Summer Time and the Livin's Easy

It’s been another great week here in Georgia! I’m currently listening to the thunder roll through the valley, there is bound to be another heavy rain storm tonight. First it will sprinkle a little, then there will be a loud crack and the rain will just pour for a half an hour or so. If we don’t lose power during the storm I count it as a win, we tend to lose that battle frequently. Without further ado this week’s highlights I give to you:

Learning and Using Healthy Vocab

Monday’s language lesson on health and related vocab came at just the right time. On the marsh ride home from our afternoon training in Gori I suddenly felt shaky, week, and clammy. I got home and decided to rest but didn’t want to create a health scare with my host family. I snuck up to my room and hid out until dinner. During dinner my mother, nothing my previous absence, asked how I was feeling and using my new Georgian vocab I explained that I was feeling week and thought I might have low blood pressure. She asked if I thought I might just be tired and I told her that wasn’t the case. Next thing I know she has me on the couch and is checking my blood pressure. (Georgians take blood pressure very seriously. Everyone has a stethoscope and the blood pressure thing in their houses. No idea why it’s a thing but this time it came in handy. We can talk about Georgian health superstitions another time.) My blood pressure was low: 100/60. Her remedy was a glass of sugar water and some fresh honeycomb. I was then forced to spend the rest of the evening on the couch. Her reasoning for my predicament, too much mint tea. It’s true that mint does reduce blood pressure, a good thing give the high salt content of all their foods. Now I am banned from having mint tea in the mornings, which is fine- who needs to start their day with cup of boiling water in the summer? Not me.

A Fruity Summer Love Affair

Now that Summer is in full swing here, the orchards have started to share their bounties with us. Cherries are the main cash crop in the village and buyers have been swarming the place every day. There are people from Azerbaijan, Russia, and Turkey all her gathering cherries to export. I can’t being to explain how many cherries there are in this town. My family for example has been picking and selling 100 kilos a day! In the coming weeks they will have some hired help and begin to do 200-300 kilos a day. It is insane! It also works in my favor because I am constantly being offered cherries- white, black, red, sweet, sour, you name it! It is crazy to think about how expensive cherries can bFe in the states when I am eating them by the handful every second of the day. In addition to the cherries, raspberries are also now in season. My typical routine when I get home is to head back in the garden pick of bowl of raspberries and cherries and then snack on them from my table on the back patio while I do my homework. There are no complaints about my life here, not in the least.

First World City Times

On Wednesday this week I finally got to take a trip into Tbilisi, the capitol of Georgia. It is a modern city and full of things you just can’t find anywhere else. We had an appointment with a local NGO but first we had to make a pit stop at McDonalds for some soft serve. McDonalds in the US is pretty low on the totem pole of eating establishments; however, when you travel abroad you quickly learn how nice foreign McDonalds are, Tbilisi’s was no exception. Our meeting with PH International went very well and I am very excited to work with them on some of their projects out in Poti. After out meeting we made our way to the Peace Corps offices which involved a trip on the metro and walking past a Dunkin Donuts and several US clothing stores- the city is nothing like the villages. We toured the office, met some PCVs who were wrapping up their service and then made the best decision of all- head out to a local Indian restaurant for lunch! I love the food in Georgia, it really is delicious. However, there really isn’t a lot of spice nor variety in the types of foods we eat, so a chance to indulge in a nice curried meal sounded amazing. Oh, and it was! The next stop was an actual super market where you could buy everything in one spot- much more convenient than haggling at the local market. Plus I walked out with a bag of peach gummies- a win for everyone. It was a great first trip to Tbilisi and there will be many more, it’s a bummer that it’s 6 hours from Poti. (P.S. the rain just started to pour after a loud bang- just as I had predicted.)

