science fair

Held our first science fair our school has had that anyone can remember.  It was a success but, as always, with a Georgian twist.

Only in Georgia could I have this type of science fair project.  One student decided she wanted to test the relationship between exercise and heart rate with several variables.  It was a very good starting point for her.  You have to understand most of these students have never seen a science fair project much less participated in one. They also have procrastination down to a fine art.  So she comes to school two days before the fair and says she has all her data but that she had to change it some, running out of time.   So instead a test group of 20 the new project has three subjects: an athlete, a smoker and a normal person.  She took their pulse, had them run 500 meters and then took their pulse again.  (So far, okay.)  Then she gave them a shot of vodka and had them run another 500 meter!  Not only was an underage girl distributing alcohol to adults, the adults were her driver, her body guard and her body guard's brother-in-law!  And one of them was 180 kilo – which is  the reason she decided his pulse was high!

Now I’m tying a quilt for one of the aides.  No stretchers here so I have it pinned to a Turkish rug and am crawling around n my knees tying 630 knots!

Dentist trip

Just got back from the dentist. The cap came off one of my back molars.  It looked so ugly and thin I almost threw it away.

I made a dentist appointment at the Eka Dent office across the street (came recoommended by some friends).  They asked if I had the cap and I said it was in my apartment.  Nothing else was said but I took the ugly cap with me.

The dentist office was very modern and the dentist spoke very good English.  The procedure room was upstairs but before I could go up I had to put on disposable blue booties.  The dentist tested the cap, checked to make sure it still fit then cemented the cap back on the tooth. Took about 20 minutes and cost 20 Lari (about $14) and feels fine!

The facillaties

Restrooms, such a strange topic but oh so interesting when traveling.  I’ll never forget the first time I took students abroad.  One young lady decided to use the facilities in a major airport; when she emerged her eyes were as big as saucers;  “The seats move!” 

Ever notice the numerous ways to flush; assuming they do flush?  Push the little button for a little flush and the big button if you need a greater force!  Or pull up the knob instead of pushing down.   Or pull a chain, but be careful as you may be pulling the ‘need help’ light. 

Here many expats check the toilets out before deciding on the restaurant, or at least on what to drink.  And there is a good reason to do so.  Some of the more popular restaurants have what t is un-affectionately called ‘squatty potties’.  They are just what you vision – two white slabs of porcelain placed on opposite sides of a hole.  Use it but be sure of your aim; and beware when you pull the chain.  Water may whoosh all over the place.  How women do it in heels I have no idea.  On the other extreme I’ve used public facilities that boast painted porcelain sinks with individual hand towels you use then throw in a basket to be washed.  Though one of the most unique is the one mentioned in an earlier blog –at theater restroom with glass doors!  At least the stall doors were non-see through!

Oh no! Went to an Indian restaurant tonight and found a new idea.   The floor was covered with these little green mats that looked like plants I have put in rock gardens.  But the most amazing, or disconcerting feature, was the wall facing the toilet.  It was one huge mirror!  Now why would you want to see that?

Christmas holidays

The Christmas holidays here in Tbilisi start with the new New Year celebration on January 1^st.  Unlike the US where celebrations end soon after midnight December 31^st here they begin at midnight plus 1 (minute or hour depending on stamina of participant).  My friend received her first New Year call at 1am; the call stating, not asking, that the friends were coming to visit.  One is expected to entertain with food and fellowship (translate wine).  This continues for days.

Celebration parties start at 10:30 and go until 4:30; especially those hosted n the apartment above my bedroom.  Sunday night seems most popular.  There’s eating, dancing and music with a definite base beat.

