An American in Georgia(the country)

[Worm]

"Zero History" was wonderful, wasn't it?

[Oh my god, it's Robby!]

quoting is impossible for me today(low speed connection) but in answer to:
123xyz: yes, I will keep the posts coming as I can, words of encouragement are always nice though, thanks

Worm: that book got me through the long flights here. Sadly, it has been since been used to start a fire in the stove one night when I was all alone here and hungry. The eggs it helped me cook were fantastic too though!

In other news, I had decided to tell "TLG" that I would not come back here to this house once I was safely on my vacation in Cali. This would be the smart thing to do, I would have them "over a barrel".
It has no honor though, and while I lost mine long ago, such notions still burn within me.
So yesterday, in my monthly report*, I told them how I felt and I await a phone call from this during the coming week.
Will it make my time here at this house harder before I leave?
Undoubtedly, but it just seemed the right thing to do. I feel like I have begun anew here and I am so loathe to take the coward's way out on such an important decision.

ps: next picture post sometime late next week, after I get paid and can buy some high speed access


*=The last Friday of every month we "volunteers" must fill out an exhaustive 12 page report on the school, staff and our host family. I have taken to calling these our "snitch sheets" some of other volunteers have as well, its one of the more annoying parts of being here, but if you do not do them, you do not get paid. It is a quite a reminder of being in a country once behind "the Iron Curtain", I am sure this sort of shit was par for the course back then...

[Oh my god, it's Robby!]

Gelati Monastery

seen from a distance, I went there yesterday with

my fave class(smallest too) and their mothers and Nugo driving the van

its an impressive building, especially considering it is 900 years old and has been attacked by both the Turks and Persians

here is one of the doors they tried and failed to get through, religious centers like this were at the heart of Georgian nationalism
frequently when the country was taken over, places like this, high up and hard to take are where Georgian identity was kept alive

a shot up at the bottom of the main dome

a holy relic of some Orthodox Saint, but then I wandered out of the main building and

up these stairs, I don't think I was supposed to do that, but it gave me access to

this room, with some very old icons and behind them is like a Orthodox version of "the confessional"

[Oh my god, it's Robby!]

part 2
After going back down and wandering more I came upon a closed door which I opened and went into

this room, my camera helped with actually seeing the room, here is

the ceiling &

this picture which was just propped up along one of the walls, its painted on real old wood, its a wonder its intact still

one of the many "fat angel" frescoes on the walls in the monastery

A priest telling the children about King David*, right above his

tomb

this censor? burned from the time of his death 1125 to 1921, when it was exstinguished by the Soviets

a look into the gloomy depths underneath where the monks use to live...



*=he was resposible for basically creating the medieval Georgian state, which helped to keep back the Turkish onslaught for a couple of centuries
and he had this monastery built

[Oh my god, it's Robby!]

a secluded church


after a long walk we came to the above building, and on the way there

we tied pieces of cloth to these trees/bushes & the path rose higher

and higher

this sign was posted at the front entrance, luckily I was wearing pants

then I went up these stairs, nobody stopped me & I carefully hugged the wall

while I took this picture


my next stop was the chapel, it seems to have been recently restored

[Oh my god, it's Robby!]

part2


off to one side was somebody's coffin and on the other side

a narrow, low passage way you are supposed to go through three times

here is the view from inside, after that I left the chapel and saw

this sign, being an American, this sign only further emboldened me and so

the bell tower awaited

my ascent

it was a bit windy up there so I came down quick but not quick enough for

this guy

[Walt Whitman's Niece]

a secluded church

Someone should make a line of underwear sporting this quote.

[Same Old Suit]

I gave this thread five stars!

[123xyz]

My favourite shots are the distant ones of the Gelati monastery and the secluded church. Looking at these, I can almost get a whiff of the appeal that monastic life might have had hundreds of years ago - structure , stability, reading, reflection... .

Oh , enjoyed your pioneering spirit in forging past the various barriers/ signs, Robby.

[Oh my god, it's Robby!]

I gave this thread five stars!

My favourite shots are the distant ones of the Gelati monastery and the secluded church. Looking at these, I can almost get a whiff of the appeal that monastic life might have had hundreds of years ago - structure , stability, reading, reflection... .

Oh , enjoyed your pioneering spirit in forging past the various barriers/ signs, Robby.

thanks guys, will post more pics next week, on low speed connect right now...

[Oh my god, it's Robby!]

music video report:

so the bus I often take to town is one where the driver has a TV and its hooked up to play a broadcast I will call:
Music eastern european TV
about a third of the videos are Euro trash dance pop often in English in which the people in the videos seem to all be on ecstasy
which leaves me wondering, is that still big? I thought in the States at least it was on the way out

then another third are American videos:
today included Lady Gaga which was tolerable, Justin Bieber I don't get the appeal, but then I am not the target audience and the worst by far was Pussycat Dolls, terrible song, terrible dancing, terrible outfits(not even sexy) just the worst

lastly, a smörgåsbord of songs from all over Eastern Europe
a couple stood out, "Tantsui, Rossiya!" which I know by heart, and started sing along too, the driver loved this
and later they played a song by some Georgian chick singing in Russian, she is hated here now for supporting Putin and being what Georgians think of as a "turncoat"
so lesson learned, hot Russian chicks singing in Russian OK
Georgian ones doing so, not so much
but hands down my fave song was one in Polish(I think, maybe it was Ukrainian)
anyways, it was this woman singing some Chicago song but in her language
with strings replacing their horns, I'll go find the name of it now...


