Bottoms Up!

I have been reading up a bit on the culture and customs of Georgia. I learned the importance of the tamada at a traditional Georgian feast and have been kidding my friend, Nana, and calling myself the "master tamada" when I host dinner parties (even though tamada's are traditionally male). She recently told me that she had a gift for me since I had made myself a self-proclaimed tamada. She gave me a drinking horn! Wow! It’s beautiful, really, and an object I will possess the rest of my life.
Here’s some things I learned about the tamada and the drinking horn:
"There is a tradition that no Georgian meal is complete without wine and a "tamada," the host or toastmaster, whose role is to create a ambience and ensure that everyone present can socialize and enjoy the occasion. A good tamada is a poet, philosopher, social commentator, orator, singer (that’s me!) who creatively improvises a beautiful atmosphere of community, camaraderie and love through his toasts which introduce periods of tranquility and reflection amidst the extroverted energy of table conversation. Georgians are in fact very proud and generous with their wine, and since toasts are the only occasion when one is supposed to drink their wine, there are many toasts. In fact, Georgians will use just about anything as an excuse to toast. A foreign visitor is a great excuse to do so (I can’t wait to visit Georgia with Nana!).
If you are being toasted, you are supposed to wait until the tamada has finished, then stand up and thank the toaster. You should wait until everyone else is done before drinking your wine in one go. If the tamada says "Alaverdi!" to you, you should elaborate on his toast.
Most Georgian homes have a large ram’s or goat’s horn called a khantsi. This will invariably be brought out at some point during the meal, filled with wine and handed to an honored guest. The honored guest is supposed to drink it to the bottom (oh, yeah).
I’m looking forward to my trip to Georgia, most likely in late summer, 2007. :)