Ben Sweeney’s Weblog

So, I’ve mentioned before the random feeling I get that I really love this place (or possibly just this world). I also get another similar feeling just as strong which I’ve noticed pops up from time to time. The fully formed thought comes into my head that I live really well, that my life is excellent judged by my standards, and compared to the lives of most other people on this world. This is a pretty humbling feeling, and I am incredibly grateful for what I have.

I’ve noticed a pattern with this particular feeling. Whenever I go out to a restaurant for food here I feel it. I sit down and eat at some place here and inevitably this feeling of complete satisfaction will come over me.

Almost every restaurant here has practically the same menu, which means I can go in and know exactly what I want without having to look at what they have. Well, then I get what I wanted, and it is a feast. Seriously, every meal I have had here is one of the best meals I have had in my life (and costs on average less than $10).

I only realized that there was this pattern a day or two ago, and I am still trying to figure out the exact reasons for the triggering of this emotion which is pretty strong and consistent. I suppose I really like food. As a quick aside to my sister who might be worrying, I’m not gaining much weight as far as I can tell.

My last post seemed a little melodramatic. I don’t think that there is an impending risk of war here, it is just something we talk about a lot. Many of my expat friends lived through the last conflict here, and it was an incredible emotional burden for them. It turns out that they were in very little danger, but at the time, they had no idea what was going on. My Georgian friends also went through incredible emotional stress, with some even fighting in this August conflict. As a result of this, it is something that people are constantly worry about and it is a common subject of conversation, where people can air their conspiracy theories, or even rational thought out ideas, based on incomplete information and the unstable situation here.

I do think there will be some kind of conflict with Russia at some point. I am not sure when, or how big it will be, but I don’t think the conflict is completely resolved. There are reports of instability in the regions, notably between Ossetians or Abkhaz against Russians. The Abkhaz ran away from Georgia because they wanted to protect their culture and independence, but now they are afraid that Russia will absorb them and erase their uniqueness. Furthermore, it seems to me that neither the Russian nor the Georgian government are totally rational, in a way that their goals are directly opposed to each other.

One theory about war is as follows. Right now in Russia there is incredible instability in the North Caucasus , similar to the conflicts in Chechnya, but across a wider geographical swath. (Besides this, there are big fears that Russia is going to have widespread civil unrest because of the economic crisis.) Anyways, this theory on war is that the situation in the North Caucasus will keep heating up (as it looks like it will), and eventually the Russian supply lines to Tskinvali and South Ossetia will get blocked. At this point, Georgia, Russia, or the Ossetians might do something stupid and the conflict could explode again.

As I mentioned in the previous post, there are plenty of other theories of when this is going to happen. We’ll see. As much as I talk about it, I am not taking it too too seriously, and am not losing any sleep.

So, I was visiting a friend, Tomas, yesterday for coffee before this running/drinking club thing I joined (called the Hash House Harriers – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_House_Harriers). Taped to his fridge was a list of stuff to get before a war with Russia. He had all kinds of things on it, a lot of dried goods like rice, as well as a kerosene cooker, and all the cash from his bank account. He even put firearm (with a ? next to it) on the bottom of the list. He put Jan. 15 as the date by which to execute this list, his calculation is that there will be a war with Russia roughly corresponding with the Obama inauguration.

Meanwhile, I’ve been hearing a lot of rumours myself that there will be a war sometime around New Years, similar to the Russian attack on Chechnya a few years ago. Apparently Russian soldiers in Abkhazia have been intimidating Georgians on the border, reminding them about that attack. I know these are just rumours, but I still decided to make a list myself, entitled “In Case of War.”

I went out and bought about 20 candles, a bunch of matches, some cans of sweetened condensed milk, a few churchkhela (this Georgian food that keeps well and is high calorie but healthy-ish – nuts on a string dipped into condensed grape juice like candles, they are called Georgian Snickers sometimes), and some new socks.

