Today was a very weird day. It started out normal, though I didn’t want to get out of bed. In spite of a full night’s sleep, I was exhausted. Anyway, I sucked it up and got to school. Luckily, Monday is the day when I don’t have my 2 worst classes, so things in class went smoothly. While my school day had gone smoothly, this was not the case for my friends. I received calls from Boston, Joker and Sailor about their crappy classes, and misbehaving students.
Just after first period, the director came in and handed me a bunch of roses (cut from a garden) and a box of chocolates, for my birthday. Also for my birthday, Co-teach and another teacher, Photo (because of her obsession with taking pictures), decided to take me into Batumi for dinner. It was a very sweet offer, so I agreed to go.
We left right after school and this is where things started going wrong. First, the other teachers had to sign up for an English class in Kobuleti. So Co-teach and I hung out at the marshrutka stop to wait for them. By the time they were done, only one other teacher was coming to Batumi. This didn’t deter us, though, so we caught a marshrutka and were on our way.
We went to Restaurant Sanapiro (that’s Georgian for beach) right on the coast. The view was lovely and the cameras were brought out. The girls love pictures. They wanted pictures of themselves and me and me with each of them and us in front of the water and in front of the scenery. They took more pictures than you’d believe.
Once the waiter came, the cameras were put away (for a while). I wanted pizza, so we ordered one without meat. I also wanted a ‘gliasse’ (which is the Georgian milkshake) but they didn’t have any. Just once, I’d like to go to a restaurant here where everything that’s on the menu is actually in the restaurant. But I’m not holding my breath. In addition to the pizza, the girls ordered an Adjaran Khajapuri (bread boat with egg and cheese) for each of us.
Of course, after the khajapuri, no one had room for pizza, though we all ate one slice. They were joking about asking to take it with us and I said that in Canada we do that. Apparently, doggy-bags are a no-no in Georgia. As we sat digesting, the waiter brought a beautiful fruit tray out to our table. One of Photo’s relatives works at the restaurant and sent it to us. We picked at the fruit for a while longer and then left.
From the restaurant, we had a lovely view of the port. The girls decided that they wanted a picture on the cruise ship that we could see. When we finished eating, they went to where the cruise ship was loading and using the "visiting foreigner" as an excuse, they tried to talk their way on. Of course the guards said no, because the ship was preparing to leave. So we wandered the dock, taking pictures in front of other boats and the water.
Co-teach and Photo each had an errand to run, so that’s where we headed when we were done with pictures. On the way, Co-teach called her cousin to get us a ride back to Kobuleti. He finished work at six and said he would pick us up, after. Co-teach’s errand was getting a teacher’s book to go with our grade 9 text. Every time she’s tried to buy it before, the store didn’t have it. They still didn’t have it.
Photo’s errand involved trying to return a cell phone that she was having problems with. I couldn’t understand most of what happened, but it took a really long time. I was exhausted and bored, so I called Joker while I waited. He was at the café and entertained me with stories about his day and comments from the others.
When Photo finished yelling at the phone guy (with no results that I could see) we went to check another store for Co-teach’s book. They didn’t have it either, but by this point it was 6:05 and I was hopeful of getting home soon. Silly me, not in Georgia.
We ended up walking back along the coast to "find a bench to sit on". When I asked Co-teach why, her response was, "who knows when he will come". There were no public benches, so we ended up back at the restaurant. Photo spoke to someone and told them that we didn’t want to order. That was fine and we sat down.
About half an hour later, the waitress brought out 3 bowls of ice cream and 3 turkish coffees. They asked if she had the wrong table, but it was for us. Photo’s relative had sent it out again, which was very sweet. While we sat in the restaurant, her husband called a bunch of times, wondering when we would leave. She blamed the delay on me, but was getting more aggravated with Co-teach every minute.
I was completely zoned out, but a noise made me perk my head up. Outside the restaurant a man rode past on a horse (it was more like a pony, but still). I wasn’t sure what I had seen (maybe I’d fallen asleep and was dreaming) but he came past again, the other way and I saw him again. At this point, Co-teach’s cousin finally called, so we were leaving the restaurant.
The pony was still outside. We approached the man and he was selling rides on it. We didn’t want a ride, but of course the girls wanted pictures. So I stood next to the pony while the girls took turns standing next to me.
Then we walked back to where we had to meet Co-teach’s cousin. He finally showed up at 7:37pm and we were on our way back to Kobuleti. He drove like a maniac. I’ve gotten pretty used to the Georgian driving, so unless it’s extreme, nothing phases me. I was terrified. And it wasn’t just the driving. It’s the fact that while the driver was passing a semi-truck with a car coming toward him, his sister (in the front passenger seat) was screaming at him in Georgian and smacking his arm (which was holding the steering wheel). If anyone had endagered us, it was her.
When we got back to Kobuleti, I went with Photo (so that she could prove to her husband that I really exist). They got me home safely, with no new terror. At home, I wanted nothing more than to collapse on my bed for the night, but it wasn’t to be.
I stopped in the kitchen to tell HM that I was home and she told me to sit down. I did and she pulled out HB1’s English book. So we had an English lesson. I hate working with him when she’s there. Every time he stumbles, or stops to think, she gives him the answer. But at the same time she’s pressuring him to get it perfect on the first go. I honestly believe he only made so many mistakes because she was pushing him.
When the lesson devolved into how to use the dictionary, I excused myself and went to bed. I was so tired that I didn’t even stay up for Veronica Mars.
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