We ended up just throwing that one away. Fortunately we also had some water.

After our quick lunch it was another trip to another bus station. This time we were heading to Echmiadzin. This city was the capital of Armenia when the country adopted Christianity and it is also where St. Gregory was told in a vision to build a church. The church here is the Vatican of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Their Catholicos (highest ranking church official) lives next to the church. The cathedral is ornately carved on the outside with many bell towers. The inside is less ornate but has some beautiful paintings on the ceiling. In the very back of the church is a small museum. It holds many sacred artifacts. You have to purchase a ticket to go in but it is totally worth it. There is a spearhead that was used to pierce the side of Christ on his way to Cavalry, there is carved image of the crucifixion that was carved by St. John, there is a piece of wood from Noah’s ark, there is a fragment of the cross that Christ was crucified on and in some very ornate arm-shaped reliquaries they have bones of John the Baptist, Peter and Andrew. In addition to these items there are also several historical items for the Armenian Church. They have the miters from every former Catholicos and some of the staffs they used. They also have giant container of holy oil that is only blessed once every 7 years. It is very moving to be in front of so much history. After wandering around the grounds for a little bit longer we finally made our way back to Yerevan. 

 Holy See at Echmiadzin

We stopped by the hostel to drop off some things and to ask for directions on how to get to the statue of Mother Armenia and the park up on top of the hill. We waited for the bus for a while and then decided the walk couldn’t be that bad so we made our way up to the top of the hill. Fortunately for us the Cascade has escalators inside so you don’t have to hike up the stairs. The park is an amusement park as well so after walking around and looking at the monument we rode the Ferris wheel to get an every better view of the city at sunset. Our plan was to head back down, find a souvenir shop, grab a quick bite and then head on a night tour that was lead by our hostel. That didn’t’ happen. We ended up in a souvenir shop with the most amazing shop worker ever. We picked out what we wanted, purchased it and the started a conversation with him. He told us everything he knew about Armenian history and culture. I don’t think I’ve ever had such an informational trip to a souvenir shop. Of course after he was done I wanted to buy a little bit of everything so that I could better remember Armenia but that was a bit out of my budget. He did give us some good food suggestions. So with our souvenirs in hand and a list of good places to eat we left the souvenir shop. We wandered for a very long time before finally eating but in that wandering we stopped at a fruit juice stand. While I was waiting for my banana juice many men with earpieces and some police showed up and told people they couldn’t walk any further past them. After a couple more moments a large group of men in suits walked across the street and into a restaurant. Then some official cars pulled up one of them had no plates and Armenian flags on the front. The rest of the cars all had similar plates on them that said something like AM 001-1, -2, -3. I turned to Kenneth and said, “I think we just saw the Armenian President.” Before this trip I had never seen the leader of any country in person and now I’ve seen two(well definitely one and most likely 2). After a very long day of traveling we retired to the hostel where we met up with everyone else to discuss travel plans. One of our companions was going to leave very early so he could be home at a reasonable hour. We decided that wasn’t for us. 

 Mother Armenia

We woke up just after 8AM Armenian time(one hour ahead of Georgia), had breakfast at the hostel and then 6 of us piled into a cab to go to the bus station. We asked around for a Tbilisi marshutka but the one that was leaving soon was already full. So we waited a moment then we were escorted to the other side of the station and put into a marshutka that was very empty. I was worried we would be waiting forever. But 10 minutes later and we were off. We ended up with a personal marshutka ride back to Tbilisi. We were all so shocked we were convinced that maybe he was going to stop somewhere else along the way to pick up more passengers. Nope. It was just us, our driver and a girl sitting in the front seat. I guess we covered his expenses to travel back so he decided he could go. 

On our trip back to Tbilisi we took a different highway that took us through the mountains and past Lake Sevan. It was great. Our driver even helped us order food when we stopped for our break. It was the best experience I have had so far in a marshutka. We arrived in Tbilisi just before 4PM(Georgia time). We said goodbye to our travel companions and once again went to another bus station to head home.

