Posts Tagged "Georgia"
Giorgi: Recalling the Deficit Days
TBILISI, GEORGIA: Giorgi, 39, was standing in front of a convenience store that used to be a butcher shop in Soviet times. Giorgi, who grew up down the street and works in the tourism industry, said there was a bread store on the other corner. He recalled how the lines got longer both at the butcher shop and bread shop during the Gorbachev years due to a food deficit. At times, people would take the bread straight from the truck, not waiting for the workers to bring it into the store, Giorgi said. During the Georgian civil war in the early 90s, fighters would sometimes take the bread when it arrived, he said.
Georgian Brother & Sister
TBILISI: Nika, 13, was walking in central Tbilisi with his 3 year-old sister Mari. They were on their way to see the film 'Home' at the theater.
Georgian Village Women
GEORGIAN COUNTRYSIDE: I met these three about an hour outside Tbilisi when I stopped to buy cheese and fresh bread from them. The woman on the right was baking bread inside at roadside building. The woman on the left said she was the director of the local village school, which has 180 students. She started working there 41 years ago as a 17 year-old teacher. The director said the school used to have more than 400 students, but people are leaving the village for the city (as is the case in most countries). I asked if she had any famous students. She said one of the current Georgian ministers attended the school. The woman in the middle said her daughter died of illness several years ago and thus she wears black as a sign of mourning.
Medea: Fresh Bread Saleswoman
TBILISI: Medea, 26, sells fresh bread from a storefront where the bread is baked. A mother of two, she said took the job a few months ago. She had been working as a waitress, but the restaurant closed when the owner died. Medea said has a degree in law, but its hard to find a job in that sector. She hoped to work in the law in the future.
Omari & Tomas: Georgian Shepherds
GEORGIA: Omari, 73, and Tomas, 52, were tending sheep in the Georgian countryside about an hour's drive outside Tbilisi.
