January 20 2010
I can’t remember if I have told this story or not so forgive me if I am repeating myself. The Radisson Hotel is a newly remodeled high end hotel in the heart of Tbilisi. It is about 15 stories high. Prior to the remodel it had been a hotel for IDP’s (internally displaced persons). I would guess this was a result of the internal conflicts with the two regions that want to be separate entities: South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The story we heard from several people was that when the IDP’s lived there they took their cows with them and had them on their balconies! Can you imagine? We were told it took three years to rehab the hotel. No wonder.
This weekend we had our first dinner guests. We didn’t have a tablecloth so we were waiting for one to be made. We now have two tablecloths in different sizes and 12 napkins thanks to Lala who is the Conly’s housekeeper and an exquisite seamstress. Our first guests were the Conly’s, our new best friends and Rami and Patrick who both work at the Embassy. Rami is from Toronto and is Palestinian and Patrick is from SE Texas. They have two adorable children, Canaan and Maya, six and five and a half years old. Ron and I had made salmon and chicken earlier in the week to make sure we liked the taste of each before deciding on our menu. We rarely cook with meat so thought we should try it out here as nothing is the same here as at home. For instance, chickens are not bleached so they are much more yellow than at home. I also discovered that they have a lot of pin feathers which take an inordinate amount of time to clean off the bird. Oy! Well the night we had chicken and the night we had salmon convinced us either one would be great. The salmon is imported by a German firm I was told but I don’t know from where. It is not as rich nor as fatty as ours is in the NW but it was still good. Next I needed to buy pans for making a pavlova. Easier said than done but ultimately found some at a store in town. I mistakenly picked up three pans as intended but in two sizes. I also realized that I had not been given the VAT discount even though I had given them my diplomat card. So the next day I returned to the store. I talked to several people before I was introduced to the manager. After much discussion she said she would give me the discount but could not take the pans back and refund my money. It taught me a lesson to be more observant particularly about the dip card discount. The three pans cost close $56. As I have said before, it is an expensive place to live. On Friday we went shopping together and managed to spend over $120 for the meal. After dinner we took a taxi and went to the movies at our favorite funky theater with the bad seats. We take our own cushions now and Ron observed someone else this time who had brought a cushion to sit on as the seats are Soviet era hard wooden seats. I know they are Soviet era because the numbering of the rows is in the Russian alphabet. We saw Invictus about Nelson Mandela and how he used rugby to help unite his country after apartheid.
On Saturday we managed to stay busy in the kitchen most of the day. I had not slept well so we snuck in a nap late in the afternoon. We had bought charcoal to grill the salmon but discovered that it is not compressed like ours so the heat quickly dissipated and we had to finish the fish in the oven. It was delicious. Dinner was later than we had intended but I wasn’t as coordinated with my timing of the various dishes. We had a grand time visiting and eating and enjoying Ron’s famous pavlova with frozen berries. Everyone left around 10:30.
On Sunday we hung around the house most of the day. In the afternoon I went out for coffee with a friend whom I met through IWA. She works for the International Red Cross and lives about ten minutes from our house. Ron walked to the hardware bazaar to get some needed items. In the evening we Skyped my sister and Ron’s sister and later did a Skype chat with Ron’s mom who is 89 this month! Sonia is an amazing woman to say the least. We all should be so lucky to be as involved, alert and savvy as she is.
This week we are making preparations for a Georgian potluck here. We have invited 20 Georgian guests. These are people Ron works with and whom we know such as our language teacher, our driver and housekeeper. It should be great fun. We discovered we can get extra everything (tables, chairs, dishes, cutlery etc.) through the Embassy. This is a real help since we only brought ten plates, etc. Ron and I will provide salad, drinks, salmon and barbeque. Hopefully, one of the Georgians will do the barbequing since we don’t know how they do it but every time we have eaten it it has been fabulous.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Let it snow!
January 19, 2010
On Friday we packed up for our ski trip to Gudauri and went out to dinner at a restaurant we had not tried before, a Lebanese place. It was fairly good. Then we headed to our favorite funky movie house that was playing Blind Side, a sweet film about a white family taking in a poor African American teen who turned out to be a star football player. The seats in the place are wooden and very uncomfortable after about 15 minutes. I had mentioned this to a dear friend back home so for Christmas James sent us two chair cushions. We took these with us in a plastic bag and were so grateful for them as it never got uncomfortable. This is one of the few places to see movies in English.
On Saturday we got up early as Jock and Laurie arrived at 7:45 to load us up and head to the Embassy where we would meet up with others and caravan to the resort. The Community Liaison Office (CLO) had arranged for a special price for the weekend and reserved a number of rooms. There were five cars in the caravan for the 90+ minute trip. We didn’t hit snow until quite close to the hotel fortunately. The scenery along the way was lovely. Gudauri is at 2000 meters, 6,561 feet in altitude. We had been very fortunate in that a neighbor loaned us a lot of equipment for the trip: snow shoes, gloves, water proof pants, snow shoe poles, etc. Ron and Jock had rented skis and poles. We arrived mid morning and unpacked the car then got the lay of the land. When unloading the car, I was walking across the parking lot to get the next load and my feet flew out from under me and I landed face down, right on my nose. Ouch! I thought I had broken my nose or my glasses but fortunately all was in tack. Just a bit sore on the nose. The parking lot was covered with ice/snow.
Ron and Jock went skiing before lunch, and then we ate and rested. About 3:30 we met up and the four of us went shoe shoeing. What fun! Due to the altitude we have to catch our breath about every 10-15 minutes. It snowed everyday we were there all day long. The hotel package included our meals and as I looked around I think that is because there is no where else to eat other than the other hotels. We were lucky as each meal was buffet and there were enough choices to find something we liked.
On the second day, the lift was not working in the morning so the four of us went show shoeing and climbed the slope up to the first lift stop. Here there was a ‘Vitamin Hut” with Wifi. We were shocked but sure enough there was someone in there with his laptop. We ordered Americanos and hot chocolate. Jock and I had finished the coffee long before the hot chocolate arrived. But it was worth the wait. I tasted Ron’s after he and Laurie squealed in delight saying it was the best ever. OMG they were right, it was thick and so chocolatety! I don’t know how they made it but I can guarantee it had nothing to do with Swiss Miss instant!!
We went back down the slope after taking a dead end trail. There we saw a creative soul who had hitched up his horse to a sleigh and who was taking skiers up to the lift that was working. See photos.
