Down Day!!

 October 17, 2021

I am still recovering from yesterday's twelve-hour adventure!  Ammar and I go down to breakfast and when we come back up we agree that he will go into town with the Saudi Arabian friend he met a couple of days ago and I'll stay home and blog and catch up!  The guy lives in the same city as Ammar's sister!

I'm better at this kind of selfie!

We text with WhatsApp and eventually I'm nearly finished and so is he, so he's coming home.  We have dinner reservations at our favorite restaurant for seven o'clock and already know what we want - the Thai chicken and a pizza. (it's not really pizza, it khatchapuri, but the round version with the cheese inside)  I just haven't decided if I'm recovered enough for a glass (or two) of wine!  I'm thinking, "YES!"  Not many more chances!

Oh my gosh!  There's a large green area adjacent to our hotel and the huge block of apartment buildings next door. And there's a huge flock of sheep on it!  First they all wandered north, then the came back south, and now they are milling around in a circle.  They look like a marching band that is about to spell out Welcome to Georgia!

We go downstairs around 6:30 and chat with the girls at reception.  One is calling us a cab and the other tells us that we can get our PCR tests right here in the hotel any time between nine and six, and it will be 110 GEL each, or about 37 dollars.  That's about the going rate in other countries, although I don't know about at home.

When we go outside to await our ride, Ammar starts to chat with a man.  Turns out he is the friend of the Saudi man he has been helping.  I tease him that I'll walk a respectful distance behind him so as not to blow his macho cover!  :)

Our cabbie sure takes the long way to Marani's and Ammar finally tells him we're close enough and we walk the last little bit.  We arrive on the stroke of seven for our reservation.  We are escorted to our table and Ammar gets a video call. He goes outside while I place our order.  I add a Georgian salad and I tell the young man to come back to see what kind of juice Ammar will want.

The call was from Ammar's sister, Jihad.  Turns out the young man he's been helping is the son of Jihad's girl friend, and knows Ammar's nephew!!  What a scary, tiny little world it is!  Both the ladies are grateful that Ammar has been helping him.  He was in an automobile accident and has some brain issues as a result.

Dinner is divine, as we knew it would be, and the music starts around eight thirty.  I realize that it is time for coffee hour at church and we Zoom in on my phone just long enough to say Hi to everyone and to assure the non-believers that Ammar is real!  I've never zoomed on my phone and it's pretty weird;  but everyone sees us, even we we only can see the speaker.  Ammar is tickled to see Tobi!

We get our check and wander down to a main street where it is easier to catch a cab.  This guy actually knows his way around and gets us home in no time.  It's pretty dark out there;  but I think the sheep have gone home, too!

I'm beat, my tummy is full and my blog is caught up.  Ammar is feeling sorry for the Saudi kid who keeps asking him for come "out and play" essentially.  I'm fine with him going out.  I need the sleep.  And if the place is cool, we can go there tomorrow!  I'm thinking of it as a fact-finding mission!