Gacheret ra!

Today I took a marshrutka to Freedom Square to meet an American intern for lunch, we decided to check out the Krishna place that serves vegan food. So, yes, I am proud to announce that I have finally mustered enough courage to start taking marshrutkas! It’s still a little intimidating since sometimes I have a hard time opening the door, that is if I can figure out which door is meant to be opened. Marshrutkas here are a little confusing, most are beat up minivans and only one door is used to enter and exit, a way to ensure that the drivers gets paid, but for someone who doesn’t take marshrutkas often, it’s not easy to figure out which door opens. In addition, sometimes they are completely packed which leads to hanging on for dear life while the driver swerves left and right to avoid other marshrutkas and cars on the street. Being a foreigner, I tend to feel really self-conscious and I am completely convinced that I serve as entertainment for the fellow Georgian marshrutka passengers.

So as I walked down Rustaveli to the Freedom Square, I realized that I am really going to miss this place. And I am not sure why. I assume partly because everything here is new to me and it’s interesting. It’s not like boring old New York City which seems to be a snoozer to me now. Although the other day, before they announced the Olympic bid winner, I saw an ad that NYC used for its bid and I got all teary eyed. I blame it partly on the overly emotional music that they used but it was nice to see Lower Manhattan and the East River.

Anyways, I think I am also becoming more comfortable with the city, sprinting across the street to avoid being hit by a car seems normal now. Surly vegetable stand ladies are comforting. And my vocabulary has expanded, although not drastically, but now, in addition to saying “no” and “yes,” I can say “hello,” “thank you” and “please stop here.” And I am beginning to recognize the alphabet so reading street signs, although still completely perplexing, I can, at least, decipher my location.

And I think I’ve become used to the carefree lifestyle of not really having a job, lulling around, going out for dinner almost every night, and not having to worry about money. Not to say that I am loaded here but I definitely cannot afford a two course meal in NYC every night. I think I am becoming lazy and going back to school and all its stress is not appealing at all. Hiding out in Tbilisi seems like an excellent alternative. This is probably one of the reasons why so many expats stay here for undetermined amount of time.

Anyways, the Krishna place was really good. I miss chickpeas! And Indian spices. Although there is an Indian food restaurant here, I just haven’t gotten around to going to it. Hmm, something to add to my non-existent list of things to do.

And lastly, last night, we walked home a girl who lives about 3 blocks away from me. The stretch between my house and her house is basically sex worker central and as we walked, I pointed the working girls out to her. At some point, two women got out of a car and started to walk briskly walk away. A second later, a Georgian looking man got out of the driver’s seat and ran up to one of the women and kicked her while yelling some shit. I am not sure what happened but I am quite sure the women were working and the clients weren’t happy with something. If someone kicked me, I would demand some level of protection from my employer or the police. And these women didn’t have anyone but their pimps who did not seem to care.