Tough adjustments

Nov 15 2009

The day after the bath, I met with the contractor, his translator and another man who accompanied them but never said a word. They showed me a color chart that didn’t have anything even close to dark purple so they proceeded to have the two workmen mix colors and throw them up on the front door. Unfortunately you can’t get true colors here so what resulted looked more like mud than anything else. They came back with a fan color chart where there are six shades of a color on each page. I chose a dark purple and the contractor informed me it would cost more but couldn’t tell me how much. They left and came back in three hours. The cost was prohibitive so he suggested that I just paint the front door and leave the gate, and garage doors brown. Bingo, great solution I thought. He did not bring the color fan with him and I got paranoid about which color I had chosen so I asked him to return with it before we closed the deal. The third time they came back, I was reassured I had chosen the right color. The next day I was leaving for language class and they opened the can of paint. It looked like the wrong color but I had to leave. They painted the door and Ron and I had similar reactions, whoa, way purple! I said I had wanted an eggplant shade and this looked more like a bordello. We decided to live with it over the weekend and see how we felt. From the inside it actually looks good as there is no direct light on it. From the outside it is just too purple. As I said to my friend Laurie, if this is my biggest problem in life, I’m doing all right!

On Sunday we started the day with a visit to the National Museum where a Fulbright professor of Oriental art gave a brief talk on regional carpets. We then visited an ethnological museum to see more examples and ended up visiting two shops that sold carpets to get a feeling for more variety and cost. From there we went to a specially arranged brunch at the Radisson for Embassy staff. We were given a discount if we bought tickets prior to today. The food and selection was fabulous, unfortunately, so I overate. No surprise there.

Afterwards Ron and I followed up with Maia, the felting artist about a possible commission. She had numerous swatches of felting to give us an idea of the possibilities. We grew more excited about the project and she did too as she mainly does utilitarian objects like scarves to supplement her income. She was excited as this project will allow for more creativity with color and design. She will draw of some sketches and show them to us sometime this week. We asked her to come to the house so she could see the space where the piece will hang.

We came home and I got into my sweats and slippers as I didn’t sleep well due to a cold I have managed to get. It seems half of the Embassy staff is sniffling. We played bingo three times this weekend, using our Georgian language to call out the numbers. It was a great way to learn the numbers. You should know just how complicated this is. You count 1-20 then at 20 you say 20 plus one, 20 plus two, etc. When you get to thirty you say 20 plus 10, twenty plus 11, 20 plus 12, etc. At 40 you say two times 20, two times 20 plus one, two times 20 plus two. At 50 you say two times 20 plus ten, two times twenty plus 11. So in reality you have to do math while counting. At 60 it becomes three times twenty plus 1, at 70 it becomes three times 20 plus 10, three times 20 plus 11, etc. I think I can no longer do addition given my bingo performance this weekend! If I were to sound out the word for 93 for example if would sound something like otkhmotsdasammeti. It’s a mouthful.

Did I tell you when many drivers, including taxi drivers, pass by an Orthodox church they cross themselves? Pedestrians will do the same. In addition Orthodox Georgians fast two days a week and do not eat any animal products, so it is a vegan diet on Wednesdays and Fridays. No milk, no butter, no cheese, no animal product of any kind, including mayonnaise as it contains eggs

Someone asked my why people get paid so much to work in developing countries. There are many things you have to do without and to adjust to when living in developing countries. I will try to give some examples as they occur to me. I think the biggest adjustment is being so far away from family and friends. It takes one-two days to travel from home to here and it is very expensive so people go a long time in between trips home. Today I washed the eggs I bought at the Goodwill yesterday. Goodwill is the European style super store that has high end groceries (they even have a small gluten free section), clothing, gardening supplies, mostly imported from Europe, furniture, hardware and household goods. Yet when I buy eggs I have to wash them as they have not been washed and contain fecal matter on the shell. The only flour Goodwill has is white flour. Ron likes to bake bread and there is no whole wheat or rye flour in Goodwill or any other store we have searched. I have not been able to find hand lotion although I am sure it exists here. Yesterday I went to an Italian grocer and they didn’t have polenta, ricotta, or lasagna noodles. They did have a hair brush with bristles which I had not been able to find. It was imported from Italy and was over $12. I have not been able to find a pie pan in any store yet. I did find wash cloths but not where I bought the towels. These are all minor inconveniences but it does mean I have to change how I cook when I can’t find ingredients for the recipes I usually use. The bigger issues are things like clean air and water which we take for granted in the US. Because Ron is associated with the Embassy we have three water filters: one for general household use and two for the kitchen/drinking water.

