Pesach

Saturday, April 3, 2010

It would be an exaggeration to claim that our marriage was saved when we finally acquired about four kilos of kosher matzah from a local Chabad rabbi. But it certainly eased a major stress point. Passover in Tbilisi is not an easy matter but it is doable. We participated in a marathon seder with this rabbi last Monday evening. There was a table of English speakers, a table of Hebrew speakers, a table of Russian speakers. Scattered about were Georgian speakers who got by in more than one language. It was chaotic as seders can sometimes be and this one took a tortuous path until about 1 o’clock when we finished.

We’ve been back to School Number 1 and visited with the principal. We now have something of a plan to try to growth a relationship with between this school and both the College of Education and one of the high schools in Lincoln. We shall see where that goes. But there is a strong interest in developing both student and teacher exchanges.

We look forward with some trepidation to tomorrow, Easter Sunday, and the Monday following. There is a large cemetery up the hill from our apartment. We are told that this area will resemble downtown Lincoln on a football Saturday as thousands of people will visit the cemetery. This will probably have no impact on us since we walk most everywhere. But living in Georgia is full of surprises as one’s assumptions about what lies ahead so often turn out to be wrong.