From Costa Rica to Republic of Georgia -- hello, Tbilisi!

I think we’ve proven we’re pretty unfaithful bloggers. ☹ Wow, so much has happened since our last blog.  This is a long one.  I may not blog frequently but I’ve learned I’m long when I do.  I hope you get something out of it, and will stop reading when you don’t. 😊

To wrap up Costa Rica . . . between when we last posted about turtles (Aug 23) and Sept 10 when we flew back to the US, things of notable mention . . . we learned painfully that putting both of our iPhones into a single “dry” bag while playing in intense waves, is not a good risk diversification strategy.  And we learned how hard it is to do anything logistical / administrative (take pictures, find directions, look up restaurants, buy plane tickets, rent hotels, communicate with family and friends, transfer / open financial accounts, do virtual covid tests, receive verification codes, etc., etc.) without our phones.  While feeling frustrated and isolated, I kept reminding myself none of that was critical to life and love in the immediate moment.  Suddenly our very old “kids' iPad” and single laptop became, well, much more in-demand.  We went to Monteverde for 2 days (higher elevation cloud forest area) where we were lucky to spot sloths (including a mother and baby) amongst other critters, to zip-line high in/above the jungle canopy (Spencer’s a fan and he’s fearless!!).  Lastly, Neil got a (false) positive COVID test as we completed our “at home, observed on zoom” Ellume tests. Fortunately he was a-symptomatic.  This was a rapid test that’s good enough to re-enter the US, but not as definitive as the follow-up PCR test he received 36 hours later – which was happily negative.  Let’s just say that was a stressful few hours as the kids and I tried to quarantine away from him in a small space with just 2 air-conditioned rooms and humid outdoors, and we determined that I’d go ahead to the US with the kids if he had to remain and quarantine/isolate (and of course I thought about all the morbid potential outcomes thereof).  We were so incredibly grateful to receive that negative test and I think it sobered us a bit, reminding us what an odd year this is to take on the trip we’ve taken on.  And reminding us that many haven’t received such good news, and have experienced severe loss and hardship.  On returning to the US, we had 2 weeks of a whirlwind with family and friends – my mom’s retirement party co-hosted with my sisters (yay Mom!!), then drive from LA to Seattle, again being lucky to see beloved people on the way including Mommy Jordan again.  Aunt Miya’s wedding near Seattle was beautiful and so special to be a part of!  The kids danced their heads off.  During our few days in Seattle, we were also lucky to meet Kamilla’s family from her dad’s side (so fantastic to know you Jon and Kaeli, Amelia, Jon Jr, Aliya, Amiya, and Aeres – did I get everyone’s names right?!). 

Somewhere in there we decided and booked our next destination. We hastily re-packed / re-sorted / re-outfitted (“-ish”).  We literally walked past our neighborhood Amazon delivery spot on our way to the airport (later than planned) via LightRail, and waited for them to deliver our last package which contained our Georgia Lonely Planet book and a few other items. That's cutting it a bit close! We then flew on Sept 24 to . . . . Republic of Georgia!  Why Georgia?  We’ve long been fascinated by where Asia and Europe come together.  I see in Georgia influences from Turkey, Europe, Russia, the culture is rich, hospitable.  The food has lots of tomatoes, eggplant, walnuts, peppers, zucchini.  YUM!  While they’ve had several waves of COVID and are struggling to raise their vaccination rate (vx hesitancy is a real deal here), they are adamantly open to tourism, widely encouraging “digital nomads” to come.  We have felt like by being vaccinated (Neil and I, not yet the kids) and masking / being reserved in our interactions, we are not significantly increasing risk for those around us.   Tbilisi is relatively inexpensive (relative to the US/Europe), relatively stable (tho we catch glimpses into political undercurrent / social dialogue) and is quite convenient and safe in terms of just moving around.  And we hear Fall was a good time to visit, pretty similar weather to Seattle in fact.  In Tbilisi it rarely gets below freezing and typically snows 1-2 x / winter.  The high caucus mountains around us?  Well, those are another story and we hope to explore them a bit on briefer outings, but to remain based in Tbilisi until the end of 2021.  Oh, and our friend Carla recommended it!! 😊

Neil has posted a few times to Facebook since we’ve been in Georgia, feel free to friend him or me in FaceBook as we’re posting more regularly (and shorter!) there than on the blog.  Highlights / points of interest in Georgia at 1 month in are many, I’ll lift up a few . . .

Fun things we've gotten to do . . . overnight trip to experience the late grape-harvest in the region of Kakheti where we picked and stomped grapes and learned about age-old wine-making, going to the ballet Pinnochio at the stunning opera/ballet hall in Tbilisi, weekly ceramics / slab-building class with lovely teacher Nato on our very own block, several walks through the beautiful and extensive Botanical Gardens, riding city cable cars, visiting Deserter Bazaar produce /meat/spice market with so much to see and smell (where the kids fell in love with "Svaneti Salt" which has increased their cucumber consumption 10-fold), eating yummy food on our rooftop terrace in the sun with a great city view, celebrating Spencer's birthday with M&M/kit-kat adorned cake, visiting the playful Museum of Illusions, hiking/outdoor excursions with Garisa (a kids outdoor school most week-ends named "community" and it lives up to it's name!), and enjoying street cats / cats and murals / graffiti anytime we walk anywhere.

