Phone and Address

Dear Friends,
Sorry some time has passed. This year I am diving into the culture and language which is wonderful but makes writing about my experience as an observer a little more difficult than my visit last fall.

I wanted to let you know some information though:

My phone over here is 995-99-49-90-47

My address:
John Graham
c/o Rowena Cross Najaf
25 Atoneli Street
0105 Tbilisi Georgia

I have an apartment now in Sabertalo, which is a huge neighborhood about a fifteen minute bus ride from the center of town.
I live on the top and ninth floor of a concrete tower. I have hot water in the shower but not in the sinks, a working fireplace, an out of tune piano, a refrigerator! The amenities. Turn on/off gas for the stove, two beds, a coffee table and small fold out couch. With a hefty but fair monthly fee I have internet access. Electricity seems to be fairly consistent so far as well: we might lose an hour or so around dinnertime... which means I walk nine flights of stairs because the elevator won’t be working, however, water works without electricity thank god. Fake Greek columns snazzily hold up the low ceilings in an attempt to disguise the actual beams which flirt with my morning hair. Two bright windows look out on more ugly concrete buildings like mine, but it’s still an exotic view. It is all together a cozy little den with lots of books to read and music to sing.

I would rather live in the Old City Tbilisi though, where there are medieval churches and castles, cobblestone streets and grapevines, decorated gutters and balcony metalwork. In the basements are medieval style bakeries with one big round fire pit, on the walls of which sticky bread glows golden white before being extracted from charring with long tongs. On the first floors are vodka shops, another alternative. If I find a place down there, I’ll move, though at the moment I love my little spot.