Tough adjustments

Nov 15 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What starts with a Ball and ends with a Bath?

Nov 10 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday

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

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

Everyday things and a Birthday Bash!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As the wine flows!

October 26 2009

I have completely lost track of time and we are both somewhat exhausted from all the activity here. Some of the fatigue may be a result of adjusting to a new culture and all that entails. Hard to say. Thursday night there was a special dinner for us and the Rusts who were on an official visit to Georgia from Portland,  Ken is the past president of the US Government Fiannce Officers Association and was here for a meeting of the Georgian gorup.  This was something Tim had arranged.  The meal was another Supra... with toasts, koits of wine, and great Georgian food.  The "macho" drinking was also evident with many rounds first from glasses, then from bowls and finally from rams hons. 

On Friday we went on a wine country tour.  wa was ent in a van with a professional driver. That allowed everyone to drink quite heavily when we had the supra later in the day as the professional drivers do not drink and drive, unlike Georgians in general.

The ride took two hours and there was pretty scenery. I think there were nine or ten of us in the van plus the driver. First we stopped at the estate of a famous poet. The grounds were incredible with huge trees. We toured the house with a guide then walked around the grounds and visited the wine cellar which contained 16,000 bottles of wine from the 1800’s. Because this is now a museum the wine is not consumed. What a pity!

Then we drove to an ancient church, where the women were required to put on wrap around skirts over our long pants. The church is being restored but it was wonderful to see such an old building with very high ceilings. Apparently when the Soviets overtook Georgia they white washed all the frescos in the churches. Now the Georgians are trying to restore those that can be restored.

From here we ventured forth to a demonstration farm. We picked grapes and watched them be pressed by a man in rubber boots. The wine flows into a large clay vessel that is buried below the floor then sealed for I think four-six months then the wine is ready. Georgian wine has lower alcohol content than US wine. Then we saw how they make chacha which is homemade vodka.

Next we saw Georgian ‘snickers’ being made. They string walnuts on a thread then coat it with concentrated grape juice that has been reduced to a thick caramel like substance. In the end it looks a lot like a lumpy hot dog. But think fruit leather with nuts. It is quite tasty. Next we saw bread being cooked in a clay oven where they stick the dough to the sides of the conical shaped oven much like naan bread is cooked in a tandori oven.

Then we had a supra, sitting outside in a sheltered area. By now we were joined by another four to six people who seemed to know some of the others present. This started off like all others we have attended. To make a long story short, this supra lasted five hours. The drinking began with traditional wine glasses which are like small juice glasses. As the night wore on, they men progressed to the clay bowls which hold considerably more wine. Here they would balance the bowl on the crook of the arm at the elbow which is held shoulder high, parallel to the floor and consumed in one drink without using hands. Then the bowl is then flipped into the air and caught with one hand. Think showmanship here. As the men became more intoxicated the drinking became fiercer. By this time I had gotten up from the table because we had been sitting for hours and my back hurt from the hard benches. I was standing by the oven nearby. The tamada (toastmaster) looked at me and asked me in Georgian to bring the horns out. Then someone realized I was not an employee and we all had a good laugh. Next they brought out the rams’ horns. The staff brought out the horns which were huge and held lots of wine. By now the men stood on their chairs to drink from the horn, emptying it in one long drink. By the end of evening they moved on to drinking directly from the serving pitcher which held about two quarts. They filled it to the brim and six men passed it around and it was empty by the sixth person. I was ready to jump out of my skin. I left the table and stood by the oven again which was warm as the night was quite cool. It was a long ride home and we arrived at 11:00 p.m. exhausted. I don’t drink alcohol so seeing this kind of excess is actually difficult for me. I will do anything to avoid such a feast again.

The next day was Saturday and a big celebration for Tbilisi as it was the City’s anniversary. We met at the Sheraton Hotel where the Rusts were staying and Dato and crew picked us up there at 11:30. Off we went to the center of the celebration where the first thing was to have designated men put on rubber boots and press the grapes. Ron and Ken got to participate but we had left the camera at home. There were probably fifteen men holding on to each other by having their arms wrapped around each other’s shoulders sort of like cancan dancers. After the grapes were pressed, we watched traditional dancing which is quite athletic for the men and very graceful for the women. The women take tiny steps so they literally glide across the stage as though they were skating. It was wonderful to see them in native costumes. We also got to hear traditional singing which I believe is called polyphonic and it was a real treat.

