Remember to explore.

I have noticed some changes in the city over the year.  Good changes I think. The city seems to be progressing, catching up with other developed countries.  Buildings continue to go up, new malls with international brands open, people wearing shorts and jandals in the street, modern aqua parks opening, Georgian English newspapers and a TV channel,  modern ambulances, more tourists, and international food. 

Some very good friends of ours  have taken up a position with the Georgain Rugby Union and will be arriving very soon.  It has made me look differently at the city of late, reminded me not just to look at the new and shiny.  It has reminded me to look at the city as I did when I first arrived.  The sights,  the sounds, the tastes and the smells of the city.  I realised that over our time here I have become used to the differences and go about my daily business without taking much notice of these.
Im sure we all do this in our own cities, all around the world.  We drive or take transport on the same routes to work, school, shopping everyday.  We pass people, statues, fountains, parks, beautiful buildings all in a blur,  we take no notice.  We forget to explore new nooks and grannies of streets we haven't  been before, we stop making the effort to drive out of the city, we eat at the same restaurants.

What has happened to the excitement of exploring?

I have grown to love the old of this city.  The traditional foods, the importance of the people's culture to them, the fruit stalls and the hole in the wall bread shops.  I hope these things don't get lost in the new and shiny of progression.  I hope that many more visitors will continue to visit and get to experience the city as we have.
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