I left my country, family and friends behind to live the experience of being an EVS volunteer in Georgia for three months. Impressed by this old culture, I came here to discover it in details, to leave something behind me when I will return to Romania and to take with me wonderful memories.
So, on 6th of June my journey started. Overwhelming emotions and beyond expectations. I was passing on an ex-communist territory with many crooked thoughts precisely because I heard so many stereotypes about Sakartvelo. But I left aside preconceived ideas; I wanted to find Georgia through my eyes, mind and soul.
First contact with Georgia: very friendly and hospitable people. From the airport you are welcomed with this message, written with big letters: TBILISI, the city that loves you! And also, like nowhere else they use 3 words for saying YES (Ki, Ho, Diah), and just one for NO (Ara).
As a first impression, Georgians are not as different as I thought they are, compared with the Romanians, we have a lot of things in common one reason being our common Russian period, but you will discover this from my stories.
The bridge between cultures - Episode 1
First steps. Music and dance is what define this nation. Special costumes, rhythm, passion, precision moves and joy of life.
This is the first thing that really impressed me when I was searching information about Georgia. I had the opportunity to see their traditional dances live many times and for some minutes it was like I was living in other times.
For example, Kartuli dance is such a romantic dance performed in couple. It looks like even in dance, men uphold their respect and manners by not touching the woman and keeping a certain distance from her. And the woman, on the other hand, maintains a downward gaze at all times whilst seeming to float effortlessly over the stage. To perform this dance its needed to practice technical precision and that is the reason why it has earned it the reputation as one of the most difficult Georgian dances in existence.(Video: Kartuli1, 2)
Acharuli – Colorful costumes and playful mood that define this Georgian dance. Acharuli instills the sense of happiness in both the dancer and the audience.(Video: Acharuli, Traditional Music, Osuri Dance)Kazbeguri - From the Northen Mountains of Georgia, the dance transmits the toughness and endurance of the people living there.(Video: Kazbeguri)
Khevsuruli - This mountain dance it is said to be the best representative of the Georgian spirit. It unites love, courage, and respect for women, toughness, competition, skill, beauty, and colorfulness into one amazing performance. (Video: Khevsuruli)
In each dance women preserves their main role. But it’s a reciprocity that barely can be noticed. They have their own mystic values which can lead you to their original time being.
All you really have to do is to open your heart in front of this free sharing stage of Caucasus beauties.
Written by: Ionela Munteanu
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