The CEC

Anxiety over how exactly to draft a gender policy with the Central Election Commission of Georgia  has been forefront in my mind as I prepared for this trip. "With" was where it all collapsed. How does one write with others full stop let alone with government officials?

Day two with the election commission and we have done pretty well actually. A diehard NGO-er at heart, I planned the first day for a mix of training, consultations with civil society and listening (on the part of me) to the CEC's priorities.

I was given a tip just before I left that I should present them with a draft and have them wordsmith and translate to Georgian rather than show up with a blank slate. This turned out to be a key tip.

At the end of day one I went back to the hotel and took the boilerplate gender policy I had (of course I had it, I'm a gender and elections specialist) and tweaked it to points made in my listening sessions and added in Georgia-unique points.

Voila! Or at least as we tucked into drafting this morning I was met with very little resistance. We made it through the introduction, weaving in Georgian history lessons (for me) and gender equality missives (for them).

We went through the guiding principles section, getting stuck on "affirmative action strategies" as controversial and likely to meet resistance from the broader group. I agreed and changed it, but refusing to equivocate on "discrimination." It is god damn discrimination!

I didn't say it like that.

So, it turns out drafting with is not so difficult if you have a game plan. Such is life.

Post script: Because everyone was feeling good about our progress I was let go early. With this time I went to a local craft market, bought some jewelry AND a painting, but resisted the kitsch (although those interlocking kissing coffee mugs were tempting). I ventured out for dinner and wound up in a heavenly, absolutely heavenly restaurant, Sabatono, where the wine on tap was divine, the trout with walnut sauce was lovely and the sauteéd mushrooms were delicious. I love a foodie town.

Georgia on my mind

In the pouring rain, I headed out onto the not-mean-at-all streets of Tbilisi, Georgia. As anywhere when it's raining, it's hard not to judge the town by its temporarily slick streets and dreary pall. But I'm trying.

I found the restaurant recommended by the receptionist at the Tbilisi Marriott and although it was cafeteria style, the menu had all of the items Hayden and others have made me promise to eat.

I'm trying to get a handle on the place, something travelers do moments after landing anywhere. I have not been to this part of the world. It reminds me of Austria and Turkey mixed together. I suppose that's due to the geography. If I had ever been to Russia it would probably be more like that. But I have never been to Russia.

Smoking is a big thing here. I have been warned to schedule lots of smoke breaks in my meetings this week. People light up in restaurants. Waitresses change ashtrays. I remember when that was a thing. So glad we are post-smoking in the US.

As I navigated puddles, I was trying to figure out if the Georgian style architecture that prides people here is related to the Georgian style doors of Ireland. I have just embarrassed myself writing this. The answer is no. I should have known it when I was looking around and thought, "I don't see a relationship between styles." But it took writing this to remember that "Georgian" in Ireland is after King George. Sigh.

I ate a delicious eggplant and walnut paste dish (not mentioned by Hayden) that made me so happy. Eggplant is a dish that is so wonderful when cooked right and so terrible when cooked wrong. I have not been able to cook eggplant.

I drank a dark house special beer that has the weirdest taste. It looks like Guinness without the head, but has a sweet taste; not too sweet but surprisingly fruity. I can't think of an equivalent.

I spied another person on Metekhi bridge, taking photos in the rain. I felt a little silly, especially as I awkwardly set down the ginormous Marriott umbrella to indiscreetly photograph with my iPhone. But hey, the rest of my time here will be in a likely windowless room with election commissioners.

So when in rainy Tbilisi...