Building and Moving Bridges

April 13, 2010

Last Thursday Ron got a call in the afternoon inviting us to a celebration for interns at the ministry who had been appointed to positions there. We decide to go since this was a first invitation and it had come from the Budget Director who is the person Ron works directly with. We arrived at 7:30 as instructed and were about 15 minutes ahead of anyone else. Georgians have a rather different sense of time. Cultural differences. We were sitting at one of the two tables that had been set for the event. It was evident we were in for a supra as much of the food had already been placed on the table: fish, cheese platers, chicken salad, another mayonnaise based salad which I have no idea what it was even after tasting it, breads, spinach spread, etc As the table filled up we were instructed to move to the other table where the Deputy Minister of Finance and the budget director would be sitting. Too bad because the people around us at the original table didn’t smoke

.

By eight, the budget director showed up and about two hours later the deputy minister came. Our friend Gigi served as tamada, toastmaster, and I have always liked his toasts as they are brief. No long diatribes with Gigi. He was joined by his lovely wife Sophie who is a physician who works as a nurse because she can’t find work as a doctor! The restaurant hosted several other supras as well. After things got started there was ‘entertainment’. I thought I was in a foreign country, not Georgia, when the can-can girls came out. Not a traditional dance here! There were several other performances that weren’t Georgian including a Russian dance. Odd since most Georgians resent the Russians.

What really intrigued us was when the band played national songs the majority of people went to the dance floor and did national dances which involved a lot of hand movements and bowing while dancing. Our friend Gigi trained as a dancer and he is a pleasure to watch. During these dances, men danced with men, men and women danced together and women with women. When I was telling Elza about this she asked if people were drunk and I realized it was later in the evening and most people had been drinking since 7:30 or so. Even so I realized we don’t have national dances in the US much less an excitement about such a ritual.

Around 10:00 the deputy minister showed up and after a while came over to us and asked via his interpreter if we were having a good time. He had his photos taken with us and returned to his seat after congratulating the newly appointed staff. As the night wore on we grew tired. Various attendees of the multiple supras were getting drunker as the night wore on. We got up to dance and we realized every person attending our supra was watching us. I don’t think we look that odd and since we were dancing to a slow number Ron danced with a number of women from the ministry. At midnight we decided it was time to leave. We needed to get up early on Friday as the fabulous Italian designed bridge that has been being erected most of the time we have been here was ready to move into place across the river and Ron was dying to see how they were going to move it. You would have thought we were leaving five minutes after eating when several people rushed up to make sure we really wanted to leave. We got to bed around 1:00 but Ron woke up several times with food poisoning. Gross! I think because Georgians leave food out for hours at supras there is a greater chance of food poisoning with mayonnaise based iitems. We will skip those items next time. It may have been caused by a food service worker not washing his or her hands. Who knows? At any rate Ron finished tossing his cookies around 6:00 a.m.

Gia took us to see the bridge moving across the river one centimeter at a time. It took three hours to get across a river not as wide as the Willamette in downtown Portland. It was fun and we were blessed with a crystal clear day that was relatively warm. Afterwards we walked downtown and had lunch at Prosperos, a favorite hangout. We then went next door shopped for a mafrash, a large woven bag that we hope to have made into a bedspread using the end panels for the pillow area and the side panels for the top of the spread. We found one that I was wild about. It requires a lot of repair which can easily be done here but Ron wanted to check to see if there were others available from a man we heard about through friends. Jamal doesn’t have a shop but comes to the house with his wares. Jamal came over on Wednesday night but we weren’t interested in the two mafrashes he bought. He also had brought a salt bag which we purchased. He said he had more panels to show us and is due back tonight. After he left we walked over to Leslie’s house and joined Laurie and Leslie for a movie downtown: Men Who Stare at Goats. The best part was listening to Laurie and Leslie laugh throughout the movie.

We are feeling very comfortable here and Ron’s work seems to really be picking up. Today I visited with the Chief of Party (yes they really do call the executive director for USAID projects this) for a project that he has asked me to volunteer for. I think I probably will as IWA doesn’t have any summer activities and I will grow restless. The project involves helping to establish an alumni office at the oldest and largest university in Georgia which is here in Tbilisi. Stay tuned.

Travelin

April 7 2010

Alas, we are home after 19 days of travel. We headed out to San Francisco on the 19th of March leaving the house around 2:30 a.m. Neither of us could sleep anticipating the journey and worrying about oversleeping. We arrived in San Francisco mid afternoon the same day 26 hours later. Nothing like flying against the clock to confuse your head and body!

San Francisco was wonderful. We had excellent weather the entire time with lots of sun, yeah California! We stayed at the Mark Hopkins Hotel on top of Nob Hill, a very luxurious hotel. This is where the Treasury held its four day meeting that didn’t start until Monday. Friday is a blur but on Saturday we met our friend Wendy at the farmer’s market at the bottom of the hill. She was shopping with her friends Steve and Robert. I have heard about Steve for years so it was a real treat to finally meet him. He is quite tall and his partner Robert is much shorter so they make a great Mutt and Jeff team. I have known Wendy since she was 16 when I administered her GED. I was in my mid 20’s at the time. The market was fabulous, located at the Embarcadero. Steve and Robert gave us a great trip for dinner. Later Wendy and the two of us drove over to the Presidio and walked along the shore and ate a yummy lunch sitting outside. After saying goodbye to Wendy, we headed over to the Flour +Water restaurant. We were told to get in line by 5:00 or forget it. It takes a couple of months to get a reservation. We arrived three minutes before five and were the third people in line. Tim Grewe, the man Ron replaced in Tbilisi, joined us. The doors opened at 5:30 and some people didn’t get seated. We had been introduced to the chef that morning at the market so waved to him as we were eating. He came to our table and we reminded him how we knew him. He is 25 years old and already a raving success in the restaurant scene in SF. Our meal was fabulous of course!

