August 11th-August 14th. Bookstore pilgrimage to Tbilisi.

The time after coming back from Mestia and Zugdidi was spent in a combination of family-time and exploration around Batumi and Gorgadzeebi. Untill school starting on September 20th, village activity is scarce. For some of the volunteers, staying in a quiet village is a tedious and boring time, but I like it. Spending time in the village slows the hours of the day, allowing for reflection, relaxation and above all else, it give time to read pages and pages of books.

Reading is one of my favorite pastimes. I have been able to read without disruption here for hours and hours. Yet, at the rate I am currently reading at, I'll run out of material in a matter of weeks.

I decided to look for a bookstore in Batumi, and buy up some literature in English. Unfortunately, the several bookstores have Georgian and Russian literature, and none in English (although later on, I found a bookstore with a limited section of English classics). Online sources tell of an extensive bookstore in Tbilisi, which has a wide selection of books in English. I felt more driven than I had in days at the idea of going all the way to Tbilisi just for books, an idea akin to a pilgrimage.

A six hour Marshutka ride from Batumi landed me in Tbilisi, where I met up with two of my friends there, Megan and Griffin. They are living in an apartment, which was a built in 1907 by an Armenian man. The ceiling was 4 meters high, it had air conditioning, hot water, and was fully furnished. The jar of honey made in Chakvistavi in Mtiarla National Park, which I gave them as thanks for letting me stay at their apartment was too small for this sort of luxury. I'm used to spring beds, cold showers and sweltering heat. The apartment made me realize how Tbilisi is indeed a modern city, setting it apart from my rural area, and even Batumi.

Tbilisi does have an abundance of modern amenities, among them are crosswalks, streetlights, and subways. The part of Tbilisi I really appreciated was the restaurants. Griffin and Megan took me to European cafes, with sandwiches, American coffee, and Gelato; all nostalgic food from the west and well worth the inflated city prices. For a change of cuisine, Tbilisi also has an Indian restaurant. Georgian food isn't traditionally spicy, aside for some small peppers my grandmother Nanuli puts in my salad. The Indian restaurant, although good in itself was a well appreciated alternative to Georgian food.

Prospero's bookstore, located at 32 Rustaveli avenue had many travel guides, coffee table books, a few shelves of fiction, and a lot of classics. Although a modest selection by most standards, in my eyes, Prospero's was the library at Alexandria. I walked out of that bookstore with six more novels and fifty less lari. The pilgrim is satisfied. The books should keep me busy for the next few months.

Taking the train to Batumi is a much more pleasant ride, although getting a ticket is a difficult matter. I was shuffled around to different counters only to find out from the clerk that the train is sold out. When I asked for a ticket for the next day, she gave me a ticket for the "sold out" train. I boarded soon after and was put in a sleeper car. Traveling by train is a much better way for long distances. The price is competitive to the buses, but there is much more room. Plus, being able to sleep laying down in the train, as opposed to sitting up in a marshutka is worth the few extra lari. Another bonus, the trains have air conditioning!

The spoils of my Tbilisi trip.

Tbilisi has a cathedral. 

Inside of Tbilisi's cathedral. 

An apology, a defense and a few links.

A month after I wrote this blog, I came back and reread the posts, and discovered a number of grammar mistakes, colloquialism and altogether bad writing. I apologize.

I should provide an explanation of TLG role is in education. A copy of the teaching statement on the TLG website, found here http://www.tlg.gov.ge/content.php?id=94&lang=eng

The Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia has designed Teach and Learn with Georgia to:

• Recruit native and fluent English speakers to co-teach in Georgian public schools
• Promote English language education across Georgia
• Implement new teaching methodologies focusing on listening and speaking skills
• Track progress and tackle challenges in the Georgian education system
• Provide an opportunity for Georgian communities to share their values and engage in a cultural exchange with people from all over the world

The teaching methodology during Georgia's soviet past was grammar based. The native English speakers role is to teach English, but using methodologies that have little focus on grammar or writing, to depart from soviet teaching methodologies.

Aside from a collage diploma, the volunteers have no educational requirements to participate in TLG. Most of the volunteers I have met have no teaching experience, myself included.

A really good blog entry brings up different ideas and issues on teaching Georgians proper English grammar or conversation. I recommend reading http://teachandlearnwithgeorgia.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/what-to-teach-pet-peeves/. I'd like to hear your thoughts, concerns, etc on the matter.

This is, however no excuse for my blog. In the meantime I'll work on my writing.