Chill week near the village

I know that it has been a while since I have updated and you’ll have to forgive me for that. I haven’t been too busy to write, just forgetful. Last you heard from me I had an exciting adventure in Tbilisi and a not so exciting week at school. 

The weekend of the 8^th I stayed in the village. On Saturday afternoon I went to Poti with Kenneth and his family. The main purpose was to visit the bazaar and purchase a few essentials. By essentials I mean pizza ingredients. We made a plan to make real pizza for our families on Sunday afternoon. What they call pizza is nothing like pizza. It has no tomato sauce, it has mayonnaise instead of cheese and I’m not sure what the dough is made from but it just isn’t right. I also caved and purchased the wireless Internet modem while I was in Poti. After a bit of trouble I finally got it working and now have internet at home. 

On Saturday evening Kenneth and his family were going to a wedding in Gulian(a nearby village) and because I had been hanging out with them all afternoon I ended up being invited to that too. It’s about a thirty-minute drive and we squeezed six of us into the car. Not an unusual feat in Georgia. Upon arrival I looked around and my first thought was that this doesn’t look too different from a funeral. The only difference I noticed was that instead of lots of crying there was lots of music and dancing. The wedding ceremony was being held in a different city but the party was in someone’s front yard under a big tent. There were enough seats set up for 300 people. Yes, you read that correctly: 300 people in someone’s front yard under a massive tent. There was also more than enough food to feed that many people. I don’t know how it works but somehow they manage it.  The party consisted of lots of toasting to everything, loud music, lots of food, drinking and dancing. Kenneth and I were also asked to come to the front and be introduced as their American guests and then they played some Michael Jackson songs just for us. I had a really great time and even made some new friends. It is difficult to go anywhere in Georgia without making at least one new friend.

That Sunday my host mom and sister (visiting for the weekend) headed to Poti. They woke me up momentarily to ask if I wanted to go too, but I politely declined and then fell back asleep. I really wanted a nice day of rest. I woke up, had breakfast, watched some TV, did some laundry and had an all around bum kind of morning. I had to make an adventure to the store to add more money to my phone so I could use it. I ended up having to go to the store closest to Kenneth’s house so I just stayed there and we started to make the pizza. We found a recipe online for dough. It was an adventure in cooking because we were guesstimating measurements for everything: water, yeast, flour, salt. While we waited for the dough to rise we cut up tomatoes and threw them into a pot along with some other spices to make our own pizza sauce. It doesn’t really exist here so you have to make it from scratch. Kenneth’s host mom was watching us the whole time and whenever something was dirty and I took it to the sink to wash it she immediately jumped in to clean it. As much as you might want to clean up after yourself it just isn’t possible.

We spread the dough out, put the sauce on top and topped that off with cheese (suguni cheese which is only made in the Samagrelo region) and peppers. We turned to put it in the oven and remembered that it was a gas oven so cooking at a certain temperature was not an option. Lots of checking and rechecking while it was cooking to make sure it didn’t burn. It was finally ready and I would have to say that it was the best pizza I have had in a long time. It was a very thin crust but I’m okay with that. We also had some traditional Georgian food to go with it and of course there was wine.

Overall I would say that I had a very successful and fairly relaxing weekend. It wasn’t at all boring but then again I spent a lot of time outside of my house and that makes all the difference.

The week following my weekend at home was mostly uneventful except for a last minute decision to head to Ozurgeti to help Clare celebrate her birthday on October 11th. It is about 35-40 minutes from my village. Kenneth asked his host Dad if he would take us down there, we even offered money to help cover the cost of gas. That idea was accepted but in the end Kenneth tried to give him the money and he wouldn’t accept it. Her birthday party was being held at a restaurant in Ozurgeti, there was a lot of food but there wasn’t anyone else in the restaurant. It was like a large private party. There was even some singing and other music for us to enjoy. Naturally this lead to some dancing. I’m really glad we made the spontaneous trip down for her birthday.

