A Greta and Keda Reunion

On Friday morning, I rolled out of bed and ran to the train station. I bought my ticket and was soon headed to the Black Sea coast.

The day I arrived in Georgia I had begun to plot a way to visit my Fulbright host site, Keda, and my Georgian family and friends that live there. Since it is roughly a six hour train or marshrutka ride to Batumi from Tbilisi and then another hour to Keda, I took Friday off. If Keda was closer to Tbilisi, I would visit more often, but as it stands now, that would be hard to do.

View from the train. Western Georgia is humid and subtropical.

This very Soviet scene.

Once in Batumi, I could feel my excitement mount. I sat in the Keda marshrutka at the dodgy, dirty Batumi bus station waiting to go, slightly apprehensive. Ever since I left Georgia last year, I had imagined what I would do when I first returned to Keda...who would I see first? Who would see me first? What would happen?

The marshrutka station in Batumi

Keda marshrutka

Well, that question was answered for me. When I arrived in Keda, I hopped off the marshrutka and started heading up the hill towards my host family's house.

"GRETA!!!!!"

I spun around and who do I see come dashing up the hill behind but two of my favorite girls - sisters, Tamuna and Nini! They both more or less crashed into me with big hugs and insisted on taking my bags off my hands.

Nini scurried up the stairs of one of the neighbor's homes to announce my arrival. Malvina!

Then came the big greeting. I finally reached my host family's house and on the back porch I see my host mother. "Tsitso!" She hugged me, told me I was too skinny, and within minutes whipped up a bunch of food and had me eat.

What was on TV but Turkish soap operas dubbed into Georgian. As always. But, wait! A twist! Midway through my meal, Tsitso came into the room and switched the channel to an Indian soap opera dubbed into Georgian. Every single day, without fail, when I was in Keda last year, Tsitso and every other woman in Adjara, watched these programs. 

Meanwhile, Tamuna and Nini sat with me while I ate, staring.  Last year, Tamuna seemed to have taken a shine to my camera and so, I wanted to get her a special gift for my return - a camera! Immediately, she seemed smitten with it, thanking me profusely. All the older Georgians wanted to know how much it was, but I refused to tell them. I told them: "In America, you never ask someone how much a present costs." They accepted this, although I could tell they were really curious. In Georgia, it is perfectly normal to ask someone what their salary is, so asking how much a gift cost would not phase them.

At this point, Giorgi came bounding into the house, back briefly from swimming in the river: "DEDI!" (MOM!) He thought I would arrive in the evening, so when he saw me sitting on the couch, he did a double-take.  "Greta!" He smiled, his eyes still carrying their mischievous twinkle.

In the late afternoon, I sat with Malvina and her mother, Narqizi, at the local cafe and snacked on delicious watermelon. In the evening, I sat with all my neighbors and sipped on Turkish coffee and ate sweet plums.

Turkish coffee, plums, and sweets.

Yours truly and Tamuna!

Narqizi

On Saturday, Giorgi, Tamuna, Nini, and I all went down to the river to swim. Along the way, a whole bunch of other kids joined us. It was sweltering and so the water felt incredibly refreshing. Of course, as I packed for this trip back in Tbilisi, I had anticipated possibly swimming, but somehow did not bring sunscreen or my swimsuit. When I asked if I could buy sunscreen in Keda, I was told no. "You don't need it!" Tsitso proclaimed. Huh.  So, I swam in a t-shirt and my sleeping shorts. It was so hot, I knew they would both dry out before I went to bed. I did not stay and swim for too long as I did not want to be burnt to a crisp. That evening, everyone who had gone swimming with me was burned while I remained unscathed.

In the river.

After swimming, I walked around town, searching for my English teaching counterparts. None of them were to be found. I then went and hung out with Malvina for awhile, chatting. She is a university student studying English, so we were able to converse pretty easily.

Malvina and Tamuna on either side of me!

Keda!

A view down valley.

An old, still-functioning gas station in Keda

The mountains of Adjara

And so the rest of my day was spent eating, drinking Turkish coffee, and hanging with old friends.

Tamuna was alarmed that I had to leave the next day.

"Work," I pouted.

"You come again?"

"Of course." Without a doubt I will return before I leave for America.

My dear neighbors! From left: Tamuna, Maka, me, Malvina, Narqizi, and Mzia.

Me and my host mother, Tsitso!

My marshrutka ride on Sunday was probably one of the wilder marshrutka rides I have been on and that is saying something. My driver drove at a blazing speed, passing others wildly. One black SUV tried to pass us but a car was coming in the other direction, but instead of falling back behind us, the SUV veered right for us. The only way we avoided getting into a serious three-car collision was by my driver quickly pulling  onto the shoulder of the road. I cursed and watched in amazement as the SUV pulled the same stunt on another marshrutka ahead of us.

But that's not the worst incident. Not exactly. An hour or so later, a marshrutka pulled up alongside mine and a passenger stuck his head out the window and started yelling. In a huff, my driver accelerated to pass...but so did the other marshrutka. TAP! My driver hastily pulled over and before I knew it, the other driver had my driver by the collar and slammed him against my vehicle, right where I was sitting. Everyone piled out after the other male passengers pulled the drivers apart and then proceeded to scream at each other for a good five minutes. The women watched, shaking their heads and I decided to take some pictures of the pretty views. I was fed up with the ride.

View from the side of the road. Eastern Georgia has a dry, continental climate.

By 8 pm, we had finally reached Tbilisi and thank goodness!

It was a wonderful weekend of relaxation and the reunion with my host family and friends was more than I could have asked for. My home on the other side of the world!