Sunday we were treated to a tour of Marin County across the Golden Gate Bridge by Dee Michener, the mother of one of our Embassy friends in Tbilisi. Dee is an 80 year old spitfire! No moss is gathering under her. She drove us to Muir Woods and after walking through the woods we headed for Stinson Beach and Reyes Point. We had taken the ferry over but she drove us home, above and beyond the call of duty. In between squiring us around, she entertained us with wonderful stories of her life and family. We had a delightful time.

Monday Ron headed off to his meetings and I went shopping with two other wives, one of whom is Patty Culpepper, a good friend from Tbilisi. I discovered that my lowly Lee Jeans aren’t available in the city and would require me going out of the area to find them. Bummer. I did manage to go to a pharmacy and a grocery store and get many of the items we needed in Tbilisi. Shopping in the US is so easy due to the availability of goods. I went to the deYoung Museum with Dee on Tuesday to see an Amish quilt show of quilts made between 1900-1930’s. What a treat for my eyes. Some of them were real gems. We ate lunch at a Jewish deli and waddled out afterwards. On Wednesday I went to see a show of Cartier jewels with Patty and another friend. Talk about gems, oh my goodness. Some of the items displayed had belonged to the rich and famous: people like Liz Taylor and Princess Grace of Monaco. It was amazing to see all the items that had been custom made for celebrities.

On Thursday I took the ferry over to meet Dee and pick up Kirsten’s tax return to bring back to Tbilisi. Dee took me on another excursion to Sonoma, a charming old California town with lots a real cool shops and a lovely town square.

Friday we flew to LA to see Sonia and Bob, Ron’s mom and her partner. We were very fortunate in that Ron’s sister, Sandi and her husband Bill from Rhode Island were there also. Ron only gets two weeks vacation so being able to see family is a real treat when we are so far away. We had a wonderful time visiting with everyone and regretted that our time was so short.

On Monday afternoon we flew back to SF and caught a 9:00 p.m. flight to Munich where we stayed overnight for a 24 hr layover. This time we were flying with the clock so we left SF on Monday arriving in Germany on Tuesday and left late at night on Wednesday arriving in Tbilisi on Thursday at 3:00 a.m. In Munich we had fun taking a self guided two hour of the neighborhood. I spied an amber shop and my dear husband brought me a honey amber pendant to go with the large cuff bracelet he had gotten me several years ago when he had a study tour in central Europe. I stayed home on that trip to save money as it was quite expensive. It was a decision that we both regretted and now rarely do I stay at home on these long trips. We left Munich late at night and got here at 3:00 a.m. OY! Not a good schedule but welcome to Georgia. We waited a long time for luggage because the kiosk said our luggage would be on carousel 2 and it was on carousel 1 along with another flight’s luggage. It was after 6:00 before we got to sleep and I was up at 9:00 as Kirsten was coming by to pick up her tax forms. I never went back to bed. Nino, our housekeeper was sick the entire time we were gone so the house was a mess. We repacked for Turkey and got on a 5:00 p.m. flight for Istanbul. Guess you could call us jet setters or just plain nuts…

I forgot to mention that 24 hours before our flight to Istanbul our hotel cancelled our rooms. This was a major problem as we were out of the country with limited access to computers and Istanbul is swarming with tourists on Easter weekend. Laurie headed out to the Embassy and got us a room that morning using the travel agency. Our hotel had a super location although it was somewhat seedy. Our room had three single beds, a hole in the wall as though there had been a fight, a hole in the bathroom door as thought someone tried to put their fist through it and the oddest thing was the hole someone had cut into a painting. Go figure. Rooms cost a small fortune due to the popularity of Istanbul at Easter. Normally we would pay about $300 for four nights in a three star hotel but we paid $544.

