Just a Regular Tuesday Night

Last night Seth and I went out to dinner. It was a spur of the moment decision made by people every day but it turned out to be a great night in Georgia.

We had intended to meet some of Seth's colleagues for dinner, but when they canceled he came to pick my up at work and take me home as it was a rainy, chilly night. On the way home we passed a restaurant, saw an available parking space and decided to give it a try.

The place was small, and sparsely furnished with wooden tables and chairs. After several awkward instances of lingering at the door of restaurants we have learned that in Georgia, you always seat yourself, so we walked to the back of the room and found a table.

The waitress came over, spoke English and handed us a menu in English, a much appreciated gesture to these 2 tired Americans. They had beer on tap and the table behind us was crowded by a group of men who would spontaneously break into traditional Georgian song. It is difficult to describe this style of singing, acapella with layers of harmony, hauntingly beautiful. After their songs those of us sitting near by applauded or raised a glass in a toast.

The food came and it was delicious, roast pork, meatloaf stuffed with herbs and cheese with an over-medium egg on top and French fries! We ate, we talked about our day and told each other stories like any other dinner out.

One of the men at the table behind us got up to leave, apparently having had a few too many glasses of wine. He took a few missteps dropping his coat in the process. When Seth got up to help him he shook our hands and said "Nakhvamdis!" ("Good bye") We exchanged laughs and smiles with his table of friends. A few moments later the waitress came over with 2 shot glasses of Georgian whiskey and said, "I'm sorry but these are from the table behind you." We toasted them thankfully and tossed back the shot. After the waitress convinced me to have one more beer, "A small one!" We packed ourselves up and headed home.

When we got in the car I looked at Seth and said, "We just had a completely unplanned and fantastic night. You can tell that we are beginning to feel more at home here because nothing about tonight felt unusual or out of the ordinary, but when was the last time in the States that you went out to dinner, had the table behind you break into beautiful song throughout the meal while we talked and then bought us a shot?"

This night was a perfect example of the "Georgian hospitality" everyone talks about. It can take you awhile to find it, but once you do, you will begin to notice it in the most unlikely places and it will endear this country to your heart.