A cause for celebration

My friend Maria is teaching English in Georgia this spring and summer (the country, not the state). I asked her to write about the food, because I know nothing about Georgian food. Or Georgia, for that matter. Three weeks in, here's what she has to report. 

The food here is attached to Georgian communal collective culture. Here in a little mountain village, people live similarly to the pioneers with everyone congregating in the one room in their house where there is a wood burning stove. The family I live with has grandparents who live with the family, the father who does something with the environment (the language barrier is difficult), the mother who is cooking constantly, and their two teenage kids who take turns on Facebook for most of the evening. Modernity meets the villages...

Hospitality is inextricably tied to the culture. My family has friends and family over every evening. They often stay for a few hours. Even if someone stops by, the cakes and fruit appear. They have the most wonderful type of cherries here, which they also press into juice. I just went on a run past everyone's grape vines in their backyards. My family has a fair amount of vines that they press into wine that seems to carry them throughout the year. They drink wine. Lots of it. People tell me that there are few alcoholics in Georgia because they never drink alone. Perhaps it’s true because every day seems like a cause for celebration. They have these supras, or Georgian feasts, which can last for hours.

The motivation of people to work hard and be independent is rare. People value their families above education. I have two co-teachers who are Georgians who learned English in the national university in Tbilisi and teach in the village. Since I have been here, they have asked me to teach by myself because they had to go home for a birthday party or something.... The mentality is just as important to understand as the food.