You're all in luck because I've been having some exciting times in this fair country of Georgia. I suppose I'll start from the beginning. With all my neighbors, the G9s, leaving (I'm talking single digit countdown) we all decided to make the most of their last days in Georgia and my beginning of summer by going and seeing as much as possible.
The decision was made to take a 3 day hike up in Lagodekhi park to a lake that's in the mountains. Now those of you that know me, I know you're asking yourself "What the hell is Danie doing going on a 3 day hike?" Well surprise, surprise! Since being in Georgia I've become quite the outdoors-woman. Granted I still have to have people help me carry crap, and I still have to pause for a breathing break every couple of feet (and yes, I still take a couple of hits off the ol' inhaler every once in a while), but other than all of that, I do great!!? Anyways, the hike started at 8 in the morning. Some of my ECOClub kids and me headed to Lagodekhi to the National Park and waited for the other volunteers and TLGs to arrive. Being the well raised lady that I am, I took full advantage of facilities prior to leaving for the excursion. Let's face it. Sit down toilets have been few and far between in my daily life as of late and you're always supposed to take care of business before long travel periods. Anyways....
So off we go, up the mountain. And UP and UP and UP. A hellatious 6 hours later, I start feeling pretty crappy. Actually, I was feeling pretty crappy 2 hours in, but this was more like death. I couldn't tell whether I had a fever or was just sweating and hot from the exercise, but the parasite (which I would later discover I had), that I had apparently digested the night before decided to rear it's ugly head on one of our MANY breaks. Instead of eating delicious trail mix, I started puking my brains out. Our Georgian guide (who we should compare to a Boot Camp Officer) kept rushing us saying that we have to keep going to make it to the campsite on time. So I wash out my mouth and adventure on. Needless to say, by the time we made it to the site, I was exhausted.
I climbed onto one of the mattresses in the cabin and tried my best to pass out. Unfortunately, the scumbag in my stomach decided he wasn't finished with torturing me. I ended up having diarrhea and throwing up everything that I had eaten within the last month. On top of that I was not able to keep any liquids down, so here I am stranded on a mountain, depleted of all sustenance while the rest of the group heads up for the 2nd day hike. Needless to say, by the next day, when we hiked down the mountain, all my electrolytes depleted, stomach completely empty and having starved myself for 2 days, I was done for. After a couple of humiliating pit stops along the way, we finally got back to Lagodekhi and I stayed in Lauren's apartment for the soul purpose of using her toilet (trust me, the use an outhouse when you're sick is pure torture). A few days past and I still wasn't any better.
Dr. Marina to the rescue! Luckily being a PCV we are provided with the best doctors on the planet. She sent a car immediately from Tbilisi to pick me up and I was taken to the hospital (a real American-like one), pumped full of 3 IVs and given lots of meds to restore my strength. Of course it didn't happen that quickly. I had some freak episodes in between where I felt like an elephant was crushing my upper body, 2 other visits to the hospital (these times accompanied by the lovely Dr. Tamriko, my new Georgian mom) and a soviet style endoscopy, incomplete with anesthesia. It was AMAZING! lol. As miserable as I was, I'm so thankful that I had our doctors taking care of me. Everyone knows when I'm sick, I only want my mom, and they did a damn good job trying to fill her shoes. (If the doctors read this, Thanks so much from the bottom of my heart. Ya'll are the best!)
So shortly after being medically released, I had already planned on going to Svaneti with some fellow volunteers and one's family. Obviously the thought of me going up into a mountainous region away from normal, more technologically advanced doctors and hospitals was not something my doctors nor country director was fond of. Nonetheless, my trip was approved and off I went. The train ride was pretty miserable. Complete with a screaming baby and her mother who had a bladder the size of a dime and felt the need to open the compartment door and flood us with light every 10 minutes. Did I mention this was an overnight train (hence the light shower not being welcome). We finally arrived in Zugdidi around 7 in the morning and were welcomed by our marshutka driver that would take us to Mestia.
