the beach and the sunburn

we drove to the beach today-- the beach by the turkey/georgia border, which is much cleaner and calmer than the beach right here in batumi. it was no more than a 15 minute ride (though sometimes i have no idea how long a trip is because we're either going really slowly over potholes or really fast on the newly paved roads).

being driven around batumi is one of my favorite activities because i get to look at the development. i think the unmaintained buildings and roads are even more alarming to me now because i see what they will become or used to be (in soviet times). the funniest thing about fixing up the city is the color choice for buildings. driving to the beach, i saw house after house painted bright pink, salmon, seafoam green, lime green, orange, lavender (!), sky blue and aqua. what color combinations! i suppose that many resort towns feature those colors, but since what i'm used to is grey, dilapidated, and corrugated tin, it's surprising to me.

i also forgot about the driving here. the way to drive is: as fast as you can. and if there's someone driving slower (to save their car or parents some grief), you pass them in almost any circumstance. for instance, if there's a car coming in the opposite direction, you still pass the car in front of you, making the road a three laner instead of two. pedestrians do not have the right of way. i love california. if a pedestrian is crossing and theoretically in your way, you honk to alert them of your imminent arrival. they move out of the way.

back to the beach: the black sea, at least in georgia, has rocks, not sand. this is cool because they're beautiful and you can look at them wet and dry and decide which ones to take home while you don't listen to the young-people slang-filled speak that you don't understand. this is also not cool because the rocks are really hot in the sun and hurt a lot to step on, even when they haven't been baking. i will be investing in waterproof sandals soon.

people don't stare at you at the beach the way they do in the states. they make blunt statements that are not meant to hurt or compliment, really. like: you're really really white. yes, this is true. so maybe i got a little influenced by this common comment and have continued diligent sunscreen usage, but not kept covered up all the time in the sun. thus the sunburn in the title. i may have started a minor tan, though. people laugh a lot at me when i tell them this. on the same note, people don't stare at your body the same way. one doesn't go to the beach to show off how skinny they are because they're ALWAYS showing off how skinny they are! so it's not uncommon to see a big momma watching her children run around in the water, standing with her belly hanging over her bikini. same goes for men's bellies and bikinis... although i guess they're called speedos. i saw one one-piece bathing suit today, not including mine.

oberlin meets batumi

sally kintner, my beloved oberlin future housemate and past russian classmate and current crazy georgia/siberian-mate is visiting me in batumi. she arrived three days ago for a week of black sea swimming and gossip. we've been swimming and tanning and shopping, like any good tourist. we speak georgian, english and russian with most people for full communication, so that at any one time, no one understands everything being said. it's like old times for me. we've eaten a lot of khachapuri, a traditional georgian food- cheesey bread. today we went to the western supermarket and bought peanut butter and black currant jelly for a truly american meal to be eaten after this blog post (with milk, of course).

hope you're all doing well.

me and sally on the black sea coast

skype!

i just talked to my dad on skype and could see his face! i don't have a video connection here, but i can talk for free to anyone in the world. i also got a card to put in my cell phone yesterday. if you'd like to reach me via skype or text message (receiving calls for me is free, but will probably be expensive from the US), email me and i'll pass along my screenname and phone number. i just feel a little strange putting my contact information on the web...

the weather here is beautiful. i'm staying at home today because i'm still adjusting and everyone else is at work. i may venture out for a few minutes to buy some yogurt, but i'm very content with the internet, balconies and views of the city and black sea. yesterday i went to the office where a lot of my host family (including extended family) works. my host father runs a ship crewing company and all day long, seamen were coming through to give their documents and apply for work, i guess. my host brother (who turned 20 yesterday) is also a seaman and is currently in brazil on a ship with his cousin. he won't be back until september, so i won't get to see him this trip.

i also went with my host sister natia to her friend's house where we played with his baby and talked to his wife. i felt very included even though i forgot a lot of georgian, or didn't know it well enough to begin with to understand everything that was said. but i was able to stop them in the middle of conversation and ask what certain words meant. it's a lot easier to be with just a few georgians so i can be part of the conversation. the baby was very cute-- only one year old and talking a lot. we got him to repeat our names, and then he wouldn't stop saying "ra kaia" (how good!) as natia fed him some of her soup. then he started playing with my sunglasses and his mother yelled at him not to. but i didn't care and i don't think babies should be yelled at, so i put them on his face... this turned into a ten minute cell-phone-camera picture taking experience for the mother, natia and baby, while i half slept on the couch.

i have to watch myself when i talk because a lot of my life is unacceptable in this culture. it's getting more modern here, but there are certainly much fewer off-color comments that i could tell than in the states. readjusting to the male/female relationship has also been hard. the best i can do is make it into a joke for myself. i'm careful not to make their culture and traditions into a joke, but when i offer to make tea and wash dishes for my host father, it can't be serious or i'll get upset. being 23 is a lot different than being 18 in a new place. i'm more set in my ways and more developed... less influenced by my surroundings.

i'll leave you with some more differences i've noticed as a 23-year-old:

the most common questions i got when i was here four and five years ago:
what's your favorite music? how do you like georgia? what do you like best about georgia?

the most common questions now:
do you think georgia is very changed? how has georgia changed? are you married? when are you getting married? if you can't get us visas from the ambassador to come to your wedding in america, will you have a second wedding in georgia?

11 hours to munich, 4 hours to tbilisi

on the way from munich to tbilisi, i sat next to the wife of the american ambassador to georgia. when we weren't talking politics or about our families, she played electronic sudoku and i slept or read my teen fantasy novel. there was a very loud snoring georgian sitting in front of me, and the man sitting in front of the ambassador's wife kept hitting, shaking and yelling at him to stop and stay awake. the not-sleeping man got so angry that (in georgian) he yelled "what's wrong with you? this is shameful! you're stupid." it was pretty funny and disgusting to listen to. it made the top two list of worst snoring sounds i've heard.

the ride back from tbilisi to batumi where my host family lives was gorgeous and a little carsick. it used to be 6 hours, but i think we made it in under four. georgia is being rebuilt. there are new airports, newly paved roads, newly painted buildings all over the place. but most importantly, my host family has a newly remodeled home. they added an extra floor to their top storey apartment and everything is beautiful. i'm so excited to sit on the gigantic balcony of the now six-storey building (used to be five) and draw the yard that keeps finding its way into my artwork anyway.

we're going to the airport in ten minutes.

i'll post something as soon as i get internet access