Scrabble In Georgian!, Ushguli

Top:  Bebia (Grabdmother) Tsiala carding wool.  Lots of work still ahead:  spinning it into yarn on a thing which looks like a wooden spinning top, then knitting socks or  sweater from it - I have a set of each of these, treasured things from her

Bottom 3:  Attention Attention!  On February 23, 2009 the first ever Georgian-language game of Scrabble as far as I know) was played, right here in the Ratianis' guesthouse in Ushguli.  To prepare for it we made a count of letters from a sample of text, to determine their order from most common to rarest and assign inverse values to the letters.  Then we cut out paper squares and wrote proportionally correct amounts of the letters on them, along with their assigned point values.  We used the existing tablecloth, the grid pattern for which had given me the idea in the first place.  Somewhat relaxed rules - our letters not hidden from other players, and a simpler crossword layout as well, for this first stab at the game, which seems to have been quite successful.  Why all the bother?  We were without electricity again, and I was desperate for something to do to entertain the family.  "Alas", the power came back the next day, and TV & soap operas with it, ruling force in this part of the world.  But Scrabble will have its next day yet!