When we got on the road, I blocked everything out with my iPod and rested a little bit. As soon as you begin to descend from the mountains and approach Trabzon and the Black Sea coast, everything gets really hot and humid. It’s like being in Arkansas all over again! We followed the highway along the Black Sea toward Georgia for about four hours before turning off into the Kaçkar Mountains toward a town called Ayder. I looked it up on the Internet beforehand so I had a little bit of an idea about what to expect. Really it’s little more than a mountain resort type area but the mountains are impressive and wooded, and there are several waterfalls cascading down the mountainsides.
We stopped off first in one of the mountain valleys near a raging river to have lunch. Of course being a riverside restaurant meant they served fish but the headmaster and Dr. B were kind enough to arrange for a meat dish for me. Afterwards, we went together as a group to a nearby waterfall. After the students left, Jack, the headmaster and I waded into the pool below the waterfall and enjoyed the freezing cold mountain water. Jack took his shirt off and dove in, but I couldn’t quite work up the nerve.
We took the bus further into the mountains and then did a little hiking to an upper branch of the river. There was an especially nice portion that we all lounged around, some of us daring to actually get in but most just hanging around the shore. Three of my “troublemakers” (bad students but good kids) decided to throw rocks into the river to try to splash me. I guess they didn’t expect me to chase them. Then it turned into a game. Soon everyone was trying to splash everyone else. The troublemakers decided to keep it up and dumped water on me when we were walking back to the bus. I waited until they were convinced I wasn’t going to do anything to sneak up behind them and throw water on them from my water bottle. I nailed two of them but the third moved too quickly and I ended up getting one of my best students!
Later we were sitting in the dirt in the woods for a picture when one of them snuck up behind me and poured water down my back. I leapt up and chased them into the woods, which caused a huge stir amongst those waiting for the group pictures. I tripped on a root (ooops) and went down, getting the front of my pants filthy to match the back that got filthy from the water mixing with the dirt.
On the way back from the forest we stopped at a private school where the headmaster had somehow arranged for us to have dinner. It was actually pretty tasty but we were on the coast again so it was boiling hot. After 10 minutes of hanging around by the buses, I finally asked what the hold up was and Dr. B said we were waiting on the headmaster, who was praying. He joked that he teases him by saying, “Every 3 hours, really? Do you accumulate so much sin in such a short period of time that you need to ask for forgiveness every 3 hours?”. I thought it was funny!
On the way back to Gümüşhane we stopped in Trabzon so the kids could go to The Forum again, the city’s giant shopping mall. I had to sit in the bus and hang out with the busdriver because I was filthy from my adventure in the mountains. Initially he left me alone with the bus, but we were blocking in several cars and the occupants came back to one. Shockingly they spoke perfect English so I said I would go find the driver if they watched the bus. After I retrieved him and we moved, we watched some ridiculous dramas on TV until the kids came back.
One of the best students in my advanced class bought me a new T-shirt while she was in The Forum to replace the one the boys ruined. How sweet!
Yesterday the students went to some boat races at a nearby reservoir but I just slept and lounged around. It was a nice day off. Today we began preparations for the final exam to be administered on Wednesday. I can’t wait! I also received an e-mail from Mitra that left me feeling so conflicted about the future. My advisor at The Washington Center is sending my resume and applications materials to every organization EXCEPT the type of organizations that I’d like to intern with. He asked me about the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities, so I asked him how exactly would that fit in with my interest in sub-Saharan Africa and international development. He never replied and sent my materials to them anyway.
It’s been a really tough night. I'm tired so I'll write more about it later.
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