Georgian New Year, Georgian Birthday

This post has been a long time coming, but here it goes.

I made a 30+ hour journey back to Georgia from the USA so that I could spend New Year's Eve in Georgia. By the time I had gone to bed on New Year's at around 1 am on January 1st, I had been up for a solid fifty hours or more. Dedication. Well, by the time I did show up on the doorstep of my host family's house on New Year's Eve, I was met by my a smiling Giorgi, my host brother, who always has a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. He had been waiting for my return so we could assemble and decorate the Christmas tree. For those of you who do not know, Georgia and many other post-Soviet states, do not celebrate Christmas on December 25th, but on New Year's Eve instead. That is when Santa/Grandfather Frost and the Snow Maiden visit the homes of children and give them gifts while they all ring in the New Year. I gave Giorgi a Chicago Bulls winter cap and he was instantly smitten. He is a big fan and constantly tells me that he is Michael Jordan (Giorgi is tiny, by the way).

My lovable, mischievous host brother, Giorgi.

New Year's Eve in Keda was all that I could have hoped for it to be - a gigantic feast ensued after midnight that I just had to stay up for. I also watched from my bedroom window families shooting off fireworks all across town. On television, which is always blazing in my host family's house, a group of Georgians danced to a cover version of "Gangnam Style" - that song is incredibly popular here, for whatever reason. But that was the first song of choice to bring in 2014.

My neighbors at a New Year's Day feast (my host mom is in the red and white shirt)

A fifteen day feast ensued where the Georgians ate and drank wine all day. I escaped by going to Turkey for a week, only for everything to be amped up when I returned.

I celebrated my birthday (January 10th) Georgian-style by engaging in an all-day marathon of feasting and, yes, drinking. Those who know me know that I am not the biggest fan of drinking, but I have had more alcohol here in Georgia than I have had since turning 21. I kid you not. By the end of the night, I had vertigo and went to bed early. It was quite the adventure and quite the party.

Birthday feast

Tsitso with my homemade birthday cake.