An American in Georgia(the country)

last night's storm
SAM_3106.jpg

the rain was a welcomed relief from the oppressive heat of summer here
SAM_3109.jpg

after a while though I saw lots of lightning too, so I started tinkering around with my camera to shoot
SAM_3119.jpg

from the capturing mode for in the dark, which had a long delay between taking the photo and processing it, so
SAM_3115.jpg

the best I could get were shots like these, its just too hard to know when lightning is going to strike, still
SAM_3131.jpg

I sat in my room for a while, seeing what images I could get, the next was taken right
SAM_3132.jpg

during a bright flash of lightning, I had noticed that the lightning seemed to come in surges of 2 or 3 usually
so I rushed out and snapped another photo
iamawesome.png

somehow I actually managed to catch a pic of lightning, I don't know, it, sort of, thrilled me
I know this camera is not really meant for shooting in the dark much a definitely not catching lightning...
 
the big news is that I will be moving to my new host family on Monday
they live in "Tkibuli" its very close to the regional capitol "Kutaisi" and has a train station
I am glad to have this taken care of before I go back to Cali for 2 months

OK, pic time:

watching "127 Hours" inspired me to do a little more hiking, so first
SAM_3020.jpg

I went down by the river
SAM_3021.jpg

then something wonderful happened at this "rock"
I sat down on it for a moment and all these butterflies just landed on me
common_jezebel.jpg

they looked, sort of, like that, I wish I had gotten a photo of them, but when I reached for my camera they flew away
this is as close as I could find, which was not easy, since if you look for images of butterflies from Georgia, you get ones from the USA
anyways, back to
SAM_3023.jpg

the river
SAM_3024.jpg

here things got tricky, I wanted to get inside that hole
SAM_3025.jpg

but all I could do was climb higher or get totally wet, so I went up to here
SAM_3026.jpg

looked down some on these big things which had been pushed into the river when the snow was plowed off the road at the end of winter
SAM_3027.jpg

then I decided to find another place to cross
 
Last edited:
SAM_3052.jpg

I made my way into the woods, saw this abandoned structure and near it
SAM_3039.jpg

an old wooden bridge, I feared that it would not hold my 100 kilos of weight, but
SAM_3042.jpg

went for it anyways
SAM_3040.jpg

this is the view from the center of it
SAM_3038.jpg

seemed sturdy enough, I planned on using it to get back
SAM_3034.jpg

but the path I took, went away from it and
SAM_3032.jpg

up
SAM_3031.jpg

still I continued along, because though I could easily fall into the river, at least I could see
 
SAM_3051.jpg

some kids playing on the "V-town" side of the river, then
SAM_3029.jpg

one swam over to my side, he wanted me to jump in with him, I said No, but
SAM_3049.jpg

watched him jump, eventually, the path I was on curved away from the river and
SAM_3036.jpg

into the woods, it got real quiet and I was all alone, happy though, so I took this photo
SAM_3033.jpg

the path continued away from the river, but crossed this stream, which I decided to wade in back to the river
SAM_3035.jpg

I did not get very wet and once back at the river I could see
SAM_3037.jpg

this building across from me, I knew there was a big, old, ugly metal bridge, half a klick past it, so I just walked along to it
sorry, no pic of the ugly montrosity in question, camera died a that point :o
 
Wonderful thread, thanks for all the pics and stories!

AFAIK being pro- or anti-Putin can make or break a career in pop or rock music not only in Georgia, but in other ex-Soviet countries and in Russia as well, no matter if they sing in Russian, English or in their native tongues. But I guess the memory of war is still fresh there, so singing in Russian when you're a Georgian perhaps can amount to some kind of treason :)
I know only one (jazz) singer from Georgia, probably because she's a good export product in this field - Nino Katamadze. And she's also on the "right side" politically, even singing in Russia together with local anti-Putin rock veterans. Funny enough, I read somewhere that Saakashvili presented the new ID cards last year at one of her concerts in Batumi.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
^thank you and yeah, I've heard some Nino Katamadze before, not my thing, but not bad
also, going to go through pics I have not uploaded yet, I plan on posting about Georgia while here in the USA for the next few months...
 
