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) .
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| Natia at Gori castle |
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| Kim in Gori |
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| Dinner with Natia's family and Russelli |
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| 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.
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| Chemi Bugadze ojaki |
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.
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.
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.'
