May Chang 9/26/24 May Chang 9/26/24

I ran away to France

I ran away to France this summer.

That sounds dramatic and while it is a form of truth, I’m learning how to reframe my story in a way that is empowering, which feels especially important given this tumultuous summer. If I were to rewrite that first sentence, I’d write my story like this: I pursued an exciting work opportunity in France despite receiving devastating news that would have significant implications for the rest of my life. Sure, being thousands of miles away from a place associated with tears and reality didn’t hurt but I still forged forward with my goals. The stories you tell yourself have such a powerful impact on how you think on the past.

Early morning mist over the Loire Valley

The Jacques-Gabriel Bridge in Blois

A spectacular red sunrise over the Loire River

The Denis-Papin staircase in Blois city center. Different artists will paint the staircase based on a theme: this summer's theme was the Paris Olympics

I spent most of my time in France in Blois, a small town in the Loire Valley, which is famous for its wine, cheese, and châteaux (castles). I was on a one month work exchange at a luxury bed and breakfast working together with the owner to look after the guests and take care of the property. Maison Loire is beautiful and elegant - the image that comes to mind when you imagine “cozy French luxury in the countryside”. The bed and breakfast housed in a renovated 19th century home that is filled with antiques carefully curated by the owners Nicolas and Alexander, whose own love story also started in the Loire Valley.

Maison Loire

Most people’s reaction to my plans of going to France was, “What is a work exchange?”. I didn’t find this surprising as I wasn’t aware of this type of opportunity until I started backpacking internationally post university, and those who had never heard of a work exchange before were all American.

A work exchange is exactly what it sounds: you work in exchange for something, and that something can be room, board, money, or some sort of combination of the three. It’s actually quite a popular concept outside of the US (I have my own thoughts on why that’s the case); many recent university graduates will use work exchange as an opportunity to travel the world and explore different cultures in a cost-effective manner.

However it’s not just university grads - I’ve met people of all ages, backgrounds, and educations who participate in work exchange for a variety of reasons, whether that’s to have a budget-friendly vacation, explore a career break or transition, or support themselves this way indefinitely. If you’re interested in trying it out for yourself (you are never too old!) you can check out Worldpackers, Workaway, or WOOFing, the latter of which is focused exclusively on organic farming. These are the most popular work exchange websites and each has its own pros and cons.

Breakfast place settings for guests at Maison Loire. All of the china and tableware is antique.

My bedroom at Maison Loire

Relaxing in the backyard after a day at work

Work exchange is such a cool and budget-friendly opportunity to familiarize yourself with the local culture and meet new people, and it’s a pity that not more people in the US are aware of this possibility. My theory is that we Americans as a society tend to focus on a very specific definition of “success” that emphasizes prestige, income, and status, which means we’re not as open to something like a work exchange that might “derail” our careers because it’s not a conventional path.

This is a generalization, I know, but I can’t help but think about how many Americans never take a gap year or think about other types of education outside of a traditional four year secondary institution. Granted there are a lot of caveats around this: not everyone has the privilege or means to even consider these opportunities in the first place - this applies to a very specific demographic of people. The more I travel the more I become educated - I see all the different types lifestyles that are possible. I see all the different ways it means to be “successful”. I see all the lives I can live.

While a significant amount of my time in France was spent being depressed (lol), I did spend some time exploring the Loire Valley and other parts of France. After all, in the wise words of Taylor Swift: I can do it with a broken heart.

Sitting with Bébé on my last day at Maison Loire.

Postcards from France:

Grenoble and the Mountains

May Chang 9/10/23 May Chang 9/10/23

A love letter to Tbilisi

Dear Tbilisi,

Thank you

for giving me a place to rest and relax

for giving me a sanctuary

for welcoming me with open arms

for connecting me with people who remind me that there is hope and faith in humanity, whose optimistic and positive attitudes are ones I want to adopt

for being the place where I reunited with old friends and made incredible new ones

for nights dancing in the techno scene, for meeting new people, for putting myself out there and finding some romance

for being a place where I could reset and remind myself why I am on this adventure.

