It's Thanksgiving

I just had the best cake I've ever hard in Armenia. My host mom said Mandarinov, meaning 'made with mandarins.' And this wasn't even for Thanksgiving. This was yesterday. The cake was about the consistency of carrot cake, but with a sortof citrusy taste, and wasn't a taste I am used to tasting here in Armenia (Mandarins aside, which are in season right now and coming from Georgia).

Today is Thanksgiving and I plan on going to dinner at a Georgian restaurant in town called Tiflis (The old name for the capital of Georgia, Tblisi).

I've been there once before and it was pretty good, it's a nice restaurant, and while there is not Turkey, I'm sure it will be good.

Georgian food is somewhat similar to Armenian food, though I have heard they use more spices. We're probably going to be having khachapuri tonight, which while Georgian, my host family has prepared.

There are a lot of things in this region that are shared between countries. While the peoples in this area are ancient, the whole concept of a single nation state existing here is really only a little over 100 years old, and despite what might be evidenced from the recent (historically speaking) conflicts in this area, the ethnic groups here really have gotten along quite well, co-existing, inter-marrying. The most famous poets from the middle ages never wrote in a single language and used some combination of Armenian, Azeri, Georgian, and Persian in their poems. The cultures here, and their shared traditions, whether they're culinary or artistic, show the inter-connectedness of this area. It's not something we learn or are told about, because as far as people here are concerned, it's always been like this for them.

This weekend and the following week is the all-volunteer conference and so on Sunday we'll be having our own thanksgiving dinner on that day with all the volunteers, so I'll still be having a Thanksgiving, it'll just be a little later.