Sunny with a chance of bears

When I say that I spent the weekend in Borjomi, what comes to mind?

"Well, I know it has to do with Georgia, since that's where Katy is now."

Correct.
Some people might also be able to add on:

"Isn't that the town famous for its mineral water?"

Yes, indeed!  In fact, it's Georgia's number 1 export at the moment. But, that's not was brought myself and another TLG volunteer (Mike) out here for the weekend.  The big draw for us were the mountains.  The Lesser Caucasus range to be more specific.

Here's the view from another TLG volunteer's house:

Next to this picturesque town is Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park.  It is a massive park that takes up about 8% of Georgia's total territory.  The Lonely Planet guide fills you in on which of the 9 trails make for good day/multi day treks.  They also nonchalantly inform readers that this park is home to 90 brown bears. (Say that again?!)

Let's take a moment to learn about the Eurasian brown bear:

"It has a powerful bone structure, large paws, equipped with big claws, which can grow up to 10 cm in length. The weight varies depending on habitat and time of the year. A full grown male weighs on average 265–355 kg (583–780 lb). The largest Eurasian brown bear recorded was 481 kg (1,058 lb) and was nearly 2.5 m (8.2 ft) long. Females typically range between 150–250 kg (330–550 lb)."

So, basically, this an animal neither Mike nor myself wanted to happen across.  However, with  5.3 thousand square kilometers, there should be plenty of room for everyone, right?

(Side note: There are also wolves, lynx, and something called a chamois (we hoped it was vegetarian) wandering around the park.)

The plan was to hike 15 km (about 10 miles) up trail #1 to the shelter of Lomis Mta (Mt. Lomis), spend the night, then hike down trail #6 (another 15km/10 miles).

The hike up was mostly in the trees until we reached the ridge line.  Once the trees thinned out, the views were spectacular.  Here are a few shots:

The shelter really was bare bones, but at least we had four walls, a roof, a door that closed, and a fresh water spring .5 km away.

The temperature dipped down to 43.5 degrees F/6 degrees C.  Here's the evidence:

Sleep came in small spurts, due to shivering, animal noises, and body parts falling asleep from the hard wood bunk beds.  The most exciting part of the night went like this:

*laying awake listening to small animals scurry around outside*

rrrrrrr! Rrrrrrr!

"Mike, wake up.  I heard a bear"

"Huh, what? Oh, uh huh."

"No seriously."

"Yup."

-20 minutes later-

RRRRrrr! RRrrrrrrR!

"Mike, did you hear it this time?"

"O, yeah."

"It's closer."

"Well, as long as it doesn't lean against the door, we should be fine."

O_o

Needless to say, a good night's sleep escaped me.  The next day started at daybreak, with the sun streaming in through the window onto our tired faces.  We had breakfast in sleeping bags, and got ready for the hike down.

It took another 15km to get down to the main road.  We were going to go down trail #6, but after missing the turn off and finding ourselves on a vehicle track, we decided that this was for the best and continued on down.

It was a fantastic weekend.  One that I'll not soon forget.  
It also has me researching what would the best plan of attack be for finding oneself face to face with a bear.  Just in case.  You never know out here.

Nakhvamdis!
 

Katy x

Links:

Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borjomi-Kharagauli_National_Park

My Everest (in the Georgian Language)

What do cheese, grapes, coffee, and water all share in the Georgian language?

The dreaded and very frustrating (for non-native speakers) letter "ყ".  This letter is transliterated as "qkh", but this does not even begin to describe the guttural sound that you have to make.  This is the throatiest of throaty sounds.  It needs to be deeper than clearing your throat, but shallow enough not to dislodge a loogie.

This is my Everest and I will continue asking for cheese, grapes, coffee, and water in my quest to establish my dominance over this phoneme.  Hopefully, I will not insult anyone along the way with a mispronunciation. 

Nakhvamdis!

Katy

To the Center of the Earth!

Here are the photos to go with my first excursion into the Georgian countryside in and around Kutaisi!

The 12th graders and some of the teachers preparing to descend into the depths of the Prometheus Cave.  It's 1,2 km long and we got to a depth of 80 m.  There's also an undergroundriver flowing through it that will take tourist through the cave complex later on.

After the cave, we were herded back onto the bus and were off the Sataplia (the Land of Honey) Nature Reserve, where you can see dinosaur footprints!

