4 ms·

The woman who swapped home for a hut near Chechnya (BBC)

31 points by solstice 12y ago

davidw 12y ago
Those mountains must be a beautiful, and fascinatingly wild place. I think Georgia is a place I'd happily visit; it looks like an interesting crossroads between east and west, with a lot of pretty country. I wonder how safe it is, though.
- jdudek 12y ago
  It is very safe. People are extremely friendly—for example, I was invited by strangers for a dinner a few times. The police is not corrupt. According to my guidebook, wild dogs and rabies are the biggest concern. Be prepared to see a lot of poverty, though. Especially if you’ve never been to a formerly soviet country. I’m from Poland and I have visited Georgia in 2011.
- zura 12y ago
  As Georgian, I confirm that it is safe here :) except crazy drivers on the road... Maybe we could even organize some mini HN meetup, here in Tbilisi...
ExpiredLink 12y ago
> * was a housewife in Germany - but then her husband told her to pack her bags and leave the country. * n.b. housewife in Germany != German housewife;
je42 12y ago
Am I reading this right ? The children were abandoned by both parents ?
- SyneRyder 12y ago
  Not quite (but close): "Two of her children, aged nine and 12, who initially remained with her husband, are now in foster care. With a different partner, she also had and older child, a daughter who lives with her father."
  - facepalm 12y ago
    So two children were abandoned. Sad story.
    - je42 12y ago
      Very.
jacquesm 12y ago
The husband sounds like quite a piece of shit.
- Fuxy 12y ago
  To be fair they both sound like quite a piece of work. There are very few women who would willingly leave their children behind just because their husband told them to not to mention leave them in foster care just because you now have a life. Part of being a parent is sacrificing everything in order to raise your children regardless how old they are. It's a tough life she choose so in a way that's probably best for the children but still not fair to them.
  - jacquesm 12y ago
    In a patriarchal situation you'd be surprised what men can get away with and how far they'll go in pushing around their women who from being a child onwards have been conditioned to obey them unconditionally. If you're not used to that then I can imagine that it is hard for you to see how this could even exist but it's unfortunately true in a large chunk of the world and apparently it extends to behind closed doors in modern day Germany as well.
    - facepalm 12y ago
      It's absolutely not the norm in modern day Germany. Besides she apparently grew up in East Germany (when it was still occupied by Russia). But even then I can not imagine it was common.
      - jacquesm 12y ago
        Of course it isn't the norm. But the family hails from an area where such things are not exactly rare. (They're not from Germany originally if I interpreted the article correctly.)
        deleted 12y ago
        [deleted]
Pyret 12y ago
She was born in the West, yet she had no free will to flip her husband off and go live elsewhere in her town/Germany? What an odd story.
- facepalm 12y ago
  She was not born in the West, the story mentions that she grew up in East Germany (part of the Soviet Union).
Geekette 12y ago
The story reads so bizarrely: A man who loses interest in his wife orders her to move countries to his ancestral home as opposed to just divorcing her? Then she obeys and leaves her children to forges a new life elsewhere, makes no effort to see them again, even after finding out they're no longer with her husband? The whole premise is so questionable, I wonder if the underlying story is a crime being covered up.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

31 points by solstice 12y ago

Those mountains must be a beautiful, and fascinatingly wild place. I think Georgia is a place I'd happily visit; it looks like an interesting crossroads between east and west, with a lot of pretty country. I wonder how safe it is, though.

jdudek 12y ago
It is very safe. People are extremely friendly—for example, I was invited by strangers for a dinner a few times. The police is not corrupt. According to my guidebook, wild dogs and rabies are the biggest concern. Be prepared to see a lot of poverty, though. Especially if you’ve never been to a formerly soviet country. I’m from Poland and I have visited Georgia in 2011.
zura 12y ago
As Georgian, I confirm that it is safe here :) except crazy drivers on the road... Maybe we could even organize some mini HN meetup, here in Tbilisi...

ExpiredLink 12y ago

> * was a housewife in Germany - but then her husband told her to pack her bags and leave the country. * n.b. housewife in Germany != German housewife;

je42 12y ago

Am I reading this right ? The children were abandoned by both parents ?

SyneRyder 12y ago
Not quite (but close): "Two of her children, aged nine and 12, who initially remained with her husband, are now in foster care. With a different partner, she also had and older child, a daughter who lives with her father."
- facepalm 12y ago
  So two children were abandoned. Sad story.
  - je42 12y ago
    Very.

jacquesm 12y ago

The husband sounds like quite a piece of shit.

Fuxy 12y ago
To be fair they both sound like quite a piece of work. There are very few women who would willingly leave their children behind just because their husband told them to not to mention leave them in foster care just because you now have a life. Part of being a parent is sacrificing everything in order to raise your children regardless how old they are. It's a tough life she choose so in a way that's probably best for the children but still not fair to them.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  In a patriarchal situation you'd be surprised what men can get away with and how far they'll go in pushing around their women who from being a child onwards have been conditioned to obey them unconditionally. If you're not used to that then I can imagine that it is hard for you to see how this could even exist but it's unfortunately true in a large chunk of the world and apparently it extends to behind closed doors in modern day Germany as well.
  - facepalm 12y ago
    It's absolutely not the norm in modern day Germany. Besides she apparently grew up in East Germany (when it was still occupied by Russia). But even then I can not imagine it was common.
    - jacquesm 12y ago
      Of course it isn't the norm. But the family hails from an area where such things are not exactly rare. (They're not from Germany originally if I interpreted the article correctly.)
      - deleted 12y ago
        [deleted]

Pyret 12y ago

She was born in the West, yet she had no free will to flip her husband off and go live elsewhere in her town/Germany? What an odd story.

facepalm 12y ago
She was not born in the West, the story mentions that she grew up in East Germany (part of the Soviet Union).

Geekette 12y ago

The story reads so bizarrely: A man who loses interest in his wife orders her to move countries to his ancestral home as opposed to just divorcing her? Then she obeys and leaves her children to forges a new life elsewhere, makes no effort to see them again, even after finding out they're no longer with her husband? The whole premise is so questionable, I wonder if the underlying story is a crime being covered up.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]