It's not often you get to have 2 Christmases!
In Orthodox countries like Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Ethiopia and Georgia, Christmas is actually celebrated on January 7th (or if you are Armenia, January 6th)! So between American Christmas, New Years, and Orthodox Christmas, I have had non-stop holidays for weeks! (Not that I am complaining!)
In Tbilisi, I got to enjoy beautiful Christmas lights and the Georgian version of Santa, Tovlis Babua (Snow Grandfather) who, according to legend, comes down from the mountains in Svaneti wearing a traditional shepherd's cloak and give presents to children.
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| Christmas tree in Freedom Square |
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| Tovlis Babua, Georgian Santa |
Before school let out, we got a huge snow fall here in Guria. Because in the West, good snow for snowballs and snowmen is relatively rare, the director decided to have 2 free periods of the day dedicated to letting the kids (and the teachers) enjoy the snow!
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| The view of the school from my front gate |
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| making a snowman |
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| snowball fight |
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| teachers love snow too! |
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| One of my counterparts (left) and the deputy director (right) |
The celebration started off with American Christmas. For the holiday, I actually went away for the weekend to celebrate! My friend and I organized a western region Christmas dinner to celebrate before everyone left for the holiday travels. We had it in Kutaisi at an "Italian" restaurant - with almost 20 volunteers, which was more than the total number of other patrons! We also had a white elephant exchange which was very amusing - presents included peanut butter (highly coveted!), fireworks (readily available in Georgia and completely legal), gummy bears, host family home wine, and Reeses peanut butter cups. It was really fun and a great way to celebrate the holidays together!
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| white elephant exchange |
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| Western Georgia Christmas |
We also took a wander around the bazaar, which was full of Christmas cheer!
In the afternoon on Christmas Day, another volunteer who also lives in Kutaisi hosted a Christmas dinner which was absolutely DELICIOUS! There were so many foods that we all missed from America, and it was a lovely way to end the Christmas weekend together.
When I got back to site later that evening, I arrived to find that my host family had prepared an entire supra for me to celebrate American Christmas! My host mom had cooked tons of food and had invited some relatives and my counterpart to celebrate. It was so sweet and thoughtful - I am really fortunate to have such a great host family!
We also held a Christmas dinner/concert for our school at a local restaurant. Each class had prepared a song, dance, or skit for the event, and it was very entertaining! I loved seeing the creativity of the kids. My favorite was a skit where they impersonated different teachers with great accuracy!
In Georgia, New Years is actually a bigger deal than Christmas in terms of celebration! This is the time where you get together and celebrate. New Year's, or ახალ წელს (akhal tesls), is a crazy, fun, and exciting holiday. On New Year's Eve, my host mom spent all day cooking food for our supra. As we counted down the hours, people started setting off fireworks early in celebration. As the clock struck midnight, it was like we were in the middle of a war zone, there were so many fireworks going off and rifles being shot off. We ran up to the balcony, where my host dad and brother lit a roman candle, and shot it off our balcony (all while trying to get me to come closer and laughing at my slight fright at being so close). The fireworks didn't stop until morning. After we set off the fireworks, my host dad broke out his rifle, and shot some celebratory shots off of the balcony!
My host dad and brother lighting the Roman Candle
My host dad shooting the rifle
Panorama of the fireworks all around our house
Then, we sat down for a midnight meal, and watched the celebrations and performances on TV. All in all, it was an eventful night to say the least!
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| the wonderful supra my host mom prepared (plus some applesauce I contributed) |
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| New Year's selfie! |
Later, on January 7th, we celebrated Georgian Christmas, called შობა (shoba). On Christmas Eve, my family went to the evening service, which lasts well into the early hours of the morning. Then, on Christmas morning, we all got up and ate the Gurian traditional cheese pie, which is shaped like a crescent and has cheese and hard boiled eggs baked into it. My host mom first assigned us each a pie, then passed it around our body saying blessings for the new year. Then, we settled down and ate them (they were delicious!). After that, I gave my host family gifts from my family in America, in a show of how we celebrate American Christmas with gift giving. My host brother received a UNC shirt, Harry Potter playing cards, and pop rocks. My host mom received a pashmina scarf and earrings/necklace, and my host dad got Kentucky Bourbon and a UNC shot glass. All of them were a huge hit!!
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| Gurian cheese pie |
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| slowly changing Gio into a tarheel |
A very special part of the Christmas and New Year's season in my region of Georgia is a tree made out of shaved hazelnut wood, called chichilaki. Families hang candies from the tree and keep it throughout the season, kind of like a Christmas tree!
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| chichilaki |
In school, we also brought the Christmas cheer by watching the cartoon "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" which was a huge hit!
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| the only time I have seen my 7th graders so quiet and focused |
Although it was hard being away from home for Christmas, I was so lucky to have such a great family here to share the holiday traditions with! I am glad I decided to stay and experience the holidays, instead of traveling this year!
