The year 2024 sees me celebrate a quarter century since I first visited Georgia! Yes, in July it will be the 25th anniversary of that trip; and on December 1, the same anniversary of my moving here. In light of this, here I present some first or greatest things ever in my life which happened to me in this country.
Discovery of a set of infinite tiles of the regular rep-tiles, from 2000 onwards. In two dimensions, this means tiles of the equilateral triangle and square; in three dimensions, of the cube. My favorite mathematical discovery, though I am strictly an amateur mathematician, which only adds to the delight. Details here, and slightly more rigorously here.
First writing of a blog, followed when it got full by this (both of which I used when I applied to become a regular writer for Georgia Today). Entry into Facebook, as soon as I could; and Instagram, which was late last year.
First purchases of: A cellphone (in about 2000), a computer (also about 2000, a desktop initially), and property (an apartment in Tbilisi, much later). Leaving Canada in 1989 at age 22, I swore I’d never become a slave to the usual mortgage system. I still haven’t.
First time tasting churchkhela, the Georgian national sweet. This is unusual, because I saw it at the market for seven years in St Petersburg, decided that it was a “scary looking sausage,” and never enquired further. My loss, rectified eight years later.
First acquisition of permanent resident status in a country of which I’m not a citizen. I already have British and Canadian passports, and could not bear to part with either of these to get a Georgian one. But being married to Lali gives me the lesser status anyway.
First time owning a cat: The short-lived Kvisha (“Sand”, based on his color), a kitten which neighbors in Svaneti gave to me and Lali as a mouser. He met a sad end before adulthood when I was scything—no blood, but hiding in the long grass, his back was broken and he became a paraplegic. I tearfully applied to another neighbor for the farmer’s solution at the end of a small-caliber rifle, and vowed not to get another similar pet. One such trauma is enough for me.
The switch from 35mm film cameras to digital, in summer 2008. I’ve never looked back. The first film shots I ever took were in 1978, when I was 11, using the family’s Kodak Instamatic 126 camera. I was instantly hooked. Then I used my father’s 35mm Minolta system for a few years until he bought me a Yashica with a 50mm Contax lens for my 16th birthday. With digital, it’s been Canon EOS bodies all the way, from 8 megapixels to my current 24. But I grew up on film and manual focus and exposure.
Switch from PCs and Windows to a MacBook and Apple’s IOS, just over a year ago. Another never-looking-back. Same with moving from Android phones to an iPhone: I may never get a new one, but I much prefer it to those phones, which “are not the ’droids you’re looking for”.
Next up, some firsts from places other than Georgia…
Blog by Tony Hanmer
Tony Hanmer has lived in Georgia since 1999, in Svaneti since 2007, and been a weekly writer and photographer for GT since early 2011. He runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now with over 2000 members, at www.facebook.com/groups/SvanetiRenaissance/
He and his wife also run their own guest house in Etseri: www.facebook.com/hanmer.house.svaneti2
