This story is part of a series of photo posts which will highlight my travels throughout Georgia during the next two weeks.
As soon as I stepped off the plane at Tbilisi’s International Airport on the night of September 21st, I was greeted with a smile and a nice immigration officer who spoke English. All of the booths were manned by English speakers, in fact.Being a Georgian speaker, the officer and I spoke in her native tongue. But she was more than happy to switch to English, if I struggled.
(Which I didn’t. smile)
I didn’t have to fill out one of those stupid immigration cards that Ukrainian, Russian and other post-Soviet police forces expect you to keep on your person at all times. My passport was stamped and the officer smiled-looking at me like I was a real live human being) and said, “Welcome to Georgia!” The process was painless and took less than 2 minutes.
(It wouldn’t have taken that long had my passport not been so torn up. She asked me for other pieces of ID, which slightly stretched the process into the two minute mark. She was friendly the whole time. YES I DO COUNT THE TIME!)
This is something that expats visiting from Kyiv and other former Soviet states marvel about. For at the Borispol International Airport in Kyiv, for example, one is not greeted with a smile at all. And English? Никогда! (NEVER)
In fact, the experience at Borispol’s immigration line gives one the impression that they are not welcome in Ukraine! The officers are very robotic and grim-faced . And if you don’t speak to them in Russian (VERY WELL, MIND YOU), the officer will smack his/her teeth in frustration and roll their eyes for you to have the unmitigated gull to speak to them in English, a language that everyone else in the world, except them, speaks! The process is slower and the officer inspects your passport so hard you wonder if they’re going to take out a magnifying glass!
Even if its perfectly clear that you’re struggling with the Russian language-as I did when I first arrived at Borispol more than a year ago-the officer willstill speak to you in Russian! Once they decide you are worthy of entering their country, they stamp your passport (and maybe they will recognize your existence by looking up at you) and wave you off without anything resembling a well-wished trip in their great country.
What a difference a good government who cares about how people view their country can make!
My first full day in Tbilisi was great. This is my third trip to Georgia. I was first here from 2003-2005 as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Then in the summer of 2008 as a grad student to study Georgian (yes I was here when the Russian/Georgian War started), see this link of my experience there at:
http://www.dailyillini.com/news/2008/08/27/leaving-behind-the-georgia-i-knew
And now I’m here in 2010. These are some visuals from day one!
A man on Chavchavadze Street playing a traditional Georgian drum as passer-bys looked on. I guess the little baby finds me interesting!
Had I had any Georgian laris on me, I would have left something for him. But I didn’t exchange money yet.
Who might this be? Taras Shevchenko, a Ukrainian national hero, in Tbilisi, Georgia?
Indeed, this is the small, but very quaint and well-kept park in Tbilisi named in his honor.
This is a description in Georgian and Ukrainian.
Taras Shevchenko is ubiquitous indeed!
Khachapuri, Khachapuri, Khachapuri. Tasty and cheap! The same street level stuff like this in Kyiv or some fancy restaurant elsewhere would cost a kidney. Here, it’s less than two bucks!
This lady makes this wonderful, God-given treat! She was camera shy, at first.
But, of course, she gave in to my charms and handsome looks!
This is actually a very nice cafe, Cafe Tbilisi, on Rustaveli Street, the most popular hangout spot in town. Cafe Tbilisi has a street vendor style walk-by where one can either choose from a variety food choices displayed in the window or walk inside for a bite.
The ladies who were operating this walk-by were very nice about me snapping pictures and practicing my fleeting Georgian with them and their costumers. I was certainly getting in the way, but the costumers were so amazed I could speak Georgian, no matter how rusty it was, that they didn’t seem to be annoyed by my presence.
This girl here asked me to bring her a hard copy of this photo. Help me to remember, dear followers!
Tbilisi is a city of more than 1 million people, but it has the feel of a large, mediterranean village. No one seems to be in a hurry and drinking is permitted on the streets, unlike in Ukraine where I currently live. Everyone smiled and winked at me as I walked by them. Perhaps they thought I was some famous black person from MTV or something. I was asked to pose for pictures several times in this day!
This shot was taken on Rustaveli Street, Tbilisi’s most popular street. These children begged me to shoot them.
After shooting a few pics with the children, these young men waved me over for a few shots of vodka. The whole time, they were asking where I was from and that I got cool points for speaking to them in Georgian! They wanted to buy me beer, but I graciously declined. Georgians are known for being extra giving to foreigners.
Upon seeing that you are not a local, they will offer you something to drink, whether its vodka, beer or wine. It’s one way they welcome outsiders to their homeland. Then the endless toasting, which is a very maletradition in Georgia, follows. Some can last as long as ten minutes! With these guys, toasts to Georgian/American relations, health, our acquaintance and myself were made.
It is not uncommon for toasts to Russian and Ukrainian women to be made-and done by standing up-which is a way of really intensifying the appreciation of the toast. We didn’t toast to them today, however. Next time!
It was a great way to spend a warm and sunny afternoon.
I sat with them for an hour or so until my friend, Brian showed up. He is a Nigerian immigrant who moved to Georgia three years ago and is now something of a celebrity.More on him in tomorrow’s post! Thanks for following me on day one. I’d love to post more but it’s nearing 5am and I have to meet Brian at 8am.
Keep those comments, good, bad and in between, coming!
You can read Terrell J. Starr’s blog here.
