Georgian hospitality

Tower of the wall in Signnaghi

Georgians are known to be very hospital towards guests and foreigners. I was told a story which highlights how important it is to be a good host for visitors. People from UNICEF was visiting Georgian rural areas to see if families needed some aid. The news about arrival of visitors reached the area and the families wanted to wish them welcome. One of the poor families was struggling and thinking how they could give the visitors a warm welcome. The family felt that they did not have anything good enough to offer for the visitors. Finally the family came up with an idea to sacrifice their only chicken which provided them steadily eggs and serve it for the visitors. When the visitors heard this they thought that sacrificing the chicken was stupid but the hospitality was so important to the family that they sacrificed something very valuable for them.

Georgians do not let you pay when you are their guest and will insist serving different foods. Though tourism has increased in Georgia and now there are also people who are taking advantage of the tourists. Beggars can be aggressive towards foreigners and sales people might charge more from foreigners.