After lunch and a rest, we went to the ‘tepid’ tub which was not hot. The indoor swimming pool was empty. The sauna was functioning and separated by gender. Laurie and I worked up a good sweat then followed another woman outside and rubbed snow over our warm limbs. I liked it all except my feet got really cold standing barefoot in the snow. I went back in the sauna to warm up and regretted not going back out to the snow as it took a while to cool down. That night before dinner we played a board game with two other Embassy staff, Terry, Kirsten and Acquil her six year old son. Acquil was too young to play but hung around and kept us entertained. We sat together at dinner and afterwards, Ron showed Acquil how to hang a spoon from his nose. Kirsten was taking photos of the two of them with spoons on their noses when Acquil announced that they were the ‘nose brothers’. I just about peed in my pants I was laughing so hard. He is a bright and charming kid.
The next day there was better visibility although it was still snowing. Jock had gotten up early and gone out to his car to clear the snow off. He came in to breakfast and announced he had cleared nine inches off his roof. Kirsten, Jock and Ron decided to get in one more ski session. I read in my room. A little after noon we were loaded up and headed out about 12:30. The going was slow at first as the roads were covered with snow and Terry was driving a two wheel drive vehicle. We were caravanning to make sure neither car had any problems. All the others had left after the first day when the ski lift ceased to work. We stopped on the way home at Ananuri where two churches sit side by side. They are surrounded by a crenellated wall at the head of a reservoir. The lower church was built in 1689. Most of the frescos were lost to a fire in the 18th century but some survived. There were carved external decorations. One is a huge cross on the backs of two dragons, flanked by two lions, and two mustachioed angels. The pagan elements clearly show Persian influence according to our tour book.
We had a good chicken dinner and watched the news on BBC before heading off to bed. On Tuesday we woke up to a light snow fall. We had another holiday, the Georgian Epiphany. So we slept in since neither of us had slept that well. Ron baked two loaves of bread after breakfast. I made granola and walked to a store to see if I could get more wine glasses for our party on Saturday. I found the glasses and got some shot glasses for our Georgian party which will be the last weekend in the month. Georgians traditionally drink chacha (homemade vodka) shots and drink wine with the meal. Unlike Americans who drink before and throughout the meal, Georgians only drink when there is a toast. No wonder they have so many toasts! You get to drink more. The snow changed to mixed snow and rain by mid afternoon. The streets were clear all day but there was a little accumulation on the grass. It was a great weekend and we are thankful for a safe trip and the break from work for Ron.
On Friday we packed up for our ski trip to Gudauri and went out to dinner at a restaurant we had not tried before, a Lebanese place. It was fairly good. Then we headed to our favorite funky movie house that was playing Blind Side, a sweet film about a white family taking in a poor African American teen who turned out to be a star football player. The seats in the place are wooden and very uncomfortable after about 15 minutes. I had mentioned this to a dear friend back home so for Christmas James sent us two chair cushions. We took these with us in a plastic bag and were so grateful for them as it never got uncomfortable. This is one of the few places to see movies in English.
Ron and Jock went skiing before lunch, and then we ate and rested. About 3:30 we met up and the four of us went shoe shoeing. What fun! Due to the altitude we have to catch our breath about every 10-15 minutes. It snowed everyday we were there all day long. The hotel package included our meals and as I looked around I think that is because there is no where else to eat other than the other hotels. We were lucky as each meal was buffet and there were enough choices to find something we liked.
On the second day, the lift was not working in the morning so the four of us went show shoeing and climbed the slope up to the first lift stop. Here there was a ‘Vitamin Hut” with Wifi. We were shocked but sure enough there was someone in there with his laptop. We ordered Americanos and hot chocolate. Jock and I had finished the coffee long before the hot chocolate arrived. But it was worth the wait. I tasted Ron’s after he and Laurie squealed in delight saying it was the best ever. OMG they were right, it was thick and so chocolatety! I don’t know how they made it but I can guarantee it had nothing to do with Swiss Miss instant!!
The next day there was better visibility although it was still snowing. Jock had gotten up early and gone out to his car to clear the snow off. He came in to breakfast and announced he had cleared nine inches off his roof. Kirsten, Jock and Ron decided to get in one more ski session. I read in my room. A little after noon we were loaded up and headed out about 12:30. The going was slow at first as the roads were covered with snow and Terry was driving a two wheel drive vehicle. We were caravanning to make sure neither car had any problems. All the others had left after the first day when the ski lift ceased to work. We stopped on the way home at Ananuri where two churches sit side by side. They are surrounded by a crenellated wall at the head of a reservoir. The lower church was built in 1689. Most of the frescos were lost to a fire in the 18th century but some survived. There were carved external decorations. One is a huge cross on the backs of two dragons, flanked by two lions, and two mustachioed angels. The pagan elements clearly show Persian influence according to our tour book.
We arrived home around 4:00 p.m. after dropping off the rented equipment. We ate a quick snack and then walked to the grocery store. I wanted to buy a chicken and cook it to see what it tasted like as we are having a dinner party (our first here) on Saturday. I spent over 40 minutes plucking pin feathers out of that bird. What a pain in the ass! I have already mentioned that I have to wash eggs after buying them here. But the pin feathers made for real work. We rarely cook with any meat so I thought it best to do a trail run. It is good to know about the extra work involved so I can do that the day before if we decide to have chicken. Chickens are not as highly processed as at home. They are not bleached so the skin is much more yellow than our chickens at home. On Wednesday I am going to buy some salmon and try it out then decide on our menu.
We had a good chicken dinner and watched the news on BBC before heading off to bed. On Tuesday we woke up to a light snow fall. We had another holiday, the Georgian Epiphany. So we slept in since neither of us had slept that well. Ron baked two loaves of bread after breakfast. I made granola and walked to a store to see if I could get more wine glasses for our party on Saturday. I found the glasses and got some shot glasses for our Georgian party which will be the last weekend in the month. Georgians traditionally drink chacha (homemade vodka) shots and drink wine with the meal. Unlike Americans who drink before and throughout the meal, Georgians only drink when there is a toast. No wonder they have so many toasts! You get to drink more. The snow changed to mixed snow and rain by mid afternoon. The streets were clear all day but there was a little accumulation on the grass. It was a great weekend and we are thankful for a safe trip and the break from work for Ron.
Monday, January 11, 2010
How you going to keep 'em down in Tbilisi?