random stuff
SAM_3054.jpg

one of my favorite "ruins" outside of V-town
SAM_3094.jpg

quack
SAM_3076.jpg

one more river
SAM_3081.jpg

after that got caught with no way back to a bridge I could use so I had to go up
SAM_3083.jpg

these rickety stairs into the kitchen area of a restaurant by the river, I told them:
"Bodisha, Amerikeli" and they give me some food for free and a drink
SAM_3085.jpg

this is Tango & Lamzira, I am sure there is a joke here, but I am not biting
SAM_3086.jpg

however, blind guy with a digital wristwatch is irresistible, sorry
SAM_3148.jpg

the view from the back of a crowded marshutka, how I spend my time getting around the country
 
a couple of days before I left Georgia for here, I moved to the new town I will be staying in when I get back in September
SAM_3178.jpg

Tkibuli, its bigger than "V-town" and at a very high elevation
SAM_3195.jpg

I did some wandering around it and found a public swimming pool!
SAM_3199.jpg

looks like it was abandoned long ago though
SAM_3180.jpg

this is the new house I stayed at(will be staying) at, my room is on the far right and I have my own front door
SAM_3207.jpg

this is the grandmother of my new host family, I don't know her name, but she answered to Bebia(Georgian for "grandmother")
I think she will be doing most of the cooking of what I eat there, after a few days I was off on
SAM_3216.jpg

a bus to the capitol, then the airport, I took this pic at the one long stop we made before then, I think its supposed to be "Don Quixote"
SAM_3227.jpg

this is my last smoke before entering the departures area at the airport, I knew it would be a long time before I had a chance to have another smoke since even though I had a long layover in Istanbul, you cannot smoke anywhere in that airport either
SAM_3232.jpg

the last sign before going through a security checkpoint

-I don't know if I will be taking many photos while here in the States, I bought my camera in Georgia and the charger for it does not plug into an American power outlet...
 
As usual , Robby, good to read your updates and see the photos. The shots showing the faint path through the greenery were almost therapeutic :) . How does your new host family compare with the old one i.e. are they bitter, shrew-faced, etc, etc. ?

What happened to your non-smoking ?
 
As usual , Robby, good to read your updates and see the photos. The shots showing the faint path through the greenery were almost therapeutic :) . How does your new host family compare with the old one i.e. are they bitter, shrew-faced, etc, etc. ?

What happened to your non-smoking ?
thanks XYZ :) and I have only met some of my new host family, but the father did not appear to be an alcoholic, and the older son actually speaks English with some proficiency :guitar:
these two things should make my time there easier
as for not smoking
actually, since getting back to the States 13 days ago, my smoking has steadily gone down
I still have almost all of the packs of cigs I brought with me :thumb:
the big thing is whether I bring any cloves back with me, maybe a few packs, after that, who knows the next chance I will have to smoke one :o
 
was going to post some pics I took right after I got back here, but my camera I bought in Georgia won't charge here unless I buy an adapter for it :cool:
still, I am sure I will come up with a "California edition" for this thread before I go back :thumb:
 
"California edition"
this post really for me to be able to look back upon sometime in the future :o
a little background, in the village I lived in, "V-town" there were maybe 50 cars/trucks/vans and maybe 2500 people
thats about about 1 car for every 50 people
then I come visit my family, there are only 4 of them, my mother, step-father, brother and my sister in law
but here are there automobiles:
SAM_3248.jpg

my mom's is the red one, my brother and his wife the silver one
SAM_3251.jpg

that was my brother Raymond's car, now Dave or my step dad drive it
SAM_3258.jpg

my dad's heavy hauling truck, we are going to load up tomorrow, it has incredible power, enough even to haul
SAM_3236.jpg

this beast, that my step dad leases for his work, then there is
SAM_3237.jpg

this thing my brother David finished getting running, it was my brother Reece's who died a decade ago
quite a big deal for them to get it running, now only to have to sell it and Dave's
SAM_3239.jpg

"little truck" which he seems to have made more money parting out than selling as a whole
OK, so if you don't count that one, thats still, 1.5 cars per person! :eek:
the crazy thing is I know that such is not uncommon for an "American family"
still, I find it insane and I wonder whether people just a decade from now
will even believe the kind of ridiculous number of (running) cars even people like my poor family use to have
 
my "car disgust" went down a lot based on my experiences today :thumb:
did a lot of driving, for the first time in a long time :o
and you know what?
I forgot how fun it can be, especially with the music playing :guitar:
as I listened to my brother's car attached mp3 player and the Doors played, it just felt so natural
I suppose once an L.A. boy, always an L.A. boy, driving around is just in my blood :)
 
"Baseball Edition"
IMG_20120820_192638.jpg

last night
IMG_20120820_192439.jpg

I went to the Dodger game
SAM_3267.jpg

SAM_3269.jpg

they
SAM_3270.jpg

lost :( but
meaug20-12.jpg

I still had fun :thumb: after all, this is probably the last game I will be able to attend for a very long time...
 