An ever so brief history of Istanbul. The foundation of Istanbul dates to 667 BC when a Greek colonist, Byzas, led an expedition from the overcrowded cities of Athens and Megara to establish a colony on the European side of the Bosphorus. (The Bosphorus is a body of water that connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara then the Aegean and Mediteranean and is the dividing line between Europe and Asia.)This colony known as Byzantion grew to a successful independent city-state. In 64 BC it was subsumed into the Roman Empire and became Byzantium. In 324 Constantine become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. He moved the capital from Rome to Byzantium. Later the city became known as Constantinople. The ruler was instrumental in the spread of Christianity. The 6th century was dominated by the extraordinary genius of Justinian (527-65) who developed the city into a thriving city and re-conquered lost provinces. At the time of his death the empire had expanded to its greatest size and covered Syria, Palestine, Asia Minor, Greece, the Balkans, Italy, southern Spain, parts of northern Africa including Egypt. Jumping ahead, The Ottoman state was born in 1301 when Osman I, a leader of warriors who were fighting for the Muslin faith declared his independence. The new state quickly expanded. By 1453 the Ottomans had captured Constantinople. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Ottoman Empire steadily lost territory thorough wars with Russia and Austria. In WWI the empire was on the losing side. The peace treaties rewarded victors with Ottoman territory and as a result stimulated nationalists to take over power from the sultan. Mustafa Kemal Pasa, known at Ataturk ‘the father of Turks’ set in motion an ambitious program of political and social change. The sultanate was abolished in 1922 and religion and state were formally separated when the country was declared a secular republic a year later. His reforms included replacing the Arabic alphabet with a Roman one, allowing women greater rights, encouraging western dress (the fez was banned) and obliging all Turks to choose a surname! Needless to say, I skipped over 299 pages of my history book but thought it would be helpful to know that three distinct civilizations ruled here for long periods of time.

Our first night was walked across the street and ate a late meal at an outdoor café. It was not memorable but was edible. Breakfast at the hotel was Turkish: sliced hard boiled eggs with raw onions and fresh dill, bread, tahini sauce and others I didn’t try, cucumbers and tomatoes, sliced deli meats and feta cheese. There were some dry cereals also. Again it wasn’t memorable but it was edible and held us until lunch. The coffee was instant, sacrilege in Turkey I would think. Our first day we visited Topkapi Palace, built in 1459-65 by Sultan Mehmet II. We were lucky enough to get there early and not have to wait in line (last time I was there I waited a very long time to buy tickets.) Once inside we scored tickets for the harem section of the palace. Last time they were sold out. I found this section fascinating as it gave us insight into the lives of sultans. Some had as many as 1000 concubines. Oy! Think about that one folks! Before going I read a 300 page history of Istanbul and the palace intrigue, political maneuvering, etc were brutal. Lots of beheadings. Lots of siblings killed so the sultan didn’t have to worry about his next of kin usurping the throne. Later this practice changed to imprisoning siblings within the palace in an area called the Cage.

Right across the way was Haghia Sophia, one of the world’s greatest architectural achievements. It is 1400 years old and is known as the ‘Church of Holy Wisdom’. It stands as a testament to the sophistication of the 6th century Byzantine capital. It was inaugurated by Emperor Justinian in 537. In the 15th century it was converted into a mosque and the incredible mosaics were plastered over. Minarets, tombs and fountains date from that period. The mosaics are now being restored.

We also visited the Blue Mosque, named for the incredible blue Iznik tiles inside the mosque. It is one of the most famous religious buildings in the world. It was built in 1609-16.

We ate lunch at a place within the spice bazaar that had been recommended by a friend in Tbilisi. It is always fun to note weird translations and this menu was no exception with ‘write rice’ and our all time favorite ‘burnt bottom milk pudding of chicken breast’. Do chickens have milk? I don’t think so. Anyone who can give us some insight into this dish will be rewarded…with a free serving of the above!  In the Spice Bizaar we purchased a box of Turkish Delight that Ron will share with is office.

On our last full day we visited the Basilica Cistern. This cavernous vault was laid out under Justinian in 532, another beautiful piece of Byzantine engineering. The roof of the cistern is held up by 336 columns, each over 26 ft high. It is enormous but only two thirds of the original structure is visible today. In one corner there are two columns that rest on Medusa head bases: one is turned sideways and the other head is upside down. No one knows the reason they were placed at these angles. We were able to walk through the structure on raised walkways. It would be the perfect setting for a movie like the Da Vinci Code. It is dark, damp and there is the sound of water dripping throughout. For a century after the conquest the Ottomans did not know of the cistern’s existence. It was rediscovered after people were found to be collecting water and even fish, by lowering buckets through holes in their basements.

Later that day we went to the Church of St Savior in Chora. Some of the finest Byzantine mosaics and frescoes are here. They were exquisite. There were several domes with the finest mosaics I have ever seen. Given the age, it was all the more impressive. This church was located on the edge of town. We took a light rail train then walked for about 20 minutes to get to it. “In Chora” means in the country. The church dates from the 11th century and between 1315-21 it was remodeled and the mosaics and frescoes were added by Theodore Metochites, a theologian, philosopher and one of the elite Byzantine officials of his day.

Afterwards we ate at a hotel nearby. We sat outside on the terrace as the weather was wonderful everyday we were in Istanbul. This was the nicest place we had dined in Istanbul. Excellent service and Jock said his meal was the best of his life. Laurie agreed. I told the manager when I went inside to use the restroom and he said it was their signature dish. As a thank you he gave each couple a jar of their homemade apple jam.

Later that day we visited Rustem Pasa Mosque that is noted for its Iznik tiles. ‘There is no mosque in the city adorned with such a magnificent blanket of tiles.’ It was built in 1561 and rises above the busy shops and warehouse around the Spice Bazaar.

On the way to visit a church I asked if I could pop into a shop that sold carpets and textiles. Three and a half hours and three cups of tea later, we had bought four village textiles with lovely embroidery and the Conly’s out spent us by buying a carpet, a wall hanging and a lovely bedspread. It was too late to visit the church but we made it there our last morning. Below is a picture of the happy seller and the happy buyers.

