My Birthday in Koda

A few toasts and songs at my party

Birthdays get pretty boring over time.  Some people don't want to celebrate them, except the big ones, then after a while you don't want to celebrate the big ones either. So they are usually pretty quiet.  Georgia is different!  What a wonderful weekend of events. A party, gifts, congratulations all over the place!  Here are the highlights:


My 'landlady' Lali helped me set up a wonderful supra (feast) for about 16 people on my birthday, in my apartment.  She brought over plates, silverware, cups, juice, a big birthday cake, rice and fennel blintzes, chicken/cabbage salad, eggplant with walnut sauce, and lobiani (bean in bread).  Nunu made khachapuri (cheese bread) Nana made Ossetian khachapuri - with beet greens.

My lasagna turned out pretty well

I made lasagna, well sort of.  We don't have much of a variety in the village, so I couldn't get ground beef or the proper cheese.  But it tasted fine, and everyone loved trying "Kim's pizza".  The only time they use tomato sauce is on their pizza,  so...

My neighbor Nunu's khachapuri for my birthday feast.

Peace Corps colleagues brought wine, fruit and veggies that I was dying for too.  I know I'm forgetting things, but it was a great evening of eating, drinking, and some singing thrown in.

Orthodox Easter in Georgia

I have two things I wish I could bring back to the US. 
 The first are these darn marshutkas. Instead of those big 43 passenger buses driving all over, many times less than half full, why not just use these little 15 passenger vans - people can easily pop on and off with the way they are designed.  It is more economical and easier on the road.

The second thing I would bring home with me (and I probably will personally) is the special attitude toward Easter.  Although we know that Easter is supposed to be the most important holy day for Christians,  we still put so much emphasis on Christmas.  Here it is Easter and New Years.  So let me tell you what we did in Georgia.

Orthodox Easter combines all our holidays
Easter is a combination of Thanksgiving with family, All Souls Day where we honor our dead with trips to the graveyards, a little Christmas with presents for the kids,... and oh yes...  can't forget to throw in Halloween!

Wednesday night was the last work/school day of the week.  So the tradition is... they have these huge bonfires where the kids all jump through them.  Oh my!  Yep.  Supposedly the Church has tried to discourage them, but to no avail.  My settlement had several HUGE bonfires. Since I was in for the night, I didn't venture out to check them any closer than my balcony,  but they were sure all having fun.


Thursday the Patriarch  washed the feet of some parishioners,  just as we do for Holy Thursday service in the evening.  They do it in the morning.  The evening also has a service that many attend.

Friday, of course is the most solemn day, with 2pm service, and a big one in Tbilisi that the Patriarch presides over.

Saturday is a quiet day, traditionally. I travelled over to visit a friend who wanted me to meet her family.  What a lovely visit. Then I had a nice tour of Gori, which is Joseph Stalin’s hometown (of dubious distinction) . 

Natia at Gori castle

Kim in Gori

 Then we had an extra special keipe - that means dinner party. Multi course with wonderful food and real wine glasses.  This is the first time I could enjoy wine in the proper glass. Riedel, the Austrian wine glass maker that has the perfect glass form for each wine,  would be proud.  It was a special time meeting new friends.  And speaking of Germans,  the IDP settlement I visited was built by Germans after the 2008 war with Russia.  And it was built well!  Everyone here says "the Germans built it, that's why."  

Dinner with Natia's family and Russelli

Verbvebis cottages

They warned us of one more event to expect on Saturday.  The children go around with baskets and sing a song outside your door after dinner.  Then you have to give them each a red egg. I was visiting a Peace Corps friend at his Bina, so we weren't expecting kids to come to the apartments but they did... No eggs though, chocolate had to do. And the questions they ask us...

Why are the eggs red - Christ's passion.  
Why eggs -  to show the new birth,  
Why no Easter bunny -  why should there be?  
Why our multi-colored eggs - good question!

Easter Sunday

 Sunday church starts at 11:30pm Saturday evening and goes to the early morning.  After we started out with a visit to the local cemetery to honor my host father's dad and celebrate Easter with him.  It was a beautiful grave site, well cared for of course.  And of course other relatives had plots there as well. We made a cross in the ground with our glass of wine, and then finished drinking our toast and left red eggs on the grave site.  Then we went to the next one.  Yes it can be a long day, but we always have a designated driver in my host family here.  They are very responsible, which I hope would be the rule in Georgia, but , like America, there are always problematic exceptions.

Chemi Bugadze ojaki

It was so cold and rainy, I drank and ate the khachapuri, fish, these great  meat blintzes, tomatoes, boiled chicken served cold,  red hard boiled eggs (of course), bean and fennel salad, cheese from the grandmother's cow, (they prepare it especially for me, with just a little salt in it) cucumbers, padrojani (eggplant specialty) that I helped make, and puri (local bread that is so good) and cake.  Each grave site has a solid metal table and benches for the supra. I ate a lot to keep warm,  what a mistake!  Next we came home and ate some more in the warm house.  You see my mistake now, right?, just wait.

Next we went to the sopeli (village) to a grave of a dear young girl that died of a heart attack, in her early 20s. It hit everyone so hard.  It has been two years now, but the emotions were still running high.  We drove to the village, maybe about five km on this small dirt road - we would call it a 4-wheel drive in the US - and arrived at the grandfathers old home. It is closed now, and they open it for occasions and enjoy the cooler weather and river in the hot summer.  The place has three rooms, six beds, a pesche for heat, no water and an outhouse.  What more do you need?

