Roman Catholic Easter and Missionaries of Charity in Tbilisi

There are approximately 80,000 Catholics in Georgia - around 2% of the total population. They are mostly found either in Tbilisi or in the southern region of the country, where exclusively Catholic villages exist.  I wrote about our Catholic Church in Tbilisi and our Easter last spring, so please check it out if interested. 

The Catholics in Tbilisi are mostly Georgians and Armenians, as well as a small Assyrian community of the Chaldean Rite. Our Church of St. Peter and Paul provides Mass in English, catering for the growing Catholic expatriate population of Americans, Europeans, Indians and Maltese. There are only about 1000 practicing Catholics in Tbilisi. Many other Catholic churches were confiscated by the Georgian Orthodox Church after the fall of communism when the state gave all church property back to the Georgian Orthodox church. But there are two Catholic Churches in Tbilisi now. 

I attended the Palm Sunday Mass
in Georgian this year. Lovely choir
in the choir loft, with the BIG organ

This Palm Sunday procession around
the church, with hymns sung and
a portable amplifier 

I have often been joined at Mass with some lovely Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity, and have been invited to visit them. Since it is again Easter week, I thought I would write a little about the "the sisters of Mother Teresa,"  of whom I have always been curious and about their homeless shelter. So I took them up on their offer to visit while I was in the city. 

I was surprised with what I found.  First, this was a lovely relatively new building, built by international Caritas donations in 1999. Caritas Georgia is a Charitable Foundation of the Catholic Church, founded in 1994, dedicated to the service of the poor in Georgia and to the promotion of charity and justice. It was a lovely place. 

 Pope John Paul II came to bless the new house and stayed overnight at the Center. And Mother Teresa also came to Georgia when they originally established a home here. I had never been in a place where the Pope slept, so it gave me pause. 

But this was not what one would expect of a homeless shelters, at least in what I was used to, in America. This homeless shelter had a few middle age men or women, but mostly it was a safety net for the elderly poor.  These 20 something residents should have been in a nursing home, or convalescent home.  Many were in wheel chairs. The residents currently are Georgian, Armenian, and Russian, but that changes.   The sisters take care of them, cook for them and nurse them. Most of the sisters do not have nurses training. One man was released from the hospital straight to the Center after a bad automobile accident.  And the sisters simply went to the hospital to be shown how to care for his two broken arms and amputated leg stump.  They do good work and it certainly isn't easy.

An older picture of the 6 sisters in Tbilisi

Mother Teresa's canonization for sainthood if hypothetically slated for September 4th, 2016.  All the nuns are in a lottery to be allowed to go to the canonization. 

So I will leave you best wishes for a special Easter.  Here is our newest addition to the Koda neighborhood, a little guy, just in time for Easter.   God bless you on this special time and throughout the year.  Remember here they honor the dead at their Easter with graveyard picnics for two days.  I think it is a lovely practice and one I hope to carry on back in the States. 

  

A little beach vacation in Sri Lanka

Maybe one gets used to constant change - to differences that make one feel unsettled, like new alphabets posted everywhere, with no rhyme or reason or context,  taxis with 3 wheels, competing on highways and alleys. I had quite a few new cultural experiences in my first trip to the orient.

To keep cool the men walk around with long colorful skirts on, or near the fishing boats thy wrap them like big diapers. as opposed to Georgian men who pull their t-shirts up off their bellies, like small children in the US. And here is one way to fish!

Marshutkas give way to
Sri Lankan tuktuks.

Sri Lanka was a great time away, my last vacation before ending Peace Corps service. And yep, learning and experiencing more.

Women were such a mix:  the burkas hid lovely smiles. These women were friendly, maybe because they can reach out in English.  Or they aren't in fear of judgment that may be happening if the Middle East. They walk next to women in brightly colored saris - the most beautiful and sexy clothes, IMHO. The children wear white uniforms, with ties, walk to school. Everyone wears bright clothing, a far cry from the stylish yet monotone black of Georgia.

School uniforms

After school English classes, 

in the village center

Colorful school

As everywhere, it is dangerous to generalize.  The Sri Lankan men appeared diminutive, small and slender.  But them our train passed the Navy base, with local sailors playing volleyball. They were all over 6 foot.

I saw a private airfield that doubled as a golf course - a great idea yet rife with potential law suits... such an American mentality, kimi...