On Wednesday afternoon Kenneth and I went to Supsa to try and buy train tickets for Thursday night to Tbilisi but we were told that the ticket office wasn’t open, but would be open in the morning. I then made the trip to Supsa the following morning (no school for me) to buy our train tickets. Everyday is an adventure in communication but this was a big adventure. I eventually gave up in trying to communicate with her on my own and I called the TLG(Teach and Learn with Georgia) hotline. They help with anything and everything that you can’t figure out on your own. In the end I bought two second-class tickets for the overnight train to Tbilisi for just 11 Lari. This trip to Tbilisi was going to be just the beginning of a weekend trip to Armenia. I'll have to write more about that later because it deserves more attention than I can give right now. 

Also I have received more good news from home. My brother and his wife are expecting a baby in June. I'm very excited about this. Congrats to both of you!

Tbilisi and more

After a long boring week of doing nothing in Shromisubani I left town. On Friday afternoon Kenneth and I hopped on a marshutka(bus) bound for Tbilisi. This was after Kenneth was walking towards my house, got rained on and then got picked up by his host dad when they were coming back home. They took us to Supsa(the closest place to catch a bus). I was grateful for that because I really didn’t want to walk in the rain any more than I had to. The dad flagged the bus and bargained our fare to Tbilisi. We paid 30 lari for both of us to get there. That’s about $18. Yep. Travel is cheap here. It was cold and rainy the whole way and overall pretty uneventful. The bus stops once along the way to get something to eat and go the restroom. It is about 6 hours to Tbilisi. Once we arrived in the city I called my school director’s niece, Tamuna, to let her know that we had arrived. We met her once before when we were picked up in Tbilisi by our school directors after our week of training and my director told me to call her when I arrived. She speaks practically perfect English so it was a nice change. She told us to come see her and her family. I figured they would feed us and then send us on our way. I always appreciate good food so naturally we headed to her house. Her family lives on the edge of town and you take the metro to the very last stop and then take a taxi to their place. 

They live in one of the many giant soviet block buildings. They are pretty shabby looking from the outside and the stairwells aren’t lit but their apartment (I guess that’s what you’d call it) is amazing. It is the size of a house and has nice floors and good walls and a normal bathroom. I’m always surprised when I go in one of the soviet blocks. Tamuna lives with her parents, her sister, her nephew and her daughter. I think her brother might also live there but he was out of town. I don’t know about husbands. I think they are married but from what I’ve seen Georgian men aren’t around very often so it is hard to know unless they say something. However it was very nice to see them. They all know a little bit of English, which is an extreme difference from my home life in Georgia. They gave us some snacks and then the dad arrived and he wanted to eat khinkali and drink tchatcha and wine with us. Tchtcha, from what I’ve read, is like Italian grappa. It is made from grapes but the alcohol content is way higher than wine. It burns like crazy on the way down. Definitely warms you up from the inside out. After a bit of eating and a small bit of drinking (only one shot of tchatcha and one glass of wine for me) we were put to bed. The couch pulled out like a futon and there was a spare bed in the computer room. There is so much to be said for Georgian hospitality. Yes, let me take in these people that I’ve only met once before and let them sleep on my couch and eat my food. Then I’ll help them find their way around the city and make sure they don’t have to worry about anything. I really love that part of being in this country. We went to bed and knew that we’d have to be up early the next day for an excursion with TLG.

