A hurry-up "Catch-up"

March 3, 2010

Things go bump in the night. I came home from an excursion downtown and discovered we didn’t have any water. Since we had had low water pressure the previous day I waited and tried later to no avail so called the Embassy maintenance and was told someone would be right over. It was 4:45. At 5:30 I called and was assured someone would come. Someone did and we discovered that the new water pump that had been installed on Tuesday has a wiring problem that blows the circuit breaker every time you plug it in. Great. They will return on Friday to repair or replace it. In the meantime we had no water. So I changed out dinner menu from shrimp which require cleaning with lots of water to an omelet. We were told that the city water came on at 7:00. Residents of Tbilisi receive their water at 7:00 p.m. but I am not sure for how long. I guessed for three hours; but as it turnout it was about 12 hours. I tried the kitchen faucet numerous times and by 7:25 we had water. I quickly did the dishes and filled several containers so we would have water for breakfast. I do require coffee at a minimum. Then I ran upstairs and took a bath. I doubt we will have water in the morning. Because we have a house leased by the Embassy we are privileged and have a water tank and a pump so we have water throughout the day, not just for the three hours at night. The problem is our new pump isn’t working properly so we have no pressure except when the city is pumping water into the system. We take a lot for granted in the US. I don’t even think about water when at home. We just turn on the tap, there it is. Not so here. We also have frequent power outages. Today there was one while I was gone but again we have a huge generator that comes on automatically 30 seconds or less after the power goes off.

Today is Mother’s Day in Georgia so the embassy was closed. Ron was sort of down in the dumps so we went for an outing to the botanical gardens. Nothing like nature to lift your spirits. Shortly after arriving Ron got a call from a contact at the World Bank and wanted to meet with him. After our walk and taking photos Ron headed to the World Bank and I went to Abashidze to check out a store that has high end cookware. I have passed by numerous times but never when it is open. Well it wasn’t open today either! So I had an Americano and headed for home. I thought it would be fun to walk home. A mistake as it was quite far, close to an hour. After having walked from the metro to Old Town then up to the gardens and through the gardens my feet were oh so tired by the time I got home and I was uncomfortable for the rest of the evening. Dumb!

Because it was a national holiday and a pretty day with sunshine there were loads of families and individuals out for a stroll. The streets were crowded with pedestrians and I have never seen so many flower vendors. There were on very street corner and some in between. They were selling small bouquets of violets, daffodils and tulips which are sometimes sold individually like roses. There are always roses for sale here.

March 5th
Tonight we went to a free dance class at the embassy. Jock and Laurie joined us and it was fun although I was reminded of what a great dancer my sweet husband is and that I have two left feet. Poor guy! This was an introduction class with more to follow for a small fee. We came home after a spontaneous dinner at the H&H Saloon which was an experience in and of itself. American style food, live entertainment on a very small stage and music way too loud for folks our age. The entertainment was Georgian dancers (one male and three women who were scantily clad) doing some Western routines like cancan girls andsome Chicago kind of scenes. We packed for our trip to Bakuriani on Saturday.

March 6
After yoga class, I came home for breakfast and to get ready for our trip. The five of us (Jock, Laurie, Leslie and the two of us) piled into the car around 10:30 and were on our way. Jock had planned a supra for Laurie and managed to fill seven of the nine rooms with friends at our small hotel. All of this was a surprised for Laurie’s birthday and he pulled it off. The supra was great fun with John Hansen serving as the tamada (toastmaster). We laughed a lot with various liberties taken from the traditional supra. Most folks left the next day to return to Tbilisi. Ron and Jock skied while Leslie, Laurie and I took a walk in the snow. After lunch and naps Ron and I walked to town and bought a few items from local vendors. We headed home on Monday which was another holiday here: International Women’s Day.

March 17
Time got by me and I am ‘behinder’ than usual. IWA has a spring bazaar and I spent a lot of time at Patty’s house helping to get ready for the event. Patty heads up a craft group that raises a lot of money by making and selling items at our two bazaars and open houses held each year. I am not crafty so I help where I can. This time I helped pack things for transporting to the Embassy where we had a sale on Wednesday before the bazaar on Saturday. We sold hand painted eggs, spring themed wreaths, pillows, silk floral arrangements. So I spent three days last week helping with that then on Saturday I spent the entire day at the bazaar. There were about 60 Georgian artists selling items and I managed to do my part to support the local economy. I bought a large print of a photograph, a lacquer box with St George slaying the dragon, a charming triptych painting of the annunciation, nativity and the three wise men, a hand painted ceramic bell and some hand made paper envelopes. It was fun and IWA made 6000 GEL, about $3600 from table sales and selling the items the craft group had made.

On Friday we head out to San Francisco where Ron has a meeting with Treasury advisors from around the world. This is his first time meeting with his counterparts so it may be enlightening. We are guessing that he is not the only one who is frustrated with the pace of work here. We will be in SF until Friday March 26 then we fly to LA until Monday to visit Ron’s mom Sonia and her partner Bob. Sonia turned 89 in January and is a role model on aging. She Skypes with us weekly and communicates with email also. I hope I am as sharp when I am in my 80’s as she is.

We fly back to SF and fly out on Monday night the 30th arriving in Munich and spending one night there to help alleviate jet lag. Then we fly home on the 31 arriving at 3:00 AM in Tbilisi, but then that afternoon we fly to Istanbul for a four day weekend with our best buddies, the Conly’s. No moss gathering here. Stay tuned for pix and adventure stories that are sure to happen as Istanbul is a magnet for the long Easter week-end (for some unknown reason) We learned of its “draw” when we tried to book a room and found most every hotel fully booked at inflated prices – like three to four times normal.