Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Sighnaghi's Grand Opening


October 27, 2007

Today was the big grand opening of Sighnaghi. Unfortunately, the weather was cold, rainy and foggy so anybody visiting the city didn’t get to enjoy its true beauty. One of my friends, who wants to remain nameless, came into town for the festivities. We hadn’t even made it down the main street without having a nice refreshing shot of tchatcha (homemade vodka). That stuff had a nice little kick for it only being 11:30 in the morning. It sure does warm you up. (I still don’t like the taste vodka and rarely drink it for those who said I would drink it more often living in Georgia.) The main street was lined with booths of crafts, traditional Georgian outfits and weapons. The colors that lined the walls and streets were brilliant. There tons of people and VIPS all over the town. There we little cafés set up along the street where you could buy and enjoy a bottle of wine. There were several concert stages set up in various areas of the town. Later in the evening the President came to town to officiate the unveiling of the town. There were even fireworks at the end of the festival. So I saw my fireworks for the 4th of July a little late.

Sunday we checked out several of the new cafés in town. I am just excited to have some place to go every now and then without having to leave town. The café we had lunch at served traditional Georgian food and had a great atmosphere. Later in the afternoon we met some Americans that I have become friends with who are trying to get into the agriculture business in Georgia. We met them at the “French” café. We enjoyed a decent bottle of wine and cheese. It was the perfect rainy Sunday afternoon as it was still cold, rainy and foggy. For what’s worth this little café reminds me of some of the places from home. But it won’t be somewhere I go all the time since the prices there are a little steep for my living allowance.

When I first arrived in Sighnaghi I really wondered what was going to become of this town as everything was in shambles. It has come a long way since the end of August and it definitely has the potential to cater to tourists when it’s all said and done. When you walk down the streets it is hard to believe you are in Georgia.

How to make wine...


October 25, 2007

So I know I am supposed to be learning how to make wine. I haven’t got the whole process down yet. I seem to be away from the house when they are making the wine. But I will share with you what I have figured out so far. First you harvest the grapes from the vineyard, duh. Second the grapes go through a press which is this hand-crank conveyer belt that sits over a large metal drum that is line with plastic. The grape juice and grape guts then stew in their juice for a period of time. Next you use a strainer and pitcher to pour the juice into another container. This is the only part that I have actually helped with. Then at a later date you have wine. What else do we really need to learn about this process?

Monday, October 22, 2007



October 20, 2007

I took a little trip to Rustavi today. I attended a meeting first thing and then afterwards my friends and I went to a pizza place and did a little shopping in the second hand shops. I found a few good bargains, things to keep me warm since I didn’t pack a few things that I should have packed! Once we made it home we started making dinner. We made fajitas with homemade flour tortillas and salsa, salad with romaine lettuce and spinach accompanied with a bottle of red wine. I must say it was a fabulous meal and fun to make! I really do miss cooking. Not that I cooked all that often before I left. But still it would be nice to cook again. The only thing I manage to cook now living with my host family is my breakfast in the morning which consists of oatmeal or eggs! And you can’t really call that cooking either. So maybe I’ll get up the nerve to try and cook my own dinner sometime otherwise I am just going to have to wait until I visit friends around the country that have their own place!

Thursday, October 18, 2007

October 17, 2007

Today I traveled to Erisimedi, Georgia, which is apparently very close to Azerbijan. This is a village in the Sighnaghi district even though it is 60km away. The ride there was about a 1 ½ hrs in this old Russian style military jeep. First you should know it rained all last night and needless to say ever pothole on the road was filled with water. There was just a few potholes….It was kind of like going off-roadn’ at home. Sarah and Mason would’ve really enjoyed the ride. (Sarah I’m listening “Beer Run” right now) The ride there was definitely adventurous and full of thrills as there could have been a little more cushion in the seats. We went to Esmereti to visit the school and identify what problems they are facing. We passed out surveys and spoke with the staff and students about their difficulties in the school and in the village. So maybe, I didn’t speak; I did a lot of listening as my Georgian language is not that advanced yet! I must say it was very interesting to listen to everybody speak their minds about what they need in the school and the problems they are facing in the village.
After we left the school we had lunch at the school director’s house. At home people liked to try and marry me off, well it doesn’t compare to the people here trying to marry me off. There was one particular gentleman at this luncheon who thought we should get married, however, that just isn’t possible since he is double my age. Definitely not my type and thank goodness one of the girls I was with was trying to save me from all the crazy talk. I may not understand everything but I can get enough of a conversation to piece things together. Plus it would never work because I don’t know the language and I am sure that would cause a great strain on any relationship!
The scenery was absolutely gorgeous all the way there and on the way back. The clouds from the storm front that had been lingering added a lot of personality to the sky. We even saw a rainbow through the clouds and behind it were snow capped mountains! The view was something I had never seen before and no, Sarah I didn’t have my camera. Not to mention the trees that lined the road were full of bright autumn colors with mountains as the backdrop.
The beauty of this country is really something else. There are no words to describe the beauty and no picture could capture the true beauty of Georgia. I’m neither a writer nor a photographer so you’ll just have to do with what you get. Maybe one day I’ll put pictures on this site?

