New House New Baby (Just Joking!)

Monday 6^th February 2012

We have been in our new place 2 weeks yesterday. It has been an adventure so far.  We have a gas fire and have been experimenting with the heating.  For those of you outside of Georgia, let me tell you that it is a tad on the cold side here, in the minus 10 ish? So we have kept the gas fire on all day and all night and even when we are not here!  We have found though that it is like the tropics as long as you are standing up but a drafty ice-well when you are sitting down.  This may have something to do with the poor-fitting windows, doors and ermm bricks!  Yes, despite Martin’s deftness in securing plastic sheeting to the windows and doors with drawing pins, it is still freezing cold.  So we have had to deploy the use of curtains strategically placed across open doorways, windows and doors.  Take a look at the outside of the building – this is our “Backroom”. 

On closer inspection, I think the windows are now being held in place by the plastic and the drawing pins.

You can see why it is so bloody cold!

Turning the corner you can see the entrance to our block. 

When I look at these pictures now I feel somewhat embarrassed to say we live here as it is a far cry from what we are used to in England, but this is how people live here, some are better equipped but some are worse. 

Our door is to the right and our toilet, kitchen and finally shower room runs along this wall.  I am assuming our water pipes are somewhere here and this explains why we didn’t have water for nearly 3 days – the pipes were frozen. While we waited patiently for our “slot” (7:30 to 10:30 morning and night) nothing happened.  In the meantime we used up every piece of cutlery, china, cups, saucepans (I even used the curry encrusted pan twice as I was re-heating leftovers).  We had run out of clean socks and underwear. The toilet was full.  We were dirty and smelly. Well what to do?  Luckily, on the third day with 15 minutes left of the morning slot we had a trickle and then a mild rush.  Overjoyed and thankful, we filled buckets, water bottles and saucepans with water, washed up the dishes and filled the wash bowl with soapy water to soak our smalls.  It looks like we are preparing for nuclear attack!  It is surprising just how much water you do actually use!

Kaspi

Tuesday 31^st January 2012

We chose Kaspi to move to because another TLGer recommended it.  We had never been there but we were told that there were at least 2 schools looking for teachers this semester and it was a town with more facilities that what we were used to.  I especially wanted to be near to Tbilisi as I craved the life that could be found in a city.  It’s not that I am a party animal but to go and have a beer or an interesting meal or walk along the river was completely unobtainable where we were and we found that we would visit and stay over in Tbilisi 3 weekends each month to escape from the village. Kaspi is a town with made roads and pavements, 4 public schools and a private school, a station, many, many pharmacies, several supermarkets, an outdoor market and a few municipal buildings.  It is quite spread out with a mixture of houses and apartment blocks.  It has that run down look like most of Georgia and I am sure that in its day it would have been a smart town as there are small parks, fountains and statues around.  I am told that there used to be an actual swimming pool here at one time and I think there are 2 bars / restaurants but it has been hard to spot them because everything looks closed down. 

We had to taxi our luggage to the new apartment (well the very old apartment) and then taxi back to Kvemo Khvedureti to collect the stuff we had left behind at Manana and Soso’s so we have spent quite a lot of money so far moving in a getting settled.  The landlords have been very helpful.  Not only did they get everything ready for us very quickly but they also left a lot of household goods for us to use so this has saved on a lot of expense.

 We don’t have to start paying the rent until 23^rd February either.  None of this paying 2 months in advance and leaving a month’s rent as a deposit!  The rent is 200 lari a month (£80)  and we are expecting the gas to be about 130 with electric and water bringing it up to 150 roughly.  At this point we don’t really have any idea!  The gas is left on all the time but we are experimenting with the settings – we have to get washing dry and the apartment is old and drafty.  We don’t want a big bill but we also don’t want to sit there is 6 layers and a blanket!  We were paying 250 a month to the host family and also bought extra food so we spent at least 300 so it is not much more for us to have our own place, especially if we save money by not staying over in Tbilisi so much. 

The bedroom leads off the lounge and we have 2 wardrobes so plenty of storage.  We bought a duvet and a set of sheets as they were pretty and we thought we needed the extra warmth.  We have been supplied with a large carpet that we have covered the bedroom floor with but we need to do something with the lounge floor as it is a bit bare. All the walls are bare, drab and yellowed but we plan to stick up stuff to make it a bit more cheerful.  But at night we sit in our armchairs with our feet up watching films and TV shows we have downloaded drinking tea with milk.  Haha it sounds very tame I know but it is just great.  I do feel the absence of being with a Georgian family at times and interestingly actually miss the regular demands to drink cha-cha but am also enjoying the peace we have together.

