Batumi No-Reading Photo Post

Batumi is in south-western Georgia, right on the coast of the Black Sea. I like it there. Here are the groodest pics:




Easter is next!

So much love,
Sarah

Problem Yok (No Problem)!

Here's a nice day-by-day outline of my Turkey, just in case you're tired of reading about Georgia. Hope you enjoyed the call to prayer in the last post (I didn't take it for the visual, but the audio --- just fyi).


Day 1: Monday morning we left from Batumi to the border crossing at Sarpi (Thank goodness I just happened to save a $20 bill in my wallet, because I needed it for my visa). From there we made our way to Trabzon with no maps, no plan, and an incorrect phone number for the place we were staying. I only know a few words in Turkish, but with them we were able to find directions to the place we were staying. Cut to us completely exhausted and sweaty from climbing endless hills, ordering Turkish pizza (lahmacun), and passing out before 10pm. We were woken up early by the call to prayer which sounds five times a day from every mosque in the city --- B-E-A-utiful.

Day 2: Still map-less, we decided to explore the city on foot. We asked passers-by what direction the center was in, and each one told us to take a mini-bus (dolmush) but we hoofed it instead. It was about 4 kilometers away, but at the time it was fun! The city is practically made of hills, so we got lots of exercise as well as some awesome views of the city. We met a shopkeeper who spoke Russian and invited us to sit for tea --- This is when I noticed that there are men carrying tea-trays all over the city, going to and from shops and restaurants delivering cups of Turkish tea. From the market we got directions to the Hagia Sophia (not the big one in Istanbul, but the baby one modeled after the big one in Istanbul) and walked all the way there as well (What’s another few kilometers?). We made it home before it started to rain too much, and I got an impromptu percussion lesson from our host… I’m not very good at it (Surprise!)

Day 3: Field trips. We reserved this day to explore some sites outside of the city of Trabzon. First we hit Sumela, which is a beautiful ancient monastery tucked into the side of a mountain. We got a ride most of the way up, but then hiked back down ourselves (my legs are still refusing to forgive me for that one). We also found a nice waterfall, so we followed that up as far as it was climbable and had a nice sit. We met a Turkish couple touring the Black Sea coast, and they offered to take us with them to Uzungol, a natural lake in a mountain valley. Let me tell you, there’s nothing like a good lake. Water, shore, rocks, all that jazz. It’s the best place in Turkey, everyone should go (wink, wink) …Actually, we spent about ten minutes there, laughed a lot, skipped some rocks, and then decided to head back. We had a nice car ride, though, joking about how exciting Uzungol is.

Day 4: Tired from the day before, we slept in and decided to take it easy. After a brunch of Turkish kebap and ayran (a salty yogurt drink) we made it to the view-point of Trabzon called Boztepe. We drank tea from Samover, which is a giant silver hot-water heater with a place to put a small pot of very concentrated tea. We drank tea and enjoyed the view, did some more walking through the city and the market, and sat on the beach. P.S. I saw a Dolphin in the wild for the first time in my life, I’m pretty sure I screamed. It was awesome. That night we had what our host calls R&B: Raki Balik. Raki is the Turkish national drink: Anise flavored alcohol that turns white when you mix it with water. Balik means fish, which we got fresh from the sea-side fish market and then grilled over hot coals on the balcony. Throw in some Turkish music, that drum that I can’t play, and a few more Turks and you get a pretty good party. We sang a LOT --- Turkish people love singing as much as I love listening to them sing.

Day 5: Although we planned on leaving early, we were pretty beat and slept in again. I made American breakfast (eggs, toast, hashbrowns and ketchup) and we sat around for a while before heading back to Batumi. A successful trip, some new stamps in my passport, and minimal sunburn.

…AND my travel-buddy and I didn’t even strangle each other.

Back in Georgia now, Happy Orthodox Easter!

Love,
Sarah

Turkey is nice.

Oh, hey guys, I'm in Turkey, more news later.

Stalin was a Handsome Devil

Hello, all! Georgia is still treating me wonderfully, and I’m trying to take as many pictures and keep in touch with everyone as much as possible (Sorry for the lack of emailing/facebooking/skyping, it’s just that those applications tend to use more internet than I usually have access to.)

I just hit the half-way mark for my stay in Georgia. Whenever I hit this point I have the same paradoxical thoughts of “Haven’t I lived here, like, forever?” and “Didn’t I just get here, like, yesterday?” Not to be discouraged by the fact that I only have two months left in this wonderful place, I packed my bags and went to Gori for the weekend.

I arrived in Gori by train, which was an adventure in itself. Not only did I get to admire the beautiful mountain scenery as we crossed half the country, I also sat next to a nice family with an 8-year-old daughter who practiced her English with me for a good part of the 4 1/2-hour ride. Her parents bought me a khachapurri and we talked about the challenges of language barriers in the classroom (while we struggled with a language barrier ourselves).

Gori is the hometown of Stalin (Did you know he was Georgian?) and the center of the city was actually build around the house he was born in. Behind the house is a huge museum of Stalin’s life, which opened while he was still alive, and almost makes you admire the guy. Joking aside, I learned a lot and it was more interesting than I expected. Also, have you seen any pictures of Stalin when he was young? He was dangerously good looking. Here's his house:

Some other highlights of the trip were climbing to the fortress on the edge of town, eating ice-cream on the city catwalk, meeting a bunch of other TLG teachers, and going to the circus! I haven’t been to a circus since I was five, and since we made friends with one of the acrobats we were given free front-row seats and popcorn. I bought myself a cotton-candy to complete the experience and thoroughly enjoyed the show --- especially the looks on the children’s faces as they stared up at the acrobats.

On my way to Turkey next week --- Take care, I love you all!

Sarah

In which I climb a mountain and buy some books

Last weekend was a weekend which means, as it usually does, traveling. This weekend I opted for Tbilisi, seeing as last time I was there I was never able to see it in the daylight. I managed to get a friend of mine to travel with me, which I must say, is much more convenient than traveling in a group of 22 (see my brief post of photos from Bakuriani). I missed the train, but luckily found a man who also couldn’t get a ticket and we finagled our way onto a marshutka (minibus) headed to Tbilisi. He gave me a lovely charm of the Madonna to keep any further misfortune from my path, and provided me with some Russian conversation during the 4-hour ride through the mountains. From there I met my friend at the bus station, hopped on the metro, and for two days we explored the city as much as possible. We started with the English book-shop (a God-send, since I have been reading novels adapted for high-school English learners) and picked up Robinson Crusoe and Sense and Sensibility. I finished the first within three days of returning to my village, so it’s a good thing I bought two… After that we decided to take a hike up the many stairs that go up the mountainside to various churches, ruins, and Mother Georgia (much like the Mother of the Motherland in Kiev) The views were great, here are the photos --- Enjoy!

Love,

Sarah

Bakuriani

Yeah, this weekend I went skiing. It was tight. Here are some pics --- Enjoy!