Monday, October 15, 2007

The President


October 10, 2007

So I have seen the President of Georgia up close and personal. That was pretty cool. And I have seen the First Lady all in the same week at different events. I haven’t even been that close to the any of the Presidents of the United States.

Last Thursday, October 4, the President of Georgia, came to Sighnaghi for the “grand opening” of all the rehabilitation of this city. All the work has come a long way since I first arrived; however, there is still a lot to be done. I am just excited that I discovered a little café that I can go to every now and then and get a bite to eat. And in the next couple of weeks or so Sighnaghi is getting a “western” mini mart!

Last weekend I went to Kutasi for the Breast Cancer Walk, same one we have in the states. I even participated in the “5k” by running. The First Lady did the kick of the race. The whole weekend was a great time as got to help support a great cause and I got to spend time with many of my friends. I even got to eat a chicken Caesar salad with dark green lettuce! The traditional salad in Georgia is just tomato, onion and cucumber, so needless to say have lettuce was a big treat for me.

Kargad

Monday, October 1, 2007

Grapes






September 22, 2007

Today I went to my first grape harvest! Once we arrived at the vineyard we looked at the wine cellar where the wine is made. There are these large crafts that are placed in the ground and filled with squeezed grapes and left to ferment for a given period of time, a couple to 10 years. Next we went out into the vineyard with our buckets and began picking the black grapes. It’s not like the grape bunches would just come right off the vine some of them you really had to pull hard and then you had smashed grape all over your hands! We helped picked grapes for a little while then we started with the “Harvest Supra”. (Picnic/Party) The table was absolutely gorgeous. There were tons of colorful foods and drinks. There was more than enough food to feed an army. It was like sitting down to a holiday dinner. The eating and the toasting lasted for several hours. I had a great time and I am sure that I will get to do it again very soon as it is the season for harvesting grapes right now!

Meat Market

September 16, 2007

This morning I went to the local bazaar with my host parents. I can honestly say I have never seen anything like it! The only thing that I can kind of relate it to is the Wentzville Flea Market but even at that they are two totally different things. So we pull up to the bazaar and outside the main wall there a bunch of people selling live-stock, cows, pigs, chickens, rabbits and sheep. You know, pick out your Christmas dinner take it home and fatten it up a little! So once inside the main wall there are people and stands everywhere. People are walking around with chickens or rabbits hanging upside down that they just bought. There is a large outdoor meat market. There was tons of meat hanging from hooks, row after row, sides of a cow, slabs of ribs, and large pieces of meat. The butchers were cutting the meat into manageable pieces and you could see small chunks of bone go flying as the he chopped away. People were picking out their meat for the upcoming week’s meals. This brings a whole new meaning to running to the local meat market to pick up some fresh steaks for dinner! The amount of raw meat doesn’t compare to anything that I have ever seen before. At first I almost thought I was going to get sick at the sight of all the raw meat and blood but I didn’t. If I had it might have made for a really difficult 2 years of going to the market! So after I made it through that section the rest of the bazaar was stands of fruits and vegetables, cheese, bread and other random household items! It was quit a sight to see everybody walking around with large bags of fresh produce. You know bags large enough to hold 10-15 kilos of peppers, tomatoes or whatever you just picked up! I am only used to going to the produce stand at home and getting 2 pounds of tomatoes at time.