The Eagle has Landed Yet Again

My first foray into the world of cyberspace was a remarkable failure. I tried keeping two blogs and in the process kept none. But it's two years later. I'm two years older. I'd dare say two years more mature. A blog is what you get before you acquire a plant or dog. It requires less maintenance and so I'm ready to give it a second chance.

I'm getting ready to head overseas for 6 weeks. I'll be in Central Asia a.k.a. "da Stans." My first encounter with this region was in Ms. North's 7th grade Social Studies class. We had these geography tests on all the regions of the world. I aced every single one. 100 on each test. And then came the test on the Former Soviet Union. I couldn't tell one stan from the next and I bombed the exam. I'll never forgive you stans! But seriously, how is a 12 year old supposed to tell the difference between Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan? How are you supposed to know the difference??? Read this blog and find out on the Adventures of Dina in Pick-Your-Stan as she follows the Silk Road...

Here's a map to help you get started












Then it all changed. That one fatefull afternoon during my second year of SAIS when I walked into the Rome building and into Starrmanbashi's "Modern Central Asia & the Caspian Basin" course. I knew my life was about to change. Some would argue for the worse. 13 rambling lectures on the virtues of Central Asia and I knew two things:
1) Starrmanbashi was full of shit
2) I had to check out this part of the world for myself

And so I'm going and I plan to blog in the process. My plan is to start in Moscow and then fly to Ashgabat (that's the capital of Turkmenistan, duh - didn't you know that?) and work my way from Turkmenistan through Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and finally into Kyrgyzstan. I'll be on my own for most of the trip.

I've got a reading list up the wazoo if you're interested in following along. Here are a few suggestions:
The Great Game, Peter Hopkirk
Eastward to Tartary, Robert Kaplan
Genghis Khan, Jack Weatherford

I'm going to the ends of the earth (which happens to be landlocked) and I'm psyched. I hope you'll read my blog and make comments along the way. Thanks for joining me on this trip!

Dina
a.k.a Chief Strategist