>>Side note:  The reason that this place is called the Land of Honey is because of all the bees. And, not just any kind of bees, but MOUNTAIN bees.  They make their hives in the sides of the mountains.  These bees are rustic and manly and their hobbies are wearing flannel and growing facial hair.^^

At the lookout point in Sataplia! (Look, Ma, no ground!)

The last stop on the trip was to Bagrati Cathedral in Kutaisi.  It was built in 1003 by Bagrati III.  It stood intact until 1692, when a Turkish explosion demolished the dome and the ceiling.  It has since been rebuilt using as much of the former catherdral as possible.

For Whom the Duck Tolls!

Forgetting to set my alarm clock would not be the worst event in the world.  I have to fall back plans.  Every morning, my lovely host mother taps on my door to let me know that breakfast will be on the table.  However, that is not the first call to wake up.  The next-door neighbors have a duck, and that duck has taken it upon itself to let everyone in squawking range know that the sun has risen. 

Much obliged, Duckie.

To continue,  I have been in the town of Samtredia for 3 days now and it is lovely.  I live in a pretty sizable house with a host mother and grandmother.  We have been able to hurdle my lack of Georgian with an interesting mixture of Russian, English, and plenty of mime.  So far, so good.

I have been trying my best to expand on the little Georgian that was taught during our orientation.  The quicker, the better.  The reasons for this are pretty straightforward:
1. Communicate with the locals.
2. Fill in the gaps in conversation with my host grandmother.  If there is a gap, she will get some food and tell me to eat.

Side note:  I definitely know the imperative form of the Georgian verb 'to eat'.

Other things that I have learned:

-I am too skinny.
-I should have a boyfriend.
-A Georgian man would do nicely in this respect.
-It's always sweater weather.

Everyone has been so kind and welcoming.  Having a guest is a point of honor and pride here in Georgia.

Yesterday, I went on an excursion with the 12th grade class (about 20 students).  Instead of iPods, they had guitars and sang traditional Georgian songs throughout the field trip.  We went to Prometheus Cave (massive cave at least 80m deep), Sataplia (=Land of Honey.  It's nature reserve with dinosaur footprints from the Jurassic period and another cave), and Brigid's cathedral in Kutaisi.  Pictures will follow.

I'm settling in nicely and cannot wait to share more.

Cheers,

xK

Wrapping up training

It's been a long week of training and a large number of topics were covered.  The days felt longer due to the jet lag and, towards the end, it almost felt like new information was pushing out the old, which reminds me of this little gem of a quote:

"How is education supposed to make me feel smarter?  Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes old stuff out of my brain.  Remember when I took that home wine-making course, and forgot how to drive?"
                     -H. Simpson


Anyways, back to the training.  We went over such topics as:

     

     -Culture

     -ESL Methodology

     -Language classes

     -Living with a host family

     -You get the idea...

Tomorrow, we will be popping this bubble that we've been living in for the past week and get to experience Georgia on a whole new level.  Tbilisi is a wonderful city, but I am excited to explore the town and region where I will call home for the next 9 months. 

Here is the region that I will be exploring in depth and teaching in:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imereti

Fact: This is the region where Jason came, with his Argonauts, to search for the Golden Fleece.
Fact: This region is traditionally known for its mulberry and grape harvest. (And where there's grapes, there's... :)

That's all for now!

Cheers,

xK

First day in Tbilisi!

So, after nearly 2 full days off travel, I made it to Tbilisi.  The rest of the TLG group met each other while gathered around the baggage carousel, playing a slow-paced traveler's Russian roulette (hoping that your gad is the next one to fall onto the conveyor belt).

**Side note: Coming in for the landing was amazing.  There was a thunderstorm off in the distance and with each flash you could see the outline of the mountains surrounding the city.  Where's the picture, you ask? Well, let's see your picture of lightening first.^^
Saturday felt like two days in one. The group got in at 4-5 AM, I was matched up with an awesome roommate (Julie^^), and we slept until 2 in the afternoon.  We got up, had lunch, grabbed another TLG volunteer (Max), and went into the city center by marshrutka (van).

View from the hotel front door:

Down in the center of the city and looking at the ridge line Max, Julie, and I were about to hike up to:

View from the top:

 Giant statue of King Tamar.  She's called "King" by the Georgian people due to the great respect they have for her and her accomplishments.

Grapes hanging over a doorway:

Lunch!  One khaachap'uri is enough for 3 people. So delicious!

Tbilisi at night.  

Dancing fountains with a light show: 

Tomorrow, we will start Georgian language classes and further orientation to the program.  I should find out where I will be placed and maybe information on what grade(s) I'll be teaching.

