I wasn’t the only one who got to play hooky today. W got the day off and E (from NZ) decided that she wasn’t going in either. The more I hear, the more it seems that I’m the only one of us who has a co-teacher who’s willing to let me participate in the planning part of this program. Even if we don’t get as much done as I’d like, I know that I’m actually useful and not superfluous like many of my collegues.
So with the whole day stretching ahead of me, I was lazy in the morning. I checked my e-mail and updated the blog. While I was working Bebia came in my room to tell me that the family was going to Batumi. I thought she’d just meant for the day, but it’s 10pm and they’re still not back yet. Now, I figure that they’re staying with my HU. Sure is quiet, though.
Once I had myself up and moving, I headed into Kobuleti to meet E. I was hoping to take the bus down the mountain right to the resource centre (ERC), where we were meeting. However, as often happens in Georgia, plans changed. There was no bus in sight (in spite of me waiting over 40 minutes), so finally one of the neighbours came out and flagged down a passing car to take me to the bus station. It seems that this is an acceptable way to travel, here.
From the bus station it’s about a 20 minute walk to the ERC, but I met J (he runs marathons) on my way and he decided to join me and E on our adventures. First, we did some recon on the building with the "Cinema" sign on the outside. There is no other signage and all six doors that we tried were locked. So it looks like the cinema really is just for show. Then we met E and headed into Batumi. Sadly, both K and A declined our invitations to join the fun.
In Batumi we walked along the coast a way I’d never been before. There was a huge cruise ship in harbour and we toyed with the idea of just getting on and going where-ever it would take us, but the others were stopped by their lack of passports, and I didn’t want to go alone, so we kept walking. Gradually we meandered our way around to the Lit café, where we hung out eating cake until W joined us.
We all chatted for a while, before time began to press in. My goal for the day had been to get a haircut, so I left money for my bill and got ready to go. W also needed a haircut, so he came with me (to the salon beside the café). The woman who greeted us was really nice and through a combination of my Georgian and gestures, we came to an understanding. I got a shampoo, trim and blow dry for 10 Lari. (For those of you counting dollars, it’s a little more than $5) And I’m really happy with the results. W’s buzz cut looked good too.
When the hair was finished, I headed back to the coffee shop and our small group had expanded by three. In addition to J, E and W (whose hair was finished before mine) I found C (Utah), I (Phillipines) and D (older lady from U.S.). I squeezed in on the couch and we all had a good visit.
We split up when some people were making their ways home and I ended up by myself hunting for the electronics store, because I feel it may be time to replace lappy. They didn’t have what I wanted, so I made my way back to the marshrutka stand and then home. I did pay for a taxi to get back up the mountain today, because I didn’t want to wait for an hour to ride a bus that already had 4 or 5 small children on it.
Showing posts with label Batumi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Batumi. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
Sept. 5 - It's the (not long) Weekend!
Wasn’t really sure what would happen Friday at school, since our mission on Thursday was such a bust. It turned out alright, though. We actually started talking about lesson plans, and the format that Keti uses. We actually planned the first couple of classes for each grade. My only complaint is that Keti is a little disorganized and her thoughts are all over the place. One minute we were working on one grade and the next we were talking about lesson plans for 2 other grades. Add that to the communication barrier, and I was pretty confused.
After school, I spent the afternoon socializing with the family. I learned another new card game from Bebia. Of course, it took a while for me to understand how points were scored and I don’t know what it’s called, but I had fun anyway. I spent the evening on the phone with S and W, trying to plan a weekend excursion to Borjomi, a town famous for it’s mineral water. By the time we ironed out the details, it was too late to book anything, so we’re gonna put off the trip until next weekend.
I spent most of Saturday sitting in Literaturuli Cafe with W and S. I got into Batumi around 11, and W and I hung out in the café until S showed up around one. We stayed there for another couple of hours and then walked up to the boulevard by the sea. The waves were huge and no one was swimming but I couldn’t resist. They almost killed me trying to get out (not literally). At one point, the water was at my ankes when the waves were out and over my head as they came in. It was awesome.
Before we could leave the beach, I needed to dry off and rest for a bit. So we sat and chatted and threw rocks into the water. W threw one that bounced back and almost hit S in the face, but she dodged it and we didn’t stop throwing rocks. Eventually, we were bored, so we headed back to the café for cake.
