On Friday, October 7th, the Sophomores skipped classes and went to Uplistsikhe on a field trip. There was suspicion of rain and bad weather, but once everyone got to school it became clear that the trip was on! It was as early as 7:30 in the morning, and the students were half asleep, but once it was time to get situated in the two big buses, no one hesitated to sprint to the vehicles and secure their precious spots. The way the kids divided between the buses reflects on the larger friend groups that exist in the class, notes Giselle Rein-Hagen, a Sophomore. Even so, throughout the trip there were no cliques and everyone was talking and spending time with each other. The long drive to and from the field trip destinations was most of the people's highlight. Kristine Kistauri, who was on the trip, expresses that she had a lot of fun on the bus, as everyone was singing and dancing, and she didn’t feel judged at all. She explains that this moment brought everyone together. Giselle agrees, saying that her favorite parts of the trip were on the bus, or during the picnic.
It is obvious that the most enjoyed parts of the excursion didn't involve seeing the museums or exploring Uplistsikhe, but despite this, Irinka Iashvili says that she really enjoyed spending time at Uplistsikhe. Everyone climbed around the big rocks and tried to discover challenging routes to have some adventure. There were many hidden holes and caves that the students gladly explored. There were also a lot of cool-looking lizards crawling around. Some students on the trip, for example Anastasia Khachidze, were reminded of a text that they had read in Georgian class, “უსახელო უფლისციხე”. Anastasia found it interesting that this trip correlated with topics that she had learnt in her classes, and it was cool that she actually got to see Uplistsikhe in person.
The students also visited a museum, where an unexpected and lovely surprise awaited: Lela Samniashvili’s mother was there to happily greet the kids and welcome them to the museum. There were old antique and historical objects that the Sophomores were given permission to discreetly pick up and examine. Some students were disappointed that they didn’t get to visit the famously problematic Stalin museum like the tenth graders did last year. Despite this, the museum that they did visit was still enjoyable, but everyone was eager to set up the picnic and have lunch.
The most popular food that everyone brought on the trip were sandwiches. Irishka Osipov says that she brought a Ska sandwich, and that a lot of her other classmates had Ska sandwiches as well. Sandro Enukidze adds that a sandwich is the most popular food to bring, but his go to is Milka Snack. Luka Ebralidze recommends cooking mwvadi for future field trips, as a lot of students love mwvadi and would really enjoy the process of cooking it. Everyone enjoyed having their little ‘sufras’ with yummy food.
After eating, and drinking, it was time for fun games. Tasi Zuroshvili had brought a volleyball net, and so intense volleyball games were held. Whoever didn’t want to participate played badminton on the side, or simply hung around and talked. After volleyball, there was a big game of ‘tsreshi burti’ where Vasil Godaberidze, a math teacher, participated and destroyed everyone!!! Nikoloz Kvaratskhelia highlights this part of the trip, saying that he enjoyed himself the most while playing these fun games. Irishka expresses her feelings of wanting to have more time for these parts of the excursions. Giselle agrees, arguing that the trips should be less structured and that they should have more free time to do what they want.
However, once in the bus it was apparent that everyone was drained, and even though the singing and dancing continued, the initial energy was gone. The trip back was long and trafficky. It began to rain and got very dark. Everyone was ready to go home and get cleaned up. It was a long day, but a very enjoyable one. Sandro Enukidze says that this was his first field trip ever, and that he has nothing to compare it to. Even so, he had lots of fun and hopes that there’ll be more to come.
Edited By: Lizi Schierman
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