A few days ago, Matt and I were making our way across Georgia from Borjomi to Kazbegi by their infamous marshrutkas. We had to stop in Tbilisi to catch the next bus north. The ride in itself is always an interesting venture - near head-on collisions, random local hitchhikers that hop on/off at will, babies that are tossed around the bus to various other passengers so that the mother could have a break, and shared snacks amongst us all.
This time, there was a middle-aged woman who succumbed to motion sickness. At first, she just felt woozy, so a fellow passenger let her lay her head down on her shoulder. However, immediately after she spilled her cookies inside the bus, almost every single passenger got involved in her care. Aside from stopping the bus to let her out, she was given bread, water and even the driver plucked some fruit from a tree on the side of the road to give to her. Keep in mind, these are absolute strangers. I wanted to do my part (I mean, we've all been there), so I handed her some wet wipes I got from a pizza restaurant weeks before, saving them for this such occasion.
After 10 minutes of back rubs and low chatter, we were on our way. Everyone shifted around so that she could take the front passenger seat near the driver, and a woman behind her continued to check-in every so often to see if she needed a break. Once we arrived in Kazbegi, after slowly maneuvering around each switchback (very unusual for marshrutkas to go slow around anything), everyone went their separate ways - we went to Nazi's Guesthouse.
Fast forward to today. We decided to check out some waterfalls just outside Arsha. It was a 5km walk there, along a very busy road, but once we got to the waterfall we were happy about the journey. We spent a few hours roaming the mountain side, eating the sandwich Nazi made for us, and finally made our way back down.
We greeted the road once again with a tad disdain. We began to walk, but had remembered seeing someone hitchhike their way to the waterfall earlier that day. So, we both decided to give it a go. We smiled big and on our first hand wave (up and down, like you're petting a dog) someone pulled over to pick us up.
We thanked the driver profusely, and got in. And guess who was in the passenger seat? None other than the sick woman from the marshrutka ride. It was just too serendipitous that we all chipped in to help her out when she was in need and there she was (not recognizing us) giving us a lift back to town. Just amazing. Guess that's just how it works here in Georgia.
Fast forward to today. We decided to check out some waterfalls just outside Arsha. It was a 5km walk there, along a very busy road, but once we got to the waterfall we were happy about the journey. We spent a few hours roaming the mountain side, eating the sandwich Nazi made for us, and finally made our way back down.
We greeted the road once again with a tad disdain. We began to walk, but had remembered seeing someone hitchhike their way to the waterfall earlier that day. So, we both decided to give it a go. We smiled big and on our first hand wave (up and down, like you're petting a dog) someone pulled over to pick us up.
We thanked the driver profusely, and got in. And guess who was in the passenger seat? None other than the sick woman from the marshrutka ride. It was just too serendipitous that we all chipped in to help her out when she was in need and there she was (not recognizing us) giving us a lift back to town. Just amazing. Guess that's just how it works here in Georgia.
SIDE NOTE:
Shortly after writing this, we found out that the sick woman from the marshrutka was in fact Nazi's Aunt, and the man in the driver's seat...(wait for it)...Nazi's Brother-in-Law. Wuddayaknow.
Shortly after writing this, we found out that the sick woman from the marshrutka was in fact Nazi's Aunt, and the man in the driver's seat...(wait for it)...Nazi's Brother-in-Law. Wuddayaknow.
A little unexpected excitement, but all ends well. Serendipitous indeed!
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