I had a great visit with my mom and Jerry when they came to visit me here in Georgia in June. They arrived on the 10th and stayed through the 28th. I went into Tbilisi and met them at the airport. It was great to see familiar faces. They were tired, so we went and got settled in at the hotel first thing. We stayed in the Dzveli Ubani hotel, which means ‘old neighborhood’. Our room had a great view of the president’s mansion and the huge new church in Tbilisi. After showers and sitting for a bit, we met up with Matt and got gyros for dinner. We ate in the park near the Freedom Square metro station. When we were done eating we met Kristin as well and went to see one of the national dance groups at the new performing arts center in Tbilisi. It was a great intro into Georgia for my parents, and they even managed to (mostly) stay awake through the whole performance, which is impressive since they had been traveling for a few days.
Our second day was highlighted by some great food. My mom had had the idea to bring ingredients for Mexican food. So, we met up with Matt again and made tacos. They were amazing, and just what I needed if I was going to make it another six months without Mexican food. We said goodbye to Matt and met up with Kristin and Kate to see the big market in Tbilisi. For dinner we went to a European restaurant that would usually be out of my budget. Again, I was delighted to have some non Georgian food.
After the first few days in Tbilisi, we traveled back to Siktarva. We took the marshutka to Zestaphoni and they charged us for two extra seats since we had quite a few bags and the usual baggage storage place was full. At Zestaphoni we bought flowers for Ia and Tsiala and took a Taxi the rest of the way to Ramazi’s house. They were very happy to have us in. We had a small lunch with only a bit of wine and spent the afternoon looking around the property. For supper the extent of Georgian hospitality came out. Pridoni, Luisa, Lamara, Tatia, Malkhazi, Marika, Sopho, and Kote joined my host family for a feast. Pridoni was tamada, and my parents got to see how the toasting works in Georgia from a master. All of the usual dishes were served; Khatchapuri, Ostri, an assortment of greens, cornbread and cheese…etc. etc. Kote brought his accordion and played music on the piano. At some point in the night Ramazi got his father’s sword out, although I don’t remember that happening. Sopho was nervous but excited to practice her English with more people but she did a great job conversing with my parents and translating all of the toasts.
The next few days were spent in Imereti and went by quickly. The hospitality never ceased. On Tuesday, Sopho and Kote gave us a tour of the Gelati, Bagrati, and Motsameta churches, and took us to the Sataphlia park, where there are dinosaur footprints in the rocks and a there is a cool lit up cave. We finished the day by going to the Khinkali house with them and Ia and Ramazi joined us. There was more eating and singing and Kote brought homemade Tchatcha to drink. At the end of the night he gave the rest of the bottle to my parents.
On Wednesday, this was the last day of school, my students put on a performance for my parents. All of my best students told about a different part of Georgian culture or history. In between each presentation there were either videos, or dances done by the recently graduated seniors. Other guests that came to the performance included Matt, all of the Terjola resource center people and the village officials. It was a very nice presentation for my parents, and or course it was followed by a supra. A number of students had spent the day setting up one of the classrooms. Teachers brought in their nicest plates and glasses, and everyone chipped in to cook a different dish for the supra. Multiple people brought wine and there was once again lots of singing and dancing.
After school was over we left the village for a few days and traveled around the country. Our first stop was Batumi. I was happy about this because I hadn’t been to the coast yet. We found a nice little hotel that was about a ten minute walk from the sea. It had a balcony and we spent our evenings playing pinochle in the sea air. One of the days we visited an old Roman fortress south of town. The other day we spent relaxing on the rock beach and swimming in the sea.
After Batumi we had intended to head to Svaneti, but Jerry wasn’t feeling that great, and we didn’t want to have the six or seven hour marshutka ride to Mestia. So we decided to go to Borjomi. While we were in Batumi, there had been a landslide on the pass between east and west Georgia, and we ended up taking the very scenic way to east Georgia. It was a beautiful drive, but in total it ended up taking us about six hours to get to Borjomi. We all thought this was funny. We stayed in the Borjomi hotel, which is where I stayed when I had been there in January with the people from my group. It was rainy in Borjomi, so we enjoyed some time playing more cards and watching movies, but also managed to make it to the national park for a small hike. By the end we were drenched, but it was still fun.