I’m still going to go buy some buckwheat (grechka in Russian) and some pasta, and take out a bunch of dollars. I feel like all this stuff will come handy at some point, and I’ll use it, so I don’t feel bad for stocking up. Also, the electricity is going to get cut off at some point, even if there isn’t a war, it’s happened a few times already. About the dollars, the Georgian Lari seems pretty unstable and artificially propped up, so having USD could be handy.

I might have gotten some moonshine as well, but my freezer is already filled with it, because people keep adding to my stock faster than it would be humanly possible to drink it. Although, speaking of alcohol, I recently went out to probably the biggest grocery store in Tbilisi – Goodwill, where I got some more booze. We were just picking up supplies for the Hash event, and stumbled upon the liquor section. There were about 10 tasting booths staffed by attractive young Georgians giving out free samples of all kinds of wine, cognac, and vodka. They had some quite nice and very affordable cognacs so I bought 2 bottles to add to my cabinet. That will be nice for the cold winter days, sipping on some fine cognac, swapping rumours about when the Russians are going to come.

Tomas has a friend who also made a list of things to do in case of war. This list consists of only one thing: Go to Tomas’s house.

Today, walking out of the apartment where I am catsitting, I went past huge tables of fireworks and Christmasy decorations, old ladies selling arrays of nuts/seeds and single cigarettes. Then I noticed a guy with a few crates of soft drink bottles filled with homemade moonshine and wine, and my smile really just spread even wider across my face (I didn’t get any – my freezer at home is still full of moonshine).

So I got into the office this morning (actually closer to afternoon today), and sat down, started talking to Dan, the other Fulbright guy, also working out of my office.

“So, I had that feeling again, that I really like this country. I’m not sure why. Maybe I just like the world, well, I know I do, but I feel like I really like this place especially, but I can’t figure out why I do.”

“Well, maybe, that’s cause of all of the parties. There is always something to do, the social life here is pretty busy” he said.

This is true, and I have gotten a real great circle of friends, mostly expats, and we have a great time together, but I don’t think that is why I feel these things I feel about Georgia.

“Yeah, good point, hanging out with friends is awesome, but that’s not when I really feel I love Georgia.”

“Well, let me tell you about why I like it here. Last night, when I was taking a cab home…”

“With Pam and someone else, right?”

“Yeah, Pam and Stefano. Anyways our driver was an old guy wearing a Svan hat. When we got going I asked him [presumably in Georgia, Dan's Georgian is pretty good], ‘So, are you a Svan?’”

“The driver smiled and said, ‘No. my wife is Svan, but I’m from Racha. Have you ever been there?’”

“‘Yeah,’ I said, ‘I was in Saketsia.’”

“‘Oh!’ said the driver, ‘That is 5 kilometers from my village. Have you ever tried kvanchkhara [a type of Georgia wine]?’”

“‘Yeah I have, I liked it.’”

“‘Well, that is what my village is called – Kvanchkhara, the grapes for that wine come from my village.’”

“Then the driver promised to give me some of the wine. He is going back to his village after Easter and is going to stay there until the harvest, and when the wine is ready, he is going to bring some to me, he said that it is just incredibly delicious. I think I’ll get a trip to his village at some point.”

Well, that is what makes Dan love this place. I’m still trying to figure it out for myself.

So, halfway through last night I had this incredibly strong feeling of really loving this country. I mean, there are things that bug me about this place, but I’m relaxed enough to forget about them, and often they are just the other side of the coin of reasons that make me love it here.

My biggest example is that when visiting Georgia you will get hit over the head with hospitality. All the time, in the most unexpected ways and places. I heard one of my favourite stories when I got back to my house to meet an electrician about a month ago. At the time, we had 3 Americans staying with us. They had gone to Gori for a day or two and had just gotten back at about 4:30 in the afternoon. One of them was sleeping in my room, one was throwing up in the bathroom, and another was about to go out for a bit to walk it off. Apparently, they wanted a drink before bed when they were in Gori but were disappointed with the night life there, so they decided to go to one of the casino/slot club places that are everywhere. Right after they get in some guy comes up to them and invites them back to his house. Meanwhile it is pretty late and they have already eaten, but are practically forced to eat another huge meal and drink enormous quantities of wine and moonshine. The next day, the guy comes and picks them up at the hotel at 9 or 10 in the morning and they go out for a breakfast of soup and cognac. Then they had a great day until they just crashed and headed back to my place.