Cheers to the Weekend

On to the weekend! This weekend was part 2 of our cluster exchange program where we get to visit others cluster training sites. Since I went and visited Daniel in Kombinati last time, it was his turn to come and visit me in Skra. The other trainees in Skra also had some friends come to visit and we were able to double our numbers. Our first plan was to create an American version of the famed Georgian supra so we all divided out the cooking list and got to work. Daniel and I were tasked with making some sort of fruit pie dessert for the group to eat. My host dad put it the best when he saw us getting ready in the kitchen, “You guys aren’t chefs, you’re teachers!” We had no idea what we were doing but things kept working out in our favor. I had to adapt the normal recipes to work in Georgia and there was no way to use accurate measurements so it was all a guessing game. We had sugar, butter, flour, and a lot of fruit- all you could possibly need for a good dessert. My host mother kept a close eye on us and you could tell she had her doubts about the effectiveness of men in the kitchen. In the end our half pie half fruit crisp turned out amazing, and that was despite the fact that the baking sheet didn’t fit in the oven and the door couldn’t close. We earned rave reviews from all the Georgians.

The supra itself turned out amazing as well, we had: hamburgers, fried potatoes, fresh salsa, fruit salad, garlic bread, our delicious dessert, and of course tons of Georgian wine. The Georgians just can’t seem to grasp the fact that I don’t drink- it is a foreign concept. Everyone makes their own wine and seems to think that I only don’t drink because I don’t like other wines so I am generally reassured that their wine is the best or that I should drink with them because of course Georgian wine is the best medicine. Regardless of the misunderstandings the supras are amazing and the toasting is always fun, I just keep my pear soda nearby and it often passes as a decent substitute- at least it is local right?

Too much food, per usual

Sunday Nature Walk

Today we gathered back together for our next great activity, a hike deep into the mountains behind Skra. I had asked my family for help to drive us back into the mountains a way so we could try a new hike. They were more than willing to help and I hadn’t asked them much about their plans otherwise. While we were waiting for the others to arrive my family’s plan began to manifest itself. My mom started by stuffing our backpacks with food- fresh bread, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, and chicken for a picnic. More food than we could ever eat. Next my brother showed up with a shotgun and a few cartridges. I was assigned to hold the cartridges while he would carry the gun. I guess you never know when you will encounter a wild animal (including the still missing tiger and hyena). I tried to explain that we never carry guns on hikes in the US but my mother countered with- you don’t generally have zoos on the loose.

Just a normal Sunday walk

With an over prepared tour guide (aka my host brother brought shotgun)

Once everyone arrived we loaded into my brother’s Soviet jeep and drove out of town and into the mountains. We went about 7km until the gravel road ended and then we unloaded and started on the trail. I hadn’t realized that my brother was going to be our guide either. Vaniko led the way and we followed for hours. Georgians don’t really go hiking nor are they very outdoorsy so this was a new site for all of us. We walked for 2 hours or so and ended up climbing several hills and climbing up streams of mountain runoff water. We had no idea where we were being taken and were equally confused by the fact that we weren’t actually climbing up a mountain either. After a particularly steep climb Vaniko took a turn into the trees and then appeared a few minutes later for us to follow. Just a short stroll into the thick trees and we found a lean-to canopy for our lunch. More impressive however was the hidden building up on the hill further in the trees.

Lunch Break

The hidden 16th century monastery

Some of the remaining frescos

We excitedly climbed up and entered into what turned out to be an old monastery from the 16th century. Used by the Georgians as a retreat during the Persian invasions when Christianity was basically outlawed in the country. The inside was spacious, dark, and damp. We used our phones for flashlights and explored the various rooms. On several walls you could still see the remains of old frescos painted on the walls. It was hard not to feel like we were not suddenly transported into an Indiana Jones movie. We stayed in the area for about an hour relaxing and eating the copious amount of food my mother had sent with us. Then we headed back and took time to stop and soak in the small river falls for a bit. Last but not least, we were greeted back home with several of my mom’s delicious baked goods- all in a day’s work.

We didn't even think twice about getting in

P.S. The rain has also stopped and I think we still have power, another win!

The Week Where Nothing Happened

I have little to report on this week, the only picture that even came out of this week is one of me getting to know the pig in Alex's barn (see below).

You might say that we are HAMming it up!

Things that catch me off guard in Georgia:

- Cars are imported from all over the world. This means that some cars are British and the driver's seat is on the right side. This leads to a lot of mental confusion when you see a car approaching with what looks like a driver-less car with a passenger in the front seat.

