Snowbound in Georgia

I've been in Batumi almost six days now. It snowed for two and a half days of that and now we are suffering the consequences. While a few of the streets in the city are clear, many are not and last night when we went out to dinner we saw crews of men using shovels to break up the frozen slush on the roads.

It is very beautiful...and rather a study in contrasts...snow covered palm trees at the beach! I've walked out to the beach the last two days, just to get out of the hotel.  It is a workout, as the snow is 12-18" deep, and much of the way to the beach is unbroken. There are a few beaten paths, but the snow has melted and refrozen, so it's pretty treacherous. I prefer walking through the snow even though it takes a lot of energy.


Santa Barbara Church in Batumi...
more Spanish than Georgian

 Yesterday was bright and sunny--sunny enough that I got a bit of sunburn from the reflection off the snow. So I went down to the beach. It is all beautifully rounded, flat pebbles and stones...2-4" in diameter, and lots of them. Very little sand at all. It is hard to walk on as it is uneven and the pebbles shift under your feet. There is very little wildlife.  All I saw were about half a dozen very large grey and black crows, who were quite aggressive. I didn't even see any water weeds or anything living washed up along the shore. Except for one wizened old man in a bright red jacket doing yoga on the "beach" (rocks)! There is an oil terminal just around the point and that may be why I don't see any creatures.

We are all ready for the training, just don't know when we can do it. It was sunny enough here at the coast to melt quite a bit yesterday. Apparently in the hills, it's no such thing. Yesterday, we had a meeting with the two field coordinators (who visited orchards with us last week) yesterday to go through my training Powerpoint so we are all on the same page. One of them told us he walked almost 20 miles because there was no transport. Our driver took them back after the meeting yesterday afternoon...it took 4 hours to go 18 miles.

We are still hoping to start training on Tuesday, if it seems like people can get here. This will be training of trainers with some university people, the field coordinators, and other ag folks. They will be the ones who train the farmers, and the way it is looking, I will not be here for any of the farmer training as I have to leave on the 31st. They don't think the roads in the hills will be passable before then.

Today, hopefully we will go out to the demo plot down here so I can see the damage and tag the trees we want to use as examples. And we're supposed to meet with her excellency the Minister of Agriculture of the Adjaria Autonomous Region. The CNFA greenhouse guy is supposed to be here today to help them with their collapsed greenhouse. I hope we do something, as I'm getting tired of the hotel.

 

It's a very fancy hotel, a Sheraton with a big casino. The whole thing is oversized...huge high ceiling and all marble, polished stone floors, and whatnot. The entry and lobby is about 4 stories high. It is clearly more about style than comfort. Most of the chairs are very stylish but devilishly uncomfortable. And the decor is very odd.  Huge blown up pictures of rock stars on the walls...none of them look happy. Then very oversized decorative items. Most of it looks like gigantic military hardware...huge grenades, missles, landmines, etc. Then, in the huge cavernous lobby of the elevators (a different lobby than the entrance, there are deer heads on the wall with what looks like moss all over them (all fake of course) I do not get how it all goes together. Maybe I just have no style!

There are not a lot of guests, so the staff is VERY attentive. Too much so sometimes. Every time I order room service or laundry or anything, I get at least two phone calls asking me if everything is alright. They are very sweet, though. They call me Mrs. Cindy. Most of the women and a lot of the men are at least a foot and a half shorter than me. I feel like a giant.

The food is good. In the hotel there is this enormous buffet breakfast with everything under the sun...Mediterranean/European/ American, whatever you want.  It has the mediterranean olives/cucumbers/cheese array, plus croissants, other pastries and breads, even chocolate covered donuts (not so great), plus all the eggs, bacon, potatoes, etc. Plus cereals of all kinds and assorted fresh and compote fruit, juices, plus plus plus. And I swear there are no more than about 20 guests in the whole hotel. But it's all there every day. 

View from my hotel window at about 8 AM this morning

Most people don't get up very early so there may be more people than I think. I usually eat around 8, and there may be 1 or 2 people in the whole restaurant. I think most people don't get up until 10 or so...it's dark until 8:30 AM, so I can't blame them. And they appear to stay out very late.

View of Adjari Mountians from Batumi, 9:30 AM

I have not quite figured out the meal schedule. Most people apparently don't eat much breakfast, but they also don't eat lunch until 2 or 3 or 4 PM. So I eat a big breakfast because I am never sure when I'm going to get the next meal! Then dinner is late...as late as 11 PM one night! Very Mediterranean that.

