It feels like FOREVER since I've blogged. I'm irritated with the picture tedium. Obviously, ofoto didn't work at all. I'm going to try flickr this time, but I'll also upload a few directly as well. For the time being, copy this link http://www.flickr.com/photos/93551130@N00/ and hopefully you can see a handful from Georgia, Ireland, and Atlanta. About Georgia, it was awesome. Definitely made me want to find/create an opportunity for me to live and work in a developing country. Maybe I'll do a graduate degree abroad. Maybe I'll find a paid internship in Africa. So many possiblities. Wonder where I'll end up:).
First off, I arrived in Tblisi on Thursday, December 28 at 4;30 am. I had all the information written down that FannyC had emailed me on which taxis were safest, the hostel's address, how much the taxi drive should cost, etc. As soon as I step out of the airport, a bunch of people are crowded around the door, this man makes eye contact and says "Taxi, taxi?" I was eager for someone to help me carry my shit. Everytime I move around from one place to the other, I'm SOOO loaded down. I shed some clothes in Ireland, but still, whenever I'm in an airport, I think of Ethiel looking at me like I'm crazy, and asking, "You really want to lug your violin around with you everywhere?" Well, I don't regret bringing it, but it certainly is a hassle.
When I realized that I had completely exited the airport, I had to communicate to the taxi driver that I had no lari, only dollars. I had to backtrack, thank the very kind customs officers (who had already let me slip through without taking off my backpack to have it go through the conveyor for inspection), and return to the Bureau de Change, which I was supposed to do before Customs. I got some lari and returned to the taxi mayhem where my original guy was waiting for me. In trying to set the rate, I came upon a translator and finally saw my driver's car (no taxi light). FannyC had instructed me to take a red taxi as those are the official ones. It was quite clear which taxis fit this description, and mine did not. So, I re-claimed my possessions, argued with the English-speaker, and said "Nyet!" (that's "no" in Russian) a lot. The Red Taxi drivers don't even get out until you come up to their car, I guess because they know that the business will come to the safer taxis. I realize now that I was very lucky he was still there. I think all the other official taxis had left in the time I spent getting money and dealing with the first guy. That was my first Georgian adventure. I arrived safely at the Hostel, slept in, took a brief walk around the city, went back to bed, and was awake again when FannyC arrived that evening.
We went to dinner and had a man follow us home. That was exciting. Then we picked up Jenweb from the airport at 5 am the next morning. I went with FannyC to her NGO director's office for a meeting. Very informative for me because they spoke in English the whole time. It was great to learn about the needs and Georgia and FannyC's actual work there. We went back for Jenweb and walked around Tblisi the rest of Friday. We ate kinkhali (meat with juice inside doughballs), which was very yummy, even though I left the actual meatballs on my plate. We also tried a few interesting soda flavors, not so yummy. We had peach, tarragon, and citrus. The tarragon was green and tasted a bit too much like eucalyptus for me. The peach was ok, but I pretty much just drank the citrus.
Georgia has A TON of churches, and they're all really old and really beautiful. We walked all the way up Rustavelli St., which is the main road in Tblisi. Rustavelli has a bunch of streets named after him. He was a famous Georgian poet. At the end of the main road, we saw the three main landmarks of Tblisi, Mother Georgia, Sameba Church, Narikala Fortress. It was dusk, so my pictures didn't really turn out. Then we saw the public baths where Alexander Dumas and Pushkin both bathed. We also stumbled upon an awesome Christmas festival where we got to see traditional Georgian dancing. That was really cool.
The next day we went to Mtshketa to see more famous churches. Mtshketa was pretty close to Tblisi and was actually the first capital of Georgia. Getting from Mtshketa to Gori was very exciting. We found a taxi driver in Mtshketa, but he couldn't understand where we wanted to go. He drove around a bit, and then a couple of police stopped to help. They escorted us to the main highway where we stood at the marshutka stop for quite awhile. A marshutka is a large van that serves as a intermediate between bus and taxi. They have routes and numbers, but they'll pick you up or drop you off anywhere on the route. There's also a set price per ride. They travel within the cities and there are different marshutkas that go between cities. Anyway, so we're waiting at the marshutka stop, trying to get a Gori marshutka to stop for us, with no luck. The police come to help, and they end up using their loudspeaker to order drivers to pull over. It takes a few tries before one actually stops, but it works and we're on our way to Gori. Very exciting. Oh, and our driver was cross-eyed, the fastest vehicle on the road, and possibly intoxicated (jk) :).
We arrived in Gori late afternoon. This is where FannyC lived for her first few months. Gori was Stalin's hometown, so we saw his birthplace and statue. We stayed with her first host family there. They were really nice. Georgian hospitality definitely tops Southern. But the rules can also get a little complicated. I got confused when we had our first meal of the day in Gori, Sunday morning. We had slept in, so it was close to noon. I thought the pitcher on the table was grape juice, so I poured myself a glass. It was actually wine (hmmmm, wine for breakfast), and FannyC informed me that the Tamada (toastmaster, head male of the meal) had to pour the drinks. It wasn't a big deal because her host Dad wasn't at the table, but it was definitely interesting to be drinking wine so early in the day.
After the meal, we hiked up to Gori Tsikhe (Gori Castle) with Turnike, FannyC's host brother. Beautiful view. We also went down inside it to a small church within the castle. I was amazed to see candles and icons there in the tiny chapel because the only access was climbing all the way up the mountain and back down to get inside. When we got back from the hike, we had another meal (lots of eating in Georgian homes=), where FannyC's host uncle was eager to set us all up with Georgian husbands. He thought it'd be a great idea if Jenweb or I married 16 yr old Turnike.
