My new life in the Republic of Georgia

[Boethius]

As I note Maxx  has made an appearance, I'm bumping his thread.


How's it going, Maxx?

[msmob]

I think you will hear from him, soon enough

[Maxx2]

I think you will hear from him, soon enough

[Maxx2]

Her flight back to Ukraine leaves the Batumi airport at 8:30 PM tonight

[Maxx2]

As I note Maxx  has made an appearance, I'm bumping his thread.


How's it going, Maxx?

I notice the view count on this thread is over 100K


At this moment I am breaking up on Viber with the lady that came and visited me. I'm letting her do the breaking.


Some things get lost in the story if people don't know my background. They make assumptions that I am this or that circumstances. I'll try and do a quick concise profile of who I am.


I was briefly married to a RW 16 years ago. 15 years ago when she arrived I discovered a new phenomenon to me, a GCG or Green Card Girl. I must set the record in ending my marriage quickly. I escaped the financial hit almost 100%. But the emotional hit was devastating.


Recently I decided to see if a woman in my life was possible. Could I keep my head and not do anything foolish? Do I have the ability to even love anymore? The lady I just broke up with suggests this is a possibility and all I need is a housekeeper and cook. There is more to it than that, which I will get into later.


A recent thread here about needing to be rich for this gambit. It is a familiar subject for me. Back in 2002 the most popular thread then on a long forgotten RW guide message board was entitled "Is this a rich man's game?" Anyway I experienced that first hand in my brief endeavor on bringing a RW wife into my life. I've said to myself back in the year of my divorce (2003-2004) if I had all the money I spent on having a RW in my life I'd have enough to buy a new Dodge Viper sports car. All I had to show for it is the paper divorce document. I'd like to think that I got more out it than just that. Maybe some wisdom on how to find the right woman? Or at least the knowledge on how to bail if things aren't working out?


I meet Larisa at Batumi airport at about 5 AM. Her flight was supposed to arrive at 8:30 PM the night before but it kept getting delayed. So we are both beat. We do a quick tour of the Batumi in my car as the sun is starting to come up behind the mountains. At that time of the day the whole city is in a shadow. About 8 AM is when sunshine touches the beach here.


After a quick tour of this impressive city we go back to the Airbnb apartment I rented. A two bedroom apartment with a refrigerator stocked with sushi, which she loves, Georgian wine, cognac and red caviar. The beach view is before us.


In a week is her birthday. Mine was a few days before. On her birthday I buy her 11 white roses which is her favorite. I take her to this really nice restaurant along the Black Sea. Asked to come along is my Russian friend Alex. Alex is a business owner and partner of my workout partner at the gym I go to. A friendly guy both Larisa and I like. Larisa speaks very little English so Alex along was a nice thing for her. Alex acted as an interpreter. Alex's birthday is also the same as mine. So it was a birthday celebration for the three of us. We had a good time.


Over the next 4-5 weeks Larisa and I do the sight seeing thing. Visit the Batumi Botanical Gardens, go to restaurants, shop at grocery stores for ingredients for home cooked meals.


We made a most interesting side trip to Barjomi through the mountains. My Mercedes 4X4 was really tested fording streams that ran over and in one case down the mountain road (about 100 yards). 1000 foot drop offs with no guard rails. 1 and 1/3 lane roads with on coming traffic sometimes in the form of a dump truck on a hairpin curve. You got inch yourself forward till you pass. No road in America like this would be allowed to be driven on. Anyway the 3 hour estimated drive took 9 hours. I think we averaged about 12-15 MPH. Barjomi is a real nice city with a good road leading out of it.


About halfway through the mountains my car's from left front tire blew. We pulled up to a road side store. There are three older Georgian there. We ask them if they could get somebody to come help. They know a young man who has a friend who would help.


He comes and with his friend takes off the tire. The friend stays behind and we run to the tire store in a city 20 miles behind us. The guys drives like a maniac in his old Mercedes. He is passing cars in a two lane tunnel doing 100 KPH. Passed 4 cars in a row with an on coming semi truck coming right at us. The only thing was a give away of my being in fear of losing my life was the imprints of my fingers in his front dash. Other than that I acted cool. The tire place hosed me on the cost of changing and getting a used tire. I was charged 140 Lari ($60) and he didn't even balance it. It should have been about $20. The driver and helper was getting 50 Lari ($21) and his friend was 20 Lari ($8) for their 3 hours of help plus the thrill ride to the tire store.


