We're Not in Kansas Anymore...

So I discussed this past week's trip to Tbilisi and our American experiences, but this post will talk about all of the “there isn't anything like THIS in San Diego” sorts of things. Starting with last weekend, when Brenden and I participated in cluster exchange. Two weekends during PST (pre-service training), trainees are allowed to visit another trainee overnight. So last weekend, Brenden and I went to visit our friend Jeff who lives in the village of Bebnisi, about half an hour or 45 minutes away (depending on how slow the bus you're on is). After visiting nearly all the trainees in Bebnisi (I think I went to everyone's house except for Brian's), I had pretty good exposure to life in the village, in all aspects from the squatters, to how everyone knows everyone in the village, to the animals. The trainees in Bebnisi know the word for cow dung; I don't, because it's not an ever-present reality in Gori like it is the villages. One things that totally surprised me, however, is that Jeff has a fantastic shower situation among the trainees (and I say that compared to the vast majority of us in Gori); he has reliably warm water, and a showerhead with real water pressure. Outside of my three showers at Gudauri, my shower at Jeff's was the best shower I've had in Georgia, hands down.

Yesterday, a group of us hiked up to Gori Jvari, a church on the mountains overlooking Gori. It's a pretty challenging hike; it's very steep and the ground is very uneven. On the way up, we ran into a whole herd of cows, along with one lone goat. That was definitely the closest I have ever been to those animals without a fence, and I was a bit intimidated (not because it looked like any of them had any interest in taking a piece out of me, but more because of the sheer size of the cows; if one of them stepped or ran into me, it wouldn't have been good news). The way that we went up takes longer than the main trail, but those in our group who had been before thought it's not as steep. It was a long, hot hike, but the view was definitely worth it. At the bottom of the church, however, there is a place to sacrifice goats.

Yes, John, if you're reading this, the rumors we told you about are true—Georgian Orthodox people still sacrifice live animals, mostly goats but I also heard about cocks as well. We saw the remains of goats (hair, hoofs, horns, etc.) all around the area. Also, during a summer school class on holidays I observed one of my fellow trainees conduct, the students told him that sacrifices are normal practices on St. George's Day (a big holiday in Georgia that is celebrated twice a year, once in May, when he started his suffering, and once in November, when he died), and also on other special occasions.

The actual church itself is up this hill from the sacrifice place, and is quite simple but beautiful:

I don't know any of the history of the church or how long it dates back, but it is still used, at least for the devout; there is a small room open to the public for burning candles and another small room that on Sundays has food for worshippers, although I doubt services continue to be held here.

The church has a gorgeous view of all of Gori—here is a picture of our group (minus Brenden) sitting on the wall overlooking Gori (Tony and I are in the top row, and the bottom row is Heather and Allison):

The apartment buildings in the distance to the left of me are where Heather, Brenden, and I all live. The big brown circle on the right end of the picture is the Gori Fortress (Goristsikhe) that we hiked up to our first weekend in Gori (which, by the way, I found out for a presentation I did on Friday, dates back to the 3rd century B.C., although the structure standing today dates back to the 12th century A.D.).

Tomorrow begins our last full week of training—the 10th week of training is only two days of class, one day for our final language assessment, a day to pack/relax, swear-in on Friday, and then directly after swear-in, we leave for our new sites.

- Carissa