Thank you.

Love,

May

May Chang 9/9/23 May Chang 9/9/23

A week in Tbilisi: Random updates and fun stories

გამარჯობა!

Gamarjoba! I’ve been staying in Tbilisi for the past week and wanted to share some fun stories and random updates about my time here.

Sunrise from Narikala Fortress, one of my favorite places in Tbilisi.

Creating Daily routines

What’s been lovely about being in one place for an extended period of time is that it feels like I can experience what it’d be like to actually live here. It’s been wonderful living in the same hostel and getting to reintroduce some sort of daily routine. I’ve been going on regular morning runs, which serve a dual purpose as a moving meditation and a way to explore the city, revisiting my favorite cafes and parks, and building new friendships.

There’s so much greenery in Tbilisi, whether that’s green spaces in the form of numerous public parks, trees lining the sidewalks, or grape vines providing shade from the summer sun. There are also hiking trails that are easily accessible, leading up to hills as high as 1000m.

Rike Park is one of my favorite parks on the east side of the river and is right next to the futuristic looking Bridge of Peace. I’ve conducted some quick morning workouts there as it’s lovely to be working out while surrounded by gardens. One morning I ran into a local who was picking all the lavender buds from the bushes and ended up with an entire plastic bag full of buds!

I’ve also enjoyed exploring the cafe scene here and using that time to catch up on my blog and set aside some time for quiet reflection and introspection.

living the local life

My first night back in Tbilisi I experienced a water supply issue at my hostel. It turns out that Tbilisi occasionally has water supply interruptions and it just so happened that the outage happened while I was there. The outages don’t affect the entire city, rather they impact different neighborhoods, and they are a way for Georgia Water and Power to periodically fix the city’s water pipes. What’s a bit unfortunate is that there’s no proactive announcement about planned work, so you don’t know when you’ll be affected. Luckily I only experienced the water supply interruption twice (a couple of hours the first night and eight hours the second night) but it was an important reminder of how crucial water is to our lives and a gentle reminder of gratitude for clean water.

Each morning at my hostel, Nonna cooks a full and delicious breakfast for her guests and will incorporate some classic Georgian dishes, including khachapuri! It was such a delight to watch her make them from scratch.

Pinching the edges of the Adjarian khachapuri to give it its classic boat shape

Mini Adjarian khachapuri (boat-shaped, stuffed with cheese

Presenting “Big Daddy” - a big megrulian khachapuri (round with cheese on top)

Navigating Medical care in Georgia

I had banged up my toenails pretty badly after a steep and fast descent down Kilimanjaro in June. As a result my toenails were looking a bit bruised and gnarly*. I texted some photos to my friend who’s a doctor, and even she balked at the sight! My right toenail ended up falling off in mid-August but the toenail growing underneath was looking a bit wonky, so I decided to get it checked out before I embarked on my trekking trip to Nepal.

A friend living in Tbilisi recommended American Medical Centers as I was looking for a doctor who could speak English. It turns out American Medical Centers has several locations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia including Ukraine and Kazkahstan. They are American-owned and managed so the whole process felt similar to visiting a doctor back in the States except that I was pleasantly surprised with shorter wait times and amazing service.

The doctor who saw me ended up being a trail runner and consequently was quite familiar with toes like mine. It turned out that my toenails were doing just fine despite their gnarly appearance and just needed some tlc in the form of lotion and filing. He promised me they’d eventually grow back to normal (bad for my future OnlyFans account 😂). His recommendation was to size up half a shoe size in order to prevent this from occurring again in the future. Luckily I have a friend visiting me next week and she’s agreed to bring me new hiking boots (thank you Shirley - my toes and I are so grateful for you!).

Funnily enough, this doctor ran in the Kazbegi Mountain Marathon over the weekend - the same marathon where Kazu, Satori, and I were cheering spectators, and he did recall hearing our cheers and seeing us out of the corner of his eye. What are the odds!

