SURPRISE!!!

That smile says it all!

From: Anne K.
Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2012 03:19:07 -0700 (PDT)

What a birthday!!!  Saturday, June 16th, I awoke to my sweet husband wishing me a happy birthday.  Then Becky and Marcile had a card and gift for me to open...all this before breakfast!  Each day we walk from our guest house to the camp building for breakfast.  Today the door was closed and I wondered why...all the Georgian workers were waiting inside the door and sang happy birthday to me in Georgian and then in English!  They presented me with a Georgian pine cone and balloons on my chair.  We had fried eggs and pancakes, cheese and bread for breakfast.

After breakfast, Brian drove us to Batumi.  What beautiful scenery!  We stopped along the way at Petra to see the ruins of a Byzantine castle that once protected the beautiful coastline.  Brian is a real history buff and a great tourguide.  When we arrived in Batumi, we parked and walked through a beautiful park that was right on the Black Sea.  The beach is made up of rocks - no sand, just rocks.  Sid, Becky and I shed our shoes near water's edge and stepped into the Black Sea. It was cold but felt good. There are waves, but nothing too big...except when we turned to go ashore and then a big one came and soaked us!  In the hot sun we dried fast.

At Petra: (L to R) Sid, Anne, Lori, Nathan, Becky and Marcile

We had Brian's Georgian brother-in-law with us and he wanted to take us to a traditional Georgian restaurant.  We walked and walked but finally found the one he wanted. He thought it was a few blocks from the water but it turned out to be well over a mile!  (Pre-meal exercise!)  They ordered "lemonade" for us - pear, mint, vanilla, lemon, and all carbonated. Then the food started coming.  First, our favorite, tomatoes, cucumbers and onion with a little olive oil. Then came osteri (goat stew), two kinds of sauces, mtsvadi (pork kabobs), kachapuri (which is like cheese pizza) and kinkali (dumplings).  We were really stuffed after that (actually before the dumplings).  Everything was so good.  Oh, and of course, wonderful bread.

We stopped at a grocery store named "Goodwill" and bought some things like water, Coke Zero and some fruit. Then we drove back to "Ur". Along the way Brian stopped at a stand that sold ladders, brooms and mops made from bamboo.  The mop is simply a 'T' and you throw a rag on the floor and use the T part to push and clean.  (No, I didn't get one to bring back!!)  We got back to the guest house and rested for a few minutes.  Took time to call home and talked mostly to answering machines!

At 6 p.m. they were going to show The Chronicles of Narnia to the neighborhood children.  They just got into it and a storm came up and the power went out.  We were still at the guest house.  After the downpour, we walked to the camp and had tomato soup (with potatoes in) and bread for dinner.  After dinner they presented me with a cake that Lori somehow bought while we were at the Goodwill.  They sang to me again and we all had cake.

To end my birthday, the Lord sent a rainbow!  But then, the Georgian young people started singing and dancing.  What fun we had.  It was a truly memorable birthday, that's for sure.  

With gratitude,
Anne