Traffic laws come to mind here and when we were in Sri Lanka. If we drove like they do here we would be arrested numerous times. This week we were stopped at a dedicated pedestrian crosswalk. This is where a pedestrian can push a button that changes the lights where there is no intersection and then ‘safely’ cross the road. There were three lanes heading in the same direction , all cars were stopped as two people crossed the street going in opposite directions. A car pulled along side us into the opposing traffic lane and breezed through the crosswalk. If the pedestrian had been in the wrong place, she would have been killed because of this idiot driver. It reminded me that even when the light is in your favor you cannot trust the drivers here. I have described the driving here in a previous blog.

We have been without Internet for three days now. Yesterday we asked Roland who is our contact here for any logistical problems to call about the Internet. At 5:10 he called me back to say the company wanted me to call them today to schedule an engineer. I called as soon as they opened and was told the engineer would call me sometime before 1:00 to schedule coming to the house. At 1:15 I called them back to find out why I had not been called back. They said they could not get to us today and the engineer would call tomorrow. That makes four days without internet assuming tomorrow they call me back and come here.

The window blinds we ordered have arrived and the contractor has now scheduled them to be hung three times. It has been delayed until next week. This is a private contractor not the Embassy. Our neighbor’s electricity went off yesterday and her modem and router were fried. Another friend’s electricity was off for nine hours one day this week.

Sidewalks are mostly non existent. Here there are patches of asphalt interspersed with patches of mud and puddles this time of year. Sometimes trees that were planted in the sidewalk area have died and tree stumps stick up just enough to not see them but to trip over them. The manhole covers are in the sidewalks not the streets and sometimes they are missing so if you aren’t paying attention you could fall into a hole. As it is, you must look where your feet are going because the ground is so uneven. Occasionally you will find pavers for sidewalks but even these can be in disrepair. Roads are another issue. They are in poor repair and outside of Tbilisi they are even worse. At times there is no asphalt and along with that there are huge holes in the road.

There are so many things we take for granted because we have been so blessed with wealth in the US and consequently we have fabulous infrastructure and services like water, sewer, gas and electricity. Those things are quite different in the developing world. Customer service is another example. Although there are plenty of people to wait on you, no one has taught them about customer service. Yesterday I was in Goodwill which has a huge section devoted to alcoholic drinks. I asked for help finding sherry which I use in cooking. The young woman didn’t speak English so she called over an associate who was talking with three other women who worked there. She came over and I told her what I wanted so she took me over to ‘cherry’. I assume this was kirschwasser. When I told her what I wanted was sherry not cherry, she said ‘I don’t know what that is’ and rejoined her friends to finish their conversation. I approached two men who worked in the section and they took me to the sherry section. When we were in SL the air was so dirty I had five episodes with respiratory problems instead of one every three years which is about average for me. I am not complaining here but rather trying to help those who wonder why expats make high wages.

I forgot to mention that here another danger is rabid dogs. We were encouraged to get a rabies vaccine when we arrived. These aren’t things that we have to deal with at home. Many buildings are not heated here. Maybe when it gets really cold they will heat them but so far no so. I think I mentioned that my housekeeper lives in an unheated house. I assume that is the case for others as well. Nino and Zura built their house five years ago so they have had five winters without heat.

Every piece of electronic equipment we have here has been a pain. We bought two DVD players, and two TV’s from Tim plus we have three computers. We have had the satellite people here twice, the computer person here twice and he is due again as Ron’s computer went haywire yesterday. I liken our experience to making a hundred tiny adjustments on a daily basis and frankly there are days where it just wears you out. You want to yell and say stop, enough already. Then something great happens and you forget about it. Or you see some quaint custom and you are once again endeared with the place. It is always hardest in the beginning because there are so many adjustments that hit you at once. So I hope this is helps to understand why the pay is good in these jobs. I’m going to stop here so this blog can get posted as I am way late!  But before I do I want to share with you some great sunrise photos Ron took from our Bedroom window.

What starts with a Ball and ends with a Bath?

