Ecurb's Neighbors

[Ecurb Noselrub]

My neighbors are a younger couple, husband from USA, wife from nation of Georgia, and the wife's parents and sister are living with them.  They have Green Cards and are establishing permanent residency.  The whole Georgian family are doctors.  Husband is a retired toxicologist and Ph.D. from Tbilisi and mom, sister and neighbor are all Internists.  Husband is a PA and now a 4th year medical student.  So lots of smarts over there.  Last name of neighbors is Jones, which is funny, given that so many people from Georgia (nation, not state) are there.  The Georgians' heritage is Armenian.  I noticed that the retired dad was learning some English, so I took him to a bar last week and found out that he likes Budweiser and was in the Soviet Navy as a young man.  He visited Houston and loved America, but was afraid to defect because the Soviets would imprison his family.  So I'm learning a bit of Georgian while he is learning English.  Gamarjoba, Ya'll.

Anyway, when I found out he was of Armenian heritage I tried to find some Armenian Cognac (yes, it's the only non-French place that can call its brandy Cognac because it won some award in Paris 100 years ago), but all I could find was Armenian Pomegranate Wine.  So I bought a bottle and took it to him.  The family forced me to drink it with them (forced, I say), and it was pretty damn good.  They also set oranges and chocolates out and forced me to partake.  It was brutal, I tell ya.  Anyway, me and Pops now have a standing date at the bar at 2:00 pm on Sundays, drinking "ludi" (beer).  I tried to resist but it was futile.  They also made me drink Turkish coffee.  I felt obliged to have a second cup so that I wouldn't offend them (right). Now I'm buzzing. I'll have to drink some Tequila to get back to normal Texan.

[Sandra Craft]

I'll have to drink some Tequila to get back to normal Texan.

  Speaking of which, are you going to be introducing the father-in-law to tequila?  And perhaps also to Tex-Mex cuisine, or have they already introduced themselves?

[jumbojak]

You lucky devil. My neighbors just complain about the clothes that blow off the line, the grass that doesn't get trimmed, and the beer bottles lying in the driveway. And the ivy. Everyone hates us for the ivy. The girl out back threatened to spray me with weed killer one day if we didn't do something about it. So, in a true spirit of neighborliness I started planting cuttings at the bases of her trees at night and resolved that the ivy was here to stay. You could say I caved in the end...

At least the current crop missed my little social experiment some years back; the lawnmower died and we decided to just let the grass grow until somebody said something about it. At the end of the summer a former neighbor asked if we could give the lawn a trim as she was having trouble selling her house. A bush hog took care of it and she was on her way. I wonder why she wanted to leave?

[Ecurb Noselrub]

I'll have to drink some Tequila to get back to normal Texan.

  Speaking of which, are you going to be introducing the father-in-law to tequila?  And perhaps also to Tex-Mex cuisine, or have they already introduced themselves?

If I had but world enough and time, I would school him on the finer points of Texas culture.  I'll do my best.  They've invited my wife and I for a Georgian meal, so the cultural exchange is going both ways.

[Ecurb Noselrub]

You lucky devil. My neighbors just complain about the clothes that blow off the line, the grass that doesn't get trimmed, and the beer bottles lying in the driveway. And the ivy. Everyone hates us for the ivy. The girl out back threatened to spray me with weed killer one day if we didn't do something about it. So, in a true spirit of neighborliness I started planting cuttings at the bases of her trees at night and resolved that the ivy was here to stay. You could say I caved in the end...

At least the current crop missed my little social experiment some years back; the lawnmower died and we decided to just let the grass grow until somebody said something about it. At the end of the summer a former neighbor asked if we could give the lawn a trim as she was having trouble selling her house. A bush hog took care of it and she was on her way. I wonder why she wanted to leave?

Get thee some foreign neighbors.  They are more appreciative.

[Magdalena]

That's such a nice story, Ecurb Noselrub. 

[OldGit]

You introduce yourself to the new neighbours and they open up a whole new vista .  Good for you, Bruce.

[Tank]

Good one Bruce!

[xSilverPhinx]

That's interesting Bruce. It's great (most of the time)  to speak to people from different cultures as a diverse community is enriching, I think.

I had a brief online exchange with some Georgians a while back, what struck me was just how polite they were. I don't know if this is a cultural thing or was more of a personality trait but it left a lasting impression. 

[Ecurb Noselrub]

That's interesting Bruce. It's great (most of the time)  to speak to people from different cultures as a diverse community is enriching, I think.

I had a brief online exchange with some Georgians a while back, what struck me was just how polite they were. I don't know if this is a cultural thing or was more of a personality trait but it left a lasting impression.

They are VERY polite.  Very easy to befriend.

[Tom62]

Great story, Bruce. BTW you should get hold of Georgian cognac. That stuff is really, really good.

[Ecurb Noselrub]

Great story, Bruce. BTW you should get hold of Georgian cognac. That stuff is really, really good.

I'm looking.  Hard to find things from that area around here.  Next time I'm in Austin I'll check out the liquor stores there.

[OldGit]

Stalin was Georgian, of course.

[jumbojak]

Stalin was Georgian, of course.

He was just a little squirt though.

[Ecurb Noselrub]

Yes, a very friendly dictator.  He gave Churchill bottles of cognac every year, while he was killing millions of his own people. He tried to keep things in balance.