SAP Social Sabbatical in Georgia 2019 has started onsite
The 2019 SAP Social Sabbatical in Georgia has started onsite (after 7 weeks of remote preparation): 12 SAP colleagues from across the world (Germany, Brazil, US, Canada, China, India, Mexico, and Czech Republic) arrived Saturday morning in Tbilisi, Georgia:
Our goal is to work with 4 local non-profit organizations on specific, well-defined projects (details to follow in the next blogs) over the course of the next 4 weeks. After a short night’s sleep (many of us arrived between 2 am and 4 am at the airport) it took a little bit of coffee and being outside to help us get over the jet lag: So, Saturday morning was dedicated to exchanging money and buying some water at a local supermarket, then on to exploring the city or having another nap. There were a many interesting things to see, for example a Tiger cat and sleeping dogs:
as well as cat art:
A musician in the wall and a piece of the Berlin wall, which was given to the Georgian government by Germany as sign that a separation (currently Russia occupies the Georgian regions Abkhazia and South-Ossetia) can be overcome:
The Georgian National Museum shows amazing pieces of Georgian craftsmanship from ~3rd century CE:
Overall the city is lively with lots of energy, activity (an SAP colleague and recent Tbilisi visitor told me that Tbilisi‘s spirit reminded him of Berlin some time after the wall fell) and super-friendly people, who also help you decipher Georgian inscriptions in case you cannot decipher them in spite of having spent many hours trying to learn a few words on YouTube. The city shows many influences from e.g. Christian Orthodox traditions (~90% of the population are Christian Orthodox), the 70-year Russian occupation (1921–91), the location of Tbilisi as a stop on the old silk road, and the battles with Southern neighbors.
During an excellent 3-h walking tour on Saturday evening we explored the Old City in the evening, and got a great view on Tbilisi when visiting the Narikala fortress:
and enjoyed cool architecture:
We also participated in a wine-tasting exercise and learned that Georgia has a 8000-year wine making tradition (one of the oldest in the world) and that wine plays a really big role in their culture (it was casually mentioned that one needs to buy about 3 liters (!) of wine per person for a wedding celebration). Finally, it impressed me to learn that in the Tbilisi mosque Shiites and Sunnites celebrate religious services together.
Tomorrow we will meet in person with our clients: Crystal Fund, From Farmer, Business and Technology University, and Georgian Technical Training Center (at the Georgian Technical University) for the first time, and we are looking forward to that.