One day we visited the Grand Bazaar. It is gianormous built by Mehmet II in 1453 shortly after his conquest. There are literally 1000’s of shops, each with a hawker or person asking you to come into his shop. Two hundred thousand visitors a day flow through here. It is exhausting and I find it difficult to shop in this kind fractured loud setting. Bangkok also has such a bazaar. Haggling is a definite must here. This also makes me uncomfortable. Although we spent time looking at carpets, copperware and bedspreads, we walked away empty handed.

We tried to visit a carpet museum but it was closed for remodeling. We did make it to the Mosaic Museum. This museum was created by roofing over a part of the Great Palace of the Byzantine Emperors which was discovered in the 1930s. In its heyday the palace had hundreds of rooms, many of them glittering with gold mosaics. The surviving mosaic floor shows a variety of animals which made us wonder: were there lions and leopards here at some point? The palace is thought to have been built in the late 5th century.

Our last morning we went to visit the “Little Hagia Sophia, Saints Sergius ad Bacchus’ Church. This church was built in 527, again by Justinian. It was converted into a mosque in 1453 after the conquest. It was a real beauty with white walls and a blue and soft green decoration. The original marble carved frieze remains intact.

All in all it was a great trip. Ron divided vacations into three categories: vacations of obligation (this is when you visit family), tourists on speed (you may never pass this way again so you had better see and do everything you can with the time you have) and PMB (Park My Butt: sleeping in, lying on a beach under a palm tree reading a book and taking a nap after lunch). This trip to Istanbul was definitely tourists on speed. Although we were tired when we came home, we wouldn’t change anything about the trip. The best part was traveling with Laurie and Jock. It was fun to discover how similar we are in terms of interests, values and a sense of play.

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.

Roses, ruts, rain and rants

Feb 21 2010

On Valentine’s Day Ron overwhelmed me with a dozen red roses. We left the next day for the ski resort and I was thrilled when we returned on Monday to discover the roses still looked great.

One of the things we deal with in a developing country is the dirt: dirty air and dirty streets in this case. Because many streets are not paved and because many paved streets have potholes, there is dirt everywhere. So when it rains or snows, you get very muddy. I frequently have to wash off my shoes and polish them much more frequently here than at home. The house requires vacuuming twice a week and dusting often.

I have started a yoga class that Laurie teaches in our neighborhood at Leslie’s who lives right around the corner from Laurie. We meet at 7:30-9 on Wednesday morning and at 8-9:30 on Saturday. I have gotten terribly out of shape and more rigid than I care to admit so I am thankful to be limbering up. Laurie is a great teacher and I am thankful that I don’t feel like I have to compete with the much younger participants. There are four other women in the class.

On Wednesday last week Ron went to Ireland with some people from his work to look at how Ireland is doing capital budgeting. He left at 3:00 a.m. to go to the airport. I decided to get up and fix him some coffee. As I was sitting at the table with him, I realized I was drinking regular coffee, not decaf. Bummer! We ran out of decaf a good while ago. I tried to go back to bed but it was useless so I stayed up until 11:00 that night. At 5:00 p.m. I went over to Jock and Laurie’s to help them with a dinner party they were having for some of Jock’s Georgian staff. He has 80 Georgians on his staff and he has invited them all to a series of dinner parties he is hosting over the next few months. So I helped with set up, food prep and clean up. We finished in the kitchen around 11:00 and they invited me to stay over. I decided to do it because by then I was exhausted, having been up since 2:00 a.m. Live and learn!

On Thursday I cooked my hinny off. Friday was a chocolate/chili fund raiser for IWA and I was asked to quadruple my recipe for Black Bean Soup with Chocolate. I didn’t bring but one large pot and it wasn’t large enough. I should mention here that there are NO black beans in Georgia so borrowed Patty’s stash which I will replenish when we go to the States in March for a meeting in SF. So I reconstituted six pounds of black beans and cooked them on Thursday. Then I needed to refrigerate the soup. What a mess I had trying to mix all the pots I was using to even out the spices, etc. I was in the kitchen from 10:30 until 5:00. I took a break and came back after dinner to make a double batch of brownies. On Friday I left the house at 9:30 a.m. and had Gia take me to Patty’s where I stayed until 11:00 p.m. From noon-6:00 p.m. we held a chocolate tasting. For 20 lari participants could come for coffee, tea, soft drinks or juice and as much of the chocolate desserts as would fit on a plate. This event didn’t sell well but we had about 30 people come throughout the day. At 7:00 we held a chili contest. Here guests could sample the 10 chilies that members of IWA had made and vote for their favorite. The tickets for this event were 45 lari. We served appetizers, wine, beer, soft drinks, chili of your choice, corn bread muffins and any of the chocolate desserts you wanted. We sold about 110 -120 tickets for this event. I got home a bit after 11:00 very tired but glad we had made about 3500 lari for the effort.

