Tbileasy

On September of last year I joined CRISP, a NGO based in Berlin, to do an EVS. CRISP has been working in the fields of civic education and conflict management. The name of the organization stands for Conflict Simulation for Peace, revealing the team's expertise in simulation game methodology as a tool to solve different kind of conflicts.
When I started, I immediately realized that I was being given a chance to broaden my horizons of political, historical and geographical understanding, expanding the scope to a bigger part of the world I inhabit.
One of the regions where CRISP is most active is the South Caucasus. My interest and curiosity about it, especially Georgia, grew with the arrival of Teo, from Tbilisi, who joined us also for an EVS.
We got along from the start, as something stronger than us was keeping us connected. Every time that ‘Georgia’ was mentioned in our conversations, she said to me “You have to go there. You will love it.” And I started to believe and feel that I would love it.
The possibility to materialize this common wish came with the proposal of joining her in the Euroforum project that would take place in the capital. Teo was going as a mentor and I would go as a participant and her assistant in the set up of a simulation game.

This story reports the episode of my travel to Tbilisi, which has a lot to do with boarders - the real ones and those that exist out of ignorance, being it active or passive.
Starting with my own fragile or conditioned knowledge about geographical and political boarders. I explain: I though there is no need for a passport when a visa is not required and therefore that my EU ID card would be enough to go from Berlin to Tbilisi, through Minsk.
I looked at my passport the night before traveling, but I put it aside. In case of doubt, I usually ask, but I had no doubts just because I didn’t give much thought about it. That’s why I believe this (also) happened for a reason.
On my way to the airport I felt too quite, something had to be wrong. But it was only at the check-in cue that I thought and said, when noticing that every one was holding a passport: “Of course, passport!”
When I arrived at the counter, a man showed up ready to accompany me to the airline desk to check if I could buy a ticket for the next day.
I tried to call a friend I had dinner with the previous night to ask if he could get my passport. This wouldn’t be possible but he also didn’t answer the call. It was just my first attempt to solve the conflict. In Portuguese we say ‘desenrascar’.
At the desk, a younger man booked a flight for the next day. Uf!, I would miss my free day in Tbilisi, but I would be there on time for the seminar.
On my way back home, I was feeling stupid, conscious to let my colleagues down due to my ignorance, somehow relieved and worried at the same time.
I thought about going for a coffee, but something made me go straight home and face the upcoming marathon that was about to start: my passport had expired.
I felt agony and anxiety but at the same time a great desire to fend for myself began to reveal:

• I called the Portuguese Embassy in Berlin. Twice.

I got no help at all. They were in a hurry to leave and even questioned the fact that an EU citizen can travel to Georgia without a visa.

• I searched for the Georgian Embassy contacts. I found two.

I called both but I got no reply.

• I called the office to tell my colleagues about the situation.

I apologized and explained that I was trying to communicate with the Embassy of Georgia in Berlin, but without success. The colleague who replied encouraged me to go there because it was still opening hours.

• I went to the Georgian Embassy, in Rauchstraße.

On my way I was feeling discouraged but something was just pushing me forward. Getting there wasn’t so easy and I was running against the clock. In addition, the taxi driver, a man from Iran, was telling me there was no way to solve my situation. ‘But I have to try’, I said.

• I stood at the Embassy’s door. No one was opening it for me.

I decided to push it, as I was about to give up, and finally it was open. I rang the bell inside and I was recommended to go to the next door.

• I entered the Consulate:

There was a man hanging a picture on the wall that looked at me suspiciously. After telling him my story he asked ‘And you come here?’, with a look that made me cringe like a child and say, in a call for mercy, ‘I’m trying…!’
Another man came, I explained again and he welcomed me into his office where he started to search for something online. He said that if I wanted to fly to Tbilisi with my EU ID card only, that should be possible. He found a document stating that and he printed it for me. A third man came and gave me chocolate.

So…why wasn’t I able to fly before? Was it due to the airline’s rules? Was the stop at Minsk the problem?

• I went back home and resumed the fight:

I called few Belarusian Embassies…in the North and South America. I wanted to know if a passport was required for my stop at Minsk. Everyone was very suspicious, failed to respond and didn’t understand why someone from Portugal, living in Germany, who wanted to travel to Georgia, was calling to an Embassy of Belarus across the ocean to ask such a question.‘Because it's after 6 pm here’, I said.
‘It’s impossible to travel without passport to wherever it is’, one of them responded rudely.

• I made a plan for the next day.

I would call the airline to exchange information and then I would go anyway to the airport.

• I added one more step to the plan.