Nov 10 2009

It is a beautiful crisp and sunny fall day here today. There are four workmen here, installing window screens (so far with a day and a half they are just hanging the infrastructure to mount the screens on) and painting our outside gate, garage door and front door. They also are painting the risers on the interior stairs. The steps are stone (granite?) so only the risers need painting. I was home most of the day yesterday because of the workmen and all of today. I so want to get outside with this weather but alas, it ain’t happening. The pace of work here is slowed by the number of smoke breaks. Georgians love their smokes and their wine!

On Saturday we attended our first Marine Ball to celebrate the 234th birthday of the Marine. Oh my, this is a subculture unto itself. The evening started with lots of speeches, a video from a high ranking Marine, and some ceremonies. That took over an hour, starting at 7:00. There were hundreds of people there so getting to dinner took awhile. I think we actually ate around 9-10. Then there was dancing. Prior to that there were a number of performers who were doing various Georgian dances. Like the supra menu I think the Georgian dances tend to be very similar each time we see them. This was our third time I think. We stayed until midnight and came home.

On Sunday we explored our neighborhood a bit more. On Saturday we met some of our neighbors at the ball so tried to find Joakim’s house and were successful. His family lives right around the corner from us on 80 Lvovi and we are at 93 Lvovi. We can’t walk directly there as Lvovi dead ends between our homes so we walked down to the next street and found an alley that got us back to his side of Lvovi. By the way, don’t ever try to mail us anything with a Georgian address because as far as we can tell they don’t deliver mail in this country. For some bills they call you and tell you how much you owe. Think of the paper you save! And postage!! We aren’t sure how the other bills get paid. When Tim left Georgia he found out he owed money for his landline and in three years he had never gotten a bill. Scary! How do businesses stay open when they don’t collect money any more often than that?

On Sunday after exploring the ‘hood’ we took a taxi to downtown and visited some art galleries looking for our next anniversary present. Each year we buy a piece of artwork that we choose together to celebrate our anniversary. This idea was inspired by Ron’s mom who said to us one year “You two are so boring” when we told her we had bought each other sweaters for our anniversary. Well it worked, from then on we have been buying artwork and in almost 24 years we have a nice little collection of art. Our only regret is not marking what year we bought which piece. Many friends have adopted this ritual which we think is way kewl!

The first gallery we visited was very high end and quoted prices in euros which is strange since Georgia isn’t in the EU and lari is their currency. We did see one artist there whom we really liked but the price was 4-5 times what we usually spend on art. We continued walking through Old Town which is charming and stopping off in other galleries. Before long we got hungry and decided to walk to Prospero’s Book where we could get coffee and treats. Along the way we ran into Jock and Laurie Conly who arrived here two days after us. Jock works at the Embassy. At the ball, Laurie and Ron were dancing and Jock and I were sitting together. I commented that Laurie sure liked to dance and that Ron did too. Jock’s response was “good. They are happy and so are we!” I loved it because he doesn’t like to dance that much either. Laurie is a yoga instructor and I have never seen anyone who likes to dance as much as she does. Once the music started I don’t think she sat down. She was a delight to watch. Jock and Laurie were looking for Prospero’s so we invited them to tag along since that was where we were headed. We sat and visited over coffee and discovered we have a lot in common. We were thrilled to make new friends. We parted company and Ron and I walked to the home of Maia who is a fabric artist. She does silk painting and felting. She teaches classes and makes also makes tapestries that are exquisite. They take 100s of hours to complete if not a 1000 hours. Her felt scarves were in muted grays or whites and were the most unique I have seen. She is very meticulous in her work. We want to explore having her make a wall hanging for us. We have a lot of blank walls here and our dining room table seats 10! So the wall beside it is quite large and bare. We will return next Sunday to further explore options. She will have catalog so we can see colors and sample wall hangings. Afterwards we rode the subway home. The subway here has two lines: one main line that more or less follows the river through town and one spur off the main line that goes through Saburtalo which is where we live. So we have to change trains. The main line has very old cars, Soviet era? I’m not sure but they are old and tired. The spur had newer cars. Both lines were crowded on Sunday at 5:00 in the evening.

On Monday we went to our language lesson and pleaded with Elza to slow down as neither of us could keep up with the pace she has set. She said we were the ones who should set the pace so she did a general review and we both did well. She didn’t assign any homework which was good so we can spend this week reviewing ad getting caught up. We meet her Monday and Thursday from 9-10 and on Friday from 1:00-2:30. We practice every night and every morning. We have learned most but not the entire alphabet. I still want to pronounce the letters as they appear so the letter a is really m, the letter b is really kh m is o, n is e. Remember I speak Southern so even English is a trial for me. They don’t believe much in vowels here either. But I can now say a few words and sentences and recognize letters in ads or on signs so there is actual progress.

