In 2012 I spent a month in Georgia. When I first arrived there I was struck by a sense of familiarity even though it was my first time in the country. I grew up in Romania and left for United States just when the country was warming up to westernization. I saw many similarities between Georgia and Romania, such as the resigned faces of a people long used to making ends meet. I saw houses and buildings that did not have the luxury of proper upkeep, unlike some religious institutions. Yet among the poverty there was also an awareness and a deep pride for their cultural history.