See Dots Run

See Dots Run... Run Dots Run...

Our day started with a wake up call at 7:30 am. Yup... Tamara was up 15 minutes earlier then yesterday. We went through our early morning rituals and had her seated for breakfast in under 15 minutes. She takes breakfast very seriously so there is no rest for the weary.

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As we wined down our trip I thought I would share our view from the balcony. This is across the court yard / alley... court yard sounds better. Although our building is fairly modern Tbilisi is dotted with the old mixing in with the new. Some of the banging these last two weeks was putting a new tin roof on this building. It's interesting to see how they repair / patch the older residences. Most apartments are owned by the occupants. Given to them during the Soviet era. There don't seem to be any restrictions as to how they are maintained like in the USA. Everyone seems to do their own thing? Still trying to figure out why the attic of this one structure is open with a partial railing. Weird.

It's kind of interesting to watch the people go about their everyday lives. You can see an awful lot back here. The women hang their laundry almost every day. A load at a time. Everyone has these really cool clothes lines off of there balconies. So cool in fact I wanted to bring one home for our deck. When we visited Nina's apartment we had the chance to see some of her neighbors clothes lines up close. Bruce says he can make one for me. I love the way sheets smell with you air dry them. Reminds me of my childhood. ;o)

Anyway... the people. There's a 20 something year old girl that gets dropped off at 2 am? Hum... wonder what she's up to?

Two little 9-10 year old girls that play every day after school.

A car that pulls up every day around 11 am ish. 2 women and a man get out. The women open the trunk and the man walks around yelling at the roof tops. For days I thought he was calling his friends... then I realized they were food vendors. Calling all the workers... telling them their lunch has arrived.

There are teenage boys that sneak into the court yard to smoke.

A man with his new car... he washes it every 2-3 days.

A baby that must be teething as it cries constantly.

Little children we hear giggling at 11 pm? They should be sleeping :o(

An old man hangs his laundry around 1 am. Must be a widower?

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OK... so I started a neighbor hood watch in Tbilisi...lol. I can hear my neighbors now... she doesn't miss much. At home there isn't much that gets past me in the neighborhood. So to all my neighbors out there... What am I missing? Did Barbra move? How are our new neighbors?

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Oh.. before I forget... Happy belated Birthday Morgan, Congratulations Timmy C.,

Congratulations Martina.. sorry I missed your shower. As you know we were leaving the following day. I heard it was wonderful. We'll have to play catch up as soon as we get settled.

Happy Birthday Katie and Amanda ( I left your gifts for Grandma & Dido to give you ;o) )

Congratulations Mindy, Peter & Issac. Can't wait to meet Olivia Lee.

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OK... back to Tbilisi

It amazes me how these people walk around this network of alleys and court yards at night. I guess you get used to it after a while. Although there are window guards on many lower floor windows and balconies I haven't seen any activity in Georgia that I would consider hostile or intimidating. We're very comfortable walking around here... although we really haven't had much of an opportunity to get in too much trouble. Our agency staff keeps pretty close tabs on us. Making sure we always have a ride and translator with us. Better safe then sorry I suppose. But I was thinking about it today. Tbilisi is much safer then say NYC. You don't see police cars chasing people around. There is a pretty obvious police / security presence but we haven't seen any action as we would have at home. Today for the first time we saw an ambulance wiz by. Have yet to see a fire truck... although I'm sure they have them.

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Here's part of our view. You can see the contrast of old against the newer apartments buildings. From what I can tell everyone has a balcony in Tbilisi. Kind of cool. I would like to see more flowers on these balconies.. but I guess they have different priorities?

We soon left the house to do some running around. Had to run to the notary and the bank.

Then it was back to the apartment to pick up Tamara. Both the passport office and US embassy wanted to see her. So after a quick wardrobe change and lunch we were off again.

Below is a fast food stand in Tbilisi

The passport office.

Tamara... checking out her new Georgian Passport.

Today was a very busy day.

Dots running here... Dots running there... Dots were running everywhere.

( You can see one of the girls next to us in the back seat.. sorting through stacks of documents)

USA... Georgia... USA

Passports are ready

Once Tamara's little feet hit US soil she becomes an instant American Citizen

This will happen at JFK

After passports we went to the embassy. They were very nice but sprung a surprise on us. Apparently they need last years Tax return and our gross income for the past 3 years. Grrr... we didn't know that. Must be something new? But after brain storming for about an hour we figured out how to electronically access the files we needed. They are now printed and ready for our return appointment at 2:30 tomorrow. For a brief moment our hearts sank. We were told without these documents we might get sent back by immigration upon arrival in the USA. Can you imagine? Anyway... unless they needed some special signature from someone in Tbilisi I told Bruce he could have taken the limo home with the luggage and I could have stayed at JFK with Tamara... he then could get all the documentation they need and come and get us. That was plan A ... Since we were able to access the files we needed it should no longer be an issue. Hopefully no other surprises tomorrow.

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Just for the record... our government is very detail oriented. For those who are in the process... dot your "i's"... cross your "t's". Don't take short cuts. Take extra copies with you... you never know. Take a copy of last years income tax return. Doesn't make sense to me as that was all approved during the home study process but you probably will need it. Our facilitator and staff were very efficient getting all the documents together for the embassy. The embassy staff even asked who we were using. When we told them they said "Oh Good... this should be easy then. They always have it all together." Nice to hear. ;o)

At the US Embassy they do have a small play area with some toys for your child. There is a coffee machine but nothing for your child to drink while there. They do not allow any liquids, gels or powders past the security check point. Make sure your babies are well hydrated and fed before you go. You may be there an hour or longer. There are drinking water fountains in the embassy court yard but I'm assuming it's city water? Although all the locals say it's safe to drink... we've been drinking & brushing our teeth using only bottled water. And yes their potty is a western style. ;o)

Tamara at the apartment... a brief moment of non activity. She totally missed her nap today with all the running around. Over tired ... and over stimulated. She was non stop today. Mommy missed her nap too today...lol. A relaxing bath and off to bed she went.

See Dots Run!!!

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