"Hard to Say I'm Sorry"


-turns out I don't hate it as much as I thought
as long as it is sung by beautiful woman in a language I don't understand

[Emil]

lastly, a smorgasborg of songs from all over Eastern Europe
a couple stood out, "Tantsui, Rossiya!" which I know by heart, and started sing along too, the driver loved this
and later they played a song by some Georgian chick singing in Russian, she is hated here now for supporting Putin and being what Georgians think of as a "turncoat"
so lesson learned, hot Russian chicks singing in Russian OK
Georgian ones doing so, not so much
but hands down my fave song was one in Polish(I think, maybe it was Ukrainian)
anyways, it was this woman singing some Chicago song but in her language
with strings replacing their horns, I'll go find the name of it now...

It's always very weird seeing swedish words in english texts (and btw – it's smorgasbord, or in swedish smörgåsbord). But my favourite swedish english word is ombudsman.

[Oh my god, it's Robby!]

trip to Kutaisi, its the capitol of the of the province I am in(Imereti) & the 2nd largest city in Georgia, year round*

1st stop was this building, Nugo went in to talk somebody, I went to go find some food to eat, figuring that since Kutaisi is so big I could get some "Western food" while he was inside. I failed, but still, seen one big gym, seen em all. I mean its not like its Pauley or Staples Center, still, the Georgians were quite impressed with it so I took a pic just to appease them. Moving on

another disappointment, sort of, since you cannot walk around it for obvious reasons, but at least this one is old and big

There, now you know all about it, well not really, see what happened was in 1692, the Turks invaded the "The Kingdom of Imereti" defeated their army and sieged the cathedral, eventually destroying much of it, its sort of a symbol of Georgian resistance against impossible odds, its eventual restoration will be a great day for this little country full of so much pluck. See, not everything I have to say about Georgia is bad.

this is inside the little area they let you inside near the front, from there we took the kids to

an amusement park

they seemed to like it, next up, some pics from winter that I took in Zep... of

this and the friezes behind going first from to right to left

[Oh my god, it's Robby!]

the friezes continued







and the last one on the left:

I assume they are somehow relating "Georgain history" though in a highly symbolic matter, seems to be a lot of religion mixed with topless women...

[Oh my god, it's Robby!]

farmer Robby?

well, its not really time for cutting things yet, I just like holding the scythe
but remember all that wood clearing I did and field tilling?






the fruits of such labor, well, I did a little of it at least
and with Nugo & Gio in TB, I am

chopping wood!


ps: sorry for the 3 posts in a row, just noticed I had a little high speed access left and it use it or lose it...

[Anonymous]

Hiya Robby!

Had to write a few words as I am watching this travel documentary about Georgia made by some finnish man for some finnish channel which airs here now with subtitles (thank God). He travels the silk way in 30 days and Georgia is apparently the land of great food and hospitality so you're in the right place it seems.

Just been on a boat cruise so it's quite nice to sit in the sofa with laptop in lap watching this man on tv travel about cause travel in itself is a bit of a hassle. You travel to enjoy coming back home again.

This finnish man visits a church on a hill or mountain which is what you have been doing amongst other things. Georgia is a mix between the asian and the european his guide explains. Anyway, I hope you are well over there and will return home one day in one piece.

Greetings from Sweden,
Urban

[Oh my god, it's Robby!]

Hiya Robby!

Had to write a few words as I am watching this travel documentary about Georgia made by some finnish man for some finnish channel which airs here now with subtitles (thank God). He travels the silk way in 30 days and Georgia is apparently the land of great food and hospitality so you're in the right place it seems.

Just been on a boat cruise so it's quite nice to sit in the sofa with laptop in lap watching this man on tv travel about cause travel in itself is a bit of a hassle. You travel to enjoy coming back home again.

This finnish man visits a church on a hill or mountain which is what you have been doing amongst other things. Georgia is a mix between the asian and the european his guide explains. Anyway, I hope you are well over there and will return home one day in one piece.

Greetings from Sweden,
Urban

thanks Urban, by the way, you were trying to get banned before, right?
thats my take on all that anyways
someday I will visit Sweden you know, you show me around?

and one pic for today, I took many last night of this incredible light show put on by "fireflys"
only you cannot see them in most of them
then 2 landed on the ground near my feet and I clicked

this


ps: perhaps Finnish and European should be capitalized

[Anonymous]

thanks Urban, by the way, you were trying to get banned before, right?
thats my take on all that anyways
someday I will visit Sweden you know, you show me around?

and one pic for today, I took many last night of this incredible light show put on by "fireflys"
only you cannot see them in most of them
then 2 landed on the ground near my feet and I clicked

this


ps: perhaps Finnish and European should be capitalized

I never try, I always achieve! :-)

Yeah if you drop by I'll be happy to escort you around and I was in Stockholm for two days last week and it is hectic but loads of great shopping and things to see.

Urbanus

[Anonymous]

Sorry about not bothering to capitalize finnish or european or even asian. I know you're a teacher and care about these things but I don't. In Sweden we only capitalize peoples names and country names and the name of companies and so on. Don't think I have read anything that have had "Europeisk" or "Finsk" but in english that seems to be the case.

Pointing that out makes me realise you did not perhaps appreciate my little message so I therefor have to let you know that my guided tour of Sweden is cancelled as you full well know that I do not socialise at all. Sorry about that mate!

Urbs

[Oh my god, it's Robby!]

Nugo has a third vehicle now, to go with his Lada "Neva" & Ford "Transit"

I think this one fits him perfectly