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PHOTO BY KATHY TOMANDL

CULTURAL EXCHANGE. A delegation of nine Georgian journalists visited the Port of Tacoma Nov. 14 as part of a three-week tour of the Puget Sound area.

Georgian delegation visits Port of Tacoma, Puget Sound

By Meghan Erkkinen

A group of nine Georgian journalists visited the Port of Tacoma Nov. 14 as  part of a professional and cultural tour of the Puget Sound.

The journalists, from newspapers and radio stations across the Republic of Georgia, arrived Oct. 29 and left Nov. 19. During their visit, the group met with representatives of local media operations, visited popular destinations and volunteered their time.

The visit to the Port of Tacoma included a 90-minute narrated bus tour, during which the delegates learned about the port’s operations and international trade.

Georgia has two large international ports, in the cities of Batumi and Poti, both on the Black Sea. Still, the delegation was amazed at how big Tacoma’s port is.

“I hope that one day our ports are this big,” said Irakli Machitadze, general director of the radio company Dzveli Kalaki, in Kutaisi, Georgia. Machitadze spoke through translator Lia Shartava.

The tour took the delegation down the Blair-Hylebos Peninsula and along the Blair Waterway. Delegates learned about the equipment, workers and vehicles that make international trade possible. The delegates got to view longshore workers at work unloading a large boat with the use of a variety of equipment, and learned about the port’s major shipping lines and trading partners.

“They were amazed at how big it (the port) is,” said Shartava, summarizing two delegates’ reactions to the visit.

During their three weeks in the Puget Sound area, the delegates got to experience many aspects of the local community. The group visited the Space Needle and other cultural attractions, and also volunteered at a food bank and worked at a fundraiser for a Georgian orphanage. They met with leaders in the media industry, and had meetings with University of Washington students and professors to discuss the Russian-Georgian conflict.

“One very pleasant surprise was that we met Georgians here,” said Machitadze, through the translator. “We also met a lot of Americans that are very interested in Georgia…Georgia needs new friends very much and they’re looking for more friends.”

The delegation also felt fortunate to be in the United States for the presidential election.

“We’re very lucky that we were here for this very important election for the United States, and not only for the U.S. but for Georgia,” Machitadze said. “We were pleasantly surprised at how emotional people got about the election, like they do in Georgia.”

During the trip, the delegates stayed with host families in the Seattle area as a way to be better immersed in the local culture, and for the local community to become familiar with another culture.

“We think it’s especially important in this day and age for people from the United States to have more of a global view and understanding of our neighbors,” said Curtis Cortelyou, a program officer with the Foundation for Russian American Economic Cooperation (FRAEC). “These exchanges not only expand [the delegates’] professional development, but also their cultural development and good international relations…We learn as much from our delegates as they learn from us.”

The delegation’s visit was funded by the United States Agency for International Development, and was the first Georgian delegation hosted by FRAEC. The organization hopes to host more Georgian delegations in the future.

And although this delegation has returned home, the goal of this and other delegations is that the benefits last beyond the visit.

“It’s been great,” said delegate Ia Mamaladze, director of the Georgian Regional Media Association, from Tbilisi, Georgia. “Usually when you go somewhere time goes very slowly, (but this time it did not). This was a great trip.”

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