I went to Turkey. And it was awsome! But it was a lo-ong day. Since we had a holiday from school, the others wanted to get an early start. Good thing too, because we were gone for 12 hours. After breakfast and getting ready, my day started with a call from Co-teach at 7:50 that they would be coming in about 10 mins. Expecting things to move at Georgian speed, I decided to sit and read on the balcony, where I could see them coming down the mountain. To my surprise, I saw them coming right at 8.
I tossed my Kobo in my room and grabbed my purse. I was hoping to get out front to meet them, but I got waylaid by the giant dog standing at the front door. Normally, this dog (a German Shepherd mix) lives in it’s own little yard attached to the main courtyard, but at night it is let out to guard the castle. I have never been up and out before the family, so the dog is usually back in his yard by the time I go out. Not so today.
He stood and stared at me, blocking the whole door (did I mention he’s huge?). I tried to slip past him, and he tried to jump on me. I pushed him down with a hand on his (massive) chest and finally made it outside. Since shutting the door required 2 hands, the dog was then free to jump up on me. He almost knocked me over and when I caught my balance he started trying to be very friendly. I pushed him down again, and backed toward the gate, telling him to "stay" the whole time (like he understands English). When I turned to unlock and open the gate, he raced to my side. I swear he would’ve followed me anywhere. I squeezed through the gate and got it closed before he could get out (for this I was thankful that he’s so big). Co-teach and co were waiting for me when I emerged.
My first battle fought and won, all before 8:05.
Instead of a trip with Co-teach and 1 other teacher from school, there were actually 5 of us going. And the other 2 women were buying things in Turkey to sell here in Georgia. We hitchhiked down the mountain and caught a marshrutka to Batumi with litte problems. My biggest issue was the closure of the tunnel, causing us to take the twisty windy detour through the mountains.
Since my motion sickness is always worse when I’m tired, I’d already taken a gravol. But it makes me sleepier and when one of the women asked if I was tired, I tried to explain to Co-teach about my vertigo and the pill.
She was very worried about me, and asked me every 5 minutes if I wanted to switch places with her and if I was alright. It was sweet, but the best thing to do is leave me the hell alone to fight the nausea. The other woman, who was very interested in me was also trying to make conversation. Her topic wasn’t my health, but my lack of husband. 3 different times on the 45 minute trip to Batumi, I was asked "Do you not want a Georgian husband?" However, we arrived in Batumi with no accidents (or murders) and the walk to the next marshrutka cleared my head.
Battles number 2 and 3 fought and won by 9:15.
The border was bizarre. You have to go past a Georgian border guard who looks at your passport and makes sure you’re on the video screen. He stamps your passport with the exit date. Then you walk through (quite a way) to the Turkish window.
Since I’d never been to Turkey, I had to go past where they stamp the passports to the visa office, which was literally 4 huge buildings away. Co-teach came with me to translate, in case I needed it, but most of the border guards spoke some English. By the time we got to the visa office, we were already well on the Turkish side of the border. Whatever. I got my visa (for less money than I’d expected) and Co-teach and I ran back to where everyone else was still in line to get their entry stamps. Being a foreigner, I got to go in the foreigner’s line (which was practically non-existent) and Co-teach and I were through before the others.
Once in Turkey, we caught a marshrutka to a border town called Kamel Pasha (that’s the phonetic spelling, I don’t know how it’s actually spelled). We got out and stopped for some food since the others hadn’t eaten, yet. We had pastries and coffee with milk and sugar. Photo was really annoyed, because she couldn’t smoke inside the café. I thought it was awsome that Turkey’s going smoke-free, but I kept my mouth shut.
After food, we went into a nearby mosque to take some pictures. I’ve never seen the inside of a mosque before. It was beautiful, but empty. There are no pews, or benches, or even those little kneely things the catholics use. I was suprised by how disrepectful the others were. It’s like they didn’t recognize it as a holy place. I know it’s not their religion, but it’s holy to some people and should be respected as such. But again, I kept my mouth shut.