We then walked to old town which is being redeveloped and reminds me of the Pearl district in Portland with lovely sidewalk cafes and interesting shops and apartments. We continued to walk up a very steep, very high hill. At the top was a huge statue of Mother Georgia. In one hand she holds a sword to defend Georgia from her enemies (Georgia has been invaded throughout its history and conquered many times by many different enemies) and in her other hand she holds the traditional bowl of wine to welcome her guests. Wine plays a very critical role in this culture we are learning. The views of the city and the area were the best we have seen here. Fantastic! Did I say we are still enjoying sunshine daily here? Being from the ‘greyt’ NW, this is our idea of heaven.

Next we went on a log raft ride down the river. Each raft had a small table with benches and the traditional supra foods although it was limited. In additional to all the guests on board there were dancers and musicians playing traditional music on traditional instruments. NO one could move very easily here and the dancers had a very small space in which to perform. Outside the rafts there were numerous safely personnel in boats should someone fall into the water. There were no life vests. It was fun and I was glad it was brief as I was about ‘supra-ed out’. It was our fourth days of these events.

Next we went to the largest cathedral in Georgia and it is about ten years old. It was paid for by the government, rich business men, and others. It is huge and made of beautiful carved sandstone. We arrived in time for mass so we saw the patriarch who is the equivalent to the pope in the Georgian Orthodox Church. The churches here are filled with icons and worshippers kiss the icons. There are no pews or chairs and worshippers stand during the services which on Sunday are 3.5-4 hours long. If you are old or pregnant it is acceptable to sit. The best part for me was the choir. Again they were singing in the polyphonic songs and with the acoustics it was a real treat. Afterwards we went home, very tired. After four days of supras we had cereal for dinner and were glad of it. I wanted to go to bed then but it was about 7:30. We made it until 9:30 I think.

Sunday was our first day at home and I relished it. I was able to put all our clothes in order in the closet which is huge and straighten out the dresser drawers. We needed some food so I ventured out to get some veggies and fruit. There is a woman Tim told us about who lives across the street next from us who bakes bread. When I went outside our gate I saw her garage window was open which is the signal that she is selling her bread. I went over and she brought me two rounds of hot bread. It cost about $0.90 for the two. I came back home and pulled out the butter and took it up to Ron who was upstairs in the office. YUM! After the treat I went back out looking for a veggie stand.

Ron spent a frustrating day (not what was needed after this week) trying to get our computers to function. After a bit of expletives he got it done and we went out for lunch. We had no idea what was in the ‘hood’ but stumbled across an Italian place within a few blocks. It was fabulous but the portions were huge so we brought home leftovers. We also found a great shop that had some good home furnishings. If I haven’t mentioned it I am rather particular about such things and it is one of the things that is difficult about living in a developing country: the availability of goods. There were places to get ugly cheap goods but to get quality takes some work. We didn’t buy anything but found some things we liked. I came home and Ron told me he thought there were some leftover bath tiles in the storage room. Sure enough I crawled into the furthest corner and some each color I needed to match towels to tiles. Each bathroom is a different color and the blue towels I brought don’t go with any of the bathrooms. We continued to putter until dinner time and decided to eat light after our big lunch. Ron has managed to add some pounds with all the supras so we are going to try to eat light at dinner time until the weight comes off. We had fruit, cheese, bread, nuts and dried fruit. It was great.

We worked at our computers until bedtime. I was almost in tears I was so exhausted. Ron had a difficult morning with the computers and I was just plum worn out from the week. We have discovered that we have a barking dog behind us and one to our left. They are large dogs with deep barks and they keep us up all night. I was so tired I slept through it mostly but not Ron. He was ready to throttle two dogs last night. We are getting desperate for sleep and rest around here. I told Tim via email about the dogs. He promised us we would learn to tune them out with time.

