Philly, Istanbul, Tbilisi

Well, it's 11 am right now back home in California ... and it's 10 pm here outside of Tbilisi, the capitol of Georgia (the Republic of).  I'm really tired but I am not sleepy.  I think I might dose myself with NyQuil for this first night to try to set myself straight ... even though I only have one bottle and I'm sure it's going to be a precious thing.  On second thought, I'll stick it out.

It feels like ages ago that we left Philly to bus to NYC to fly to Istanbul to fly to Georgia ... and, well, wait ... yeah, it was.  I woke up at 7:00 am Tuesday morning and it is now 11 am Wednesday night (both times are East Coast), or what it more accurately feels like--7:00 am on Tuesday to 10 pm on Wednesday.

Highlights?

I SAW THE SPACE SHUTTLE ENTERPRISE IN ITS HANGAR ALONG THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY GOING TOWARDS THE AIRPORT.

I think my life is honestly complete now.

Also, my experiment of flying with a guitar was a complete success.  I never had to check it once.  It was bulky and awkward and a total PITA, but it arrived safe and sound.  I might even try to tune it tomorrow.
We waited in the airport for 5 hours in NYC for our flight.  Everybody was starving and wanted to go to a restaurant in our wing.  The only restaurant anybody could agree on was Chili's.  That was my final true meal in the states.  At least I didn't have to look at the menu.

The flight was exhausting and long and I fell asleep on the stranger next to me ... he wasn't even a PCV, but he was very nice about the whole experience.  He's gonna go home and tell his family that a strange hippy girl slept on his shoulder on the flight from NYC to Istanbul ...

Also, I remember international flights being a lot nicer.  No little computer on the back of the seat in front of mine for this ten hour flight ... first world habits died hard in the first 30 minutes of that flight.

Istanbul was sort of like a normal US airport in another language.  Strange currency, crazy language over the loudspeaker.  Also!  Advertisements for Turkish Delight!  Too bad I couldn't find any!  I always wanted to know what was so good about it that it convinced Edmund to fall victim to the White Witch!

In Georgia, there was (as another PCV so accurately put it) a small media storm waiting for us at baggage claim.  We were surrounded by Georgian movie crews and photographers in a little roped off area.  We were exhausted, but they were all so kind and welcoming.

Then we had dinner out and they just kept bringing dish after dish after dish after dish.  Max, you would have had a field day.  I tried everything, including the liver ... but meat is just hard on me, I'm so not used to it and I really have no taste for it.  There was some very tasty cheesy bread and tomato and cucumber salad ... and lots and lots of other wonderful things (like some tasty mild cheese and a chili tomato sauce).  Some unusual and very tasty spices.  Shemomedjamo in Georgian means to eat past the point of being full and then keep eating just because the food tastes good.

To drive through the capitol city is like going past tons of old run down Soviet buildings ... and then there will be a brand new skyscraper in the middle of everything.  It's a little disconcerting.  There's a huge river that runs through the capitol too but I couldn't for the life of me think of how to pronounce it right now.

And now we are in our training center in the middle of nowhere.  It's nice as long as you don't go breathing in in the bathroom.

Love,
Me