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!
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| Batumi with the Black Sea on either end |
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| 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.
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.
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| 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.
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.
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.
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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
Great post! - I REALLY liked the last one too. Its fun to hear about all of your adventures! Miss you!!
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