Snapshot from Georgian village

[peacetraveler22]

This is one of my favorite photos from the road trip in Georgia, taken in motion from a car window while passing. However, it's very symbolic of life throughout the country. Outside of Tbilisi, Batumi and a few other larger cities, Georgia is one big rural village, immediately transporting you to a different time and place. For all its beauty, the country is very poor, employment opportunities are limited, and people are tied to a simple existence without a lot of luxuries to which most of us are accustomed. This is part of the country's beauty and fascination, at least for me - an American coming from a middle class, stable environment. A woman who has had plenty of opportunities to achieve almost anything she wanted in life. Nothing has been handed to me, for everything I worked quite hard -  getting various degrees and a high education, fighting for positions at work, numerous other things...

I tried to find some statistics about average wages, but they are inconsistent. Figures released in 2015 show that women in Georgia earned an average salary of 697.3 GEL ($270), while a male earns 1,126.8 ($440). So, we can see that men earn substantially more there, regardless of business sector. The average pension is about $75. There is free health care, but nothing is really "free", and more favorable care can be arranged by getting private insurance costing from $10 - $50/month. With such poor wages, this seems almost impossible for most citizens. Georgians pay a flat tax on salaries and fees - 20%. If annual income exceeds 40,000 GEL ($15,600), the State will require additional taxes which are determined by the value of real estate owned by the family. At least, this is according to current information available here. Due to the fertile nature of Georgian soil, food is quite cheap - fresh fruits, vegetables and grains are all produced locally. With meat is another issue - sometimes expensive, and not the best quality, unless you like fatty dishes.

I can't really say how living in Georgia is different than life in Russia. In some ways, the systems are the same and village life in each nation mirrors the other based on my experience of traveling in remote parts of both nations. Cultures certainly differ in their openness, friendliness and tolerance for diversity. Georgians by nature are quite animated, friendly and talkative; Russians more cold in appearance, and less animated as a whole. But people are just people....:)

What do you think? Could you live in such a village? This is something I continually ask myself... and the answer remains inconclusive.

Comments

[maadmike.livejournal.com]

Very bright and picturesque snapshot!
Georgia is such beautiful country although I was only in the pro Russian Ossetia.

Could I live such a simple life?

I think I do right now... ;)
Why do you think that life in a village is a simple one? I think, it depends on who is living it. It is possible to have now in a village most of what the big cities could give and be very busy, entertained, more independent than a city resident but it requires a lot of specific knowledge which comes from father to son.
I mean such activities as winery, honey production, growing or collecting of medical flowers.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

In Georgia, the villages have very scarce resources. I did not see any cinemas, or even decent markets where locals could shop. So, it just depends on the country really. I'll have short post about a village near Kazbegi later in the week. I absolutely do not think their life is simple - it's the wrong expression, so I removed it from the post. They are engaged in hard, physical labor, often living in harsh winter climates with lots of snow, etc. These mechanical and agricultural type skills are mostly gone in young boys now, in most countries, including the USA. There is great joy and pride in building something with your own hands, growing things, producing your own fruit, vegetables, milk, eggs on farms...but it is definitely not easy and requires a lot of time and resources.

[maadmike.livejournal.com]

"There is great joy and pride in building something with your own hands, growing things, producing your own fruit, vegetables, milk, eggs on farms...but it is definitely not easy and requires a lot of time and resources."

Absolutely! Instead of working as mad in a gym which is so popular now, I think is much better to build, plant, grow something on your site in free time - work on a fresh open air, seeing as something you are doing is transforming from nowhere to your world - it is wonderful!
I know one couple they are little younger than I am, so they had already built a house, have some cows, chickens, ducks, two children and are making ecological business through the Internet for the main income - sounds great for me.

The knowledge and experience, I think, is more important than resources cause we have a lot. But yeah, youngsters are farther and farther away from the common knowledge what not making them more independent of a situation around, not happier.