Summer Days in Tbilisi, Georgia #1

Saturday morning, July 30, 2011   11:30 AM

Somewhere south and east of the city of Tbilisi, I am in a 3 room + kitchen + bathroom Soviet style apartment (2^nd floor), working my way through a carton of 100% Pink Grapefruit juice, and a plastic wrapped, sliced, loaf of bread.  The further I work into the loaf, the more fresh the pieces taste to be.   The grocerette at which they were purchased was air conditioned, which was good after about an hour walk up and down the neighborhood streets.

The juice is great, and a bright sun is shining outside.

I left Des Moines sometime Thursday afternoon, hopping to O’Hare.  From Chicago it was 8+ hours to London’s Heathrow airport, which to me always is a long walk.  And it was, from the gate where the United Air flight dropped us off, back into Terminal One.  My original itinerary suggested I had 2+ hour layover.  I discovered, quite at the last minute (literally), that I had less than 50 minutes.  Somewhere over the terminals sound system can the words “Passenger Staff…”, and then something I couldn’t understand.  It prompted me to look at my next boarding pass, and then at the monitor, only to read the dreaded words “Flight Closing.”  I spotted “Gates 16-21” off to my left, and began to run what seemed to be a deserted set of gates.  I needed Gate 19, and when I rounded the corner, the airline gate keepers shouted, “Oh there you are!” 

It was either make that plane, or wait 24 hours for the next one, to Tbilisi via Baku, Azerbaijan. 

All was well, and the uncrowded plane allowed for almost everyone to have their own “row.”  Thankfully, I was able to sleep most of the way, both from Chicago to London (8 hours), and from London to Baku (5 hours).  When not sleeping, I read a book about the Caucasus region, and the specifics of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, on my Kindle.  Arriving at the Tbilisi International Airport at 10:00 PM Friday night, I felt quite rested.  Because my itinerary changed, and the contact had no updated information, I had 2 hours to hang just outside customs.   I exchanged some dollars for whatever the Georgian currency is (164 of it for $1.00 American), bought some coffee and cheesecake at the airport’s Cappadocia Café, and waited.  What luck to discover the airport had free internet access.

Just around midnight, with a hand scrawled “DAVID STAFF” sign hanging from my suitcases, I spotted someone who had a printed DAVID STAFF sign trying to peer past the customs exit doors (the ones with “Tbilisi – The City Which Loves You” on them).   The connection was soon made, and Nina drove me to the apartment.  The plan was that Tim Simpson was to come in later (5:30 AM?), so it was mine simply to unpack a bit and sack out.  Again, the sleep-aid pill came in handy.

Somewhere around 2:00 AM, all the power went out in the area.  I noticed it because the fans, which I had positioned to circulate air in the sleeping rooms, suddenly stopped.  The night was warm, though not intolerably so.  I kept waking expecting to see Tim step in later in the night, but he never did.  Nina would tell me in the morning that “Tim didn’t have his time right.  He’ll be in sometime today (Saturday). 

In the morning, I awoke, had a quick visit from Nina who updated me on Tim’s status, and then exercised before a shower.  I had checked the water the evening before, to see if anything warm (or hot) could be coaxed out of the spigots in the bathroom.  Yes!  Warm, if not hot water!   But, as I discovered in the morning, with the power still out, apparently the water was warmed electrically.  This meant a very refreshing shower.  Soaped up, I discovered that whatever hot water was left was quickly spent, and a flow with an energizing chill replaced it.

 Before the sun became too hot, I commenced on a short exploratory walk, down to a business and market area, buzzing with taxis, busses, cars, and people shuffling here and there through the shops and open air fruit stands…the best ones were in the alleys behind the buildings on the main streets.  All kinds of fruit and vegetables, and fish, and dead (whole) chickens, along with street side hardware, clothing, and novelty shops.  Not much to buy, but much to look at. I bought a bottle of water in one shop, then some juice, bread, and bathroom paper in another. 

And so my adventure time in the republic of Georgia has begun.  Jim Herrington and Gias (a Georgian church leader) are finishing up an evangelistic English Camp today, and I will connect with them tomorrow.  The balance of this day will be spent preparing for some seminars I will do in the balance of this week, one in Tbilisi, and perhaps one in western Georgia, which should involve some travel.

Lunch finishes with a Nature Valley “Oats ‘n Honey” bar…from the good ole USA…