Sept. 12, - Getting home

This morning, I woke up at my regular time, but I was very cozy in my bed, so instead of getting up, I decided to read in bed. I heard W get up and take a cup of coffee to the balcony. We were taking it easy, since our marsrutka didn’t leave until 11:30. At about 8:15 there was a knock on the door. It was the receptionist to whom we’d spoken about the marshrutka. She told us that we needed to buy tickets from the station. So I thanked her and told S and W.

Since W was the closest to dressed, he went down to the desk for more info. The woman called him a cab and he went to buy our tickets. When he got to the station, the only marshrutka coming back to Batumi was leaving at 9am. So he called us and we took the phone down to the receptionist, who spoke to the driver. At this time it was 8:30.

So we were flying around, getting ready and packing as quickly as we could. At 8:50 we checked out and went outside to wait. At 9:05 the same receptionist told us to wait on the other side of the street. So we cross and at 9:10 some random guy comes to take us to the marshrutka stand. We get there and are told which seats we’re allowed to sit in. And, of course there aren’t 3 together. So S and I sat near the open window at the back (b/c she gets motion sick, too) and W sat up front.

At first we entertained ourselves with sending random TGS-related texts. After a while, S and I each took our motion sickness meds and retreated to mp3 player-land. There were many stops; some for peeing, some for puking (not us) and some to let people off. Even still, it was a faster trip than the one to Borjomi. This time, I got off when the marsrutka came through Kobuleti.

And now a game of "Fortunately, Unfortunately"

Fortunately, there was a bus to my village waiting, when I got to the station. Unfortunately, it wasn’t ready to go any time soon. Fortunately, I had my e-reader with me. Unfortunately, I finished my book before the bus left. Fortunately, the bus was ready to go soon after. Unfortunately, the bus turned down one of the roads that doesn’t lead to my house. Fortunately, I realized right away and didn’t have too long of a walk home.

I arrived at home just before HM cleared lunch, so I had something to eat and then went for a swim. Compared to Borjomi, it is tropical here. After my swim, I retreated to my room to write until dinner. The extended family is here (as they often are on Sundays) so we had bbq bird for dinner. And these birds were small. Apparently they’re the ones hunted in the area, but no one could tell me in English what they were. I took one to be polite (but didn’t eat it) and then filled up on bread and the veggie dish. The cat was very appreciative of my leftovers.

After dinner, I Skyped home for a bit, but my computer overheated mid-conversation (stupid dinosaur). Since I had to let it cool down, I went out to play Joker with the kids. Joker's ok, but it's a really long game. Played with children, it takes for-freaking-ever. The older kids weren't bad, but HB2 was not paying attention and driving me crazy. I have so much sympathy for Grandpa, now that I understand his frustration.