Last year, we had a fiasco with the phone company where we were told that we couldn't speak to anyone in person (although we had driven to the company and walked into the offices) but had to walk around the outside of a building in order to pick up a dial-less phone and wait for someone to answer the other end of the line. This year, Giorgi went to the phone company about 1 month ago to activate the phone line for our new apartment (we would use the old number), but they told him that it would not be possible to activate a phone line on our street until they re-configure all phone lines on our street and they really didn't know when that would happen. G came home that day with the news that we might not have a home phone.
We decided to try again, this time with me along for the ride and to explain that as an American living and working in Tbilisi, I really need a phone line becasue I really need the internet to work. We were ready to face the wall that we anticipated we would meet, but as luck would have it, as we were walking in, we met the old neighbor of Giorgi's childhood friend walking out. This neighbor just happened to work for the phone company and when we explained what had happened a month ago to Giorgi, he walked us in, past lines of frustrated people into a back office, where we explained that we needed a phone and a woman checked to make sure the number had not been given away (which it had not) and then wrote down our information on a scrap of paper (which made me a little nervous, but I held my tongue) and said that someone would call us within 24 hours to set up the phone. We thanked her and left. Later that same day, we got a call that someone would be out to hook up the line the next day! Thankfully, the information on the scrap of paper made its way to the right people and we now have a home phone!
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Buriani
In Buriani, all the troubles of Tbilisi slip away. We found a path to the river where we can go for a dip on extremely hot days and we can sit in the Dacha and listen to only the breeze. We see beautiful vistas and eat fresh fruit and play backgammon (called “Nardi” here. If there is no electricity, we must go to sleep around 10 at the latest. Buriani is full of abandoned cabins, mid-construction - a construction that stopped when communism ended. It’s a resort that never came to fruition and we get to reap the benefits.
We have 3 dogs who visit us in Buiriani, two of which we named Dachi and Johanna, after our good friends in NYC. Doggie bags are just now acceptable to request here in Georgia, so when we ask for our food “to go” at restaurants people don’t look at us like we’re insane any more, they look at us like we’re humane people who feed the animals. It’s a good change. We always get doggie bags before heading to Buriani. The last time we went, we even made a special stop to purchase a plastic baggie of dog food for Dachi and Johanna - a special treat! (For some reason, the dog food here is not sold in its original packaging, it’s broken up into approximately 10 cups per plastic baggie for resale.)
Buriani has a wide river bed with a strong river flowing through, albeit narrow. On particularly hot days I like to dip my head in the water to cool off. I also love the rocks from the river and have collected a few (G’s family already thinks I’m a little crazy, so I don’t stop myself any more from doing these things that they think are a little goofy). When we returned home from one of our first trips to Buriani, Irina (G’s mother) and I were talking about what I could tell people from the U.S. to give her as a gift if they ask. She couldn’t think of anything for the longest time and then finally, she told me that what she really needed was “kwebi”, after which she mimed her fists alternating knocks on her temples. With Ira’s talented pantomime, I figured out that kwebi meant rocks and at that moment ran to the car where I had left my Buriani rocks and brought them inside for her. We had a good laugh about it and when we went to Buriani for G’s birthday a few weeks later, we stopped at the river and analyzed the best kwebi for knocking out the stressors of everyday life…
We have 3 dogs who visit us in Buiriani, two of which we named Dachi and Johanna, after our good friends in NYC. Doggie bags are just now acceptable to request here in Georgia, so when we ask for our food “to go” at restaurants people don’t look at us like we’re insane any more, they look at us like we’re humane people who feed the animals. It’s a good change. We always get doggie bags before heading to Buriani. The last time we went, we even made a special stop to purchase a plastic baggie of dog food for Dachi and Johanna - a special treat! (For some reason, the dog food here is not sold in its original packaging, it’s broken up into approximately 10 cups per plastic baggie for resale.)
Buriani has a wide river bed with a strong river flowing through, albeit narrow. On particularly hot days I like to dip my head in the water to cool off. I also love the rocks from the river and have collected a few (G’s family already thinks I’m a little crazy, so I don’t stop myself any more from doing these things that they think are a little goofy). When we returned home from one of our first trips to Buriani, Irina (G’s mother) and I were talking about what I could tell people from the U.S. to give her as a gift if they ask. She couldn’t think of anything for the longest time and then finally, she told me that what she really needed was “kwebi”, after which she mimed her fists alternating knocks on her temples. With Ira’s talented pantomime, I figured out that kwebi meant rocks and at that moment ran to the car where I had left my Buriani rocks and brought them inside for her. We had a good laugh about it and when we went to Buriani for G’s birthday a few weeks later, we stopped at the river and analyzed the best kwebi for knocking out the stressors of everyday life…
Supra
Supra is a huge celebratory dinner party. We’ve had many since we arrived: one upon arriving, one for my birthday, one for G’s grandmother’s birthday and one for G’s birthday. Giorgi’s father is usually Tamada (toastmaster) at the family supras and before the evening is through, there will invariably be traditional Georgian singing, often be traditional Georgian dancing, and if we’re lucky, Giorgi’s cousin Gogita will recite some poetry as well. Giorgi’s father is a wonderful singer and I’ve taken to singing along with him. I try to match his voice and watch his mouth to get the jest of the words. It entertains the rest of the people at the table for a good part of the evening and I have a blast singing Georgian songs that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to sing so easily.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Tbilisi
I'm sitting in my internet cafe this afternoon trying to get out of the blazing heat of Tbilisi. There is no electricity, so the waitstaff has just come around to place candles on the tables. With no electricity, the music and buzz of the overhead lights have been silenced. With the silence, the people here now speak in whispers in the dark. The haze is thick from smokers all around, but it's better than braving the heat outside. I'll stay here a little while longer to enjoy the lingering cool air from the a/c. Here are some of my recent musings about Tbilisi...
