Week 3 Day 6
Well, I almost can’t believe how far behind I am on my writing...needless to say, this week was pretty busy, so I’ll try to keep the next few posts relatively short.
On Saturday, I got to sleep in (ish) until between 8:30 and 9:00–I definitely could have slept for much longer, but I felt like it would be rude since my host mom would probably already be up. I got dressed and had breakfast, after which I relaxed and did a bit of maintenance stuff like cleaning out my bag and organizing the desk in my room. My host mom left at about ten or so to go out and do something (I couldn’t understand everything she was saying, but I think she was going out with some of her friends), so I left her a note when I left at about 11:30, reminding her of my plans for the day.
At about 12:00, a bunch of us met at a cafe in Stephan cel Mare park; usually we would have been outside, but it was excruciatingly hot that day. We played mafia there for a bit and got each other caught up on the strangest occurrences from during the week.
When we were hungry enough to eat lunch, about an hour later, we left the cafe and walked down the main road about five or six blocks, to Tbilisi Restaurant, which serves Georgian food. Originally, we had been scheduled to eat lunch there one day, but during our weekly meeting the day before, Elliott had informed us that plans had changed, which meant our lunch there was no longer planned. However, he recommended that we go there in our free time and recommended some dishes for us to try, so we decided to go there on Saturday to make sure we didn’t miss out.
We ordered mostly in pairs to split a few dishes, but also shared with the whole table, which was nice. A few people from the program met us at the restaurant and left at different times, and at one point there were 16 of us there (all but 4 of us), but usually we were between 10-12 people, which was nice.
Renee and I decided to order together, and we got хачапури по-ажарский (adjarian khachapuri) and хинкали (khinkali). Khachapuri is a dish that is essentially a bread boat filled with butter, cheese and a variety of other things...this variety included an egg. Khinkali are Georgian soup dumplings filled with either lamb or pork and with a really thick dough. According to custom, you’re not supposed to eat the “stem” of the dumpling, as you’re supposed to collect them to show how many you ate (sometimes considered a matter of competition or pride among Georgian men).
We left the restaurant at about 2:15 or 2:30, and several of the others in the group decided to go to the mall and see a movie, but I didn’t go with them since wanted to be home when my host mom got back, if she wasn’t already there by the time I got back from lunch. On my way to the bus stop, I walked into the post office since I wanted to buy stamps so I could mail some postcards, but the little store where they sell stamps was closed, even though it said they. We’re open until at least 3:00 on Saturdays...
When I got home, Bepa still wasn’t back, so I did some of my homework and relaxed for a while. I used the batter she had left for me to make blinchki, and then I Skyped my parents for a bit.
While I was on the call with them, Vera came home, so I introduced my parents to her and they talked for a little bit (they lived in Moscow for a bit so they speak a good amount of Russian), which was nice.
When that was over, I packed my bag for our excursion the next day and read a bit before going to bed.
On Saturday, I got to sleep in (ish) until between 8:30 and 9:00–I definitely could have slept for much longer, but I felt like it would be rude since my host mom would probably already be up. I got dressed and had breakfast, after which I relaxed and did a bit of maintenance stuff like cleaning out my bag and organizing the desk in my room. My host mom left at about ten or so to go out and do something (I couldn’t understand everything she was saying, but I think she was going out with some of her friends), so I left her a note when I left at about 11:30, reminding her of my plans for the day.
At about 12:00, a bunch of us met at a cafe in Stephan cel Mare park; usually we would have been outside, but it was excruciatingly hot that day. We played mafia there for a bit and got each other caught up on the strangest occurrences from during the week.
When we were hungry enough to eat lunch, about an hour later, we left the cafe and walked down the main road about five or six blocks, to Tbilisi Restaurant, which serves Georgian food. Originally, we had been scheduled to eat lunch there one day, but during our weekly meeting the day before, Elliott had informed us that plans had changed, which meant our lunch there was no longer planned. However, he recommended that we go there in our free time and recommended some dishes for us to try, so we decided to go there on Saturday to make sure we didn’t miss out.
We ordered mostly in pairs to split a few dishes, but also shared with the whole table, which was nice. A few people from the program met us at the restaurant and left at different times, and at one point there were 16 of us there (all but 4 of us), but usually we were between 10-12 people, which was nice.
Renee and I decided to order together, and we got хачапури по-ажарский (adjarian khachapuri) and хинкали (khinkali). Khachapuri is a dish that is essentially a bread boat filled with butter, cheese and a variety of other things...this variety included an egg. Khinkali are Georgian soup dumplings filled with either lamb or pork and with a really thick dough. According to custom, you’re not supposed to eat the “stem” of the dumpling, as you’re supposed to collect them to show how many you ate (sometimes considered a matter of competition or pride among Georgian men).
Our khachapuri.
The lamb khinkali.
When I got home, Bepa still wasn’t back, so I did some of my homework and relaxed for a while. I used the batter she had left for me to make blinchki, and then I Skyped my parents for a bit.
While I was on the call with them, Vera came home, so I introduced my parents to her and they talked for a little bit (they lived in Moscow for a bit so they speak a good amount of Russian), which was nice.
When that was over, I packed my bag for our excursion the next day and read a bit before going to bed.
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