Day Three in Tbilisi - Work at the Ministry of Defense

Day 3: Tuesday This day would bring our first interaction with the Georgian military. We were both a little nervous as we left the hotel with Vano at 9:30 a.m. and headed across town to the Ministry of Defense compound. We were greeted by several staff members at the Bilateral Affairs Office. The person who would become most important to us was Nina, our translator. When we entered the conference room to set up, about twelve Georgian Army personnel were already seated there. They all stood when I walked into the room. The format called for us to use the briefings we had sent ahead, which had already been translated. We sat at one end of the table, while the Georgian Army personnel were seated around the rest of it. We began with introductions, and they did the same. We would speak a sentence or two, or present a complete idea, and then Nina would translate. She was very skilled. Several of our briefings were not particularly useful, so we moved quickly through them or skipped them entirely. This gave us a unique opportunity to discuss Georgian affairs, especially as they related to the country’s large and much-disliked neighbor, Russia. I received an English-language newspaper each morning at the hotel, and the main story was almost always about Georgian, Russian, and Western relations and the tensions among them. It was a remarkable situation in which to find ourselves. The Georgians were prepared to fight the Russians if they had to. They wanted Russia to leave them alone, but they believed some form of confrontation was inevitable. The Georgians would not give up. Their country and their culture were too important to them. Later in the week, Eka, another translator, gave me an interesting insight. She told me that during the Soviet era, a Communist had never been elected in Georgia. The day progressed well, and we concluded our sessions at about 12:30 p.m. The Georgian Army personnel departed, and Nina took us to the Ministry of Defense dining room for lunch. It was another poignant moment: sitting in the Georgian Ministry of Defense dining room, wearing my uniform, and looking out over the Mtkvari River and the Tbilisi skyline. Wow. Vano picked us up later, and we returned to the hotel. That evening, we decided to practice a little McDonald’s diplomacy and caught a cab to the McDonald’s on Rustaveli Avenue. The McDonald’s in downtown Tbilisi was incredibly clean, vibrant, and welcoming. We were greeted by two smartly dressed young women. At the counter, three employees helped us order. They spoke passable English for the most part, although “double cheeseburger” sounds about the same in almost any language. We went upstairs to eat. The restaurant was crowded with many young people. McDonald’s clearly understood its market. These young people would become the mothers and fathers of tomorrow’s Georgia. The staff members were constantly cleaning tables, sweeping, and mopping. The entire experience was surprisingly positive. We walked back to the hotel along Rustaveli Avenue, enjoying the sights, the sounds, and the simple wonder of where we were. We tried to cross the street a couple of times and quickly discovered that doing so was not for the faint of heart or the slow of stride. I nearly got hit once. Then I noticed stairways along the sidewalks. A moment later, I realized they led to pedestrian tunnels beneath the streets. Duh.