A Day is Typical When...

No day in Georgia is typical except that one can find repeating themes such as missed appointments, ‘change of plans’, and spontaneity.

Here is my ‘A Day is Typical When’ story from December 24th.

I slept through my alarm, but managed to jump out of bed in time to do a few exercises, catch a shower, and head out the door to my language lesson. I have language lessons for two hours every morning five daysa week. When I have half an hour I walk to my lessons through the concrete buildings, but on rushed days like today, I walk a block to catch a minibus which puts me a lot closer to my teacher Tamuna’s apartment building.

On the marshutka, I study flash cards:

ear: quri
perfect: brts’qinvale
century: sauk’une
I wake up: vighvidzeb

I mumble the words under my breath benieth my scarf, but sometimes people look at me funny anyway.

I pay the elevator box five cents to ride to the 13th floor which is marked with an upside down 10, where Tamuna answers the doorbell.

“Rogor khar? Kargad, rogor khar? Kargad, kargad. Mobrdzandit.” “How are you? Fine, how are you? Good, good, please come in.”

After language lesson, I take a marshutka to the Ortojala district where I’m supposed to be meeting Luarsab to continue translating a book. This book was written by Evtime Kereselidze, an extremely dedicated monk who spent his life collecting, publishing, and hiding chants and chant books from those who would destroy them. Without him, we would not have the some five thousand chants that we are studying today.

Luarsab was excited about meeting the ambassadors, so instead of working, we ate some lunch, then he went to get a haircut, beard trimming, and to wash his car. I played three games of chess with comedian father-in-law Giorgi, losing two games to one. He claimed he let me win one in order to be a good host, I claimed to have given him victory to respect his dear age. Meanwhile, I played games with Elene, the resident two year old who alternately breaks things or cries, but is always adorable. I’m definitely part of the family down there.

Time passed, and no work happened, though I was equipped with notebook, pencil, minidisc recorder, and patience. Instead, I needed to drive back to my place in Sabertalo to pick up a suit. Luarsab lent me his car for the first time, and I picked it up from the carwashing guys, who made at least two dozen, barely understood lewd comments about me needing some Georgian girls ‘gogona’.

Traffic was horrendous and I was stuck in stalemate conditions for half an hour, not three minutes from my house. A road normally three lanes on each side became six lanes of parked cars, and one barely moving lane going the opposite direction. Georgians sort of obey laws, but as soon as something like traffic happens, people peel into the oncoming lanes by the dozens. I didn’t practice my flashcards, but watched angry Georgians in their cars instead.

I realized I had forgotten my keys in my bag at Luarsab’s house. Thankfully my landlords live on the 8th floor and they have extras. Still, I was so late I didn’t have time to go back to pick-up Luarsab, he had to take a taxi to the ambassadors house. I picked up Carl Linnich on the way to the party, and we helped ourselves to mulled wine inside the ambassador mansion.

Can you believe they didn’t feed us?! We sang Christmas carols, sang Georgian Alilo’s, talked shop with the ambassador, his wife, kids, the American ambassador, his wife, et. al, and still no food. So Luarsab and I went for overpriced Chinese food down in the center of the city, and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

Later, he brought me back home, but as I had arranged to meet up with some Peace Corps volunteers nearby, we went down to meet them. This is an interesting crew. These mid-twenties Americans spend two years in the Georgian outback fending off vodka toasts and sheep fat, trying to teach english and stay warm. Mostly they’re a cheerful bunch, I’ve met them a few times, tonight four of them were lying around in the hostel they run, watching Kevin Costner’s ‘Robin Hood’. One guy kept singing “Everything I doooo, I do it forrrr yooooou....” the Bryan Adams theme song. Farely low-key scene.

Luarsab grilled them on Peace Corps questions, and we had some good laughs.

Then we decided to attend Orthodox service in the morning, so he dropped me off at my place and left. Orthodox Christmas isn’t until January 7th, tomorrow is some other special occasion featuring a special liturgy. Also featuring a need for sleep very soon.


So, in that I didn’t really know what I was going to be doing today when I woke up, this was a typical day. I wished I could have studied a little more, but one can see how it is hard to turn down such a day of events.