MoldovAnn

I got back from Georgia on Friday afternoon, and I leave Monday morning for another workshop in Russia. Yikes! Thank goodness for the heat – my laundry dried quick enough for a re-pack for the next trip.

We had a great weekend in Tbilisi last week, and then I had a good workshop in Batumi. The only bummer was that it rained cats and dogs every single day and evening! And since the big attraction to having the workshop in Batumi was the Black Sea, it was disappointing that we couldn’t swim. One colleague braved it during a brief break in the rain, but the water was so rough, he didn’t try for long.

A US Navy GM destroyer arrived in Batumi along with us for training exercises with the Georgian Coast Guard. Turned out they ate at the same restaurant as us one evening. Our waitress disappeared for a LONG time, and when our Georgian colleague finally found here, he asked what was going on, why had she abandoned us.

Waitress: “We have Americans here in the other hall.”
Georgi: “We have Americans too!”
Waitress: “Well, these are Black Americans.”

We all had a good chuckle, and we agreed that we didn’t mind at all that we’d been ignored for a bit if that was her excuse – my, how times have changed!

My suitcase was full of fabulous Georgian wine on the return trip, plus a couple bottles of chacha, a drink the Georgians like to compare to grappa, but I think it’s more like turpentine. Very, very potent. And a perfect gift for my in-laws, who love that kind of stuff. One bottle of wine broke in my suitcase, though, which came to my attention when I noticed the trail of red liquid following me through the airport terminal. Turned out to be the decorative ceramic bottle that I bought solely because I liked the bottle. I’m not sure if the wine was any good or not, but I was bummed to lose the pretty bottle. And of course laundry was interesting. Thank goodness nothing valuable was destroyed!

It’s been hot as Hades in Kyiv, and we were excited to finally host a party on our big balcony – margarita night! Igor and I cooked all day, and had some of that delicious Georgian wine to keep us happy and motivated. Friends arrived, I had two margaritas, laid down on the couch for a sec, and next thing I know, I wake up and the guests were long gone! I was most definitely not the “hostess with the mostest” last night. I guess the booze, heat and travel just caught up with me and I was out for the count. I was up long for a few minutes, thought about cleaning up and putting the leftovers away, but was still utterly exhausted and fell dead asleep again. Poor Igor was up until 2:30 cleaning up. I swear, I don’t deserve his love! He was so nice about it, though, and we had a good laugh this morning. Boy, do I ever owe him for this one.

Tomorrow is an early start. After the last disaster at Boryspil, I’m not taking any risks and will head out at an ungodly early hour. Looks like the weather is cooler around Moscow than it’s been in Kyiv – that’s a relief!