August 5th to August 7th. Mestia

The ride to Mestia was thrilling. The sweltering city of Zugdidi was behind us, and within a half an hour of departure, we were in the mountains. The lower elevation was covered in forest, but there were also landslide scars and quite a few rocks on the newly-built road at times. The road twisted through a steep river valley, the bottom was a large turquoise-colored reservoir, used for hydroelectric power. When the Soviet Union collapsed, Georgia's power infrastructure was in shambles. Seeing this feat of engineering is a testament of how far this nation has come in only twenty years.

As we reached higher elevation, the valley widened into farmland and pastures. There were cows, but no fences. Our marshutka driver had to occasionally dodge a cow. We had a few fearful moments when the marshutka swerved out of the way of some stupid animal deciding to cross the road. Swerving from cows through high alpine roads fed our appetite for beef. Because we departed early in the morning, we didn't have time to stop anywhere and eat.

When we reached the towns before Mestia, it was like traveling through medieval cities. Most of the buildings were made of stone, the streets were narrow, and each town had several stone towers projecting past the other buildings' rooftops.

Mestia itself was similar to the other towns, except it was larger, and the entire main street was under construction. Apparently, Georgia is trying to turn Mestia into a ski resort. There was so much dust and debris in the streets, it was a bit surprising to come across. When you hear about Svaneti, you think of an ancient and isolated land.

Their also as a lot of litter in Mestia. Usually my village has some, but not like this. We were literally walking on garbage, the river had garbage floating down its rapids, and garbage lined its shores. Usually my village burns its garbage, plastic and all, but in Mestia it just piles.

When we arrived, it was still too early to eat, so we went exploring the city's back roads, and climbed up a hill to get a better view of Mestia. After that, there wasn't much to do in the city itself. Mestia is too small to have significant sights in the city itself. I consider it to be another stopping off point to its surroundings. Outside the city, there are monasteries, glaciers, and hiking trails.

I was hoping we could continue the trip to Ushguli, the highest year round occupied city in Europe, but it was a 200 lari cab ride, and that was one way! The group and I are too cheap to spend that kind of money, so instead we went on a hike to Chalaadi glacier. To save time, a cab took us where the road ends. From there, a hiking trail winds up a steep river valley to the glacier, which is approximately 5 miles from the city. The hike was beautiful, we went through pines and birch trees along a river. The Temperature was around 70F, but was much cooler by the river, the turbulent waters sprayed cool water into the adjacent air.

The hike to the glacier was a bit crowded with people. Mestia has many tourists visiting: Swedes, Russians, British, Italians, other Georgians, etc. Many of the Svans we met spoke more English, compared to people living in Tbilisi or Batumi.

The Glacier was an amazing sight, and we were able to walk along boulders to get close to it. When we arrived at the edge of the glacier, you could see water trickling down into the river. Water would surge up from underneath the ice, creating the river that we were traveling alongside the trail. One of my thoughts on seeing a glacier for the first time was how much movement is occuring. Water is pouring down its sides, and small rocks and pebbles continually slide off it into the water. It was defiantly not a boring block of ice, but a dynamic landmark, with a mind of its own. The sounds were trickles of water, splashing rapids, a clatter of rocks and pebbles.

A bit of knowledge our group picked up in Mestia is that in Georgian restaurants, you never know what your going to get. There are menus, and you can read them, find something and order. When the waiter frowns and shakes his head, you know they don't have what you ordered. After a few shakes of the head, you eventually find something, I've been lucky with ordering fried pork and potatoes. They have a lot of pork and potatoes in Mestia. To my traveling companions dismay, sometimes fried chicken isn't fried at all, but served in a soup. Sometimes you will order and pay for coffee and it never comes. Once I've gone without paying for my entire meal. I had the money, I handed it to the cashier, and she just waved me away!

There was an unfortunate event for my friend happened when we both ordered the same thing, which was fried pork. Our waitress brought to us one plate of the predictably delicious menu item. Adam, being the generous friend that he is, allowed me to eat the first plate. Twenty minutes later, we find out from the waitress that the plate she brought out was two servings of fried pork! We found this out only after I had eaten it all. I still feel bad about this, and I am sorry for Adam. What is funny is that Adam has had horrible luck in Georgian restaurants. What he wants is almost always not on the menu, His food always comes out last, and he is given his beer/drinks last as well. He ordered what I ordered first specifically because I had good luck getting what I wanted, and he figured they can't mess up fried pork, specifically when I order it!

Mestia's main road. Like I said earlier, the city is being rebuilt.

Beautiful from far away. The city I mean, not Adam.

Yes. That is a cow inside this building.

Our new hostel. Adam is laying down on the left and Ryan is climbing to the right.

Me crossing a bridge on the way to the Glacier.

The glacier.

Me reading at the base of a glacier. I did this to annoy Brian  Johnson who does not to understand why people like to read while on vacation.