S came back to Kvirike with me for a sleepover. We ate with the family and then watched crazy European music videos on rebel tv, before turning in to bed.
Today we went back to Batumi, but only after a breakfast of (broken) eggs over-easy. I love that my family will now let me cook. We lazed around here for a few hours, so it was late when we were finally under way. Luckily, when HM found out we were going, she went out to the road and flagged down a car to take us down the mountain, so we didn’t have to wait for the bus.
We met W and Si (our 3rd roommate in Kutaisi) in the city and headed to the café. There was already a huge group of English teachers gathered there. It was almost too much. It was really hard to carry on a conversation with everyone and the tables weren’t arranged well for smaller groups. A bunch of people left, leaving me, S, W, Si and K (the girl who speaks Russian).
With it being a Sunday, I didn’t know how late the buses would run back to Kvirike, so I left around 5. I got back around 5:30 and was recognized by the bank of taxi drivers at the station. As soon as I got off the marshrutka, they were all like, "Kvirike, kho?" (Kvirike, yes?). Then one took me over to the Kvirike bus, where I found out that it didn’t leave til 7. So I wandered around for a bit before deciding just to wait on the bus and study some Georgian. About 2 minutes in, my phone rang and it was Mom. We talked for a while and she put Daddy on and we talked until the bus was leaving.
I made it home in time to eat (and drink) with my HD. Everyone was very impressed because for the first time, I drank down to the bottom of my glass of wine. One of the things o the table was chicken stomachs. I had already taken one when my HM told me what they were and I didn’t want to put it back in the pot, so I cut it up and fed it piece by piece to the cat. I am definitely his favourite person.
A weird thing just happened. As I was typing this, Bebia came into my room (the door was open), sat on my bed, and looked at me. So I tried to explain what I’m doing, but my phrasebook doesn’t include the word diary or journal. I ended up saying that I write my day, but I think she got it. Then I told her that right now I write for me, but later it will go on the internet for my family to read. Then she wanted to know about my family and when we got through that, she stared at me again. I felt rude, but I went back to my writing, because I didn’t have anything else to say. Eventually, she said good night and left.
After school, I spent the afternoon socializing with the family. I learned another new card game from Bebia. Of course, it took a while for me to understand how points were scored and I don’t know what it’s called, but I had fun anyway. I spent the evening on the phone with S and W, trying to plan a weekend excursion to Borjomi, a town famous for it’s mineral water. By the time we ironed out the details, it was too late to book anything, so we’re gonna put off the trip until next weekend.
I spent most of Saturday sitting in Literaturuli Cafe with W and S. I got into Batumi around 11, and W and I hung out in the café until S showed up around one. We stayed there for another couple of hours and then walked up to the boulevard by the sea. The waves were huge and no one was swimming but I couldn’t resist. They almost killed me trying to get out (not literally). At one point, the water was at my ankes when the waves were out and over my head as they came in. It was awesome.
Before we could leave the beach, I needed to dry off and rest for a bit. So we sat and chatted and threw rocks into the water. W threw one that bounced back and almost hit S in the face, but she dodged it and we didn’t stop throwing rocks. Eventually, we were bored, so we headed back to the café for cake.
S came back to Kvirike with me for a sleepover. We ate with the family and then watched crazy European music videos on rebel tv, before turning in to bed.
Today we went back to Batumi, but only after a breakfast of (broken) eggs over-easy. I love that my family will now let me cook. We lazed around here for a few hours, so it was late when we were finally under way. Luckily, when HM found out we were going, she went out to the road and flagged down a car to take us down the mountain, so we didn’t have to wait for the bus.
We met W and Si (our 3rd roommate in Kutaisi) in the city and headed to the café. There was already a huge group of English teachers gathered there. It was almost too much. It was really hard to carry on a conversation with everyone and the tables weren’t arranged well for smaller groups. A bunch of people left, leaving me, S, W, Si and K (the girl who speaks Russian).
