I’m sitting here in my apartment on the outskirts of Tbilisi, Georgia tonight, listening to people screaming and yelling at one another. To my uncomprehending ears, it sounds like a dreadful domestic dispute, and I feel helpless. In my memory, I am catapulted back to my time in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood, where … Continue reading
My father, who was very important to me, died three years ago today. Here, I share the eulogy I wrote for him and delivered at his funeral. I invite you to get to know him and to help me carry on his memory. Things My Father Taught Me When I was a little girl, my father told … Continue reading
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I just returned from a rainy tour via mazda taxi with my Uzbek host. We had to run to the market to get some meat and veggies for dinner. The driver was Azerbaijani and spoke Russian, Georgian, Azerbaijan, and some English. He and my host spoke Russian. I sat in the back, kind of zoned … Continue reading
As we drove through Rustavi today, a former industrial town just outside Tbilisi, I sang along with Bryan Adams (Everything I Do) on the radio and learned from my host that Joseph Stalin was actually a Georgian whose born name was Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili. I was told that “stalin” means steel, and he used that … Continue reading
“Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing.” ~ Rollo May All I did today was sleep and eat. Oh, and I also began reading my Beginner’s Georgian book, which promises that, upon completion, I should be able to speak and understand Georgian as well as if I had taken three to … Continue reading
Some first impressions of the Republic of Georgia: I Getting out of the airport was pretty simple. I got off the plane, stood in line for about 10 minutes, showed my passport and got it stamped, grabbed my baggage, which arrived very quickly, grabbed a trolley for all my heavy stuff, rolled through the “nothing … Continue reading
I recently went to the Art Institute of Chicago to see the “Van Gogh’s Bedrooms” exhibit with my friend Michelle, and it was worth the visit. What was especially significant about this particular exhibit is that this was the first time all three of Van Gogh’s bedroom paintings were in the same space in North America, and, … Continue reading
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