Nice People All Around...

I have learned SO many things in the past two weeks. One notion I will carry back with me is that Georgians are REALLY NICE people. Plainly put, but true. They go out of their way to help carry your luggage, come to your rescue when in dire need of plastic forks, and help you practice a Georgian last name numerous times prior to an interview!

The most amazing thing to me is this....they love all kids, not just the ones they know. Complete strangers stare at AL. They reach over and tousle their hair. At first, we all pulled back in shock, but now we realize that kids are held in high regard (especially boys!). Today, we were walking through a bodega and a man reached over and tousled Lucas' hair and then grinned at Aidan. I think my kids will be spoiled when we return to the states!

Since we have been here we have hosted a party for all of the people that work with Emet, had an all day brunch with 2 American families that have lived in Tbilisi for many years, and spent a great deal of time with Misha, Emet's driver from work. Leaving here tomorrow, I am excited to return in July!

These are all of the people from Emet's work (plus their kids and AL).

Emet's Work

The wonderful thing about living in Tbilisi is Emet can walk to work. No more commuting to D.C.! We walked with him to work yesterday and it took about 12 minutes. Keep in mind, we had AL with us, so it is probably faster alone!

Here is Emet in his office, behind his desk!

This is the view from one of the many balconies in Emet's office! What a great city view!

Every office has a picture and title of the person working in the office. How great is that? I think I am going to do that for the teachers at my school! Wouldn't that be cool!?

When you first walk into Emet's building, the USAID sign is right there!

It's Decided....We Have to Buy a Car

So, our plan was to not have a car while living overseas. We were going to live close enough to Emet's work that he could walk each day. Most of the schools have transportation that pick up the kids at their houses and drop them off again. It is easy enough to catch a taxi if you need to go somewhere that is too far to walk. Employing a driver is also an option--not as expensive as it may sound. However, yesterday solidified for us that we have to buy a car.

Let's start at the beginning:
When we first got off the airplane, I unpacked the suitcases in the airport to get out the car seats for AL (short for Aidan and Lucas). We quickly realized that we can not all fit in a car if we use the car seats. So after the ride home from the airport, when I was basically sitting on the driver's lap, the car seats have been sitting in Emet's closet. We were left with seatbelting AL in the backseat with my arms across their chests, just in case. We have been taking Misha, Emet's driver from work, everywhere we go so far. He is a very cautious driver, so although I hate the no car seat deal, I at least feel like he is a safe driver. It is all the other drivers we need to worry about.

Yesterday everything changed. We were on the way down to the dry bridge to check out the artwork, so we hailed a cab. Before I could even buckle AL in, the cabbie was off. (^I must pause to mention that when I say "the cabbie was off" please create the mental image of a car zipping quickly into traffic. This image will be important later in the story). We tried telling him to stop, but he didn't listen. I then quickly realized that there were NO seat belts. When I asked, he tutted at me and wagged his finger and uttered something that sounded like "no, you don't need them."--only in Georgian. If I had an ulcer from not using car seats, no seat belts almost forced me into full on internal bleeding. I sat in between AL and securely fastened my arms across them. I am not sure what exactly that would do if we got into an accident, but it made me feel as if I could keep my vomit in the back of my throat instead of all over the seat. Thankfully, we arrived safely.

The ride back home is when we decided we would be buying a car, even if we used it only for small weekend excursions or to go to the "good" grocery store. Aidan got into the cab first. I told Lucas to wait, so I could get in next (I wanted to be in between them so I could employ my well-tested seat belt method). With the cab door still open, and Lucas half way in the car, the cab took off (^ please see note above regarding cabbies' approaches to re-entering traffic after picking up passengers). I screamed! Emet screamed! I held on to Lucas for dear life. The car was lunging into traffic and Lucas was not in the car! The car door slammed against Lucas' leg. Finally, the cab screeched to a halt when he realized what was going on. He felt really bad, but I honestly don't care. Enough. We need a car, so we can use car seats and seat belts and I don't have to be taken to the hospital for a bleeding ulcer.

Anyone know of anyone selling a car in Georgia?

**Clearly, this is not an instance where Lucas will re-enact the event just to get a picture for the blog. Sorry folks.

The Traffic Rules are Just Not the Same...

This is the sidewalk where we are strolling. Not only do cars park on the sidewalk, they regularly jump the curb and drive down the sidewalk. Although they are careful of pedestrians, it is a new kind of awareness that is needed when going for a walk.

How to Easily Spot an American Living in Georgia

1. On this day, it was about 65-70 degrees. We were wearing thin long sleeve shirts and pants--no jackets. We were really comfortable. I was amazed at how the Georgians dress on such a beautiful day! They wear their winter coats, hats, scarves....can you tell this little girl is wearing a down winter coat?

2. The second way to tell we are Americans is that we don't chain smoke. I am sure by the time I leave Georgia next year, this topic will have received its own posting...it is that bad.

