DidGori Festival

DidGori - Famous Georgian battle of 1121

Celebrated on the original battle grounds of Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia, my home now! As the story goes, King David the Builder was fighting the Turks. He chose this place, way up in the mountain, since he knew his soldiers could fight in the mountains, and perhaps the Turks could not.  He was outnumbered 5 to 1, but still won.  (Remember, this is Kim you are reading, who tends ignore most details, but I think I got it right)

A beautiful day, dancing, folk music, jousting, wrestling, the regional Patriarch, the Georgian Prime Minister and others spoke. The famous Nato Metonidze sang the national anthem. It was a lovely day, and cooler than in Koda, my new home settlement and village.

Georgian Hospitality

The Georgian's have lived on the Silk Road for centuries. They have been invaded and taken over too many times to count.  So I think they have it in their genes now to be nice to everyone, just in case...

They even have a saying that a guest is a gift from God.   Their reputation for generosity is well known.

So here is my latest example of Georgian hospitality..  I had to review a educational camp that was going on in the eastern region of the country.  So a young Georgian woman and I took a taxi out to the town. (It was $6 each for us to go 2 1/2 hours, btw!)  The taxi driver was so nice, that I took his number and called him when we needed a ride back to Tbilisi, the capitol.

He arrived at the camp and ran a few errands that the camp needed, which was very kind.  As we finally headed for home the taxi driver insisted on stopping for coffee at his cousin's house.  Honest.  Fortunately I was with a local or I would have thought I was being kidnapped.  The cousin was as nice as could be, with this unexpected company.  She brought out coffee, beer, tomatoes, cucumbers, a bean salad, and several other dishes. Then, when I asked, she showed me around her garden for the next hour (!).  It was impressive - every kind of fruit tree, fresh figs, apples, peaches, plums, and hazelnuts.  Here is what hazelnuts look like just off the tree, in case you were wondering.  They are really good too.

We have a joke in Georgia about Georgia Time ( GT),  like being in Mexico.  Everyone is always late.  Now I'm beginning to see why; maybe their priorities are just a little different.  :-)

Here is a picture of the cousin and niece, doing her daily chore, grinding the corn for feed I assume.  And look behind the table at what still remains to be done.  And they weren't complaining either.

Ah, life in Georgia...