Today is Monday, Oct 27th.. We had our language lesson first thing. My head was mush so it was a struggle but our teacher is patient. Have I talked about the language here? The alphabet has thirty three letters and a few even look like something you might recognize but that has nothing to do with how the letter sounds. For instance the letter that resembles ‘m’ is pronounced ‘o’, the letter that looks like ‘a’ is pronounced ‘m’, the letter that looks like ‘b’ is pronounced ‘s’. Are you still with me? My favorite word so far is ‘nine’ which is spelled the equivalent of ‘tskhrav’, go ahead, I’m listening to you trying to pronounce it because there’s no friggin’ way to say that word, yet Elza our teacher does it. These guys are short on vowels is all I can say. Ron laughs every tine I attempt to roll my r’s. But the really cool thing is being able to recognize the letters we have learned. Today I was trying to figure out what the three appliances I bought cost me. I was able to read enough letters on the cash register receipt to figure out which one was the blender. It is great fun to learn a new alphabet and language but let me just say I got a loooong away to go! It does make grocery shopping a real challenge however as I haven’t found anything printed in English yet.

After our lesson we got our rabies shots. Yes, there is a problem with rabies here and everyone seems to own a dog. We then got our emergency radio, checked our mail and cashed a check. Ron went to work and I went shopping. Gia helped me. I managed to blow $500 on household items: blender, coffee maker, trash cans, etc. We blew up several appliances when we went to Sri Lanka using transformers and decided to save ourselves the agony this time and just buy appliance that are 220. Unlike Sri Lanka, things are expensive here. Today was my first day to do any serious shopping. I haven’t bought enough food yet to have a feel for the cost of things. The fresh veggies and fruits at the outdoor markets seem very reasonable. And the bread I have mentioned I got for a song.

Oct 28 2009

Today was a great day. We went to bed at a reasonable hour last night and slept in until 7:30 this morning. Georgians go to work around 10 and work later than we do. Ron went to work and I went to an IWA (International Women’s Assoc) monthly meeting. This is a very diverse group of about 100 women. Some are professional working women and some are spouses of men who are working here. About 40% are Georgian. There are women from all over the world here. They do a lot of fund raising in order to do good deeds here. They had a raffle and I won! It was a huge basket with champagne, two flutes, dark chocolates, luxury soaps, candles, olives, cheese and a pillow. Lovely. After the meeting I had a massage at the apartment of the massage therapist. I appreciated being able to see how a typical Georgian lives as many expats live a luxurious lifestyle here. The apartment was tiny and meager but the massage was good. I have had a lot of discomfort since the plane trip here so was glad to start working on getting my strained muscles to loosen up.

Afterwards I came home to meet the guys who were delivering wood for our fireplace and the man who is measuring for window screens. Tonight Ron is at a dinner meeting with reps from IMF (International Monetary Fund) and I get to have a quiet evening alone. I spent most of the time studying my Georgian and writing five simple sentences. I am thrilled that I can already write with the new alphabet but had to admit it is a brain buster.

Slowly I am making headway with finding the things we need for the house: towels, a dish drain board, etc. It takes a real effort to shop here. Yesterday I went to Danish House. I had envisioned lovely items from Denmark such as beautiful table linens, artful knick knacks, and the like. The store was more like Newberry’s, a cheap five and dime. The search continues. I did find a great store for towels but they don’t have wash cloths. So when you come to visit, you will such have to ‘ruff it’.

October 20, 2009

It is another gorgeous day in Tbilisi. After exercising, showering and breakfast, Gia picked us up and we dropped Ron off at the Embassy. Last night when Ron came home from work, he told me that Dato had planned several activities for Ken and Patti Rust who arrive here tomorrow from Portland to attend a conference. We are being included in all the activities. The bad news is this is a conflict with our move in date. Ouch! So I went to the house after we dropped Ron off to see how the painting is going. Well heck, they are DONE! The yellow looks great downstairs and the off white has really softened the look upstairs. I am quite pleased. Back to the Embassy, I found Rami, who has held my hand all along the way and I asked him if there was any way we could move in on Thursday. Of course, he said YES. What a huge relief.

So the plan is tomorrow, Wednesday, I will meet the furniture guys at the house at 11:00 SGT (standard Georgia time which Rami said means any time between 11:00-1:00). I will show them what to take out of the house and where to put the new furniture. On Thursday Ron and I will meet the shipping firm reps at the house at 9:00 a.m. to receive our air shipment. On Friday the professionals come to clean the house. We most probably will wait until Friday to sleep at the house as we have dinner obligations Wednesday and Thursday nights and tours on Friday and Saturday. I will be somewhat frustrated that I won’t have enough time to get things put away and groceries bought, etc but at least we will be able to sleep in the house starting on Friday. We get our VAT exemption card on Monday of next week which will save us 18% on most purchases so it is probably just as well that I won’t have time to shop for the needed household goods and groceries.

