Today was so weird. I did some organizing. Helped dress Bebia. Made friends with some goats. Almost fell out of a tree. Had a song-association sing-along. Watched music videos with my friend’s host dad. Waited while the men flagged down a bus. And saw a whole bunch of men (including police) hanging around at a fork in the road to my house.
It started out normal enough. I slept in later than usual and then had breakfast. There were a bunch of people here to help with the mandarins, but by the time I got downstairs, they were all outside already. After breakfast, I spent a couple of hours on my computer, writing and organizing photos.
Sailor had invited me to come help her family pick the mandarins at her house. I had initially turned her down, but as the afternoon stretched before me, I called and asked if I could still come. She said sure,so I got ready to go. Just as I was walking out the door, Bebia stopped me. I told her where I was going and she said something in a string of rapid-fire Georgian. I had no idea what she wanted, but she started leading me upstairs, so I followed. I finally figured out that she wanted me to help her put her stockings on. It was even weirder than helping with the boots last week.
It seems she only needed help getting the stockings over her feet, so once that was done, I was out of there. I’ve only been to Sailor’s house once before and we came from a different direction, so I called her for directions. As she was trying to describe where to go, her host dad decided that they would come get me. Since I was unsure which road to take, I sat down on a rock and waited for them.
While I was waiting, two guys in a house across the road let their two hairy goats out of the yard to graze. The goats must have thought I looked friendly, because they made a beeline for where I was sitting. Sailor and the others (Boston and Gem [called because he’s quiet, but every time he opens his mouth it’s a gem]) drove up, just as the goats were approaching me. Luckily, they got pics of me with the goats, cuz I only got a pic of the goats.
I said goodbye to my new animal friends and joined my human ones. We got to the house and greeted the family. Then we headed out into the mandarin orchard. I’ve picked a mandarin here and there from our trees, but this was large scale harvest for the purpose of taking them to the market.
We weren’t allowed on the ladders, because they’re not safe, but we could climb any tree we wanted. The others had been picking mandarins all day, and they’d been up trees enough. So I got to climb. Of course, the one branch I was standing on broke off from under my foot. Luckily I had a good grip and a secure perch, so the worst I got was a scrape on my knee.
We stopped harvesting when the sun was going down. We were told to sit at the outside table and were presented with a bowl of fruit (persimmons and pears) and a plate of feijoas. At one point in the conversation, Boston burst into song (someone had said something to make her think of it). I, of course, joined in. Then one line of the song made me think of another song, which I started singing. We all laughed and continued talking, but it wasn’t very long before we were singing again. The song-association went on for about 10 minutes, with one song leading right into the next. Songs sung included; Rainbow Connection, Phenomenon, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Carry on my Wayward Son, Jesse’s Girl, and so many more.
When it got too dark to see each other across the table, we went inside. Dinner wasn’t ready yet, so we watched some music videos on Russian TV. Dinner was good, but typically Georgian. After dinner Sailor’s host dad said he’d drive Boston and Gem to where they could catch a marshrutka and me home.
We got to the main road and parked and the host dad got out. When Sailor and I tried to get out, he told us no. Then we thought he said something about how marshrutkas only stop for girls, so we tried to get out again, but he wouldn’t let us. Instead, he called for Gem to come stand outside with him. A bus came fairly quickly and then we were allowed to get out of the car (we had to, because Boston was in the middle).
On the way up to my place, there was a huge crowd gathered at one of the forks in the road. All men of course, because women don’t out after dark. There were police cars and search lights and about 50 men. I couldn’t see what they were looking at, but it was bizarre. At home, I said hey to the family, put the lemons that I had gotten from the village in the kitchen and came upstairs for English tv.
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