- There is now set drinking age for minors. Parents often let children sip from their wine or beer. I was really caught of guard when a mom gave her 10 year old daughter some wine to drink.

- The Georgian system for counting is base 20 rather than 10. For example in English it's easy to count once you know 10 numbers, things just repeat ie. twenty-one, thirty-three etc. However, in Georgian instead of saying thirty you say twenty and ten and then twenty and eleven and so on. The number 50 is said as four twenties and ten. Needless to say I am still trying to figure out how to recognize numbers more quickly; I just hate having to add them- 4 twenties and 15 = 95

- I am not allowed to do ANYTHING helpful around the house. I am constantly trying to sneak in some way to help my hard working host mother. Most often this included washing the dishes after a meal. It only works when my mom is not in the kitchen and also out of earshot as well. As soon as she hears the sink start to run she rushes to the kitchen to shout, "iqos, iqos" meaning "leave it." Sometimes I play dumb and ignore her, the other times she wins and then shoos me out the kitchen.

- A meal of pasta, bread, rice, and potatoes is perfectly acceptable and common. I mean I love me some carbs so I never thought I'd have to be the one to ask for at least a cucumber to add some variety.

- People whom I don't know and have probably never spoken to feel the need to tell me that I am a "good boy" when I see them around the village. Good boy and good girl status is something you have to maintain, once you've been given the coveted good/კარგი status you have it made.

- Sometimes bees fly out of my toilet while I'm using it. It doesn't just catch me off guard, it terrifies me.

- If you were tuned into the news earlier in the week you may have run across an interesting story taking place in my part of the world. Late Saturday evening a mudslide dammed a river in Tbilisi which then caused the river to flood over its banks and into the surrounding area. These floods destroyed several homes, displaces many people, ruined a stretch of important freeway, killed about 19 people, and also flooded the zoo- this is the part of the story that has been most reported.

Due to the flood many of the animals in the lower half of the zoo managed to escape their enclosures. This sent lion, tigers, and bears into the streets of Georgia's capitol and largest city. The pictures looked like something out of a movie, it was by far own the most sensational news stories of the day. Slowly the police, zoo keepers, and others were able to locate most of the missing animals. Some 300 animals have died as a result of the flood and its aftermath. On Wednesday one many was killed by a tiger that had been hiding in a warehouse in the city. Other than that one incident, nothing too dangerous has been reported.

However, yesterday we caught word that there had been a potential tiger sighting in a nearby village. This immediately led to all trainees being placed on lock down in their homes. Thus after a rather uneventful week I was left with a rather uneventful weekend as we waited out the lock down. I will admit, when I accepted the invitation to serve in Peace Corps Georgia I never imagined this scenario taking place. I don't know what I will do if I run into a wild tiger in these parts, it would be too surreal and I'd probably be unable to process and sort of rational thought or escape plan. (P.S. There is still a report of hyena and one white tiger on the loose. I still can't comprehend what is going on here.)

გაუმარჯოს to a beautiful country full of surprises!

A Preview of Poti-ntial Adventures!

**Long post warning**

(But I added lots of pics!)

I’ve been sitting here for ten minutes to try and start typing but I keep getting distracted by my many mosquito bites and stop to itch them all and then forget what I am trying to do-focus Logan you can beat the itch!

This week has been quite the exciting roller coaster! I have finally received my permanent placement assignment and can now begin to plan out my two years of service, training has been wonderful (and I still have another month of it) but I can’t wait to dive into my service.

Classic map pointing pic

Monday was the big day and everyone was buzzing with excitement as we gathered together for our day long training. We tried to wait patiently through a few meetings and trainings but it was obvious where our minds were. When it was finally time they brought us all outside to where the staff had taken rope and made an outline of Georgia, then they placed slips of papers on the map according to where they were going to be volunteers. Next every volunteer was given an envelope addressed to another volunteer. The first person stepped up, called out the name of the person whose envelope they had, and then proceeded to read out the region and city where that person was being assigned. The volunteer would then go stand on that spot on the map and read out the name of the person whose envelope they had. It was such an exciting process to hear where everyone was going. Slowly the volunteers all moved onto their places and there were fewer and fewer of us standing outside the lines.