On Saturday when I was with Betsy I told her I would be looking for work. After I told her my work background, she recommended I contact a friend of hers, Elizabeth Winship who runs a program here. This afternoon I am meeting with Elizabeth to learn more about the program. The organization she works for is American Institutes for Research. In addition to the many programs they have in the US they work in over 30 developing countries providing various educational programs. The Internet is a wonderful thing! I have no idea how difficult it will be to find work here. I have no idea what is available and how much competition there is, much less what the pay might be. But today will be a start to see what I can find out. Networking has always proved most useful when trying to find the answers to such questions. I definitely think the community of NGOs (non governmental organizations) is a small one and I will be able to find appropriate organizations for the skills that I have by networking. If I am unable to find meaningful work I feel sure there are ample volunteer opportunities and I have already seen some classes I want to take. Richard Bolles who wrote What Color is Your Parachute? used to say ‘No one is free unless they have choices’. I think I will have plenty of choices as to how to spend my time.

October 22

I met with Elizabeth and she was most encouraging. She gave me multiple contacts and also said she would be interested in me doing some career development consulting work with her organization. It has been a couple of days since I met with her and she has asked me to complete a bio data form which is a first step in moving forward with a consulting contract. She wants me to work 25 hours a week and travel to a couple of sites within ROG. I am pleased that things are moving along so easily.

Yesterday I was at the house for about five hours. The movers arrived right on time and proceeded to remove the pieces of furniture we didn’t need or that were being replaced with new furniture. I had to laugh as every 30 minutes they took a smoke break. Did I mention that many Georgians smoke? I am so pleased that Gia, our driver doesn’t smoke. But the smoking makes for an unpleasant meal in a restaurant. They don’t know about non smoking sections yet.

Our new upholstered furniture is dark green with large gold scrolls, so not us but hey, it’s free and I didn’t have to go out and shop for it so I am delighted to have it. Our neighbor Chris will be laughing because she knows Ron doesn’t much care for green in our home in Vancouver. We did break down and paint our dining room green this past year however.

Ron came over for lunch and then we came back to the hotel to rest before heading out for a tour that Dato had arranged for us and the Rust’s who are here to attend the first ROG public finance officers’ meeting. Ron had been ill the previous night with diarrhea and a real bad cases of the chills about 3:00 a.m. It was frightening to me to see him shake so hard but he was almost back to normal by morning. Cipro to the rescue.

Marika, Ron’s assistant picked us up at the hotel and we met Dato et al in Mtskheta, the ancient capital of eastern Georgia. Mtskheta is about 20 minutes from Tbilisi. There we had a guide who took us through the archeological museum. From there we went to the 4th century church located on a bluff overlooking the convergence of two rivers. Absolutely beautiful! Then we went back into the town to visit the cathedral with beautiful frescos including one of Christ surrounded by his disciples and the zodiac. Yes, you read me right, the zodiac.

From here we headed to a lovely restaurant where we had a Georgian feast. The food was almost identical to the feast we had with Dato for Tim’s send off although I think there may have been one or two additional dishes and one or two different dishes. At one point during the toasts (remember every one of these feasts includes a toast master (tamada) and copious amounts of white wine) Dato produced a clay bowl with wine in it and he drank the entire bowl and asked Ken and Ron to do the same. I don’t know how well you know Ron but he never drinks more than two glasses of wine. Well he had already had one or two by this time so drinking a small bowl of wine was a real push. But it didn’t stop there. A few toasts later, Dato produced another traditional drinking vessel, a ram’s horn. It was about 12-14 inches long and he poured a full glass of wine into it and drank it down. Ken and Ron were asked to follow suit. Ron tried his best to decline but they wouldn’t hear of it. Down it went and he was still standing! Patti Rust even tried it but didn’t drink an entire glass. It reminded us of freshmen drinking rituals in US colleges.

Today we went to the house at 9 and met the shippers who had our shipment from the US.