August 3rd-August 7th Zugdidi

Zugdidi means "Big Hill" but the city itself was flat. I met up with two other TLGers named Tara and Rachael in Kobuleti, where we all paid a cab driver 12 lari each to drive us to Zugdidi. Driving to the city brought us through the Guria and Samegrelo regions. From what I saw, the land is flat and fertile, but altogether, I am glad to be living in Adjara. I would take hills and mountains any day, and it was unbearably hot during the journey. A marshutka ride would have been an inferno, getting a cab to take us was a benevolent luxury.

Zugdidi is a moderately sized city, located about 30 km from the coastline. We were dropped off at a train station. From their, we made our way to the city center. A long, thin park at the city center provided shade and a fountain, where, eventually the TLG volunteers converged.

The TLGers and I told about each others' stories and descriptions of our families, over pizza and burgers at a fast food restaurant. A note of interest, Pizzas in Georgia are usually topped with mayonnaise. From what I heard, the families are awesome like mine, or have little quirks. One volunteer's family pushes too much alcohol on him. Another family doesn't want her to leave...ever. One family even has a horrible animal-child that bites, scratches and claws at their adopted volunteer!

My family policy for me so far has been very hands off. They are great to be around with when they are home, but usually are busy during the day, and are out of the house. My father Romani, either comes home at night, or not at all. My brother, Levani operates machinery in Batumi during the weekdays, and stays there for long periods of time. Xatuna works in Chakvi as a server at the Oasis Hotel, the resort town next to mine, and her schedule is like her father's. The only two family members that have been consistently home have been my host sister Shorena and my Grandmother, Nanuli. They didn't mind me leaving, just were curious on where I was going and when I should be back. I like being treated as an adult here, and expect this to work out really well, especially since I plan on traveling some more before school starts.

Soon after arriving, I came to the conclusion that Zugdidi is a boring city. Aside from a museum, the city has no other real attractions. For lodgings, we stayed in a quaint hostel a half-an-hour walk from the city center. The hostel was run by an ex-TLG member and gave us a five lari each discount! It was the first hostel I've stayed at and was pleasantly surprised. The beds were confortable, their was a shower, and the other travelers were friendly. The road to the hostel, was a dusty, their was no shade and at night, packs of wild dogs would roam the streets. To paint a picture, it was great seeing everyone, but I consider the city to be more of a stopping off point to Svaneti to the North. At the hostel, the previous occupants left maps of Georgia in the common area. The map of Svaneti had mountains and snow, and glaciers, compared to humidity, dust and wild dogs in Zugdidi. I became intrigued with the idea of visiting Svaneti from Zugdidi.

The first night in Zugididi, we spent our time drinking Georgian wine at a bar called "Amerikidan" which was a good night of parting. We all had a lot to drink, enough make us think we were all good dancers, a lot of memorable moments were made that night. The owner of the bar was an American who said the bar has all kinds of good holiday events, (Halloween, Thankgiving, Christmas, etc) but, I wouldn't want to come back to Zugdidi just for a party. I'm not inclined to stay at a bar for too long. A few hours hanging out is nice, but continuous drinking becomes wearisome...and expensive. Four hours of dancing, I was ready to go home and sleep, but the other TLG-ers wanted to stay much longer. To get out of the bar, I took my friend Cameron home, who had actually fallen asleep sitting up.

The next day, we went to Anaklia, which is a coastal town. Resorts and abandoned hotels lined the beaches. Georgia is a combination of ruins and new construction. There were crowds before apparently, and there will be in the future, but the present has sparsely populated beaches and hotels with low rates. The beach at Anaklia had actual sand and not the smooth stones at the beaches at Chakvi and Batumi. What I liked the most was a half-constructed, abandoned cement pier jutting into the sea. People were climbing up it, and jumping off down a 15 foot drop. Of course I wanted to jump off it too, so Rachael and I climbed up this makeshift ladder (A branch of some tree) at the base of the pier. We maneuvered through the half constructed deck to where the water was deep enough and jumped!. Jumping off was the highlight of the day, unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures. I'll hopefully poach someone else's picture of the pier. Anaklia also has a water park which was going to open up the next day. We walked by it, and It looked awesome, but I didn't want to stay in Zugdidi an extra day, I wanted to move on to visit other places.

I convinced Five of us to visit the city of Mestia in Svaneti. Svaneti is located in the Greater Caucasus mountains in the north, and is apparently a cold and harsh climate. The summer months are much cooler than the rest of Georgia, and has some of the best mountain scenery in the country. From what I've heard, the people are extremely rough and independent. They have their own language, culture and customs. Even their religion is a mix of Christianity and pagan religions. One of my goals for this trip was to visit Svaneti, and perhaps make it up to Ushguli. Comprised of several villages, Ushguli, is the highest year-round occupied town in Europe. Svaneti was never conquered by foreign invaders, and many ancient Georgian artifacts, art and treasures were housed here during wars and invasions, and remain in the it's museums. The highland towns have declined to give up their artifacts to the Georgian government, leaving Mestia's museums empty of most of Georgian art, icons and history. Extending our trip from Zugdidi to Mestia was exciting. I was surprised on how flexible everyone was, being paid to travel in Georgia really frees everyone's schedules.

