Livin' like a Georgian

I'll preface this post with, yes...I know, I suck at updating. Haha. I always forget that even my ordinary days in the village, or my regular witnessing of what I deem normal life/behavior here in Georgia could potentially be entertaining for everyone not living a "fake" life as I am. So. I apologize, or as we would say here...Bodishi.

So with that I'll continue on and share some things I have been doing in the past few months.

During the Fall here in Georgia, a big tradition that they have is something called Tataroba. It's whenever they collect the rest of the grapes that won't be used towards winemaking or drying for raisins, and are thrown in a huge cauldron with flour and other Georgiany spices. Then they build a fire underneath and stir the mixture for about 2 hours, and once Grandma says that it is worthy enough, strings with walnuts, hazelnuts, and any other type of nut are dipped into the batter and hung to dry.

Once dry, these Georgian treats are called churchkhela. Or as Georgians brand them, "Georgian Snickers." Each family has their own style of making churchkhela and though they resemble something that might look like the product of a Sunday All You Can Eat buffet at Golden Corral..they can actually taste pretty good. And I take much pride in the quality of my host family's.

 

Secondly, some friends and I thought it would be best to finally get out of site and do some worthwhile site-seeing of Georgia. So, at the request of one of our friends whose birthday it was, we traveled north towards Kazbegi that is situated in the Greater Caucasus Mountains.  Unlike the crazy weather that everyone has been getting back home (Florida mainly), Georgia's winter has been fairly mild, and in turn leaving us snowless...knock on wood. Fortunately, up in the mountains, snow started falling and we all finally felt some Holiday spirit. 

Up on a "hill" that is famous for its monastery, the Sameba, we could witness breathtaking vistas that overlook the town of Kazbegi and the gigantic summits of the Caucasus. After our long and winded hike up, we all were giddy to get back home for some homemade eggnog we recently discovered we could make. So practically after running down the mountain, parkouring over rocks, and falling face first into snow, we made it back to our homestay, the Nazi (not kidding you...it's an actual last name), to make some of the best (insert expletive) eggnog I have ever had. 

  

We had to wake up much earlier the next morning than originally planned because our marshutka driver told us that a major snow storm was coming in and it could very well mean the roads will be closed. And by roads I mean the 1 road up there, and by closed I mean we would be stuck up there for days. A couple of the other people in our group were starting to sweat bullets because they had to be up in a plane later that day to head back to the US. As we were booking back down the mountain, there was absolutely no visibility, only the color white surrounding our vehicle. Also our van was fishtailing all over the place, and if you looked outside the window it was just a sheer drop into an icy abyss only a couple feet away. But, I was strangely comforted by our driver who still felt the need to smoke a cigarette and steer with one arm. Alas, we made it back safe and sound in time to get ready for our Christmas party. Next post, I'll regale you with tales of my nonstop supra-ing
...whoo hoo!

 

Sameba Church picture I took

Much better Sameba Church picture that I didn't take, thanks Google