Autumn in Georgia

Sometimes I would like to write as freewheeling and good in English as does Carpetblogger from Baku if I could. About the every day life in Georgia, about the trivia and peanuts, about what is on the first hand not that spectacular but on the second maybe just interesting. I love the people living in Georgia of all coleur, but sometimes I like very much the "simple" folks, the workers on the street, the old grandmother, who is selling cigarettes, the guy from Abkhazia, who changed the oil of my motor engine today. They live their fate and their fortune. If you find a common language, than there may be a deep understanding of each other, a simple trust, that they do their best work they can for your tyre or your engine. You listen to their weird stories, to their hopes and dreams.

I again bought those Russian tyres today- Medved (bear)- and after mounting them it was like driving a complete new car. Actually they lasted under the stress of three years Georgian roads much longer then my German Fulda tyres and are of course much cheaper- 140 Lari each appr. 80 USD instead of 260 USD what I paid in Germany, but those 80 $ are still more than the official monthly salary of a teacher. Buying the tyres on Eliava-Bazaar suddenly stood there a small crowd between the boxes around a dead man. His face looked very calm and peaceful. Somebody shifted a pillow under his head and everybody looked very sad. I asked somebody, the man died of a heart attack or a stroke and there waited for a physician and the police. It made me sad too under the bright sun of this October.

I bought a new calculator too, one was for 2,20 Lari and one for 3. I am impressed by Chinas productivity, my old one 3 years ago costed 15 then. So I took the one for 3 Lari in the hope of the better quality ;-)
Later I met a German journalist from Leipzig at McDonalds and we had some nice conversations about our different and similar lifes here and there. The coffee was good, thin, but hot. The girls behind the tender had a smile for us and my dirty hands. This was a quiet normal day in Georgia, I am glad that the kids are sleeping in their beds. Tomorrow comes a new day of this brilliant life in Georgia.

I post now some old photos from the deep grounds of my computer.


Bazaar Kabali, Region Lagodekhi Winter 2002 Photo: Joachim Strunk


Two friends, Rustavi Winter 2002 Photo: Joachim Strunk


Azeri Ladies on Gori Bazaar,Winter 2002 Photo: Joachim Strunk


Bazaar Kabali, Region Lagodekhi Winter 2002 Photo: Joachim Strunk