We also have a back room leading off double doors from the lounge which we use as an office with all our school resources and printer set up.  The plaster is falling off the walls in places here but we intend to put up all the tourist information leaflets we have gathered to hide the evidence!  The shower leads from the back room and is good.  We have hot and cold running water but only between 7:30 and 10:30 morning and night.  This regulates us but we are resisting.  We have to get up early for a shower but at the weekend if we want to stay in bed till past the water deadline we have to shower at night.  It is also not reliable as it didn’t come on at 7:30 am as expected one day and we had left the washing up and showering planning on an early morning thrust of energy.  It was not to be.  We are working out a system though.  Buckets on hand to fill up the cistern, bottled water for the kettle (the water is horribly scummy) and bowls and saucepans filled for the afternoon cooking session. 

Washing clothes, now there is a story.  Many of you know how much Martin hates doing the laundry in England.  He sulks and shows off which I find outrageous and am so surprised at as he does everything else with fervour!  One time he put my new clothes on a boil wash and then tumble dried them on the highest temperature for 85 bloody minutes!  This nearly led to divorce well we both jumped out of the car and left it in the middle of the road during a rather heated discussion a few days later!  However, while my hands are painful he HAS to do the washing as it is too heavy for me to do.  We were told we were getting a washing machine and that it was being repaired.  In the meantime we use a large plastic bowl full of hot water and soap powder, put clothes in and leave to soak and then Martin rinses and wrings and I hang up.  My Mum had a washing machine from the late 70’s and before that we used to use the laundrette.  Hell, when I was a kid I would take the neighbour’s washing on a pram for them to the laundrette and do it for a shilling.  So I have never had to do hand-washing en masse like this, only for the occasional jumper.  I’m telling you now, it isn’t fun and it is really hard work.  Having said that we do have 2 sticks which they left which is very good for prodding to move the clothes around.  However excitement upon excitement when we found out that our washing machine was arriving!

It is a single tub (not to be confused with the twin version) and what you do is pour hot water into it with soap powder and then put your clothes in it.  You turn a button to settings 1 to 5 (number of minutes) and plug it in.  it then goes chug, chug, chug.  You then put the pipe into a bucket and let the water drain away.  You then pour more water in and repeat. Sound familiar? It doesn’t actually spin -  you have to do that part yourself.  So what it saves you doing is the prod, prod with the sticks.  We have not tried it yet as this is going to be an all- evening job evidently, but don’t worry you will get a full update when it happens, I promise.

Our kitchen is well equipped with our toaster (yes an actual toaster – we can have toast and marmalade and WE DO!!!!) and matching electric kettle!  How quaint!  I also brought a hand-blender for those all-important soups.  We have lots of lovely things in our cupboard and I was very much looking forward to cooking for Martin and friends in our little pad.  I have a bit of a reputation in England for being a darn fine cook however I have let myself down badly so far as I have been unkind to both food sources and saucepans L  I tried to make a rice pudding on top of the stove because for some unfathomable reason the oven (which is new) works on only very high, low and off.  However it was a disaster! See for yourself the evidence!  My shepherd’s pie was horrible – it had no flavour and the grill kept going out when we shut the oven door so it was also very anaemic looking.  My tea is getting there and am very excited about using skimmed milk!  So I am a little put off or shall I say less than enthusiastic.  I did triumph with a mushroom soup and also a thick carrot, onion and potato soup with intentional lumps.  Yummy!  Martin made a fantastic chilli-con-beanie tonight with left overs put in the freezer.

We have a sweet little kitchen with plenty of cupboard space but no natural light other than the doorway to the freezing cold backroom.  Martin has been busy “Double glazing” with plastic sheeting and drawing pins but although it does make a difference in this -10 degree weather, the lack of pointing and or / plaster just makes these attempts seem pretty futile.  We still have plenty of things to buy such as forks and knives (we have 2 forks and no knives) and some rugs to make it look more homely. 