With it being a Sunday, I didn’t know how late the buses would run back to Kvirike, so I left around 5. I got back around 5:30 and was recognized by the bank of taxi drivers at the station. As soon as I got off the marshrutka, they were all like, "Kvirike, kho?" (Kvirike, yes?). Then one took me over to the Kvirike bus, where I found out that it didn’t leave til 7. So I wandered around for a bit before deciding just to wait on the bus and study some Georgian. About 2 minutes in, my phone rang and it was Mom. We talked for a while and she put Daddy on and we talked until the bus was leaving.
I made it home in time to eat (and drink) with my HD. Everyone was very impressed because for the first time, I drank down to the bottom of my glass of wine. One of the things o the table was chicken stomachs. I had already taken one when my HM told me what they were and I didn’t want to put it back in the pot, so I cut it up and fed it piece by piece to the cat. I am definitely his favourite person.
A weird thing just happened. As I was typing this, Bebia came into my room (the door was open), sat on my bed, and looked at me. So I tried to explain what I’m doing, but my phrasebook doesn’t include the word diary or journal. I ended up saying that I write my day, but I think she got it. Then I told her that right now I write for me, but later it will go on the internet for my family to read. Then she wanted to know about my family and when we got through that, she stared at me again. I felt rude, but I went back to my writing, because I didn’t have anything else to say. Eventually, she said good night and left.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Aug 16 - Freedom, partial freedom.
I finally got to spend some time in Batumi. Since HM works there, Igot a ride into town with her. My plan was to meet up with S (and maybe some others) and go shopping and swimming in the Sea. HM’s plan was for me to get dropped off at her brother-in-law’s apartment, so that I could hang out and speak English with his 2 teen-aged daughters.
After a mid-morning snack (in the UK it would’ve been elevenses) we decided to go to the waterpark. It was me, I and K (HD’s neices) and N (a niece by a different sibling). Between my Georgian and I’s English, we arranged to pick up S on the way. So the 5 of us had only been at the park for about a half hour, when I (the one with the best English) decides to go home. Leaving S and me with the 13- and 10-year-olds.
There were some crazy waterslides at the park, including several where people went down on a mat, head first. There was even one that looked like a ski-jump that involved inner tubes. It was so terrifying to watch, there was no way my inner chicken would let me try it. So S and I decided to try the one that went around and around, rather than straight down. It was sketchy. The 12-year-old who was working there was more interested in texting than in doing his job. The second time I went down, the guy behind me actually crashed into me. And S almost hit the guy in front of her. That was also the last time we went down. We spent most of the time in the pool.
When we’d had enough of the water, we headed back to the apartment, where we met up with I, again. We went to the same café as HM and HD took me to when we were in Batumi last week. I ordered a piece of cake that was delicious. S was in heaven because she could get a cheesburger there. It was Georgian spiced meat and cheese, but she was still excited for something so close to home.
HM met us back at the apartment, and S came home with us. We spent an hour in the pool and then had a lovely dinner with HM, We hung out upstairs for a bit, and then joined HM and HD for a game of cards. They play a game called Joker and since neither S or I knew how to play, HM called over the guy from across the street to teach us (he speaks English pretty well). it turns out that the game ’s a little bit like "Oh Darn." But it was just different enough that none of my strategies worked. We had a great time playing, though and by the time we’d showered and got to bed, it was 2 am.
After a mid-morning snack (in the UK it would’ve been elevenses) we decided to go to the waterpark. It was me, I and K (HD’s neices) and N (a niece by a different sibling). Between my Georgian and I’s English, we arranged to pick up S on the way. So the 5 of us had only been at the park for about a half hour, when I (the one with the best English) decides to go home. Leaving S and me with the 13- and 10-year-olds.
There were some crazy waterslides at the park, including several where people went down on a mat, head first. There was even one that looked like a ski-jump that involved inner tubes. It was so terrifying to watch, there was no way my inner chicken would let me try it. So S and I decided to try the one that went around and around, rather than straight down. It was sketchy. The 12-year-old who was working there was more interested in texting than in doing his job. The second time I went down, the guy behind me actually crashed into me. And S almost hit the guy in front of her. That was also the last time we went down. We spent most of the time in the pool.
When we’d had enough of the water, we headed back to the apartment, where we met up with I, again. We went to the same café as HM and HD took me to when we were in Batumi last week. I ordered a piece of cake that was delicious. S was in heaven because she could get a cheesburger there. It was Georgian spiced meat and cheese, but she was still excited for something so close to home.