January 10 2010
Ah Paris…what a beautiful city. I was last there in 1970! My friend Andrea from Eugene was attending a Buddhist retreat about five hours outside of Paris and invited me to join her in Paris after her retreat ended. I debated about the expense and decided what the heck and booked a seat on the cheapest flight I could find which isn’t cheap here. I flew on Belavia Air, an airline from Belarus, a member of the Russian Federation. We left Tbilisi at 6:10 a.m. requiring Gia to pick me up at the house at 3:45. Oy! My boarding pass was hand written. After Gia dropped me off he called me about 20 minutes later to make sure the plane was leaving on time. What a sweet gesture. The plane was only about one third full. The man in front of me fully reclined his seat and my knees were pressed into the back of the chair. Oy! As soon as I could I moved to an empty row and stretched out. The food served was two small rolls: one with salami and one with cheese and a thin piece of lettuce. No condiments. We got to Minsk in a couple of hours where I had an eight hour layover. You can get a direct three hour flight to Paris from Tbilisi but it costs four times as much as taking a longer flight. Being the frugal person I am…well I had an eight hour layover in Minsk! It was 15 degrees below zero Centigrade! Minsk was as flat as Florida . There was snow on the ground but the runway had been plowed. I was directed to the passport control area and instructed to fill out the immigration card. I protested saying I was not staying in Minsk but to no avail. I got out of line, completed the form and returned to the desk. Once the officer read that I was there for 8 hrs, she instructed me to wait. A uniformed person came and took me through two locked doors and up some stairs to a ‘transit hall’. It was a large area that would hold about 200 people. One person was there sleeping on a couch. Soon I was joined by another person, a young Australian. The only other person was a guard to watch over us. After a while I asked the guard if I could get some water. He followed me down the stairs to the bar where I bought a bottle of water for 2.5 euros. Ouch! Fortunately they accepted euros, dollars and rubbles. I had some euros and dollars which was fortunate as there was no currency exchange in the part of the airport where I was. I returned to the transit hall and I slept for a while on a couch. At some point about 20 passengers were escorted into the room and waited for there until their connecting flight boarded maybe an hour or so later. I chatted with the young woman who had been in Georgia for about three weeks. She hated to leave but needed to return home to Australia. She later approached the guard saying she didn’t have a boarding pass and wanted to go get one. He told her to wait. Someone later came, took her passport and baggage claim ticket then returned and handed her the boarding pass. Strange, we felt like these people had watched too many Russian spy movies! I was left in the hall with the guard and original person who was now up and playing his radio loudly.
Later I went for coffee and a snack. Guess what? The only food available was a half slice of dry white bread with my choice of salami or cheese, just like the plane! They had any kind of liquor as well as a few juices, sodas, beer and wine. I got an Americano, a salami ‘sandwich’ and a small dark chocolate bar (health food). The cost was one euro less than the water!
At 1:15 another uniformed person came and asked me ‘Paris?’ I said yes and he said ‘Come with me’. He walks me through three security stations. I get my boarding pass and wander into a smoke filled waiting area. I now have 90 minutes before boarding. The sun has been out all day but the temps haven’t moved. Everyone here is blonde or has light brown hair with blue eyes by way of contrast to the folks in Georgia where 90% have black hair and dark eyes. I see many fur coats here. Must be more wealth than in Georgia. We were late boarding the plane and were herded into a waiting bus that would take us to the plane out on the tarmac. It was an unheated bus and even with it loaded with live bodies, it was still bitterly cold. The bus sat on the tarmac for 20 frigging minutes. No one could figure out what the holdup was but then they opened the doors to two full buses and left us standing outside while letting five people at a time go up the steps and into the plane. I was out in the cold for another full fifteen minutes. I had a warm thick wool coat but it was short and I realized my tushie was quite cold. My fingers turned to ice even with lined leather gloves. My feet felt like large blocks of ice. After boarding it took quite a while to thaw. I left my coat on for 20-30 minutes. I thought my feet would never get warm again. I don’t remember ever being that cold. It was still 15 below according to a tall gorgeous black French man standing beside me. These temps will make Paris seem balmy! I have been checking the temps there and it is supposed to be 32 degrees F during the day all week and 21 at night. The plane was packed and the seats were the smallest I have encountered in all my travels. The term sardine can comes to mind! They served a ‘meal’: salami and cheese sandwiches! The sunset set at 4:20 while we were boarding the plane.
I arrived in Paris and breezed through the passport area. I didn’t check any luggage so was on my way quickly. The hotel had sent me directions so I hopped on a train that took me to the center of Paris and then caught the Metro to an intersection one block from our hotel. Andrea had not arrived so I went to our room and unpacked, waited 30 minutes and decided to go grab something to eat since it was 8:30. The hotel clerk made a recommendation of a nearby restaurant. I was more tired than I realized and missed the street but found it after retracing my steps. I got there and it was closed. The restaurant next door was packed and I didn’t see any seats so went across the street to a Japanese restaurant, one of my least favorite cuisines but thought I could get a hot bowl of noodle soup. No such luck. I was seated at a ‘table’ with two couples who were together and another couple at the other end. I was between the two parties. It was one of those places where they cook at your table as a form of entertainment. After traveling for 18 hours I was in no mood for entertainment! And they didn’t have noodle soup on the menu. I ordered miso soup and pot stickers, ate and went back to the hotel. Andrea had arrived and it was great to be together again. We have known each other for thirty plus years.
We slept in the next day and had missed the breakfast at the hotel. We went across the street and had fabulous coffee and pastries. Those French know butter! We decided to be kind to ourselves and not knock ourselves out trying to see everything. Our goal for Monday was to go to Musee de l’Orangerie to see Impressionist art mainly Monet’s Water Lilies. We decided to walk as the sun was out. We started from the cafe around noon. It was cold, damn cold but we persisted. It never got above freezing the entire week and with the chill factor it was 16 degrees F. Oy! Every time we went out my fingers suffered. Our masseuse in Tbilisi had knitted me a wool hat before I left and I was so thankful to have it. It would slip on my head but without it I would have been miserable. We walked along the Seine River, saw Notre Dame along the way and the Louvre. I had no desire to go inside the Louvre. I had been there 40 years ago and it is just too darn big. You could get lost in there and never emerge. We did duck into Shakespeare and Co. bookstore. It is a famous English bookstore where David, our son, spend his nights in Paris, sleeping on their floor. The place was packed with Americans, mostly people half our age. It felt good to get out of the cold but it was crammed and claustrophobic. We arrived at the museum and lucked out as there was no line to enter. This is a relatively small museum and Monet’s Water Lilies are housed on the main floor. They are huge and occupy two rooms that are round with curved walls which contain four large panels of Monet’s paintings, one to each wall. I was overcome by their beauty and I wept at the sight of them today. I had last seen them in 1970 when I visited every major art museum in Western Europe with Walt Padgett, my first husband who is an artist. We spent a long time in both rooms then headed downstairs to see other Impressionist works. What a thrill! We returned to Monet’s Water Lilies before leaving. Around 3:00 we stopped for lunch and had a delicious omelet with French fries! We skipped dinner since we ate a late breakfast and lunch. On our second day we visited Musee d’Orsay, a huge museum and we had to wait in line outside in the freezing cold for an hour to get in. Andrea was most patient with me as I really was committed to seeing the works here. Once inside we decided to concentrate our viewing on the Impressionist works and skip the rest. I get saturated after viewing works for two hours or so. The museum was a madhouse, frankly. Too many people in some rooms to adequately view the works. But we prevailed. In one room we were looking at a painting and a woman with a small digital camera thrust her arm in front of us to take a photo of the painting. It was rude to say the least. Later I observed her and realized she was not looking at the works, just thrusting herself in front of patrons and snapping photos. What an interesting species we are…I went to the museum shop to buy gifts for Gia’s children who study art in their school in Tbilisi. The night we ate at their home they showed us their texts with lots of photos of famous works of art. Afterwards we found another delightful café with another fun waiter. I have no memory of what I ate but it was good!