At 7:30 we woke up, ate breakfast and then made our way to the Radisson where we would be leaving with about 50 other teachers to go to Kakheti to pick grapes, make wine and bread and then eat some food. Kakheti is known as the winemaking region. We called about this trip on Thursday after we had already decided to go to Tbilisi and thought that it could be fun. Later we found out that the president would also be making an appearance. It is always good to see native speakers and spend time talking with them. I’m still not quite sure of the location but it was about an hour and a half outside of Tbilisi at an agriculture school. The vineyard had a sign on it that said the US Department of States and the USDA funds it. I thought that was very interesting. Not quite sure why they do that, but they do. Picking grapes isn’t exactly fun but for a short period of time it is entertaining. You take a knife and cut the grapes from the vine then you put the grapes in a small bucket. The small bucket gets emptied into a large basket and then the large basket was carted away by a donkey. A very cute donkey. He looked so sad, kind of like Eeyore but he was white. After most of the grapes were cleaned off the plants they put them in a trough and people get in the trough (with rain boots not barefoot) and stomp the juice. Fresh grape juice is delicious, even from green grapes. The president made a brief appearance (with helicopter assistance) and spoke with some of us took pictures and just did. He seemed to be a nice guy and he even told a joke or two. It seems to me that most people like the president but they think he’s a bit eccentric. The minister (I think of education) was also present but he was there the whole time. He even picked grapes and made bread.

There was also a chance to make bread and by make bread I don’t mean add flour, water etc. I mean we got to put the dough into the “oven.” It is a big round thing and you stick the dough inside on the sides. There are coals at the bottom and somehow it cooks evenly and if delicious. It is called tonispuri(toni bread). The toni is the big round thing. There is nothing like fresh bread, meat right off the grill and khinkali straight out of the pot. We left after eating a lot of food and drinking some wine.

On arrival in Tbilisi Kenneth and I walked with our friend Ruth-Anne back to her hostel so she didn’t have to find it on her own. Once we got there we got to say hello to several of our friends and spend some time with them before we headed back to Tamuna’s house. We ate dinner, watched the kids dance around and then Tamuna, her sister, Kenneth and I went out to a club. We almost didn’t get in because Kenneth and I weren’t dressed appropriately but they knew someone who knew someone so we got in. It was opening night for that particular club. They had the band from the Georgian late night talk show, this girl with a great voice and this couple who one some sort of competition that is kind of like American idol/America’s got talent. Something along those lines. It was a night filled with good food, drinks and dancing. I haven’t had that much fun at a club in a long time. I definitely could have done without all the smoke but it was great. Also something amazing that I need to find in the US is cherry juice. It goes very well with vodka and it is pretty tasty on its own. Around 3am we finally headed home to a well deserved sleep.

The next day we got up at sometime. Ate breakfast and then went to Sameba Cathedral. It is a giant church on top of a hill in Tbilisi. It was just finished in 2004. It was very crowded when we got there and the reason was that the Patriarch(Georgian Orthodox Pope) was performing mass that morning. I couldn’t see him but I’ve seen enough of him on TV to know that he is an old, old man with a long gray beard and a shaky voice. I definitely felt blessed to be there with everyone else. There is just something about being around that much faith that just lifts you up. We walked around the grounds and down beneath the church where there is a small chapel. After that we headed back to Tamuna’s place. We stopped at an overlook of the city on our way. We then ate food and found our way back to the bus station so we could head home. After negotiating our fare and waiting around for a bit we finally left Tbilisi around 5PM. Again it was another fairly uneventful, but very fast bus ride. We were riding through this one town and picked up a new passenger and it happened to be our friend Riley who lives about 30 minutes from our village. The odds of him getting on the exact same bus are so low it isn’t even funny, but it happened. Georgia just gets smaller all the time and it is already small enough.

School this week has been pretty boring. My teacher book finally arrived and my co-teacher and I sort of “plan” right before we go into class. Much improved over last week. I don’t think I’m going to doing anything too exciting this weekend but you never know. Things just sort of happen around here.

Sorry for writing so much but I really don’t have anything better to do at the moment and there is just so much to tell you.

Also I just want to throw a quick congrats to my friend Rachel on her engagement and good luck in New Zealand!

I'll be posting photos on Facebook shortly.