Stole this from the PC Georgia page, you should like/follow it

By the time my name was called there were only two more people still waiting for their assignments and it was difficult to see which sites were left. My friend Andy called out my name and shouted out my assignment- Poti! (FYI- it isn’t pronounced like potty, it’s more like P-oh-tee) I was floored. I remember when I first saw a map of Georgia and began to look at all the cities, the name Poti had stood out because I knew a town in Brazil by the same name. From that first moment I’d told myself I was going to go to Poti. I didn’t think much of it after I had arrived here because there weren’t any volunteers there and hadn’t been any for years. However, it stayed in the back of my mind and every now and then I had coincidences where it would come up and I’d think about going there. I’m not a psychic by any means, but that’s close enough right?!

Me finding out that mine and Alex's sites are only 30 min apart!

Post placement activity excitement

Anyways I couldn’t have been more excited. It is a medium sized town on the Black Sea and home to Georgia’s main sea port. It is also one of the oldest cities around. Legend links it back to the time of the Greek empire and the myth of Jason and the Argonauts. They sailed to Poti, then called Fasi, in search of the Golden Fleece. Given its key location, it has always been a center for commerce on the Black Sea. It’s more recent history is full of wars has it changed from Ottoman, to Russian, to Georgian control several times. Even recently in 2008 during the brief war with Russia, Poti was under attack from the Russian Navy. I’m definitely excited to learn more about its history and culture.

Following lunch we were divided into groups based on which of Georgia’s 11 regions we had been assigned. My group of seven have been assigned to the Samegrelo region. The people from the area are known as Megrelians (I’ve taken to calling us Megremlins, we’ll see if it sticks) and many speak Megreli which is a dialect of Georgian only spoken in that region. Luckily everyone knows Georgian as well because I don’t think I could handle another language at this time. In our group we learned about our region and what it’s most known for. My takeaways include: the diversity and beauty of its nature, its love for spicier foods, large hazelnut crop, humid climate, and worst of all the large mosquitoes near Poti.

The new Samegrelo crew- Randi and Zach on my left will be in Poti near me

After our trainings had finished I came back to my village to find my family waiting excitedly to hear were I would be going. I’m pretty sure they were just as excited as I was, I love them! After spending the rest of the evening reading about Poti I finally remembered that I actually needed to pack because I was leaving the next day for our conference in Borjomi and then to visit Poti for a few days.

Tuesday after lunch we all gathered together again and load onto our buses to travel to Borjomi (the mountain city I visited my first weekend here). We pulled up to a swanky hotel and were all shocked. We definitely had not expected anything this nice. We were all in heaven as we got to our rooms and found western toilets, full showers with hot water, robes, and various other amenities. We had little time to take it all in before we were brought outside to meet our new supervisors (aka the principal at our new school). There were so much excitement on their end as they called us out one by one to match each volunteer with their supervisor. They people have been waiting a long time, attended various trainings, and filled out endless paperwork all to then hopefully be selected to receive a volunteer. Why my name was called the wrong director actually stepped forward so there was a bit of a mishap however we quickly corrected things and were able to meet and start chatting (using my limited Georgian skills). The rest of the night and the next morning were spent in various meetings together getting oriented to what the first 90 days at our permanent sites would be like. With each step things keep feeling more and more real and I get more and more excited!

My new director, Nona, and I at our conference

Finally Wednesday after lunch we said goodbye to the other trainees and the Samegremlins loaded onto a bus with our supervisors and headed west for our new sites. It was a long ride, luckily my trusty ipad kept me entertained with Thor 2 (now that I am all caught up I can finally watch the new Avengers movie, whenever it comes to Georgia). We pulled into Poti around 7pm and I was exhausted. My new host father was waiting for us at the bus station and quickly loaded me and the director into a car to take us home. I got a brief tour of the town before we pulled up to my new place. It is a nice house and very different from the village I’m currently in. My new host family also has a 15 year old son which should be fun. It was just surreal to stop and think that this would be my home for the next two years. (Don’t worry though, I’ve still got an outhouse so those stories aren’t going away anytime soon.)

