Most amazing day of my life...or at least one of them!

I met an orthodox nun who is running her own school on Friday. She invited me to come on "an excusion" with her school on Saturday. As I usually do with most everything I am offered, I declined, again and again. But...I changed my mind for some reason, and decided to bite the bullet and get up at 6 to get on a bus at 6:30 am. And ... oh my god ... I am so glad I did. While I have been suffering from extreme jetlag I groggily walked down to the metro in Tbilisi where I was meeting them. The smile on the Mother's face was enough to make me glad I was there. I met a Georgian woman who lives in Russia and now lives in Baltimore who brought her English/Russian/Georgian granddaughter. They were to be my translators for the trip. !!

On board, I was surrounded by gawking faces of all ages, mostly teenagers. Hanging out all up in my grill (in a pleasant way), everyone was asking me questions and trying to teach me Georgian. Did I mention how unrealisitic it is for me to learn more than MADLOBT (thanks), and HO (yes) and ARA (no)?! And... ar vitsi kartuli (I dont speak Georgian). Though most of the time I just grimmace and say "...English?"

Wait, wait...back to this exciting day of my life. We first stopped off (the three yellow buses and one car) alongside a stream, where they were selling furry goat hair white hats (which everyone got a big kick out of trying on) and people bought me this natural fruit leather. It was ok. And then they bought me vinegared nuts coated in some sugary wax. It was also ok. On the bus again, bun after bun of sweet bread and potato bread was distributed.

Next stop was at a site of spring water spraying all over rocks, that people were gathering up into bottles and drinking straight. Back onto the bus, and we began weaving through gorgeous mountains and breathtaking cliffs (and not only because we were about to fall off them) that reminded me of the back side of the tetons. Surrounded by jagged peaks and valleys of green pines and wildflowers, we hopped off again at the Russian border. That's right, the Russian border! And boy, it was beautiful. Sun shining brightly on even more jagged peaks and more fresh running gurgling streams -- maybe more than I've ever seen before.

Of course my Russian/Georgian/English friend (aged 12 afterall) had ditched me long ago (I dont blame her), so I had no idea what we were doing. So I just let the Georgians plop the goat hair cap on me to laugh hysterically and take photos. Suddenly, and with a giant whooshing sound, blankets were laid down and suddenly, plate after plate after plate of food, bottle after bottle of Georgian wine, was laid down for the group of 40. Many tried to give me plates of food, including falafel like things, breads (Georgian bread = delicious!), cucumbers (ate like a banana), vine rippened sweet juicy bursting tomatoes (ate like an apple), cherries, kachapuri (of course), rolled up grilled eggplant with garlic/walnut sauce, cakes, potato breads, dill/cheese breads, and more lined up merrily on the blankets. The food was blessed, toast after toast was given, and wine, more wine, more wine, and cognac was poured. Knowing I had some hiking ahead of me, I only had a taste.

But the best part was yet to come. After the food was happily consumed, the laughing and happy crowd broke into song, as I have been told is quite pouplar in Georgia. Traditional folk songs sang by a group of teenagers was a quite wonderful experience to watch. Then the brought in the traditional Georgian guitar like thing, and this folk singing, which I cannot quite describe except to say that it was haunting at times, happy at others, but always sung in 4-6 part harmony. It was incredible. And soon enough, the folk dancing started. Now I've seen much dancing in my life, and I can say this was some of the neatest dances I've ever seen! The female/male parts included lots of rhthmic shaking and jerking (not a good description, I know) where boys and girls were twirling in and out to make way for the new dancer. As you might have anticipated, I was pulled into the circle at a few points, despite trying not to! After this experience, I felt so blissful. Words cannot describe the sense of peace and happiness I felt.

They continued this at all times throughout the day--from 6am to 12 midnight on our return. Dancing, singing, and occasionally all standing up to belt out as loudly as they could the national anthem.

The rest of the journey in the mountains continued as high adventure. We arrived in Kazbegi (google--or GOOGLEY as they say in Georgia--it and you will see the photos) in early afternoon to trek up to the alpine slope to reach one of the most famous churches in Georgia, Tsminda Sameba. We walked past horses and cows grazing in pastures filled with yellow, orange, purple, white, wildflowers. The slope grew steeper, and finally the church was in view (see below, but this is really not a stunningly accurate view, it was indeed stunning!).

Ok, that was the view!

The singing continued all the way up the mountain. Once there, the women quietly and respectfully placed kerchiefs on our heads and long skirts on our waists and admired the church. I will have to wait til I'm home to post my photos.

The descent was fast, as we could have rolled down those grassy meadows, and we made it just in time to pull out of Kazbegi before it got dark.

Can you tell how much I love Georgia?