speak in different accents or dialects of English, people in Greece and Cyprus speak in different dialects of Greek. And even though Cyprus is a very small country in comparison to the United States, people in different cities and villages within Cyprus sometimes have their own dialects! They are all speaking the same language, Greek, but some sounds and words are unique to their different dialects. In some cases, people speaking different dialects of the same language might have trouble understanding each other! For example, a colleague told me recently that Greek speakers in the city of Limassol, near where I live, sometimes cannot easily understand Greek speakers from Paphos, a city just 45 minutes away by car!
However, now that I'm visiting the country of Georgia, I don't hear any Greek at all. That's because the primary language here is actually Georgian. It has its own special script that's very different from the Greek alphabet I'm now used to. Other languages sometimes used on signs here include English, Russian, and Turkish. For example, check out this sign featuring (from left to right) Georgian, English, and Russian. Informational signs like this are a huge help for tourists like me since (so far) I've only learned one Georgian word: მადლობა (pronounced "madloba"), which means "thanks."
Since I introduced you to the euro in my last logbook, have you been wondering what it looks like? Well, wonder no more because here are some photographs! Euro coins come in increments of 1¢, 2¢, 5¢, 10¢, 20¢ 50¢, €1, and €2. Paper banknotes, or bills, come in increments of €5, €10, €20, €50, €100, €200, and €500, but I’ve never seen one bigger than €100.
