Take a Number: Zugdidi
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We had our last shopping run to Zugdidi for a while, having slipped through just before Orthodox Easter. New rules: max three people in a car, no one next to the driver. Masks and gloves. But this time, contrary to last, the checkpoint police before the big city waved us through: things had gotten more lax, not more strict, which was not a good sign. We hurried on to drop off some potatoes and cheese which friends had requested, and then on to the main stop: Jibe (pronounce that last e: it means pocket in Georgian). The big cash & carry had decided to push its opening hour back to 8 am instead of 9, however, and there was already a crowd outside, masked and gloved, monitored by police. Lali got number 52 while I looked for a place to park the 4x4 in the filling lot.
She pled our case of a 230 km round trip to make, and was given the right to enter early, with me soon behind to help. Thank goodness for the necessary pushiness, or we would have had a many hours’ wait ahead of us just to get in the door! One out, one in, slow going.
We stocked up, filling four shopping carts as usual; had the whole lot checked against our long printed roll of purchases; and began refilling the car. Must keep some space in the back for the heavy goods: sacks of flour, stock feed, sugar. Then away to the bazaar area.
This has been going through an upheaval lately. They’re replacing its underground plumbing, so, digging huge holes; cranes, pipes, chaos. The bazaar itself had been closed for a few days because people were unable to conform to the social distancing rule, but was now open again; essential shops only, though. The way in I had been allowed to use last time was denied to me now, but the police told me that the old way from above was open. Lies: there was no other way to drive in. We parked as close as possible, but too far away for cart guys to push our heavy loads to, and entered anyway to actually pay and have goods assembled.
Eventually, I went back to the only vehicle opening, saw that another private vehicle had been allowed in, and firmly requested the same, again because of our long distance and hundreds of kg of buys already now awaiting us. They relented and I felt the victory of having tried and succeeded at what was really vital. Sometimes you just gotta push.
Lali saw people in the bazaar being fined 3000 GEL a pop for failing at social distancing, which was disheartening but necessary. We HAVE to get this right or we might die. Meanwhile, I gathered up the various goods from their locations, including first the heavy sacks, then cat and puppy food, fresh fruit/veg, and more miscellania. Off to a pharmacy, from where I called Lali to read her list to the cashier, then back into the chaos. She had just enough room to be cocooned into her seat, surrounded by produce. There were sacks of the lighter variety roped to the roof: no wasted space, as always!
A quick fill-up with petrol, near the base of Svaneti, then off for the 2.5 hours’ drive home before dark. Again, the checkpoint police waved us through instead of taking our temperatures, which made me feel that they were really letting things slide when it was much too important to do so.
Home, unpack the car, collapse in a heap that evening. Such is an all-day shop-stock run in The Age of The Virus. A fellow will walk 10 km one way to come and shop today. Now, nervously waiting for fallout from Orthodox churches refusing to close for Easter and facing an extended ban of light vehicles until April 27, we are Staying At Home.
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 nearly 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.svaneti
By Tony Hanmer