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!