The Orthodox Christmas, brought here by the Russian Orthodox, is Dec 7^th.  No one seems to know why the change, (little outside pressure maybe?), as many songs of the Church refer to the December date.  The day is celebrated by a parade down Rustevilli.  .  The procession is lead by priests followed by young girls in white surrounding a float containing baskets.  Goods and Lari for orphanages are deposited in these baskets.  Then the day and evening is filled with supras with friends and family.  I joined several friends at a mutual friend’s apartment for a supra.  As Salome greeted us she said her home was a small apartment with a great heart.  She truly spoke the truth as her place could fit in my bedroom with room to spare.  This is home to her, her husband and two sons.  Her mother-in-law lives in a room across a small alley.  The room is furnished with bunk beds; soon to be shared by her eldest son.  The bathroom is also across the hall.  Kind of like some experienced in my youth only mine had no running water.  It is a different kind of existence but one they accept for themselves and very graciously share.  But as Salome said, she hopes for better for her sons.  We ate, talked and laughed for hours all crowed around a table the size of a standard card table.  In these circumstances one feels very connected to ones fellow dinner.  Meanwhile outside the streets are shining with lit chandeliers swinging across the street and Freedom Square’s fountain spilling a multitude of small sparkling lights down wedding cake layers.

January 19^th is Epiphany the time most baptisms occur.  The Patriarch has issued a statement that he will be the godfather for every third child or thereafter.  This is because families are so poor they stop with one or two children.  But the child-bearing population has been decimated by war and conflicts so that the total population is decreasing.  Some fear that the will see a whole generation missing and not possible to replace.  This Epiphany the Patriarch baptized 300 babies!  Each got their own audience, so if there was no bathroom or eating breaks and it took only 10 minutes to baptize one child he would have need 50 hours.  Even the head of the church couldn’t make that happen in a day.  So not sure what they did.

I attended a baptism.  The ritual has definite similarities to European churches.  At this time the child’s name is recorded in the church’s book; marking him as an individual and bestowing a dignity on him in God’s eye.  The ritual begins with a handful of water poured over the child’s forehead three times.  She is also anointed with oil on the forehead, eyes, lips, heart, hands and feet.  I assumed because these are the parts that can get one into trouble but the doctrine states it is because these parts brings one to God and through them we serve him.  The priests then wash each place with a special white towel that the god parents furnish.  No one seemed to know for sure why.  The best answer I found was that they did not want the child touching dirty places with oily hands where the dirt could stick.  Finally 3 small locks of hair are snipped to represent the only gift the child can give in return for the blessing of baptism (hair being the symbol of strength as with Sampson).

This is also the day each family brings a container to church to receive holy water to take home.  It is used for making a person feel better when sick and to calm down a child.  I’m sure there are more uses but these were the important ones for the young mother I spoke with.  Each family brings his own bottle which acolytes fill from a five-gallon pail.  They bring what they have, I saw one man take his holy water home in a plastic beer bottle.

On January 31^st the decorations are down and life returns to normal; not just heading into the next holiday.

Winter complaint

Ok, time to complain.  It’s snowing outside and it’s not suppose to do that here.  At least not this often nor this much.  The locals do not remember the snow hanging around this long either.  Had the first snow day off in four years.  Outside is 34 degrees, my apartment is 62 degrees (only because I have shut off all the other rooms) and the bedroom is 58 degrees..  There are two small radiators in the large living room and there is no way to circulate heat.  So I sit on one radiator and work on the table.  But then my hands get cold so I drink hot water.  That makes for frequent bathroom breaks which cause the larger parts of me to get cold all over again! 

I needed to wash sheets but with no sun shining I’m not sure they will dry. I dry sheets by draping them over two chairs and dragging the chairs around the living room following the sunbeam.  No sun – no Drying?  As I wrap myself cocoon style at night I only use half the bottom sheet.  So I rotated the sheet so I now sleep on the unused half and washed only the top.  I had gotten a horrible rash all over my back that I attributed to the local laundry soap; so I switched to Tide.  It’s more expensive but worth not trying to scratch my back in the class room, restaurant …you get the picture.  As I poured the soap into the washing machine tray I saw the warning symbol for the first time, a drawing of a machine just like mine with the universal ‘do not use’ X over it.  Think I’ll ask my co-workers if I smell.  If not, then the soap is working fine and the heck with the warning.  If I do then I ask – will perfume suffice?

Did I mentin all the places I'm persuing for next year are very near the equator?