The Covid-19 pandemic has been going on for almost two years and has brought serious changes in the daily routines of high school students across the globe. According to a recent Washington Post article, the shutting down of schools was followed by a downturn in the social lives of teenagers, which is something that all of us here at GZAAT can relate to. However, in some ways, the current Freshmen class has been hit particularly hard by the changes brought by the pandemic. Ninth graders spent most of their Junior High year online and haven’t had many physical interactions either with the school or with each other. This is why this semester’s traditional field trips were a pretty big deal for the Class of 2025: Students were both excited and nervous at the prospect of spending a full day with their classmates.
Upon finding out that there were going to be three separate destinations for the field trips, and that these groups were going to be divided randomly, there was a little bit of trepidation. A freshman student Ana Akhaladze, for example, was looking forward to the trips from the very start. However, as there was a large portion of the class that Ana did not yet know very well, she was still a bit nervous. Irinka Iashvili, another Freshman, says that she was also quite scared about having to socialize with people she didn’t know. She wanted to become closer with her classmates, but she was also worried about not being with her friends. Despite her fears, Irinka still expected to have a lot of fun on the trip.
Not everyone felt this way. In comparison, Tasia Kurdghelia claims that she didn’t think the trips would be a bonding experience. Before finding out that the trips would focus more on hiking, Tasia had thought that the class would visit some sort of historical site and, though these trips would be enjoyable, they wouldn’t necessarily bring her much closer to her classmates than she already was.
A freshman, Eli Khokhiashvili, says that she was very nervous about not being in a group with her friends and being left out for the whole trip. She also expected the students on the trip to be divided up and she didn’t think that everyone would communicate with each other and have fun together.
Another aspect that made the field trips more unpredictable and, therefore, a bit scarier was the format. These field trips were different from the usual type of trip which GZAAT had organized in the past, which didn't often involve a lot of hiking and physical activity. This semester’s excursions were more focused on exercise and being active, which was a new and unusual way to spend time with fellow classmates.
Despite these uncertain elements, however, most students ended up enjoying the trips and even thinking that these types of trips are better than the regular kind. Ana says that she liked spending time in nature and being active and adventurous. She thinks that future field trips should follow a similar model: “Maybe, when it is possible, we can even do something for two days, like an overnight!”. Elene Mansvetashvili also thinks that when the situation allows it, going somewhere overnight, or maybe even going camping with the whole class would be really fun.
Even though hiking was a big part of the trips, it was not the only element that defined these trips. The locations of the trip also played a big role in the overall impression on the students. There were three destinations: Samshvilde, Birtvisi, and Udabno.
Elene went to Samshvilde, which was the one field-trip destination she hadn’t been to and was the most curious about. Many of her relatives had been there before and had warned her that there would be a lot of walking. From the beginning, she expected to go quite far on foot, which she did. However, she says that she didn’t really get tired: “While walking, I was talking with my classmates and the teachers occasionally mentioned interesting historical facts. One of the things they told us about were the tall walls that followed along either side of the streets. I found out that these walls were made centuries ago purely with stone and nothing else. The fact that these walls are still standing fascinates me. I enjoyed myself so much that I didn’t really feel tired, even though we walked a lot.” Elene also mentions a friendly local and his beloved donkey named Kolya, both of whom followed the group for almost the whole trip.
The Birtvisi trip also featured interactions with animals. A freshman Giselle Rein-Hagen talks about a skinny white dog, who upon being fed various foods by the students, became a member of the hiking group and was named Yurishka. Giselle says that there were many high cliffs and hard obstacles that Yurishka wasn’t able to overcome without the help of the students. They carried him across little streams and helped him up rocky cliffs. Tasia, who was also on the Birtvisi trip, points out that there were a lot of interesting plants and insects that she didn’t even know existed. She grew especially fond of a slug, which she took many pictures of. Tasia was also very flattered by the scenery. She describes a canyon that the group passed through, as well as colorful leaves all over the ground, and high cliffs and trees. Tasia thinks that it was a good way to get away from the city and a chance for her to connect not only with nature but with her fellow classmates as well: “I didn’t think that the trips would be focused on student bonding. I had much more fun than I expected to and became closer with people I didn’t expect to become close with.”
The trip near Davit Gareji, in the village of Udabno, Mravalwyaro, didn’t have interactions with animals. However, as Irinka says, they climbed up cliffs and snacked by caves. Even though it was a little hard and pretty scary going up the steep rocks, Ana says that everyone was helping each other out and that made it all very fun. She also says that the teachers pointed out some rocky cliffs in the distance, which had a faint red color; apparently when it rains the colors of those cliffs become even more radiant and bright.
Eli Khokhiashvili, who was also on the trip with Ana and Irinka, talks about the small lake that the group passed. The trees had been almost fully submerged in the water, which fascinated her. However, besides the lake, Eli was not very flattered by the scenery. She says everything was very yellow and dead. She compares it to the orange Halloween candy (☺). For the future, Eli would prefer to go someplace with more trees and prettier scenery. However, the vastly spacious meadows allowed the whole group to play a big game of Capture the Flag (ordroshobana) in which everyone, including Eli, was involved.
After being deprived of social interactions and tired of the noisy city, the field trips were a great chance for the students to relax, have some fun and get to know one another. Exploring and hiking around allowed the students to discover new things, whether about nature and history or about their classmates. Though everyone seemed to be tired from the long day, they were also satisfied and a little relieved: the trips didn’t turn out to be disasters after all!
Edited by Kato Ambokadze
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