The painter came on Tuesday along with the screen guy. The risers got painted and the front door. While it was being painted Laurie came to visit so we sat outside in the sun as the paint fumes were awful. The painter painted the inside first. Then Laurie left and I went upstairs while he painted the outside. When Ron came home he pointed out that the door was BROWN not eggplant! I had chosen the color while looking at a color card standing in our hallway, thinking it was a deep purple. I will need to call on Thursday to get it rectified.

We are experiencing problems with our internet and phone line. For two days our service has been intermittent. Welcome to a developing country.

Wednesday

Today is Veteran’s Day. We decided to have a play day and what fun we had. We slept in as I started having a sore throat yesterday and wanted to get enough rest to knock it out! It seems to have worked as I did fine today. At 10:00 Gia picked us up and first we ran by a stationery store to get index cards. No such thing. So we got some spiral notepads to make flash cards for our language class. Then we headed to a neighborhood where there are numerous Art Nouveau buildings. We had a book Tim gave us which identifies hundreds of building in Tbilisi that are Art Nouveau or have Art Nouveau decorations on them. For 90 minutes we walked around and spied quite a few of them. What a thrill! Afterwards we took Gia to lunch in Old Town. From here the three of us walked through the botanical gardens. There were numerous waterfalls here and the leaves were turning colors of fall. It was gray today but dry and not cold so I am not complaining.

We topped the day off with a Turkish bath. They are a number of baths located side by side in Old Town. Most are subterranean with domes above the ground level. Apparently there are sulfur hot springs in this area. We had a private room. There was an ante room for disrobing. Next to it was a large tiled room with a large tiled pool, two showers, a sauna and a bench for the bathing part. So Ron and I were in the pool for about 15-20 minutes when there is a knock at the door of the ante room. There was a glass window in the pool room so we could see into the ante room. A man entered, disrobed and came into the pool room in a towel. He set his basket down, proceeded to put on a pair of under shorts, removed his towel and invited me over to the bench. I lay down on my stomach and he scrubbed me with a mitt. It felt like coarse sandpaper but there was no blood drawn. I turned over and he completed the process. Next he lathered me up and scrubbed again, both sides. This was followed by several buckets of warm water being poured over me. It was so relaxing (after I got over the shock of a stranger in a conservative culture bathing me). I was done and Ron was next. The only difference was he washed Ron’s head and face. He left the room and we continued to lounge in the pool. Delightful! A perfect ending to a perfect day.

Everyday things and a Birthday Bash!

Today was another big shopping day. We are still trying to furnish the house with some small items. So off Gia and I went at 10:00 to the bazaar. This is a huge bazaar with everything under the sun for sale. There were women standing around with a little tray hanging from their necks and containing shoe polish and shoe brushes. Most vendors had stalls. We found a coffee grinder and rolled oats and a small covered dish for storing food. Next we went to the big Danish House. I wrote earlier about this place. Today we went to the main branch and it was significantly larger and better stocked. I got two small stainless steel carts to use in our bathroom as we have no counters and we need some flat surfaces to put things like our toothbrushes, hairdryer, etc. They fit perfectly once Ron and I assembled them. From here Gia and I went to the Embassy so I could mail our ballots which we got off the Internet last night because ours that were mailed Sept. 28th have yet to arrive. I also got my second rabies shot while there. Next we stopped at a store named Super which is right by the Embassy which contained lots of household goods, including some things we just ordered on line because we had not been able to find them here. Drat! Someone obviously planned this store for the ex-pats at the Embassy given the merchandise they carried. I didn’t see any Georgians shopping there. I found two items I needed. From here we drove a short distance to Goodwill where I got some groceries, some household and home office items. Lastly we went to the veggie market and got fruits and veggies. Gia was a big help at the bazaar and the veggie market. I could manage the other stores on my own.