I googled for something around “my passport expired and my flight is tomorrow” and found an article about someone who had a passport done at the police in the airport, just a couple of hours before getting in the plane. It made me consider a visit to the police in Schönefeld, in case anything else would work.

• I sent a text to my mother saying that I had arrived safe to Tbilisi.

(I know it's cheating, but I didn’t want her to worry. At the same time, I wanted to call her and cry a little bit)
In the morning, after a relaxing breakfast, I called the airline. The young man recognized my voice or my story. He would make some calls to find out if I was allowed to fly. I told him I would meet him at the desk in one hour or so. On my way he called me back to make a question about my citizenship. I answered and let him know I was almost there.
I can still see his face when I showed up to inform me that, unfortunately, I couldn’t fly. ‘I’m sorry’, he added. ‘It’s ok, thanks for your support, really’, I said.
I slowly walked downstairs, crossed the kiosk, thinking that the battle was over and I would just wait for Teo, who would fly that day, and then go home. I was thankful for the help I had so far and conscious that what I was experiencing was nothing more than one mishap in life.
Suddenly, I remembered the last step of the plan. I went upstairs and visited the police office. Right, I had to explain everything again. And I got to know that the airline man had already been there to get support for me! I felt very grateful, but this meant there was no solution in sight…Or?
The policemen were interested about the new information I had in hands and wanted to look for themselves – they confirmed that EU citizens can enter Georgian territory with a valid EU ID card.
Soon, both the police and the older man from the airline were discussing about what could be done in order to make me fly. I was told to sit and wait while they would call to Belarus and ask if I had permission to stop at Minsk and then move to Tbilisi.
The wait was, of course, intense. I wrote some haiku style poems on my phone until the airline man came with a sheet for me to sign: ‘It’s to make you responsible for coming back, in case they don’t allow you to stay in Minsk or enter Georgia.’ I signed. ‘Wait here. I’ll come back’, he said.
A sweet unfolding of events followed. The man came and told me he was going downstairs for the check-in. ‘Meet me there.’
I met Teo at the cue, who was looking at me in wonder, and the airline crew, who was aware of my case and received me with joy. I thanked the man, hugged him and promise to come back with a bottle of Kindzmarauli, his favorite Georgian wine, in case I would make it there.
It wasn’t a problem in Minsk, but it was helpful to have my expired passport in hand and a partner that speaks Russian. While we were at the waiting room, I told Teo that this was meant to be, we had to fly together. Finally, I got to read some Wikipedia lines about Georgia and learn some words. ‘Madloba!’, I couldn’t miss this one.
At the airport in Tbilisi, the policeman asked the police-woman in the passport control booth beside if I was allowed to pass. She said I was. Next, I was inside a taxi. I was inside a taxi in Tbilisi.
I arrived in the middle of the night to the hotel. An Euroforum participant from Armenia was waiting for me and led me to the room where I would stay, together with the other two participants from his country.
During one week I got to know amazing people from different countries and their experiences with…boarders. From Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Belarus and also Catalonia, they shared facts about their daily fight and points of view, either political or in relation to their activism agendas. I found very special their capability to be amazed and engage with my soft-core story.

Before leaving Georgia, I packed few bottles of local wine and some chocolate to offer to the ones that had opened the rusty doors for me. I came back alone to Berlin and the trip was also reflective – I concluded that I can’t even judge myself for not knowing certain things because the estate of our knowledge and experience is open and constantly changing, while dependant on our needs.
Some things are difficult and some are hindered by those who should be better informed to better fulfill their duty. Other things are facilitated by those who feel they can do something, even when there seems to be no way out.
My trip happened thanks to a collective effort that was worth more than the ignorance, rudeness, prejudice and repression of some who, by working in embassies and alike, ultimately strengthen such obscurity.
I certainly learned by doing, as my colleagues from CRISP state when referring the importance of their simulation games. I could get back to work and face them without shame - after all, I also brought something to teach them.

Diana Combo (Portugal)

Notes:

About the Euroforum meeting in Tbilisi:
http://www.crisp-berlin.org/index.php?id=14&no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[backPid]=3&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=114

Possible translations of ‘desenrascar’:
http://www.linguee.com/portuguese-english/translation/desenrascar.html

http://www.infopedia.pt/portugues-ingles/desenrascar;jsessionid=YFpD3sd0Mom6LtjmXcNU9Q__

‘Madloba’ is Georgian for ‘thanks’.

Thanks to: CRISP, Belavia, the Consulate of Georgia in Berlin, the police in Schönefeld, etc, etc.