Aug. 11 - Movin' on up

Yesterday was the big day. We said goodbye to the TLG staff and hello to our host families. After breakfast and check-out in Kutaisi, we drove down to Batumi where there was another ceremony. We ate Adjaran khajapuri for lunch, which is the regonal variation on Georgian cheese-bread.
The ceremony itself took place in a castle, which was really just the fortress walls surrounding a giant courtyard. It was really pretty, though. We entered down a tree-lined path, to traditional Georgian folksongs. They had some speeches from the Adjaran minister of education and some other people followed by traditional Georgian dancing. It was really cool. Then they served refreshments (which none of us had room for) and our host families found us. Even though most of us had met our families, they still read out the names, so we could meet in front of the media.
My family brought me back to their house. It’s in a little village about 10 minutes out of Kobuleti and it’s huge. There is plenty of room for Mom, Dad, Grandma, 3 kids and me. No one in the family speaks English, but there’s a neighbour who came by to translate. Then we all had family dinner and in broken Georgian I tried to explain that I was just full, because they kept wanting me to eat.
I unpacked after dinner. It was pretty easy to find room for all of my things. When I came downstairs, there were over 15 people here. My host mom introduced me to everyone, but I forgot all names within seconds. None of them spoke much English, either, so we muddled through with mangled English, Georgian and French (one of the women spoke a little). It was really overwhelming.
This morning we went swimming in the Black Sea. It wasn’t as salty as the ocean, but more than a lake. The beach was a rock beach, which meant that there wasn’t sand getting into everything, but it was hard on the feet. I slipped many times trying to get to the water. The coolest thing is that when the waves are going out, it sounds like a wind chyme, because of the rocks sliding over each other.
The scariest part about going to the beach was getting there. Apparently in Georgia, no one wears a seat belt and laws are not enforced. There were 7 people in the car on the way to the beach; Mom, Dad, me, 3 kids and the nanny (I think). We passed cows and goats and other cars. It was frightning, but we arrived there and back in one piece.