Grad School, etc.

So, for those who do not know, I am getting a Master’s Degree at the University of Michigan at the Center for Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies. It is going well so far – I am enjoying Ann Arbor and am taking interesting classes. I am studying Russian, Uzbek (which is a wonderful mix of Persian, Arabic, and Turkic languages with a smattering of Russian thrown in, and it is also fun to run across words that got borrowed into Georgian as well), History/Polisci, and Public Policy, focusing on Russia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus.

As for my future travel plans, I have applied to a number of fellowships, etc. mainly to try to get back to Georgia, where I would like to do thesis research. I am also planing on spending some time visiting Tereza in Prague, starting with my spring break in about a week. Toronto, Jack Lake, New York, Washington D.C., and potentially Moscow and St. Petersburg are hopefully in future travel plans as well.

Also, here is an update and long overdue background on Armenui Khatisyan:
So, Armenui Khatisyan is the mother in law of one of my friends, Ruslan, who lives in Zugdidi. He requested that I help find her relatives, and through the power of the internet and special searches, my mom managed to find some relatives, and found out that her father is most likely deceased. When I visited Ruslan, he told me not to tell her this, although by the time of my next visit, her niece and nephew had called, so I consider the whole thing a somewhat success.