England Egypt and Back to Georgia

Tuesday 31^st January 2012

England

It was strange being back in Blighty!  It was as if we had been plucked out of one environment and plonked into another and couldn’t kind of work out what was going on.  When we came to Georgia in the summer it was more like an extended holiday moving into living here – the process was much slower.  But in England “Boom”.  It was so luxurious!  Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.  Wall-to-wall carpeting, hot showers whenever you wanted them, central heating, food – so much food!  What was most odd was being able to understand what everyone was saying.  In Georgia, I realised, in a crowd I would go on standby or hibernate.  I didn’t expect to be able in most cases to understand what was being said let alone join in the conversation so I would mentally move to neutral.  In England I was bombarded with stimuli from all over the place!  In the supermarket I honed in on the conversations that were going on simply because I was in the habit of listening out for English speakers in Georgia!  It was exhausting!

On the way back from the airport we stopped at a carvery and had a roast beef dinner but couldn’t manage a pudding.  That night we had a bloody lovely sausage sandwich with mustard.  The next day - eggs and bacon with mushrooms and tomatoes.  The pleasures continued and we were gradually ticking off the list all those plans for food made when we lay in our oh-so-cold Georgian bed at night watching our hot breath rise.  The food obsession didn’t last too long, same thing with the chocolate.  It was great but it wasn’t the be all and end all.  We didn’t have a chilli-con-carne but we did get the Indian and the Chinese takeaways!

We had some great times with the family.  We stayed at my sisters before we went to Egypt and my eldest son’s after.  Martin and I both have 3 children each and we did our best to get to see everyone as much as possible during our time there.  My old Dad is 86 and I know misses us very much and so we tried to get to see him nearly every day.  It was very much a family time.  Martin’s 2 grandchildren share the same birthday with just one year apart (aged 1 and 2) on New Year’s Eve and so we went to a family party at Tia and Ian’s that day.  My sister was great putting us up, gave us her bed, cooked nice breakfasts and looked after us so well, hosting lots of events so we all could get together.  We also did mad rush visits to catch up with as many friends as we could.

There was also lots of excitement that we could have done without.  Martin scraped my sister’s car down one side the first time he drove it!  There had been a longstanding leak under the floor in Martin’s house which resulted in the floor having to be rebuilt!  There was an electrical problem in my cottage which would have caused a fire if the big puddle of water that caused the problem in the first place had not put it out!  My Dad fell over twice and we had to call an ambulance to get him up again.  He also had to go to hospital for tests.  My son sadly split with his girlfriend in the new year.   I had to have an x-ray and 2 blood tests.  It was all go!  Of course the best part of Christmas was finding out that the “Pregnant Barbie”  that I bought as a gift actually gives birth!  Where’s Ken?  That’s what I want to know!

Egypt

We stayed for one week in a 5 star hotel all-inclusive in Husquanah.   We did not leave the resort.  We lay on sunbeds on the beach, drinking a range of exotic cocktails (they usually tasted the same hahah) and read lots of books and for a change watched English films on telly in our hotel room.  Food wasn’t bad and the drinks were watered down but hey it was hot and we going back to below zero temperatures the following week.  Funnily enough it was a very popular Russian resort with very few English people – maybe 5 families in all while we were there.  So food was geared towards Russian tastes which was well – home from home!  The fascinating thing was that it was daylight and clear when we flew in and we flew right over the desert.  I had never done this before or seen a desert this close up and it looks just like when the tide goes out on the beach, leaving rivulets (sand dunes) as it retreats. Special.

Georgia

We had to pay £315 excess luggage allowance on our return flights as firstly the allowance was very small and secondly we HAD TOO MUCH STUFF!  We didn’t use our full luggage allowance going out and we left some things in England but this wasn’t enough to balance our kitchen equipment, English food supplies, new clothes that were more suitable for the Georgian winter (we had gone down a size or 2 last semester and our clothes were woefully inadequate), stationary including an A3 laminator and a supply of pouches and bags of lovely English story books for reading to the children.  Well that was that.

How great to be back in Georgia!  Life is simple here even if it is also a bit grim and lacking in luxury.  TLG were great in helping us find an apartment.  They had lined up 3 to view with varying rents, 200, 250 and 300 and drove us round and helped us choose.  We viewed on Thursday and moved in on the Sunday which is now just over a week ago.  We met with our co-teachers and started at our new schools last Thursday.  We are loving it!