We went back to Siktarva for a few more days after our bit of traveling. Again, the hospitality was great. One of the days I went into Kutaisi to sign my new contract for my second semester here in Georgia. When I got back, it was obvious that my mom had had a very nice afternoon. I found out that Zhuzhuna had come over and my mom got to help her and Tsiala make bread. This was accompanied by wine and I enjoyed looking at the pictures Jerry had taken during the afternoon.
I was hoping that at some point while we were in the village my mom and Jerry would get to have the experience of getting pulled into someone’s house and served a full meal on the spot. This happened one day when we were on our way down to the river. Giga, one of our neighbors that lives down the hill from Ramazi, invited us in on our way to the river. I wanted my parents to see the river, so we declined. We continued to the river, and I also showed them where I played soccer with some of the guys in the village. On the way back to Ramazi’s house, they again spotted us walking by and asked us to come into their home. This time we accepted. They prepared a full meal for us and the wine never ended. Many of their neighbors came by to see the Americans and it made for a very festive afternoon. Jerry made the mistake of offering his big glass, instead of his small wine glass, to be filled after one of the toasts and it turned into a large glass being drunk for every toast. After a few hours of eating, we were driven back to Ramazi’s, where Jerry took a long nap and I helped my mom do some laundry.
On our last full day in the village we went to Dzevri and Gogni. We went to the Dzevri power plant, and then to the church above Gogni. On the way back, we stopped at the lake and had a picnic and enjoyed the sunny day. After this we went to Pridoni’s for our village meal. Again Kote and Sopho joined us, and there was a lot of singing and dancing. Pridoni’s niece was our main server, and Louisa’s food was excellent as always. Pridoni gave my parents a gift of two liters of wine, which they were able to take with them back to America.
The next morning everyone met us by the road to say goodbye. Ramazi gave my parents some of his wine to take, and Kote presented them with a bottle of homemade Cognac. After hailing down a nice looking Marshutka, we left for Tbilisi. We arrived late in the afternoon and headed back to the Dveli Ubani hotel. Jerry wanted to rest, so my mom and I went to the newly built Sameba church. I recently learned that it is the third largest Christian church in the world. There was a service going on and we got to see the bishop of Georgia. After this we went to the sulfur baths. They were amazing as usual, and I think that my mom really enjoyed them. We ended the evening by going out to another European restaurant.
Our last trip was a two day trip to Kazbegi. We hired a taxi to take us so that we could make stops on the way up. We stopped at Ananuri church and fortress, where we took pictures and my mom bought and amazing hat. We made other stops on the way to take pictures, and I was able to show them where I stayed when I went skiing in Gudauri. After a few hours, we arrived in Kazbegi. The host of the guesthouse we had meant to stay at was in Tbilisi, so we went to the town center to regroup. There were a number of women waiting there for tourists to offer the services of their houses and their cooking. We chose one, dropped off our bags, and were told to be back in a few hours for dinner. We walked back into town and crossed the river, and continued down a path on the other side of the river that runs parallel to the town. I was very nice and the weather was perfect. Next we walked back into town and had a beer while enjoying the view of Mt. Kazbegi. After this we went back to dinner. For supper our host had cooked stuffed peppers, khatchapuri, and the regional specialty, Khinkali. It was all delicious.
The next day might have been the fullest of my parents trip to Georgia. It was their last full day and we made the most of it. We got up early and hired a driver for an excursion for the day. Our first stop was the church on the mountainside. It was amazing. We stayed for over an hour enjoying the view of the mountain, the town below, and the church. After this we went to some waterfalls and other places around Kazbegi. We finished around mid afternoon and took another back to Tbilisi. On the way we stopped and saw the Mtskheta and Jvari cathedrals. They are two of the most important holy places in Georgia. By the time we finished all of the sightseeing we were exhausted and went straight to the hotel. We had our last dinner at a European restaurant before getting ice cream and turning in. The morning was spent packing and buying some last minute souvenirs. When that was done we headed for the airport where I said good bye to my mom and Jerry. It was a wonderful vacation, and refreshing for me to spend some time with people I knew and people who spoke English. I was sad to see them go but also excited for my upcoming trip to Thailand.
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