My colleagues have figured out I am not a night owl...it's been just Mamuka and me here for the past couple of days and last night at about 7 PM he came to get me and said what about dinner? I don't think he had eaten since breakfast! I'd gotten a bowl of tomato soup midafternoon. They make this marvelous tomato soup...just a bit spicy, and very rich tomato flavor. It is supposed to come with cheese and sour cream, but I pass on that...it's great as is.  They are big consumers of dairy products...all kinds of cheeses, butter, cream, sour cream...all full fat, of course.  Still a bit much for my somewhat battered stomach. I've recovered from whatever ailed me...I think it was a virus as it lasted a couple of days...just a bit hesitant about too much heavy food. 

I think the guys have begun to think I don't eat meat, which is astounding to them.  They eat a lot of it, just like in the Middle East. I do like the food...especially what is called Khatchapuri (sounds like it should be Indian).  It is like a thick pizza crust with several kinds of cheese, butter, sometimes potatoes or eggs baked into it.  It is really rich...but they go through  it like nothing and then have the main course!

There always seems to always be a LOT of food. I don't apparently eat enough for them. And I am still zero for zero on paying for meals (except the few times I've oredered room service!) Last night since it was just Mamuka and me, I really tried but still got the standard answer...I could pay "next time". Except "next time" never comes.

Georgian Mandarins and SNOW!

I've been in Georgia (the Republic of, that is!) now for four days. I arrived in Tbilisi, the capital, after a relatively smooth trip – just very long about 28 hours. I arrived at 4 AM on Monday which is 4 PM on Sunday in California. The 12 hour time difference is rather disconcerting. I'm writing this at 3:11 AM California time. 

I stayed in a very nice hotel in downtown Tbilisi, a Courtyard Mariott, believe it or not. It's in an 18th or 19th century neoclassical building in one of the main squares…beautifully redone. The CNFA office is in beautifully restored quarter of Tbilisi with very traditional Georgian architecture. It's a nice walk through a very traditional quartier on a cobblestone street from the hotel to the office.

The Georgians are very nice and VERY hospitable...they have not allowed me to pay for a meal yet...even though I'm receiving perdiem!  I'll have to figure out a way to invite them all out at the end of the trip.  I keep asking, but they give me a big song and dance and just refuse in the end! Very nice people.

On Tuesday, we headed out to Batumi, on the Black Sea Coast, which is in the area where mandarins are grown. It was about a 7 hour trip up and over the pass, through several tunnels – one 2.5 km long and down to the coast at Batumi. It was a very interesting trip, with the high plateau looking like the Anatolian plateau with winter wheat and barley growing. There were some herds of sheep, but mostly cattle...small and rather shaggy, but not as shaggy as highland cattle. There was snow up high, but a lot of greenery along the road.

I love the pointed round towers of the Georgian churches...and they come in a number of styles and colors.  I really like the red brick ones, and there are a number with gilded roofs in Tbilisi. This one resembles really fat Turkish mosque minarets. Turkey is not far away.

It was raining when we got to Batumi, but we made a quick trip out to one of the "Mandarin Knowledge Plots" as they call them...kind of like a demo plot.  I finally saw why they need help. The trees look really malnourished...they are tiny for 35 year trees, and the canopy starts about 5-6 feet up and is very thin. No wonder the fruit is not very good quality. They have some very unusual practices which contribute to the poor vigor of the trees, I'm sure.

On Tuesday night, the rain turned to snow and we woke up on Wednesday to a dusting of snow in Batumi. When we went out to visit farmers, there was 6-8" up a little higher where many of the orchards are. I'm told this is about a once in a decade occurrence...and I thought it was going to be warmer here! Glad I brought my Muck boots...my feet have stayed warm and dry. :)

On Wednesday, we, that is,

• Mamuka, my colleague/supervisor
• Levan, another colleague and agronomist
• Vince, the boss of the program, originally from Moldova
• Isolde, my translator
• David, our driver, ho insisted his name was David, although the Georgians call him Datoona
• and two guys from the agricultural university, whose names are too long for me to remember, much less pronounce...I should have written them down...but haven't a clue where to start.