3. As my kids happily run down the street, yelling and laughing, I glance around. Georgian children, of all ages, hold their parents' hands, walking silently next to them. Wow. Yes, we are LOUD Americans!

Emet's Building

When you first walk into Emet's building, you see the guard post. Don't know if it means anything that the doorman sits in an enclosed box? I think they need a little help with decorating their lobby--empty concrete does not give off the feeling of warmth or welcoming.




This is Emet's front door....on the 6th floor....my tush better be great by the time I leave since the electricty seems to go out often (hence no elevator). Please don't be fooled by the light, it doesn't work. However, the exposed wires are a theme throughout Emet's apartment!

A Room with a View

Here are some shots from Emet's apartment:





This is from the window in Emet's living room. Since we have no T.V., we sit on the couch and look out at the beautiful mountains.

**If you believe that, you don't really know us that well. :)


This view is from Emet's bedroom. I was trying to capture the hanging laundry. If you look out from his window, every balcony has a clothes lines and at different times in the day, there is hanging laundry out to dry.




There are many houses like this around Georgia. They are owned by the government and IDPs (Internally Displaced People) live in these houses. They are really run down and, in most cases, look vacant.

I Married a Man that Lived in a Mud Hut

I admit that lack of sleep can really interfere with your sensibility. However, there are a few things that I know I need to really be able to function in the world. They are: appliances that have English writing, sheets that fit our bed, a dishwasher, and a clothes dryer. Here are some pictures from Emet's apartment. I am not even going to discuss the towel issue. It wouldn't be right to put it on the web for all to read.

The sheets are not fitting length-wise, so there are two sheets that are covering the width of the bed. They barely overlap, which means in the middle of the night you are sleeping on bare mattress. Or in this case--weird, hard, multi-colored mattress pad. That blue and gold thing is not a blanket. It is a slab of something intended to make the mattress more comfortable.

I am still not sure if I am washing the clothes correctly. They smell ok though once they come out.

Here is how we have to dry the clothes. The apartment is not very big, but we are luckily able to fit these two huge drying racks. I know now why the washer can only fit one shirt and one pair of underwear at a time....so you have enough room to dry everything!

Please note: I was unable to post a picture of the dishwasher because THERE ISN'T ONE!

Fair Lakes, I mean Turtle Lake

We went to a place called Turtle Lake today. For some reason, Lucas kept calling it Fair Lakes. This is the view from the top!

As Promised....

I said I would get back to it and here I am. With only three hours of sleep, we wandered around the airport in Munich looking for a place to call home. We found a corner, unzipped our suitcases, unpacked all of our train tracks and superheroes...and they both announced they had to go to the bathroom! So we packed up all of our train tracks and superheroes and trekked in search of a bathroom. Aidan and Lucas were dragging. Their luggage made heavier by the fact that I did not plan my packing well. Sooooo, I had to stuff a "few" of my items in each of their bags so that I didn't have to pay the extra $150 baggage fee. But I digress. After finding the bathroom, I saw that some people had this neat little luggage cart. I was determined to find one! It was 6 am and our plane did not leave Munich until 4:20 that afternoon....we needed a luggage cart. I finally saw them! I glanced at Aidan and Lucas and they seemed fine, so I walked the 10 feet to grab one of the last two luggage carts. All so they would not have to pull their heavy luggage. I heard a few gasps and noticed people were no longer walking. I had only turned my back for a second (did I not learn anything from teaching in Brooklyn?). I whirled around only to see my two precious children in an ALL OUT BRAWL. Fists were swinging, they were on the floor, kicking, screaming. And people were just standing there. In awe? In disgust? For a quick second, I thought about waiting to see what these people were going to do. But I didn't. Sigh. I did the only thing a good parent would do. I ran over to them (with luggage cart in tow) and yelled some nonsense and pulled them apart. I proceeded to separate them and put them in "time out" right there in the middle of the airport. Yes, everyone then had to walk around them. Did I mention that although Aidan and Lucas had 3 hours of sleep, I didn't sleep at all? Not one wink.

**because I was not able to get a picture during the actual event (imagine that?!), I pulled another good parenting move and had Aidan and Lucas re-enact the moment in Emet's apartment.

...and we're off!

27 hours of traveling with two four year olds ....I was dreading it for weeks. Ok, months. I had been hoarding Happy Meal toys, coloring books, crayons...anything I could get at a yard sale. I bought a new DVD player --one that has a 13 hour battery and 2 headphone jacks (oooh, aaaaah!). I even gave in and bought them each at Leapster L-Max game system. I swore I would hold out on buying a game system...4 years doesn't really feel like holding out. But when faced with these kind of circumstances, can you blame me?

After all that worrying, everything went smoothly with the exception of one minor scuffle in the airport. But I'll get back to that. Lucas slept on the floor of the airplane. Aidan stretched out across two seats. They slept for a total of 3 hours before we had to change plans --at 2:30 am. So all in all, 27 hours of traveling, two 4 years, 2 L-O-N-G layovers, and 3 hours of sleep? I couldn't have asked for better behaved kids.