From here we decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower. It was so cold and the sun wasn’t out so it seemed even colder. It turned out to be farther than we had anticipated. Andrea had a fall recently and is still suffering from the fall so walking for long distances is uncomfortable for her. Alas we arrived and discovered another long line to go to the top of the tower. I told her I was unwilling to wait outside in the cold again and she readily agreed. We took our obligatory photos and headed back to a place where we could catch a bus home. Again we skipped dinner since we had eaten lunch so late in the day.
On Wednesday we decided to go our separate ways. Andrea wanted to see a museum with Asian art and I had one more Impressionist museum I wanted to see. The Musee Marmottan Monet has the largest collection of Monet’s in the world. The collection is housed in the former home of the Marmottan family and still contains some of the original furnishings. Given my intent I barely looked at the furnishings and concentrated on the paintings. Other artists’ works were here and as it turned out many of the Monet’s looked more like painting sketches or studies for his master works: The Water Lilies. There was a real bonus downstairs, an exhibit of post Impressionist and Fauvist works. I felt so lucky to have happened upon this exhibit as this is another period I like. Afterwards I made my way back towards our hotel, riding two different bus lines. I was so pleased that I never got lost! I found a café near our hotel and had salad and an omelet. Andrea arrived after me and was thrilled with her adventure as well. We decided we should splurge and have a real French meal in a fancy restaurant and went to the place our hotel recommended. Oh my! It was perfect. It was a short walking distance from the hotel and an intimate setting. Arriving at 7:30 we were the only ones there but the place filled up as the night progressed. We chose the fixed price three course option. I ordered mussels in curry cream sauce as a starter and Andrea had goat cheese in phyllo dough. Oh my god, it was too good to even attempt to describe. We shared bites so we had the best of all possible worlds. I had expected a few mussels and was shocked at the size of our portions. There was just a hint of curry and the mussels are small and so tender. I could have stopped there but had the entrée which was duck breast with a cherry sauce and two potato and apple cakes, something like hash browns only a thousand times better tasting. Andrea had a beef dish I think and we ended the evening with a chocolate mousse to die for. Oy! I would weigh a ton if I lived in France. Given their excellence in baking and my love of carbs I wouldn’t stand a chance!
The next day Andrea needed to take some time in the morning so I headed out to the internet which was about 9 blocks from our hotel. Due to the cold, I didn’t frequent it as often as I normally do. Ron had been calling me using Skype but the connection was never good and we frequently got disconnected. I don’t remember what the heck we did that afternoon. That evening we went out for a seafood dinner but frankly I was tired of restaurant food by then and should have just had a salad. Andrea was wiser than I and ordered a starter and stopped there. Afterwards we took a bus to the Louvre to see I.M. Pei’s much touted glass pyramid entrance and to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up which we could see from the Louvre plaza. I got terribly cold: hands and feet had turned to ice so we grabbed a cab and came home.
Our final day we packed up and took a cab to another hotel where Andrea was spending the night before staying with a friend for the weekend. Her new place was in the heart of Montmarte so we took a little time and walked around and visited the Sacred Heart Church. We lucked out as there was a service going on and the nuns were singing. The acoustics were superb. Afterwards we grabbed a bite to eat and went back to retrieve my bag at her hotel. From there we headed down the hill to the Metro and I took the Metro to the train station where I caught the train to the airport. Slick!
My return trip via Belarus was similar to my initial experience. I was directed to passport control and this time the person instructed me to buy mandatory insurance. I had handed her my boarding pass for the next leg of the trip to demonstrate that I was not staying in Minsk. She told me to step aside and wait. Once again I was escorted to the waiting area and just made it in time for my connecting flight. What’s up with mandatory insurance? I didn’t have time to find out but it sounds like a scam to me.
I arrived in Tbilisi at 4:30 a.m. and crawled into bed to snuggle my warm honey at 5:30. We chatted briefly and I fell asleep to be awakened at 11:40 with soft kisses. How great is that? There’s no place like home even when home is the Republic of Georgia!
Ah Paris…what a beautiful city. I was last there in 1970! My friend Andrea from Eugene was attending a Buddhist retreat about five hours outside of Paris and invited me to join her in Paris after her retreat ended. I debated about the expense and decided what the heck and booked a seat on the cheapest flight I could find which isn’t cheap here. I flew on Belavia Air, an airline from Belarus, a member of the Russian Federation. We left Tbilisi at 6:10 a.m. requiring Gia to pick me up at the house at 3:45. Oy! My boarding pass was hand written. After Gia dropped me off he called me about 20 minutes later to make sure the plane was leaving on time. What a sweet gesture. The plane was only about one third full. The man in front of me fully reclined his seat and my knees were pressed into the back of the chair. Oy! As soon as I could I moved to an empty row and stretched out. The food served was two small rolls: one with salami and one with cheese and a thin piece of lettuce. No condiments. We got to Minsk in a couple of hours where I had an eight hour layover. You can get a direct three hour flight to Paris from Tbilisi but it costs four times as much as taking a longer flight. Being the frugal person I am…well I had an eight hour layover in Minsk! It was 15 degrees below zero Centigrade! Minsk was as flat as Florida . There was snow on the ground but the runway had been plowed. I was directed to the passport control area and instructed to fill out the immigration card. I protested saying I was not staying in Minsk but to no avail. I got out of line, completed the form and returned to the desk. Once the officer read that I was there for 8 hrs, she instructed me to wait. A uniformed person came and took me through two locked doors and up some stairs to a ‘transit hall’. It was a large area that would hold about 200 people. One person was there sleeping on a couch. Soon I was joined by another person, a young Australian. The only other person was a guard to watch over us. After a while I asked the guard if I could get some water. He followed me down the stairs to the bar where I bought a bottle of water for 2.5 euros. Ouch! Fortunately they accepted euros, dollars and rubbles. I had some euros and dollars which was fortunate as there was no currency exchange in the part of the airport where I was. I returned to the transit hall and I slept for a while on a couch. At some point about 20 passengers were escorted into the room and waited for there until their connecting flight boarded maybe an hour or so later. I chatted with the young woman who had been in Georgia for about three weeks. She hated to leave but needed to return home to Australia. She later approached the guard saying she didn’t have a boarding pass and wanted to go get one. He told her to wait. Someone later came, took her passport and baggage claim ticket then returned and handed her the boarding pass. Strange, we felt like these people had watched too many Russian spy movies! I was left in the hall with the guard and original person who was now up and playing his radio loudly.
