As a reminder of the fact that this country is situated in an area of seismic activity, we had a tiny little earthquake this morning, just strong enough for you to notice it. Enough to make some colleagues nervous: since Haiti, they have apparently become a bit more aware of the kind of destruction an earthquake can cause (I'm not sure if Chile got the same attention here, for whatever reason). But they said tremors aren't that common in this area.
The weekend was dedicated to a small sightseeing walk and a three-hour show of traditional Georgian dance. I say small walk, partly because it was short, and partly because Zugdidi is not a big town. Walking from one end of the centre to another takes maybe 15-20 minutes. We went up to a hill that houses a graveyard and the TV-tower, from which you get a good view over part of the city from one side and from the other you can see the countryside already - green hills and cows. The graveyards here are different from what I'm used to - the pictures of the deceased are on the tombstones, and if the family has money they also have their own very fancy burial site. One here is completely made out of marble, another has a very big and pretty wooden structure to protect it from downpour. The photo of one tombstone in such a burial site drew my attention. I didn't take a photo of it because it felt respectless (which the following tirade probably is, too), but this picture showed a man in a very casual black and red tracksuit, looking like he was photographed on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I'm sure he was a wonderful person, and probably very relaxed, but why would you want to show your beloved son, husband or father to the afterworld looking like a Balkan pimp? Moreover, if you're willing to pour serious cash into grave decorations to show how much money you've got, why not choose a picture where the deceased's wearing a suit so that he, too, looks like he makes his money respectably and not through trafficking girls and drugs through Eastern Europe, strangling his enemies with his bling? Barney would not approve.
We also paid a visit to an artist who lives in Zugdidi during the summers, in her parents' old house. She was very friendly and like all the Georgians I've run into so far, incredibly hospitable. She invited us to come by another day to have our portraits drawn (not painted in oil, that would be a bit too fancy) because apparently she found our faces very interesting, so we'll go back one of these days. This should beat Paris! I'm only regretting the absence of Dan and Arne, somehow it's not the same if we're not sharing the travel-portrait experience on a wine-fuelled late-night trek through a foreign city...
Sunday was the dance show, it was local dance schools performing in a competition and it was very long but very interesting to watch. Traditional dance is still very popular with young people here, almost everyone dances at some point in their lives, and it's pretty impressive. Recently our boss's son won a traditional dance competition on TV (we watched and he seemed very good to me, but of course I don't know how this sort of thing is judged) and everyone's really excited. He and his dance group will be touring Europe this summer, so if you feel like doing something different and they're coming to your town, I recommend you go and see them and invite him and his brother for a drink or something afterwards.
The boss of my organisation came back today, so now I know what my tasks are. English teaching starts on Monday and then I will probably do a short seminar on human (and then particularly women's) rights some time this summer. I'll also look for good partner organisations in Europe (UK and Germany specifically) that might be interested in sponsoring any of Imedi's projects later. If anyone has any ideas for a suitable organisation, let me know! Finally, I'll probably get to write fundraising proposals and help out with a youth project they'll be running this summer, provided they get the funding for it. Tomorrow there will be a training in a village near Abkhazia, I'm looking forward to that, to see a bit more of the work they do.
Finally, the weather gods hate me. All weekend it was overcast and a bit cold (21 degrees). This morning when we went to the office, the sun was shining and I thought I'd spend the late afternoon taking some photos in the nice evening sunlight. But nope, now it's raining. When I left Berlin, summer came. Everywhere the same.
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