June 23, 2010
Okay I now have my favorite Georgian word which I learned in class this week. I don’t think I will ever be able to pronounce it however. As I have mentioned Georgians don’t think much of vowels and here’s the proof! Give it a try. The word is prdghvnis. It means plucking. And yes there really is only ONE vowel in that nine letter word. Fortunately I won’t have much call to be using that word so it will be okay if I never learn to pronounce it.
Saturday I was downtown and came home on the subway. When I exited it was raining so hard I had to wait in the underpass to it to subside. I tried to go to the grocery store but couldn’t cross the street due to the water four inches deep that was coursing down the street halfway across the street. What a mess!
This has been a week of sad stories, tales of woe in Georgia. It actually started before we left for ATL when Maya told us her mother’s roof was leaking very badly and they had put pans and buckets around to catch the water but they had no money to replace or repair the roof. Her mom lives in a village about an hour out of TBS. Maya is our massage therapist who works part-time at the embassy making $2.06 an hour to clean there. I am still upset that the US government pays so poorly here. Then this Sunday she told us a story about a widow who left her 8 months old son with Maya’s sister while she went to the Ukraine in search of work because she has had no income since her husband died. Maya’s sister was happy as she is unemployed and too proud to do housework. The mother was to send money back from the Ukraine so it would be a source of income for Maya’s sister. Maya and her sister live together in an apartment here. Well it turns out there isn’t much work in the Ukraine either. The widow gets work two or three days a week and sometimes she isn’t paid as the person who hired her that day knows she is there without proper documents (illegal alien in the US). Oy! Then she finds out that she needs an operation or she will die. She can’t have surgery there because…she is an illegal alien. She doesn’t want to come back here because she is afraid she won’t be able to get back into the Ukraine (why bother?). So Maya told her to stop sending money here and to take care of herself. So Maya now supports herself, her mother, her sister, the widow’s baby and helps support her niece and nephew of her deceased sister since her brother in law can’t find regular work.
Lala, the seamstress who is making our bedspread came over to measure something and told me her roof is leaking and she doesn’t have the money to fix it. She lives on the top floor of an apartment building. At the time of the fall of the Soviet Union, apartments were given to the current occupants. But no provisions were made for maintenance on common spaces such as entrances, stairwells and roofs. So if the roof leaks and you are on the top floor, you have to fix it, not all the occupants of the building. Lala is 60, works for two Americans cleaning their houses and sews to earn extra money. She is putting her son through university so she has nothing extra. And we are in the rainy season here. We have torrential downpours almost daily. They are short lived but intense.
Jamal, the fellow who sells carpets via house calls was in a terrible auto accident and was hospitalized for 20 days. He was hit head on by a drunk pastor! Jamal’s car was totaled and Jamal was told when he told the priest from whom he expected to be helped financially said that he would be taking from the church. I’ll say no more! Except that they build churches here all the time so I don’t think the church is strapped for cash! Sorry I couldn’t hold it in any longer. So now Jamal came to see us via taxi. He lived out of Tbilisi quite a ways.
Not one of these people has any financial reserves. My guess is this is true for most Georgians.
June 28
Ron has been looking at Russian jeeps, old Russian jeeps like 1960 something. Being a project guy, he wants a vehicle that will carry a full sheet of plywood. How’s that for screening criteria? So Friday after language class and grocery shopping we headed out with Gia to a village high above Tbilisi about 30 miles from here. Oh my god, you wouldn’t believe how beautiful the drive was. In the distance were mountains; closer were green rolling hills, and millions upon millions of wildflowers: wild lupines, daisies, roses, some relative of delphinium, three yellow flowers I couldn’t identify, pinks, purples and on and on it went. The three of us kept commenting on the beauty around us. We passed a few small villages on the way. We arrived at the place were the jeep lived and discovered it would be a two year headache to restore. It was just too far gone. I was thankful that Ron decided that it was more work than he really was interested in. The search continues.
