Life is Pretty Damn Grand, Part the First

Well, life is just rolling merrily along.  Internet's been out since Sunday morning, or I would have done some updating before now!  A lot has happened -- I've really had some wonderful times recently, both with the host fam and with the Poti Gang.  Been to the beach twice more with the family, including once to Grigoleti, a beach about 15 minutes south of Poti that I hadn't been to before.  Beautiful, and very clean which sadly, Poti's beach is not. I can't wait to go again with Mark and Julie.

The Black Sea through the pines on a simply perfect afternoon.

Anna, Nata, Me, host cousin Nino, Nino's friend Mari

My mosquito-ravaged feet in paradise.

Grigoleti

Light beach reading

I've also gotten out on my bike a couple times, now that the weather has drastically improved and also -- my illness finally seems to have abated.  Myositis sucks a lot for something I personally had never heard of before two months ago.  But it's probably been almost two weeks since I felt any tightness or pain in my chest.  So I brushed the dust off of Bee and took him for a spin out in Maltaqva, the pretty wooded beachside park just south of Poti proper.

Bee.  Points if you can tell me where I got his name from. :)

My "bike trail".  Black Sea in the distance.

And then, a couple of nights ago, the host family took me and the girls to an amusement park!  (I forget the name but it was just north of Kobuleti.)  It was awesome and a LOT of fun.  More spinning, twirling, jerking puke rides than you'd ever want to see, at least if you're me, whose fearless adventuresome spirit (ha) is hampered by a stomach that's embarrassingly prone to motion sickness.  Managed not to puke in the car on the way home though.  :)  Bonus.

Candyland view from the top of the ferris wheel.

This past Sunday was Miriam's Day, a Georgian Orthodox holiday devoted to the mother of Jesus.  But this is Georgia, after all, and apparently the way to honor Mary is for the men to drink many many glasses of wine.  Gaumarjos!  Being an American and (I suppose) being able to hold my own, I was given an honorary seat at the dude-only supra. :)

Rezzo, two neighbors, Ucha, Eldari