Konrad and Alexandra (pdf) - Rolf Gross

Strange Happenings
Svaneti 1907
They set out in a cold fog, but the road was good and the horses were fresh. An hour on
their way a spooky vision appeared in the fog, a dreamscape of high towers drifting in and out
of the clouds, Mestia, Svaneti’s largest village. Soon the horses’ muffled clatter echoed from
the gray slate-covered houses, each with its own four or five stories-high defense tower.
Free Svaneti received them with driving snow flurries on the pass to the village of Ipari.
Going downhill was arduous, the horses skidded on the slippery rocks. But there was no
imminent danger, the path wound down slowly in many serpentine twists. Ipari appeared on a
rocky promontory at the confluence of the Inguri and the Adishi rivers. Cold and wet, they
decided to call it a day. They would stay overnight at the school house, but the teacher was still
conducting the afternoon class.
Two suspicious villagers ogled the foreigners. When they recognized Tamara they
retreated embarrassed into a neighboring house. Tamara went after them and persuaded the
grumpy men to invite the entire party in to dry their wet clothes by their roaring fire.
At the end of school all hell broke loose, a dozen aggressive children ringed them,
throwing stones, singing teasing ditties, and scaring the horses. Konrad was at the edge of
losing his temper when the teacher appeared and with many apologies chased their tormentors
off.
"Welcome to Free Svaneti!" joked the stocky man. "Can you imagine what I had to suffer
when I first came here? These kids are an unruly and independent crowd, but eventually some
become really good students, many are bright and alert."
He showed them the room where they would sleep and then invited them all to his
house. His wife, a pale, worn out woman, greeted them, her youngest on her arm. At her feet
five more small children, one year apart, clambered over each other. Alexandra and Tamara
offered to help and cooked a big pot of vegetable soup for the night meal. Her husband killed a
chicken, which was added to the soup.
After dinner they sat around the fire and answered the eager questions of the teacher,
while Alexandra inspected the sores of two of his ragged children and quietly listened to the
woman’s lamentations about her hard lot. Together, the teacher and his wife pleaded with
Alexandra to hold a clinic next day and prescribe medicines for the many ailments among the
villagers. They would then send someone to Zugdidi to pick up the medicines.
Alexandra sighed, but how could she refuse? She would stay in Ipari while the others
rode up to Adishi to have a look at the glacier above the village. Eventually Claudia,
sympathizing with her friend, offered to keep Alexandra company and help.
The night in the schoolroom was cold and uncomfortable. Fortunately it stopped
snowing, and the morning sun warmed them quickly.
A large crowd of people waited in front of the schoolhouse where Claudia and Alexandra
had set up their clinic. Many old people with eye infections had come and young ones with
respiratory problems. Undoubtedly some of them suffered from tuberculosis. What could she
do? They needed better food, a dry home, and rest, none of which was available. Deeply
depressed by this daunting task, Alexandra finally decided to write notes for the people she
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