I haven’t spent much time writing about Georgians and Georgia. In my last entry I mentioned that most Georgians in Tbilisi live in high rise apartment buildings. Some of these complexes are gigantic. Many dry their clothes on a balcony or a clothes line that is suspended from a window. Today I saw a very clever way to keep your clothes from getting wet when it rains. Some creative person had placed a sheet of plastic over their clothes that were on the line. The apartment complex across from us is very tired: the concrete skin over the bricks is flaking off. It seems to me that would make the apartment colder without the proper protection. Many of the older buildings from the Soviet era are in poor repair. Unfortunately they were ugly to begin with and then to have them look so run down only adds to their ugliness.

Georgians seem to like wearing black clothes. Gia wears black pants, a black hat and a black jacket. All older women seem to wear black. And many young people do also. I’m not sure if it is because it is so practical (you could wear the same outfit daily and who’s to know), because it is a conservative culture or for some other reason. I fit right in as I wear a lot of black because it is so practical, particularly for travel. I noticed even store windows are filled with mannequins wearing black and oh my one had on gray.!

Georgian drivers are nuts, just plain nuts. As an example, when we are going down a busy city street, four to six lanes, impatient drivers will cross the solid double line in mid road in order to pass the car in front of them, even when there is no place to slot back in and even when there is on coming traffic. It is common to see this. About ten days ago I saw someone do this when the on coming car was a police car. And the police car moved over to allow the car to continue in the wrong lane! Go figure. The Embassy and tour books say the greatest danger in Georgia is not thugs, gangsters or malaria but drivers. I think I mentioned the wreck we saw in a small village where the obviously was driving very fast and lost control of his car and went up the side of the bridge. Fortunately there were Jersey barriers that prevented the car from falling into the river below. Georgians do not wear seat belts. The law requires you to wear them once you leave the city (really, why I ask?) If this guy didn’t have on his belt he probably did go for a swim. We arrived after the accident so I can’t report on where that driver ended up. They definitely disregard the lines painted on the road. Lane markings are completely ignored. Dick Parker, are you paying attention?

I applied for a job here and was told the job would involve travel but the interviewer told me the roads weren’t safe. I asked was that because of infrastructure problems or bandits. She said it was due to Georgian drivers and they had one employee who they convinced to take the train rather than drive. I was offered the job (part-time consultant) but declined as it is too early to start work when I am still trying to find towels for the house! The Georgians drive very fast all the time: in the city, on the highway and in neighborhoods. As a pedestrian you take your life into your hands any time you are crossing a road as the drivers do not yield to pedestrians. So try to imagine this: a Georgian dressed in black at night crossing a street mid block. I do wonder what the stats are on pedestrian deaths. We have an unusual intersection quite close to our house with five streets intersecting. It is fascinating to watch drivers (did I say they are all aggressive?) maneuver this intersection. At times there is grid lock because no one wants to yield.

Physically Georgians mostly have black or auburn hair. They are a few blondes, some of whom are bottle blondes. I would bet the few light brown headed folks are of Russian decent. Some Georgians are quite short, under five feet, men and women. Mostly Georgians are not obese like Americans. There are a few. Some of the young women are thin as a rail. They eat a heavy diet but there are hardly any fast food chains here. McDonald’s is the only US chain we have seen.

Nov 7 2009
Man oh man, where does the time go? I have no idea. Today is Saturday and we went to a flea market. It was mostly used cars, literally 100’s if not a 1,000 of them with almost as many men selling them. Ron bought a used drill so he is as happy as a clam. When he sealed the deal with the seller, the seller kissed the money Ron had handed him then bent over to where his other power tools were on the ground and touched each of them with the money. I thought it was so cool and according to Gia it is a common practice to ensure more sales. It was one of those special moments when we are in a foreign country that makes us appreciate a culture and how it is different from our own. We saw the coolest 1952 BMW for sale for $6,000 USD. It would only take another $15,000-$20,000 to get it restored. But it was a beauty in its day.

On Friday I went to a welcome coffee for new members of IWA (International Women’s Assoc). I could only stay a short time as we had to pick up Ron and head out to the Embassy for our language lesson. We had to cancel Monday and Thursday’s lessons as Ron was doing a training all week. Then he had meetings at the Embassy for the rest of the day so Gia and I headed to Goodwill to do more grocery shopping and to look for drill bits. Score!

Ron and I had our first movie/diner date here last night. We went to an Indian restaurant, one of our favorite cuisines. It wasn’t as good as some but worth repeating. Then we went to a theater to see Departures, a lovely Japanese film. There were about 15 of us there and the seats were the hardest I have ever sat in. They felt like a piece of wood covered with a thin fabric.

