Notes: Georgia

Somewhere on the streets of Tbilisi. As a big fan of the Dishonored series, I just couldn’t walk past this. I’m sure there’s a safe nearby that this code unlocks!

The white things in the background are called chichilaki. It’s a kind of Georgian New Year tree (in practice, it’s finely shaved hazelnut branches). It’s believed to absorb all the accumulated negativity, so after the holidays, it’s supposed to be burned (along with the negativity).

Turns out, that last part is a bit of a challenge. The local police (and especially the fire department) view this good old tradition with suspicion — and understandably so (a chichilaki can be as tall as a person, making it quite the torch). So, we were advised to simply toss the "negativity-charged" chichilaki into the trash to avoid getting fresh troubles. Or donate it to the zoo — apparently, the animals play with them and even use them to clean their teeth.

That last part made me smile. Getting rid of negativity with the help of cats — what a surprise. Big, toothy cats, sure, but still cats!

Meanwhile, OpenAI opened a branch in Tbilisi Actually, they just sell vapes here, and the logo designer was probably inspired by clouds of steam. But every time I walk by, it still catches my eye :)

A knock at the door. I open it, and there are two bright, twenty-something girls standing there. Flashing huge smiles at me, they start talking a mile a minute.

The Georgian language is beautiful, but I haven’t gotten around to learning it yet. I sigh and suggest we switch to English or Russian.

The girls frown a little. Then one of them digs into her bag, pulls out a flyer, points to it, gives me a thumbs up like, “cool stuff!” — and hands it to me.

Then they laugh and run off.

Take that, language barrier!

I was wasting time at the supermarket checkout: it’s evening, there aren’t many customers anymore, but the elderly cashier is clearly tired and isn’t in too much of a hurry. Standing in front a tall, gray-haired man with a luxurious beard whiles away the time studying the rack of chocolates next to the cash register.

Finally, he takes a Snickers, twirls it in his hands thoughtfully. Then he pushes two more towards himself and, broadly, with visible pleasure, smiles into his mustache :)