Saturday was a relatively pretty day so I left the house a little before noon to go downtown. I feel like a mole here: anytime the sun comes out I want to be outside. So I took the metro and went downtown. There are very few public toilets and I only know of two downtown so I stopped at Prospero’s Book Store to have lunch and relief. I ran into Leslie my neighbor who was with two other women who were buying rugs next store at an antique carpet place. From here I walked down Rustaveli to Pushkin Street and further down the hill to an art salon owned by a member of IWA. She had quite a collection and I saw a copy of a 12th century icon of St George that I liked. I didn’t have enough cash to buy it so will return to see if it is still available. I then walked back up the hill to the Hobby Gallery that I discovered on our art salon tour and they had a new exhibition up to commemorate the life of a former diplomat who lived here before going to Haiti to work. He died in the recent earthquake. Apparently he was a big supporter of the arts in Tbilisi. I was pleased to see three of Maia’s pieces in the show. We are having an open house for her on Sunday so people can see her work and meet her. We were so pleased with our wall hanging we thought we should share her talent with others in hopes of getting her more work. Maia supports herself with her art and teaching others. It was quite warm so I decided to take a taxi home as I was tired and I had a long walk to the metro and an even longer walk to the house. When I got home I relaxed and napped then got up and got ready for another fund raiser, this one was sponsored by some of the embassy staff. I shared a taxi with Leslie and her house guest, Lisa. We went to the new and very exquisite Radisson Hotel in downtown Tbilisi. There were 140 guests for this event and we had a great meal. Our tickets were 80 lari.

Ron was due to fly in at 3:40 AM but called to say Tbilisi was fogged in and he would have to stay overnight in Istanbul where he had been sitting for a six hour layover. Bummer! On Sunday I worked on my language homework which I had managed to put off all week. I spent a long time trying to find the Olympics on TV and curling and ice hockey were featured. Bummer! I am bored with both. I rescheduled Maia our masseuse so that Ron could still get a massage. She arrived at 6:00 and as she was finishing with me, Ron arrived in time to shower before his massage. As I was leaving the room, he was moaning softly something about being in heaven. Yeah Maia!

I read in the newspaper an ad for bank mortgages. Thank your lucky stars, it is 14.9% here! Remember the 1980’s?

On Monday we had a beautiful day after a light morning rain but the wind picked up and created havoc. I had planned to take a walk but once I went outside I didn’t feel safe due to the force of the wind. Ultimately, it blew our satellite dish off the beam so we now have no reception, the power went off and on all day and night, there are roof singles scattered about today and two large pieces of flashing blew off the garage and several other pieces are loose and bent. The telephone pole at the end of the street is close to falling over into the street. Our generator came on at least once. It is the size of a Mack truck and comes on automatically if the power goes off for more than 30 seconds. We are so spoiled here. I think only expats have such privilege. We have UPSs for our computers so we are protected there also.

Today is Tuesday and because it is sunny again I went downtown to get a gift for a friend’s son who turns six on Sunday. When I stepped outside I thought it was warm enough to go without a jacket but once I got outside the gate I realized that our front porch is the warmest place in Tbilisi because it faces south and the stone porch and façade of the house absorb the heat and fooled me into thinking it was warmer than it really was so back into the house I went to get my lightweight coat. I went to town on the metro.

I don’t know if I mentioned the people who beg for money here. Ninety percent are the elderly who have very meager pensions; I think it is about $40 a month which is totally inadequate. Mostly elderly women beg. Widows dress in black and many cover their faces with a veil to save being embarrassed by begging. Some hold a picture of a saint, I assume to let you know they are Christians. Many Georgians give to the poor and we do also. Some beggars will stand in the entry to the metro as there is always foot traffic there and they can get out of the weather if it is cold or rainy. Some ride the subway and walk down the car either verbally asking or simply walking with their hand out. Sometimes there are children begging but not as often as the elderly. Also I see people lying on the street on a blanket with a cup for donations. There are a number of regular beggars at the main subway junction where I change lines. Today I looked in my car and counted about 80 riders and 11 had on a coat or jacket that wasn’t black! Most of the 11 were gray or brown with an occasional color like green. I wear black jeans daily and have a black jacket that I wear when it isn’t too cold so I fit right in here!

Learning about Georgia & ordinary stuff

Feb 3, 2010

I asked Elza, our language teacher, about wages here. She earns $10.00 an hour teaching Georgian. In our case it is $18 since there are two of us. Her husband works at the embassy as a security guard and the guards make between $600-$700 a month and the embassy provides insurance for their families. This is an above average salary but not a great one here. They are fortunate because they both have jobs. Elza’s utilities for a three bedroom apartment run about 80-90 GEL for gas, 30 internet, 40 for electricity, 9 for garbage and 9 for water. That totals to about $81 a month for her utilities. Many people make 400 GEL (Georgian Lari) a month in their jobs. That’s about $231 a month. Nino’s nephew makes 35 GEL ($20) a day as a restaurant worker but they usually only get three days a week of work. He was thrilled to get the job. Nino our housekeeper gets 35GEL each time she comes and she is usually here 3.5-4 hours. She also gets all Georgian and US holidays off and paid. This is not normal but she said that is the way it was for her. My friend has a half time housekeeper and pays her 700 GEL ($404) a month. To have your children in private school is cost a minimum of $100 a month per child. Gia, our driver, has three kids in private schools. I asked Maia our masseuse how much her utilities cost. She lives with her sister in an unheated apartment. Only the bedroom has heat. The electric bill is 85 lari, the gas is 35 lari, the internet is 30 lari, water is 15 and trash is 8. So her utilities are $100 a month. She supports her sister who has lost her job and her mother who doesn’t work. Maia makes her living with one housekeeping job and doing massage, about ten a week at 25 lari per massage. So she may make around $623 a month plus whatever she makes as a housekeeper. That would be a fairly good salary but she is supporting three people. In addition she helps out with her niece and nephew. Maia’s other sister died a few years ago and she and her sister do what they can to help out the children’s father. I am humbled by how hard it is here in Georgia. People make do and say it is better than under the Soviets where no one had heat, electricity was limited to a few hours daily and food was in short supply.

