Leila is the Russian woman who lives downstairs from me. Earlier this evening, her husband came upstairs to explain that I needed to turn my city water off because my tank was overflowing (in Kutaisi, we get city water between 6-10pm, and the rest of the time I get water from a huge 1000 liter tank that sits on the roof). If my tank overflows, the excess water runs off the roof, down the side of the building, and out onto the shared courtyard area. He did this remarkably well with gesticulations. However, he did run downstairs to grab his daughter, who is studying English, to try to explain the same thing to me just to make sure I understood. When we were finished with the business of the overflowing water, the daughter invited me downstairs for tea.
It was a great experience. Even though I speak only 3 words of Russian (Leila, only about 5 words of English), and the daughter doesn't quite have the vocabulary to explain everything her mother wanted to say, it was great. I left with a jar of homemade jam and more pomegranates than I think I can eat. I'm hoping to do some cooking exchanges with Leila once the weather cools off a bit. I saw that she has an oven in her kitchen (something, sadly, I'm lacking), and I did bring brownie-making supplies with me. I mean, really, who doesn't like brownies?
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