Cleaning the streets

In this article I want to tell you about the streets in Tbilisi and what to expect there, because there are so many different things in TBilisi, that you might find many things very odd and surprising, however, it;s still pleasant somehow to wlk into the streets of Tbilisi and not worry about anything bad to happen. Well, to tell you the truth, it's not like there are no accidents and thievess and things like that, however, mostly you on't bump into anything bad now. That's why it's kid of easy to wwalk into thestreets of Tbilisi and I usually don't worry about that , when I have to wawlk somewhere from somewhere late at night. Though, I don;t mean, that you must walk into the streets alone in the very late at night or something like that. maybe you can walk with someone else or some friends or whatever, and that's better, of course, because then you are not alone and you have someone to hold on to at that moment.

Well, to be honest, it all depends on the time of the day, that you are walking into the streets of tbilisi, because, when it's summer, for example, it's just horrible to walk there during the day, because there is just that sun rays falling on you and you are very hot and you can not really get inside of something, because you just need to walk into the streets and not sit in somewherin some place, you know.

Anyways, walking into the streets of Tbilisi, you would usually meat plenty of people sitting around the corners or even in the middle of the sidewalks and selling some things, which they had made themselves or bought somewhere in a cheaper price and now selling them to earn some money and stuff like that. There were some places, where it was almost impossible to walk through, because there were so many of these people, that even one person couldn't go through that place. I don't know, whether I have already told you about those people selling stuff in the streets of Tbilisi or not, I might have told you or mentioned about it somewhere in my other articles, though I will tell you about them now and the main thing here, why I decided to write about that is, that now you won't find so many peoplle that way in the streets or somewhere else, because there has been a law issued about that and they deided not to be those people in the streets that way.

It's like the government has abandoned its people and those people can not ear their living, that they could earn for their families and themselves. They did that, because they didn't find any other way to earn some money their families not to be hungry, however, there were many things, that they weren;t supposed to do, I mean, it was really bad, that they were so "conquering" the streets, that the people couldn't actually walk through and then someone would bump someone and someone would get hurt or angry or whatever and then they would argue with each other and then they would be in a bad mood for some time or even for the rest of the day. For me, personally, it was both good and bad things those people to sit there and sell some stuff, becacuse sometimes you would just need something so much and then you would walk into that area and those people would have some things and you would just look and remember, that you needeed something and then you would buy that thing and not worry about where to buy it and things like that.

Anyways, one of the most popular and well-known places were nearby Delisi metro station, where there used to be all those people and they had conquered almost the whole sidewalk , where you would want to walk. I must tell you, that that place was not a big problem, because the sidewalk itself there is pretty large and it was not that narrow nont to walk through. However, people were still bothered by that and there were so many of them happpy about this law, which made those people not to sit there in the middle of the sidewalks.

I guess , you are interested in what they were selling there and I can tell you, that it was nothing very special, they mostly sold some flowers and fruits and vegetables and some other products, too, which wouldn't get bitter in the warmth or things like that. I usually bought lemons from them, because they let you decide which of them you wanted and, besides, I didn't really remember, that I needed some lemons and when I walked into the streets, where those people were selling lemons, I would remember that and I would buy them then. And, usually , those lemons cost 50 Tetris each, if they were medium sized and 1 lari for three or four of them, if they were smaller ones. And I usually buy those smaller ones, because when you cut one, you won't have to worry about it get bitter, because those small ones just can be eaten quicklier, than the large ones, you knoow. However, that's just general, because sometimes you can eat the large lemon just in a couple of minutes and you can even have that small one for ages in your fridge or whatever and not eat it at all. Well, the things happen, of course, and not everything is as it should be.

