We're going for a picnic!

Georgia is not rich in lakes - that was unfortunate comparison with Lithuania, where half an hour by car is max time needed - and you already dive into a cool fresh water on a hot summer day.

Yet - yet! - nostalgia does not last long, and then you look around for local treasures. Last weekend I went for a picnic outside the city. Just half an hour drive, and we were among trees and fields, breathing in with full lungs the fresh air. It appears, in the outskirts of Tbilisi there are many open - air fireplaces, ready and waiting for picnic'ers (I'm pretty sure it's not a real word. But bear with me) to come and enjoy. In the place where I was, we even found barbeque sticks tied in a tree, ready for anyone to use. That's what I call barbeque culture!

Tables for picnics are arranged everywhere - e.g. near ancient fortresses and towers

Fun fact about Georgia is that if you find a secluded place and you think you're alone, it doesn't mean it will last for long. If someone finds it and likes it as well, they won't mind that you're just a few meters away, and the aroma of their mtsvadi will mix in the air with yours very soon. The more, the merrier - that is definitely a valid motto here!

Covered from the road by trees - it was a perfect place for improvised barbeque

This fortress is near Tbilisi; it takes some time and effort to hike up there....but if you have a powerful jeep, you can simply get up there with all picnic equipment - that's what we saw when we finally got there, a small piglet roasting on fire and supra at its peak!

One of the most impressive sausages I have ever seen - all in one! Found while shopping for a picnic, more than a year ago.

How To Be An Alien. And Not To Loose Head.

I found one very smart text, that is worth sharing. Written by George Mikes [1912-1987] a while ago, published  by Wingate, London / NY in 1946, and sill great source of learning. Presenting to you, ladies and gentlemen: "A Handbook for Beginners and More Advanced Pupils".

"It was like this. Some years ago I spent a lot of time with a young lady who was very proud and conscious of being English. Once she asked me - to my great surprise - whether I would marry her. "No," I replied, "I will not. My mother would never agree to my marrying a foreigner." She looked at me a little surprised and irritated, and retorted: "I, a foreigner? What a silly thing to say. I am English. You are the foreigner. And your mother, too." I did not give in. "In Budapest, too?" I asked her. "Everywhere," she declared with determination. "Truth does not depend on geography. What is true in England is also true in Hungary and in North Borneo and Venezuela and everywhere."

I saw that this theory was as irrefutable as it was simple. I was startled and upset. Mainly because of my mother whom I loved and respected. Now, I suddenly learned what she really was.

It is a shame and bad taste to be an alien, and it is no use pretending otherwise. There is no way out of it. A criminal may improve and become a decent member of society. A foreigner cannot improve. Once a foreigner, always a foreigner. There is no way out for him. He may become British; he can never become English.

So it is better to reconcile yourself to the sorrowful reality. There are some noble English people who might forgive you. There are some magnanimous should who realise that it is not your fault, only your misfortune. They will treat you with condescension, understanding and sympathy. They will invite you into their homes. Just as they keep lap-dogs and other pets, they are quite prepared to keep a few foreigners."

To what extent is this true? So many my fellow nationals, and myself, have chosen to become alien somewhere, for all kinds of reasons. It is very exciting - and emotional - in the beginning; frustrating after some time passes and it becomes no longer a holiday; and getting more "normal" after a while. Local people are indeed very welcoming, although some have their own understanding how to help you integrate. (Oh, and I was doing same at home, too!!). When in reality all that foreigner needs is to be treated like everyone else. But then again - the language barrier, all the cultural misunderstandings.... Complications, complications!..

There are certain rules, however, following which one can blend in and make oneself as "acceptable and civilised as one possibly can". And that is probably the best way of integration. 

There is only one danger of overstretching. Just as George Mikes said: "Study these rules, and imitate the English. There can be only one result: if you don't succeed in imitating them you become ridiculous; if you do, you become even more ridiculous." True story.

From "wooden ship" to sensitivity

Never before I really thought what it means to be sensitive towards different ethnicities. Not only being respectful, but also communicating it, in the right way. That the famous cake in Lithuania "Negriukas" can sound like a deadly insult to somebody. That people can leave the room only because somebody said the "N" word out loud, in English. Or that there is a difference between "people of color" and "colored people".

So many misunderstandings can come just from the fact that we don't know about each other, what is sensitive in other cultures and what is actually not. I remember a story how in one hotel in Vilnius a Latino guest was asked to show some additional documents, only because he was served by a new receptionist who followed the rules with more scrutiny. He took it personally and it wasn't easy for personnel to calm him down! You never know where you can get an intercultural lesson.

Here in Georgia I heard many stories that make one smile. Like, people expressing their affection to foreigners of other ethnicity in the most inappropriate language - but so honestly and warmly, that their intentions couldn't be mistaken. Or when someone would point at differently looking people on the street and shout names at them - this is not funny, but makes one raise both eyebrows and think, why would anybody do that?. When even wearing red sneakers can be considered "Weird....", it is hard to stand out of the crowd. But still worth it. Because it is really interesting to watch how diversity transforms from an "old old wooden ship" into something more real. What will it bring here? I wonder...

Multilingual everyday

If someone told me that one day I will have to speak three languages at once, wondering in the fourth how it's possible - I would have smiled at his/hers imagination. And yet - that is my everyday life now. At home we speak English and Georgian, supported with Russian where nothing else can help. Although the body-language also often comes handy. I try to blend in with my little Georgian, using it in shops, taxis, post offices - even struggling on the phone sometimes. And in my gym my trainer only speaks Russian, so here it goes - all the Soviet cartoon vocabulary suddenly became useful!
It is funny to think that in some places in the very heart of Tbilisi you wouldn't be able to communicate in official language. And even more - nobody seems to care about it! I actually like it.
 
Maybe I should work on spreading some Lithuanian too. If only we used more gestures to follow it.

Mano kaimynai

Turiu puikius kaimynus. Negaliu skųstis - nebent vėlai po vidurnakčio, bet tai retai nutinka. Mano kaimynas groja gitara, ir dažnai turi muzikuojančių svečių. Štai dabar jaučiu, kaip dreba lentynos stiklai į ritmą ir bandau atspėti, kokiais instrumentais šiandien grojama. Solo gitara; bosinė gitara; mikrofonas irgi matyt įjungtas, nes per tris aukštus vokalas taip aiškiai nesigirdėtų. Kartais dar girdžiu būgnus - ar bent taip atrodo. Gerą skonį turi mano kaimynas - ir gerą balsą. Neveltui kunigas netolimoj bažnytėlėj. Su ilga barzda ir dar ilgesniu juodu rūbu. Išjungiu muziką, TV, ir grįžtu toliau klausytis.