The food - yes I came for seafood.  Yes, I actually booked a guest house because Raja was a great cook, the price was right, as much as the fact that it was quietly situated on a side road 2 minutes from the beach. Tuna steak, calamari, crabs ( but missed Gary's spices) and red snapper.  Other foods were different, yet equally as tasty.

great dinners!

Raja's Guesthouse was a friendly place to meet visitors
from all over the world.  

coconut milk with dinner, on the beach

Lentil donuts, coconuts, rice with curry.  They have these red fruits that looked like a spinning top. When one cracks it open, blows out the seed and ants, it is really tasty!  Bananas are about 6 inches long. Curry, egg rolls type things with meat or veggies in them were delicious.

LOOK RIGHT!  Why can't I get used to the British drivers. Had to think of London's reminders on the streets to get the hang of it again, and not get run over.

I stayed in Weligama, and never left to see other cultural sites. I didn't plan on staying, but the beach was too inviting.  I tried out surfing and actually rode the waves with Raja's son - such a great teacher.  Wow!

Thilina teaching me local game - like
billiards on a board

And I snorkelled too.  There were Angel Fire, snappers, sturgeon, sweetlips, and I think anenomes. The coral was very damaged from the tsunami, but you could see some new growth. And there was a lot of dead coral in the shallows.

Restful coves

Early morning as we leave for whale watching

And speaking of tsunamis, there were a lot of crumbling buildings on the waterfront.  I assumed this was just what the country looked like, until I went inland for an elephant safari.  The houses and infrastructure were in much better condition. Later that night, a friend of the 'family' told us how the tsunami came and destroyed his home, which was close to the beach. They said that Japan warned the Sri Lankan government, but the government didn't know what to do about it.  If you forgot about this 2004 tragedy, CNN can remind you with this good article.  How odd that author Paula Hancocks mimics my exact sentiments when she talks of the tsunami survivors and I speak of our Georgian IDPs - how do people that have lost everything be so generous and supportive?

I only met one other American the entire 5 days I was in Sri Lanka!  That's fun. (they are SO loud, you know). Poles, British, Australian, Romanians, Israelis, a Canadian, Spanish, Russian...  The funny thing was, it was a woman I knew!  How odd.  Another Peace Corps volunteer had also decided to use her last vacation days in SW Sri Lanka and I joined her on the elephant safari. A nice treat.

I visited my first Buddist temple. It was so peaceful, and for some reason I was very surprised.  I liked it a lot - restful and contemplative.  The island inhabitants also practice Hindu, Catholic, Islam, and I saw a Ceylon Pentecostal mission.

This was so peaceful!

Buddhist monk statues surrounded
the temple

 Wildlife - I think I never took the time to appreciate the birds, and all the other wildlife we have around us.  But in Sri Lanka one can't ignore it.  Here is my first official bird watching report, from Udawalawe National Park, along with our elephant pictures and other animals from the safari. Amazing!

Indian roller

female peacock in the tree

Painted Stork

male peacock

Changeable Hawk-Eagle

Grey Headed Fish Eagle

Blue-tailed bee-eater

Blue-tailed bee-eater

water buffalo

youngster with the family

Two males

happy guy

water buffalo keeping cool in the mud

and speaking of mud

beautiful trees

This was some big lizard!

one month old elephant!

Mugger crocodile

love this little guy with his mom

crocodile right next to elephants

the baby had a hard time
climbing up the water's edge

train station back to Columbo

village homes

Sun setting on the train ride back to Colombo
to catch my 3am return flight

After two years I have made some real changes in the way I approach life, in a slower, more focused, process.  I hope I don't lose these new habits when I return home. For example, this trip I 

- researched and looked at the stars intelligently. (Thanks Jim)

- actually noticed and researched the birds on google image. Wow.  (Thanks Kate)

-  learned to surf, and actually got up! (Thanks Thilina)

- took my first whale watching trip and saw a blue whale which they said  can be up to  30 meters long, and a bryde's whale, which was about 10 meters long. 

- took my first elephant safari as well. What a treat.

A peaceful, relaxing R&R.  Now I'm ready for my last 3 months in Georgia, which promises to be sad and emotional, but also a happy time to see that we've done some good things and I've made some lasting friends.  Stay tuned...