Georgia, the Country not the State

This is how I had to caveat all of my conversations about my planned travels. I'm not going to lie, my initial impression of Georgia was sketchy. I did not enjoy my flight on Georgian Airlines. It was an old plane, nobody spoke English, the seats were all ripped up, and somebody kept SMOKING in the bathroom. Of course, I assumed the smoke was some sort of plane malfunction and were were all going down.

After safely arriving, I was not too bothered that my suitcase didn't show up. The folks at the USAID office warned us that lost luggage is common and it usually shows up the next day. Well, the next flight from Paris wasn't scheduled to arrive until after I was leaving Georgia, 4 days later!! So, I had one business outfit and one other casual outfit to work with. You would think shopping would have been an easy answer, but they take their fashion very seriously in Georgia, and I was barely able to find a simple shirt for about $40. Everything else in the city was reasonable, but clothes were ridiculously expensive.

The more time we explored the city, the more it grew on me. There are a lot of churches and ruins to see as well as a cute old town with outdoor cafes and live music.

On our last night in Tbilisi, my co-workers and I were scheduled to fly to Vienna at 4am, so we stayed up all night, did our last minute shopping and stumbled upon a small theater showing a traditional Georgian folk dance performance. It was the highlight of my stay in Georgia. The costumes were elaborate, the dancing intense, and the music was amazing (I actually thought they were blaring a CD until all the musicians came out on stage).

Here are a few pictures that my co-worker snapped.