Wandering Woodwards: April 2015

Easter Monday

The Georgian Orthodox Church celebrates Easter a week later than "the West", this year on April 12th. Monday, also a holiday in Georgia, is called Easter Monday. It is a day for friends and family to visit the graves of deceased family members and friends. They bring food and wine, maybe have a picnic, and drink a toast to the living and the dead. Not a day of mourning, people are happy to to once again sit at the table with relatives who have long ago passed away.
There's a very large cemetery near our apartment and it was very crowded (with live and dead people). The graves are in small family plots, many quite elaborate, that are closely spaced with only the narrowest of walkways in-between and many deadends.

the candle is a sign of respect to the souls of the dead

The red eggs are a tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church representing the passion and death of Christ. They are rolled across the grave while saying "Christ has risen! Indeed he has risen!". Note the name in Georgian script above and in Russian below (most names were in Georgian).

An Easter Cake is another Georgian tradition. They have been for sale in the shops for several weeks. The one we bought was very dry, as if it had sat on a store shelf for several weeks. Next year I'll try to make my own.

the cake is called Paska

It is very common for graves to have pictures or portrait etchings of the deceased, many in life-sized poses.

We live just down the hill from a huge cemetery and the traffic jam on Monday was unbelievable. Many Georgians have a tradition of burying their dead relatives in the countryside, usually in the village or town where they were born. So it was a big travel day.

The cemetery is old and the layout not organized, and no disrespect intended, but Roy said it was better than a corn maze as we tried to wind our way through and find our way out.

The Georgians are very family oriented, and I thought this was an interesting tradition: (from the Ex-Pat newspaper)
"When drinking to the dead, a portion of the wine is traditionally poured on the grave - Georgians call that "knocking over a goblet". By doing so, the Georgians foster and express hope that they will not be alone in the afterlife and that their contact with the world of the living will not break because every Easter their living relatives will visit their resting places and feast alongside them".

Gori, Uplistsikhe and Jvari church

On Saturday (April 11th), we hired a driver to take us on a field trip. Back in Georgia, the Woodward "normal" had returned in full force: occassional drizzle and a chilly breeze.
Gori is about a 1.5 hour drive west of Tbilisi and is the small town where Ioseb Besarionis Dze Jugashvili (or Iosif Vissaronovich Dzhugashvili) was born and went to school. We know him today as Joseph Stalin. He invented this name for himself; a combination of the Russian Stal - steel - with Lenin. The center of the town has the wide Stalinis moedani - Stalin Square, and the main street is named ...... yep, Stalin Ave. The Georgians have a love/hate relationship with the man or so our Georgian Culture book tells us (pg 90); "If you want to tell them how bloody his empire was, be ready to hear their counterarguments about the turbulent times and that "he had no choice" or "he himself did not know."
Our driver Giurgi, a 26 year old Georgian University graduate, agreed with us that he was not a good man. In case you don't know, the exact number of deaths caused by Stalin's regime is not exactly known, and is the topic of great debate, but it is widely agreed to number in the millions. Most of those were his own people!
There is a huge Stalin museum in Gori, opened in Soviet times and is Gori's best known attraction.
Remember I said it was not a warm day? Well, it was freezing inside the stone museum. Too big to heat? Too expensive is my bet. Our tour guide spoke the fastest English I've ever heard and was dressed for winter. (She admitted she was cold). Very interesting place.

Stalin's private RR car - armor plated, with bullet proof windows - he always traveled by train because he was afraid to fly.

The small house where Stalin was born

The house is now under cover in front of the museum.

Remains of a mideval castle in Gori.

Interesting fence/wall in Gori - most stonework throughout the town
had rocks or bricks set on edge.

We next visited Uplistsikhe, about 10 minute drive from Gori, which was once a huge cave city dating back between 6th century BC and used into the Middle Ages. The Romans even used these caves and several Christian kings then lived there and it was an important trade center. At its peak, 20,000 people lived there. The Moguls destroyed it in 1240. Today you can visit the 'Inner City', which archaeologists began to uncover in 1957.

Uplistsulis Eklesia ( Prince's Church)

This small 10th century church was built over what was probably Uplistsikhe's most important pagan temple. I had to put on a wrap around skirt and scarf to enter. (provided at the door)

Last stop:
the Jvari Church - on top of high hill overlooking Mtkheta, (the "old" capital of Georgia - 3rd century BC to 5th century AD).

Jvari Church

Mtskheta

Jvari, to many Georgians, the holiest of holies. Jvari stands where King Mirian erected a sacred wooden cross soon after his conversion by St. Nino in the 4th century; a substantial octagon-shaped rock base used to support the original cross is still in place holding a wooden cross. The church was built between 585 and 604 by Duke Stepanoz 1. St. Nino (a woman), came from Cappadocia (Turkey) bringing Christianity to Iveria (Eastern Georgia) in the 4th century. She remains today, Georgia's most venerated saint.

We did go inside, donning another skirt and scarf.

