I use to live downwind of this, happy to now be a number of klicks from it
lastly
birds fly into our classes all the time, most like this one, I wonder what kind it is
C'mon, Robby , you're a teacher - you should be identifying the species ...
An American in Georgia(the country)
- Thread starter Oh my god. it's Robby!
- Start date
C'mon, Robby , you're a teacher - you should be identifying the species ...
CrystalGeezer
My secret's my enzyme.
birds fly into our classes all the time, most like this one, I wonder what kind it is
It's a Hawfinch, the largest European finch away from northern conifer belt. Looks like a juvenile based on the beak color.
Wow ! Did you already know this or was it a quick flick through some online Avianipedia ?
I'm just finishing off a book " Dog days , Raven Nights " by Marzluff which goes into his work with Bernd Heinrich on various raven research projects - such clever birds !
CrystalGeezer
My secret's my enzyme.
One of my employers is an avid birder. She has all the books, I was there yesterday. I catalogue her sightings, I thought it might be a Grossbeak, it wasn't, found it in a finch book with her help.
Oh my god. it's Robby!
spontaneously luminescent
went to Gori yesterday
Stalin's hometown, took many photos, difficult to decide which to post, but here goes
this is Stalin when he was in the seminary studying to be an Orthodox priest
but he was thrown out for distributing Marxist literature
then he became a full time revolutionary, with the proper beard and all
of course he had the last laugh on them, the museum to him is the main building of the seminary
and he has his parents little house moved to right in front of it, I went inside, took photos, quite tiny in there
this is a statue of "Young Stalin" so many more photos from the museum, train and little house to post, but with just one more let me show what I did next
after leaving the museum I saw this huge crumbling castle on a massive hill, first I took a long walk all around it then
Stalin's hometown, took many photos, difficult to decide which to post, but here goes
this is Stalin when he was in the seminary studying to be an Orthodox priest
but he was thrown out for distributing Marxist literature
then he became a full time revolutionary, with the proper beard and all
of course he had the last laugh on them, the museum to him is the main building of the seminary
and he has his parents little house moved to right in front of it, I went inside, took photos, quite tiny in there
this is a statue of "Young Stalin" so many more photos from the museum, train and little house to post, but with just one more let me show what I did next
after leaving the museum I saw this huge crumbling castle on a massive hill, first I took a long walk all around it then
went to Gori yesterday
Stalin's hometown, took many photos, difficult to decide which to post, but here goes
n
I didn't know Stalin was in the Beatles ...
Oh my god. it's Robby!
spontaneously luminescent
on the way around it
I passed
more monuments, once I was all the back around
some massive figures in a circle caught my eye
I took photos of them all, this one was in the best shape, all had fallen apart differently, really for me they are just so symbolic of this whole country
finally the road up, but I'll stop here since up to 7 again already will post more of the trip to the top another day(& more from the museum, etc)
but I have been meaning to show one of these, the many Georgian trucks, van, buses, seem to all be old German vehicles, usually with the company logos still on them
its one of the more bizzare aspects of the country, going around seeing all this writing in German, with almost no one speaking the language, I mean my German is not good, but its far better than my Georgian
just another of one of those "cultural disconnects" in this oh so strange place...
Last edited:
Oh my god. it's Robby!
spontaneously luminescent
maybe they were copying him
anyways, since I am posting again to this thread, might was well get some more new photos in
wife 1, she died young, he supposedly loved her dearly, I wonder what history would have been like had she lived a lot longer?
wife 2, no comment
pictures of the orginal revolutionary council from the failed 1905 revolution
Lenin and his "12 disciples" with Stalin as his right hand man
only there were really 14 members and Lenin's right hand man was
Trotsky, this was the one photo in the whole place showing him, wall and wall of photos tracing the history of the revolution from before 05, after, the civil war, the period after and just one of Trotsky
history re-written
still though, I really expected to find 0
like with wall showing his "Marshalls" from the second world war
excluding Marshall Zhukov
arguably one of the great generals of all of history, yet he is completely wiped from the walls and words of the museum detailing WW2
unbelievable...
Last edited:
realitybites
making lemonade
went to Gori yesterday
Stalin's hometown, took many photos, difficult to decide which to post, but here goes
this is Stalin when he was in the seminary studying to be an Orthodox priest
but he was thrown out for distributing Marxist literature
then he became a full time revolutionary, with the proper beard and all
of course he had the last laugh on them, the museum to him is the main building of the seminary
and he has his parents little house moved to right in front of it, I went inside, took photos, quite tiny in there
this is a statue of "Young Stalin" so many more photos from the museum, train and little house to post, but with just one more let me show what I did next
after leaving the museum I saw this huge crumbling castle on a massive hill, first I took a long walk all around it then
Surprising to learn that this museum has not been vandalized. Many times when a dictator is overthrown or that history decides a deceased leader was a despot, memorials such as these are desecrated. At the very least, I'd expect to see Stalin's statue to be without a head. Very interesting. I do know he still has a great deal of living supporters. You'd think they'd have to keep 24 hour guard over that museum. Imagine a museum like that glorifying Hitler. It couldn't exist. Not in Germany, anyhow.
GREAT photos Robby!
realitybites
making lemonade
maybe they were copying him
anyways, since I am posting again to this thread, might was well get some more new photos in
wife 1, she died young, he supposedly loved her dearly, I wonder what history would have been like had she lived a lot longer?
wife 2, no comment
pictures of the orginal revolutionary council from the failed 1905 revolution
Lenin and his "12 disciples" with Stalin as his right hand man
only there were really 14 members and Lenin's right hand man was
Trotsky, this was the one photo in the whole place showing him, wall and wall of photos tracing the history of the revolution from before 05, after, the civil war, the period after and just one of Trotsky
history re-written
still though, I really expected to find 0
like with wall showing his "Marshalls" from the second world war
excluding Marshall Zhukov
arguably one of the great generals of all of history, yet he is completely wiped from the walls and words of the museum detailing WW2
unbelievable...
