I stepped carefully over the faded yellow, green and red bricks, pausing whenever a spot of turquoise or royal blue caught my eye –fragments of ceramic mixed in with the city ruins. I tried to follow the vague path that seemed to lead over the dirt mounds that once formed city walls, afraid that one […]
Discovering Turkmenistan’s Silk Road Legacy Read More »
Arriving in the capital city of Ashgabat, I wondered if I was still in Turkmenistan. Or had I been transported somewhere over the rainbow to the Land of Oz? All I needed was green-tinted glasses and I would have sworn I was driving through the Emerald City. It didn’t feel real. It had
Ashgabat: The New Emerald City Read More »
While I collected my Tajikistan and Uzbekistan visas in Baku, Azerbaijan, I didn’t get my Kazakhstan visa there because I thought I could do it easily in Tashkent. And because I was in a hurry to get back to Armenia. And because, well, I couldn’t actually find the embassy. The latest edition of Lonely Planet
Kazakhstan, You Better Be Worth It Read More »
The last time I ran the Chicago Marathon, I passed the halfway point and angrily ripped off my timing band and turned off my Garmin watch. I slowed to a fast walk, my knees wobbling as I struggled to convince myself to keep going. I had trained well all summer for my fourth marathon and
Why Traveling Through Central Asia is Like Running a Marathon Read More »
I resisted the urge to turn around and smile. But I couldn’t help smiling to myself as the Uzbek immigration officer moved a metal barrier aside and ushered me past the dozens of Tajik women who had tried so hard to keep me from the front of the immigration line. And I smiled again when
Crossing from Tajikistan to Uzbekistan Read More »
I panicked. It was only my second day teaching English in Tajikistan and I panicked. I sat alone in my room flustered and close to tears because I had no clue how I was going to come up with four hours of English lessons every day. I planned out what I thought would be
Teaching Myself How to Teach English Read More »
A small tear formed in the corner of my eye as I stood in front of my host family, modeling the brightly colored traditional Tajik dress that Mavzuna and Ganjina spent much of the previous day making for me. “Ochen kraseevaya,” they exclaimed with excitement. “Tajik devushka,” proclaimed my host mother Mouhayo with huge smile
Finding a Family in Shing Read More »
By the time you read this, I will be in Turkmenistan, a country sometimes called the “North Korea of Central Asia.” Indeed, it has been ranked third to last in terms of freedom of the press, just above Burma and – you guessed it – North Korea. Lonely Planet refers to it as “mysterious and
Previewing Turkmenistan (and why I’m going offline for 10 days) Read More »
In my past ten monthly update posts, I have covered a variety of things – things I have done a lot of, my favorite photos, a state of this blog and, most recently, my best memories. Now that I have reached 11 months on the road – a point I never originally intended to reach
11 Months on the Road and 2 Big Announcements Read More »
Growing up in middle class America, I take a lot of things for granted. I freak out if a thunderstorm knocks out power for even a few hours and heaven forbid I lose my internet connection at home. I have never known life without indoor plumbing and driving on dirt roads has never been part
Village Life in Tajikistan Read More »
