Family night

Family selfie.

It started out as an evening at the park,

but led to higher aspirations,

and ended with a trip on the funicular to the mountaintop.

Up here the view of Tbilisi can't be beat.

Nor can the creme-filled ponchiki they serve there (hubby's fav).

The girls culminated the night with gelato. 

A typical morning

I brought my camera along for a morning drive. The images are taken from a moving vehicle (not great), but they give an idea of typical sights around town.

First off the Georgian flag, also known as the "Five Cross Flag," is a recent Georgian addition, officially adopted in 2004 under President Saakashvili following the Rose Revolution. They had a different flag under Soviet rule, and a number of other flags before that. This flag draws on designs from antiquity that reference their long Christian history.

This man taking a leap off the riverbank is my favorite example of graffiti around town. Every so often you find fine examples which approach a higher form of art.

Street cleaners. Early every morning there is an army of workers, usually dressed in black (including women in skirts, as pictured), sporting neon orange vests. They are armed with rustic brooms made of dried grasses or branches and they sweep up the daily remains of the public. A thankless job, no doubt.

And the gypsies. They are always at this particular intersection. It's a long wait so they walk up to every car and knock on the window. I am told that the Georgian government provides funding for them to send their children to school, but without success. They allegedly drug their infants so they appear sick or sleeping, which must bring in more money. Usually the babies are passed out on their mothers' shoulders. But today this one was awake.

Gas stations in Georgia are all full service. I've gone a year now without filling up my own tank, it's kind of nice. The attendants always wear a uniform that matches their station's color scheme. Unleaded gas doesn't exist here, which means the air quality suffers.

And this guy, with the papakha. These sheep's wool hats are a traditional Caucasian style which are mostly worn in the mountainous regions of Georgia, but you always run into a few die-hards who sport them in the city throughout the summer.

Another glutton for punishment. They must breath really well.

The melons. Some streets seem to attract a plethora of vendors that all cluster together, such as you see here. In any case the melons are delicious, they sell them by the kilo, but these guys always overcharge the likes of me.

And, finally, here's a peek at the American Embassy from outside the wall. They have the only sprawling green lawns I've seen in Georgia. Feels like home.

In review

We can't pass through this month without making mention of what has consumed the majority of our collective family time: school. Despite a fluctuating interest, I've managed to work part time throughout the entire year. It's been intense and rewarding, but also completely consuming and exhausting. I decided I won't resume teaching next year because I want to find a better family life balance. Here are a few pictures I captured on my ipad this year.

Recess

La gallette des Rois. Sadly, no winners in our fam.

Picking up trash around the school grounds.

Probably their favorite activity of the year.

La Cross Solidaire, a race our school hosted for the benefit of a school for the blind.

All ages, from preschool to adults, had the chance to run.

My oldest level class--fairly mature girls and ape-like boys (whose ridiculous picture I will not post).

On a field trip to see a play.

Another one of my lovely classes, such sweet kids!

My youngest class. It was so fun to see their progress.

Watching end of the year school swimming races.

It has been an eventful year, but we can hardly wait for school to be over and summer to begin. We are looking forward with great anticipation to our trip back to the States. In fact, we're counting the days . . .

Lopota

We joined with a few families to visit Lopota, a lakeside resort about 2 hours from Tbilisi, not far from Telavi. It is isolated within a beautiful valley, immaculately maintained, and definitely felt a world apart from the rest of Georgia (in a sort of disconcerting 1% kind of way).
(photo by NN)

The meals are included for the duration of your stay. We ate on a big open veranda that overlooked the lake.

But mostly the kids just wanted to swim in the frigid pool.

We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast,

with captivating live entertainment.

Then fully indulged in all the amenities, including bike riding,

sunbathing, babywatching,
(photo by NN)

nature appreciation,
(photo by HG)

and of course more eating.
(photo by NN)

The kids finished things off in grand strawberry style.

We stopped for a chilly photo op at the top of the mountain between Telavi and Tbilisi. All in all a charming trip.

Spring delight

What has caught his eye, you may ask? (hint: there's a clue on his cheek)

Only the darkest, juiciest strawberries we've ever seen. 

They're a super tender, tasty, juicy variety.

I've never seen strawberries like these before, only here in Georgia for about three weeks in the spring. You could never export these fragile gems . . . they barely made it home without bursting, and we didn't give them much of a chance after that. They usher in a wonderful season of fruitful plenty that continues through to the fall: strawberries, mulberries, blueberries, cherries, apricots, plums, each passing the baton until we arrive at the apples and pears of the final harvest.

Saturday night

Just love these 3 kiddos.

Armenia, day 3

First stop of the day was to Tsitsernakaberd, the Armenian Genocide Memorial. 

The Armenian Genocide began in 1915 and claimed close to 1.5 million lives. It is acknowledged as one of the first modern genocides, and in fact the term Genocide was coined to describe the Armenian annihilation. Next year marks the one hundredth anniversary, during which time this site will be visited by hundreds of thousands of Armenians, as it is every April 24th.

"Mother Arising Out of the Ashes", added in 2002.

The roof of Sanahin Monastery reminded me of the giant turtle from the Neverending Story (a.k.a. The Ancient One) that they mistook for a mountain.

On our way back up to Georgia we visited two more monasteries. The first, Sanahin, literally translates in Armenian as "this one is older than that one", presumably referring to it's 10th Century neighbor across a massive dissected plateau.

Like most Armenian monasteries, this one featured many khachars and gravesites.

Here the girls stand on one side of the dissected plateau, you can see the other side at the foot of the mountains in the distance (we barely stomached the switchbacks necessary to take us from one to the other).

 We were surrounded by verdant and lush spring growth.

A storm was gathering which made the air thick and still, giving the impression that this is a place where time itself stands still, and indeed, there was not much evidence to the contrary. 

Haghpat Monastery

And now to the younger neighbor. How much younger? It's hard to say, but with such a bold profession you can be sure the race was neck and neck. Unlike many monasteries, these two are not isolated but located within small mountain villages. The setting is dramatic and serene. We would have liked to stay longer and look forward to a return.

The green hills beckoned and this 2-year-old knew just what to do.

Then the sun reemerged and provided a simply glorious vista, framed with masses of wildflowers. 

The Armenians visiting the church couldn't get enough of one little towheaded boy. They all wanted to take pictures with their phones--he wasn't so thrilled about it.

We attempted to gather for the requisite family shot, looking rather motley and a tad worn out.

But this guy just couldn't wait to get back on the bus. . .