Mark Vorkink

Mark Vorkink and his sister were here to visit for a couple days. His parents Pat and Andy live in Ankara Turkey and are good friends with fellow foreign service workers Cathy and Roy here in Tbilisi, so the whole family came up to see the sights in Georgia. Cathy and Roy’s children Mclain and Lucy were over on holiday, so we had quite the crew running around on tours to see the ancient capital of Georgia, Stalin’s birthplace, and a winery out in Kakheti. At one big supra in Eastern Georgia, I was befriended by a group of stiff chested, heavy jowled singers, who made me sit at their end of the table and drink lots of toasts. I’m so excited to be able to not only sing with these men, but also to begin elementary communication. We must have sung twenty five toasts and had half as many wine toasts.

Luarsab couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be a host, and invited all of our best singing buddies to a supra at his father’s restaurant for another supra with singing, this time songs from western Georgia.

When Mark first arrived, I was busy until the evening, but then Luarsab and I were able to steal him away from his tour and take him into one of the side chapels in Sameba Cathedral and force him to sing! We brought along our friend Lexo who has to be one of the best young Eastern Georgian singers in Tbilisi, and sang chants for an hour. The acoustics were so good that we sounded like ten people singing, and even our mistakes sounded beautiful! These guys were so impressed to meet yet another American who knows how to sing Georgian sacred songs. Chants are so close to their hearts that to be able to share this music with a foreigner is an instant bond deeper than fifty supras of words. Mark was a big hit with his humble attitudes, few words, but deep willingness and enthusiasm to sing and learn new songs.

Short stay, but awesome to have you all here, Mark and family!