The lone Trotsky image/reference--good insight there Robby.
Oh my god. it's Robby!
spontaneously luminescent
thanks I have a lot more I will post when not downloading American tv shows
these internet cafes have a tendency to crash the browser when I use my photbucket account 
As for the thing about Stalin, most statues of him were taken down, even Gori, however, the museum is a big tourist attraction and there is still a "hometown" liking for him by many, he did much for the town
To this day, it is much better off than many Georgia cities "lifestyle" wise
it was funny when I mentioned this to the guide, she got kind of upset
also, my tour group was me, a Georgian lady, and an Asian women from one of the "Eastern Republics"
the guide gave the tour in English(for me), Georgian and I assume the Russian for the Asian woman(I did my best to not let her distract me from the tour
)though I would have loved to have found out her exact nationality and what not
alas, she spoke no English
realitybites
making lemonade
thanks I have a lot more I will post when not downloading American tv shows
As for the thing about Stalin, most statues of him were taken down, even Gori, however, the museum is a big tourist attraction and there is still a "hometown" liking for him by many, he did much for the town
To this day, it is much better off than many Georgia cities "lifestyle" wise
Ah, this makes sense then.
it was funny when I mentioned this to the guide, she got kind of upset
also, my tour group was me, a Georgian lady, and an Asian women from one of the "Eastern Republics"
the guide gave the tour in English(for me), Georgian and I assume the Russian for the Asian woman(I did my best to not let her distract me from the tour
though I would have loved to have found out her exact nationality and what not
alas, she spoke no English
You and your Asian woman fetish. Haha.
Oh my god. it's Robby!
spontaneously luminescent
*
it comes and goes most of the time, went away for a long time while here*, but it seems recent events have caused it to come back with a vengeance*
OK, back to
the climb up to "Gori castle" the road got real rugged and decided to skirt
around the outside of the top, do not do this if you come here, I REPEAT, DO NOT DO THIS, it was dangerous and stupid and I was lucky to find
another way "in" which I took the above pic of once I was through, once up there I was
all alone
just walking around
just a snapping away, in a high up, huge, empty space that seems to have been filled in with dirt so that its massive walls don't crumble anymore
almost fell down this whole which made me laugh, pretty loud I guess, because suddenly I was not alone, I looked down and there was
this adorable little puppy, another one of those golden moments that has happened during the mostly shitty time I have had here
I immediately said "Hey little Loma" and starting petting his head, he was a playful puppy, then after a few minutes his mother(I assume) came up to and started nursing, I left them to it and headed back down...
*=I removed 1 of ReBi's smilies and 2 of mine so I could fit the last 3 pics in, stupid 8 pic limit!
Last edited:
realitybites
making lemonade
So will you be back in the US for the holidays? Are you almost finished there? Ya know, they're looking for English teachers in China and Taiwan.
Oh my god. it's Robby!
spontaneously luminescent
So will you be back in the US for the holidays? Are you almost finished there? Ya know, they're looking for English teachers in China and Taiwan.
I get back on the 19th, then job hunt begins all anew and indeed China, Taiwan, and even Vietnam are at the top of my list, well, not the very top
the dream is to live and teach in Japan for at least a year, not really ready for that though, those jobs are harder to get and quite a lot more demanding than ones elsewhere, however, teaching English well in Japan can really open doors to being an "ESL" teacher here* in the States
*=I said "here" my brain is already back in America
realitybites
making lemonade
I get back on the 19th, then job hunt begins all anew and indeed China, Taiwan, and even Vietnam are at the top of my list, well, not the very top
the dream is to live and teach in Japan for at least a year, not really ready for that though, those jobs are harder to get and quite a lot more demanding than ones elsewhere, however, teaching English well in Japan can really open doors to being an "ESL" teacher here* in the States
*=I said "here" my brain is already back in America
Japan would be incredible.
Oh my god. it's Robby!
spontaneously luminescent
indeed
well, no pics today, will post some of the capitol after I get back
just a little story about "Ma & Pop" stores, I have been going to one next to where I live, that is until a few weeks ago
seems the gossip about me talked about where I live spread to the people at the store, the store I was dumping a lot of lari at
I put up with the looks they would give me for a while, then one time heard one of them calling me "ridse Katsi" which means "dirty man"
that was the last straw for me, there is a new little market, thats part of a chain, has cashiers in uniform, machines with those little electronic things
and prices on all the items
and so I have gone there now for a few weeks, and with no one judging me, just smiles, they simply want my business, as it should be!
the best part? and its a petty thing, but the people that work at the "ma & pop shop" right by my building, see me walk by them to go to the chain store all the time
so yeah, f*** little "family owned" shops and their "values"
at least here in this forsaken place...
Last edited:
I had some friends who went and taught english in Japan. They quite enjoyed it. I have another friend who did the same in Thailand for quite some time. If you ever decide to try there I could ask him for some tips or introductions for you. He still knows quite a few folks there and goes back several times a year. -MR
Shaw
Active Member
Many people in Gori are fiercely proud of Stalin. However, as much as the Western media and suchlike report otherwise, Stalin is still very popular across Russia. Indeed, over a third of people would vote for him today if he were alive. The older people brought up in "communist" times making up the large bulk of that.
Oh my god. it's Robby!
spontaneously luminescent
sure, I need all the help I can get, I am no good at this job getting thing
I know, this goes along way to explaining how horrible much of the political situation in the "former" Soviet Union is
& now that I am gone from Georgia, I really feel sorry for them more than anyting else
