This posting is one of several on our trip to Georgia (the one without the Atlanta Braves). It was our first trip outside of Azerbaijan, and of course, were were nervous about the travel and border crossings, but anxious for the adventure and a little time away from our home here.
There are scenic pictures of Tbilisi and Mtskheta from high above. The rather tall woman is a monument name "Mother of Georgia" and she resides high above Tbilisi at the old fortress. There is also a picture of a mosque and a synagogue that are relatively close to each other. The Georgian people are proud of their history of tolerance for many cultures even though 80 per cent of the population is Orthodox.
The Peace Corps give Volunteers 2 days Annual Leave for every month of service. No Annual Leave is given for Pre-Service Training, so we have accumulated 14 days. We used 7 of those for our trip. Any time a Volunteer is away from site more than 1 weekend a month it is to be used as Annual Leave. However, the Azerbaijan Peace Corps is quite liberal with its in-country travel, and many volunteers travel somewhere within country almost every week without using their Annual Leave.
Georgia is the country most available to us in Azerbaijan. We can travel there by bus, taxi, or train. Of the four border countries, Iran and Armenia are off limits to us, and it is very difficult to get visas to Russia.
We began on a Monday morning with a 4 hour bus ride to Yevlax - easy so far, then a 30 minute ride on a bus from yevlax to Barda. The only problem was a 1.5 hour wait in Yevlax for the minibus to fill up before it would leave. We were passengers 3 and 4 of 20. We all wanted to celebrate when number 20 got on board and we could leave. It was only about 90 degrees and sunny, but we did not completely melt. We finally got to our friends, Bill and Dorothy Colcord's around 2:30.
After lunch and a nap, we walked a bit and had dinner with Bill, Dorothy, and John Schwartzbauer. John has been a Volunteer in Azerbaijan for 4 years. John is widowed and has 4 daughters in the United States. He wanted to stay longer in Azerbaijan, but the Peace Corps is not allowing him to renew. The Peace Corps is acting in the best interest of John.
On Tuesday we helped Dorothy with a project she has with potential FLEX (exchange students to the United States) participants. Last year over 2,000 students applied to pend one school year in the United States for the 10th or 11th grade. Of those 41 were selected to go.
Tuesday night we had a lovely dinner with an Azerbaijan couple. Tofiga, the wife, is the counterpart to one of the brightest and best of American Peace Corps Volunteers, Jeremy Hebert. Then bright and early on Wednesday morning, Dorothy's counterpart had arranged a car to take us to the Red Bridge (Qirimzi Koerpu) where we walked across (about a kilometer) to Georgia. We showed our passports 6 times -- 3 to Azerbaijan soldiers and police, and 3 to Georgian soldiers and police. No problems , everyone was very cordial and never any attempt to take a bribe.
One great moment was when an Azerbaijan soldier was looking over one of our passports very carefully, when Linda noticed, he was just looking at the background pictures of famous sights in the United States. She went over and talked with the soldier, explaining each one. The Statue of Liberty was the only sight with which he was familiar.
We were on our way to Tbilisi, and our rooms at the Nika Guesthouse in a taxi with a negotiated price of $25 for the 40 kilometer ride. The Nika Guesthouse was recommended by the Georgian Peace Corps. Linda and I had a room on the second floor, no air conditioning, but a fan that worked, pretty clean, hot water from the second day on, access to a refrigerator, and all for $15 per person per night! It was standard PC travel if you can't stay with other Volunteers.
The city of Tbilisi is like any capital city. The population is about 1.1 million, and many products and foods not available in the smaller cities, towns, and villages are available there. It has a bustling nightlife, cinema, theatre, parks, and traffic. We will share more pictures and comments on Georgia in future posts.
We walked Tbilisi that Wednesday evening looking for an Italian restaurant. Never found it, but ate at a "Mexican Food" restaurant named Santa Fe. We ordered Mexican and got a Georgian version, very mild, no sauces, a couple of chips, but we were really hungry, so it was okay.
The people of Georgia are very friendly and were quite helpful as we walked with maps in hand. When we took the underground train (Metro) on Thursday two young girls helped us navigate our way to our stop. The younger Georgians are very likely to speak English, and the middle aged adults up, not so much. It was a good, but tiring experience walking that evening.
The difficulty for us was the Georgian language has a unique alphabet. We had no clue as to the names on street signs, Metro signs, or any sign that had only Georgian. The unusual response was that when we could not be understood in English, we tried to speak Azerbaijani, and when we could not understand the Georgian, we would answer in Azerbaijani.
On Thursday, our first item of business was a visit to the Peace Corps offices in Tbilisi. The Georgian PC evacuated and closed service for all of its Trainees and Volunteers in August of 2008 when the Russian army responded to the Ossetia region. The PC staff remained intact and returned to Georgia. The Georgian PC is now working with 25 Trainees who will renew Peace Corps service to Georgia. They will serve only in Eastern Georgia for now due to the continued political situation.
We were given a tour of their offices by the Safety and Security Director. She explained how the evacuation took place and shared about the future plans for the Georgian Peace Corps. Most of the staff was with the Trainees at a Pre-Service Training event that included inoculations. Whenever any PCV travels within a PC country, the staff is responsible for their safety, and every Volunteer is to check in.
As it worked out, it was very fortunate that checking in was high on our agenda. On Friday afternoon while concluding our sight seeing, Dorothy fell and it was painful for her to stand on her left leg. We managed to get her back to the Nika, and Bill called the Peace Corps Medical Duty Officer. The doctor arranged transportation and an x-ray. The x-ray indicated a broken tibia, and it was later set and a cast applied.
Saturday Dorothy rested under the careful attention of Bill while we took a tour. On Sunday the Georgian Peace Corps arranged transportation for Bill and Dorothy to the border where they crossed and were met by Azerbaijan Peace Corps transportation that returned them to their home.
We will tell about the interesting sights and events in the postings to come. We hope this bit of information has whetted your appetite for more knowledge about Georgia and of course the Peace Corps.
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