Tskhovreba

Our time in Georgia is winding down.

The last couple of weeks have been hectic but fun: travel to our former home of Akhaltsikhe (more on that later), lunches and dinners with friends in Tbilisi, the wedding of an old Peace Corps friend, business meetings, spice tastings, sauce tastings, wine tastings, factory tours, shopping for things to bring home… and even a quick detour over to Greece for a wonderful getaway.

Tomorrow we’ll already be en route back to the States. As they say here, დრო მალე მიდის (the time goes quickly).

It’s way too soon to really get our heads around this trip. It’s been… so many things. Different things at different times. Fun and exciting? Absolutely. But definitely not carefree.

Three months is too long to be on “vacation,” and our itinerary was filled with equal parts business and pleasure. When you’re on the go as much as we have been, it’s also hard to get into any sort of routine that feels like “normal life.”

We’re not tourists, but we’re not residents. I guess we’re somewhere in-between. It’s all just “life” (ცხოვრება – tskhovreba).

This isn’t a “wrap-up” post — we have a few more things to share — but we thought we’d share a few images of our regular day-to-day life over here. As regular as it gets.

Our building.

The neighborhood. Grocery stores and other shops just down the street.

The neighborhood.

Part of the park behind our building.

Driveway outside our building where I would work out.

The lift. It worked most of the time.

Working in the kitchen.

Out the kitchen window — the Saburtalo district of Tbilisi.

The kitchen.

Groceries.

Hanging laundry to dry.

The magnificent view from our balcony.

Storm clouds rolling in.

Shopping for a garlic press.

The second-hand clothes market outside our metro stop.

A typical Tbilisi sidewalk scene.

On the bus.

On the marshrutka in Tbilisi.

Waiting for a marshrutka.

Waiting at the bus station.

Waiting in the rain.

Waiting in the sun.

Waiting.

The painting in our stairwell at home.

Street art.

Street cat.

Tbilisi at night from our balcony.