I asked Nino about her utilities. She lives in a house as opposed to an apartment. It is three floors: a full basement used for storage and wine making I think. The main floor is a large open floor plan with kitchen, living and dining rooms as well as a bathroom. On the upper floor there are four bedrooms but she says they only use one of them for the five people who live there: Nino, her husband Zura, their two kids and Zura’s mother. The house is 15 meters x 14 meters. About 45 feet by 42 feet or 1900 sq feet. Her electricity in summer is about 80 lari and it is 100 in the winter. Her gas is 200 in the winter and 40-60 in the summer. She doesn’t have to pay for water or trash. She tried to explain that to me but it made absolutely no sense. So her utilities at the highest are $175 a month. She only heats the downstairs which is one large room and she uses what sounds like a gas space heater. So I doubt the room is very warm. I am guessing at her income based on what I pay her. She has one other client that she works for five days a week. So I would guess she makes $700 a month. Zura’s income has been sporadic but when he works he makes what Nino makes on a daily basis. In the winter he has almost no income since he has been doing yard work. He just got a job where he works on a contractor who drives military to and from the airport and other places in Tbilisi. Zura gets 20 lari a day working up to 12 hours a day. That is $11.67 a day. He was making up to 70 lari a day when he worked doing yard work but this new job has regular days he works so he is thrilled to be out of the house and earning a regular income. Zura has this very sad face, as though he is permanently depressed. In this culture which is male chauvinistic, men are expected to be the bread winners and Zura was laid off five years ago at a bank and has not had regular employment since then. No wonder he has such a sad face.

February 9, 2010

On Saturday we woke up to five-six inches of snow. We thought our art salon tour would be cancelled but it wasn’t. We walked 15 minutes to a nearby square where we were picked up by the mini bus that the embassy had arranged for the tour. There were 11 of us all together. Most had come from the embassy where the mini van had originated. We visited five galleries. The range was amazing. The first gallery had paintings hung from floor to ceiling literally so it made it difficult to really look at the art but frankly real estate is relatively expensive so people maximize the space. There were three rooms of paintings. We saw one we liked: an urban scene which has become one of our favorite themes. Next we visited an artist who represents other artists. He had paintings on the wall but three times as many on the floor in upright stacks, making it vey difficult to see what was there. The space was cramped as it usually is in developing countries. People do business on a shoe string so space is at a premium. From here we went to a café/art gallery. Oddly enough they were supposed to set up for a show later in the day but none of the art was out for us to see. You would think if they knew a bus load of Americans were coming to look at art and possible buy some they would have things out. They hurriedly bought out paintings and leaned them against the wall for us to view. Afterwards we had lunch in the café. We had ordered our meals over the internet to avoid wasting time. I had ordered a salad, soup and cornbread for a $6.00 lunch. Good lord, the portions were gigantic. I could have gone swimming on my soup bowl it was so big. I didn’t finish any of the three items. After lunch we went to old town and visited two more galleries, one of which had the prices in euros, a sign that it wasn’t affordable. The last gallery we had visited previously. The owner carves cameos from mammoth tusks. Where one finds mammoth tusks these days is beyond me. His gallery also was chock full and nothing of interest to us. One person bought one painting on the tour and another person bought a ring at the last gallery. We may return to buy the street scene if we are feeling flush.


We got home around 3:00 and started preparing for our dinner party. We had the Culpeppers over and the Nutters who live two blocks away. The two couples are friends so it worked out nicely. The Culpeppers have been so gracious to us, inviting us numerous times to their home for fabulous meals. I was glad to finally be able to reciprocate.

On Sunday Laurie called to say she was having back spasms and asked if Maia coming to give us massages. I told her I would call and see if she was available. Maia arrived here about 12:30 and I walked her over to Laurie’s as they had never met. Afterwards, Maia came back over here and gave Ron and me a massage. I was so glad as I had overdone my weightlifting exercise on Friday using ankle weights that weigh 14 pounds each. My hips were killing me Friday and Saturday night. Maia’s massage cured what ailed me! Sunday night we watched a 1949 Japanese detective film. It was interesting to note how some things have changed and others haven’t changed in film making.

Monday I stayed home as Elza is on a vacation with her family so we don’t have language class until Thursday this week. She had assigned a long lesson so I spent a lot of time on my homework. In the afternoon I went over to Laurie’s for tea and for her to show me where the yoga class will be. Tomorrow I start a new class that Laurie is teaching in Leslie’s house around the corner from Laurie. Afterwards I came home and fixed a simple meal as we both have gained weight this past week, Funny thing but it is so much easier to take off three pounds than 20 so we weigh daily and start to work on lessening our intake once we realize we are gaining.

