Georgia on my Mind: Halloween

Halloween is one of the holidays that is harder to celebrate overseas because it is so American. Unlike Christmas or Easter there is no Georgian version of Halloween. So I had to get my Peace Corps goal #2 on and share Halloween. (Goal #2 is to help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served). We* kicked the party off with our American Club. The kids were very excited about it as were we. We made them bob for apples, eat food off a string, and do a cake walk. We ended the party with watching the old Disney movie Ichabod. My grandmother owns the old vinyl record of the soundtrack for this movie. I always think of her when I hear the songs. It was a nice reminder of home. Anyway the kids had brought so much candy and cakes. A good time was had by all. After the party I carved pumpkins with my host sister at home. I tried an owl I saw on Pinterest. I'm not going to lie, "I saw it on Pinterest" is something I say way to much. It turned out ok.
I love dressing up, a lot, but this year I just couldn't get a good idea. For the American club I went as Miss Scarlet from the board game clue*. I love this game, but it turns out no one here has played it. I had a hard time picking what to be for the Halloween party in Kutaisi. I ended up going as a flower garden. it was kind of a lame costume, but easy to pull off. A group of us stayed with our friend who is living in Kutaisi. Her apartment is amazing and she has made it so homey. It's like a little bit of America here in Georgia. On Saturday night we all went out to a restaurant we had rented for the night. We had a great dinner and danced our little hearts out. The restaurant has big windows and I am sure that people thought we were crazy as they walked by, but we didn't really care.
The next day I had to be home in time for a work event, so I got on the 1:00 home. The meeting went well and then it was off to my next activity, my first Georgian wedding. I had so much fun eating and dancing with my host family's family. It turns out the best way to find a spot at a Georgian wedding is to find the table with the best looking cake a sit at it. I like cake so this system works really well for me.