Page 26 - NOMADS_NO5

Back in Mestia, I took to the road in a marchroutka to Abasha. Tata, the woman who hosted me in Tbilisi, gave me the address of her grandmother who lived in Abasha. Following her directions I found the house. It was an old house on stilts surrounded by a big garden with cows, chickens, goats, etc.Our meeting started with dinner and soup. The grandma and I didn’t speak the same language. As it was impossible to communi- cate, I decided to help her all day with the housework and the animals. She was talk- ing to me in georgian and I was answering in french. In the evening her neighbours came for soup and vodka. It was a good atmos- phere and everybody was happy and tipsy.The next morning, she asked me if I want- ed to eat meat. After eating soup for the last two meals it was with pleasure and I said yes. She brought me into the garden, and gave me an axe to catch a hen. I put the hen on a tree stump and she told me that I must cut its head off. If I had to do it again, I would not. Once the hen was on my plate I realized that it was just skin and bones. It was a useless death.25