For Love of the Caucasus.

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[thecaucasus]

A bunch of students from the Baku State University made a video to reclaim Azerbaijani words in everyday speech instead of the often-used Russian ones. My guess is most of these words must be quite prevalent in everyday speech elsewhere in the Caucasus. They are:

redkiy - nadir - rare

dazhe - hətta - even

luboy - istənilən - any

prosto - sadəcə - just

ostonovka - dayanacağ - bus stop

uzhe - artıq - already

neuzheli - nə əcəb - really/seriously?

voobshe - ümumiyətlə - generally

ruçka - qələm - pen

Anyone from the region has to know how how easy it is to reach for the word uzhe/уже. The struggle is real.

[through-the-postern-gate]

[thecaucasus]

Important news: Ali and Nino the movie is currently being shot (or principled photographied) in Baku. There'll be shots in Istanbul as well, according to this website. Also according to that website, Ali will be portrayed by Adam Bakri (from Omar) (yes, yes, and yes again), while Maria Valverde will play the part of Nino.

Here's a quote that I can't wait to hear in fake Hollywoodian Arab accents: Tell me Ali, what do you love me for?  

[tatevikvardanyan]

look

[thecaucasus]

Yerevan, Armenia

[harpy]

[thecaucasus]

harpy:

English: Postcard of an Armenian woman from Shamakhi, Azerbaijan Հայերեն: Հայուհի Շամախիից Russian: Армянка из Шемахи. Почтовая открытка. Date: Taken before 1917

Looks like it belongs to this series of late Russian Empire era postcards, all titled "the Caucasus types." 

[thecaucasus]

nergishatun:

Arshin Mal Alan - Toy

The first two hava/raqs aka tunes are Suleymani and Vaqzali, classics for any wedding. Full and clearer version of the film here. 

[georgiainphotographs]

Kareli, Georgia

[architectureofdoom]

A McDonald’s in Georgia

from architizer.com

[thecaucasus]

in Batumi, on your way from the city center to the airport, you will see a space ship that sells shitty burgers.

[thecaucasus]

Call to Prayer, by Frank Noe on flickr

Joao makes a nearly accurate call to prayer. It was good, and it certainly got the Armenian troops stirred up a little bit.

Seen in the video is one of the two minarets of the Yukhari Gover Agha Aghdam Mosque, built in the 18th 19th century in Shusha Aghdam, Nagorno Karabakh. Following the war, once majority-Azeri Aghdam has been mostly abandoned. 

The video was shot in 2008. the domes of the minarets since then have been removed [The mosque whose minarets is missing the domes is the one in Shusha, whose photo taken in 2010 says "Persian mosque restored", although the mosque is of course not Persian, it was commissioned, built and used by Azeris of Karabakh.]

edit: This mosque is the one in Aghdam, not Shusha as one of the commenters of the video stated. It was built by Karbalayi Safikhan Karabakhi, the same architect that built the two Shusha mosques, and is in a dilapidated state. Thanks for the correction Vartan. 

[alphasoixante]

[lerevel]

Ruínas de Agdam. Nagorno Karabakh by Uxío on Flickr.

[thecaucasus]

Today marks 70 years after the Soviet administration exiled tens of thousands of Turks from Georgia's Akhaltsikhe region on November 14th, 1944, because they "threatened border security." Loaded on carts and trains and deprived of all of their possessions, they were dispersed to all over the Soviet Union, many dying on the way. Today half a million of them live all over the world.  

[thecaucasus]

The Journey to Abkhazia - Part 1:

Above is the Inguri (or Enguri) bridge that separates Georgia and Abkhazia. 

There are two ways to get into the world's greenest unrecognized republic*. You could fly, drive or take a boat (from Turkey) to Sochi, and cross the border from the Russian side, like the majority of whoever goes to Abkhazia. But would that be much fun? Probably not. You could also travel to Zugdidi in northern Georgia, take a cab or marshutka from Zugdidi to the border (which the Georgians don't call that, of course), show your papers to the chill Georgians sitting in their butka, and then walk for a kilometer or two until you see the Russian-controlled Abkhaz border control (which is the opposite of chill). You will need:

previously obtained entry paper from the Abkhazia Ministry of Foreign Affairs (not a visa. you will have to go get the visa once you are already in Abkhazia) an easy to get document that will be corresponded via a gmail address.**

to know what you will tell various Georgians when they ask you "what's in Abkhazia?" or, the longer version, "what could you see in Abkhazia that you can't in Georgia?" this is a fair point, but not too fair. Karena told me that someone told her you should say "I have seen most of Georgia, so I want to see this part of it as well." Say it with a smile though because Georgians are not to be bullshitted. 

to know a few Russian words, just in case. this will be most helpful later when you are trying to eat local food and not some bland pizza.

a camera that is not giant and can be hidden in your pocket. if you are the type that doesn't need to capture everything and is just happy savoring the moment, good for you I guess. 

sunscreen. always sunscreen. 

*Unconfirmed.

**Check the document very carefully for any mistakes. Check again if you are a US citizen. More on this in part 2, once we cross that bridge. 

[thecaucasus]

The promenade, Sokhum, Abkhazia. Summer 2014.

[thecaucasus]

Front seat of the cab that might take you from the Zugdidi Train Station to the Georgia-Abkhazia crossing. 

[sovietpostcards]

Sochi 1955 (via Маленькие записки - Привет из Сочи!)

[aatlin-blog]

“lost”

my first visit to kond.