Stalin Sunday...
It seems wrong to go on writing casually when thinking of what is going on in the Middle East (and, of course, other places in the world). But in the genre of horrific, I will continue my report of what has been going on in this corner of the world (not that something bad happened but I was reminded of one of a very dark period of history...)
On Sunday I decided to find my way to the Stalin Museum in the nearby village of Gori. I was planning to take the train but apparantly no trains were going in that direction after 11am. Thus, a kind Georgian escorted me to the Metro to get to the Didube bus station from where I would catch a Marshutka (van) to Gori. I eventually found it by using the two letters I know in Georgian: R and I.
A little girl came up to all the people on the van begging for money. One of the men on board starting shouting at her. The girl went over to what must have been her brother afterwards. Instead of comforting her, he too starting shouting and slapped her. It was a terrible sight.
In Gori, I asked for the Stalin museum and people were happy to point the way there. I was the only person in the Museum and received a very detailed and good guide of the place by a Georgian woman.
She even let me take pictures, secretly, while watching the hallway for any guards. She offered to take this one of me. The museum showed Stalin from his childhood till his death, with a creepy death-mask as the only object in one of the rooms. There was really no mention of that fact that he was the cause of the death of 10 million people. Only at one picture did the museum lady stop and say, “propaganda.” The picture was of Stalin sitting with a young female cotton farmer from Turkmenistan leaning over his shoulder. She was smiling sweetly as he was signing some document that was to benefit the cotton farmers.
Otherwise, the museum showed Stalin shaking hands with politicians and leaders from all over the world, as well as all the gifts he received from various States, including a pair of clogs inscribed with his image from Holland, and Persian rugs featuring his face. Here is a picture of the train Stalin travelled to the Potsdam conference... the interior was especially interesting, as each person basically had a room with a bed and a desk for the long journey. Apparently, the train itself is bullett-proof but the windows are not.
From the Stalin museum I walked down Stalin street on to Stalin square. As you may sense, Stalin is Gori’s claim to fame... There I ran into a Peace Corps worker from Texas. We had coffee whilst discussing Georgia and the other 78 countries he has visited. At the bus station heading back to Tbilisi I met three more Peace Corps workers, who seemed rather lost (as I myself did probably). We quickly exchanged numbers before finding our respective routes home.
On Sunday I decided to find my way to the Stalin Museum in the nearby village of Gori. I was planning to take the train but apparantly no trains were going in that direction after 11am. Thus, a kind Georgian escorted me to the Metro to get to the Didube bus station from where I would catch a Marshutka (van) to Gori. I eventually found it by using the two letters I know in Georgian: R and I.
A little girl came up to all the people on the van begging for money. One of the men on board starting shouting at her. The girl went over to what must have been her brother afterwards. Instead of comforting her, he too starting shouting and slapped her. It was a terrible sight.
In Gori, I asked for the Stalin museum and people were happy to point the way there. I was the only person in the Museum and received a very detailed and good guide of the place by a Georgian woman.
She even let me take pictures, secretly, while watching the hallway for any guards. She offered to take this one of me. The museum showed Stalin from his childhood till his death, with a creepy death-mask as the only object in one of the rooms. There was really no mention of that fact that he was the cause of the death of 10 million people. Only at one picture did the museum lady stop and say, “propaganda.” The picture was of Stalin sitting with a young female cotton farmer from Turkmenistan leaning over his shoulder. She was smiling sweetly as he was signing some document that was to benefit the cotton farmers.
Otherwise, the museum showed Stalin shaking hands with politicians and leaders from all over the world, as well as all the gifts he received from various States, including a pair of clogs inscribed with his image from Holland, and Persian rugs featuring his face. Here is a picture of the train Stalin travelled to the Potsdam conference... the interior was especially interesting, as each person basically had a room with a bed and a desk for the long journey. Apparently, the train itself is bullett-proof but the windows are not.From the Stalin museum I walked down Stalin street on to Stalin square. As you may sense, Stalin is Gori’s claim to fame... There I ran into a Peace Corps worker from Texas. We had coffee whilst discussing Georgia and the other 78 countries he has visited. At the bus station heading back to Tbilisi I met three more Peace Corps workers, who seemed rather lost (as I myself did probably). We quickly exchanged numbers before finding our respective routes home.
posted by Kristel at 5:03 AM
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