Later I went for coffee and a snack. Guess what? The only food available was a half slice of dry white bread with my choice of salami or cheese, just like the plane! They had any kind of liquor as well as a few juices, sodas, beer and wine. I got an Americano, a salami ‘sandwich’ and a small dark chocolate bar (health food). The cost was one euro less than the water!
At 1:15 another uniformed person came and asked me ‘Paris?’ I said yes and he said ‘Come with me’. He walks me through three security stations. I get my boarding pass and wander into a smoke filled waiting area. I now have 90 minutes before boarding. The sun has been out all day but the temps haven’t moved. Everyone here is blonde or has light brown hair with blue eyes by way of contrast to the folks in Georgia where 90% have black hair and dark eyes. I see many fur coats here. Must be more wealth than in Georgia. We were late boarding the plane and were herded into a waiting bus that would take us to the plane out on the tarmac. It was an unheated bus and even with it loaded with live bodies, it was still bitterly cold. The bus sat on the tarmac for 20 frigging minutes. No one could figure out what the holdup was but then they opened the doors to two full buses and left us standing outside while letting five people at a time go up the steps and into the plane. I was out in the cold for another full fifteen minutes. I had a warm thick wool coat but it was short and I realized my tushie was quite cold. My fingers turned to ice even with lined leather gloves. My feet felt like large blocks of ice. After boarding it took quite a while to thaw. I left my coat on for 20-30 minutes. I thought my feet would never get warm again. I don’t remember ever being that cold. It was still 15 below according to a tall gorgeous black French man standing beside me. These temps will make Paris seem balmy! I have been checking the temps there and it is supposed to be 32 degrees F during the day all week and 21 at night. The plane was packed and the seats were the smallest I have encountered in all my travels. The term sardine can comes to mind! They served a ‘meal’: salami and cheese sandwiches! The sunset set at 4:20 while we were boarding the plane.
I arrived in Paris and breezed through the passport area. I didn’t check any luggage so was on my way quickly. The hotel had sent me directions so I hopped on a train that took me to the center of Paris and then caught the Metro to an intersection one block from our hotel. Andrea had not arrived so I went to our room and unpacked, waited 30 minutes and decided to go grab something to eat since it was 8:30. The hotel clerk made a recommendation of a nearby restaurant. I was more tired than I realized and missed the street but found it after retracing my steps. I got there and it was closed. The restaurant next door was packed and I didn’t see any seats so went across the street to a Japanese restaurant, one of my least favorite cuisines but thought I could get a hot bowl of noodle soup. No such luck. I was seated at a ‘table’ with two couples who were together and another couple at the other end. I was between the two parties. It was one of those places where they cook at your table as a form of entertainment. After traveling for 18 hours I was in no mood for entertainment! And they didn’t have noodle soup on the menu. I ordered miso soup and pot stickers, ate and went back to the hotel. Andrea had arrived and it was great to be together again. We have known each other for thirty plus years.
We slept in the next day and had missed the breakfast at the hotel. We went across the street and had fabulous coffee and pastries. Those French know butter! We decided to be kind to ourselves and not knock ourselves out trying to see everything. Our goal for Monday was to go to Musee de l’Orangerie to see Impressionist art mainly Monet’s Water Lilies. We decided to walk as the sun was out. We started from the cafe around noon. It was cold, damn cold but we persisted. It never got above freezing the entire week and with the chill factor it was 16 degrees F. Oy! Every time we went out my fingers suffered. Our masseuse in Tbilisi had knitted me a wool hat before I left and I was so thankful to have it. It would slip on my head but without it I would have been miserable. We walked along the Seine River, saw Notre Dame along the way and the Louvre. I had no desire to go inside the Louvre. I had been there 40 years ago and it is just too darn big. You could get lost in there and never emerge. We did duck into Shakespeare and Co. bookstore. It is a famous English bookstore where David, our son, spend his nights in Paris, sleeping on their floor. The place was packed with Americans, mostly people half our age. It felt good to get out of the cold but it was crammed and claustrophobic. We arrived at the museum and lucked out as there was no line to enter. This is a relatively small museum and Monet’s Water Lilies are housed on the main floor. They are huge and occupy two rooms that are round with curved walls which contain four large panels of Monet’s paintings, one to each wall. I was overcome by their beauty and I wept at the sight of them today. I had last seen them in 1970 when I visited every major art museum in Western Europe with Walt Padgett, my first husband who is an artist. We spent a long time in both rooms then headed downstairs to see other Impressionist works. What a thrill! We returned to Monet’s Water Lilies before leaving. Around 3:00 we stopped for lunch and had a delicious omelet with French fries! We skipped dinner since we ate a late breakfast and lunch. On our second day we visited Musee d’Orsay, a huge museum and we had to wait in line outside in the freezing cold for an hour to get in. Andrea was most patient with me as I really was committed to seeing the works here. Once inside we decided to concentrate our viewing on the Impressionist works and skip the rest. I get saturated after viewing works for two hours or so. The museum was a madhouse, frankly. Too many people in some rooms to adequately view the works. But we prevailed. In one room we were looking at a painting and a woman with a small digital camera thrust her arm in front of us to take a photo of the painting. It was rude to say the least. Later I observed her and realized she was not looking at the works, just thrusting herself in front of patrons and snapping photos. What an interesting species we are…I went to the museum shop to buy gifts for Gia’s children who study art in their school in Tbilisi. The night we ate at their home they showed us their texts with lots of photos of famous works of art. Afterwards we found another delightful café with another fun waiter. I have no memory of what I ate but it was good!
From here we decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower. It was so cold and the sun wasn’t out so it seemed even colder. It turned out to be farther than we had anticipated. Andrea had a fall recently and is still suffering from the fall so walking for long distances is uncomfortable for her. Alas we arrived and discovered another long line to go to the top of the tower. I told her I was unwilling to wait outside in the cold again and she readily agreed. We took our obligatory photos and headed back to a place where we could catch a bus home. Again we skipped dinner since we had eaten lunch so late in the day.