I’ve started calling this “suprajacking.” Supra in Georgian apparently literally means ‘tablecloth,’ but gets used to mean meal or feast, which take on epic proportions here. Actually, almost every meal here I have had has been a feast. Anyways, the supra has been a bit fetishized by foreigners, perhaps because they keep getting suprajacked by aggressive Georgian hospitality.

So, yesterday after work, I went to dinner with Stefo, his parents and girlfriend Khatuna, and a friend of mine who joined us. Near the end of the meal, I got a call from Dan, the other Fulbrighter in Georgia, who is staying at our apartment now. He was at a restaurant with his real estate agent, who just found him an apartment and was spending most of his commission on a feast. The real estate agent sends his friend’s wife to pick me up.

We stopped to gas up the car, and there was a firetruck and about 7 police cars outside of the restaurant next to us. Apparently Misha, the president, was having dinner there. Our restaurant was a few doors down, this huge banquet hall with musicians at one end and all kinds of wall hangings and mirrors. It seemed a combination of nouveau riche and Soviet. The music was the same kind of mix, half soviet style songs, half popish stuff.

It was at this moment that I had the inexpressible feeling of love for Georgia. It got really weird really quickly though. I go in and meet my friend, who had been drinking (well everyone had been). He asked me if I had gotten his text which he just sent. I hadn’t gotten it yet, and he said “Well, too late.”

I went and sat down next to the real estate agent, Levan. He told me that his friend is the nephew of Ilya II, the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox church, and is going to be a priest in 3 months. The nephew of the Patriarch! That’s essentially the Pope of Georgia. The real estate agent himself almost became a priest once and worked in churches for a while. Around this point, my phone started to vibrate – it was the text message from Dan:

Message 11:
Bware religious
fanatics
From:+995 91 XX XX XX

The real estate agent then started saying how happy he was to have guests like me in Georgia, that “Jews have been guests in Georgia for…”

I had a moment of not knowing why he brought up Jews, but I finished his sentence “for twenty three hundred years.” Every time it comes up that I am Jewish I get this 10 minute speech on how Jews have been guests in Georgia for 2300 years, and that Georgia has some of the lowest rates of anti-Semitism, which is true as far as I can tell.

The message from Dan took on new significance, especially as Levan then asked me “So yeah, you guys killed our Saviour. What do you have to say to that?”

I supposed I should have been really shocked at this whole adventure, but I guess my life has gotten to a point that stuff like this, while not commonplace, is not unexpected. Living in Russia and traveling around the former Soviet Union I really got into a situation where I just have no expectations for what is going to happen. I bet traveling in general would do it, I don’t think it is at all unique to me, but I do think these regions are places where almost anything can happen. Maybe Russia more so than Georgia to me because Georgia has all these traditions and rituals. All of my suprajackings have had an almost routine to them, like the order of the toasts, and the praising of guests. I love them, but it becomes a bit tiresome, so maybe that’s why I was fine with the comparative novelty of being accused of killing Jesus.

I brought up points like the fact that it was the Romans who crucified him, to which Levan quoted the part where Pontius Pilate washed his hands of the killing. Then I brought up how, well, it was not all Jews who did it, maybe just a few bad apples a couple thousand years ago. This satisfied him, and he raised his glass in a toast. The first toast is to guests, so this first toast was to me, and to Israel and to Jews. Every toast afterwards seemed exactly like that as well. They respected that I am Jewish, they thought that orthodox religions could get along fine. They did not know that I am not orthodox, and I don’t think they even noticed that I ate the piles of (delicious, delicious) pork they ordered specifically for me, because they were in the middle of a huge Orthodox fast (although they were drinking and smoking which they aren’t supposed to do – their reasons for them not supposed to be smoking were pretty ridiculous).

