Thread by Bektour Iskender π°π¬πΊπ¦
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- May 26, 2023
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Today is the Independence Day of Georgia π¬πͺ, one of three countries that I consider my home, along with my native Kyrgyzstan π°π¬, and with Ukraine πΊπ¦. A thread about Georgia based on my old photographs and dedicated to Georgian independence. Let's go. 𧡠
1. When I say that Georgia is one of my homes, I really mean it. I first came to Georgia back in July 2003, unbelievably a long time ago. Gosh, Eduard Shevardnadze was still a president! Sometimes I am shocked at how old I am. 
2. That journey to Georgia meant a lot to me, and it was a truly life changing experience. I was selected to take part in a videography workshop organized by UNICEF. The idea was to gather a group of young people and teach us to film one minute videos. 
3. Participants were from all countries of Central Asia and Caucasus (except for Turkmenistan), and we had such a great time together. And for me this was the first ever experience of feeling this postcolonial solidarity. (Although I did not use this term back then.) 
4. Before that I'd had almost no interaction with people of my age from other countries of Central Asia and especially the Caucasus. And suddenly it was such an eye opening experience. 
5. On one hand, I learnt so much new, on the other hand, so much of our past experience was similar based on shared colonial history. Meeting all these people shaped so much of my personality, and some of the ideas born in Tbilisi caused a chain reaction⦠
6. β¦A chain reaction that eventually led to me founding @kloopkyrgyz / @kloopnews together with my friend @Rinatius.
7. Also a journey to Georgia was my first ever trip abroad alone, without parents. I had just turned 18 and could travel without any limitations (well, except for visas, of course, but this requires a separate thread). 
8. Apart from amazing workshop participants, Georgia itself inspired me so much. The first thing that I literally saw on the way from the Tbilisi airport to our hotel was an evening protest in front of the parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue.
9. Those were opposition protests, which would eventually lead to the Rose Revolution later that year. I hadn't seen many protests, and I was excited. Also, our driver had to make some insane detours to get us to the hotel, because Rustaveli was, well, blocked by people. :)
10. I fell in love with Georgia long before it became sort of trendy and fancy. In 2003 Georgia was very poor and very corrupt, but yet very inspiring to me. 
11. After 2003 I would return to Georgia many many many times, and sometimes would even live there for months. I traveled throughout many regions of the country, including getting stuck in Lanchkhuti once, because our marshrutka broke. :)
12. But in terms of importance, nothing beats that trip to Georgia that I had in 2003. 
13. These days, Georgia again faces threats to its independence. Russian authorities are trying their best to influence Georgia's politics, and, unfortunately, there's also too much influence from local corrupt shady politicians and oligarchs.
14. At the same time, it's so inspiring to see how Georgian people withstand this, and also how they support Ukraine. That's me at one of the pro-Ukrainian rallies in Tbilisi last year. 
15. I am sure Georgians will overcome all the challenges they face, like they did more than once in their history. I love you very much, my Georgian friends, and I miss you and your country heavily. αααααͺααα ααααα£αααααααααα‘ αα¦αα‘!
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Ilya Lozovsky @ichbinilya
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May 26, 2023
great thread