Tbilisi

So the other day we went to the bazaar. Baz-ro-ba is how they pronounce it, with a roll on the R. I needed 10 metres of ethernet cable so i could be on my own computer without sitting in the office which is, in point of fact, the coldest place on earth (tm). Lexi offered to get it for me and spare me the unearthly old-god horror which is supposed to be the Bazaar but i figured i'd tag along as a kind of "oh christ i just signed yet another contract", y'know, THING.

So we pile into a marschutka. I'm likely spelling that wrong. These are basically a fleet of pedophile vans which drive on prescribed routes through the side streets of Tbilisi. Now i know what you're thinking and you are right, they're pretty much exactly like busses. But there is two major differences. Well, there are lots, but the most important one is that all marschutka drivers have apparently graduated with top honors from the prohibition university of gin running. These vans go fast. They BARRAL even. Honking and such. It's quite the display. So, they fill the gap between busses and Taxi's except the taxis charge you the customary 800% foreigner tax and the busses are slow and only go to parliament as near as I can tell. So, we cram into a marschutka, and off we go.

The bazaar lacks the kind of population density i was expecting. The real horror is that it sprawls, laberenthine, throughout the area near the arena. It is in point of fact, just so goddamn impressive. And they sell EVERYTHING. It's like the collosal flea market from hell. I got two pairs of underpants there!

This is where my new favorite electronics store is. Unfortunatly, I still am in that fun "i have not yet begun to work" fiscal situation. Certainly fine, but it'll be a while before i'm picking up novelty items.

Anyways, We found an oasis in the middle. This restaurant has an upstairs and upstairs has beer, and by god after 30 minutes of being VERY careful about not speaking english in front of the people who other people are trying to buy from. Otherwise, WHAM! 10 lari for a plug converter. And other horrors. We tried to pick up a desk for lexi's room so we can do work in there and avoid it when one needs an oasis of sanity in a house full of (shudder) academics. And women, at that. The inmates are running the madhouse. We ended up getting a shoe rack. Lexi kind of made it work. I'm typing on it now. It's only weird when you stop to think about it.

Its very very weird.

So, lexi and I took a walk, and then found the hippest place in the world. I've been taking pictures of random stencils, too. I'd have more pictures on Flickr, but i can't find the USB cord for my camera, and so getting the pictures off of it is a very intensive process. Well, no, it just takes too damn long.

OK we're well into stream of consciousnessland and i need to meet with the editor of Georgia today. PROJECTED CONVERSATION!

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