We have moved to our permanent site (Terjola, close to Kutaisi) and left our dear Ateni. Julien and I are doing a lot of walking. We will call these walks “community walks” because that is what we are supposed to be doing right now, walking around the community and seeing where people hang out (Part of our PACA development tools). They are actually “self preservation walks,” (walks to preserve the appearance of a waistline). Imereti - our new region - is known for a number of things; something about Jason and the Argonauts (I really need a guide book or a better understanding of Georgian to delve further into that one), the ancient capital of western Georgia (Kutaisi,) the home of King David the Builder and his Academy at Gelati (see previous post about Gelati) but most importantly, it is well known in this most hospitable nation as the most hospitable part of Georgia. And by hospitality Georgians really mean food and lots of it. (I am sorry that these posts are always about food and how much we eat, this is Peace Corps after all; shouldn’t we be suffering?) But we live as they live. Here, that means three squares a day, and these days that means lots of fruit, namely watermelon.
The other day we went on an “excursion.” (The photo is from a cave visit.) Our host father in his old soviet automobile took us down a very long and bumpy road in what seemed like the
unending fields until we reached a band of very swarthy Georgian men sitting at a picnic table, under a tree, located next to the open back half of a moving truck. These men were all barefoot, usually a big no-no (god only knows what happens when you walk around barefoot but I am sure that either you will be left barren or you will end up with an ugly husband or evil mother-in-law, but I digress.) As soon as we piled out of the car, said our hellos and offered our hosts the ubiquitous Fanta bottle of homemade wine, the whole gang took off into the field. Julien and I followed, not sure of what we were doing or what we were looking for, because the field initially appeared to be full of grasses and other weeds, but no; it was a watermelon patch. Tucked in among the fallow were hundreds of watermelons which the motley crew picked and carried in great quantities to picnic table. A machete (itself full of personality) was then produced to cut open several of the melons and we proceeded, over the next hour or so, to eat what I imagine was pretty close to our own body weight in melon. I thought to myself; “what a lovely excursion to the watermelon patch this has been… my god that was a lot of watermelon to eat… hopefully I can have a bit of a watermelon break…augh, can’t breathe… melon suffocation…” Little did I know that while Julien and I were eating our host father was purchasing… oh yes… 200 kilos of watermelon! For you English system types that is almost 450 pounds of watermelon, which I thought maybe we were going to sell to the local market, but no; they are destined for us and only for us.
We now eat watermelon at every meal and so does everyone else in Georgia. It is a good source of hydration, and good for the liver, as I have been told by just about everyone. It was a little taste of the Georgian reality and a delicious one at that. If you like fruit; you should come to Georgia as it is delicious, fresh and cheap; our little excursion to the watermelon patch cost less than 15 Dollars at 10 Tetri a kilo.
Our new home is going to take a little getting used to, but I think it going to work out just fine. We have introductory summer camp next week where we will meet some of our future students which should be exciting, and blogpost producing. All the best and thanks for reading.
The other day we went on an “excursion.” (The photo is from a cave visit.) Our host father in his old soviet automobile took us down a very long and bumpy road in what seemed like the
unending fields until we reached a band of very swarthy Georgian men sitting at a picnic table, under a tree, located next to the open back half of a moving truck. These men were all barefoot, usually a big no-no (god only knows what happens when you walk around barefoot but I am sure that either you will be left barren or you will end up with an ugly husband or evil mother-in-law, but I digress.) As soon as we piled out of the car, said our hellos and offered our hosts the ubiquitous Fanta bottle of homemade wine, the whole gang took off into the field. Julien and I followed, not sure of what we were doing or what we were looking for, because the field initially appeared to be full of grasses and other weeds, but no; it was a watermelon patch. Tucked in among the fallow were hundreds of watermelons which the motley crew picked and carried in great quantities to picnic table. A machete (itself full of personality) was then produced to cut open several of the melons and we proceeded, over the next hour or so, to eat what I imagine was pretty close to our own body weight in melon. I thought to myself; “what a lovely excursion to the watermelon patch this has been… my god that was a lot of watermelon to eat… hopefully I can have a bit of a watermelon break…augh, can’t breathe… melon suffocation…” Little did I know that while Julien and I were eating our host father was purchasing… oh yes… 200 kilos of watermelon! For you English system types that is almost 450 pounds of watermelon, which I thought maybe we were going to sell to the local market, but no; they are destined for us and only for us.We now eat watermelon at every meal and so does everyone else in Georgia. It is a good source of hydration, and good for the liver, as I have been told by just about everyone. It was a little taste of the Georgian reality and a delicious one at that. If you like fruit; you should come to Georgia as it is delicious, fresh and cheap; our little excursion to the watermelon patch cost less than 15 Dollars at 10 Tetri a kilo.
Our new home is going to take a little getting used to, but I think it going to work out just fine. We have introductory summer camp next week where we will meet some of our future students which should be exciting, and blogpost producing. All the best and thanks for reading.
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