You know what part of the world I really don't know enough about?

Those countries that cluster around the Caspian Sea in Asia, but really seem to be straddling several continental regions at once...

On the West side:

Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia--kind of Middle Eastern, kind of European.

On the East side:

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan--kind of Middle Eastern, kind of Asian.

And the funny part is that these nations are SURROUNDED by household names: Turkey, Iran, Russia, China. They are countries that have been conquered countless times in history, most recently by the USSR, but comparatively little history seems to have come out of them, since their invaders were usually on their way somewhere else. None of them are what you would call powerful, or indeed populous--but neither are they "trouble spots" appearing regularly in the news, like nearby Afghanistan and Pakistan. Offhand, I couldn't even tell you what the principle religion is of any of these places, although my first guess would be either Christian Orthodox or Islam.

Anyone ever been to any of these countries? Know people who hail from this large, unsung part of the world? I am intrigued.

She's very interesting (and good at her work ;)) and we've sometimes talked about places to eat and shop in Houston. Many of the countries in and around Iran practice the religion of Zoroastrianism

Houston, by the way, has a huge Middle Eastern population and the stores and shops to match. I eat regularly at a Palestinian cafe called Zabak's and shop sometimes at Phoenicia grocery. I would love to travel to any of the countries around the Caspian sea, too :D

That's where the Akhal Teke originated.

and I wound up reading a bunch of books and seeing some movies about the area.

It's typically referred to as "Central Asia," and damn... they have an interesting traditional way of life in some of those countries.

Traditionally, many of them were nomadic sheep herders and lived in Yurts on the steppe or in the desert. Some of the men have trained hunting eagles. The word on the street is that their food there is completely awful, like horse meat and sheep fat boiled with noodles. They have a drink made of fermented horse milk. Apples come from that part of the world, and there are giant apple forests in Kazakhstan. The non-Russian people in the eastern parts of Central Asia look very "Asian," (sort of like Chinese people to this white girl). They're traditionally very horse-oriented, and they play a game that's like polo with a dead goat.

It's a part of the world that is worth learning more about. :D

(Oh, and this part of the world was the subject of "The Great Game" between the British in India and the Russians in Russia. The Turks and Mongols also got in there.)

Good times.

That's why the whole "Borat" hoax was so successful, although I have to wonder if some people didn't find him suspiciously too much of a cross between Freddy Mercury and Balky from "Perfect Strangers." :P