The next morning I was up at my normal time 7:30 or so and started to move around and get ready for the day. I quickly realized that life in a town is very different from the village. We don’t have animals to take care of and nowhere near as many chores, so I was the only one awake. I’m used to my parent’s getting up at 6am every morning and then trying to come up with ways to avoid eating all of whatever morning feast has been prepared. Around 8:30 my brother was ready for school so my Dad called a taxi and the three of us headed into town. My school is about 2km from my house and my dad’s work is another km from there so we carpool together in a taxi. (Not sure if that is an everyday occurrence yet).

My new school built in 1928, I think?

The students and parents decorate the halls according to the season

My new school, like everything else in Poti, it very different from the village as well. Public school #1 is the oldest school in the town and has about 625 student enrolled. There are 6 English teacher for me to work with as well. I first headed to the director’s office where I met up with Nona. Next Nana the head English teacher came and took me on a tour of the school. We visited every class and greeted all the students and teachers. Everyone seemed very excited and made me feel wonderful as well. Despite it being the second to last day of school the students were all fairly well behaved as well.

The bathrooms are outside unlike in Skra where they stink up the whole hallway

After my tour we met to discuss various details of my visit and the school’s needs then I helped teach a few classes before I left. I can already tell that it is going to be a great place to work and is also a great fit for my knowledge, background, and interest. Unfortunately school won’t start up until September so I’ll have a lot of downtime to navigate before I start teaching.

Searching for the sea

After lunch I went on a stroll around the center to familiarize myself with the town some more. It seems like a great place but it also seems really old and has probably struggled adjusting to the post-Soviet realities, much like the rest of Georgia. After my self-guided tour I returned home for lunch and a quick nap. Afterwards I was back in an exploration mood and decided to find my way to the sea from my house. My brother’s directions were simple enough. Just go straight. Straight let me to the end of my street, across a cow pasture, through thick brush, narrow cow trails, and finally to the beach. Unlike Batumi the beach here is a mix of black sand and dirt and more comfortable for laying out. However the beach is full of wandering cows and washed up debris. I’ve already started planning my summer cleaning up a section of the beach for my own use- there wasn’t another person in site.

"Cow Beach"

While I was exploring the beach nature came calling and I couldn't avoided. I found myself reverting to my boy scout roots and sat out to find leaves which would work as toilet paper and weren’t poisonous. Next I found an old cement structure which happened to have some nice holes near by and deemed it a suitable bathroom. Given I was still the only one around I wasn't too worried about the lack of privacy. It was definitely one of the better views I have had while using the bathroom. Also the whole process was fairly simple given that fact that I’ve been squatting for weeks now. Overall it was a great reminder that despite being in a larger town I was still in the Peace Corps.

What a view!

Later that same evening after dinner my host father borrowed the neighbor’s car to take me on another tour of Poti. He showed me where the national park is nearby as well as the WWII memorial. Next we visited his “summer house” where he is growing various fruits and veggies. The house itself is a lot more rustic and I couldn’t follow most of what he was saying but I am hoping it didn’t include living there during the summer, on the plus side the walk to the sea from there is a lot shorter and doesn’t include cows and thick brush. Next we headed to the ports and the gas station he manages. It was a pretty fun time out together, I definitely think that I won’t have any worries getting along with him.

The rest of my stay in Poti was fairly uneventful. I headed back into the center on Friday morning to familiarize myself with where the various stores were. Then at 2pm I headed to school where I sat in on their last day of school faculty meeting and then introduced myself. Of course I was a sweaty mess because I had had to speed walk to the school because I was running late and it was a hot and humid day. Not having AC in a humid climate can just be cruel, it is like being in Brazil all over again. Hopefully the people here also won’t mind the sweaty American who can’t ever seem to cool down.

My afternoon in the park

That night I borrowed my father’s bike and went for a ride and eventually made it back to the beach. Being as enamored with the sea as I am, I decided to walk the 1.5 miles back up to where I would be able to find the path back to my house. Unfortunately it took a lot longer than expected and by the time I made it up the beach I couldn’t see anything so I had to get creative before I found the right road home. It was too dark to ride the bike without light so I had to stick my iphone in my chest pocket with the flashlight on and use that light to navigate the uneven dirt road back to my house. I really need to stop having these little mishaps out in nature.