Tbilisi
When we arrived in Georgia this time, Giorgi’s aunt had a small spoonful of honey for each of us to eat before we entered the house, as per Georgian custom for newlyweds. I assume it is for our words to always be sweet.
It has been extremely hot here ever since we arrived in late May. Men are constantly mopping their foreheads with handkerchiefs kept in their back pockets and women fan themselves with whatever might be handy.
We’ve spent many days at Bazroba (huge open air market for house building supplies) for building our apartment. I tried a new drink there called “Burahi” and it tasted like apple beer. One of the best things about buying a drink like this or other fresh sodas is that you must hang around to finish it because you drink it out of a real glass that they rinse quickly and reuse for the next person in line.
To get away from the heat, we often also go to Turtle Lake (Ku’s Tba), where Georgians swarm when they can’t get away from the city. Every time we go hiking at Kus T’ba, we find amazing things that I’ve never seen before. The first time, we saw brown squirrels with red legs and ears that look like tall tufts of wheat gone to seed. We saw caterpillars spinning silk, smelled wild tulips and roses, drank from a mountain stream and sat and watched an old man standing on his head on a raft in the water.
Walking around the Tbilisi, we see the beautiful old architecture fast decaying. There are some renovation projects going on, but most construction is new and still has the soviet feel of cement blocks. Early in the summer, there were Tuta berries (they look like big blackberries, but much softer and sweeter) bursting from the trees all over Tbilisi.
Shopping in Tbilisi
It is not possible to walk more than a block on the streets of Tbilisi without coming upon a clothing store, a small grocery store, and a fruit stand. More sparsely distributed, but still fairly accessible are bread windows, restaurants, and travel agencies. If all you need in life is from one of these stores, you’re good to go. However, if you need something from another type of vendor, it’s a long trip, either to get to and walk around a huge bazaar full of small shops packed together all selling approximately the same things or driving around the huge city looking for small stores that might have what you want (often an all-day affair that may or may not yield the desired result), then returning home, where a shower will likely be needed from a long hot day shopping for an electricity converter or some such thing.
Yellow pages do not exist in Georgia. In fact, it took us ½ a day to find the post office. We thought of purchasing some stamps and envelopes, but found that to be futile, since there are no mail drop boxes here. Actually, the desk worker at the post office did not want to sell an envelope to us (they’re sold individually) unless we had a letter to put into it and mail at that moment.
Giorgi’s mother took me shopping for a skirt the other day because she wanted to buy something for her new daughter-in-law. She had found one that she wanted to buy for me but the shopkeeper would not sell it to her unless she brought me in for a visit. So I had to put on my fancy clothes and follow my mother-in-law to the shop up the street and around the corner, where we had a lovely conversation with the owners of the shop and I tried on many skirts and dresses, all of which made me feel like a school girl because they flared out from my hips and came to just above my knees, but we purchased a couple anyway, with my mother-in-law saying that she would lengthen them.
While I was trying on the clothes, I had the sensation that I was in the film “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, with all eyes and hands on me. I think I’ve not been so fussed over in my entire life. It was not unlike the experience I had when I first arrived and G’s mom decided right away that I needed to have a better bra. After grabbing the necessary parts of me to determine my size, she went out to purchase some for me without a second thought. I still use one of the bras she purchased for me and it fits quite well!
Tbilisi
When we arrived in Georgia this time, Giorgi’s aunt had a small spoonful of honey for each of us to eat before we entered the house, as per Georgian custom for newlyweds. I assume it is for our words to always be sweet.
It has been extremely hot here ever since we arrived in late May. Men are constantly mopping their foreheads with handkerchiefs kept in their back pockets and women fan themselves with whatever might be handy.
We’ve spent many days at Bazroba (huge open air market for house building supplies) for building our apartment. I tried a new drink there called “Burahi” and it tasted like apple beer. One of the best things about buying a drink like this or other fresh sodas is that you must hang around to finish it because you drink it out of a real glass that they rinse quickly and reuse for the next person in line.