On Wednesday we decided to go our separate ways. Andrea wanted to see a museum with Asian art and I had one more Impressionist museum I wanted to see. The Musee Marmottan Monet has the largest collection of Monet’s in the world. The collection is housed in the former home of the Marmottan family and still contains some of the original furnishings. Given my intent I barely looked at the furnishings and concentrated on the paintings. Other artists’ works were here and as it turned out many of the Monet’s looked more like painting sketches or studies for his master works: The Water Lilies. There was a real bonus downstairs, an exhibit of post Impressionist and Fauvist works. I felt so lucky to have happened upon this exhibit as this is another period I like. Afterwards I made my way back towards our hotel, riding two different bus lines. I was so pleased that I never got lost! I found a café near our hotel and had salad and an omelet. Andrea arrived after me and was thrilled with her adventure as well. We decided we should splurge and have a real French meal in a fancy restaurant and went to the place our hotel recommended. Oh my! It was perfect. It was a short walking distance from the hotel and an intimate setting. Arriving at 7:30 we were the only ones there but the place filled up as the night progressed. We chose the fixed price three course option. I ordered mussels in curry cream sauce as a starter and Andrea had goat cheese in phyllo dough. Oh my god, it was too good to even attempt to describe. We shared bites so we had the best of all possible worlds. I had expected a few mussels and was shocked at the size of our portions. There was just a hint of curry and the mussels are small and so tender. I could have stopped there but had the entrée which was duck breast with a cherry sauce and two potato and apple cakes, something like hash browns only a thousand times better tasting. Andrea had a beef dish I think and we ended the evening with a chocolate mousse to die for. Oy! I would weigh a ton if I lived in France. Given their excellence in baking and my love of carbs I wouldn’t stand a chance!
The next day Andrea needed to take some time in the morning so I headed out to the internet which was about 9 blocks from our hotel. Due to the cold, I didn’t frequent it as often as I normally do. Ron had been calling me using Skype but the connection was never good and we frequently got disconnected. I don’t remember what the heck we did that afternoon. That evening we went out for a seafood dinner but frankly I was tired of restaurant food by then and should have just had a salad. Andrea was wiser than I and ordered a starter and stopped there. Afterwards we took a bus to the Louvre to see I.M. Pei’s much touted glass pyramid entrance and to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up which we could see from the Louvre plaza. I got terribly cold: hands and feet had turned to ice so we grabbed a cab and came home.
Our final day we packed up and took a cab to another hotel where Andrea was spending the night before staying with a friend for the weekend. Her new place was in the heart of Montmarte so we took a little time and walked around and visited the Sacred Heart Church. We lucked out as there was a service going on and the nuns were singing. The acoustics were superb. Afterwards we grabbed a bite to eat and went back to retrieve my bag at her hotel. From there we headed down the hill to the Metro and I took the Metro to the train station where I caught the train to the airport. Slick!
My return trip via Belarus was similar to my initial experience. I was directed to passport control and this time the person instructed me to buy mandatory insurance. I had handed her my boarding pass for the next leg of the trip to demonstrate that I was not staying in Minsk. She told me to step aside and wait. Once again I was escorted to the waiting area and just made it in time for my connecting flight. What’s up with mandatory insurance? I didn’t have time to find out but it sounds like a scam to me.
I arrived in Tbilisi at 4:30 a.m. and crawled into bed to snuggle my warm honey at 5:30. We chatted briefly and I fell asleep to be awakened at 11:40 with soft kisses. How great is that? There’s no place like home even when home is the Republic of Georgia!
Friday, January 1, 2010
New Years in Georgia
December 31 2009
It is a rainy day here and very dark and gray. Yesterday I asked Nino, our housekeeper to tell me about the traditions of the Georgian Christmas. (Thanks, Dana) I discovered that Georgians do not give gifts at Christmas (Jan 7th) but at New Years. Yikes, I thought to myself, Ron has been baking and freezing holiday bread to give to colleagues at work as well as Gia, our driver, Elza, our language teacher and Nino and Zura, Nino’s husband who does yard work for us. We had planned to give gift baskets with Ron’s raisin walnut rye bread, cranberry cookies I had baked and frozen, chocolate bars and cranberry candies both from Oregon. In addition we had some scented soaps and mixed nuts. Ron made bread last night and got up at 4:45 this morning to bake two loaves. This bread has to be baked inside a Dutch oven so it is one loaf at a time. I woke up at 5:00 and read in bed thinking surely I will fall back asleep. No such luck so after awhile I got up and joined Ron in the kitchen and made some coffee. We managed to put together five gift baskets before heading out to class. Ron will bake more bread this weekend and give his ‘gifts’ next week to his colleagues.
Back to the traditions here. Apparently New Year’s Eve and Day are a big deal here. Like at home it is a national holiday. And like at home, drinking is a big part of the celebration so driving here at night is worse than normal. We both have observed more erratic driving than normal during this season. It just gets crazier and crazier. Nino told me on Christmas Eve the devoted go to the churches and stay there all night until the next day around one o’clock in the afternoon. They do not eat, drink or sit for that period of time. I am too old for such traditions. She said her brother-in-law does this at Christmas. She said the churches are packed so those who chose not to stay all night go into the church Christmas day, light candles and leave as it is so crowded you can’t do anything else. There is literally no room. Georgians do have Christmas trees and have for a long time apparently. Nino grew up having a Christmas tree but she said they did not exchange gifts. Now gifts are more common but they are not given at Christmas and just on New Years and I think mostly this tradition is for the children. Nino said they put the gifts under the tree. Many Georgians now have artificial trees. One nursery I am aware of had real trees but they cost a small fortune, starting at over $100. I have spied some people selling small trees (some were branches mounted on a small piece of plywood) near the fresh markets but not large lots like we have in the US. Speaking of trees, there are no paper bags here at any of the stores. It is plastic or nothing. Small bakeries that make bread only either just hand you the bread with nothing or give you a piece of newspaper if the bread is hot. Some have plastic bags but I often see people carrying bread totally unwrapped or packaged in any way. Countries as old as Georgia have no forests left so paper is scarce and expensive. I could find no tissue paper for the baskets for example after trying several stores. I forgot to ask Nino about Jan 19th which is the Epiphany, another national holiday.
Wikipedia says:
Epiphany (from Koine Greek ἐπιφάνεια "appearance", "manifestation") is a Christian feast day which celebrates the revelation of God in human form in the person of Jesus Christ. It falls on January 6 or on a Sunday close to that date. January 6 in the Julian Calendar, which is followed by some Eastern Churches, corresponds at present to January 19 in the Gregorian Calendar, which is the official civil calendar in most countries. On this day, Western Christians commemorate principally the visitation of the Biblical Magi to the child Jesus, i.e., his manifestation to the Gentiles.
Ron and I have noticed a marked increase in the meat being sold on the street. We assume this is for the celebration of the New Year. Orthodox Christians however do not eat any animal products when fasting. Fasting started three weeks or so ago and will end the day after Christmas, Jan 8th. We have seen lots of small pigs minus their innards hanging from the stands set up near the fresh markets. The entire pig is bought and cooked whole we assume. Pork is a main meat source here. Although other meats are consumed: sheep and cows are other main meats. Georgians eat a lot of chicken and often they are sold with the feet and occasionally with the head. Yuck! Since these products are raised on small scale farms they do not endure the processing that we have in the US. So chickens are their natural color which is much more yellow than ours which have been bleached.