The last night in Zugdidi was quiet . Some were heading home, others were going to Turkey, and others were leaving to Armenia. Paul was even traveling to Sicily for a wedding. Five of us were to take a six hour marshutka ride up through a newly built road through the mountains to Mestia.

Tara on the left (Marskhniv) and Caitlin on the right (Marjviniv) Posing in front of  one of the two fountains in Zugdidi.  It is hot and humid there, I've dunked my head in that fountain more than once.

This house is the Diadani museum. We were rushed through paintings, furniture, antique silverware and Napoleon's death mask by some Georgian friends.

Me being cheesy.

We drank a lot at Amerakidan, but the bill for the wine was only 97 lari. Go Figure.

Another old abandoned building in the park next to the museum. Did I mention I like old abandoned buildings? I'd live in one, but it would defeat the purpose.

Anaklia! To the left is the pier I jumped off of, to the right is a waterpark that promises to be open tomorrow. Nice try Georgia, I've been lied to before here.

August 1st. Botanical Gardens

Today I went to go see an Byzantine fortress called Petra. Located 7 km away from my village, I decided it is close enough to walk. My village, perched on a hill, was easy to walk down. Chakvi, the seaside town next to Gorgadzeebi took about a mile to get to. From there, Petra is 5 km north.

I also was hoping to stop at the Chakvi train station, which was on the way there to find out about train schedules. I could see it on Google maps, though it never mentioned that it was empty. The station only has trains stop there. There were no ticket stands, people or any information. Google maps failed me. Already, the day wasn't turning out so well, and that is when the rain started pouring in from the black sea. The "train" station had some covered benches that was shared by roadside workers, waiting for the storm to let up. The weather can be unpredictable in Adjara, when I started walking, it was hot and sunny, with very little clouds.

An hour later, the storm was reduced to a drizzle. I decided to continue north some more, when I hit some costal hills. Walking up those was a bit daunting, since there was no sidewalk. I had to walk along the road itself, which was heavily trafficked. It started pouring again, and there was no sight of the fortress, and I did not trust the awareness of the other cars, I felt it was time to call it a day and head back. I was able to hail a Marshutka heading to Batumi and head home. Although the transportation system of Georgia is haphazard, it somehow is extremely efficient. I have never felt stranded during my time here. There was also buses and I could always call up a taxi, and hitchhiking, although frowned upon, is always an option.

The Marshutka dropped me off at Chakvi and that was when the rain stopped and it became gorgeous. Instead of heading back home though, I decided to explore some more. One kilometer south of Chakvi is the Batumi Botanical gardens. There was some breathtaking Georgian scenery on the way there, proven in the photos given below.

Batumi's botanical gardens are an enormous park hugging the coastline, extending into the hills a kilometer inland. Composed of many sections, the gardens house a variety plant and tree species from all over the world. Green houses, headquarters, and a few houses dotted the park, but it was still so open! I highly recommend visiting these gardens. My favorite part of the park was old and run-down greenhouses. The plants outside are literally swallowing these buildings, while the plants inside are bursting out their broken panes, windows, and walls. I love old and abandoned buildings, something Georgia has in abundance. I would and plan on, going back with more volunteers just so see the greenhouses again.

I mentioned earlier how huge the park was, I spent about 5 hours inside, and saw about half of it. It was so amazing, that I missed the last shuttle into my village and had to walk the entire way back. Totally worth it, since I spent the next day lazing about the house.

On Friday, I am going to Zugdidi, a city in the Samegrelo region, north of where I am staying. A number of the TLG volunteers want to meet up and hang out. It has been about two weeks since I last spoke with native English speakers, and am excited to hear about everyone's families, regions, et cetra. Mostly, It is good to explore Georgia. TLG is literally paying us while we are on vacation and when school starts at the end of September, my time would limited to weekend excursions. Expect great stories and adventures in the next blog!

Botanical Garden train stop. The platform was abandoned.

Batumi Botanical Gardens (BBG). The stairs were fantastically straight, all the way up  the hill. 

Neat tree in BBG

My favorite part of the gardens was the greenhouses. 

Pretty flower posing, with a onlooker in the background

Amazing view at the BBG. Would you believe it, only an two hours ago, it was pouring rain.

Doesn't have much to do with this entry. I just want to show you  the quantity of food I'm expected to eat  during a meal.