Kyiv, Ukraine

The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Easter the weekend after 'The West', April 12th this year. Unbelievably, Roy had 5 consecutive days off!!! waaa-whhooo! (well, if he took off Saturday, which was a no-brainer!) Where to go? We had been wanting to attend the nearest Temple and since that happens to be in Kyiv, Ukraine, away we went! Yes, I was a little nervous, after all, there is a war currently being fought on their Eastern border with Russia. I needn't have worried, you would never know it and we spent two great days there and fell in love with Kyiv (the Ukrainians now spell it Kyiv rather than Kiev).
Ukraine is very flat with cultivated fields as far as we could see from the air as we landed. I believe at one time, it was called "the bread basket" of the Soviet Union. Kyiv is a city of almost 3 million and feels very "European". But unlike their European neighbors, everything is super cheap!!! Unfortunately the war has scared many of the American tourists away, but I would encourage anyone and everyone to GO! No Visa needed, the airport is super modern, and the city is very clean with friendly people. We felt very safe and our USD stretched much further than in Madrid or Athens.
And are you sitting down? The Woodward's had two solid days of SUNSHINE!! Unbelievably no rain! Yes, there was a brisk wind which made it a little chilly the first day but we were not complaining!

St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral

SHOCK after Ankara and Tbilisi! Drivers stop for pedestrians in crosswalks!!

These friendly guys were eager to pose with you for pictures and then wanted to be paid quite well (in Ukrainian terms) for that service. As we walked, we were offered white pigeons where we learned the set-up and said, 'NO thank you' to the monkey that was allowed to jump on Roy's shoulder, but we did succumb to these guys.

Independence Square or Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Ukrainian: Майдан Незалежності ).

protecting goddess from Slavic mythology: Berehynia

The 2014 Ukrainian revolution took place after a series of violent events involving protesters, riot police and unknown shooters (some say then-president Yanukovych ordered the police to shoot) here that resulted in the ousting of Viktor Yanukovych - more about him later. The candles commemorate the 100 people that died here.

A small, local political protest in front of the mayor's office

According to Old Rus chronicles, the founders of Kiev: Princes Kyi, Shchek and Khoriv and their sister Lybid

Wandering around we stumbled into an Easter festival at the Eastern Orthodox St. Sofia's Cathedral complex whose foundations were laid in 1098.

Young folk dancers and singers

These are real eggs, not wooden, and hundred were on display for the holiday.

And why we had come: the beautiful Kyiv Ukraine Temple

The people taking the picture near the doors are a proud American mother and father picking up their missionary son. We enjoyed a nice chat with this faithful couple - a daughter went to Guatemala and another daughter is preparing to leave for the Vladivostok Russia Mission, and when they heard I knew someone currently serving there, with great excitement they said," can we please have her email address, so we can ask what she really needs to bring?" After the session we were chatting with the Temple Matron (from Boise), as she found someone to call a taxi for us, and she mentioned they have never had two American couples at the same time. I smiled and remembered what a good friend once told me: "There are no coincidences with the Lord". I guess the P. family was meant to be connected with Sister Oler.
The next day we toured the city with a guide we hired, Vitaliy, who took us first to the "Museum of Corruption" (no joke). It was the 365 acre private estate of corrupt former President Victor Yanukovych,

who was ousted as the 4th President of Ukraine in February 2014 during the Ukraine Revolution. According to our guide Yanukovych embezzled Billions (yes, Billions with a capital B), from the Ukrainian people. This place is beautifully landscaped and has anything money could buy: indoor and outdoor tennis courts, indoor boxing ring, several saunas, a small farm, orchards and gardens - he would only eat food grown on the estate - plus a small private zoo, helicopter pad, giant garages, and golf course, and that is just the outer buildings. Inside the house, so we hear, is beautifully decorated, and has a shooting range, indoor pool, and gold toilet. All to the tune of at least $75 million dollars. When the Revolution broke out he ran for it taking $1Billion and eventually settled somewhere in Southern Russia. I just read on Wikipedia, in February 2015, Interpol placed him on their most wanted list. Yikes!
We didn't tour inside the house, maybe next time. Walking around the grounds or as Vitaliy called it, "territory", was breathtaking and disgusting at the same time. And why didn't the people know what was happening? A 5m (15') solid fence surrounded the estate, and the workers were sworn (and certainly threatened) to secrecy.

A delicious lunch of Ukrainian dumplings and chicken Kyiv. Yum! Afterwards into the city...

artwork in the women's restroom

We went to the outdoor park and military museum to see some old Soviet hardware...

Mig

a decommissioned ICBM missle launcher. scary....

This T-64 tank was on display in the military park. The Ukraine captured it in the separatist area about 3 months ago and it clearly had come from Russia. Ukraine demanded an explanation from the Russians to which Vladimir Putin replied: "Look, the 205th Motorized Brigade was driving from Stavropol to Minsk on a humanitarian mission and they took the wrong offramp and ended up in the eastern Ukraine. It could happen to anybody."
No joke!
This is the Motherland Monument, it commemorates all the soldiers honored with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of Socialist Labor during the war. The statue is 62m tall (203.4ft), which Vitaliy was quick to point out, is 16m taller than the Statue of Liberty (he's right, btw). Notice the huge shield on which is the (hammer & sickle) Coat of Arms of the Soviet Union. Originally meant to honor the Russians for fighting/beating the Germans out of Ukraine in 1943, it now galls the Ukrainians to no end with the recent Russian invasion.