Today is Tuesday and I went to the embassy with Ron to find out about using the CLO office to sell tickets for an IWA fund raiser we are having on the 19th. I worked out a schedule and will start tomorrow. I spent the rest of the day doing homework, working on an email to raise funds for Shilpa, an orphanage in Sri Lanka and drafting an open house invite for Maia, the artist. We want to host the reception in one or two weeks for our friends to meet Maia and hopefully get her more commissions or sales.

It has been cold since Saturday. A little snow lingers and the sun pops out throughout the day making me happy.

February 15 2010
YIKES! I apologize for taking so long to get this posted. We had more snow on Friday and had planned to go to a movie but when we started driving out of the neighborhood we realized it was not a good plan as the roads were so slippery. We were with Jock and Laurie and turned around and went to their house and watched the DVD ‘Spanglish’. We slid our way walking home and I got up early for my yoga class. Ron and Jock packed the car and came by to pick us up at Leslie’s after the yoga class. We all piled into the car to head to Bakuriani, another ski resort. We didn’t go anywhere as the street was a sheet of ice. We all got out and started pushing the car (uphill!) and nothing. Then two guys came by and with five of us pushing Jock got some traction and made it to the top of the hill and off we went. About 90 minutes into the trip we had a flat. Unfortunately the wind was blowing to beat the band and we nearly froze to death. We went from bad to worst when we found out the spare had almost no air. The good news was John Hansen was coming to Bakuriani and was behind us so we called and asked him to stop and help. He put our tire on top of his loaded car (four adults, a toddler and ski gear and luggage). He left us with a small compressor so we could fill the spare. We drove to the next wide spot in the road and called John who had backtracked looking for a tire repair place and he joined us at the tire repair place we had found. We had to go to another place to buy an inner tube. One thing that you learn to live with in developing countries is a lack of inventory. Often you have to go to several places to find what you need. I am not sure how we would have accomplished this repair had it not been for John. I can’t begin to describe how cold it was but colder than Paris which is 16 degrees F when I was there in January. We drove on to Bakuriani and had a late lunch around 3:00, a very picked over buffet at the hotel, and went to our rooms for a nap! The next day we had breakfast at 9 when they started serving at our hotel. Then the guys headed up the hill to ski when the lift opened around 10:30. Georgians do not do early morning anything! Leslie, Laurie and I walked up the hill and made it all the way to the top where the ski lift was and saw Jock and Ron after their first run. It was sunny and warmer than the day before. We tried helping a man and his family by pushing his car on the road as he was spinning his wheels on the ice. No luck! The three of us just didn’t have enough oomph. On the way down we helped another man and were successful. Rarely did we see chains on this icy road but there was a lot of traffic to the ski lift. On the way back I spied an Illy sign across the street from our hotel which only served instant coffee. Being from the NW where coffee is one of the major food groups, I eschew instant coffee. The place was a lovely family owned small hotel. It was nicer than our hotel in décor. Our hotel had three or four fixtures with plastic columns with small plastic fish in them. I think if you plugged them in the heat from the light at the bottom would cause the fish to float or swim but none were functioning and were awfully ugly anyway. The Cedars across the street has tasteful Georgian wall hangings and hand made sconces. The owners were warm and welcoming. We enjoyed some great Americanos and cappuccinos. The next day all of us went over there after our breakfast and had another coffee drink before taking off for home. We made reservations for another three day weekend in early March. We arrived home three hours later to dry streets. We were glad the snow and ice had dissipated as it made traveling much easier.

A super Supra and a piece of art

February 1, 2010

We had our first supra at our house and it was super. We had 18 invited guests and ended up with 16 plus the two of us. It was great fun. On Friday we shopped for groceries, went out to dinner and the movie "This is It", Michael Jackson’s final bow and set up the two tables to seat our guests. We had borrowed a table, 10 chairs, plates, wine glasses and cutlery from the embassy who delivered these items Friday morning. On Saturday we made the couscous salad which requires a lot of chopping: dates, onions, red and yellow peppers, etc. Then Ron made the salmon. We actually had time to rest in the late afternoon.

Guests arrived from 5-5:30 with a couple of late comers. A supra is a ritualized feast, a very old tradition in Georgia. The party began with us waiting for everyone to arrive. We served beer, juice, sodas and whiskey as instructed by Marika, Ron’s assistant at work. We have never bought whiskey in our lives just to give you some perspective here. We did not serve appetizers because the meal goes on for hours with twice the food needed for the number of guests. Yes that is part of the tradition: too much food. This was a potluck by the way, making it quite easy for the two of us. Ilya who works with the other Treasury rep, was asked to come and cook the pork as he has a reputation as an excellent ‘barbequer’. After he got the first batch done, he asked us to be seated. By this time the table was covered with various dishes, most of which you would see at every supra: three kinds of Georgian breads, a spinach dish with walnuts, an eggplant dish with walnut sauce, chicken salad, fish salad, fish stuffed with tarragon, baked beans, Georgian cheese, fried chicken, pork bbq.

