http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/kptnkrazy/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from kptnkrazy en-us Sun, 20 Dec 2009 07:08:49 +0000 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 07:08:49 +0000 The summer is over and Irsquom heading back to New York in a little over 24 hours. The past few months have been an amazing experience. I really didnrsquot know what to expect this summer and I must confess it has exceeded all my expectations. I arrived in Tbilisi without really knowing if I had a job or what I would do. My plan of action was to travel around enjoy the culture maybe dri http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-81849.html Because Irsquove managed to see Georgia East to West to SouthhellipI decided it was finally time for me to see the North. There arenrsquot many safe places to see up northhellipespecially since Svaneti jumped on the bandwagon of separatist states last week. But Kazbegi is one of the last remaining bastions of safe tourism and it was definitely worth visiting. Besides everyone in the U http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-78748.html First off let me tell you I'm done traveling. I've worked the past 4 out of 5 weekends and when I wasn't working I was in Azerbaijan. So this past weekend was my first weekend off except I did eventually end up working Saturday and I greatly enjoyed spending the week planning my vigorous schedule of pajama wearing and travelblog typing. Irsquom only telling you this because you need to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-78759.html One of my more interesting jobs this summer has been with AmChamrsquos Custom Project. Wersquove been working on how to create a manual for Georgian researchers to time customs procedures at checkpoints along the border. One of my duties was to travel with some of the Customs team to checkpoints and assess how long it takes for goods to get through the customs process. Honestly the work is http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-78732.html Hello all. Sorry it has been such a long time since my last blog. Life here in the Tbizzle has been hectic but in a good way.First off yoursquoll be happy to know that the AmChamUS Embassy Independence Day party I coordinated went very well. The whole event took place at what is known here as ldquoTurtle Lakerdquo and about 1500 of Tbilisirsquos finest attended. I ended up being i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/blog-78715.html Just one more thing to add to the list of ridiculous occupations on my resume I am officially a published journalist for the Tbilisi national English language daily The Messenger. Yup all around Georgia Expats are sipping their morning Kazbegi beers and saying to themselves didn't this girl say she used to live in a barn in Kansas...that's so weird In my opinion the article itself is hor http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-70074.html Yarsquo know how I was saying that each of us were waiting for the other shoe to drophellipthat Georgia had been too good to be true Well I wasnrsquot being entirely honest with you. See the apartment that was arranged for us was possibly the crappiest nastiest ripoff in all of the Caucasus...and getting out of it has been somewhat of an ordeal. There were tears Paul almost died bu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-69231.html In true Georgian fashion Murman Danarsquos boss called us Saturday morning to tell us we were expected at an outdoor caf to celebrate Gogirsquos sonrsquos baptism in a few hours Gogi is Jenikrsquos friend and also the kind man who picked us up at the airportmdashhis nieces and nephews are the ones who keep stealing us to go sightseeing. Murman couldnrsquot remember the name of t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-69194.html It just occurred to me that I have yet to tell yarsquoll about my workmdashsomewhat odd as that is what I was actually sent here to do. Believe it or not Irsquove been a working fool. When I came here I didnrsquot really know if I had a job or what I would be doinghellipI figured that worse comes to worst I could just hang out sightsee and drink good Georgian wine on Columbiarsquo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-68728.html This afternoon we hiked up to Narikala fortress which sits atop one of the hills overlooking Tbilisi. The hike wasn't particularly long but it was steep and the day was hot. I managed to get a nice sunburn on the way. Somehow or another there were Georgian women making the trek in spike heels. I must confess I was somewhat intimidated by them.The Narikala fortress has been home to Arab emirs http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-68719.html Itrsquos Tuesday and it feels like Irsquove been here for a month. Monday was blessedly wonderful. The others had to go to work but I got to stay home unpack and take a nap. In the evening we met a bunch of Expats at a Georgian restaurant in Old Tbilisi. Old Tbilisi is just like it soundsmdashthe oldest part of the city. The Expats taught us the proper etiquette for the Georgian sup http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-68714.html Due to the fantastic nature of jet lag my body awoke at 6 AM this morningmdashunfortunately my mind didnrsquot wake up until much later. Despite the fact that the water in my shower was some sort of black sewage for the first 5 seconds bathing did help me to rediscover my will to live. Paul and I walked to the local money exchange to get Lari the Georgian currency. Because my mind was st http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-68709.html I donrsquot know if itrsquos because Irsquove spent too much time in Russia but part of me is waiting for the other shoe to drop. The fact is this Georgian experience has been far too wonderful for something bad not to happen. But let me start from the beginninghellipIf yoursquove never flown KLM then you donrsquot know what good airline service can be. In fact the flight from N http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-68702.html Hi Family and FriendsWelcome to my travel diary for Georgia Since I won't be able to email ya'll individually I thought it'd be nice to make a travelblog so that you can check on what Dana and I are doing during the summer. I guarantee lots of zaney stories that will make my mother cringe for fear of my life...but that's the fun of traveling in former soviet republics We leave tomorrow at. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-63557.html