I had some more tests on my religious education. For example: why wasn’t Moses allowed into the Holy Land after 40 years of wandering. I started in on the philosophical response about how the Jews who had been slaves in Egypt would not be able to form a healthy society in Israel. Wrong. Levan’s version of religion was based on extremely literal interpretations of the bible, which is what I’ve noticed about a lot of believers here. The soon to be priest, Dato, seemed much more moderate though, in both his drinking and the religious stuff he had, although he had some quirks of his own.  Dan said how he had a girlfriend, but that I didn’t, so they started right away promising to find me a good Georgian girl.  When Dato found out that one of our friends (Stefo) has a Georgian girlfriend, he immediately offered to bridenap her for him.  Bridenaping apparently still takes place, usually with the consent of the girl, but still it seems a bit weird, a bit too Georgian to be true.

Well, after a few hours of drinking and toasting and talking about religion, Levan realized that he had to give his elderly mom some heart medicine. He invited us all back to meet his mom and then we were going to go to Dato’s house for more food and drinking. Apparently it is not ridiculous here to wake up one’s elderly mother and children at midnight for impromptu champagne (which Levan picked up on the way). The mom was pretty amazing, woke up, took her medicine and even had a bit of champagne. She was so thrilled to be talking to Americans (even though they considered me a Jew, not an American) in Russian and Georgian. It was pretty amazing, I could understand the vast majority of what she was talking about, understanding the Georgian from the Russian context.

She pulled out a newspaper clipping which had a picture of her from ages ago, when she was coal miner, taken with Georgia’s most famous modern poet – Galaktion Tabidze. Then she pulled out an article about how Saddam Hussein was Stalin’s grandson.

Eventually we left, we’d been there for a while, and had left the soon to be priest’s pregnant (but still drinking and smoking) wife, daughter, and wife’s friend in the car. We managed to convince Levan to stay home, and just told Dato to take us home.

I went to bed, but woke up early cause of some guy who kept calling for a Levan (it is one of the most common names here), and didn’t realize that not only was there no Levan with me but that I don’t speak much more Georgian above the level of “There is no Levan here, leave me alone!”

In the office today, Dan got a call from Levan the real estate agent. Apparently he is not supposed to drink and has blood pressure issues, although it seems like the necessity for hospitality is a higher responsibility then one’s health.

Hopefully I’ll have a post soon about my traveling, my birthday celebrations, and what I’m up to for the holidays (besides watching Pineapple Express a few more times). I do know already that I’m going to be hosting a Christmas brunch on the 25^th although there is orthodox Christmas here as well. I also know that I will be cat sitting in an apartment that has heating, satellite TV, the internet, and well a cat, 4 things that my apartment is lacking. Actually 2 rooms in our house don’t have lights, so I really should go out and get light bulbs, see if I can fix that.

So, today, I had possibly my best driving lesson ever, although its only been the 5^th lesson or so. I get the place where we meet, and Makho, my instructor tells me we’re going to go to do some driving on steep slopes. So I pull out (used reverse for the first time), and we head along Tbilisi’s busy, potholed streets.

We headed up to Sololaki, a neighbourhood built on the slope of one of sides of the valley that Tbilisi is in. Then we kept going up, towards something Makho called funicular (cable cars), up switchbacks and passes to the top of the mountain overlooking the city. We stopped at one point – Makho told me to get out and look at this house, visible from a lot of the city. I had always thought it was some kind of business center, but apparently it is also the residence of Georgia’s first billionaire – Boris Ivanishvili. It is this huge mansion with a helipad and a huge pool that has a 60 foot waterfall (unfortunately not running) going into it.

Driving up the mountain was pretty fun with ridiculous hairpin turns and other crazy drivers. This is reinforcing my idea that this is good all-purpose driving training, that I’ll be pretty prepared to drive anywhere. I’m starting to wonder if I’ll be good at driving video games, which I’ve always been pretty bad at.