We hiked up about 150 yards to the graveyard on the side of the mountain.  A tiny place with about maybe 30-40 graves at the most.  I have been there before and blogged about it.  Imagine my surprise when I saw ( I counted) over 250 people there, each with their own table full of food and wine.  People would visit and share stories, just like they do at a wake or wedding.   It is a joyous day, where we celebrate Easter with our departed. I would add that we should celebrate their being with our risen Christ, yes? ...And three hours later,.. everyone re-gathered at the house for more food, to speak, practice their English, visiting.

 On the way home we stopped at another family member who had out of town visitors.  Finally I learned, you can sit and just eat a tiny bit and still be friendly. Then we headed for home and welcomed sleep.

Monday we visited the graves on the other side of the family, at another sopeli. I now know most of the family now. Here is a picture of one side of the family.  This grandmother lives in a nice village house with a nice flower garden, a big vegetable garden, cow, and huge Georgian dog.

 Such a cold day we drank and ate little at the grave site and then back to the house for another supra.  So you can see the problem here - this was akin to three thanksgiving dinners in two days! Plus Saturday which was just Georgian hospitality. 

Early Tuesday I hopped an early am marsh back to Koda for another week of work. Exciting new projects and classes.  But I will not forget this wonderful family experience and nor lose my appreciation for the kindness and love of my 'cartveli family.'

Catholic Easter in the Country of Georgia

H A P P Y  E A S T E R

Best wishes for a wonderful Easter filled  with sweet friends and the joy of spring.

Kimi

It is lucky I was assigned so close to the Georgian capitol of Tbilisi so I can attend one of the three Catholic churches in Georgia - two of which are in Tbilisi. Mass attendees see a melting pot far more than in the States (although our Raleigh churches are pretty diverse as well)  Georgians are  95+% Orthodox since, I think, it is part of their national identity. They are very open and interested in the Roman Catholic church, and they also welcome me to their church which I enjoy very much.

The one comical incidence was when I joined some Georgian friends in their journey to a wonderful little village of their ancestors.  It housed maybe 20 families at the most.  One neighbor came to greet us upon our arrival to the house.  She had I think 6 kids with her.  My friend bent over and carefully whispered in my ear "catolici."  :-)

A little history on the church I attend in Tbilisi....

  Saint Peter and Paul Catholic church was built in 1870 with the order of Konstantine Zubalashvili, the lead of the Roman catholic parish and supporter. Many of the Catholic churches in Georgia were decommissioned - I guess that is the word - under the Soviet times.  After the Soviet times, they were given to the Georgian Church.  But this one survived.  Pope John Paul II visited Georgia in 1999 and performed Mass here.  They want to erect a statue of him and are collecting funds for it.  I am not a fan of spending money like this and prefer they put up a plaque and use the money to exemplify what we believe is one role of the Church - to care for one another. 

 The Orthodox church does not have many initiatives to care for the poor as we do in the states. The current Patriarch was here in '92 when the Soviets fell. I think his main goal was to re-establish their national faith community. And he has done a wonderful job of that.   

Here is the church on Easter Sunday. Felt funny to take a picture, but... Lovely church

Easter was a lovely affair at our church.  We had a pot luck afterward, organized by a lovely couple from Britain that have been here for the better part of 15 years, and always supporting the church.

We had mostly Indian, African and Sri Lankan food. It was great. Coffee, tea and a tasty sweet pudding.  I love that we can meet people from all over the world on Sundays... visitors, medical students, international travelers, Georgians,  It was a blessed Easter.  And the regulars are Irish, British, Austrian, African, and other nationalities as mentioned above.  

Later we celebrated Easter dinner at a local American restaurant in Tbilisi, owned by a US Air Force retiree who moved here.  She found and serves the best bacon in the country.  

A few fellow Catholic ex-pats celebrating Easter

Easter decorations are so interesting.  Everyone grows little wheat gardens before Easter,
 so they are nice and high as you can see here.  Then they put in their traditional RED Easter eggs.

The other Catholic Church in Tbilisi is the Catholic Cathedral of the Virgin Mary, built in 1804. Long is the history before the church was even built.  It started with the XIII century when a mission of Catholics started their activities in Georgia. They have a lovely church, but no English Mass. I have yet to figure out about all the pictures on the sides of the aisles.  As you can see they are not the regular Stations of the Cross.

This coming week is Orthodox Easter. It began on Palm Sunday ( our Easter) and continues.  National holiday starts Thursday through Monday.  And Easter Monday is NOT because it is the start of baseball season!  I feel privileged to be invited to several homes to celebrate over the holiday.  ... to be continued.

Hiking to Tabor Monastery

It was a tough few days. It was my day off and  I had to run into Tbilisi for an errand, and to buy some vegetables and wine.  I don't like buying wine in the village - you know how people gossip :-)   So I decided to make a day of it. I jumped off the marchutka in Old Tbilisi and hike up to Tabor Monastery. It isn't a very famous landmark, but I it seemed so isolated on the edge of the city, I wanted to take a closer look.   Here it is on the top of this hill, just on the south east edge of town.

Although we are still in Tbilisi, it becomes more and more remote the further up we go.  I couldn't make out the make of this car... maybe one of you can? 

And soon after, it looks like I'm out of the city completely.  I couldn't see the church at all, but low and behold, coming towards me was a monk!  Me mivdivart eklisiastan, tushadesleba?  (I am going to the church, right?) Ki, ki ( yes, yes, as if he had been asked a thousand times... and I'm sure he had been)

Finally, it is lovely from the river's edge in the city, but more beautiful up here, inside and out.

And a few from the top.  Old and new Tbilisi converge.