Celebrating the holidays in Tbilisi

Gilotsavt akhal ts’els!  And for those of you not quite fluent in Georgian yet, Happy New Year!  I have to admit, 2012 brought conflicting emotions here.  On the one hand, it’s hard to be away from home and hearth on the holidays.  You’d think that all those years in the Army and two years in Iraq would have inoculated me from the holiday blues.  And for the most part that’s true.  Still, is there anything lonelier than being puckered up at midnight on New Year’s Eve with no one to kiss? 

 On the other hand, Georgians know how to celebrate the holidays!  Let me take a minute and review the public holidays celebrated here.  Georgia’s national religion is Eastern Orthodox.  That’s significant because the Orthodox Church used a different calendar for most of their history.  When the Church converted to the same calendar the rest of the world uses, the dates didn’t quite match up and there was a 14-day difference.  Let me give you some examples, starting at the beginning, and that’s New Year’s Day.

New Year’s Day is January 1^st.  Unless you’re devoutly Orthodox.  Then you might celebrate New Year’s Day on the old calendar:  January 14^th.  Of course, the government recognizes the “new” calendar for New Year’s Day, so the official holiday is on the 1^st; therefore, businesses, schools, and government offices are closed then and not on the 14^th. 

Christmas, however, is celebrated nationally using the “old” calendar:  January 7^th.  But…some Georgians celebrate Christmas on December 25^th.  And…some Georgians celebrate BOTH Christmases.  Christmases are not the mega-material orgy you see in the US.  While gifts are exchanged, they are usually small and mostly for children.  Christmas is usually celebrated in an amalgam of the ways we celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas:  families get together for a large feast following a formal church service.

One of the more fascinating aspects of Christmas here is the “wish tree.”  A wish tree is made of wood, teased to resemble a combination of a Christmas tree and a broom.  Children whisper their wishes to the tree (instead of sitting on Santa’s lap, which I haven’t seen done anywhere here), and, on Christmas Eve, the tree is tossed into the fireplace and burned.  The wishes go up the fireplace with the smoke, and Santa sniffs the smoke to learn what the child wants for Christmas. 

The next holiday is Epiphany Day, or the Baptism Day of Jesus, on January 19^th.  It’s celebrated with what you’d expect:  a formal church service followed by a family feast. 

Interestingly enough, in Georgia there are two official holidays that celebrate women:  Mother’s Day is March 3^rd and International Women’s Day is March 8^th.  While there are no church services or real celebrations, both are official government holidays and children (of all ages) give presents to their mothers (and mothers-in-law) on Mother’s Day. 

April 9^th is called both Remembrance Day and the Day of National Unity.  It commemorates the April 9 tragedy in1989 when an anti-Soviet demonstration in Tbilisi was dispersed by the Soviet Army, resulting in 20 deaths and hundreds of injuries.  It isn’t really celebrated as much as it’s recognized – sort of like Labor Day in the US.

Easter Sunday and Monday is another holiday that switches back to the “old” calendar.  This year they fall on April 8^th and 9^th.  They are celebrated here just as in the US.  It is first and foremost a religious holiday, but businesses, etc., close on Easter Monday. 

May 9^th is celebrated as the Day of Victory over Fascism, or V-E Day in the US, celebrating the end of World War II.  It isn’t a very “celebratory” day.  It is occasionally marked by local parades, but it’s falling out of favor because it’s connected to the old Soviet Union, and Georgia is trying to get away from any connection with the USSR.

Independence Day is May 26^th.  This day, interestingly enough, doesn’t celebrate the day when Georgia regained its independence from the collapsing USSR.  Instead, it celebrates May 26, 1918, when the National Council of Georgia declared national independence from Tsarist Russia.    

The next two holidays are strictly religious:  August 28^th is St. Mary’s Day and October 14^th is Mtskhetoba, or celebration of first Christian church in Georgia. According to chronicles, the holy shirt of Jesus is buried under this church.

The final official holiday of the year is November 23^rd, St. George’s Day.  St. George is the patron saint of Georgia.  This day also commemorates the Rose Revolution, celebrating the 2003 change of power which took place after widespread protests over disputed parliamentary elections forced then-President Eduard Shevardnadze to resign.

Which leads us back to New Year’s Day.  New Year’s Day is observed primarily through fireworks.  Not “official” fireworks, mind you, but a kind of “hey, let’s go buy some fireworks and blow things up” fireworks.  In the weeks prior to NYD, fireworks stands pop up on every street corner (picture the Kmart parking lot starting around July 1^st).  And we’re not talking about bottle rockets or firecrackers.  Oh, no.  We’re talking about everything from large rockets to mini-ICBMs.  It’s harder to get a driver’s license in this country than it is to purchase large explosives.  Relatively inexpensive, they’re grabbed up by everyone from small kids (I’ve seen kids carrying fireworks tubes that are literally taller than the kid) to elderly women.  Then the fun starts.

As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, I retire early for the evening.  The same goes on New Year’s Eve.  At 11:50pm, I woke up to what sounded like gunfire right outside our building.  As if choreographed, the explosions slowly increase until the clock strikes midnight, at which point every one of those cheaply purchased firework tubes are pointed toward the sky and lit.  The entire city, from end to end, is lit up by this amateur production.  It goes on for about 15 minutes, gradually dying off as the remaining ammunition is expended.  The explosions are then replaced by car horns for another five minutes or so before the city stumbles back into the bars, clubs, and private homes for extended celebrations.  (I’ve attached a link to a youtube video that accurately captures the moment.)

To celebrate the holidays, all public transportation is free on official holidays.  Here, that meant Monday, January 2d.  That allowed me to enjoy one of my favorite activities here – bus adventure.  Bus Adventure is simple – you go to the nearest bus stop and get on the first bus that shows up.  (I do this a lot when the buses aren’t free, too.  It makes little difference because bus fare is 50 tetri – 30 cents – so I can ride all day, changing buses frequently, for less than $2.)  When I see something interesting, or I decide I don’t want to go the way the bus is going, or when nature calls, I hop off the bus.  I then walk around until I’m ready to hit the next bus stop and hop on the next bus that shows.  I’ve learned a lot about the city and it’s a fun, cheap way to spend a day.  Who says I don’t get out much?

Unfortunately, there’s a disconnect that the city planners seem to overlook – when the buses are free, the businesses are closed, so there’s really not much to see while you’re riding around free.  Nevertheless, it’s not a bad way to celebrate the holiday.

For all my friends, family, and readers, I hope your holiday was as fun as mine.  I wish you peace and joy in 2012. 

Here’s the link to the video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeMAciRjdLQ&feature=related

Gilotsavt akhal ts’els!