That sums up what I know about Georgian traditions for the Christmas season. So Ron will get off from work around 2:00 apparently when the ministry closes for the holiday. He was given two gallons of Georgian wine presented in plastic jugs. Glass is another rarity here. Most Georgians make homemade wine and chacha (vodka), and put it in plastic jugs. Since it is cold and rainy we will probably build a fire and call it a day. I will be cooking this afternoon as I leave for five days in Paris on Sunday. Ron is a competent cook but doesn’t usually bother when he is alone. Being the classic worry wart, I cook up a few meals that he can eat while I am away. I will meet my friend Andrea after she completes a Buddhist retreat outside of Paris. I am excited about seeing some great art while there. I don’t have anything else on my agenda but I am sure we will pack in a lot in the time we have. She got us a great room at a hotel in the heart of things.
Tomorrow Ron and I will probably do some more exploring in our neighborhood. If the weather is cooperating we want to try to find the lake that is on the other side of the ridge above us. I hope that our little funky movie house will be open and showing a good film. Our good friend James in Charlottesville read in the blog about the wooden seats and sent us tushie cushions! Yeah James! I think it will be a quiet weekend for us.
Ron got home at 1:30and said he was one of the last to leave the building. Gia came in with Ron and invited us to his home to meet the rest of his family tomorrow. So we will walk in the morning and go to Gia’s in the afternoon. What fun!
January 1 2010
We went to bed shortly before midnight but got up when the fireworks started about 11:50 and they continued until about 12:20. We are truly amazed. It was as though every one in Tbilisi had bought a large supply of fancy fireworks. The sky was filled in every direction yet this was not a ‘sponsored’ display but individuals shooting off sky rockets, etc. When you think about how expensive fireworks are and how poor most Georgians are it was even more impressive. They continue tonight but on a much smaller scale.
We slept in today and had a leisurely breakfast. Afterwards we decided to take our walk. It was another glorious day here with blue skies and bright sunshine. First we went down a street near us that we were curious about then headed up the hill to try to find the lake that we knew was somewhere over the ridge behind our house. On the way up we were looking over a fence to try to find the rushing water we could hear from the road. A car stopped behind us and it was our friends Mike and Cassandra from the Embassy. We had met them in DC when the four of us were at the security training that we were required to take. They were heading up to the lake and offered us a lift. The lake is quite large and beautiful. It was a mirror, not a ripple to be seen and offered a very calming effect. We must return with our camera. While Mike and Cassandra took a run on a trail, we walked along another trail for 30 minutes then met up and they gave us a ride home. As Mike was turning left onto our street, one of those crazy Georgian drivers tried to pass us on the left. Mike had his signal on. We came very close to a very bad accident.
We changed clothes and Gia picked us up at 1:00. On the way over to his place, a driver ran a red light and slammed on his brakes just in time to avoid hitting the car next to us which would have hit us if the accident had occurred. Another crazy Georgian driver. Gia’s apartment is located in a large building and his was on the top floor, I think it was the fourth or fifth floor. The central stairway was in very poor condition. The landings were tile and many of the tiles were broken or missing. The steps were rough concrete. Ron explained to me that people own the apartments but the common areas such as the stairway fall into a category of where there is no owner and consequently there is no maintenance. The apartment building were constructed in the soviet era where the state maintained the common areas. Once that went away, people were given title to the apartments, but there is no legal mechanism for making collective repairs to common areas like the outside of the building, the roof or common systems, like heat or electricity.
This is typical of what I have seen in other buildings. Inside he had a lovely home with beautiful wood floors. Tiko had prepared a supra, a feast. The table was set and filled with traditional dishes: chicken, chicken in walnut sauce, salmon, olives, vegetable salad, stuffed grape leaves, a plate of cheese, spinach with walnuts, chicken salad, eggplant with walnut sauce, bilini, several breads, chatchapuri (bread stuffed with a salty cheese), corn grits with walnut sauce, fresh fruit, and a plate with three or four dessert breads. They was more but this is all I can recall. Gia said she had been cooking for two days but it was the New Year’s tradition. She is a wonderful cook. I could have eaten all the bilini she had made. They are a thin pancake stuffed with meat and onion. Remember that those who fast eat no animal products so Tiko is fasting and their two daughters fast the traditional two days a week: Wednesday and Fridays. So much of this meal was for Gia and the two of us.
We met Gia’s family: his mother who lives with them, Sopo, the eldest at 15 years old, Salome who is 14 and Wako who is 10. I forgot to mention chacha was served (homemade vodka), homemade wine (red and white), champagne was offered, coke and water. Ron and I ate heartily but the others hardy ate at all. Later Gia got hungry and ate a bit. Tiko nibbled and ate the grits with the walnut sauce along with Gia’s mother.
It is a rainy day here and very dark and gray. Yesterday I asked Nino, our housekeeper to tell me about the traditions of the Georgian Christmas. (Thanks, Dana) I discovered that Georgians do not give gifts at Christmas (Jan 7th) but at New Years. Yikes, I thought to myself, Ron has been baking and freezing holiday bread to give to colleagues at work as well as Gia, our driver, Elza, our language teacher and Nino and Zura, Nino’s husband who does yard work for us. We had planned to give gift baskets with Ron’s raisin walnut rye bread, cranberry cookies I had baked and frozen, chocolate bars and cranberry candies both from Oregon. In addition we had some scented soaps and mixed nuts. Ron made bread last night and got up at 4:45 this morning to bake two loaves. This bread has to be baked inside a Dutch oven so it is one loaf at a time. I woke up at 5:00 and read in bed thinking surely I will fall back asleep. No such luck so after awhile I got up and joined Ron in the kitchen and made some coffee. We managed to put together five gift baskets before heading out to class. Ron will bake more bread this weekend and give his ‘gifts’ next week to his colleagues.
Back to the traditions here. Apparently New Year’s Eve and Day are a big deal here. Like at home it is a national holiday. And like at home, drinking is a big part of the celebration so driving here at night is worse than normal. We both have observed more erratic driving than normal during this season. It just gets crazier and crazier. Nino told me on Christmas Eve the devoted go to the churches and stay there all night until the next day around one o’clock in the afternoon. They do not eat, drink or sit for that period of time. I am too old for such traditions. She said her brother-in-law does this at Christmas. She said the churches are packed so those who chose not to stay all night go into the church Christmas day, light candles and leave as it is so crowded you can’t do anything else. There is literally no room. Georgians do have Christmas trees and have for a long time apparently. Nino grew up having a Christmas tree but she said they did not exchange gifts. Now gifts are more common but they are not given at Christmas and just on New Years and I think mostly this tradition is for the children. Nino said they put the gifts under the tree. Many Georgians now have artificial trees. One nursery I am aware of had real trees but they cost a small fortune, starting at over $100. I have spied some people selling small trees (some were branches mounted on a small piece of plywood) near the fresh markets but not large lots like we have in the US. Speaking of trees, there are no paper bags here at any of the stores. It is plastic or nothing. Small bakeries that make bread only either just hand you the bread with nothing or give you a piece of newspaper if the bread is hot. Some have plastic bags but I often see people carrying bread totally unwrapped or packaged in any way. Countries as old as Georgia have no forests left so paper is scarce and expensive. I could find no tissue paper for the baskets for example after trying several stores. I forgot to ask Nino about Jan 19th which is the Epiphany, another national holiday.
