A Brief Overview of the Trans-Caucasus

The U.S. census refers to the white races as Caucasians. It turns out the people who inhabit the three countries we toured (Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia) looked more Arab or Persian in western dress, which may be the only thing they have in common. Azerbaijan is Muslim, but not overly religious. There is no problem drinking beer in public or private. Georgia is very Christian, the people never pass a church without blessing themselves and the women still cover their heads when entering a church. Armenia is Christian, but according to a tour guide, after years of communist rule, the inhabitants are still trying to figure out how to express it. The best of all differences is that they each speak their own language with its unique alphabet. This made figuring the name of stops on the metro a challenge.