To get away from the heat, we often also go to Turtle Lake (Ku’s Tba), where Georgians swarm when they can’t get away from the city. Every time we go hiking at Kus T’ba, we find amazing things that I’ve never seen before. The first time, we saw brown squirrels with red legs and ears that look like tall tufts of wheat gone to seed. We saw caterpillars spinning silk, smelled wild tulips and roses, drank from a mountain stream and sat and watched an old man standing on his head on a raft in the water.
Walking around the Tbilisi, we see the beautiful old architecture fast decaying. There are some renovation projects going on, but most construction is new and still has the soviet feel of cement blocks. Early in the summer, there were Tuta berries (they look like big blackberries, but much softer and sweeter) bursting from the trees all over Tbilisi.
Shopping in Tbilisi
It is not possible to walk more than a block on the streets of Tbilisi without coming upon a clothing store, a small grocery store, and a fruit stand. More sparsely distributed, but still fairly accessible are bread windows, restaurants, and travel agencies. If all you need in life is from one of these stores, you’re good to go. However, if you need something from another type of vendor, it’s a long trip, either to get to and walk around a huge bazaar full of small shops packed together all selling approximately the same things or driving around the huge city looking for small stores that might have what you want (often an all-day affair that may or may not yield the desired result), then returning home, where a shower will likely be needed from a long hot day shopping for an electricity converter or some such thing.
Yellow pages do not exist in Georgia. In fact, it took us ½ a day to find the post office. We thought of purchasing some stamps and envelopes, but found that to be futile, since there are no mail drop boxes here. Actually, the desk worker at the post office did not want to sell an envelope to us (they’re sold individually) unless we had a letter to put into it and mail at that moment.
Giorgi’s mother took me shopping for a skirt the other day because she wanted to buy something for her new daughter-in-law. She had found one that she wanted to buy for me but the shopkeeper would not sell it to her unless she brought me in for a visit. So I had to put on my fancy clothes and follow my mother-in-law to the shop up the street and around the corner, where we had a lovely conversation with the owners of the shop and I tried on many skirts and dresses, all of which made me feel like a school girl because they flared out from my hips and came to just above my knees, but we purchased a couple anyway, with my mother-in-law saying that she would lengthen them.
While I was trying on the clothes, I had the sensation that I was in the film “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, with all eyes and hands on me. I think I’ve not been so fussed over in my entire life. It was not unlike the experience I had when I first arrived and G’s mom decided right away that I needed to have a better bra. After grabbing the necessary parts of me to determine my size, she went out to purchase some for me without a second thought. I still use one of the bras she purchased for me and it fits quite well!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Sopeli (tr: village)
Our first trip was to the country to visit G’s grandmothers. Life in sopeli is likely the same as it was 100 years ago or more, except now they have electricity. Sometimes. Still no running water, so you see many people (often elderly) making the long hike with their water buckets on wheels to the town’s central water fountain. Ovens are as far away from the house as possible so as not to have excessive heat inside, and they’re large clay cylinders with grapevine coals burning in the bottom and bread slapped onto the inside for a few minutes to cook. The outhouse is next to the chicken coop and the still for making cha cha is in the stable. If enough rain falls in the springtime, a big garden behind the house and fruit trees all over the yard feed the family for the year. The vineyards are about a 10 minute car ride away from the village. Many villagers still prefer to use a donkey and cart to work in the vineyards every day, much like they did it generations ago.
The second time we went to sopeli, I decided to take pictures of the people and I made many new friends, although we didn’t speak the same language. Everyone in the village knows my name and many are fascinated by the fact that an American is married to one of their own. One of my favorite people in Bodbe (the Gochitashvili sopeli) is the beekeeper, Pridona. He cares for about 70 bee houses in the village, including ours, and is a dear friend of Giorgi’s father. I remember Pridona from the first time I came to Georgia. He taught me how to get honey from the bee houses and tells people that he was the only one in the village who knew from the beginning that Giorgi and I would be together. He speaks now of a wild horse in the village that he wants me to meet.
The second time we went to sopeli, I decided to take pictures of the people and I made many new friends, although we didn’t speak the same language. Everyone in the village knows my name and many are fascinated by the fact that an American is married to one of their own. One of my favorite people in Bodbe (the Gochitashvili sopeli) is the beekeeper, Pridona. He cares for about 70 bee houses in the village, including ours, and is a dear friend of Giorgi’s father. I remember Pridona from the first time I came to Georgia. He taught me how to get honey from the bee houses and tells people that he was the only one in the village who knew from the beginning that Giorgi and I would be together. He speaks now of a wild horse in the village that he wants me to meet.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
July 25, 2007
Greetings all! We're finally getting our blog up and running for your viewing pleasure. I will be adding photos and stories weekly to keep you all updated on our adventures here in Tbilisi. Thanks for visiting!
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