Friendship story

Liza: "Diana and I met each other when we were 5 years old, in a kindergarten in Batumi. I am Ukrainian, Diana is Armenian. I remember noticing that Diana was standing near the door holding a small doll. I thought it was a beautiful toy and went to get to know her. We have been together ever since.

For us it didn’t matter that we had different origins. We studied in the same class for 12 years. We went through everything together: pain, joy, love stories, problems... We studied together, we have the same circle of friends. We have even brought our families close - our mothers still communicate with each other. Now Diana has moved to Tbilisi and it is very difficult for me without her. I think I need to find a job too and move in with her.

Our family traditions or religious beliefs are slightly different. However, this has never been the reason we could not understand each other. For example, during Orthodox Easter, we gather at my place. When Diana’s family celebrates Easter, I go to her place."

Diana: "In general, Batumi is very diverse. We graduated from a Russian school where people of different nationalities studied together. We were friends with everyone at school as we were all used to this diversity. When Lisa and I enrolled in a university, we discovered that our last names were different from others’ and we faced stereotypes. However, soon our coursemates got to know us better and realized that these prejudices did not apply to us, so we made many Georgian friends.

What does culture and religion have to do with friendship? It only matters what kind of a person you are. It is important that people do not adopt stereotypes suggesting that, for example, Armenians are like this, Ukrainians are like this, Georgians are like that... We are all different, unique people. The important thing is to get to know each other and then decide whether we can be good friends or not."