People of the Sun

Introduction

Before I decided to switch career tracks and work towards becoming a professional writer, I had my sights set on working for the diplomatic branch of the federal government. A career in the U.S.'s bumbling political landscape is not a goal held by many and in hindsight, I can't really say why I had this desire. Perhaps it was the allure of wielding social influence. Or maybe it was the promise of sweet benefits and a life filled with international travel. Regardless of my motivation, I worked towards achieving this lofty career goal in Northern Virginia, where I earned a Master's degree in Political Science.

There were four degree concentration options in my program; given how the world we live in today is rapidly globalizing, I chose to specialize in comparative politics. For the uninitiated, the field entails selecting a region of interest and studying facets of its history, culture, and political structure. With time and patience, the acquired area knowledge can be used to analyze a region's domestic and foreign policy decisions, as well as contribute to broader academic discourse in the field.

When it came to selecting my regional focus, something about the former Soviet Union drew me in. Its colorful history is full of equally colorful characters. The now fifteen sovereign post-Soviet states are home to a gamut of intriguing cultures and governmental systems. And even though the former Soviet Union's borders have long been open for unrestricted travel, it remains mired in preconceptions, oft overlooked in favor of its sexy Western European neighbors.

Travel plays a crucial role in developing regional expertise. And much as I wanted to gain field experience in my research area, funding was always a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. All the passion in the world made no difference in how my puny Master's degree couldn't hold a candle to post-doctoral juggernauts in Washington, DC's cut-throat research grants arena. While there were other opportunities to gain travel experience through studying abroad with other universities, I found myself rejecting them because I was skeptical about my ability to commit to a long-term stint (a year or more) in a foreign land without a sponsorship or prior experience living abroad.

The perfect opportunity to solidify my goals arrived in November 2012. It came by chance, from a brief conversation with a humanities professor at an academic holiday party. When she told me that she was taking a small group of graduate students on a two week trip to Tbilisi, Georgia for an international development course, I jumped at the opportunity. And best of all, the course was actually affordable.

The trip that I embarked on in June 2013 personally impacted me, as it left me with valuable new-found insight into life in a part of the world that was isolated due to political and ideological circumstances for the majority of the 20th century. Though my professional field has changed since then, understanding the world we live in and respecting other cultures are values that remain important to me. As such, I feel the need to share my experiences with you.

Pack your bags and join me as I take you on a journey through the South Caucasus' precarious roads, where you will get a taste of a small, but mighty country whose heartbreaking past is juxtaposed by the beauty or her land and the people who inhabit it.

You may know her by as the Republic of Georgia, but her people call her Sakartvelo. And in return, their country calls her citizens People of the Sun...