·       I love living in a “normal people” neighborhood.  Except for the first 6 nights in 2 different short-term places, we’ve been staying at an AirBnB in the neighborhood called Marjanishvili, and through our day we buy produce and dairy products from small shops in our immediate neighborhood, see families taking their kids to and from school, chat with the neighbors (2 families who share our internal courtyard / garden / driveway), take the trash out, sit on the roof to watch the sunrise and hear the city awaken – people, dogs, cats, birds.  We’ve chosen to move to a different AirBnB next week, and it’s not without some sadness at leaving our tenuous connections here – faces on the street of people and animals have become briefly familiar.

·       The Georgian language is very interesting.  We’re slowly learning the alphabet of 33 curlicue letters.  Our street name is an example of the pronunciation challenges – Tsinamdzgvrishvili (esp those 6 consonants in a row in the middle, really?!)  I’ve told the kids they’ll each earn a pastry if they can memorize the spelling, in either English or Georgian characters. 😊 (Pastries are part of my education and travel philosophy!!) We’re pleased at being able to sound out / decode a few signs as we walk around (tho luckily for us, many are also in Roman characters).

·       Connections with people . . . of course always a treat.  I’ve enjoyed getting to know Olga (our AirBnB owner / hostess, a US / Russian / Georgian citizen, lived here for ~12 years, has lived / worked all over the world and her home reflects her soulful / cultural love of places, people and artifacts.  She now owns a yoga studio we live above, more on that below), Evgenia (a mother I admire has befriended us and shared herself; she also connected us to Garisa, a fantastic hiking group who we’ve now done 2 outings with.  She moderates the 11K-strong FaceBook group Tbilisi With Kids, primarily in Russian and English – great resource), Inga (who we buy yummy produce and dairy from, including yoghurt, eggs and creamy (unpasteurized?) cow’s milk – verified by “moo-ing” and “baa-ing” (there is little dignity for those new to a language), Vakhtang who I met/chatted with briefly at Inga’s produce stand who is Director of the National Center of Manuscripts, Teimuraz who led us on a very enjoyable trip through Kakheti and tolerated our circus of a family very collegially (non-drinking vegetarians wanting to go see the wine harvest?  These poor local hosts are asked to negotiate some very awkward things. Thanks, Teimur!), Tina who leads her family business to show the wine/harvest history and culture in Kakheti with heart and passion, Levani who helped us understand that kids are the same price if/only if they get their own seat in the marshrutka (local minibus) we took back from Kakheti, chatted with us and invited us to where he is a chef at Marletta’s Cheese Farm/Restaurant next time we’re in that area.  Early on we also met a delightful Egyptian family who lives in Dubai when they offered to take a family picture for us, and then we invited them over.  Mohammed, Shahinda, and little Eunice – who we celebrated with as he turned 1 year old. Shahinda drew beautiful caricatures of Spencer and Kamilla, and Mohammed charmed us all (esp Spencer) with magic tricks.  So sweet and special.  (Thank you, Shahinda and Mohammed!)

Yoga in a different place is different, and still special.  I’ve signed up for 2 of Olga’s 2-hour yoga classes / week at the Yoga Cave, Hiawatha yoga which is new for me and interesting to try out.  Special and interesting, even as it challenges me.  Trying new things like staring at a candle, breathing with alternate nostrils plugged for 20-minutes at a time, deep resting state for 40 minutes, etc.  Olga is a focused, slow and spiritual teacher.  And the space is exceptionally beautiful with arched brick sections and a true cave feeling (but with heated floor). History of their FaceBook page suggests they have hosted dance parties at times past.  All good vibes.  Incidentally, history also shows Olga (who started the first yoga studio in Tbilisi 12 years ago) in the press responding to the Georgian Orthodox church’s concerns at people turning toward yoga.

It’s heartening to see a country moving forward, in terms of normal people being able to live normal lives – despite setbacks such as covid or political challenges.  I don’t know soviet history well, but I know people here talk about the 1990s when running water was unreliable / hard to come by, or when thought was limited under the Soviets.  Or conflicts with Russia over Abkhazia or South Osettia (e.g., “I can’t go where my grandmother was born although we consider it Georgia” from one taxi driver, or personal stories of walking from Abkhazia as a child). Political challenges exist here too; since we arrived their former Western-leaning president has returned to the country and been arrested, his hunger strike and protests supporting / opposing him continue.  I think there’s certainly poverty, and it’s hard to make ends meet for many people.  But in general people seem positive, hopeful, joyful about life.  Art is vibrant and plentiful in graffiti, murals, numerous theaters of ballet, puppetry, drama (and when we asked normal people if they go or not, it’s mixed, but I gather it’s economically within reach for many) – indeed seems to be an expressive therapy.  October weather is crisp and beautiful most days. We’re happy to be here and be a part of Georgia, and we intend to stay until the end of December-ish.  After that?  We’re choosing to avoid adult decisions and live in the present these days. 😉

 

 

 

And lastly, turning inward, a few reflections I’m noodling on these days . . .

