Georgia
What they said before I went:
To: "'john mehers'" <[email protected]>
Subject: RE: Employment
Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 09:15:23 +0600
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Hi John
Regarding Georgia, be careful if you go there. Peter Shaw, a fellow Welshman of yours, was kidnapped there on 18 June and hasn't been heard of since. He was running a bank there and was due to go home (after 6 years in Tbilisi) 2 days after he was kidnapped. You can some info on him if you go into the BBC web site (news/Wales) and key in 'Peter Shaw' in the search box.
Other than that, the word is that crime is increasing there, so make sure you have secure accommodation.
Let me know how you get on there.
Thanks
Jim
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Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 13:23:58 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Re: Employment
To: "john mehers" <[email protected]>
John,
Eduard SHEVARDNADZE is the President and the former foreign minster of the USSR. He was nearly killed in a car bomb 18 months ago. Very unstable!
I hope to enjoy your e-mails over the next year.
Regards
Peter
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Subject: Life at the Black Sea Oil Terminal, Chapter One
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2002 07:46:32 -0700 (PDT)
Hello,
I am in the Republic of Georgia. I am not being held against my will. I am at a BP oil terminal teaching BP staff. There are a few things you should know.
Cows are a holy animal here, they wander freely; pigs wear collars, wooden triangular ones; goats are not revered but well thought of and also have freedom; alas dogs are at the bottom of the pile and are run down in great numbers.
I live in an H Block, known as The Camp. There is also The Terminal, where I am now. The terminal has four great big oil tanks. Recently the camp was struck by lightning. Safety is paramount.
My teaching hours are about fifteen per week, although I am contracted for twenty-five. The camp is what you'd imagine an open wing in a secure unit for the insane would look like. We have rooms, food, pool, TV and video, table tennis and a bar. We also have staff to look after us, nice high fences and no civilization nearby.
The weather is hot and very humid. We've had about four thunderstorms in the last week. Lightning is a part of life here. It takes something special for the locals to notice it, a big explosion for example.
The satellite TV doesn't work and occasionally the internet link is down. Should the world end, please send a pigeon (I think they're safe).
John
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Black Gold, English Tea, Chapter Two
Hello,
I have realized that I omitted some important information from the last missive.
We are situated on a rather large fault. It?s the one that runs through Turkey and caused a lot of trouble there. The oil tanks have deep foundation (and look really good).
We are well looked after, both inside and out. The guards are not linked to organized crime. They work for S.S.P.S., the State Security Protection Service. This is not connected to the army or police, (hence the lack of mafia links). They are very efficient. They keep our security cards in case of emergency. Once again, safety is paramount.
Last weekend I drove up to Poti, a local town, with Russell, a South African diver. He pointed out to me the bullet marks in the lampposts. Apparently there was some fighting here a few years ago. The bullet holes were on the southerly side indicating northward fire. The rebels were cleared from the town, and now reside just outside in the outer suburbs. This is reassuring.
For your information the war in Georgia is not my fault. Nor is it near me. It is in the north where the Russians coincidentally like to bomb. They are Helping The Situation. We, the residents of Georgia, are grateful. Could you help out here? Do you have any unneeded heavy ordinance cluttering up the lounge?
The second city of Georgia is Kutaisi. According to a road sign, "It is illegal to drive a dirty car through Kutaisi." Please bear this in mind WHEN YOU VISIT.
The internet link is back up and the satellite has stopped playing silly buggers. Outside world, we hear you.
John
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Hallo there,
You know, Georgia is a lot like Britain. It's a small country that wants to be friends with the world. However, there are one or two small differences.
A friend went to a recent Georgia Russia match, I can't remember if it was the football or rugby. At the game he witnessed a security guard asking a fan to show him the bandana the fan was carrying. The fan duly did so. What confused my friend was that the fan had a pistol tucked into his waistband. Why the bandana?
The recent football game in Tbilisi was stopped just before halftime by a power cut. I was watching the game and also lost power. The explanations here for this event was that either the back up generator had no oil (sold beforehand) or a cable had burnt out.
I met an ex-pat who worked for the local electricity company. He isn't quite the Prince of Darkness but not far off. He told me that they had once cut off the stadium for non-payment of bills. They soon received an irate call from the German Embassy. His Excellency wanted to know why they had had their power switched off. The electricity company explained that they hadn't, it was the stadium that had lost electricity. It then transpired that the German Embassy was taking an illegal feed from the stadium. This is not uncommon out here.
I am back in Supsa. I was in Tbilisi for two weeks. I travelled up on a "tunnel run". This is a nice way to travel. It involves Toyota Land Cruisers, no police checks and lots of comfort. Some say that our car park sometimes contains between a quarter and half a million dollars worth of vehicles: ten Land cruisers at forty thousand US dollars a piece.
The return journey was by train. Two hundred or so kilometers took six hours. The seats were new, just not recently new.
In Tbilisi there were good times and bad times. Flooding down stairs flat was not so good. Going to lots of bars was good.
John
PS Thunderstorms: a few quiet ones in the big smoke.
PPS Weather forecast: wet downstairs with guilt at higher levels.
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Hi,
Good to hear all is well there. The Golf sounds nice. I look forward to driving it. Someone in Georgia also has a new car. They stole a new Toyota Landcruiser from a BP employee this week. Apparently it was a nice one.
Life goes on here. The TV works again so we can watch football. The satellite connection was down for a while.
Do you know my telephone number, I can't remember it?
The food is a choice between Western staples and Georgian dishes. It's nice and so far, varied. Breakfast is virtually the same as a UK breakfast. Lunch and dinner are varied.
We have a bar with the local "Argo" brew in bottles. Sometimes we have an open bar, where we don't pay. There is also a barbecue and plenty of firewood so we can have some fun.
John
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Hallo,
Yesterday I drove from the BP oil facility to the local port. I went aboard the tug, chatted with the skipper, and looked curiously at the quay-side where two members of the US CoastGuard were sitting in their Land Cruiser and talking to their translator. Behing them a Turkish cargo ship was unloading lorries watched over by the Georgian Customs who were wearing combat uniform, (no Kalashnikovs in view). This was all perfectly normal.
Tbilisi was good this time. No flooded flats, no locking myself out, only one day without water (it came back in the evening), lots of rugby. The streets are crowded with nice cars, there are many enterprising people here.
The main road from Tbilisi to the west of the country was closed last month. The chief of police in Gori (Stalin's home town) had had his car stolen from outside the police station. He was upset and naturally enough he wanted his car back. He closed the roads and had the police check all vehicles. I don't know if he recovered it.
A bridge on the main train line collapsed. Nobody was hurt; it was an oil train but not BP?s. The new pipes for the big Azerbaijan - Turkey pipeline have been shipped over this bridge. The line is running again, the bridge was repaired in a day. All in all a bit worrying, it doesn?t make sense. I?m going to Tbilisi by car so I won't be at risk from a rail bridge collapsing!
The work on the new pipeline from Azerbaijan to Turkey is well under way. A few of the people involved have passed through Supsa. In Tbilisi the contract oil workers stay in the Sheraton Metekhi, get driven to and from bars in BP Land Cruisers. Ex-pat workers are not allowed to drive themselves. There is an exception to the rule here. We are far away from the Pankisi Gorge and Chechen gangs. We're only five hundred miles from Baghdad but the Iraqis aren't a threat to the cars.
John
� J Mehers 2005