On the trip back I tell the driver "No problema, Knee ha-cho bree-straw." In other words I am in  no hurry. He thinks my Russian is funny. We pass just one car in the tunnel on the trip back. On a curve we pass a semi tractor trailer on a two lane mountain road. The on coming car was a police car. I'm thinking, 'Oh cr@p!'. 5 minutes later, after doing 100 KPH, the cop finally catches up to us. In America this would be a reckless driving charge, a towed car, a suspended driver's license, a reeducation class on how to drive and thousands of dollars in fines. The ticket, which was a printed out receipt, was for 50 Lari ($21). The driver laughs when he gets back into the car when he points to the 50 Lari in cash I gave him for his help. I knew this money was pretty important to him and I probably made his day or week with this sudden windfall came. So when we got back to my car I pealed him off another 50 Lari note and pointed to his ticket. He was sure glad about that. The tire was changed and off we went. Three hours lost but back on the road again.






   

[msmob]

Why are you breaking up via 'Viber' ?    ...and not ( say ) Skype ...?     

Seriously, can you tell us what went wrong, Maxx ?

[Maxx2]

Why are you breaking up via 'Viber' ?    ...and not ( say ) Skype ...?     

Seriously, can you tell us what went wrong, Maxx ?

She doesn't use Skype and does or did all our communication using Viber.


I haven't left my apartment all day. I need buy some food. Perhaps when I get back I'll continue with the story.

[Maxx2]

I suppose I have a moment or two to comment on my thread as I prepare to go out.


A couple of things I noticed about Larisa I really liked. She is not one of those hyper jealous women who check your cell phone or what you are doing online. She didn't seem to mind me being nice to young Georgian women I needed talk to.


I was surprised how cool she was about our perilous mountain drive. I've had some women who would have been in an all out panic, but not her. I was particularly pleased with how nicely and patiently she took being stuck for three hours by my car as it was being repaired. Not one word of complaint from her.  This was some of her good qualities.

[Maxx2]

We are still in communication...

[Maxx2]

She never met you and is already going to dedicate 6 weeks of her life to getting to know you.....living in the same flat? Hopefully you'll have more fun than drama.

We did meet, but just a few times. When she came June 3rd we stayed in the same flat 5 weeks and 4 days. Not much in the way of drama. But it failed anyway. The issue was simply money. I have a certain amount of money coming in every month from my pension. I have some savings but I don't like dipping into that. That is for emergencies and possibly a down payment for a flat.


My lady and I had/have a different way of looking at money. Mine is to live within a budget based on my monthly pension and try to save a little. 10-20% every month would be nice. Her way of spending money was what she felt she deserved. An impressive birthday gift, shopping trips to buy clothes, and what ever she desired at the grocery store. It was the later that broke me. Every day during the almost 6 weeks she was here we went to the grocery store.  Only two times did we miss our daily shopping trip. She would spend $35-$50 a day on bread, rice, 'salads', meat, cheese, eggs, fish, wine, cognac et cetera. Multiply this times 30 for a monthly estimate and I quickly understood I was way out of budget for food. Of course I talked to her about it. But it didn't do any good. 'Need' over ruled budget. I was surprised how much she could eat. Literally twice what I ate. So besides the jewelry store birthday gift, the 11 white roses, the dinners out, a few shopping trips for clothes (for her) and hundreds of for her dentist I quickly understood that I couldn't afford her.


My pension is very generous by Georgian standards. It is 3-5 times the average monthly pay here. But is it enough for a Ukrainian woman in Georgia? My experience is it is not, even with the lower cost of living over here. I think a Georgian divorcee or widow is what I should set my sites on. Although all the Georgian women I've met (3) have always asked me how they could get to America.

[ML]

Every day during the almost 6 weeks she was here we went to the grocery store.  Only two times did we miss our daily shopping trip. She would spend $35-$50 a day on bread, rice, 'salads', meat, cheese, eggs, fish, wine, cognac et cetera. Multiply this times 30 for a monthly estimate and I quickly understood I was way out of budget for food.

We spend about $35-50 per WEEK at grocery store.
And our restaurant bills are less than $100 per month.
Not all Ukrainian Gals are wild spenders.

[BillyB]

Although all the Georgian women I've met (3) have always asked me how they could get to America.

I was always under the assumption Georgian women didn't want to leave. They are rarely on dating sites or marriage agencies. Are there any marriage agencies in Georgia?

[ML]

I was always under the assumption Georgian women didn't want to leave. They are rarely on dating sites or marriage agencies. Are there any marriage agencies in Georgia?

From what I understand, Georgia is still pretty much 'old world' when it comes to man-woman relationships.

A woman 'advertising' herself on internet or with marriage agency would have serious consequences for the family; and thus even more so for the woman.
'Honor' killing possibility?

But I am not an expert on this.

[Maxx2]

We spend about $35-50 per WEEK at grocery store.
And our restaurant bills are less than $100 per month.
Not all Ukrainian Gals are wild spenders.

That has been my experience also. The FSU women I have known when it comes to food eat like birds and many I've known know how to stretch a dollar.

[Maxx2]

From what I understand, Georgia is still pretty much 'old world' when it comes to man-woman relationships.