HM met us back at the apartment, and S came home with us. We spent an hour in the pool and then had a lovely dinner with HM, We hung out upstairs for a bit, and then joined HM and HD for a game of cards. They play a game called Joker and since neither S or I knew how to play, HM called over the guy from across the street to teach us (he speaks English pretty well). it turns out that the game ’s a little bit like "Oh Darn." But it was just different enough that none of my strategies worked. We had a great time playing, though and by the time we’d showered and got to bed, it was 2 am.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Aug 12 - Can you say culture shock?
Today we went to a different beach on the Black Sea. It was less crowded, but there was trash everywhere. One thing I noticed is that kids will be kids. Half a world away and kids are still collecting shells, sitting in the waves and throwing rocks at each other.
After the beach we took a family trip into Batumi. It was an experience. I like to call it an exercise in motion sickness. Again 7 of us in the car on twisty mountain roads and a 1 and a half lane highway, not to mention the tunnel and then the traffic in the city. Plus we stopped for lunch in a restaurant, just so I could try the Adjaran kajapuri (not that anyone listened when I tried to explain that I've already had it). I ordered a small, but it wasn't. Plus with all the egg and cheese (a soury, smoked, Georgian specialty cheese) it was a little much. Then we had to stop and run a bunch of errands, so I was not a happy camper.
Back at the homestead (a gravol and multiple near-death-experiences later) I came right upstairs to bed. It was about 5pm, but the temp was still in the 40s. The thunder rolled, but the promised rain never came. Mom called and we chatted for a bit, but my head was imploding, so I hung up and napped for a couple of hours. I went downstairs in time for supper of pizza (with cut up hot dogs on it). The rest of the evening was spent outside in the breeze peeling the outer coating from hazelnuts, which grow in my host family's orchard.
The orchard has mandarines as well as hazlenuts and it's at the back of the house. To one side of the house is the basketball court (with post holes for a tennis or volleyball net, too) and on the other is the swimming pool area. I jokingly call it "the compound", but it kinda is. Everything is surrounded by a privacy fence and you have to drive in through a gate.
The one thing that doesn't fit is the livestock. One neighbour raises cows and a little further down the mountain are goats. But the fields here don't have fences, so I frequently look out my window, to see a herd of cows migrating, either up or down the mountain. Although sometimes they're just hanging out in front of my house, standin' in the middle of the road. It makes the scary, scary driving that much more fun.
After the beach we took a family trip into Batumi. It was an experience. I like to call it an exercise in motion sickness. Again 7 of us in the car on twisty mountain roads and a 1 and a half lane highway, not to mention the tunnel and then the traffic in the city. Plus we stopped for lunch in a restaurant, just so I could try the Adjaran kajapuri (not that anyone listened when I tried to explain that I've already had it). I ordered a small, but it wasn't. Plus with all the egg and cheese (a soury, smoked, Georgian specialty cheese) it was a little much. Then we had to stop and run a bunch of errands, so I was not a happy camper.
Back at the homestead (a gravol and multiple near-death-experiences later) I came right upstairs to bed. It was about 5pm, but the temp was still in the 40s. The thunder rolled, but the promised rain never came. Mom called and we chatted for a bit, but my head was imploding, so I hung up and napped for a couple of hours. I went downstairs in time for supper of pizza (with cut up hot dogs on it). The rest of the evening was spent outside in the breeze peeling the outer coating from hazelnuts, which grow in my host family's orchard.
The orchard has mandarines as well as hazlenuts and it's at the back of the house. To one side of the house is the basketball court (with post holes for a tennis or volleyball net, too) and on the other is the swimming pool area. I jokingly call it "the compound", but it kinda is. Everything is surrounded by a privacy fence and you have to drive in through a gate.
The one thing that doesn't fit is the livestock. One neighbour raises cows and a little further down the mountain are goats. But the fields here don't have fences, so I frequently look out my window, to see a herd of cows migrating, either up or down the mountain. Although sometimes they're just hanging out in front of my house, standin' in the middle of the road. It makes the scary, scary driving that much more fun.
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