Thursday, December 26, 2013

Santa Claus and Tovlis Papa

Merry Christmas!


Tovlis Papa (or თოვლის პაპა in Georgian) is Snow Grandfather, a Christian gift-bringing figure in the Caucascus area of Europe (well according to wikipedia.....) and you know who Santa and we are......

Christmas has come and gone in our household....but the country of Georgia celebrates the orthodox Christmas on Jan 7.....so it's the holiday season that doesn't end......well at least not until next year. It was quite surreal to run to the grocery store on Christmas day and everything was open and like any other day....

I will try and resist de-Christmasfying the house until at least the Georgian Christmas (that should allow some late straggling gifts that have been sent to arrive and be opened around the tree as well), but it will be tough given I've taken the tree down on the 25th before...lol. Now if only some our belongings (such as the UAB shipped 3 1/2 weeks ago....meant to take 2-3 weeks) will arrive and it will feel just like Christmas being reunited with our belongings.....the joys of this new adventure.

5 comments:

  1. If you guys need anything or are unable to find anything you dearly miss over there, please let us know:)
    ~Erin~

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  2. Merry Christmas! YAY! You made it! Hoping the landing was soft on all fronts!

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  3. hahaha, I'm not taking my Christmas tree down until at least January 14th. It just doesn't feel like holidays when we take it down on December 25th. I live in Tennessee but grew up in Tbilisi. I accidentally found your blog searching for any images of Georgian Santa to show my children. Thanks for posting this

    Maya
    http://byebyesoccermom.blogspot.com/

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    1. Maya - how cool....what a small world. So question you can probably answer, is the giant white clothe represent snow? When does he bring gifts?

      Also, if you want to recommend any must see spots let me know....we are already starting to make a bucket list of places to visit during our 2 years here!

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  4. Hi Deb. I'm so glad to have found you. Welcome to Georgia.
    I think that white cloak is nabadi. It's a heavy coat that shepherds were in mountains. It protects from cold, rain, wind etc. It can be black or white (and maybe other colors that I am not aware). You can google "nabadi" and see what I'm talking about.

    I would love to give you my friend's contact info and talk to you more about Georgia. Could you plz give me your email address. Mine is georgiagirl1971 at hotmail dot com

    Can't wait to share with you my experience from my recent trip to Tbilisi. I'm back home now, in Tennessee :)

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