I saw two more car accidents yesterday at a round about. The two accidents were side by side. If you drive here you really needed to be a very defensive driver because everyone is in such a hurry and willing to take crazy risks to get ahead of the other drivers.

Today Ron hung an arrangement in our hallway of a woven bag and two ethnic hats. Our walls are bare and this is a big house so we are eager to start filling up the space. We hope to go to some galleries tomorrow, Sunday. Tonight we are going to the Marine Ball, an annual event to celebrate the Marine’s birthday. I think they are 234 years old this year. We have to get all gussied up which is a real trial for this aging hippie who loves to dress casually but we will see what I can do to fit in tonight!

Oct 30 2009
Two Georgians who don’t speak English came to the house today to hook up cable to our TVs since we have moved them from the rooms where Tim had them. I had to call Roland at the Betsy Hotel who arranged for their visit to translate for me and them. I noticed that they brought their tools in a plastic bag, just like Sri Lanka. We have such abundance in the US, it is good to be reminded that not everyone has it so good. When is the last time you saw a cable guy without a tool box? They were here two hours so I had to make two more calls to Roland before they finished. There are now three remotes to operate our TV and so far we get two channels. Guess we need a class on how to operate satellite TV. We have never had cable so imagine our confusion!

After dinner we attend the IWA Halloween party which is a fund raiser. I think I mentioned that I attended the monthly meeting on Wednesday and won the raffle which was a wonderful basket filled with champagne, two flutes, chocolates, fancy bars of soap, cheese and olives. Well I won a door prize at the party, a fifth of gin. Then I won another raffle! Earlier in the evening Ron and I had spied several paintings and really liked two of them. We thought they were the host’s artwork so we asked David who the artist was and he pointed to one of the guests. I thought later I would ask if we could visit her studio to see about purchasing some of her work. We have no artwork here and all our alls are bare. So when I won the raffle it was for two of her paintings, the very two we liked the most! Can you imagine winning three prizes in three days from the same organization? I was actually embarrassed. Several of the members said to be it wasn’t fair. I agreed but it was great!

The costumes were quite elaborate: Julius Cesar, Cleopatra, the ‘Scream’, a gladiator, butterflies, and on and on. We asked where people got such costumes. It turns out that the opera here rents their costumes. Cool!

Oct 31
Today is Saturday and it has rained all day without stop. We slept in and moved slowly this morning. At ten o’clock I went to my bread lady across the way and got two rounds still warm from the oven and came home and made scrambled eggs, juice and coffee to go with our warm bread. Yum. We puttered around the house and then had lunch and practiced our language lessons. Later we went to explore the neighborhood and stayed out for almost two hours. First we walked to the end of our street. We discovered it is a block long and dead ends. Te houses are huge. Then we walked up the street to the street that parallels ours. Same thing, huge houses and one block long. Next we went to the commercial area and found more bath towels sans wash cloths. Wash cloths must be unique to the US??? We went through a few more stores and Ron found some rye bread (the label was printed in Georgian and English). Now he knows the word for rye flour so he can inquire where to buy it since he wants to bake bread here. Prior to leaving home he baked all our bread without a bread machine for those who are wondering.

November 1
Each day we feel more settled here. Today Ron hooked up the stereo, assembled the lawn mower we bought for Zura, the gardener, did some touch up painting. We practiced speaking Georgian a couple of times at the kitchen table. Sometimes we can’t help but giggle at each other’s pronunciation.

At noon we left for the Culpeppers where Ron had a meeting regarding the training that Treasury is doing this week for folks at the National Ministry of Finance where David and Ron work. While they sat in the living room with the out of town consultant discussing their work, Patti and I were in the kitchen making lunch and Patti giving me helpful tips about where to shop for various items. It is really quite helpful to talk to someone who knows where to find things. Patti has been here over four years and David just signed up for another two. They have an enormous house and I am grateful that mine is not that big. Patti’s housekeeper is full time.

The Culpeppers love to entertain and have the perfect home for it. In addition they have all the necessary items for entertaining. One wall of the dining area is a large rack (four shelves I think) of nothing but stemware: white wine glasses, red wine glasses, water glasses and on and on. It is very impressive. Patti’s kitchen looks like the home of a pro. She is quite a good cook and thoroughly enjoys it. She prepared a typical southern (they are from Texas) Sunday lunch: roasted chicken, mashed potatoes with sour cream, sweetened carrots and peas. It was delicious! We ended up staying for five hours.

