Kartvelian Halloween

Frankie, Paul, and Clawdeen

I usually pride myself on the 5-minute costume, but this year my girls had something else in mind. They planned ahead, did extra chores around the house, saved money, ordered costumes online, and prepared every needful thing. We even held practice make-up sessions. The result, as you can see, was quite dramatic. Our little guy still got the 5-minute job, however.

A great Halloween tradition was started in Tbilisi a few years ago by some expats that has really gained momentum. For the regular entrance fee, the Tbilisi Open Air Museum of Ethnography allows families to come in, claim a house, or porch, as it were, and hand out candy to all the other little ones who come along trick or treating. 

Everyone is encouraged to bring candy to share; we stayed until ours was gone. There were easily hundreds of kids there. It's a great event which I hope will continue.

Commute

The route to school and back home again. I must have taken it at least 500 times, and half of them with this guy. Sometimes we take it fast, sometimes we take it slow. Here's a day in the life.

We don't just "take the stairs", we take things to the next level.

The crocs are extra grippy.

If there's a hole, we'll find something to put in it.

Finding your reflection is always a bonus.

Double handsome.

We stop to check out cars, but hope for trucks.

This can last a while.

We could do this all day.

Sometimes we take a short bus ride,

and stop by our favorite flower lady.

The cemetery never gets old.

At last we make it to the final ascent,

never missing opportunities to jump,

or hold bugs.

But we put them back

when we get home.

Tbilisoba

On our third and last October in country we made it to Tbilisoba, the annual street festival which celebrates the 1,500 year history of Tbilisi. We understood it had somewhat devolved over the years into an excuse to drink and party in the streets, but this year they took extra pains to organize and clean it up, and we had a great time. For the kids, any time there's face painting involved it's a win.

Teaching, seeking and sorting