Here we go....

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/01/22/russia.gas/index.html


yay news in English!

Ice Cream Anyone?

So as most of you may know, its been getting cold in Russia. Really cold. And now, its moving down here. I had to come to Tbilisi for a meeting and I was pretty sure I was going to die in the marshutka on the way here when there was so much snow that we had to keep stopping to clean out the wipers. You could hardly see ten feet in front of the car. But, I made it here alive with only minorly frozen toes. So this morning we find out that there were some sort of explosions in the gas pipes that bring gas to Georgia from Russia. They also think that its going to take at least a week to repair them. So (considering that gas is the main source of heat for Georgians) its going to be getting even colder. Also, because the gas goes through Georgia into Armenia and in exchange we get power from Armenia, we may no longer be getting power from Armenia. It doesnt take a genius to understand that not having power or gas when its around 30 degrees here is bad. So now im sitting in my family's apartment in Tbilisi without gas (which means we can't cook anything) and hoping we dont lose power and then have to freeze. Also, apparently the president alluded to the idea that maybe Russia cut off our gas on purpose. Granted, I couldnt really understand anything he was saying, but he sounded pissed. So, I don't know what the deal with borjomi is, I think we might be lucky enough to keep both our gas and our power, but who really knows. Its going to REALLY be awful if it goes off there, because its insanely cold in that region.

Oh, I also got to witness an interesting holiday where people went down to the river in the middle of the night and got theirs heads dunked under the water by a priest. He stood in the water for three hours doing this to people. Lets keep in mind here people that this was the half frozen borjomi river. Apparently they do this every year and nobody dies. Clearly I should convert. Up in Russia people were still doing this holliday even though it was the coldest it has ever been there. They just cut a hole in the ice, prayed, and continued on as normal. My question is just why. They say god protects them, but nonetheless even if thats the case, you just have to wonder why do it in the first place. Can't the head dunking wait till spring? I got cold just watching them.

Lets hope I don't freeze to death. Thank God for long underwear.

vacations are never long enough

I got back at 5 in the morning on wednesday and have had the hardest time adjusting to the time change. I was home for about 3 weeks and had a really nice time seeing everyone, shopping, taking hot showers more than twice a week, eating mexican food, and speaking english without feeling guilty. School starts again for me tomorrow, hopefuly that will get me back into the swing of things here. I feel a little like I have to readjust all over again.

Lots of info about bird flu. As you all probably know there is bird flu in Turkey, and the region it is in is only about 100km away from the border of Georgia (and I am only a 45 minute drive away from the border). We are restricted from traveling to Turkey and had to tell our families to remove all fowl from our homes. We ate our bird yesterday. Poor little hen. I don't think it is going to be a problem as of now unless I go and rub my face all over a chicken since all the cases in turkey are bird to human transmission. Some of the volunteers have been discussing (and yes we feel terribly guilty for thinking this) that we arent entirely unhappy with the idea of bird flu coming to Georgia. Sounds terrible huh? But it does cross our minds.

My birthday was yesterday. It officially can go down in history as the lamest 21st birthday ever. I was supposed to have a small party with some volunteers, but everyone bailed on me at the last minute for various reasons. So I ended up just having cake with my family and taking a walk in the snow. It pretty much hasnt stopped snowing since I got back to Borjomi two days ago. Lots of snow. Its really quite prettty but also very cold. I am really glad I was able to stock up on winter clothing while home, I already whipped out the new ultra-thermal long underwear.

Okay, going to do some of the work that I have been avoiding recently. Yay paperwork-- always a good time.