Saturday we went to the flea market and thought about a couple to things and I did buy a salt cellar as it had a spoon with it and the spoons are very rare to find.. We discovered a covered area we had not noticed before and it turned out to be the antique area. I spied a beautiful copper art nouveau coffee urn but it was $600. Then I saw this beautiful vase with metal work and it also was art nouveau. It had a $1200 price tag. Not surprisingly we didn’t buy either item.
Now for a happy ending story. Today our housekeeper’s husband got a job at the US Embassy as a security guard. He has been trying to get a job there for 10+ years. I helped him with his resume for four different positions. Zura wanted to quit trying but I said he had to keep trying and it paid off. We are so happy for the whole family as this will mean a stable income, something Zura hasn’t had in a long time. He has a master degree in Economics. He will make about $600 a month which is a good salary here. Nino was alternately crying for joy and giggling. She is so relieved as she has been the chief bread winner for the family and this is a paternalistic/machismo society and having your wife be the chief bread winner is demoralizing. So you can imagine how big a deal this is for them. They also will have health insurance which they don’t currently have.
I am helping our massage therapist with her resume as well. She has worked part-time as a janitor at the embassy for five years. In addition she offers massages through the health clinic but that is a direct pay job. Now there is a receptionist position available at the clinic and she wants the job very badly. Remember she is supporting many people and could really use a stable income. We have our fingers crossed for her.
Monday, June 28, 2010
June 20, 2010
We left Tbilisi at 7 a.m. on May 28th and flew to Paris, expecting to have a two hour layover. Our plane from Paris was three hours late getting into Paris. We boarded at 5:00 p.m. instead of 1:40. We pulled away from the gate and stopped shortly afterwards. After a while the captain announced a problem with an indicator light on the rear door which is what had made the plane late to Paris. Unfortunately a caterer had opened the rear door that had been problematic in NY or where ever the plane had originated from. So we were struck there for a total of five hours. When they couldn’t fix the problem we deplaned as our flight was cancelled. Then we stood in line for two hours (after being up for 20 hours) in order to get a voucher for a hotel. We stayed at a Radisson near the airport and the advertised price was 400 Euros! Yikes! We got six hour sleep after having been up for 23 hours since we left TBS. We went back to the airport to see if we could get an earlier flight to Atlanta and on to DC where we were meeting our kids. Delta was wonderful and got us on a 10:40 flight instead of a 1:40 and they honored our tickets to DC which were the el cheapo tickets that if you miss your flight you are out of luck. We got to DC by 6:00 that night. I have no idea what time it was body time as we had passed through 9 times zones by then.
We spent Sat and Sun nights with David and Anne who have just moved to Silver Springs Maryland as David has accepted a position with HHS. We went to the zoo on Sunday and met up with Mark and Rachel. Afterwards we all went to D &A’s for dinner. On Monday we went to Centreville and spent the night with M&R. It was great to be with our kids and grandkids. On Tuesday night the kids took Ron and me to dinner at our favorite restaurant in DC to celebrate my birthday and Father’s Day. We got to sit outside and eat fabulous Middle Eastern cuisine. Yum
On Wednesday we flew back to Atlanta where Ron had arranged several site visits for the Georgians who are here with Ron to attend the Government Financial Officers Assoc conference. On Thursday they met all day with the county and I got to hook up with my friend James whom I have known since the 4th grade. He moved here recently from VA. What luck! He took me around to get some of my shopping done. Atlanta is a huge city and they have virtually no shopping in downtown. You have to go to the burbs for shopping. We visited the tiny shopping center that is located downtown and it is basically a food court with a handful of little shops. Useless given our needs. We will take Marta, the mass transit here, on Saturday to get the clothes we need at a shopping center north of downtown.
On one of my shopping trips I was buying a bath mat and was with my friend James aka Jimmy James. There was a woman walking through the bath department and exclaiming to her friend (this is the honest to god truth) “I need some new towels somethin’ terrible”. I looked at Jimmy who was suppressing a laugh and I said ‘can you imagine being a foreigner and hearing that and trying to understand what she just said?’
