36 hours later. First day in Tbilisi.

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I have been up since 6 am on September 26th, traveled through four different countries, and I still have the energy to write this blog post before I crash.

So to make this easy to read (since I know I can ramble if left to my own devices) I will divide this post into bite size bits.

Air travel

I traveled on three different types of aircraft today, mainly by means of Air Canada and one on Turkish. If I could give 5 stars to the Air Canada crews I would. they were the most polite, courteous, and helpful staff I have ever experienced while flying. Tthe fact they also announce directions in English and French was also an added point for uniqueness. On my first flight I met a trainer from the UK who had comes to Pittsburgh to train steel company employees on negotiations. he and I chatted about Primanti Brothers, the fact the Ford Focus is very popular in Britain right now, and the economic outlook in Britain. Unfortunately the flight was only 60 minutes or so, so we didn't have time to solev all the worlds problems. I then boarded a flight in Toronto bound for Istanbul and ended up talking to my seat mates Debbie and Mary Beth from Canada. They were on their way to Cypress. Between the 10 hours of conversation, watching weekend at Bernie's, Lone Survivor, and Horton Hears a Who I was served two excellent meals. To start the trip it was neatly portioned Canadian chicken and potatoe dish. Just before landing and after listening to part of a Dan Carlin Hard Core History podcast on WWI we were served breakfast. The omelet was excellent, but the Greek Yogurt had a low protein count (it was only 8 grams of protein, while the stuff I buy usually has well over 14 grams of protein per serving).

After landing in Instanbul, Turkey I made my way to the terminal and was met with one of the largest crowds I had ever seen at an airport. my takeaway is that Turkey is essentially to the Middle East, as Chicago is to the Midwest. I wish I could have taken more pictures, but I resisted the urge to not be an obnoxious American tourist. However, I did take a picture of this African tribe numbering at least 100 people in line for a flight to Medina.

After this I stopped by the duty free stores and bought some Cuban cigars for Archil.

I did have two gripes with the Turkish hub.

One, the help desk was the most unhelpful I have ever experiencied. i asked a lady to confirm my gate had not been switched and she basically passed me down the line of reps. Eventually I was frustated enough with no help, that I went in search of others looking for the same gate and I got the job done. Upon reflection I am reminded of one of he lessons from Father Sawicki's Crisis Management classy we often referred to soldier diplomacy as a means of talking about the way in which soldiers on the front line could make or break, improve or destroy relations between countries and factions. he customer service rep had a borrible approach to soldier diplomacy, and I find most businesses that alienate clients and stall progress usually don't put a priority on the first contact and try to help as much as possible to get to a favorable second contact.

Two, the WiFi deal is a scam In Istanbul. You can't login to any of the national Wifi hot spots, but you can pay $15 dollars for 3 minutes worth of internet time since the connection was horrible. Anyways, I'm on vacation so I made the best of it and helped a couple from Oman headed to Greece connecg to the Wifi.

Tbilisi, Georgia

I arrived right on time and was greeted by my gracious hosts, Archil and his wife Salome, and their new baby girl Maria. Words cannot express how excited I was to see Archil after 3 years plus of planning, waiting, and saving for this trip. Archil took me out and introduced me to some interesting concepts. I think bullet points are appropriate now to keep your attention if you read this far.


• Georgian airport is very small
• The country has modernized and it is rare to see a soviet era car
• There are tons of sovie era buildings.
• Georgian drivers are very aggressive and impatient During rush hour.
• The Chinese are building a huge condo development in town.
• McDonalds menu here is actually considered high quality fare and is said to serve some pretty interesting dishes. Stay tuned for my trip to Mickey Ds
• The view from my flight arriving in Tbilisi reminded me so much of are Reno, Nevad. (an area of the country I really enjoy )
• Georgians may not make much money, but they eat often often
• I am told if you open a restaurant in town and fail you cannot succeed at anything (this was interesting to think about since the model is somewhat inverted in the US)
• Things are really cheap here for the most part
• The police are out and about enforcing the law constantly
• I need to learn more than basic Georgian by Wednesday
• We had a supra with homemade wines, Khatchapuri, and Satsivi. The head toastmaster was Papa Carlo (Archils father) and we toasted many times to love, to our homelands and to the future. I even got to toast after I attained Papa Carlos permission.
• Lastly Archil and I took the metro into the downtown Tbilisi area tonight to drink a couple Georgian beers.



Today was the start of my time here. I want to eat, sleep and live like a Georgian. I think there are some valuable lessons I can learn from them, and maybe I can help theM see the world from. Different perspective. I think it is 6pm EST in Pittsburgh now, so for all my followers ghah meh mshvee doh bee sah (good night). Next up, Gori, the birthplace of Stalin. Tim

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Comments

[Liz]

Yay!
Glad you made it safely! Thanks for the update - I can tell you are starting your trip off right!