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.