Spring Sun, Tbilisi, and Keda Fun

After my last lengthy blogpost about Svaneti, certain keys on my keyboard stopped working. Which keys you might ask? Why t, y, u, i, o! It was rather unfortunate that most of my vowels were out of commission - it certainly made matters difficult. Anyway, this is probably boring for you, but it set up my recent trip to Tbilisi quite nicely because I had to order a new external keyboard which was to be picked up in the capital city.

Last weekend, I made the seven hour journey from Keda to Tbilisi, all by marshrutka. There is a train that goes between Batumi and Tbilisi, but it leaves a little too early in the morning for my taste.

In Tbilisi, I stayed at this nice hostel off of Rustaveli Avenue because I know the owner real well and because it had a private room for me to stay in at more than half the cost of a budget hotel room. The weather was quite nice, warm, but cloudy with some passing showers. I met with friends Nathan who is on a Fulbright research grant in Tbilisi, Cameron who is a Fulbright ETA in Armenia, and Tengo who was an intern at the US Embassy when we all arrived back in September, all of whom I had not seen in quite some time and ended up having a great time with them over dinner two nights in a row.  While going out to dinner, Nathan introduced me to a part of Tbilisi that I had never seen before and so on Sunday I went there by myself to wonder around and take pictures. I cannot say that a whole lot of interesting things happened this weekend, it was just a nice, good, fun weekend. I felt happy.

Rustaveli Avenue

Freedom Square

Marjanishvili Street

Marjanishvili neighborhood

A park along Marjanishvili Street

Yours truly in said park,

This weekend was spent locally. I stayed in Keda, explored a local church by the name of Zvare just 5 kilometers down the road, and visited with my Georgian neighbors. Friday night was warm and I went with Giorgi and neighbor Tamuna to a local park where we played on a seesaw for roughly half an hour by light of the moon and fireflies. It has been fifteen years since I was on a seesaw and must admit that it was quite fun.

Zvare is a beautiful church located on a cliff jutting out into the river Acharistkhali, which is the main river that courses through the lush mountains of Adjara. Saturday was a gorgeous and perfect day to visit this church and explore the area before getting a ride back to Keda with a counterpart. I had planned on walking back, but having forgotten to put on sunscreen, I did not want to get burned in the hot afternoon sun, so I took him up on his offer. Back in Keda, I bought local bottled mineral water and some ice cream before hanging out with my schoolgirl neighbor, Tamuna, and her mother, Maka, in the local pharmacy. I just love Tamuna, she is such a sweet girl and our friendship transcends both age and language. She is ten and speaks little English, I am 24 and speak little Georgian, but somehow we make it work. We went off to a park to take pictures. I also hung out at another neighbor's for a good while, chatting over Turkish coffee and sliced apples.

Zvare Church and the Acharistskhali River 

The lush subtropical mountains of Adjara. These mountains make up part of the (lesser)
Caucasus Mountain Range that runs along the border of Georgia, Turkey, and Armenia

Tamuna and I in the local aptiaki (pharmacy)
run by her mother, Maka (not pictured). I often stop by to visit.

Tamuna in 9 Aprili Park.

The sign as you enter Keda, my Fulbright host site over the past year.

My dear Tamuna.

And to part ways…kittens!

Sunday was a lazy day spent inside due to the rain and cool air that had descended upon the mountains. I lay here on my bed, writing this blog post, with the host cat Jackson sitting on my butt. It has been a nice day hanging out with my host family and neighbors - I really do not have too many of these days left before I return to the States.

Next weekend, I am going on a trip to Armenia! It will be quite fun and interesting to see another country of the Caucasus. To do this, though, I really need to invest in some sunscreen because I got sunburned this weekend and next weekend in Yerevan looks like it is going to be scorching.

So, that's it on my end! Stay tuned for a post about Armenia. Oh! It is less than a month now until my parents arrive in Georgia and you will definitely want to stay tuned for that!