1)    Wherever you go, there you are (with all your same s***) – On the one hand, being “on the road” seems carefree and low stress.  On the other hand, so much remains the same, and I’ve found it hard to get in my flow.  Despite all the wonderfulness reported above, we’ve felt a bit isolated in Georgia – due to our lack of Georgian language skills, being a bit reserved due to COVID, and even the extensive time zone relative to friends/family in the US.  Also, I’m still processing / reflecting on our COVID experience both globally and personally.  Further, our family dynamics and stresses of parenthood remain, well, with us!  😊  I’ve known that while on the road, our kids security would come from within our foursome, as we’re in unfamiliar physical/social/cultural spaces without our normal supports.  But I never expected it to become so physical.  Fights are erupting over which kiddo gets to hold my hand when out and about (often we can’t walk 3 wide due to narrow streets and I seem the preferred parent), specifically who gets to hold my (apparently more desirable – who knew?!) left hand.  Who gets to put their shoes by mine when we take them off by our door.  Who I lay by at bedtime.  That they both must sleep in our room every night.  We’re talking about it / making agreements as a family, in our newly instituted, attempting-to-be-democratic-ish weekly family conference.  I know it’s their neediness / anxiety, also shown by a few meltdowns here and there and teeth grinding we can hear at night.  What’s helping with these various stressors?

• Continuing to clarify my desires for year – and keeping them very simple.  Especially as a “slow tourist” / “short-term expat”, even as an almost-50-year-old, why, really, am I here? Why are we doing this at all?  My current words are stillness/space (including getting into my body via exercise), connection (with myself, my little family, new and old friends along the road), and play (allow myself things that may feel non-productive like art, theater, etc.).  I’m working on developing a nourishing morning routine including exercise, meditation, journaling, grounding myself before anything else.
• Getting a babysitter! We will meet a well-recommended woman named Natia later today.  My two FaceBook group posts have generated enough responses to make me look up the unemployment rate (which appears low).  Neil thinks I'm crazy to focus only on someone whom I can triangulate amongst several people (even via FB) who know her, rather than just pick someone I have no other connection points to; he tells me no one wants our kids. 😊 I agree -- but I also know there are undercurrents here (probably anywhere), of which I have no idea, and would prefer to keep it that way. In general we feel extremely safe (in some ways more than in Beacon Hill) and people are very kind. While it's pretty cheap here for us, when you compare the cost of food (estimating about 50% of what we're used to paying, with produce / fresher stuff cheaper rather than processed which seems backward from US), I'd guess most people are probably only making 10-30% of a US salary, so they get crunched and life is not easy. So in that way, I think we're walking dollar signs. Anyway, I'm not worried and it will be nice to go out with Neil, first to the new James Bond movie and then to the Gabriadze Puppet Theater which sounds fantastic (apparently a serious, not kid-oriented puppet theater, under-12-yos aren’t supposed to come).  (Post-date #1 add in: Bond movie was for Neil, pastry and hot choc at a cute café thereafter was for me. Both were fun, nice to chat w/o kids!)
  
• Trying to be satisfied with small moments and allowing it to be imperfect, accepting this messiness as part of the journey for me.

2)    Travel is uncomfortable – importantly so, to experience difference, to be challenged, to learn about ourselves when we’re uncomfortable.  Since I’ve traveled a lot, I’m pretty used to feeling awkward, communicating across language barriers, being extra nice because you also realize you’re accidentally breaking all the rules.   (Privilege disclaimer: I realize also that most of my travel has been in relative physical comfort and from a privileged power position (conferred by wealth, employment, citizenship, whiteness, language) – even when staying in modest mission guest houses as a kid.) The other morning I fought with my soap dish which was precariously positioned atop the edge of our shower.  It fell noisily 3-4 times.  At home, I’d seek out a perfect soap caddy, get it all arranged comfortably, and enjoy it.  Not worth it for our 10 more days at this AirBnB home.  Part of my balancing act (esp as a parent), is getting settled enough, learning the city enough, learning the language enough to relate respectfully to people – but also not spending all my time organizing, so that I can also experience the joy/wonder of a new place – places, foods, people, another culture or way of seeing things.  Sort of a balance between logistics / complexity, and joy of a new place.  “I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”  (E. B. White)

Next week we’ll get into the Halloween spirit for the kids’ sake, move out of this home, spend 3 nights several hours north, in Pankisi Valley, and return to a new apartment a 10-min walk away.