Writer Erla Zwingle and photographer Randy Olson roamed through the Black Sea coasts of northern Turkey and Georgia, documenting
with the help of some local experts, the people who still clings, to a certain extent, to the past. These people ( the Cepni, Rum,.Hemsin, Laz and Pontic Greeks of Turkey; and the Abkhaz, Svan, Mingrellian, Tush, Khevsur and Kist of Georgia), amidst the landscape of modernity, honors their ancient traditions that links them despite differences in language and geography. In Georgia they learned about a feast celebrated in a superficially Christian manner; yet it honors a heathen spirit called the khati, and animal
sacrifices is an important part of the celebration. People here have managed to weave Christianity and paganism together, no matter how they contradict each other. Wine is considered a sacred beverage here; and the toast, unlike the familiar jovial one, is solemn and formal. In Turkey although most people have assimilated themselves to modern life, a few still do a yearly migration to the yayla , or a summer pasture nestled high on the mountains. They for once in a while return to a simple, rustic lifestyle of herding and milking cows, and making hay. The
tradition begins to decline, as more and more young Turks spend summer vacations in beaches or abroad. But the older ones are still optimistic that there will be some who will keep the yayla tradition alive.