Day Six- November 7, 2007

Today was another good day, with us stopping by the open-air market on the way to the orphanage to pick up more supplies. It was an adventure roaming around that place in the pouring rain with hundreds of people trying to dodge the huge puddles and mud. I bought 110 more trash bags and Gil bought more electrical supplies. He is having a great time and is absolutely loving his time here even though his neck is really hurting him. At the orphanage, I took many more pictures and talked to more children. I also helped Gil with some of the electrical repairs and met with one more contractor.

We left the orphanage relatively early, at about 4:45, so we could stop at the market again for more supplies. Gil wanted to get there as soon as possible because they close at 5:30, but we didn’t make it in time because we ran into lots of traffic. Actually, two different traffic jams. One was near Saguramo when about 1000 sheep were blocking the road and the other was because they are having massive protests here against the government and there were thousands of protestors walking in the streets. The people are protesting against the government because the Georgian president has refused to reschedule the presidential elections to next Spring from next Fall as the opposition is demanding. Evidently, most people here have lost their faith in him and want him out of office. I just received a message from the hotel staff saying that, because of the protests, it is not safe to leave the hotel. I hope it will be OK to go out tomorrow. Evidently, the protests got violent today and the government used tear gas, fire hoses, and rubber bullets on the protesters. It’s possible that this is the start of another revolution.

Tomorrow I have a meeting with the head of the Tbilisi Rotary Club at 12:00, and then a meeting with the US Embassy at 2:00, and then a meeting with the Deputy Minister of Education at 4:00. Paata is going to take Gil to the orphanage so they can continue to work on the electrical system while Irma and I go to the meetings. I will most likely spend most of Friday meeting with the rest of the children.