Exploring Tbilisi

Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008--Tbilisi

I was served a delicious breakfast by my guesthouse. I had homemade hot bliniskis (thin pancakes wrapped like eggrolls with a meat filling and fried), fresh tomatoes, homemade ketchup, homemade fig preserves, fresh honey, homemade Georgian bread, and tea. UMMMMMM!

I spent the day walking and exploring. It is an interesting city--modernizing, yet still essentially much like an old Soviet city. The sidewalks are asphalt and are uneven and often patched. Few buildings have been restored, so the general appearance is still drab and crumbling as everything looked under Communism. The buildings that have been restored really stand out. And it is obvious from walking the streets that there are many buildings that would be wonderful if restored.

I saw many churches (Armenian, Roman Catholic, Russian, Georgian, Lutheran, etc.), the one synogogue in the city, the one mosque in the city, the old bath houses, the fortress ruins above the city, theaters, the market, the train station, some horrible attempts by the Soviets at designing and building modern structures, etc. Churches are more likely to be restored than other buildings. As I approached the train station, I thought they were enlarging it. But the gray structure that seemed unfinished turned out to be one of those Soviet mistakes that become monstrasities for cities rather than nice buildings. Some shops I passed wre modernized (especially pharmacies and cosmetics shops for some reason), but many still have old merchandise in the windows and sparsely stocked shelves much as shops were in the U.S.S.R. I passed a square that was full of people selling small piles of merchandise in front of them that they had brought there in plastic garbage bags--4-5 pairs of shoes (maybe new/maybe used), several purses, several pairs of jeans, etc.

Many people here seem desperate for money. Those selling the few items at that square probably are. But there are many beggars, too--more than I experienced in India. The beggars tend to be older people, but there are some young people and some families, also. In the U.S., I know that beggars can go to shelters for food or a bed, but I imagine that the ones here need the money to keep up with their payments for their apartments and to buy food. I wonder how often they go hungry?

I bought a meat-filled pastry to have as a snack in the afternoon. I ate it as I continued to walk. I stopped briefly at a Russian church because there was a spinkling of rain that was too much to ignore. There and elsewhere, I noticed the intricate process of genuflecting that is popular here. It is a complex and long process that is followed not only when entering or leaving a church but also when passing one. It is so special that it reminds me of some of the outlandish versions of handshaking that have been developed by minorities and gangs.

I lucked into seeing the inside of one Georgian church as they were saying prayers. The priests and alter boys were walking around the congregation. (Congregations stand and there are no pews.) To the side was a small choir of 4-5 men singing in the special non-harmonic process that is popular here in Georgia. Unfortunately, they weren't a great choir. I am hoping to hear a group do it very well sometime before I leave the country.

I stopped at a supermarket and bought a large diet cola to bring to the apartment and shared it with my host family. While drinking, I asked them some questions I needed answered related to some of plans here. When it was time for their dinner, I excused myself and came to the room for the evening.