another "geopolitical wtf?" series
part one. introducing the nation of georgia.
Let's start here: Georgia is about the size of West Virginia, and is known for its wine (they claim to have invented it), its mountains, its poets, and its Black Sea coastline. In mythological days, the Argonauts visited proto-Georgia's coast seeking the golden fleece; in USSR days Soviet officials visited Georgia's coast looking for a prized holiday.
grape stomping party in tbilisi
The Georgians are famous for their hospitality and their enthusiastic parties. My Bosnian friend Boris said about his visit there that
I loved Georgia, for its wine, food, music and amazing landscape, not to mention the language(s) which are unique and very rich with beautiful and fun expressions. Here's an example...Where we would say here [in Bosnia],'ne zna se ko pije a ko placa,' which literally means 'you can't tell who's drinking and who's footing the bill' ("IT'S A MESS"), - Georgians say '(it's so f'ed up that) a dog would not recognize his master!'
Georgia is located in the Caucasus region. Wedged between two seas, south of Russia, northeast of Turkey, north of Armenia and Iran. The Caucasus, if you don't know, is also a stunning mountain range:
But, a side effect of ALL THOSE MOUNTAINS is that the people who lived in them developed lots and lots and lots of microcultures -- as of the last count the Caucasus contained @ least 29 discrete languages!
if you can believe it, this map is a simplification of the caucasus' ethnolinguistic diversity -- a totally amazing interactive map detailing all the languages can be found here
Sooo, Georgia is full of Georgians...Georgians who worship at Georgian Orthodox churches, drink wine, speak Georgian, and use the Georgian alphabet. But it also contains Abkhaz, Greeks, Azeris...and, yes, Ossetians! I'll get to the Ossetians tomorrow, along with the oil pipelines, Rose Revolution, USAID, Russian passport bonanzas, and more.
I love the Georgian alphabet.
Let's start here: Georgia is about the size of West Virginia, and is known for its wine (they claim to have invented it), its mountains, its poets, and its Black Sea coastline. In mythological days, the Argonauts visited proto-Georgia's coast seeking the golden fleece; in USSR days Soviet officials visited Georgia's coast looking for a prized holiday.
grape stomping party in tbilisi
The Georgians are famous for their hospitality and their enthusiastic parties. My Bosnian friend Boris said about his visit there that
I loved Georgia, for its wine, food, music and amazing landscape, not to mention the language(s) which are unique and very rich with beautiful and fun expressions. Here's an example...Where we would say here [in Bosnia],'ne zna se ko pije a ko placa,' which literally means 'you can't tell who's drinking and who's footing the bill' ("IT'S A MESS"), - Georgians say '(it's so f'ed up that) a dog would not recognize his master!'
Georgia is located in the Caucasus region. Wedged between two seas, south of Russia, northeast of Turkey, north of Armenia and Iran. The Caucasus, if you don't know, is also a stunning mountain range:
But, a side effect of ALL THOSE MOUNTAINS is that the people who lived in them developed lots and lots and lots of microcultures -- as of the last count the Caucasus contained @ least 29 discrete languages!
if you can believe it, this map is a simplification of the caucasus' ethnolinguistic diversity -- a totally amazing interactive map detailing all the languages can be found here
Sooo, Georgia is full of Georgians...Georgians who worship at Georgian Orthodox churches, drink wine, speak Georgian, and use the Georgian alphabet. But it also contains Abkhaz, Greeks, Azeris...and, yes, Ossetians! I'll get to the Ossetians tomorrow, along with the oil pipelines, Rose Revolution, USAID, Russian passport bonanzas, and more.
I love the Georgian alphabet.