David Paresashvili – Christmas Essay

I will discuss New Year. We celebrate on the 1^st and 7^th of January as in Russia, Ethiopia, Ukraine, Greece, Belarus, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, North Macedonia, Cyprus and Montenegro and not on the 25^th of December. One week before the New Year we make Churchkhela. Churchkhela is a traditional Georgian dessert. The main ingredients of Churchkhela are grape juice, nuts, and flour. Almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts are threaded onto a string and dipped in thickened grape juice. It has to be dried before New Year, so it can be enjoyed during the New Year’s feast. 

When we are discussing the Georgian New Year’s table we cannot forget about Gozinaki. Gozinaki is a traditional Georgian dessert made of caramelized nuts fried in honey, and served exclusively on New Year’s Eve and Christmas.

On New Year’s Eve when it is past midnight a person called ”Mekvle’’ will enter your house. The Mekvle wishes the whole family a prosperous and happy year ahead. 

2^nd January is called,”Bedoba’’. People believe that if you are happy and do good things, the whole year will be happy for you. If you are unhappy and do bad things you will be sad the whole year. I don’t believe in Bedoba and I haven’t done anything special on Bedoba.

The famous Georgian astrologer Michael Tsagareli gives advice about what to do on New Year’s Eve. He advised that, because it is the year of the rabbit, there has to be vegetables on the table such as carrots or cabbage. I also do not believe in Astrology.

We celebrate Christmas on January 7^th and we celebrate the old New Year on 14^th January.

Author: David Paresashvili