Wikipedia says:
Epiphany (from Koine Greek ἐπιφάνεια "appearance", "manifestation") is a Christian feast day which celebrates the revelation of God in human form in the person of Jesus Christ. It falls on January 6 or on a Sunday close to that date. January 6 in the Julian Calendar, which is followed by some Eastern Churches, corresponds at present to January 19 in the Gregorian Calendar, which is the official civil calendar in most countries. On this day, Western Christians commemorate principally the visitation of the Biblical Magi to the child Jesus, i.e., his manifestation to the Gentiles.
Ron and I have noticed a marked increase in the meat being sold on the street. We assume this is for the celebration of the New Year. Orthodox Christians however do not eat any animal products when fasting. Fasting started three weeks or so ago and will end the day after Christmas, Jan 8th. We have seen lots of small pigs minus their innards hanging from the stands set up near the fresh markets. The entire pig is bought and cooked whole we assume. Pork is a main meat source here. Although other meats are consumed: sheep and cows are other main meats. Georgians eat a lot of chicken and often they are sold with the feet and occasionally with the head. Yuck! Since these products are raised on small scale farms they do not endure the processing that we have in the US. So chickens are their natural color which is much more yellow than ours which have been bleached.
That sums up what I know about Georgian traditions for the Christmas season. So Ron will get off from work around 2:00 apparently when the ministry closes for the holiday. He was given two gallons of Georgian wine presented in plastic jugs. Glass is another rarity here. Most Georgians make homemade wine and chacha (vodka), and put it in plastic jugs. Since it is cold and rainy we will probably build a fire and call it a day. I will be cooking this afternoon as I leave for five days in Paris on Sunday. Ron is a competent cook but doesn’t usually bother when he is alone. Being the classic worry wart, I cook up a few meals that he can eat while I am away. I will meet my friend Andrea after she completes a Buddhist retreat outside of Paris. I am excited about seeing some great art while there. I don’t have anything else on my agenda but I am sure we will pack in a lot in the time we have. She got us a great room at a hotel in the heart of things.
Tomorrow Ron and I will probably do some more exploring in our neighborhood. If the weather is cooperating we want to try to find the lake that is on the other side of the ridge above us. I hope that our little funky movie house will be open and showing a good film. Our good friend James in Charlottesville read in the blog about the wooden seats and sent us tushie cushions! Yeah James! I think it will be a quiet weekend for us.
Ron got home at 1:30and said he was one of the last to leave the building. Gia came in with Ron and invited us to his home to meet the rest of his family tomorrow. So we will walk in the morning and go to Gia’s in the afternoon. What fun!
January 1 2010
We went to bed shortly before midnight but got up when the fireworks started about 11:50 and they continued until about 12:20. We are truly amazed. It was as though every one in Tbilisi had bought a large supply of fancy fireworks. The sky was filled in every direction yet this was not a ‘sponsored’ display but individuals shooting off sky rockets, etc. When you think about how expensive fireworks are and how poor most Georgians are it was even more impressive. They continue tonight but on a much smaller scale.
We slept in today and had a leisurely breakfast. Afterwards we decided to take our walk. It was another glorious day here with blue skies and bright sunshine. First we went down a street near us that we were curious about then headed up the hill to try to find the lake that we knew was somewhere over the ridge behind our house. On the way up we were looking over a fence to try to find the rushing water we could hear from the road. A car stopped behind us and it was our friends Mike and Cassandra from the Embassy. We had met them in DC when the four of us were at the security training that we were required to take. They were heading up to the lake and offered us a lift. The lake is quite large and beautiful. It was a mirror, not a ripple to be seen and offered a very calming effect. We must return with our camera. While Mike and Cassandra took a run on a trail, we walked along another trail for 30 minutes then met up and they gave us a ride home. As Mike was turning left onto our street, one of those crazy Georgian drivers tried to pass us on the left. Mike had his signal on. We came very close to a very bad accident.
We changed clothes and Gia picked us up at 1:00. On the way over to his place, a driver ran a red light and slammed on his brakes just in time to avoid hitting the car next to us which would have hit us if the accident had occurred. Another crazy Georgian driver. Gia’s apartment is located in a large building and his was on the top floor, I think it was the fourth or fifth floor. The central stairway was in very poor condition. The landings were tile and many of the tiles were broken or missing. The steps were rough concrete. Ron explained to me that people own the apartments but the common areas such as the stairway fall into a category of where there is no owner and consequently there is no maintenance. The apartment building were constructed in the soviet era where the state maintained the common areas. Once that went away, people were given title to the apartments, but there is no legal mechanism for making collective repairs to common areas like the outside of the building, the roof or common systems, like heat or electricity.
We met Gia’s family: his mother who lives with them, Sopo, the eldest at 15 years old, Salome who is 14 and Wako who is 10. I forgot to mention chacha was served (homemade vodka), homemade wine (red and white), champagne was offered, coke and water. Ron and I ate heartily but the others hardy ate at all. Later Gia got hungry and ate a bit. Tiko nibbled and ate the grits with the walnut sauce along with Gia’s mother.
Sopa speaks perfect English and it an extremely articulate and bright young woman. She actually talked to us the entire evening. Wako, their son relaxed after a bit and once he got going he couldn’t contain himself. He had a million questions. He had us all laughing throughout the day and evening. Sopa talked about art, literature and geography and was knowledgeable about every subject she introduced. We were blown away. We found out later that all three children are in a private school and study English 8 hours a week. .
While we were there, three cousins came over and their mother who is Gia’s brother’s wife. I should mention that Gia is always serious with us and rarely cracks a smile. A couple of times he has laughed but it is rare. It was such a delight to see him with his family in his environment and see him relaxed. The funniest thing that happened was when Ron was taking Gia’s photograph, he asked Gia to smile. Gia looked at the camera and said with his usual straight face ‘ha ha’ then burst out laughing having cracked himself up. Ron caught it so you can see Gia smiling. I couldn’t stop laughing. All in all we had a wonderful time with Gia and his family. His children are so sweet and delightful. Ron and I told Gia that today was the highlight of our time in Georgia. We were quite touched by the whole experience. We left at 7:00 after having arrived around 1:20 or so.
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