June 8, 2010
Ron’s meetings are going well and I have completed my shopping. Today Jimmy has arranged a massage for me. What a treat! I went to the Lenox Square Mall where I worked one summer as a gift wrapper and bought a pair of sandals. The mall was not recognizable. I managed to travel using Marta, their metro and was impressed with how easy it is. I was thrilled to see an old friend from high school who now lives in Atlanta. Nan and Jimmy are friends so he connected us up with each other. Nan took me to a medical appointment and out to lunch. She had us over to dinner one night also. It was so much fun remembering our days in high school.
Last night we were the dinner guests of some of the GFOA officials. All the Georgian delegates were invited. We went to a very nice French restaurant. I think I have mentioned how important wine is in the Georgian culture and how when having any kind of celebration Georgians have a toastmaster. Well last night Dato assumed the role. Most Georgian wine is homemade and has an alcohol content of 6%. The Georgians asked the waiter repeatedly to fill their glasses to the rim. Another custom is the toast master will drink his entire glass of wine for his more important toasts. Last night was no exception. Dato had consumed three glasses before appetizers were served. Anytime their wine bottle was empty the Georgians would shout to the waiter ‘more wine!’ Afterwards they went to the president’s suite of GFOA for more partying. We went back to the hotel and off to bed.
June 20
I failed to keep up with our trip. We rented a car in Atlanta on June 10th after Ron’s meetings ended and drove to South Carolina to visit my family there. We stayed with my sister and her husband. Toni, my sister, has lost 33 pounds and counting. She was diagnosed with diabetes and said no way. She changed her diet and eliminated sugar, white flour, white potatoes, etc and continues to lose weight. Toni has been overweight for many years so this is really great. Her doctor has ‘undiagnosed’ her diabetes. We have a hilarious evening on my birthday when Toni’s three kids came over and told lots of family stories. We were crying we were laughing so hard. It was probably my best birthday ever. On Saturday we drove up to my sister’s mountain cabin and on the way stopped for lunch. We ran into Nan from Atlanta who had been in Greenville on business. Too funny.
On Monday we got up early and at 7:30 started our drive back to Atlanta. We hung out at the airport until our plane left at 3:30 and flew to Paris. There we had a layover before flying into Tbilisi at 6:00 Tuesday afternoon where it was very hot and humid. We had a wonderful trip but it felt great to be back ‘home’.
We are now in the rainy season. Almost everyday we have a torrential downpour which is short lived but intense. We also get thunder and lightening. Yesterday as I was coming out of the subway, it was pouring so I waited in the underpass with many others for the rain to subside. I had planned to run by a small grocery store on my way home but couldn’t get across the street as water about four inches deep was coursing down the street. Perhaps if I had on galoshes instead of sandals I would have considered trying to get across the street. I gave up and came home.
We left Tbilisi at 7 a.m. on May 28th and flew to Paris, expecting to have a two hour layover. Our plane from Paris was three hours late getting into Paris. We boarded at 5:00 p.m. instead of 1:40. We pulled away from the gate and stopped shortly afterwards. After a while the captain announced a problem with an indicator light on the rear door which is what had made the plane late to Paris. Unfortunately a caterer had opened the rear door that had been problematic in NY or where ever the plane had originated from. So we were struck there for a total of five hours. When they couldn’t fix the problem we deplaned as our flight was cancelled. Then we stood in line for two hours (after being up for 20 hours) in order to get a voucher for a hotel. We stayed at a Radisson near the airport and the advertised price was 400 Euros! Yikes! We got six hour sleep after having been up for 23 hours since we left TBS. We went back to the airport to see if we could get an earlier flight to Atlanta and on to DC where we were meeting our kids. Delta was wonderful and got us on a 10:40 flight instead of a 1:40 and they honored our tickets to DC which were the el cheapo tickets that if you miss your flight you are out of luck. We got to DC by 6:00 that night. I have no idea what time it was body time as we had passed through 9 times zones by then.