Did I leave something out? Oh yes fabulous bilini made by Tiko, Gia’s wife. In the kitchen were two huge boxes of gooey bakery desserts. There were three carafes of wine, a pitcher of wine and because I had run out of pouring containers we used our coffee pot for wine. Get it? Wine is central to this event and this cultural. We also had juice as most women do not drink that much wine. I had requested 10 plates from the embassy and soon realized not a single guest brought a serving container. We shipped a minimum of goods here so I was using salad plates for dining so I could use dinner plates as serving dishes. I resorted to cereal bowls, soup bowls, etc because you don’t pass large platters or bowls to serve the guests. Multiple dishes of the same food are placed along the table so that each serving dish serves three-four guests.

Since Ilya was outside cooking Roland started us off with the first toasts so we could begin our meal. To make a long story short, we were at the table, eating, toasting and drinking until 10:00 p.m.! It turned out that Ilya was long winded. At one point I observed Nino rolling her eyes as Ilya went on and on about peace, one of the traditional toasts. She looked across the table to Elza and said something which was the equivalent to ‘enough already’. Those who smoked would get up and go outside for a smoke during the meal. One of the nontraditional toasts was to Tim Grewe, Ron’s predecessor. Tim made many friends in the time he was here and left an indelible mark on their hearts. It was very touching. I wrote him at 11:30 that night to let him know he is sorely missed. Everyone left by 10:30. No one would take any leftovers but Nino was still here and I insisted she take some. She resisted until I asked her how Ron and I could eat this much food before it spoiled and many items would not freeze well. At that point she loaded up.

The tamada,Ilya, however hung around until 11:30! He was wound up shall we say. We got everything cleaned up but not put away but we were too tired to continue to finished Sunday morning. By the way, most of our guests used taxi services rather than drive after a night of drinking. Gia parked his car in our garage and took a taxi home. On Sunday he came over to get his car. I was glad to see how smart and responsible our guests were.

Sunday afternoon Maia came over and gave us both 90 minute massages. What a blessing. We are averaging about two a month. She is very good and very reasonable. We always give her a healthy tip for which she is grateful. Afterwards we went to another Maia’s who is an artist, to pick up our commissioned art piece, a felt/wool & silk wall hanging. She had set out teacups, chocolates and bottled water for the occasion. She unveiled the piece and we were thrilled. She exceeded our expectations and we loved it. We initially met her in November and talked about what we wanted. We had two follow up meetings and kept our fingers crossed as you never really know how it will turn out when you commission an artwork. Ron had a metal rod to hold the hanging manufactured based upon some metal work we saw this summer in Italy.  We have commissioned art twice before at home and were somewhat disappointed. Not this time. We love it. See photo. The detail photo is the more accurate on the color.

Last week I explored a job opening at the Community Liaison Office at the embassy. It is a half time position. Before I left home I assumed I would get a job while here to avoid getting bored. I was offered a consulting position early on but we were still trying to move in and get settled and it felt all wrong to be starting work before we got settled. I interviewed the coordinator and the other half time worker and decided against the job. I felt I would be underemployed if not bored at work. One of my favorite bosses used to say ‘there something worst than not having a job and that is having a job you don’t like’. After I reviewed the other job description I decided it was too much of a stretch for my skills. I had many of the transferable skills but not the work content skills. It was full time with travel. I felt I would have to give up too much even if I could qualify although I doubted that I would. Both jobs were specifically for family members of employees of the embassy. If the state department wants to attract employees with families, they realized that there has to be good job opportunities for those family members. I realized I am not bored here and seem to have enough activities to keep me engaged. I still want to take some art classes and will be starting yoga this month so will hold off on job search for now.

February 2 Tuesday
For the past four days we have had incredible weather: sunny and warm. Yesterday it got up to 61 degrees Fahrenheit. Today was even warmer. I had been indoors Saturday and Sunday because of the dinner party, clean up and massages so I was determined to get outside on Monday. After language class I came home and worked at the computer then had lunch and left for the afternoon. I took the subway downtown and walked around, ending up at a large high end grocery, the only place I have found decaf coffee, an Italian import. I got a few items then headed to Prospero’s Books which has a café where I can get a decaf Americano, a rarity here. I read a couple of local papers then went across the way to the art shop where I can get decent cards made by local artists. I picked out eight and realized I had a 50 lari note for a 24 lari purchase. Of course she couldn’t make change, a common problem in developing countries so I left my groceries there and went in search of a bank. I returned and made my purchase and headed home.

I called Laurie and we decided to have a play day on Tuesday, today. We both love being outside when the weather is good so we decided to visit the outdoor ethnological museum that Ron and I had visited early on. We took a cab there and enjoyed walking around looking at houses that were moved to the site from various regions of Georgia, illustrating the different architectural styles. It was the perfect day for it. We wore light weight jackets and chatted the entire time. I saw the artist George who works there and whom we had met on our first trip. He is now the proud father of a two month old son whom he had with him today. What a cutie!

Laurie and I decided to walk down the hill and catch a cab below. We were up high enough to see the Caucasus Mountains including Kazbegi, Georgia’s highest. Ultimately we decided to walk the entire way home, well over an hour. Neither of us could bear to get inside a car and out of the sun. I told Laurie we were ‘sluts for the sun’. I got home at 3:40 and was tired and hungry but so happy to have spent the entire afternoon outside. We had to shed our jackets it was so warm. Can you believe it in February? How great is that?