June 25 - So Much to Tell

Friday, June 25, 2004 - It's incredible
how much we have experienced in the last
few days. It's difficult to think where
to start - swimming in the Black Sea?
singing with Vazha Gogoladze and two of
his friends? singing in the trio for
Khasanbegura, alternating with the
soloists from the Adjaran Ensemble?
Wonderful Adjaran dance perfomances?
our brief stop this morning to take
pictures of the infamous bridge at the
Adjaran border (the one that had been
blown up by Abashidze's people to prevent
the Georgian military from crossing into
Adjara)?

We have now sung four concerts, each
with participation of some Georgian
singers. The best for me so far has
been our evening in Kobuleti. [When
Darbazi was in Tbilisi in October 2002,
we met an Adjaran Choir while we were
awaiting our turn to sing in the Final
Gala Concert of the Symposium. While
waiting, we sang a few songs with them,
including their version of the Svanuri
perkhuli, a song that Darbazi used to do.]
When Village Harmony arrived at the venue
in Kobuleti (just the day before yesterday,
it's hard to believe), I recognized the
concert garb of our Adjaran friends and,
to my everlasting delight, one of the
singers recognized me immediately. It was
wonderful to renew our acquaintance, even
with his lmited English and my much more
limited Georgian. I got their performance
on videotape, including an Adjaran dance
troupe who danced while the singers sang -
this put a real jolt into the singing, I
can tell you. After the concert, we were
taken up into the hills to a village where
we met a 91 year-old singer who used to
sing with Anzor Erkomaishvili's grandfather.

The Adjaran choir came for the supra, with
lots of toasts and lots of songs, including
the Svan perkhuli (yes, Sam, I got it on
video). I was privileged to sit with my
friend, Micha, among the Adjarans, rather
than with the Americans.

Partway through, the mayor of the town
arrived - a good-looking, very
professional-looking young man. The Adjaran
singers kept singing songs that I knew (from
Darbazi), including the Tushuri Satrpialo
that Bachi sings (Tsvimashi ga da nabadida...
- yes, Bachi, I got that one on tape, too).
It was incredible!!! And I got almost all of
it on tape.

Last night, we sang with a group from Poti -
we learned Chela on the fly, since we didn't
have any Megrelian songs in our repertoire.
Bie, who knows the song from singing it with
Okros Stumrebi, did the solo for the first
time ever - and she did a great job.

Changing things on the fly is characteristic
of this trip - the group is very flexible -
definitely one of the virtues of youth.

So, I have learned Khasanbegura from Tristan
Sikharulidze and I have been singing Sachidao
in our concerts (alternating verses with Carl);
I have yet to get every verse right - but now,
I usually get 7 out of the 8 verses that I do.
My filming technique is also getting better.
I now get about 90% of what I'm trying to
film - and I usually remember to turn on the
separate microphone that I've been using to
record the audio.

Georgia seems to be doing relatively well, from
what I can tell. The electricity is on most of
the time (although it did go off for a few
minutes during the concert in Kobuleti -
luckily for me, I had my flashlight in my pocket,
so was able to read the words - the others already
knew most of the words by memory - another virtue
of youth).

In Kobuleti, we stayed in a guest house that
seems to have 24 hour per day hot water - and
lots of it - a real luxury. The roads out here
in the west need a lot of work, but it's
underway.

There has been a lot of rain before we arrived
and some while we've been here, so everything is
very lush. It's very hot and muggy today.
(People are waiting - we're in an internet cafe
in Kutaisi - so I'm done.)