a retrospective travel blog?

its my blog, so i can post when i want to (even if that is from the decidedly non-exotic locale of my kitchen table).

i am very sad hearing the news coming out of Georgia (the Republic of) in the Caucuses. (if you haven't heard, go here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7551576.stm)

the situation in the Caucuses, specifically relations among Georgia, Russia, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia, is not something i know all that much about.

a very informed Richard Holbrooke is interviewed: http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/08/08/sots.holbrooke.cnn?iref=videosearch
(he's the only person ever to have been asst. secretary of state for 2 regions--europe and asia--kind of necessary for this region).

and one quote from my Turkish history book (Turkey is Georgia's neighbor to the southwest) that i think is interesting just because of the parallels:
"A dangerous escalation began when, on 5 May 1853, the Russian envoy to Istanbul demanded the right to protect not only the Orthodox church (a claim based on the privileges that had already been granted in 1774) but the Orthodox population of the [Ottoman] empire [which ruled Turkey and the Balkans at the time], more than a third of its inhabitants. Supported by the French and British ambassadors, the Porte [Ottomans] refused to give in. Russia announced that it would occupy Wallachia and Moldavia [Balkans] if the Porte did not accept its demands, and in July its troops crossed into the principalities. A last-minute attempt at mediation by France, Britain, Austria and Prussia failed. The Ottomans demanded the evacuation of the principalities and, when this was not forthcoming, declared war on Russia in October. Under pressure from violently anti-Russian public opinion and from the French government, the British cabinet now decided for war and on 28 March 1854 war was officially declared. None of the great powers had wanted the war, but all of them had backed themselves into a corner which they could not leave without serious loss of face." Zurcher, Erik, Turkey: A Modern History. IB Taurus: New York, 1997, p. 58.

not exactly the same situation-- Ottoman empire of the late 19th century and 21st century Georgia being two very different entities, obviously. i guess the question that keeps coming to my mind right now is how different are the surrounding pressures--the Russians and the French, British, and US (in place of Austria and Prussia)?

i hope that the quote does not imply bias in either direction or imply that i have a secret preferred course of action i'd recommend or that i could comfortably label "good guys" versus "bad guys". i have no policy recommendations for any of the actors. but its a decent example the things that i, as a student in international relations and public policy, find interesting, as well as motivation for my study/career.
okay, okay, enough is enough...back to the point of this blog: travels.

i had the pleasure, honor, wonderful opportunity, and extreme fortune to get to visit Georgia last year. here is what i wrote at that time:

Georgia

Good thing I have photos because words –and not even with the photos—will not be able to fully describe the beauty and intrigue of Georgia.

I learned more in the week I was there than I ever have on vacation. Talk about a living classroom. Granted, I was an extraordinarily lucky tourist to have such a knowledgeable and locally integrated guide! I do recommend traveling to Eastern Europe, especially Georgia, but I also recommend going with or to someone who knows their stuff. I was a bundle of questions and N graciously put up with me and them!

The first few days we stuck close to Tbilisi center, seeing the many beautiful churches and old fortress of the city. Georgia was the 2^nd nation, after Armenia, to Christianize. It is also a central part of the silk road to China and one of the final outposts of Europe before Asia, so it has seen more than its share of invaders and conquerors. Georgia borders the Black Sea in the west, on which the troubled region of Abkhazia rests, historically known as the Russian Riviera during Empire and Soviet times. In the east, Georgia shares a border with Azerbaijan, which is theoretically the last country in Europe, though most Europeans wouldn’t know it.

At each of the churches, the majority of Georgians, devout Georgian Orthodoxians, cross themselves 3 times—up, down, right left—as they pass the church. Eating lunch at a café across from a church my first full day in Tbilisi, I watched almost 100 Georgians cross themselves 300 times. Impressive!

The next day N took me a few kilometers outside the city to the small town of Msketcha (I might have spelled that wrong). Y’all, it was a blizzard by African and Tennessee standards, both. By N’s hardened Michigan and Georgian standards it was simply flurrying, but this equatorially acclimated girl was a bit taken aback! Snow!! I guess I didn’t entirely miss out on winter this year. It was definitely gorgeous and memorable.

Each day we tried a new type of Georgian food that N had skillfully planned out for me. The first day she had stocked yummy Georgian yogurt, called Matsoni, for me. And the day it blizzarded we took cover in a perfect little “café” where I tried my first khachapuri, which is imeruli cheese inside special dough. It was wonderful. The café had a stove to warm our cold hands and a portrait of Stalin, Georgia’s most infamous citizen.

Another day we went east to Davit Garedji, a monastery on the border of Azerbaijan built into the cliff. It was stunning as well, and I dabbled my toes in Az.

The next day we went north to the Caucuses to a ski town called Gadaury. N’s friends and coworkers were kind enough to accompany us on both trips.

Finally, N’s host family from the first summer she spent in Georgia, organized a very nice dinner for all of us. I got to sample a wider range of Georgian food than I’d already tasted and it was all GREAT. Lots of cheese and cilantro. YUM.

I also got to go to see traditional dance at a theater in town. I walked through the large town market, which includes relics of Soviet times including a spear-like flag topper that N has seen there multiple times, among other things.

We wandered around the food market in Tbilisi, where N had to remind me, “You don’t immediately stand out here per se, so don’t speak too much English,” because though I didn’t necessarily look Georgian so much, or even quite Russian, its not like in the market here in Tanzania… N is quite capable of conducting transactions in Georgian, much the same as I am in Swahili, but without the instant recognition of OUTSIDER that the people here [Tanzania, at the time] have towards me.

We also went out to Agora, a local bar where some of N’s friends’ cover band plays weekends. It was really fun to chill down there and listen to familiar cover songs as well as some originals in both Georgian and Russian. Georgians, from my observation, seem to be a very warm, welcoming and rather boisterous group, if I am going to make generalizations based on 5 days. Which is, of course, impossible!