I’ve started carrying an icon around with me. Most cars have some kind of rosary or icon by the driver to prevent accidents, and I think I could use the insurance. I got a Georgian St. George icon (this one – http://www.chaganava.com/eBooks/enamels/screenshot_scr_icons.jpg). To me it really looks like St. George is slaying an alien sent to earth by the spaceship in the upper right hand corner. So, hopefully I’ll be protected against alien abductions as well. I think it is good to have a sense of humour about the scary driving here.

Well, the cool part of the lesson was when we were pretty far along in the mountains past Tbilisi, and Makho tells me to stop the car on a (relatively steep) slope – I was figuring he was going to teach me how to park on a hill or something, but he just told me to turn the car off and release the brake. I did this, expecting the car to move forward, but no, the opposite! It started moving backwards up the hill, accelerating even. Makho laughed at my surprise, and explained there was some kind of magnetic pole in the mountain. It was pretty amazing, apparently one of the few places in the world where this happens. Anyone else have experience with this?

Then we headed back and I had to navigate through a series of poles, one group set up as slalom with incredibly small amount of room between them, and the other set up as figure 8. First one was tricky, second was a piece of cake.

I’m at work now, the office is pretty empty – most people are at a round table in Kutaisi. I’m going to head out soon, pack for my trip, and then go to the weekly banya for a steam and maybe a relaxing scrub before the long train ride across the country.

Hey, so sorry I haven’t been updating as much lately – I’ve been incredibly busy, and I really should get it all out just so that I can keep track of it, and you can see what I’ve been up to. Here is a quick (and probably incomplete) update of my life from the past bit.

I have a new job – I am working at Transparency International. Essentially I am doing the same research, but for them focusing on pensioners who are Internally Displaced persons. They aren’t paying me, but I get to use their resources, which so far have been contacts for interviews, the internet, and lots of tea from the kitchen. Hopefully they will publish the report I’m going to write and my research will feed into larger projects. I am doing interviews with local and international NGOs, as well as with elderly IDPs themselves, and researching aid projects. Eventually I’ll start talking to ministries and aid donors. The plan is to better target aid to needy, vulnerable people, and hopefully I’ll have good relationships with the people I interview so they can read and implement the report I’ll produce.  It feels really great to be so busy, and possibly have an impact on something that I’m really interested in.

As part of my job I will be heading out to Zugdidi in western Georgia where most of the IDPs from the first conflict live. I’ll be going to a round table of local and international NGOs and then heading out to IDP collective centers to interview the elderly. I really should be preparing myself to be incredibly mentally traumatized (by their living conditions), but I haven’t really that much.

The first part of this trip will be going to Batumi on the Black Sea and then popping across into Turkey to renew my Georgian visa. After Zugdidi, there was a chance that I could be going to Gali, across the border in Abkhazia, although that looks unlikely. I’ve heard a lot of crazy stories about going there, involving gangster border guards, kidnapping, torture, and ransom. I don’t scare easily for traveling, but those stories among others made me not want to go there, although it would be an incredibly interesting trip – many IDPs have returned to Gali, but their situation is tenuous, with the Abkhaz government (perhaps forcibly) distributing passports.

Next up for new stuff is that I am taking driving lessons. I didn’t learn to drive in either Canada or America, but while here, I decided why not? Lessons are quite cheap, and if I can drive here (with potholed roads and crazy drivers), I’ll be able to drive anywhere, although I might get tickets. My first lesson was 45 minutes driving around a big parking lot to get a hang of how to use the clutch etc. (I’m learning on a stick shift), and then we just headed out into crazy traffic. Each lesson since has just been driving around the city. My Georgian isn’t good enough yet, so the lessons are in Russian. Getting a license is quite cheap, so I’ll do that eventually, maybe a car if I’m here for a while.

My plans for Christmas and New Years are to stay in and around Tbilisi. A friend is heading out to pick a few hundred kilos of ripe persimmons which he is going to turn into fruit vodka, so I’ll try to get a bottle of that. I also have thousands of pages of interesting reading to catch up on, and I’ll try to get out and learn to ski in the mountains near here.