I was exhausted by the time I finally made it home and after going to my room I next remember waking up at 3:30 am with the lights on and me flat on my back. When I woke back up in the morning my dad was ready to take me to the bus station for my trip back to Skra. He made the driver stop at the store so he could buy me some travel snacks and even bought my bus ticket for me, I’m telling you he is a wonderful man.

An afternoon break in Kutaisi, Georgia's legislative capital 

I met up with the other volunteers in Poti and we headed to Kutaisi where we spent the afternoon with the other Samegremlins to break up the long trip home. When I finally made it back into Skra around 7pm I was hit with that ever comforting feeling of home. I have just 4 more short weeks here in training before I head out for good. I never thought that I would grow so attached to my little village and family in such a short amount of time. I’m definitely not looking forward to those goodbyes.

Gaumarjos!

In case you have been MIA for the past 7 weeks and weren’t aware of how great Georgia is, I thought I’d just tell you one more time- it is fantastic! This past week has been another one for the scrapbook (which will probably never be made). Plus tomorrow is the big day, we will finally receive our site placement assignments and know where we will be placed in country for the next two years, starting in July. However, you’ll have to wait until my next update to hear more about that.

This past week was full of toasts, something which Georgians take very seriously. I mentioned in my last post that I had just been to a birthday party for a 5 year old where everyone made toast to him. Although I can’t understand everything perfectly I can understand the sincerity and well wished made with each toast. Whenever they take time to make a toast to me, my work in Georgia, my country, family, parents, siblings, grandparents, deceased loved ones, and ancestors; I know that they mean what they say and that they really do wish to show their respect. This deep respect, kindness, and gratitude is something that I highly admire in Georgia culture- even if I’m not drinking with the toasts.

With our small understanding of Georgian culture, we knew that it would be important for us to make our LCF (language teacher) Naili’s birthday on Thursday the best day possible since she would be forced to spend it with us in Skra rather than with family and friends back in her hometown. We bought flowers, practiced our Georgian singing and toasting, bought a cake and planned an amazing day.

Birthday lunch

First, we gave her our flowers with a card and sang our best rendition of the Georgian happy birthday song during class. Next we made some toasts to her in Georgian during lunch. Finally, we had a mini surprise party for her at my house. We invited her over to play games with us so that she wouldn’t have to be stuck at her host family’s house all night. When she arrived we surprised her with cake, khatchapuri, and watermelon. She was so happy. Then to continue to tradition we all took turns making toasts in English to her. She is one of the main reasons we have all had such a positive and wonderful experience here in Georgia so far. She has taken on so many roles for us and done everything imaginable to make sure that we were well taken care of and adjusting to our new lives in the Peace Corps. It was a wonderful night, and of course she made a great toast to all of us and our families.

Cheers to a great LCF!

Now onto my weekend!

This weekend was deemed out Cultural Trip experience. Which basically meant that Peace Corps was letting us leave town Saturday afternoon to visit any one of Georgia’s amazing destinations. A group of ten of us decided to make the journey out to Sighnaghi, the Georgian City of Love- and it cast a spell on me.

The Georgian city of love

We have all been looking forward to our first true experience away from Peace Corps duties so that we could relax and unwind. Fortunately by now we are all well enough versed in Georgian that we were able to navigate the transportation system to arrive in Sighnaghi without incident. With even more luck we were able to find our wonderful little guest house just as the rain was beginning to come down. The nice lady who owned the house showed us to our room, which she had prepared by placing 10 twin size beds inside- not what we were expecting. Luckily the room also included a dining and living room so we could spread out. We settled in and then wandered around the picturesque town until we found a place to eat and settled in for hours of eating, toasting, and chatting- just like Georgians (but so much louder). Following dinner the revelry continued late into the night in our guesthouse. It is amazing to see how quickly we have gone from strangers to friends in a matter of weeks all because we are on the same crazy journey.

