Thursday, May 28, 2015

Georgia! (the country) -- Getting There


I'm happy to report that I just started my most recent international excursion -- a 3-week trip through Georgia, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Slovenia, and Croatia!


I find myself again in a transition, again on an adventure. A lot has changed since I blogged about my pre-grad school Nepal/Southeast Asia trip. For one, I now have a Master's degree. But much more importantly,  I have a whole host of new friends -- people I love so much I can't believe we've known each other for such a short time.

My Fletcher people are all going in different directions -- quite literally all over the world -- but while the world is large our interconnectedness makes it small (sorry, cheesy I know, but true). I'm now on my way to Georgia with a group of six friends: one Dutch, one Kiwi, one American who lives in Baku, one Hungarian-American, another American American, and myself of course.

I'm becoming a pretty well-seasoned traveler, but I don't think I'll ever lose the excitement. That thrilling feeling of stepping onto an airplane and not knowing exactly what to expect when I step off. Our first city is Tbilisi, Georgia, and we're immediately heading into the mountains to a region called Kazbegi that looks absolutely amazing. Beyond that I have minimal expectations and maximum enthusiasm!

Right now though the trip has barely even begun. So far all I can tell you is that a New York bagel with cream cheese eaten in a Lower East Side park is quite pleasant on a late May morning. That our cab driver incredulously exclaimed, "Azerbaijan?? Ha! No, Azerbaijan is not for tourism," semi-scandalized but mostly amused by our young American idiocy. That Azerbaijan Air is pleasant surprisingly fancy. And that an 11-hour flight totals to one nap, two movies, three meals, and 192 pages of reading. 

(The "cocoons" at Baku's airport where we transferred.)

It will get more exciting I promise. I will, of course, keep you posted!