“..How does your garden grow?”
May 28th, 2002
Archive
Archive for May, 2002
The online diaries known as
May 19th, 2002
Now that I’m back, I’m
May 19th, 2002
Now that I’m back, I’m sure postings to this will severely drop off. At least until I hit the road again. I’ve got to look to projects at home and in the garden (first up, pruning the lilac). Maybe I’ll redesign the look of the site again if I see something that catches my eye.
Here’s information on that little
May 18th, 2002
Here’s information on that little YAK-40 that I flew from Baku to Tbilisi. Mine was nowhere in as good a shape as those shown here.
That was a long trip
May 18th, 2002
That was a long trip back, but I made it. I’ve managed to stay up until 10pm or so the two nights I’m home (yesterday I had to take a nap in the evening) but I’m waking up at early, early hours. It’ll be a week or so, but I’ll get back on schedule.
Today’s the last day in
May 15th, 2002
Today’s the last day in Georgia. Tomorrow I’m on the plane headed home. I’m starting to wind down a bit now.
This morning was the big presentation to the Chiefs of Party and it went very well. The presentation was very well received and I was asked a number of good questions. Already next week the local staff here will begin working with the staff of some of these other projects to bring them on board. A very successful day all around.
The trip home will take all day, of course. Something like 13 hours in the air and a few more on the ground in transit. I want my next trip to a third world country to be close. Some place like West Virginia.
I tried Cha-Cha tonight. Cha-cha
May 12th, 2002
I tried Cha-Cha tonight. Cha-cha was described as the local whiskey, but it is really a brandyish thing, made from grapes and not grain. Holy smokes. I though I was gonna die. I’ve tried moonshine that was smoother! I looked at the label on the bottle — it said “Premium.” It should have said “Premium Unleaded — also cleans fuel injectors.” I thought I was gonna die. Zozo, the owner here, poured me about about 2 fingers of this stuff in a little glass (about the diameter of a quarter) and I couldn’t finish it. There was just no way. I tipped my head back and took a swig and just felt my body light up. I didn’t even get half of it down!
We switched to a little 45 year old Congnac (also local) that was MUCH nicer.
Dinner tonight was really special. There were three of us at my table, me and two guys on TDY with the Embassy. The main course was something like a beef stroganoff with potato frits (fries), but Zozo came out and asked if we’d like to try a special fish. Of course the answer was a resounding Yes! Out came a plate of this fish, each about twice as large as a sardine, that had been breaded, seasoned a very little and fried. Zozo said to just eat the whole thing — head, bones, tail and all. What the hell? We all grabbed one, and boy was it good! We finished two plates of those little guys — “moiba.”
Ah.. good food and good drink and all new. Gotta love it!
There’s a detergent here marked
May 12th, 2002
There’s a detergent here marked under the brand name BARF. That’s just too funny. “Honey, are we out of BARF?” Or, “Don’t forget to pick up a big box of BARF at the market.” Too much!
That was a nice evening!
May 11th, 2002
That was a nice evening! Three of us went out of town to a little lake up in the hills around Tbilisi. It was only about 15 minutes away from downtown, and has a little bar/restaurant and, during the summers, a discoteque. We were two midwestern yanks and one Georgian. We walked around this nice little lake and shot the breeze. Talked about the weather and other things of no consequence for a while, but soon we were all asking each other those burning cultural quesitons we had.
The one I remember in particular was asked by the Georgian. He asked how, given that people are so sensitive to sexual harassment in the US, do you meet people? I admit that I sat there slackjawed for a moment and wondered myself how we did it. The answer I gave is of no consequence, but I thought the question was great!
We spent HOURS in the little restaurant over a beer and some recommended Georgian food (highlight: chicken with way too much garlic, and mushrooms baked with butter, cheese and toasted onions). They picked me up at about 4:15 and didn’t drop me off until 11:30, so we covered a LOT of ground. What a great time! I love evenings like this where two culture can connect and see how similar and how different we are. Some things are just strange, some are so similar. THIS is why travel is important.