Day Three in Tbilisi - Work at the Ministry of Defense

Day 3 – Tuesday

This day would present our first interface with the Georgian military. We were both a little nervous as we left the hotel with V at 0930 and headed to the Ministry of Defense compound across town. We were greeted by several staff members at the BAO office, the one who was to become the most important was Nina, our translator. We went to the conference room to set up and there were already about 12 Georgian Army personnel in the room. They all stood up when I walked in.

The format had us using the briefings we had sent ahead which had been translated. We sat at one end of the table and the Army folks were scattered around the table. We began, obviously with introductions and they did the same. We would speak a sentence or two, or an idea and then Nina would translate. She is very skilled. Several of our briefings were not particularly useful and we tended to breeze through them or skipped entirely. We had a unique opportunity to discuss Georgian affairs as they relate to their big (and much disliked) neighbor Russia. I received an English newspaper each morning at the hotel and the main story was always Georgian/Russian/English relations and tensions. It was a very unique situation.

The Georgians are ready to fight the Russians if they have to. They want R to leave them alone, but think some confrontation is inevitable. The Georgians will not give up! Their country and culture is too important to them. I gained an insight from Eka (another translator) later in the week that a Communist was never elected in Georgia during the Soviet days!

The day progressed well and we concluded our sessions by about 1230. The Army personnel departed for the day and Nina took us to the MOD lunchroom to eat. It was yet another poignant moment to be sitting in the Georgian MoD lunchroom, in uniform, looking out on the MKvari River and the Tbilisi skyline!!! Wow!!!

V picked us up later and we returned to the hotel. We decided to practice some McDonald’s diplomacy and caught a cab to the McD’s on Rustavelli Street. McD’s in downtown Tabilisi is incredibly clean and vibrant and a very positive experience. We were welcomed by two very smartly dressed and very pretty young ladies. At the counter, three counter personnel helped us. They speak passable English for the most part…of course, double cheeseburger sounds about the same no matter what language. We went upstairs to eat. The restaurant was very crowded with many, many young people. McD’s knows what they are doing with their marketing. These young people will become the moms and dads of tomorrow’s Georgia. The staff are continually cleaning tables, sweeping, mopping…it is a very positive experience.

We walked back to the hotel along Rustavelli, enjoying the sights and sounds and the experience of where we were.

We endeavored to cross the street a couple of times and we quickly realized that it is not for the faint of heart, nor for the slow of stride! I almost got hit once. Then, I realized that there were stairways along the sidewalks and I further realized that the stairways led to tunnels under the streets!! Duh!!