Saturday, August 6, 2011 – “Gentlemen. Start your engines!” (Or, there are no solid YELLOW lines in Georgia)
We’re off! Heading north up the coastline of the Black Sea, the first leg in our car journey back east to Tbilisi. The adventure begins! Soon, we'll take a "right" and head east, through these gorgeous Georgia gorges (say that three times fast!). As you can see, Gia's daughter, Salome (Sah-lo-MAH) did not want her daddy to leave.
He'll be back in a few days.
Just under two years ago, I visited India. We landed in Hyderabad, and were driven to Khammam. It was one of the more harrowing experiences of my life. I was introduced to a new version of aggressive driving, edition #1 driving to Khammam followed by edition #2 driving from Khammam. It was an experience that surpassed the in-city, 60+ MPH cab ride in Istanbul where the driver insisted I not wear a seat-belt. “No! No!” he protested, “I good driver.”
My two day drive from Tbilisi to Batumi, and back again, has added yet another chapter in my learning not to be a back-seat driver, no matter how much one might want to become one. Through the winding roadways of middle Georgia’s mountains, I have concluded that there is “so such thing as a solid YELLOW line” on the non-divided two-lane highways of this country. Any limitation on passing other vehicles is only regulated by how aggressive the driver decides to be, or not to be. Understand: along this highway, cars are already bumper to bumper both ways. Yet climbing, descending, blind curves or no…Gia (and I conclude he’s typical) decides that if he can get this Honda’s nose just ahead of the car in front, he then has established the right to duck right in the nick of time when suddenly an oncoming car or truck appears. Add to this mix the aimlessly wandering cattle, or occasional (Iowa-sized) swine lumbering across the way.
They keep asking me if my stomach is OK. Well, it’s not the food…J. The beauty outside the window is breathtaking, too!
I thought I’d gotten used to it until just about 15 minutes ago. Suddenly the traffic was stopped. And nothing was coming. So Gia decided to pass, and came up upon several Police Cars that were working a horrific accident involving two smaller vehicles. Clearly, anyone in the first vehicle did not survive. Perhaps someone in the second vehicle. Gia’s passing did get us to the “front of the line” of those being waved through.
Undaunted, we press on. I write this while we are on the road…I’m assuming we’ll arrive safely to send this off. God knows…and in that I take some measure of solace.
Georgia needs a divided four or six lane across this beautiful country. It’s begun, coming west from Tbilisi, and has reached Gori, the town we visited just a few days ago.
Gia safely navigated us through the mountains, returning his sister-in-law and nephew to their eager husband/dad in Gori. After short “goodbyes,” we proceeded on the divided 4 lane to Tbilisi. Gia navigated his Honda around the east side of the city, along a ridge which surrounds a huge reservoir which doubles as a recreation area for local residents. This route, which we’ve taken several times, misses the madness and traffic of the downtown, and brings us more quickly to the sprawling complex of Soviet-style apartment buildings on the southeast side of the city. Within minutes, we were back at home base, the apartment which doubles for a house church on Sundays and Wednesdays.
It appears I will be preaching tomorrow, with Gia my translator. Though a good number will be away on vacations (August is the month!), we’ll trust God to bring those he desires up the two flights of stairs to our small worship center.
I’d best review the sermon (yeah, I packed a couple just in case), and get to bed. God’s blessing and best to all. Worship well tomorrow!
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