This guy was unbelievable. Literally! I never thought that I would find a cautious Georgian driver, but my prayers were answered. AND in the perfect situation. Here we are trekking up the mountain in a marsh. taking sharp turns, sliding on the gravel, and where most drivers would be flying, wheels a screeching around corners, this guy is taking his time (THANK GOD!) He was the most chill/relaxed driver in this countries history.
After about 6 hours, we finally get to Mestia and me and Erin end up staying in a separate guesthouse because there were too many Americans that the one lady couldn't house us all. It ended up being for the better because we met 2 fellow travellers from Poland. Long story short (so you can clearly see that's a lie), we ended up getting a free ride/adventure with our new found friends. I'll recap the trip with the Svans:
Day 1: arrive in Mestia, tired, hungry, but overwhelmingly ecstatic because we're surrounded by 360 degree views. We decided to hike to a glacier that's a bit outside of town, so some of us hop in a marsh, driven by my future Svani husband (he was a babe) and head out to conquer the glacier. Long story short, we get there, I get stung by a bee, but the view is amazing, even though the glacier was a lot dirtier than I expected. That night, we climbed these steep ladders 5 stories high, into the famous towers and then onto the roof. I was freaking out, but I survived with everything in tact, surprisingly so since I'm so clumsy.
Day 2: we wake up and leave around 9 for a day trip to Ushguli, the highest inhabited village in all of Europe (does that include Central Asia too, since I'm pretty sure Georgia isn't Europe?). The drive was treacherous and bumpy, but we had some good snacks (trail mix) and good company (the Poles). 5 hours later we arrived, unscathed in Ushguli, greeted by wild boar/pigs. We walked around for a couple of hours and I witnessed one of the most beautiful places I've seen in this country. It was breathtaking. Once we visited all the sites, we decided to head back. La da da, off we go! After our picnic for lunch, we keep driving until the undercarriage of the car scraps against a bad part of road and we start leaking fluid. Turns out it was oil! Luckily, some nice Georgians stopped to help us. They turned out to be engineers working on the new roads that are being paved from Zughdidi through Svaneti. They ended up towing us back to Mestia. BUT WAIT! I can't skip the best part of this story. Halfway through the tow, me and Erin crowned Mr. Svaneti. Picture a man. He's a hardworking man who works so damn hard that his hands are black. He's dressed in the normal hardworking man's uniform of a REALLY warn down sweater and some heavily stained pants, and badass working man boots. Oh and the hat! I can't forget the hat. He was a site. Especially when he came to the rescue by attaching a wire-rope, which he pulled from beneath a haystack in a field and created a makeshift tow line. The engineers were not happy at the unattractiveness of the line, but Mr. Svaneti quickly reminded them that it isn't a beauty competition. It doesn't have to be pretty to work well. WELL SAID MR. SVANETI!
Day 3: the airport. Plane tickets purchased ahead of time in Tbilisi: 70 GEL. Arriving WAY ahead of time to be cautious and make sure the plane doesn't leave without you with some water: 2 GEL. The plane never even showing up to the airport and the flight getting cancelled: Priceless Georgia Moment. Don't want to relive this one, but we got to take a marsh driven by a crazy person (aka normal Georgian male driver) down the edge of the mountain. We were literally driving on the left side because his tire was flat, with pebbles falling into the river below, while the driver was smoking his cigs, talking on his phone. FUN TIMES! We arrived in Zugdidi (6 hours later), got ripped off by the driver, and then immediately boarded another marsh to Tbilisi, arriving 5 hours later, to again get ripped off by a marsh driver.
All in all that's been what's been going on in my life. I'm at the point in my service where it's hard to be positive and see the good aspects. Georgia has become my abusive boyfriend. He treats me to some great times, but then randomly yells at me and gives me a black eye. I just hope that I get some flowers and an apology sometime soon because I don't want to/don't think I could handle sporting another injury. Until next time....