A woman 'advertising' herself on internet or with marriage agency would have serious consequences for the family; and thus even more so for the woman.
'Honor' killing possibility?

But I am not an expert on this.

I had a Georgian woman tell me that she could marry me without needing permission as she was the oldest member of her family. I hadn't asked her to marry me. She suggested it in "jest." I think to save face. She eventually (This was 2 1/2 years ago) won the Green Card lottery and last I heard is living in New York City.


No 'Honor' killings but a male dominated society of having a family 'Patroni' the eldest male making sure their women keep their honor. This I've been told by Georgian men I've gotten to know and some Western women who teach English here. Women keeping their virginity until marriage is expected. An American told me things were warming up between a young Georgian woman and himself until one day he was met at his door by three of her male relatives...


A young Georgian woman I knew, mostly from online, a few times on the phone, and twice in person but always in the accompany of her brothers or her cousin George. She told me it was true that Georgian woman were expected to remain virtuous until marriage, but the men were expected to sow their wild oats. Georgian men I have observed, and I have been told, think women who are not Georgian are easy. They are VERY bold and relentless. Ukrainian/Russian women who go out without a man will be hit upon almost every time. Even with their man present there is no guarantee it won't happen. I was at an ATM machine with my lady. The Georgian men there knew I didn't speak Russian. One of them approached her as I was getting my cash and asked her for her phone number. Western women who teach English are instructed to wear wedding rings. It helps somewhat.

[Maxx2]

I was always under the assumption Georgian women didn't want to leave. They are rarely on dating sites or marriage agencies. Are there any marriage agencies in Georgia?

There have been a few Georgian women who have joined outside Georgia marriage agencies. But they usually do not last long. One reasons on why they don't is their religion, Georgian Orthodox. There is a big thing about future children from these marriages staying within that faith. This is why pressure is put on the Georgian men to not marry non-Georgian women. The reason is a Russian woman is not going to raise a child in the Georgian Orthodox Church. Georgian women generally want to stay close to their family.


I had a Georgia aid/translator tell me that at his wedding, his grandmother pulled him aside. She told him that it was OK to fool around as long as he didn't get caught.

[Maxx2]

I took my Mercedes ML 350 to the repair shop early this afternoon. I needed to have the oil changed, stop a possible oil leak, stop a power steering leak and repair the electrical short on the front passenger side power window.


Taxi ride home to wait for the repairs. It is about 5 kilometers or 3 miles one way.
$2.05 or 5 Lari.


Repair cost for 4 hours of labor, the engine oil, the oil filter, the power steering fluid et cetera. $81.91 or 200 Lari

[Maxx2]

These are everywhere for making 'Cha Cha'. I bet more than half the houses with yards have them.  This is the new still of Jogo, the host of the Airbnb where I last stayed at in Batumi. He was proud of his 60% alcohol brew. Although I am not sure they do not exceed that percentage. 

[krimster2]

"Repair cost for 4 hours of labor, the engine oil, the oil filter, the power steering fluid et cetera. $81.91 or 200 Lari "

my father-in-law's ancient Muscovitch sedan blew a gasket in the fuel pump, so I was going to Sevastopol to buy a new one
father-in-law wouldn't hear of such a thing, took me on a tour of his "barn", which was just an out building filled nearly to the ceiling with junk
he spent a few minutes digging through the pile, and came up with a sheet of neoprene plastic
we took the fuel pump apart and removed the old gasket, placed it over the neoprene and traced its outline
father-in-law took an old razor and cut out the new gasket, we trimmed it a bit and put in in the fuel pump, then put it back in the old car
and it worked perfectly!

total cost: $0.0
this is how Russians do auto mechanics

[Maxx2]

Yes, they are very practical in keeping down the costs. There is a whole lot of McGiver type fixing going on.


I also learned that a daily diet of meat, fish or poultry usual doesn't happen.

[krimster2]

necessity is the mother of all invention
no money creates its own necessity

now that the soccer matches are over with in Russland, I guess they can get back to "Bizness" without worrying about the PR
Russians still moving the border every day in Georgia?

[Maxx2]

necessity is the mother of all invention
no money creates its own necessity

now that the soccer matches are over with in Russland, I guess they can get back to "Bizness" without worrying about the PR
Russians still moving the border every day in Georgia?

I don't know if its everyday. It would be a good place put Georgian troops although the South Ossetia border is quite long so it might not be practical.

[krimster2]

two words!!!

land...mines...
should stop Russians from moving the border fences

[krimster2]

"I also learned that a daily diet of meat, fish or poultry usual doesn't happen. "

yeah kartoshkie and kapusta
--or--
kapusta and kartoshkie

thank go I'm free from Russian food now...

[Maxx2]

Thursday I left Batumi and moved to Tbilisi. I'll be here for two months.


Before I left I checked odometer.







The trip went fine. No drama.