June 2nd:
The week after job shadowing we had what we call our
cultural trip. This is where you get a group together (for the most part we all
stayed in our clusters) and travel to a different area on our own. My group
opted to do an overnight trip in Vardzia, which is known for its cave city.
We stayed in a guesthouse called Valodia’s Cottage. It was
such a nice and peaceful location. We were up in the mountains, right along a
little spring. It was hostel style and everyone ate together and it had a real
communal feel. We had a great meal of a whole tevsi (fish) –I know I wrote
earlier about how gross the fish here can be, but this fish was awesome! –
badrijani (eggplant), saladi (can you guess what that translates to?),
kartopili (potatoes), and of course some gvhino (also an easy one, but wine).
We all needed that healthy refresher of a meal… I know this because we went on
about it for a few days to anyone that would listen.
View from Valodia's:
The next day we stumbled our way through a Georgian
guesthouse checkout, and set off to the caves! They were a pretty amazing
sight. We had the convenience of climbing up stairs and built in paths to view
these ancient homes, but I have no idea how people lived up there hundreds of
years ago. The point of the caves was to hide from battle, because Georgia’s
history is filled with wars and conflict. Many people fled to mountains and
underground caves to escape the violence. I’m pretty sure they accomplished
their attempt at isolation.
One funny note was that even though Vardzia is a huge
tourist destination, we still overtly stood out as the only Americans there. A
ton of school children were there on class field trips and wanted to take more
pictures with us than of the beautiful and historic scenery.
I was personally amazed at how un-regulated the site was. In
a sense it’s so cool to be able to freely explore, climb, touch and just fully
experience a piece of history. At the other end, I couldn’t help but think
about how well the site is being preserved. These were ancient artifacts we
were looking at, and nothing was being done to preserve it. I worry that by
letting people roam freely throughout it, they’ll find themselves without this
great piece of history. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the rock will last forever…
While we were at the top of the caves, we decided that we
had worked up an appetite. So in true (or what we thought was true) Georgian
fashion, we broke out our Supra! Fully equipped with fruit, cheese, bread,
sausage, cucumber, beer and cake – luckily, our friends’ host families didn’t
let them leave the house without a sufficient picnic packed. I’m not sure if it
was because it was a cultural faux pas or just because we’re Americans (the
usual reason) but we got stared down! We were such a spectacle. When we stopped
to set up our spread the area was clear of people and seemed convenient. Ten
minutes later we are in the middle of a huge Georgian crowd climbing down the
stairs and staring at us eating. We didn’t care enough to stop eating. We are
very used to being stared at by now. 
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