Packing

The packing stage is currently in process. I received my Osprey travel pack from REI and have it close to full. I am having no problem filling it up with all of the crap that I need to bring: sleeping bag, tent, extra blanket, lots of clothes, extra shoes, and freshly sharpened trowels. A few last minute things are still sitting at the local department store and I need to make a trip to get them, probably today. I met with Martha, my professor who I am going to Georgia with, Aaron, and Claire (students who previously went to Georgia) and they informed/warned me of things I should know and be prepared for in Georgia. Most of it was common sense, but I was happy to have the help. I did have a number of questions regarding things I should bring and luckily I had most of it.

Katie helped to prepare me for my trip by taking me to a Russian restaurant in St. Paul called Moscow on the Hill. It was very delicious and we had a leisurely paced meal with a few courses and, of course, vodka in the form of martinis. We started off with Cheboureki and Borscht; the former being a pastry filled with lamb and assorted veggies, the latter being a vinegar based soup with beets, cabbage, and potatoes. Both were delicious, especially the blood red borscht. For my entree, I had the Czar's medallions, which were pork chops covered in cheese and creamy mushrooms. Although I usually don't eat mushrooms, these were perfect in the dish and were more cream of mushroom soup tasting then mushroomy tasting, if that makes sense. Katie had the walleye and scallops, which I had the pleasure of mopping up after she was full. It was also very delicious. The only downside was that there was no parking lot or street parking nearby and we had to park over a block away. Normally I wouldn't mind a little exercise, but it was raining harder than it's rained all summer thus far. Overall, it was a great night out. Thanks babe! :)

Only two more days until I leave and I have a few things left to do. First order of business taken care of was ordering Twins tickets for Monday night. Got some for the left field bleachers, I think two sections over from the bullpens. Should be excellent seats for the Twins-Tigers rivalry and a great way to spend my last night in the US.

Katie and I also planned, or at least tentatively planned, our portion of the trip abroad together. I will fly into Paris on August 21st and take a train to Dijon, which is a couple hours away and is where I will meet Katie and her car, as she will have been exploring museums and sites in the Burgundy region for her dissertation research. From Dijon, we will drive to Neuchatel, Switzerland and spend the night. We will hit the last few sites around there in the morning and then we will travel to Interlaken for two nights. When there, I plan on going to Breintz, where my great-grandfather was born and lived. Apparently there is a lineage museum or something there that will showcase my maternal family crest and some family history. I will have to consult with my mother to remember what the place was. After being there in the beautiful mountain havens, we will travel a couple hours north to Waldshut, Germany. We will then spend the next day or two around Triberg in the Black Forest. Then we head to Nancy, France as a pit stop on the way back to Paris. Then the last 5 days we will spend in Paris, seeing a few typical tourist sites and also going to Versailles and the National Archaeology Museum.

Needless to say, I am very excited for all of the traveling. We have a nice new apartment in a great part of Tbilisi, and it is very close to the National Museum that I will be working at. We will spend 4 days in Tbilisi and 3 days in Dmanisi each week. We have a driver who will take us around and Martha has known him since he was little, so that's all set too.

I take off at 3:25PM on Tuesday from Minneapolis, arrive in Paris and stay for 5 hours at the airport until I depart again for Kiev, Ukraine. I have a short layover there and then fly to Tbilisi, where I arrive at 10:00 PM.

A long travel day is in my near future, but I am ready for it and the new adventures that follow. I shall post again when I have my first internet connection abroad.

Reed

New Blog Description

This blog serves as a chronicling of my excursions through the Republic of Georgia: Two months worth of excavating at the archaeological site of Dmanisi and going through the site's taphonomic collections in the National Museum in Tbilisi. A leopard may be an added bonus but I have a better chance of unearthing a 1.8 million year old Homo erectus than I do of seeing one... June 30th - The search is on!