Ana Kenchadze, 14, Kobuleti

“I love summer most of all, because I rejoice at the start of the holiday season when people arrive and I get to meet old and new friends. We gather in the area of the pine grove of Kobuleti. Everything – cafes, bars, discotheques – is bustling with life in summer. In September, everybody returns to the city and Kobuleti empties again. Then I become sad and start to dream of winter and snow. Snow-covered Kobuleti is just as much fun as in summer. Recently we haven’t had much snow, but last year was an exception. There was a great snowfall right on New Year’s Eve and we had a lot of fun.

Couldn’t they open a Wendy’s restaurant or a karaoke bar that will work all year round and not only in summer for holidaymakers? Local teenagers need a venue to meet and have fun. Now we mostly try to entertain ourselves at school, visit each other at home or chat on Facebook. It is very boring – living like this from summer till summer, from snow to snow.

At the end of last summer, a concert was held in Kobuleti, organized by Leonid Chernovetskyi. We enjoyed ourselves very much. There are few events held for young people in Kobuleti. Everybody thinks about tourists and holidaymakers and we have to accommodate to them. I am now looking forward to winter. I hope it snows this year too…

That’s why, I try to study well, and I think I’m doing all right. I especially like Physics and Maths. When people hear it, they wonder why a girl should be interested in technical fields, as if they were the domain of boys only. When I finish school, I will go to Tbilisi to continue my studies. I do not intend to stay here.”