90 mins in the back of a cab was well worth it!

In the morning we were treated to a homemade Georgian breakfast from our host and spend hours staring at the view from our room before we finally were ready to explore the town. Not knowing what there was to do in town we strolled the park and cobblestoned streets looking at stores and churches. Finding fantastic vistas and more old things whose history we’ll never understand. Along the way we decided to visit the old wall and city gate. We had seen it many times from different angles so we assumed walking to it would be easy. The whole experience ended up much more complicated and reminiscent of my terrible outing on my 25th birthday.

The view from our guesthouse 

One of many wonderful Sighnaghi scenes

Most of the crew

My trusty clustermate and sidekick, Alex

 At one point I found myself climbing a hill wet from last night’s rain and covered with thick underbrush. With fewer cuts and scrapes than expected I was able to reach the top only to find that my princess was in another castle aka the path to the gate was nowhere to be found. UGH

I glanced down the way and could see the rest of my group climbing on top of the old wall so I figured my best chance to rejoin them would be to do the same and walk the narrow ledge down to where they were. Needless to say, it was not so easy. I am amazed and the tenaciousness of plant life when left to grow as it pleases over hundreds of years. There were numerous thorny plants and bushes I had to navigate my way through while remaining conscious of the fact that my walkway was only 1 ½ wide and the drop was steadily increasing.

When I finally caught up to everyone else my legs were well scraped and I was greeted with another predicament. My ledge had come to an end and there was an opening in the wall- just not the gate we had been looking for. Now was it was my turn for tenacious and creative maneuvering. I had come too far to turn back and ended up too high to fall down to safety. While my new moves weren’t the most graceful, I managed to straddle the archway and traverse the gateway to other side. Then I walked the narrow balancing beam like ridge to get to a point where I could dismount with my remaining dignity. Mission accomplished, and only a few incriminating and embarrassing pictures were taken for proof.

The real city gate that I had to work so hard to see

The rest of the day went by without any major incident. We ate more food, saw more sites, and FINALLY figured out how to find the dang city gate (which ended up being a stone’s throw from our guesthouse). We boarded our Marshutka back home with 16 seats and 18 people including two nice Georgian nuns. It is always interesting to see how these trips turn out. In the end we were welcomed home in true village fashion- 7pm rush hour…

Rush hour traffic

P.S. I should also say that I learned, and two fellow trainees suffered the consequence, that you should never hold in a sneeze- just take my word for it!

Black Sea Side Escapades

Road trip!

I love a good trip and the last three days were perfect full of new friends, whiny villains, and beautiful sites.

I’ve yet to find the midnight train here in Georgia, so I settled for a 9:30 AM one on Sunday and set out for the (wild) West. The train ride was 4.5 hours of climbing mountains, sliding through dark tunnels, and trying to not revert to childhood and sit with my nose pressed to the glass. Georgia is a beautiful place- I highly recommend a visit!

My destination for this trip was coastal city of Batumi, Georgia’s third largest city (125,000 people) and a common vacation destination for many in the area. The trip was arranged so I could job shadow a current volunteer living in the city, but it was easy to mix business with pleasure given the location. We started by meeting some other volunteers who had traveled into the city and ate some food. Coming from the tiny village of Skra to the big city was an adjustment. I can’t complain however, because the pizza place we visited didn’t put mayo on the pizza and also had homemade ranch- double win!

Batumi with the Black Sea on either end

The city is beautiful but also very strange. The Georgian government invested a lot of money in the city but urban planning was neglected. They were envisioning a Dubai-esque city on the Black Sea but the final result just comes off strange. There are also plenty of abandoned projects that ran out of money as well as completed projects that just sit vacant. The culture is a mix of Georgia, Turkey, and Russia and there are stark contrasts between the various socio-economic groups.

The Black sea isn't black and the sandy beaches aren't sandy

Most of Sunday was filled with meeting new people and getting acquainted with the city. Tuesday was time for business. The volunteer I was staying with was the only PCV in the city and the first to ever be placed there as well. You don’t generally think of large cities when you think of the Peace Corps, but it didn’t take long to see why he was there.

