Using Russian For Traveling

I thought I’d take a break from writing about the philosophical content of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, and just share a little bit about my travels abroad in Russian-speaking countries in the past year or so. I was fortunate enough to live in Georgia for roughly 10 months and also visit the country of Azerbaijan. I'm currently in Georgia for part of the summer, and I've had a chance to practice both Georgian and Russian while I've been here. (Though I know far more Georgian than I do Russian).

Russian used to be the official language of Georgia until the collapse of the Soviet Union, so a fairly large percentage of Georgians are fluent in both Georgian and Russian. The younger population is getting quite good at English, but if you go to the villages, you are far more likely to encounter Georgian and Russian speakers who hardly speak any English (in my experience). There are also a large number of Russian speakers in Azerbaijan (38% according to Wikipedia) but it is no longer an official language. But the point is really this: traveling in either of these countries is entirely possible if you know Russian- even just a little Russian can take you a long way. Sure, you can "get by" with knowing English too- but knowing Russian can improve your experience immensely.

Here are just a few pictures from my travels. I hope they encourage you to add these two countries to your list of places to visit! (And places to practice your Russian!)

The beauty of Georgia & Azerbaijan:

(The last 4 pics are from Azerbaijan- unfortunately, I didn't take enough pics while I was there!)