The crew of three and the two of us got busy unpacking all the boxes and had them unpacked within a few hours. Ron and I continued to work until noon then he had to go to the conference so we came back to the hotel, he changed and I ordered lunch. We woofed down our sandwiches and Gia dropped Ron off at the Sheraton and took me back to the house to meet the alarm guys. I continued to put things away, made our bed and tried to get things organized. The alarm guys came an hour later than we had agreed on but hey, it’s Georgian time. I had plenty to do. Frankly I don’t think we need an alarm since you cannot break into our house without a blow torch but I wrote down lots of instructions. After they left I asked Gia to take me grocery shopping as we will spend Friday night at the house. I wanted to get some basics and went into the store without Gia thinking I could figure out the packaging. I was able to get everything except dishwashing powder for the dishwasher. I went outside and asked him to help me. It turned out they only had liquid soap for the dishwasher so I got it although I am apprehensive. I have a ton of things to buy for the house but didn’t have the time or energy for it today. We get our diplomatic card on Monday and it will save us 18% VAT so it is best to wait anyway.

Back to the house to unload the groceries and try to get the counters cleared and pick things up off the floor as the cleaning crew comes in tomorrow to a big clean. I was exhausted by then - 4:30- so came back to the hotel before meeting Ron at 8:00 for yet another feast. I will report on it next blog.

A week-end in Tbilisi

Friday night we went to the bar to join Tim for a drink and meet some of the ‘locals’, mostly expats who work in Tbilisi. Friday night is a big deal here and the same crowd can be seen at the Betsy each Friday evening. After about 10 minutes I escaped to the lobby as I could hardly handle the noise and smoke. Goodness, everyone here seems to smoke.

After about another 10 minutes I went back in and met a few more folks then we went to dinner downstairs. After dinner Tim wanted to share his 16 year old brandy he had bought here three years ago when he arrived so his brandy is now 19 years old. He and Ron toasted one another and after a sip decided it was harsh brandy but Tim said after five sips it wasn’t so bad.

Saturday I took a taxi to the Iranian Embassy where I was to meet Betsy (as in Betsy’s Hotel). I had told the taxi company dispatcher where I wanted to go and I told the driver. However something got lost in translation and after about 10 minutes I realized he was well on his way to the American Embassy. I showed him the address (remember we have a different alphabet) and he stopped the car. After a discussion where I wasn’t making any headway I called the dispatcher. Ultimately it took a second person at headquarters to get the message. At that point the driver said ‘Ayatollah Khomeini’ and I said YES and we were on our way. Betsy and I went to a great nursery owned by a Dutch ex pat, a young man who served in the military in Afghanistan for four years. Oy! No wonder he now works with plants. I found a lovely large red glazed ceramic pot and bought it. Ivo will hold it until we get moved in. I should mention it is the first glazed pot I have seen and the first large pot I have seen. Our home looks like a stone fortress so I need to soften the look and add some color. It is a small start. I also ordered 100 tulips in bright oranges and purples. That should liven things up in the spring. We can plant tulips until December here and they will arrive mid November. I was told this was the best nursery for selection of plants and price. Let’s just say ‘we’re not in Kansas, Toto’. The selection is limited by our standards. But I am glad to have been introduced as I would never have found this place on my own. The street doesn’t even have a name! Welcome to my new world.

I came back to the hotel. Ron had taken a hike up the hill behind the hotel while I was away. We ate a quick lunch on the patio then headed out to the Ethnological Museum where there are numerous houses from the many regions of Georgia. Here we could see the many styles of architecture in these typical houses. In one of the houses we met an artist who had displayed some of his work, which we both liked. We took his name and cell number. He spoke excellent English as he had studied in the US for a while.

It was the perfect day to be outside. There were many families there and some had spread blankets on the ground and were enjoying elaborate picnics. The setting of this outdoor museum was high on a hill overlooking Tbilisi. Just perfectly lovely. Note Trica standing by the large ceramic wine casks that are usually burried in the ground for storage of home made wine.  So far there have been no perfectly clear days. We assume this is partly due to moisture in the air and to pollution. Afterwards we returned to the hotel and relaxed until dinner.

