What I learned about Georgia

SEATTLE, Washington -- I returned from Tbilisi late Wednesday night. It'd been nearly two and a half months since I'd seen my wife. Needless to say, it was amazing when I saw her at the airport, waiting at the top of the stairs where arrivals come out. I sprinted up the stairs, and we threw ourselves into each others arms. It's good to be home.

My time in Georgia was incredible. It's an amazing country with wonderful people. Hopefully, one day I'll be able to visit South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and I'm sure I'll be able to say the same about them.

Here are four things I learned about Georgia:

1. The Georgian national anthem is a car horn honking;
2. Restaurants only use bendy straws;
3. Sidewalk = parking lot; and
4. The hardest thing for a visiting foreigner to do in Georgia is pay for a meal.

Georgia is one of the few places where a person can still be a 'Renaissance Man', and nearly anything is possible for a Westerner in Tbilisi.

I have a lot of material to post that I haven't gotten around to, so please stay tuned. I will also do some reporting from here (as much as possible over the phone) and regular news wrap ups concerning Georgia, the Caucasus and Russia.

For the time being I'll be keeping the blog's name - Dateline Tbilisi - and just ignore the geographical discrepancy. Space and time are relative, after all.

Please stay tuned.