We took a few more pictures in the square outside of the mosque, but then it was on to shopping. Basically, we walked down the main street and stopped at every single shop. At times it was entertaining, interesting, and boring, but it was never expensive. I bought a pair of shoes, a purse, a tiny change purse and a skirt for about $25. I also managed to pick up some gifts for people at home and some odds and ends (like nail polish for $.30 a piece). I even managed to find a jade ring that I loved, but it was too big (for my middle finger) and they didn’t have another one. But I’ve decided to look when I go back and if they still have it, I’ll buy it and get it resized at home.
5 hours later, though, I was getting tired and hungry. At the end of the row of shops was something that I was sure was a mirage. The Istanbul Bazar. I have never been so happy to see a mall or a Burger King in my life. I wanted to cry.
Since everyone was hungry, we went straight to the "food court." There were only 2 restaurants, but one was BK, so I was happy. I felt it pulling me like a magnet and headed right for it. Co-teach asked me if I didn’t want tolma (my favourite Georgian food) at the other restaurant and I was like, "I want this". But I didn’t know how to explain to her that while I like tolma, BK tastes like home. I had chicken tenders, fries and a milkshake. Then I went back and had the apple pie dessert thing with ice cream on top. It was heaven.
I was much more ready to troll the mall after that. Co-teach was still looking for a few things, so we hit the stores. It was fantastic. There was more than one of everything and things had price tags. I didn’t have to ask them the cost. It was funny, though, because one of the other women we were with, kept shouting out "ra ghirs" (how much?), because nothing in Georgia has price tags, exept in Goodwill.
When we finished at the mall, we got a marshrutka back to the border, but we had to sit and wait until it filled up. That turned out to be a good thing, because two of Co-teach’s bags had been left behind in the mall. She asked the driver to wait and ran back to get them. There were no more adventures in getting to the border.
At the border was another story entirely. There were tons of people trying to get back to Georgia and it was raining. A woman behind me had an umbrella, the edge of which was right over my head (which meant I caught all of the run-off) and the woman directly in front of me was using her massive purse to cover her head and every time she turned her head, she almost smacked me in the face with it. And they line up at the border just like they do everywhere else in Georgia (which is to say that there is no actual line).
Again, you have to get an exit stamp from the Turkish border guard. The guy I gave my passport to, checked my passport and just sat there and looked at me. Then he made a motion with his hand. I asked what was wrong and he stared at me. Thinking he just didn’t understand me, I tried to ask in Georgian, with the same result. I called Keti back and when she asked in English what the problem was, he said "no problem". And handed back my passport. It was bizarre.
Once we got through Turkish customs, we had to deal with the Georgian side. For goods weighing more than 30kg or costing more than 500 gel, you have to pay duty. Since neither Co-teach or I spent that much, we were each given a bag (by one of the women we were with) and asked to bring it through customs. I was the last one through and had my bags plus the extra one beside me.
I handed my passport to the woman and she looked at it for a really long time. Then she looked at me for a really long time. There was a guy there who’d been talking to my companions and he asked me if the bag was mine. I said yes. The woman with my passport still hadn’t said anything. Finally she gave me my passport back and I went through into the next section.
Georgian Customs has 2 big x-ray machines (like in the airport for luggage) that weigh and scan your merchandise. The guy who’d asked me about the bag guided me past the scanners saying "touristi" every time someone tried to stop us. I got through and waited at the other side for my companions, who were also allowed to bypass the scanners because they were with the "touristi". It was insane.
We hopped on a marshrutka back to Batumi with no problems. I needed another gravol, but the girls mostly left me alone (as Co-teach was too tired to translate much) and I zoned out. The driver dropped us off right where we needed to catch our next marshrutka and we got on one of those right away as well. Back in Kobuleti, we grabbed a cab. But 3 of us were sitting and waiting for about 10 mins in the cab while the other 2 and the driver were watching a fight that was happening nearby.
I finally got home and then had to give a rundown of my purchases to the family. Bebia really liked the bag and shoes. While I’d been out of the country, I missed a call from Mom, so I came upstairs to put away my things and await her next call. We chatted for a bit and I went to bed pretty early, knowing that I have to get up for school tomorrow.
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