OC edition
for the last few days, I have been staying at an old friend's who lives right by our old
SAM_3289.jpg

high school, it was weird being on that campus, especially with it all empty and quiet
SAM_3282.jpg

since my time there, they have also placed an adult night school next to it and
SAM_3283.jpg

this ghastly metal fence all around the school
SAM_3281.jpg

near the school, down these railroad tracks, you see that over pass in the distance?
thats where what I like "the battle of Westminster" happened back in 1988 :gun:
what happened was a group of Fullerton (nazi) Skins were lying in wait for me and my SHARP*ie friends
see, we use to use those railroad tracks as a shortcut to and away from the mall
anyways, I found out that they were going to try and ambush and instead of all of us walking straight up the railroad tracks
a bunch of us climbed over the back wall of my friend's house** and basically enveloped the Fullerton Skins
hand to hand combat briefly ensued and though they outnumbered us still, they quickly broke and ran
one bloodied my mouth though with a solid punch before I kicked him in the nuts real good and then "their leader" came at me with a knife a few seconds after that, I ripped it out of his hands and put the tip through the palm of his hand, he screamed like a baby and they fled after that
in my experience neo-nazi punks tend to be cowards, this day is forever burned in my memory
I think it was a crucial event which lead to my joining the army less than 2 years after it happened
that taste of battle, though only lasting a few minutes, left me hungering for more :o

OK, so I did most of reminiscing about that day so long ago now at
SAM_3287.jpg

this place, which happens to be the first Vietnamese restaurant I ever ate at, when I came to Westminster in 1986
and now its the last one for what could be a very, very, long time*** :straightface:


*=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skinheads_Against_Racial_Prejudice
**=the house I am currently typing this from
***=unless, of course, I go someplace with Vietnamese food after I leave Georgia
 
last post for a while
as my time here in Socal winds down and my internet gets shut off after tonight :squiffy:
I find myself torn in many different directions emotionally :confused:
life in Georgia is hard for me, but simple, whatever distractions I must deal with, I usually must set them before myself :head-smack:

while here, I am excited to have re-connected with some friends and family I have not seen for years, so much so that I can now even envision once again returning to L.A. maybe "for good" someday :eek:
but not yet, my impulse control is just not where it needs to be for me to safely live here again
and now for something completely different
SAM_3277.jpg

weird huh? this is just some of a friend of mine's "plushie germs" collection
SAM_3278.jpg

I think this is my favorite one
well, time to go away from here for a while
leave-1.gif
 
the longer you hear from me, the worse it is :straightface:
1st, it took 3 weeks for me to get the pay that was supposed to be waiting for me when I got here
2nd, my computer won't go online anymore, I have no idea why, hard to get anyone here to fix it for me :confused:
3rd, the ruling party is out, new guys look to be anti-USA, may mean end of the program
4th, I lost my ATM card last week :mad:

my life has never been worse, forces seems to be conspiring to drive me over the edge in way that they have not in years :crazy:
sorry, no pictures :rolleyes:
 
the longer you hear from me, the worse it is :straightface:
1st, it took 3 weeks for me to get the pay that was supposed to be waiting for me when I got here
2nd, my computer won't go online anymore, I have no idea why, hard to get anyone here to fix it for me :confused:
3rd, the ruling party is out, new guys look to be anti-USA, may mean end of the program
4th, I lost my ATM card last week :mad:

my life has never been worse, forces seems to be conspiring to drive me over the edge in way that they have not in years :crazy:
sorry, no pictures :rolleyes:

hang in there, man, keep your head up and try to focus on something positive, definitely not the negative
 
hang in there, man, keep your head up and try to focus on something positive, definitely not the negative
trying my best, anyways, got some photos uploaded, oh yeah, and I don't live in Tkibuli I live in Zep... in the shadow of
SAM_3531.jpg

this
SAM_3530.jpg

old steel plant, which is surrounded by 4 of
SAM_3529.jpg

these beauties, to me, they are kind of like minarets only instead of this being a mosque, its a temple of Soviet Industrialism
now for some of the "art" outside of it
SAM_3525.jpg

SAM_3526.jpg

SAM_3528.jpg

and here are my two new co-teachers:
SAM_3520.jpg

I know, god am I ugly!
SAM_3439.jpg

this is the school itself, the building is in worse shape than the last one I was in, but I have fewer students so thats OK by me...
 
Back
Top Bottom