Cheers!
xK

Warsaw, Poland: A Quick Tour of the Old Town

I am now in Tbilisi, Georgia!

TLG (Teach and Learn with Georgia) has been a great host so far and I am enjoying the hotel that will be home for the next 7 or so days.
Part of the deal with this program are that the tickets are provided.  So, with the price being so right, it was hard to complain too much about the two 12-hour layovers.

The 12 hours in JFK were uneventful.  However, the 12 hours in Warsaw were fantastic.  I was able to meet up with two other TLG volunteers and get right into the heart of the city. We took bus 175 for 3,60 (~$1.50) to go to the Central Train Station and use the lockers to hold our bags (good thing, too! Talk about heavy!)

As we were walking toward the Old Town, we started to see some more ornate buildings:

Presidential palace:

Here's a statue of a bear.  He is apparently a shy prince, who was somehow changed into a stone bear and is waiting for a kiss from a woman who truly loves him.  I gave him a peck and no luck.  Sorry, bear!

The two other TLG volunteers, Judith and Justin:

One of the squares in the Old Town: 

One of the emblems of the city, a battle ready mermaid! The story behind it is, 

     "a mermaid swimming in from the sea stopped on the riverbank near Old Town to rest.  She found it so admirable that she decided to stay. Local fisherman living nearby noticed that something was creating waves, tangling the nets, and releasing their fish.  Although their original intention was to trap the offender, they fell in love with the mermaid upon hearing her sing. Later, a rich merchant trapped the siren and imprisoned her in a wooden hut.  A young fisherman heard the mermaid's cry and with the help of his mates, released her, whereupon she declared her readiness to offer fisherman her help whenever it would be needed.  Ever since, the mermaid, armed with sword and shield, has been ready to help protect the city and its residents."

After all the wondering, we were hungry.  We saw the sign, opened up our eyes, and saw this sign:

Polish homebrew:

Meat peirogies, delicious!

And on our way back to the airport, here's a building from Stalin's Soviet era. 

Poland (Country #20).  I'll be back to visit Krakow and see some more of this interesting country.

Cheers!

xK

Georgian Alphabet: Intro

With my departure only hours away, I am in a mad dash to try and cram what I can into 3 bags.  List of what ends up in my bags will be posted later.  Hopefully, it'll be a good base line for what should go into your bags.

Besides running errands, I've been trying to memorize the Georgian alphabet.  Now, I was hoping that having studied Russian, with its Cyrillic alphabet, might help me.  Turns out, it doesn't.  >_<  Shoot.

Here are the 33 letters:

Pretty, right?  Looking at a page written in Georgian still seems to play tricks on my eyes, but it's getting easier to recognize letters and write them out.

And, with two 12 hour layovers (!), I will have plenty of time to copy out all these letters again and again and mutter their pronunciations under my breath. I'll either sound like a crazy lady, or, if my ears are covered by my hair, a crazy lady with blue tooth.

Cheers,
xK 

Accepted!

I heard back from the recruiter on Friday and I am in!

Everything has been sent off and I will be leaving on September 12 or 13.  Training starts in Tblisi on September 15 and goes for a week.

Now, to get stuff packed!

Interview

Yesterday, I had my interview with Greenheart Travel and I think that it went very well!
It looks like I will get the decision from TLG (Teach and Learn with Georgia) by next week. :)

First steps toward Sakartvelo

გამარჯობა! Hello!

Hopefully by this time next month, I will be experiencing my first few days in the Republic of Georgia.

This will be the second country that I have lived in to teach English and home #6 (my passport has been getting well-stamped.).

I have talked with a few people who have done the Teach and Learn with Georgia (TLG) program and they have loved their time there.

I would like this blog to be a resource for others who are thinking about coming to this part of the world and for friends and family to keep up with what's going on.

You can apply directly to the TLG program, but I used a well-established recruiter (CCI (Center for Cultural Interchange): Greenheart Travel) to help with the process, specifically the criminal background check, which can be a long process.

I submitted my application and received an e-mail later the same day about setting up an interview over Skype.  I'm not sure how long it will take to hear back about acceptance into the program.  Hopefully, it will be soon, so I can start sorting and packing for my next adventure.

xK

Websites:

>TLG: http://www.tlg.gov.ge/

>Greenheart Travel: http://www.cci-exchange.com/travelabroad/program.aspx?id=5074

>Official TLG blog: http://teachandlearnwithgeorgia.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/welcome-to-the-tlg-blog/