Cleaning the streets

You know, mostly it was this law, which made people angry and they tried to have their places there , where they used to sell those things and they really tried hard to do something about it, though they couldn't really do anything about that and they got "kicked out" of those sidewalks. There were so many police cars and policemen gathered on such places when the very first cleaning happened, because they knew, that they wouldn't surrender like that and that it would be a great battle between them. However, the law was the law and those people couldn't fight the law, because it was already issued and it was just a matter of time and nerves, that this cleaning would need and everybody really knew that, you know. There were so many things outside in the streets in those areas, where those people were selling stuff, that it was kind of impossible to clean everything up just right away, however, they still managed it and even those people cleaned those areas and it was kind of surprising for me, if you want to know the truth. I really didn't know about that law until I saw myself the cleaning process. I mean, once, when I was walking into the street just usually and it was my routine to go into that street until i get to the metro station, and there it was! something strange was happening in that area and, at first , I didn't really understand, what was happening, however, then when I saw those policemen and people cleaning their things up and the policemen telling them to clean up quicklier, then I realised, that they were kicking them out of those places. The process itself was pretty interesting, because as much as some things were kind of funny for some people, it was not funny for those people at all. Well, to tell you the truth, the policemen were kind of scared, I think, because you never know what the angry crowd can do and they didn't want anything to get complicated, of course, however, they knew, that something would still happen, someone would take the lead and protest and everything and it would be just awful, though they still could manage everything, because they had rights to do some necessary things in those cases, of course. And people knew that, too, and while they were protesting, they couldn't really do too much about it, because then they knew, that they could have been arrested or something like that and no one really wants that, of course. and, besides, they couldn't fight against the law itself.

So that, it became clear, that the selling things outside in the streets would not be tolerated and there would be some consequences about that. And then everyone took a step back and got to their places. There was not too much to do, however, the people still didn't really lose their places and they got inside those buildings nearby their places there and that's where they sell some stuff now, or, at least, most of them. And maybe some of those people just went to other places, where they could sit and sell those products just like they used to.

Anyways, I don't kno about that first day of cleaning, however, when I went out the second day of it and and went to that routine way of mine, something strangee was happening and everyone just talked about that. Well, there was nothing on the sidewalks and there were not even those shelves or whatever there and it was all clean and stuff like that and I juts felt free, I guess, because I wouldn't have to walk through those crowded places there. And it's very annoying when you are in a hurry and there are so many people sitting and wlking around and you just can not get through them and you have to walk slowly or go out of the sidewalk and walk there freely, however that place is for crs , of course, and walking there you are walking against the aw and you may even get fined for that, you know. So that people don't usually want to get fined, of course, so that they try to walk on the sidewalks, however, many of them get annoyied by the situation there and walk on the sides of the streets, and some even walk almost in the middle of the streets, if you want to know the truth and they don't care anything, and they think, that they can not be fined or even told anything about not being normal walking like that in the streets. To tell you the truth, I sometimes walk like that, too, I guess, but it's not because I want to do so, but it's because I can not walk on the sidewalks, because tehere are not any, or if there are, there are so many cars parked just on the sidewalks, that it is impossible to walk there and that's why people have to walk on the sides of the streets or somewhere else. and even on the sides of the streets it is not possible to walk normally, because there are cars parked there and, well, usually, there are car parkings on the sides of the streets.

Anyways, when we walked into the streets of Tbilisi the other day, everything was very clean and it looked so tidied up, that we were very surprised. I didn't really think, that it would be possible to do something like that and everything to be like that. When walking into the streets there appeared such a vast space, that if I was not seeing all that, I maybe wouldn't believe someone telling me about that.

So that, it was pretty good, that we could freely walk into the streets, especially nearby Delisi metro station and the areas around Varketili metro station and enjoy the freedom there. of course, there were some people, tring to still sit there and sell some stuff, however, there was the police standing everywhere nearby and one couldn't really do that and sit there and sell something in the middle of the street.
Well, that's how it is now and if you are wondering about those people, who used to sit on the sidewalks selling some stuff, you should know, that they are somewhere inside the buildings or in the yards there doing the same. However, if you really want to see something like that in Tbilisi, you can visit some bazaars in Varketili or Station Square and there are many people around there just like that. And there's this place, where there are so many people selling some of their old stuff, just like flea market and it's one of the most favourite places for tourists in Tbilisi and they call it "Mshrali Khidi", which translates as "the Dry Bridge", because there's no river or something under it and you can visit that place and enjoy every bit of it, because you can find many different useful things there, that you can not even imagine to find. You can get to the Dedaena Park and then go up on the street and there you will notice that place full of people.