TBILISI, GEORGIA (WENY) -- Last week, you may have noticed something was a little odd during WENY News at 6 - both Renata Stiehl and Nick Quattrini were not in the studio! They were away from the station, we were taking part of a television exchange program - bringing four staff members from WENY to the Republic of Georgia.

After more than a day of travel, we touched down in Georgia, kicking off the workweek by meeting our Georgian TV counterparts, and getting right to work.     It's the second half an exchange bringing together the two TV stations, under the Georgian Media Partnership Program.

"Over the past several years we have worked with several Lilly [Broadcasting] stations, and now we are working with WENY in Elmira, and Marneuli TV has been very lucky, they have already had one visit over, and this week we have had four staffers from the United States visiting them and working alongside," explained Maya Mateshvili, Senior Program Officer, GMPP for IREX Georgia.

Back in April, three staffers from Marneuli TV visited WENY for a week. Now, it was our turn. We spent the week exploring the Marneuli region with the news crew on stories, as well as working alongside production and sales staff. Helping the station create its first on-air promo, and assisting in creating a sales presentation for potential advertising clients. 

"I think they learn a lot from somebody who is in the exact same position as they are. And they can see first hand when they go over, from people who do the exact same job, maybe on a different scale, in a different environment, what are the challenges that they encounter, which are usually very similar, what are some of the same opportunities, and how things are done, because I think that you are a few steps ahead always, and there are a lot of learning opportunities so they can do it first hand," explained Maya.

"I think this past week has been very productive, we have created some things this past week that have never been done before. Now we have launched weather forecast, we now have professional pages on social media, we have a station promo, we have news teasers, so a lot of firsts for us this week" said Marneuli TV reporter and anchor, Eka Eradze.

Marneuli TV has a lot of similarities to WENY; a small but dedicated staff, and family-owned station with a news team covering stories that impact the community; from issues affecting local farmers, topics impacting quality of life, and even the country's upcoming presidential election.

During our off time in Georgia, we got the chance to explore the capital city of Tbilisi, and take in many of the sites and amenities Georgia has to offer.

The country of Georgia offers many different types of cultural foods, everything from cheese bread called kapachuri, dumplings named khinkali, and homemade bread and wine. The country is considered the "cradle of wine", as grape seeds believed to be the oldest in the world were discovered in Georgia. 

Dinners in Georgia are something to behold; our friends at Marneuli TV held feasts for their guests from WENY. And a feast is not complete without a toastmaster, making many toasts throughout the course of the evening, for friends and family of past, present and future.

While traveling in the country, there were a few culture shocks that threw us a curve ball. Traffic was intense, even by New York City standards. Stop signs and traffic lights were few and far between, with drivers making risky passes on highways and rural roads. 

Another difference from the United States - in the areas we visited, street dogs and cats were common. Some dogs had yellow tags on their ears, indicating they had been tagged and vaccinated. All of the dogs we encountered on our trip were very friendly.

Overall, the people of Georgia showed amazing hospitality, and embrace their culture of history and tradition, despite a tumultuous past that included decades of Soviet occupation and aggression. Scars of those dark times are still present in the capital of Tbilisi, where some buildings still bore bullet holes.

Georgians are incredibly proud of their country, and their nation's independence. Despite those dark times, the Georgian people have held on to their culture, and continue to raise a glass to their land and their people.