понедельник, 3 августа 2009 г.

Montenegro




Montenegro translates as Mount Black, or--I wouldn't like it to sound as if it were Old Anguisch or Muddle English--Black Mountain. In the local language it sounds like Cherno-GORE-ia.

The spoken language is Serbo-Croatian. I assert it as a linguist. But if you aren't a linguist and/or you don't want local people to go after you with baseball bats, in Serbia you must say the language is Serbian, and in Croatia Croatian. Some national firebrands suggest that in Montenegro they speak Montenegrin. (What a black grin of destiny!) It's the same language, really. However, Serbs write in Cyrillic, while Croats and Montenegrins write in Latin.

The local currency is--you wouldn't believe it--euro. Some officials in the European Community decided to punish Serbs for being Serbs by leaving Serbia without the sea. They skillfully goaded Montenegrins into seeking independence from the union with Serbia. Although people on both sides feel like twin brothers separated at birth, Montenegrins feel proud to have euro as their national currency, all the more so because the neighboring Croatia has its own local currency no one knows or cares about.

The capital is Podgorica - Pod-GORE-itsa. There is some taste of gore in both, the name of the country and its capital, don't you think? It could be explained by their history, I suppose. Podgoritca literally means Under-mountain-itsa. We traveled all around the country. Every town and village their is a Podgoritsa, because it will inevitably and comfortably be located under a mountain.

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