Batu-not for -mi

 It's been...a bad week.  Not going to sugar coat that.

My experience thus far with Batumi's 'pedestrian' culture (the vibe walking around) is that people just generally want you to go away.  There's this attitude exhibited by many peoples' actions that can best be described as "You're in my way."  It manifests in domineering sidewalk control, lack of considerate space-making, and the occasional near-miss of actually running into someone who refuses to squeeze even a little bit on a narrow path.  It's not everyone, I hasten to say, but it's enough that someone accustomed to American sidewalks where you almost make too much space for each other feels rather aggressed against.

But hey, at least this store believes in me.  And this packet of M&Ms really understands.

A day or two after I finally got settled in my apartment, I found an open balcony on the other side of the building, part of the staircase.  It provided an amazing view of Batumi away from the beach, informing just how large this city is.  I got some general pictures while wandering around as well, really just showcasing the high-rises that contribute to my impression of a town that grew up too fast and now has a lot of excess housing available that has been bought up by foreign investors.  And that's not just tin-foil stuff - my current landlord is from China, and as far as I can tell may even live there.

Still, there's beauty here that isn't lost on me.  And I was absolutely right about the amazing sunsets.  The beach is mostly rocky with lovely neutral tones.  It's a bit less comfortable to walk up and down than a more typical sandy beach due to the uneven, hard terrain, though deeper sands can be just as obnoxious.

I had my first pole class on Wednesday, a class lead by and primarily populated with Russians.  In an unfamiliar twist, there were two boys there, best guess 9 and 15, who had clearly been training for some time.  The teacher had some English skill and I was able to work well enough, though my constant sweatmonsterhood means that I struggle with grip.  Unlike Plovdiv, this studio doesn't have chalk handy, so I may want to invest in some myself if I can figure out how.

And really, that's the main issue I'm facing - I don't know how to do things right now.  I struggle with the idea of making local acquaintances because I know that I'm doing so primarily to have them as a resource, and that seems impersonal and unfair.  So I don't try, even knowing there are people out there who would be quite fine with the social exchange of a new, interesting person's perspective in "trade" for help navigating, and even those who just love sharing the things they enjoy with people who would otherwise not find them.  It's enough, though, for my social anxiety to keep me from trying.  So I don't try many new places, I don't go out much, I don't find the different resources I may know about with more local support...and I feel bad.  Miserable, at times, particularly when I get sick yet again like I did Thursday night (another cold, I'm very susceptible to them for some reason).

As such, I've decided after Batumi to do something of a reset.  I've booked in Gqeberha, South Africa (formerly Port Elizabeth) starting in late August and running through early October (with option to extend, if I can find the housing, as I have 90 days visa-free in South Africa).  It'll be back in an English-speaking area, late winter into spring (forecast for the next ten days is 60s and 70s with ~50% humidity and fairly frequent precipitation, all things I'm quite comfortable with).

I'll probably come back to Batumi at some point, just as I'll probably go back to Plovdiv.  I just need to get myself a bit more rounded and grounded, develop some functional skills (particularly cooking and shopping) to ease new area transitions, and just generally rest up from being in linguistically isolating areas for a minute.  Hopefully I'm right that it'll all be good for me.  If not...well, everything always works out.

In closing, apparently Wendy's has some different offerings in Batumi, and sometimes your Uber is inexplicably a mini party bus.