The train ride from Gori to Kutaisi was really long, so we all had the opportunity to experience the facilities. FannyC says it was one of the worst public restrooms she has experienced in GE. Really stinky, and luckily pitch black. I appreciated the toilet, but I definitely could not have managed without Jenweb there to hold the door closed from the outside.
FannyC's current host Dad and sister picked us up from the train station when we arrived in Kutaisi that evening, New Year's Eve. We had time to settle a little bit and get ready for the big supra and New Year's fun. Her host Mom paid an actor to come dressed up as the Georgian Santa Claus, Tovlis Babua--Snowy Grandfather, and give out gifts. I really like the bracelet I got. We ate and drank a lot and then had out own private dance party. FannyC's host sisters are really fun. Her host cousin , Lasha, and her PCV friends, Amy, Tom, Claire (actually EV), and Andy (not PC anymore, he works in GE) also came over. It was loads of fun. We didn't go to bed until 7 am!!
Host Sister Thea, definitely the more mature of the two and closer to FannyC, woke us up for more food at 3pm. Looking back, the whole "force-feeding" that FannyC referred to makes a lot more sense. At the time, I just really appreciated unlimited free food. I never felt forced to eat more than I wanted, as long as I was sitting at the table munching on something and didn't have an empty plate or glass.
Later, we walked around Kutaisi and saw Bagrati Church. On Tuesday, we went to Tskhaltubo where FannyC's friend and co-worker Zaza showed us around. Tskhaltubo, right outside Kutaisi, is a former resort community converted into housing for internally displaced persons (IDPs). These are Georgians who were forced to leave Abkhazia (autonomous region in Western GE) in 1998 due to war and conflict in the region. Georgia and Russia both want control of the region, as I understand it. Abkhazia has lots of valuable coastal region as well as the only railway connecting GE to RU.
Zaza took us to a museum there in Tskhaltubo. It was supposed to be closed b/c they had no electricity, but the people let us walk around. Zaza took us to his home (pretty incredible---it's an old hotel room with a bathroom and terrace that he shares with his Mom), gave us drinks, and showed us pictures of summers he has spend in the US and Italy. He did an internship at the Carter Center, which was pretty cool to talk about with him.
Then we all took a taxi back to Kutaisi and went to Gelati Cathedral, just outside Kutaisi. Zaza was a great tour guide and translator. We ended up having to leave the taxi driver halfway up the mountain to Gelati and hike a good bit of the way. We felt pretty lucky that the driver hadn't left b/c we were gone for over an hour. The cathedral was amazing. I even drank some water from the natural spring.
We were late, but that night, we had a supra with Thea's university friends. That was the first meal where there was no obvious Tamada, so it was amusing. We laughed a little at the guys declaring that it was time to make a toast and then spending 10 minutes arguing about what to say. Thea had selected one of her guy friends to be Tamada, but when it came down to it, she was the only one who could get everyone quiet.
On Wednesday, FannyC had to return to work, and we put Jenweb on train back to Tblisi. I had finally begun to re-hydrate myself, so essentially, I spent the afternoon going from cafe to cafe buying a cheap beverage and using their restroom. One place reminded me of Morocco. I had to go outside the back of the restraurant, and the girl pointed me to an outhouse essentially. It wasn't my first GE hole in the floor, but it was definitely the most basic.
Thankfully, I ran into a friend of FannyC's, Vakhov, so I was less bored for the last bit of the workday. He and I went for a beer, and FannyC met us there after she finished work. His friend Giorgi let me use his cell phone to tell FannyC where I was. We took it easy that night. Then Thursday morning, I slept in and then walked to FannyC's office to have lunch with her. After lunch, I hung out at her office while she had a meeting. The meeting was in Georgian, though, so she was able to leave before it was over. We went for pizza with another PC friend, Seth, and he told us all about Istanbul.
Thea and FannyC dropped me off at the bus Friday afternoon, and I arrived in Tblisi Friday evening. The taxi driver didn't have change when we arrived at the hostel, so I ventured into the PC dorm area, introduced myself, and got change from the girl in there. I'm trying to get better and more relaxed about meeting strangers and making new friends. It's just easier to stick with my friends that I already know. Anyway, Tblisi is way less exciting without FannyC to translate and guide me around, so I just ate some khachapuri that I'd brought from Kutaisi and hung out in my room.
I woke up at 2:30 AM and got on the plane to Prague. By the way, for every flight, I have managed to forget about the one or two liquids in my carry-on. Atlanta to Dublin, Dublin to Tblisi with several connections. I don't know how many securities I went through, and nobody noticed my liquid hair gel (200 mL, NOT in a clear plastic bag) until my layover in Vienna, coming from Tblisi. I barely made that connection because I picked the line that was checking EVERYONE and moving at a snail's pace.
Here I am in Prague with Jenweb. We've been in a hostel so far, but we've looked at one apt and have another one to visit this evening. Looks like we'll be living in Prague 1, which is Old Town. Jenweb found an amazing deal. I'll be sleeping on a couch, and 5 of us will share a bathroom:). Very Bohemian! I have yet to see a single busker, so I've started emailing responses to job ads. Amazing how many non-teaching jobs are looking for specifically native English speakers, no Czech needed. Wish me luck.
