Food Shopping in Georgia

At 5:30 I decide to head back home from work, since everybody else is long gone. I take a walk down Rustaveli Boulevard, passing the Parliament, Opera House, Tbilisi Marriott and finally stopping by Prospero’s Book Shop to pick up an English-Georgian dictionary and conversation guide. I find out that ‘sami’ means three, ‘luti’ means beer and ‘ara’ means no. So, after only two days in Tbilisi, I can already say ‘sami luti’! Not sure how ‘ara’ fits into that sentence though.

After studying the conversation guide for a further half hour, I decide to apply my newly found knowledge to buying essential groceries at the local mini market (Anthony doesn’t seem to be the eating type – the only food in the house are old dry biscuits). The lady recognizes me from the day before and offers me Borjomi sparkling water. I proceed to order bread (by pointing at the bread and showing one finger to indicate the desired quantity), cheese (by pointing at the piece of cheese in the fridge) and salami (same technique). It gets a bit more tricky when I decide I want butter (nowhere to be seen). I point at the bread and then make a gesture as if spreading something on it. I get offered a different bread. I then accompany my gestures by saying ‘bootter.’ It finally works! ‘Luti’ of course works like a charm. I even remember the brand that Alex (the English guy) mentioned earlier today. I somehow remember ‘matsoni’ means yoghurt and so I go home happy with my shopping bags full of goodies.