Davit-Gareja...nature and entrepreneurship in the Georgian desert

Georgian desert in the spring

Davit-Gareja is a desert region in the SE corner of Georgia, on a mountain ridge that becomes a natural border with Azerbaijani. I had an special opportunity to ride out there with friends and a Polish couple touring the area. The ride through the springtime desert was lovely, full of poppies and other wild flowers, sheep and cattle and a variety of eagles. 

Interesting to note that this is a very early example of environmental damage.  The area was forested during the Bronze age but iron smelting eventually led to deforestation in the 1st millennium BC, resulting in climate change and desertification.  

 1500 year old monastery

  Syrian St. David established a community of monks in the 6th century and built a monastery in caves cut out of sandstone rocks. The naturally worn steps in the rocks reminds us of its age.  The Udabno monastery was about a 2 hour hike up the sandstone cliffs and is located at the edge of the natural border of Georgia and Azerbaijan. It is important for its frescoes from 9th up to 14th centuries. The area and frescoes were pretty well preserved, considering that the Soviets used this area for artillery practice during their occupation, due to the similarities between this desert area and Afghanistan.  The Azeri guards were friendly and spoke English and told us we were on the "buffer zone" but could hike up to see the chapel and frescoes.  Then further down, the Georgian guards were stationed and told us this is Georgian land. 

There were a a handful of tourists; surprising for such a remote place.  A fellow from Holland showed me a snake eagle - a first for me.  And their guide pointed out some interesting details of the frescoes, such as the fact that heaven is always drawn on the east side of the cave, hell on the west side. (Philosophical analysis welcome).

Also, I found it interesting to learn that these caves were made, not only found.  They used a small opening in the sandstone, and expanded it by heating the rock with fire, then pouring water on it to split it. 

Entrepreneurship in Georgia

 Here is a coffee cart in the parking lot.  

 It's good to see entrepreneurship alive and well in Georgia, but in this case it was all imported.  First, at the monastery we were happily surprised to see a coffee bar parked near the entrance.  In speaking with the Georgian manager, we were told it was really owned by a couple Ukranians, but he was running it for a while.  It was a treat to have it in this really remote area of the country.  


Next,  our Polish guests told us of the Oasis Cafe,  a little restaurant in the middle of NOWHERE, run by 2 Poles.  They had been there for about 3 years and had a lovely place, catering just for tourists. And in the middle of the desert, it really was an oasis.  The cold drinks, food, and clean western bathrooms were just was we needed after that hike.  Good for them!

And here are our new Polish friends, standing in front of the only public place in the area.  

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.

Georgian Christmas Holidays

How fun to be somewhere new and different for the Christmas holidays, especially since I was already able to spend MY Christmas with the kids and Mom, Beth and Steve, Meg & John, and great friends.

So holidays in Georgia really begin on New Year's Eve, the one on December 31st. Church is at 11:00pm, and  fireworks go off at midnight, everywhere!  Every home,  360 degrees. So that was fun. My Koda host family had a small dinner at midnight. But I hear others that have big ones. Here is my 'host brother' with his fireworks.

New Year's Day is a day for family to visit and make the rounds.  It is also a fun tradition to share chocolates with everyone.  When guests walk into a house, everyone distributes them, those coming and the hosts  No one told us, so a friend and I were surprised when we caught a marshutka to go hike to a famous 10th century monastery and the fellow passengers were passing around chocolates to the driver and others.  Then we caught a ride up to the monastery and they gave us chocolates ( ok, so we didn't hike that long ).  I hate when we don't learn about local customs.  But it could be kharma payback for the times when perhaps Gary and I weren't as sharing as we could have been with our au pairs, when the kids were small. There are so many little things that make a cultural exchange so much more pleasant, be it the Peace Corps, or an employment situation like a au pair.  Here is the Shavnabada Monastery, with PCV Karen and one of its monks, on New Years Day.

Still on the 1st we were invited to a friend's home for a supra dinner. It was the best supra my friend ever attended, she said. Why?  Because it was young people that aren't tied to the somewhat arbitrary traditions of drinking, toasting, eating and drinking too much.  We had a great time, sang, danced, sang American songs, heard some lovely Gerogian songs.  We were complimented when we could sing the Georgian national anthem. The anthem, whose title means "Freedom", was adopted in 2004, along with the new national flag and coat of arms. The symbols' change was brought about upon the successful overthrow of the previous government in the bloodless Rose Revolution. The music, taken from the Georgian operas Abesalom da Eteri ("Abesalom and Eteri") and Daisi ("The Nightfall"), by the Georgian composer Zachary (Zakaria) Paliashvili. I Think it is beautiful. Check it out. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxvkzbArNf4

Half way through the evening a fellow guest, an local voice instructor, said our American names were too difficult, so we became Kete and Eka instead of Karen and Kim for the rest of the evening.  Again it reminded of our au pair from 20 years ago. Her name was "Mi".  After Matt came home from kindergarten being chastised for calling someone "me", we asked her and Americanized her name to Myra for the rest of her stay with us.  So it was a fun night. No one got drunk, the parents enjoyed their time with the kids. I enjoyed everyone.

Next comes Christmas, January 7th. I have already written about this, with my special training host family in Khashuri, some won't bore you again, but suffice to say, it was a wonderful time. And although I skipped midnight mass, which lasted until after 4 am, standing the whole time! I will never complain again about our Catholic Masses running over an hour.  It is traditional in Georgia to go on Alilo (a modified pronunciation of Alleluia), a mass walk in the streets, where they collect food and clothing for the poor. And to see the maumaus (priests) walking through the entire town after standing most of the night, it humbled everyone, and I think made more people add to the collection.

 Here is Gocha, making my favorite - pork BBQ Georgian style ( no sauce and no vinegar, but special spices)

I  should mention that homes have very small artificial trees, and few decorations. Just enough to be festive, and colored lights, etc.

Next comes old calendar New Years, January 14th.  We had off from work this day, and there was more partying and visiting, but not enough to ask for the following day off, which was Friday. Finally, Epiphany wraps up the holiday season, with more church.

Visiting tbilisi I found some beautiful lights and arrangements on govt buildings and in the parks, as well as strung over the roadways, shaped like chandeliers.  Very nice and it not overdone. No Grizwalds here.

The upside, not a lot of commercialism, lots of extended family time, and it doesn't run From Halloween to New Years.  On the down side, most of January is a waste, with partying and a string of reasons to have supras.  Oh well, maybe that's not a bad thing?  But then we could say the same thing about December in the US, but with end of year sales forecasts and EOY closing, I never felt we could goof off too much.

I hope to have more steady Internet this year, so can blog more consistently.  Please email me with your thoughts and comments. kydixon@earthlink.net I love to hear from you too! Happy new year!