10th - 22nd July 2010 Whilst staying in Mukaestate we have visited several of Aaron's old haunts. Mukaestate is mainly a residential village with a school, small shop/stall, petrol station, police sta tion and cemetery. There used to be a tea factory here, but that was abandoned in a similar situation to several factories in the nearby town Kobeluti. Mukaestate is well connected being en-route between two major cities, Batumi and the Capital Tiblisi. When we walked around the town Aaron was often invited in for coffee by students and their families. I wish we could have visited during term time as I can only imagine how excited a whole classroom full of those students would have been! When we did visit the school Aaron pointed out renovations since he was there including a new suite of 15 computers which was a great improvement on the 1-2 machines they had when he left about 3 years ago. We joined the teachers who were having a big meeting which turned out to have shocking news....

18th July 2010 Aaron and I are visiting Aaron's host family from when he was teaching English for the Peace Corps in Mukaestate, Georgia. When we arrived on Saturday 10th July we were welcomed into Olegi (host dad) and Mzia's (host mum's) home. We hadn't yet had lunch so we were treated to a supra (celebration dinner) about 3pm in the afternoon which included a vast array of different dishes, beer or water to drink and vodka, cognac or wine to toast with. Toasts included peace and God, Aaron and I, family in Texas, Britain and Georgia, grandparents, women, those no longer with us, friends, etc. Several of the neighbours visited to greet us and Aaron translated multiple times that I am a 'good girl' ('kargi cogo') and he is a clever boy for marrying me! Olegi and Mzia's eldest son Aliko was in Batumi for the day so I got to meet him in the evening when, as if we hadn't consumed enough already, the supra process was repeated. Unfortunately th...

10th July 2010 Today Aaron and I arrived in Mukhaestate, Georgia, after a very long journey from Kefalonia, Greece. The warm welcome we received from Olegi, Mzia and all the famliy made the trip worth while. On the 1st July Aaron and I caught a bus from Ratzakli, Kefalonia to the port Poros where we took a ferry to mainland Greece and another bus to Athens. We spent two nights in Athens, so that Aaron could collect his passport with his Indian visa thankfully granted. Although Athens is renowned for it's history and culture and for being the seat of democracy, Aaron and I were not so enamoured with the city. It was covered in graffiti, dirty and we saw thieves being arrested and prostitutes on street corners in the middle of the day. Having said that the new acropolis museum was very well designed, the archaeological museum really interesting and we found a charming restaurant for dinner. We stayed in the Ionis hotel which was more luxurious than we had become accustom to and s...

1st July 2010 As the huge ferry ploughed away from Kefalonia it churned up giant waves in it's wake and the wind whipped hair into my eyes. Today, after six weeks, Aaron and I left the Katelious group volunteer project and began the next step of our adventure, making a journey over land and sea to Georgia. Liz, Ueli and Peter also left on the same ferry to mainland Greece, having been with the group for four weeks. As Aaron and I made our way back to Athens we reflected on what a wonderful, but exhausting time we had experienced in Kefalonia. Starting the project in May had been ideal since there were not many volunteers at that time, so we got to know each other and the group leader Manu and his wife Fiona well. When we arrived we started with just the Mounda beach patrol and the school shift, before Koroni, night patrols and other activities were added. This gave us a great opportunity to become familiar with the work and the area. At the beginning of the season the Mounda...

July 8, 2010 After a very hot and sweaty twenty-five hour bus ride from one side of Turkey to the other Jean and I arrived safely at the Turkish/Georgian border. We walked across and got a taxi to the city of Batumi. It's been three years since I last spoke Georgian but it appears to be coming back to me rapidly. Here are some shots from our first couple of nights in Batumi. Here's Jean's first taste of Georgian cuisine. She approves. The Black Sea The new Sheraton Hotel. The Boardwalk The Octopus The Ferris Wheel

23rd June 2010 When we first arrived in Kefalonia Aaron decided that during one of his once weekly days off from volunteering with the Katelious group he wanted to hike to the top of the highest mountain on the island, Mt Aenos standing at over 1600m above sea level. Everyone who knows me will know how much I enjoy hiking, but seeing as we do an awful lot of walking on our 'work' days the prospect of wanting to do something even more strenuous in our spare time seemed crazy to me! During our first two weeks in Kefalonia Aaron didn't have a map and so fortunately didn't risk the trip. On his third day off he kayaked about 20km to Zakinthos Island with Manu and Marcus. By the fourth week the impossible finally happened...Aaron managed to tire himself out and spent most of his day off sleeping! On my first day off I got the bus with Elina who's from Finland, to Argostoli, the capital of the island. There we saw the picturesque, colourful harbour and spent most of the...

17th June 2010 After ten nights with virtually no turtle activity on Mounda beach myself and the other Katelious Group volunteers were beginning to tire of the long night patrols where we walk the beach from 10pm to about 6am. Manu reassured us at the last meeting that this was less activity than usual for this time of year, so he expected it to pick up again soon and we all hoped so too. Sure enough two nights ago other volunteers saw the third nest, followed by the fourth and fifth last night. Tonight I was patrolling Potamakia beach with Jon, from Oregon and Aaron was patrolling Kaminia beach with Vanessa, from Ireland. Both Jon and Vanessa arrived with the Katelious group just a couple of days ago. As we strode out across the beach the quarter moon shone brightly in the clear sky, I was excited at the prospect that I might get to see a turtle nesting again tonight and I was hopeful that the light would make our patrol easier. However Potamakia has a steeper incline than Kaminia...

 June 28, 2010 Movie night at the villa went swimmingly last night. After my Koroni morning shift I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon scouring the mini markets from Katelios to Skala for popcorn kernels. I finally struck pay dirt at the Galaxy mini mart in Skala, the self ascribed "Best mini market in the galaxy." Caroline and I had selected seven titles from the movies my Dad had digitized from our old VHS collection and saved and my laptop. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade won out in a vote over the likes of There's Something About Mary, another Harrison Ford vehicle The Fugitive, a cautionary tale about the conservation Star Trek IV, Maverick, another cautionary tale about conservation Aliens, and Top Gun . Manu and Fiona brought over their projector and speakers so we all wouldn't have to squeeze in around the ten inch laptop screen. I popped up loads of popcorn experimenting with a garlic and curry flavored batches. They were interesting....