Athens

Milton Bear at the Parthenon.

Milton Bear at the Aegean Sea. 

After skiing, Megan and I traveled to Athens to visit the birthplace of democracy and the ancient Greek ruins. After catching a 5:15 a.m. flight, we checking into our hotel room at 9:00 a.m. and found a breakfast. We then proceed to walk 38,000 steps around the city of Athens. We first visited the Botanical Gardens and sat on ancient ruins, looked at birds, and saw many spring flowers. We then visited the monuments of Zeus the Olympian, where we met up with TGC fellows, Walt and Renee. We visited the Planko where there are many stores and shops on small city streets in between ancient Greek remains. We then all went up to Mount Lycabettus and watch the sunset over Athens.

On the following morning, we got up early and went to the Acropolis. We were one of the first people at the Parthenon. It was great to be up there and just stand in awe at this great feat in human engineering. I am amazed the humans were able to erect this massive monument over 2000 years ago. After the Parthenonon we visited the Acropolis museum. Afterward we went back our hotel and took a tram to see the Aegean Sea. We put our feet in the water and enjoyed the peacefulness of the ocean. 

Greek guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier. Check out their shoes.

From another building at the Acropolis.

This church has a building built around it.

Me sitting on top of some ruins. 

Zeus the Olympian Monument.

Megan and I at the Acropolis. Her and I together we able to easily navigate the city. No one of us was as smart as both of us.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid in Greek.

Skiing in Gudauri

I traveled with my fellow TGC Fellow, Megan, to Gudauri Ski area in the upper Caucuses Mountains. It was a nice trip up to the mountain and we were hoping to ski for two days. On the first day, the power went out at 8:15 and was off until 12:15. It was a bit of a disappointment because we could not get on the slopes right away. However, we made the best of the situation playing backgammon and Monopoly.  Once the power came back on we jumped up rented skis and began skiing. We took the gondola and when we got out we could not see a thing. We were in the middle of a cloud. Since we were above the tree line, we could not even find the trail, so we followed a group of skiers and we found the trail. We figured out that the trails were marked by poles and that we needed to ski between them. 

Despite skiing in the clouds for two days and not being able to get to the top because of the poor visibility. I am still happy to say I skied in the Caucuses Mountains. 

Ski Map

Sunrise from my hotel room window.

View going up the gondola.

Me and the Snow Cat.

Mother Georgia

Before heading to Guduari, Milton Bear visits Mother Georgia. She hold a bowl is for welcoming guests and the sword is for turning away enemies.

View from Mother Georgia.

Final Day in Akhaltsikhi

I presented my host teacher, Lela, with an I Love Milton shirt.

Milton Bear with the Dancers.

Today was my final day in Akhaltsikhe. It was my favorite day in a school yet. In the morning, I introduced the 10th grade students to whiffle ball. It was great watching them pitch and trying to hit the ball. We then played some football (soccer) and ended the period with basketball. Luckily for me the rim was very forgiving I was able to score two baskets. It was great to see how you do not need language to play sports.

I then visited a seventh grade and second grade classroom. We ended the school day with the 8th graders. We had the students write about their favorite object and took a picture of the object. We also video taped them talking about their objects. It was great. At the end of class, I gave them one of my favorite books, Stargirl, and I handed them two Rubic's Cubes to solve.

After school, I went to Girls in Civics meeting, where we talked about American schools. I showed them a few clips from Yellow Jacket TV, and they were impressed.

Finally I ended my day watching the students perform a traditional dance. I was completely blown away with what I saw. I wish all of Milton's dancers had seen this dance. There are not enough superlatives in the English language to describe how awesome it was.

Here is a link to watch this amazing performance. It is well worth the wait to watch it.
Akhaltsikhe Dancers

Zadzaria Monastery, Abustamani Barbecue, and the Observatory

Milton Bear looking at a telescope at the Jupiter and three of its moons.

After teaching, we visited Zadzaria Monastery and then the resort town of Abastumani. This place was awesome. It reminded me of being at Yellowstone or the Grand Teton's National Parks. The mountains were high, the air fresh, and it just had a very nice feeling to it. We hiked around a bit and then went into a bath house. That had hot natural spring water fed into from the ground. We explored the Romanov's abandon bath house. The Romanov's were Russian's last monarch It would make the perfect setting for a scary movie.

Zadzaria Monastery

Bones of dead monks.

Abustamani

A waterfall at Abustamani

Abandon Romanov Bath House

Wild horses. It was fun to see them run.

We then ate barbecue, which was fun. We fortunate enough that they just let us eat inside the cafeteria that featured a statue of Stalin. This was a very nice meal between the four of us, Lela, Amiran, Wendy, and myself. We toasted to friendship, to families, to the children, and to good relations between our countries. 

BBQ. Making pig and Kachapuri - For the first time in over 20 years I at meat. I ate it so that I could have the full experience. I also know that pigs are raised in humane conditions at someone's house. The pig was marinated in homemade wine.

Our most excellent guide Amiran.

Stalin overseeing our meal. 

We ended the day visiting the Abustamani Observatory. We met R. Natsvlishvili. He is an astronomer that has founded planets, stars, and 107 flare stars. This was a very cool place. We got to look at the moon and Jupiter and three of its moons. I was thrilled to talk astronomy with him through our interpreter.

The telescope looking out at the moon.

Village School and Reading

I went and visited a village school. This had a very different feeling to the schools in Akhaltsikhe and Tbilisi. There were a total of 40 students in the school. Many of the students who attended this school were from families who were farmers. I went to a fifth grade classroom, where there were only four students in the class. It was interesting to see the fire place in the classroom. This classroom also served as the computer lab, which did have internet service and a projector. We got to see an English lesson. The students first interviewed each other in English and then they reported out on what they learned about the other person. Then they began a lesson on Shel Siverstein's, "The Giving Tree." Afterwards, they completed a word sort. Then the bell rang.

Irma teaching to her class of four.

I was a little shocked to see these images from the Georgian Orthodox Church in the classroom. When we talked to teacher, she mentioned that the entire population of the school is Georgian Orthodox. The teacher from the school in Akhaltsikhe said, that they could not do this in there school because there are Catholics, Muslims, and Georgian Orthodox students in the classroom.

We then went back to the school in Akhaltsikhe and taught a first grade class. We got to read to them. I read "Are You My Mother?" and my partner teacher, Wendy, read a Elephant and Piggie book. This was fun and I enjoyed being a teacher as opposed to an observer. Afterwards we played Baby Shark with the students, which is similar to "What Time is it Mr. Fox?" and then we taught them Duck, Duck, Goose. Then we got to see the biggest birthday celebration I have ever witnessed in a school. They put foot long sparklers on the cake and lit them. I do not think this would be allowed in Milton.