On Sunday we got up early and took a cab to the Embassy where we met up with about 10-15 other volunteers and we caravanned to a village about 30 minutes out of town. The roads were in terrible shapes and at times there was no payment. This road is used by the large trucks that carry goods between Turkey and Georgia. Here we joined US Marines and some men from the Georgian Army where we all worked to help rehab an old school that is being converted into home for young adults with disabilities such as cerebral palsy and Down syndrome. This is an old Soviet era building: concrete, three stories, no ornamentation. It is in terrible shape and has no running water or gas for heat. The residents are to move into the facility in mid November. Ron and I joined those working outside. For the past five weekends the Marines have been volunteering their Sundays on this project and recently asked for volunteers from the Embassy which is how we found out about it. We helped to clear brush. Unfortunately we were way short handed with tools to get the job done. Fortunately the head Marine had a slew of gloves for us to use. Since we were clearing rose bushes and blackberries the gloves were essential although the thorns went right through the gloves with the slightest pressure. At one point Ron was bleeding on both arms from the scratches. I had fewer abrasions as I was simply hauling the brush to the fire but did manage three healthy scratches. We both lived to tell the tale! No tourniquets were required…

We worked for a little over two hours but had to leave as the person with whom we had hitched a ride needed to go as her four year old son had had enough. Prior to leaving we were interviewed by a young woman with a microphone and were filmed by a camera man. It just may be our 15 minutes of fame! She seemed inexperienced as one of her questions was ‘who is working harder, the US Marines or the Georgian Army?’ Being ever so tactful, Ron answered ‘everyone is working hard for these young adults so they may have a good place to live’. Yeah RB!

After another lunch on the patio we decided to learn how to ride the subway here. It is an old system with long distances between stops and only has one main line and a short arm off that line. We managed to transfer to the second line and ultimately find our house. The painters worked all weekend and we stopped by each day to see how they were doing. We had requested that the ‘toddler gates’ used to blocked the stairs on each floor be removed before painting. On Saturday when we stopped by, we reminded the painter of this. He spoke no English so we pantomimed what we wanted. On Sunday the gates were still in place so I found a painter who spoke limited English. When I explained that the gates needed to be removed in order to paint the walls, he remarked ‘it is not our job’. Oy! We took the subway back and climbed the very steep hill to our hotel and cleaned up since we still had our work clothes on from the morning brush clearing job.

Then we took a cab to a new neighborhood where I had my haircut. We had arrived early so took a stroll down the street and found an attractive shop with home furnishings. We went inside as we were quite impressed with what we saw in the window. They had curtains, rugs, and furniture, all brightly colored with flashy designs. There were four or five staff members and no customers except us. I saw some attractive towels and one of the women came over to show me they were on sale. The price was 113 for the set so I asked if this was GEL (Georgian Lari which is about 0.60 per lari). At that point a man came over and in excellent English informed me these products were from Italy from the MOST famous design house in the WORLD (I of course have never heard of them) and the price on the towels were in Euros. Hey a set of towels for about $168 on sale yet!!!!!!!!!!!! If you don’t know us well, let me just say we didn’t buy them.

My haircut took 15 minutes. Luba was recommended by Betsy and she sat on a stool that allowed her to scoot around me as she cut my hair. It was a fair job but no one has ever cut my hair as well as Mike back home and I miss him today. The cost was 30 lari, about $18, a little over half of what I pay at home. Back to the Betsy we realized we were tired from all the activity and went to bed early.

This morning I went to see Rami, the contact at the Embassy and he was going to send someone out to remove the gates. Yeah! I cannot get over how supportive and helpful they are.

I want to tell you about our language lessons. We have a wonderful teacher and we will start seeing her at the Embassy three times a week now. The Georgian alphabet has 33 letters in a script unlike ours: some letters are written on the line, some below the line and some above the line. Some I am sure were created to confuse the heck out of people who use the alphabet that we are familiar with. For instance the letter that most resembles an m is pronounced ‘o’, the letter that resembles a b is pronounced s, the letter that looks like the number three is pronounced v, the letter that looks like an a is pronounced m. Fun huh?  The two pix above say the same thing... English & Georgian

But yesterday as we rode the subway it was fun to read the ads in Georgian and see how many letters I could decipher. It was very rewarding to see that I know about half the alphabet after two lessons! At times Ron and I feel that it will break our brains to learn the language but we persist! Tim was very impressive with his command of the language so I am afraid we have a lot to live up to here!