July 24th Black Sea trip, Batumi fun, Mtiarla

The trip to the Black Sea was with my host sister Shorena and her friends. We took the Marshutka to Chakvi, a resort town on the coast two miles from Gorgadzeebi. We met up with my other sister, Khatuna and her friends. The beaches are much more rocky and gravely than California's sandy beaches, but the water is so much warmer! You can actually stand to be in it for as long as you want! The sea water is more saline than the Pacific Ocean, you can almost float in it. Of course, I had to bring a book, just to spite my girlfriend's brother Brian who doesn't understand why anyone would read during vacation.

I met more of Shorena's teenager girlfriends a nearby house. They were asking me if I was single, and if I had a girlfriend, I felt like an adonis, or would have, but my stomach was hurting from drinking the water. I could hardly stand at times; Montezuma's revenge exists, even in Georgia. Its not that the water is bad, its that the things living in all water are new to your body. Once exposed, you build a tolerance. Even so, it was miserable, but how else will one get used to the water?

That evening, we met up with the rest of the family in Romani's taxi and we drove to Batumi to pick up my host mother Naira. Afterword's we walked around downtown Batumi, taking some great pictures of the promenades and fountains, as well as catching a show of a fire-breather. We were there for approximately an hour or two. Batumi is a resort/vacation town that is booming during the summer and dormant during the winter. New skyscrapers and hotels have sprung up in the past few years, yet the old city remains underneath. The architecture remind me of New Orleans in a way, where as the new resorts and casinos look and feel like Las Vegas. I need to see more of this city, go to an opera or see some Georgian dancing, two hours aren't enough. The transportation in Georgia is much easier, thanks to Marshutkas, so transportation won't be a problem.

Later on we all went to pick up my host brother, Levani. He is a sailor who works machinery, and lives in an apartment south of Batumi. On our way back I was really hurting from the water. Naira commanded us to stop at a pharmacy and they got some medicine, which cleared things up the next day. My vigor has returned, thank you Naira!

Black sea coast

Surprise, my camera is waterproof! Its fun to see the look on peoples faces when I first dip the camera in the water.

My host sister, Shorena is to my left, To my right is my other sister, khatuna. To the far left is their cousin

Batumi...or Disneyland?

Nice place to propose I suppose.

My teenage students took me to Mtiarla national park, which was about 7 km east of my village. I originally thought we were walking it. We walked until we hit a dirt road that wound up through the mountains into the park. From there we waited until a car large enough to carry us all picked us up. Hitchhiking is advised against, according to TLG, but a small ride through the woods close to home among friends couldn't hurt! Interestingly enough, in the heart of the park is an old village called Chakvistavi, nestled in a small valley.

My neighbor's family is from this town, as are many more families living in Gorgadzeebi. I'm curious to hear more about the history of this region, I have been told once that my village was founded some years ago because of an Ottoman (Turkish) influence, which had forced mountain populations to resettle into the foothills, closer to the sea. I'm sure it will be a good story, and look forward to hearing more about it.

At Chakvistavi the four of us went along the river Chakvistskali through an extremely dense subtropical forest. I have never experienced that level of humidity! Luckily, it was during a temporary 'dry' spell, so it didn't rain. Not that rain is a big problem. Unlike California rain, you don't get cold, just more wet than you were before. On our hike, we didn't go very far. About a mile up along the river, we came to a picnic area and a swimming hole. Moss grew along the rocks, and was a challenge to climb up an embankment along the river, but we all managed to climb up and jump into the swimming hole. Afterwards we had a huge feast of bread, sausage, tomatoes cucumbers, wine and beer. We stumbled back to Chakvistavi and rented a tent to sleep in.

My day was over and all I wanted to was sleep, but my younger companions wanted to goof off all night. Its kind of a recurring scenario I've noticed. I like to sleep and relax, and my younger companions want to stay up, or go swimming, or goof off at camp. I suppose its an age difference. They are all under 18, and have more energy, plus, I'm not used to drinking so much wine and beer! I probably should have not drank with my future students, and will be avoid it in the future.

I didn't get to stay there for as long as I wanted to, and I will surely have to come back. My companions did have the stamina or equipment to actually go backpacking. I'll have to find myself another TLG volunteer who'd be willing to stay there a few days, instead of that short amount of time. The park is staggeringly beautiful, but I didn't get to see much of it. Oh well, I still have so much more time to explore Georgia, and this park is so close, it shall be done!

Mtiarla National Park

Mtiarla National Park

Behind me is a trail leading to the waterfall...for a later day.

Swimming hole, with a lofty rock to jump off of.

Mtiarla National Park