Gamorjoba from Georgia

So after 2 days of traveling and a 10 hour time change (1 of will never be regained due to the perfect timing of daylight savings)...we made it to Tbilisi, Georgia, "the city that loves you." we arrived at about 4am local time on Monday morning (which, I'm pretty sure was actually today...).  Being as though I had only been awake for about 10 hours, I wasn't the least bit tired. So, I did what any normal American girl would do at 5 am in a foreign former Soviet nation- I wandered. No not alone, so please don't freak out. I am after all, still alive.  Since my body thought it was lunchtime, our small group set out in search of food. There was literally nothing open...because, at this point, it was still 5:15 in the freaking morning. We did find a convenience store, though, and walked around pointing out funny things and being very culturally INsensitive, while the employees stared at us like we were absolutely insane.  I guess I can understnad their point of view though, because I doubt they often encounter a 5'10" southern american girl, a VERY southern 6'4" american guy with a curly blonde ponytail, a large 1/2 chinese 1/2 hawaain dude with a rather noticable laugh, and the MOST obscure- a Canadian- all at the same time.  We asked them if you could drink alcohol on the street, and they just stared blankly and said, "no", even though I am 100% sure they had no idea what we asked.  We later found out that it is, indeed, legal to drink alcohol on the street.  Starting to feel like I'm back at home on Beale street already. Anyhow, we left the convenience store and eventually stumbled upon a little corner food stand that was still open. How and why they were open at this time on a Monday morning is besides me- we were literally the only people dumb enough to be looking for a full meal that late. Regardless, they were open. We approached the window cautiously.  There was a middle-aged woman sitting in a chair behind the counter, bundled up like a marshmallow with only her eyes showing. She was definitely asleep...until we walked up. She opened her eyes and stared at us for a few seconds without saying a word. Then she said in a very deep voice, "gamorjoba" (Georgian for 'hello'). I'm pretty sure she meant to say "Seriously? What are you doing here? Are you really going to make me get up right now?" Obviously, she didn't say that because she spoke no English, but I'm positive she was thinking it, with perhaps one or two explicatives interjected in there somewhere. My Chinese/Hawaiian friend took charge of ordering. He ordered "one." One what, you ask? Well at that point it was going to be surprise,because there was no way in hell we could have communicated asking for anything else. We were in luck- the stand only sold one thing! Either that or they just gave us the easiest thing to make at 5:45am when it's 20 degrees outside. Anyhow, the "one" was a schawarma wrap thing. Abso-frickin-lately delicious. Except it did have raw, unpeeled veggies in (which we were specifically told NOT to eat), so I'm praying that doesn't catch up with me.

Then we really wandered. I realized then how much the city of Memphis has impacted my attitudes about walking around at night.  After walking through some neighborhoods, running into some very creepy stray cats, and passing an apartment with a prominent red light in the window (indicating exactly what you think it was indicating), I insisted that we find the main road.  What did I think was going to happen? That a little Georgian man was going to jump out his apartment window and rob me of my 10 Georgian lari with a shotgun? I guess it wasnt totally out of the question. Regardless, I was unnecessarily worried... but my mom has a deadbolt lock on her bedroom door, so I know exactly where my paranoia comes from.  

We returned to the hotel, where after lying awake for about 2 hours, I fell asleep so hard that I missed breakfast and woke up at 1230. Without any time to get food, we made our way to the American embassy.  Nope you still can't take pictures of embassies, and yes, they do made getting in rather difficult. It almost scary.  What if a real war broke out? Are they gonna make me sit outside the gates for half an hour while bombs drop around me? What's that, ma'm? There is a Russian army chasing after you? Well we are going to need to make sure you don't have a camera or cell phone before you can come in.  Oh, and be sure you take your shoes and belt off before walking through the metal detector. 

Georgia is really damn old. I mean really old. Our tour guide kept talking about things that happened in like year 5. Not 2005. 5. Like 5 years after the coming of J Christ. Woah. Old.

Dinner tonight:
A strange eggplant/pomegranate thing, dumplings with meatballs and filled with some sort of soup that inevitably ended up down my sleeve, cheese bread, bean and cheese bread, chunks of cheese, bread filled with cheese and topped with more cheese, oh and straight-up fried and melted cheese on a plate...
Tyler would die of starvation here.


Please note that I realize today is Wednesday, but I haven't had a chance to post to the blog until tonight, so don't even think about making some smart ass comments.

Merhaba from Turkey

Hello from Turkey!

So after 1 cancelled flight, not having a seat on our flight to Istanbul from Chicago, somehow getting a seat, sprinting to the plane, making it on just before the doors closed only to find that someone else had my seat, and finally getting a seat next to a man that smelled like some sort of Turkish patchoulli for 10 hours...I'm done with the first leg of my trip. I'm also pretty sure the only reason i got a seat in the first place was because a cute old lady in a wheelchair showed up extremely late...oh well, ya snooze ya loose, right? Just one 8 hour layover left, and I'll be off to Georgia! Right now I'm sitting on a couch, drinking Turkish coffee and a rather large beer while staring at the oh-so-unique duty free shop.  Guess what? It's exactly the same as every other duty free shop in the world! Who knew?!  Anyhow, I just wanted to check in, say hello, and let everyone know that no, the tsunami in japan did not affect anything in here in Europe, and the conflict in Libya hasn't spread here either...yet