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Wendsday, September 7, 2005 - breakfast with the bees, Alona, cutting the grass
Breakfast with the bees. The bees were everywhere and they liked to seep from the bowl of honey. Sometimes the bees drowned in the honey and could not get out. They were very annoying but nobody got stung. It was their land. There were many beehives around. Aziz told me that he used to have many beehives, which used to be profitable. However, now the manufactures are adding sugar into the honey and there is no more profit in honey.
Yesterday we saw an amazing scenery. The Kachkar Mountains, gushing rivers, high meadows, jugged picks, greens, trees, yayla. But what stuck in my memory? The women, children cows and sheep who passed me along the mountain, the woman Sheppard who was knitting, the old man with the large basket on his back and the coffee with Shani and Rafi on the bank of lake Karagol.
How can I describe this little paradise? How can I capture in my memory the beautiful Karahan Pension? Just getting to the pension is a hike. Steep hill, rocks, mud, and you keep going up and up and up. Ahmed in front of me apologizing “Maybe next year we put cement”
Please don’t, I like it this way. And he said “sometimes old people”…
Alona was waiting for us at the pension. She got sick and her friends continued to the mountains and she was waiting for them. We invited her to join us for the hike to the Chapel.
We went down to the “center”. One restaurant. Men sat and smoke and played Rami Q. We followed the river and along the way ate more berries and apples from the trees. Local women were cutting the grass using simple tools, scythe and sickle, a scenery from the Bible. They dried the grass and it would feed the animals during the harsh winter. The women were working all day. One of them invited me to try and cut the grass. I did my best and Benny documented it in one of our photos. We passed more fields of tomato, corn, peas and radishes. People were building a new home. The houses were hanging on the mountain and there were omegas leading down to carry heavy materials up and down.
We meet a group of Israeli girls, and later we met Alona. She is a beautiful Israeli, clever and friendly. She is originally from Russia and made aliya to Israel at the age of 8. She got sick from the height and was waiting for her friends who climbed the mountains. She joined us later in the day.
We went to visit an old Georgian Church next to Karahan Place. Mehmet has the key. The church is from the 10th century, and is used as a mosque. Very high ceiling and large place but very run down.
I learned how to say “Hello friend”. Mer-ha-ba ar-ka-dash.
Alona joined us for our walk up to the chapel. Another 30 minutes of very steep uphill. From the top, beautiful view of the mountains and the six fingers of Lake Karagol. Now, we finally see the homes of Barhal. They were all hiding behind the trees. We sat with Alona and we sang Israeli songs.
On our way back to our pension, we saw a large group of women, all dressed nicely. Some in traditional cloths and some in Western cloths. What are they doing here? Was there some sort of celebration?
We found out that it was an organized tour from Georgia. One woman with burnt face asked me, “did you go to the church?” She pointed to the Georgian Church next to Karahan Pension.
I told her that Mehmet has the key; and she continued, very angry, “this is our church, this is our land, they took it from us, this whole place is Georgia, we are from Gerogia”. She asked me where I am from, I told her America. This is not my battle.
During dinner time I sat next to Daniel. He is a baker at the Green Village in Jaffa 33 in Jerusalem. He told me the process of baking sour dough and when I am back home I will try it. You mix water and flour, put in the refrigerator, stir every day and let it sit until it gets sour. Once it gets sour, you keep adding water and flour daily and mix it and the mixture that they have at the restaurant is few years old. You add that mix to the dough. You have to wait for 5-6 hours to let the dough rise. He also told me that he used apple juice to sweeten the cakes and also use Kelpt??? instead of wheat. I want to learn something new everyday.
There was a soccer game on the TV screen in the dining area. The locals were over excited and screamed, cheered the players and of course, smoked. Turkey played the Ukraina and must win in order to go to the next level. What do I know about soccer?
Mehmet and Ahmed and another young man were performing for us the wasp and the bee act. Mehmet was in the center, making bee sounds, bzzzzzzzzzz, held his hands like a trumpet. He was the wasp and he was trying to steal the honey from the bees. The “bees” from both sides were trying to keep the honey and steal his hat. Cute.
I am overexcited with all the people that we meet and all the experiences that we have. Benny said that I talk too much. I am going to be more sensitive and try to listen more and talk less.
During the last three days we are in the company of many young Israelis. They all say to us “ I wish my parents were doing what you are doing.”
Our original plan was to continue to the eastern border and visit Kars, Ani and Dogubayazit. We decided to change our plan and go directly to the south to Urfa. We realized that the distances are vast and we prefered to spend less time on the road and more time in one place. The dolmush to Yusufeli leaves at 7:00 am.
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