In the center of Freedom Square (Tavisuplebis Moedani, in transliterated Georgian) stands a granite pillar, 115 feet high, at its foot the wide basin of a three-tiered fountain and at its pinnacle a brilliant, gilded bronze statue of St George the Dragon Slayer (18 feet high).\u00a0 Two weeks ago, for a state visit from Nicolas Sarkozy, the fountain was stilled and emptied and a raked wooden platform built to enclose the basin and turn it into a staging area for official ceremonies and festivities.\u00a0 The platform and the pillar were draped in white, red, and blue.\u00a0 On the east side of the square the flags of Georgia, France, and the European Union were arrayed side by side across the fa\u00e7ade of a new seven-story public building under construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I did not see the platform being\nconstructed, having arrived Tbilisi after the French president\u2019s departure, so\nI don\u2019t know how many hours of labor the construction required or how it was\naccomplished. But this week I\nwatched five men dismantle the thing by hand over the course of two full days,\nand I marveled at the process. I\nwondered at the absence of heavy machinery in the deconstruction of such a\nmassive structure, considering that on the western side of the square two tall cranes\nare deployed at the Marriott Hotel, lifting window-washers to their work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe I misunderstand the requirements of\ndemolition; maybe superhuman strength and power are not as important as human judgement,\neye-hand coordination, and methodical teamwork. Maybe when moving long, heavy timbers and sandbag\ncounterweights, five men working together are more effective and pose less\ndanger to the underlying fountain than a single big rig, no matter how\nsensitive the operator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or maybe, in this country where unemployment\nis measurably higher among men than women, five men with a two-day job are a happier\nequation than one man-plus-machine with a one-day job. Whatever the reason, I was fascinated by\nthe steady progress of the work and felt a mixture of satisfaction and\ndisappointment when the last timber was loaded onto a truck for removal. Watching the men laboring together,\nsteadily and calmly as if they undertook monumental feats every day, seemed to\ngive me a small glimpse into the Georgian way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The weather has taken a turn toward\nNovember; skies are low and grey and the wind has a sharp edge of damp. I am anxious to move out of the hotel,\nto find a place for us to be at home here. I hope for a small house with a fireplace and a bit of\noutdoor living space\u2014a garden or a terrace\u2014not too far from Jim\u2019s office and\nthe shopping district in Vake, the most prestigious quarter of Tbilisi, home to\nmany ex-pats and well-to-do Georgians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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