Starting to feel really here

It is now Tuesday morning and we are sorta somewhat maybe or maybe not adjusting to the time change of nine hours.  Marty was up at 04:00 and got David up at 08:00.  We will beat the jet lag eventually, but it seems harder as we get older.

Our courtyard neighbor has another dog; another hunting type.  It seems that the adorable puppy of several years ago was either stolen or got out of the courtyard.  We liked this little pup.  The new critter is much bigger, jumps on you, scratches at our door, and could easily rip holes in cloth jackets if one isn't careful.  As with past dogs and our sense of our neighbor, they are just possessions and get very little attention or care beyond food, water, and a dog house.

 

A bemused kiosk attendant looks out from her little shop.

Yesterday we got up to Prospero's Bookstore for coffee and walked along Rustaveli Avenue to see some of the renovation/facelift work that is ongoing.  We spotted the Ministry of Justice building and then realized that only the outside walls remain.  It was a nice looking building so we are hopeful that they keep the outside and rebuild the inside.  The work does make for a lot of boarded up building fronts and most certainly affect the businesses still trying to survive.

 

Rustaveli sidewalk view

One of the intreiging aspects of this city is that there are countless alleyways leading off main streets and leading back into courtyards.  Here are a few shots taken on our walk yesterday.

 

Sometimes one walks down an alleyway to find a new restaurant just as we did.

 

Christmas in Georgia is celebrated after ours in the US as they celebrate on the Orthodox Christian calendar.  As a consequence, decorations are now just being brought out and the large displays which hang over the streets are not yet hung except right near our place.  The sidewalk displays are being deposited but remain shrouded in plastic for protection.

 

This is the first full day of TIFF (Tbilisi International Film Festival). We have attended our first movie preceded by lunch at the Bollywood Masala with good friend Maia, whom many of you met several years ago when she gave some felting workshops in Hallowell and Augusta.  We saw a documentary titled, I didn't cross the Border; The Border crossed me.  It documented the lives of several families affected by the border of barbed wire put up in 2008 by the Russians separating South Ossetia from the rest of Georgia.  This movie really brought the lives of those affected by this short war with Russia into sharp focus.  Well worth seeing!  Nice Q&A with the director after the showing.

 

Above is the ugliest building in the city.  Below a view of the same from the bridge near us.