My school in Skra has 100 students total among all 12 grades, this school had 2,000. I have now met the two extreme ends of the scale. Each class had 30+ students and while they were generally more advanced than those I taught in Skra, their behavior and attitudes were not. My head was spinning after the first two classes. There are too many stories to share, but I felt like it was more like Teach for America than Peace Corps.

The school day went from 9-3pm with two breaks for lunch and planning and then we were free. There are only two more weeks left in the school year so there was little to do after school, which means we could unwind after the craziness of interacting with 100+ teenagers. We walked back to my friend’s house to drop off our bags and then caught the first bus out of the city.

Stop number one was an old fortress near the sea which from all I can tell was built by the Romans in the 1st century. The dates and info were all very confusing in the translated text. All that matters is that it was old. I think that will be most of my experience in Georgia- travel to cool sites, not understand the history, and just appreciate its age.

The Roman? built fortress in Gonio

After Gonio, we continued on for a few more km until we came to Scarpi the Turkey/Georgia border town. We were unable to cross the border but we did take our time and relax on the (rocky) sea shore for a while. I sat with my eyes closed on the Georgian shore and listened to the water ebb and flow over the rocks as the mosque over in Turkey let out the call to prayer; it was an incredible audio experience.

Boarder town view of Turkey

After we’d relaxed enough we took our trip upward and hiked the coastal mountains for a while. The views were well worth the journey but it served as a good reminder to how gross humid climates can make you feel after only a matter of minutes. I loved our afternoon spent in the quiet town but the whole time I was itching to cross the border- luckily I didn’t have my passport on me.

Beautiful Black Sea coast facing Turkey

We made our was back to Batumi on the bus and headed for some food at what was referred to as the best place in town for traditional khachapuri- you know the bread boat filled with egg, cheese, and butter that I can’ t seem to get enough of. Following dinner we went to a rooftop bar and relaxed while watching the sunset and chatting some more about our experiences. Living in a city definitely has some perks, they definitely aren’t free however. Working in a public city school is a completely different experience than a small village. All in all it has just made me more excited to find out where I will be assigned for my service- 5 more days!

We finally made it home a little after 11pm and were getting ready for bed when my friend decided to check his email. Next thing I know he is showing me his invite to join the US Foreign service which he’d received while we were out. I don’t know how he was managing to remain calm but I was freaking out for him! Making it through the Foreign Service application process is a herculean feat and he managed to do it on his first try (impossible!) and at a young age too.

After he called a few friends and family members, I got dressed again and demanded we go out to celebrate the accomplishment. We took some food and drinks down to the sea shore and sat for hours as we walked about his future and the exciting possibilities coming his way. All day we had discussed what we’d do after the Peace Corps and what our plans were for this coming summer and now all of that was going out the window in a flash. He is a very deserving guy and I can’t wait to follow his success around the world.

We got back late/early Tuesday morning and got some sleep. Once we woke up the celebrations continued with brunch and then more food as we meet up with other volunteers and their shadows who had to come into the city to travel back to our training sites. We wandered the city some more and then the time had come. We hesitantly boarded a marshrutka (basically a 15 passenger van/shuttle) and got ready for out 6 hour drive back to Gori and our villages.

I am grateful for our insane experiences driving in India because it makes Georgian driving seems pretty tame. However high speeds and windy roads can take their toll on anyone. Lucky for the 6 of us we had on board entertainment from the random dvd of music video clips the driver decided to play for us. It was a…. cultural experience.

6 hours of this view

I finally made it back to Skra (in one piece) around 8pm and was so happy to be back in my tiny village with my amazing host family. However the fun didn’t stop there, as soon as I set foot in the door my family informed me that it was my cousin’s son’s birthday and were leaving in 5 min. I don’t regret going at all despite having only slept 3.5 hours the night before and just traveled 6 hours on a hot bus through miles of Georgian mountains- a Georgian supra/party is a do not miss occasion. We all made toasts to the birthday boy and the men made several others to various things including my family, parents, siblings, grandparents, America, and me. I love Georgians and their never ending hospitality, even if that includes too much food and many overly probing questions.