We went out to visit farmers and orchards so I could understand what the issues are - before I start telling them what to do! Novel concept, but it took some convincing. And boy, am I glad I insisted...I had no idea that mandarin trees could look like so many of these do. (Once again I am very grateful for my Placer Co mandarin growers!) So we visited one orchard with scrawny, yellow, 30+ year old trees with no leaves until 4 or 5 feet up the trunk and canopies you can see the sky through. And he seemed to be happy with his yields.

Very nice man, Amiran, the farmer...but really sad trees. He gave me about 20 navel oranges...proudly telling me they were Washington navels (the American standard)...but picked way too early, so quite sour. They tend to do that with citrus here, apparently. He, apparently like most people here, cultivates the soil all around and under the trees down to about a foot, which takes out all the absorbing roots, so it's no wonder they are so sad. The reason was that there would be roots on the soil if they didn't?? So the tree had next to nothing to draw from. No wonder 35 year old trees are the size of 12-year old trees!

Then we went to another grower, Imzar, and his trees were about the same age, but much bigger trunks, and extremely dense canopy...reminds me of Steve Pilz' canopy. They were healthy with beautiful dark green color, but horrendous pruning! He at least knew that he needed to prune. (that's my first topic for the trainings). 

Imzar was a lovely man, and had a good understanding of growing practices. He even tried to speak some English...apparently his kids speak English, according to his wife, Ticha (or something like that).

Anyway, he invited us into his house for coffee...only it turned out to be one cup of coffee and many, many Georgian toasts with numerous glasses of chahcha - their vodka, which is more like grappa, and a sour cherry liqueur. They had fresh hazelnuts, which also grow in this area, as well as juice made from boiled pineapple guava - Feijoa. That at least was non- alcoholic and his wife got the idea I was not keen on drinking all the alcohol. Most of the guys did, though, and there were numerous toasts to friendship, cooperation, growing mandarins, the new year, etc. etc. I was two sheets to the wind on one tiny glass of chahcha and an even tinier glass of the cherry liqueur, I have no idea how the rest of them drank it all. Here's a picture of the bleary-eyed bunch. The house was all wood inside, and like stucco outside. Very beautiful.

Then we went to the Agricultural University and met the Dean. He was very nice, and willing to listen at least to the reasons why I suggested they do things differently.  The other two guys who traveled with us all day seemed to think everythig is fine with their mandarin production. I knew it might be hard to convince them.  The Georgian guys on the team, and Vince, the boss really get it, though, and are fully behind what I want to suggest, so that's good. The Ag University is up in the hills above Batumi, and they had the best looking mandarin tree I have seen so far...even surrounded by snow!

So today, it is snowing like mad in Batumi,there's a total white out between here and the sea..maybe 100 yards away! I did take a little walk to a nearby grocery store when it stopped for a while...again thankful for my Muck boots in 4" of snow, slush, and water on the roads and sidewalks.

The grocery store is an adventure...I had some nasty food poisoning last night, so I wanted some applesauce, dry crackers, and yoghurt. Well, they had apple juice - yabloki in Russian, and some tea biscuits...Petit beurre. I figured that and the apple juice out okay, and the yoghurt by the shape of the container. When I asked about the yoghurt, she pronounced it like yoghourt with a Georgian twist and a roll of the R. I  think it's peach, but not really sure because all the Georgian covers the picture.

The store clerks like to follow me around in the store...probably because they don't think I can figure out what stuff is! I was trying for applesauce so showed her the apple juice container and pointed to a jar of tomatoes and she thought it was quite funny that I wanted apples in a jar. I did find fresh (in a manner of speaking) apples down the street at a little shop where two girls were huddled over a heater minding the store. It's really cold for Georgians, I guess.

So we are preparing for our first training of trainers tomorrow. - mostly University people and some government ag, I think. Mamuka & Levan are busy translating my powerpoint on pruning into Georgian...otherwise known as squiggle language. It is totally different than anything else, although it looks a little like Thai! I have learned to recognize about 4 letters from reading road signs on the road, but I have no idea what things mean. I know about two words...thank you is Didimadloba and hello is gamarjuba or something like that. I keep forgetting hello. My translator drilled me on the didimadloba enough that I have that down. My one word a day isn't working out so well. I think this is Google in Georgian: საქართველო or maybe its Georgian. See what I mean about squiggle? I know that the first letter is an S and the second to the last is an L beyond that, I am clueless. But it is interesting. Levan has a store of Georgian cultural knowledge and he's always explaining things.

it's an adventure alright, but really really interesting. And di I mention they all smoke like chimneys?  I'll try to do several more of these posts.