All Change

Thursday 15^th December

How like Georgia!  Just when you think you have it sussed, it tricks you and you find you are just as confused as ever before.  We received an email 2 days ago saying that our host family is unable to host us next semester due to personal plans.  The director had been notified to look for a new host family for us and they were letting us know so that we were not shocked when we found out.  Well it was a surprise as they had continually said how satisfied they were and there was a constant demand for massages, computer lessons and lessons for the children.  Martin was named as Manana’s brother and I was the sister-in-law.  All was well we thought. The arrangement was of course conditional on them being happy as to whether they continued into the next semester but we don’t know the reason and no-one has said anything at school to me so maybe they don’t know at school yet.   The building work on the bathroom and kitchen has come to a full-stop as the boiler is not working for some reason and has been taken away.  Maybe these plans are to be delayed and we certainly would not want to stay there next semester if there was no bathroom or running water.

I think it unlikely that they will be able to find another host family for us, given the trouble they had before.  Maybe they will or maybe they won’t but either way we have decided we would like a change and so have asked to be placed in Kaspi a large town which is only a 30 minute marshuka ride to Tbilisi.  It is the other side of Gori so we have easy access to that city if we want to as well.  We have decided to rent our own apartment so this will be another change for us – a town and without a Georgian family.  Kaspi has at least 2 restaurants and a large supermarket!  Importantly though is no more mud!  I have said before how this is a constant source of my despair and now I will not have to put up with it any longer.  We are very excited about our own apartment which will not be anything to shout home about luxury-wise compared to what we have in England but we will not be constantly invaded by Georgians. 

Last week in Hostel Georgia, one of the volunteers invited 2 of his Georgian relatives to have a drink with us.  I hadn’t realised how much we valued our little hideaway in Tblisi until then.  I physically braced myself when I sat down with them preparing for the constant toasts and demands to drink copious amounts of alcohol and eat, eat.  This cultural exchange thing can be overdone.  In fact there is no exchange, it is all about us experiencing Georgia.  It is only what you would expect of course.  We would be exactly the same in England.  When we lie in our cold bed we talk about what we might need for our little Georgian nest and what we will cook.  We had ordered an electric kettle and toaster in England as gifts to bring back for our host family (matching the new kitchen tiles of course) but we will now confiscate these for our own use.  What do we plan on cooking? Eggs on toast, sandwiches and soup!  Chilli con carne and spaghetti AL DENTE with all kinds of sauces.  Pasta is boiled to buggery here and is inedible. How many saucepans will we need?  These are the thoughts that occupy us.  Martin naturally is concerned with manly things like what the heating and electrical systems will be like.  My thoughts are more domestic – bring back some posters for the walls and what design will my plastic table cloth be.

Kaspi has 4 schools so in terms of a social life there are not going to be many teachers to socialise with.  However the good news is that it is surrounded by 36 villages and so there should be a few more native speakers who will be desperate for a bit of life, company and a beer so we will be less isolated in that respect.  Our own TLG group, 23, had 17 teachers and we were quite close and spent a lot of time with each other, but 7 of them are finishing their contracts this semester and we have to make more of an effort to get to know other teachers.  You really do need other English speakers to break the monotony and to communicate with.

I will be sad to leave my school as I know and care about the children and have a good relationship with my co-teachers.  I had 4 bras that I brought with me that were new and no don’t really fit me.  I gave them to Juliet who was thrilled to pieces and translated my “They’re a bit saucy” to “sex-u-al” and tried them on over her clothes in the staffroom much to the delight of the other teachers.  We have a bit of a laugh woman to woman and this is unusual from what I can see with the other volunteers and their co-teachers.

But we came to Georgia to experience new things and we will have spent 4 months living in a village in fairly grim conditions at times.  There are many different Georgias to experience and if we stay for a third and fourth semester we will have the chance to experience more and more of this fascinating country.

As a PS to this note, our host family announce, the night before we are leaving, that we can stay after all!  “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO this is not happening- we are excited about being on our own in our own apartment!  Please don’t make us stay!”  It was a shock to find out we were not going to be staying but we quickly adapted to the new plan – we are nothing if not flexible!  I allowed several seconds of pretending I didn’t understand the language in the hopes they would give up but no they persisted.  Luckily for us, there were certain provisos, we had to do our own washing and cooking as it was too much for them.  Well of course this plan doesn’t include Martin it means me!  Sod that!  He can hardly be seen to be cooking and doing the washing or even helping me.  Mine and his reputations would be in tatters and there was still the lack of running water in the house to contend with.  They were disappointed as they felt they had come up with a brilliant solution, but it was too little too late.  It was hard to let them down.