Georgia: Fans

Before I came to Georgia last summer, I thought hand fans were a thing of the past. When I thought about them, I pictured 1960s church revivals, women in hats and sleeveless cotton dresses, men in short-sleeved, pale-checked shirts. Square fans made of cardboard stamped with a local business' logo and tagline.

But in Georgia, women use fans every day in the summer. It's damn hot in the summer. And not only is air-conditioning a rarity, there usually aren't electric fans, either. Ceiling fans? Don't think I've ever seen one in Georgia.

Fans are pretty. Prettier than a piece of paper folded in half.

I now have two. One I bought at the underground mall beneath Pushkin Street in Tbilisi. The other one I received as a gift after I made the mistake of complimenting the owner on it and asking if she'd bought it in Rustavi.

[Short break while I fan myself in this stifling heat.]

My fans are useful now and will be useful in Istanbul.