We spent Sat and Sun nights with David and Anne who have just moved to Silver Springs Maryland as David has accepted a position with HHS. We went to the zoo on Sunday and met up with Mark and Rachel. Afterwards we all went to D &A’s for dinner. On Monday we went to Centreville and spent the night with M&R. It was great to be with our kids and grandkids. On Tuesday night the kids took Ron and me to dinner at our favorite restaurant in DC to celebrate my birthday and Father’s Day. We got to sit outside and eat fabulous Middle Eastern cuisine. Yum
On Wednesday we flew back to Atlanta where Ron had arranged several site visits for the Georgians who are here with Ron to attend the Government Financial Officers Assoc conference. On Thursday they met all day with the county and I got to hook up with my friend James whom I have known since the 4th grade. He moved here recently from VA. What luck! He took me around to get some of my shopping done. Atlanta is a huge city and they have virtually no shopping in downtown. You have to go to the burbs for shopping. We visited the tiny shopping center that is located downtown and it is basically a food court with a handful of little shops. Useless given our needs. We will take Marta, the mass transit here, on Saturday to get the clothes we need at a shopping center north of downtown.
On one of my shopping trips I was buying a bath mat and was with my friend James aka Jimmy James. There was a woman walking through the bath department and exclaiming to her friend (this is the honest to god truth) “I need some new towels somethin’ terrible”. I looked at Jimmy who was suppressing a laugh and I said ‘can you imagine being a foreigner and hearing that and trying to understand what she just said?’
June 8, 2010
Ron’s meetings are going well and I have completed my shopping. Today Jimmy has arranged a massage for me. What a treat! I went to the Lenox Square Mall where I worked one summer as a gift wrapper and bought a pair of sandals. The mall was not recognizable. I managed to travel using Marta, their metro and was impressed with how easy it is. I was thrilled to see an old friend from high school who now lives in Atlanta. Nan and Jimmy are friends so he connected us up with each other. Nan took me to a medical appointment and out to lunch. She had us over to dinner one night also. It was so much fun remembering our days in high school.
Last night we were the dinner guests of some of the GFOA officials. All the Georgian delegates were invited. We went to a very nice French restaurant. I think I have mentioned how important wine is in the Georgian culture and how when having any kind of celebration Georgians have a toastmaster. Well last night Dato assumed the role. Most Georgian wine is homemade and has an alcohol content of 6%. The Georgians asked the waiter repeatedly to fill their glasses to the rim. Another custom is the toast master will drink his entire glass of wine for his more important toasts. Last night was no exception. Dato had consumed three glasses before appetizers were served. Anytime their wine bottle was empty the Georgians would shout to the waiter ‘more wine!’ Afterwards they went to the president’s suite of GFOA for more partying. We went back to the hotel and off to bed.
June 20
I failed to keep up with our trip. We rented a car in Atlanta on June 10th after Ron’s meetings ended and drove to South Carolina to visit my family there. We stayed with my sister and her husband. Toni, my sister, has lost 33 pounds and counting. She was diagnosed with diabetes and said no way. She changed her diet and eliminated sugar, white flour, white potatoes, etc and continues to lose weight. Toni has been overweight for many years so this is really great. Her doctor has ‘undiagnosed’ her diabetes. We have a hilarious evening on my birthday when Toni’s three kids came over and told lots of family stories. We were crying we were laughing so hard. It was probably my best birthday ever. On Saturday we drove up to my sister’s mountain cabin and on the way stopped for lunch. We ran into Nan from Atlanta who had been in Greenville on business. Too funny.
On Monday we got up early and at 7:30 started our drive back to Atlanta. We hung out at the airport until our plane left at 3:30 and flew to Paris. There we had a layover before flying into Tbilisi at 6:00 Tuesday afternoon where it was very hot and humid. We had a wonderful trip but it felt great to be back ‘home’.
We are now in the rainy season. Almost everyday we have a torrential downpour which is short lived but intense. We also get thunder and lightening. Yesterday as I was coming out of the subway, it was pouring so I waited in the underpass with many others for the rain to subside. I had planned to run by a small grocery store on my way home but couldn’t get across the street as water about four inches deep was coursing down the street. Perhaps if I had on galoshes instead of sandals I would have considered trying to get across the street. I gave up and came home.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)