November 2
We came back home from David and Patti’s and practiced a little Georgian and nearly froze as our heat has not been turned on. This process is done by the Embassy. We have radiators so I assume there is a boiler involved. I piled the covers on last night. Before heading off to bed, we called (Skyped) Ron’s sister Sandi. I am so grateful for the technology although last night it was a little whacky and kept cutting off on us. I think Ron had to call her four or five times to complete our phone visit. But heck, it cost two cents a minute. We got what we paid for!

Today I stayed home all days as we had scheduled a number of workmen from the Embassy. At 9:30 two men came to look at the refrigerator which leaves a small deposit of water on the floor each day. Next came two men to change the kitchen faucet which is mounted backwards. Normally these are things Ron would do but alas he doesn’t have the right tools here so he is free of these chores. While they were here I asked then to turn up the hot water as it never get real hot and I like a steaming hot bath before bed each night. Nino had arrived by then. She is our housekeeper and will be working three days a week for four hours each time. She told me she was worried that I didn’t have enough for her to do and she really needed the work. I told her I would stop doing the laundry and let her do it and if she wanted to she could do all my ironing as everything I own is wrinkled from the trip over here. She shared a personal story today about how her husband used to have a good job. HE has a degree in Economics. But when the new president came into power he not only fired all the policemen (who were notoriously corrupt) he also got rid of a lot of other folks because they were too old and needed to be replaced by younger people! Zura is 37! Last year he applied for several jobs and was told he was too old although he was fully qualified. He not works as a gardener for us and five other families. I asked if they had a home and she said they built their home back when Zura was employed and made good money. But they never finished the house because of the loss of income when he was fired. She said they didn’t finish the floor on the second floor. I assume it is raw concrete as opposed to being finished with tile. Then she said they nearly froze last winter as they don’t have heat in their home. She said her son was cold all winter and all summer. I said that’s probably because he never thawed out! She said they hope to get radiators for three rooms this year: the dining room, the kids’ bedroom where her mother also sleeps and the bedroom where she and Zura sleep. It gets cold here in the winter. I am uncomfortable in our house with no heat and it is only Nov 2. But it was a real insight into how many people live here. Once again we are reminded how good we all have it. I know there are people without heat in their homes in America too but I don’t know any one who doesn’t have heat. When you know someone like Nino it is a shock. She just got a new to her car. It is a big SUV. I’m not sure why she bought such an expensive car when she doesn’t have heat. Perhaps the car was a good deal since it is such a gas hog. Who knows? Each of us has values and sometimes situations like this bring home the differences in our values. I am so frugal and practical and besides I HATE being cold so I would opt for the radiators.

Later in the day the radiator guys showed up. Embassy staff have keys to all the houses. So I heard men talking and looked outside. They had entered the back gate which is locked and the utility room also locked and were working away. They would not enter the house without my permission and asked permission before entering rooms with closed doors.

I am very impressed with the Embassy staff. They are extremely courteous and careful. Most speak at least limited English and some speak great English. Unlike me struggling with my Georgian. So everyone showed up except the person who was to vent our dryer. That brings up another point. Many Georgian lived in huge housing complexes; some are god awful ugly leftovers from the Soviet days. Many had tiny balconies and this is where folks hang their clothes to dry. Unlike Sri Lanka, it would take a mighty long time to dry wet clothes in this rainy climate. But owning a dryer would be a luxury. They are expensive and they take up valuable space. When I went for my massage last week, Mia’s apartment consisted of a small entry which served as the kitchen and dining area. It was maybe five feet by 10-12 ft. To the right was the bathroom which had a shower, toilet and sink with no room to spare. The other room was the bedroom which had two single beds pushed together and an armoire. Again there was no room to spare. I admire those who live simply o that others may simply live. If the whole world lived like we Americans do we would need four more planets to provide the needed resources. Pretty scary when you realize how china and India aspire to our lifestyle. It is awkward at best living in a developing country in a lifestyle that is afforded only by the extremely wealthy.

The house got toasty pretty quickly after they turned on the radiators. I hope to turn off most of them once the house warms up. We don’t use the two guest bedrooms so there is no need to heat them. Tim said he only needed to keep a few of the radiators open to keep the house warm. Right now I am grateful for the heat and thinking of Nino’s family without heat tonight.