* I did not include a photo of my toe because I figured it wouldn’t be appreciated.

Buying Georgian Wine

I wanted to buy a bottle of Georgian wine for an upcoming home-cooked dinner with Kazu and Satori so that they could get their first taste of Georgian wine. I ended up visiting Wine Gallery, purely because of the number of highly rated reviews on Google Maps, and it was such a fun experience. The ground floor contained regular wine bottles but the basement was filled with large stainless steel vats of wine. Each vat contains a different type of wine, including wine made in the local Georgian qveri (natural) style and wine made in the traditional European style, and you can get wine on tap! The wine is sold in plastic bottles and is a lot cheaper than the options on the ground floor. The cheapest was a dry white wine that sold at 3.8 lari ($1.15 USD) for 1L! However it was made using the European style of winemaking so I opted for a qveri wine made from the same grape Rkatsiteli and sold at 12 lari ($4.56 USD).

Wine on tap! Filling up a cooler of wine

Kazu, Satori, and I ended up enjoying several home-cooked meals together and were joined by Kenta, a Japanese traveler they met while traveling on the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan. It was heavenly “going home” each night to their rented apartment to cook and enjoy a homemade meal together.

Japanese-style meal of Temaki (hand rolls) - one of my favorites!

Rice was heavily featured at each meal - I had definitely missed it!

But, we also enjoyed a meal out together at Cafe Daphna, which I think has the best mushroom khinkali in Tbilisi. These khinkali are heavenly -richly flavored with garlic and herbs and the mushrooms seemingly melt in your mouth (I’m pretty sure butter has something to do with this).

A Georgian platter featuring a jonjoli and white bean dip, an eggplant and tomato dipe, and a carrot and pepper dip.

Khinkali! The longer ones are the mushroom khinkali. I also tried their pork and beef khinkali (tasted very similar to Chinese 包子 baozi) and their potato and cheese khinkali (can skip).

Wizards are everywhere

Turns out there’s a Harry Potter store in Tbilisi! Ollivander’s store is tucked away in the Vake district (a more modern looking neighborhood) and tolerates Muggles like me.

Of course I had to step inside and take a look!

May Chang 9/8/23 May Chang 9/8/23

Sighnaghi and Davit Gareja

Sighnaghi

Sighnaghi is affectionately known as the city of love. It’s a very charming town in the Kakheti region of Georgia, also known as the wine region! Alaska and I spent one day and two nights there wandering around town, which is quite small. It’s the most touristic place I’ve been in Georgia so far so one day was enough for me. The red roofs remind me of Dubrovnik, Croatia and there’s something quite beautiful about seeing the town from above.

Davit Gareja Monastery

We drove to Davit Gareja on our way back to Tbilisi from Sighnaghi. This monastery complex is located right on the border of Georgia and Azerbaijan - in fact ~150m of the road to Davit Gareja technically falls within Azerbaijan! The monastery has been a source of border dispute between the two countries as both claim rights to the monastery due to the monastery’s historical and religious significance. Unfortunately we were not able to hike to Udabno Monastery, the upper part of the Davit Gareja complex, because access was blocked off by Georgian border guards due to the recent Georgian-Azerbaijan tensions.

Davit Gareja was constructed in the 6th century by a group on Assyrian monks who came to this area to settle down and spread the word of Christianity. What makes this monastery complex so unique is that the monasteries have been carved straight from stone! All types of rooms, from libraries to bedrooms to living areas, are carved from the stone. It was fascinating to see stairs carved from the stone and imagine hundreds of monks carefully making their way to the caves. It reminded me of the caves in Cappadocia, Turkey.

May Chang 9/8/23 May Chang 9/8/23

Gergeti Glacier

I spent last weekend in Stepantsminda, officially named Stepantsminda but still commonly called by its former name Kazbegi. Stepantsminda was originally named after a Georgian monk Stephan but the name was changed to Kazbegi in 1925 during Soviet rule. Given the animosity between Georgia and Russia, it’s not surprising that the name was changed back to Stepantsminda in 2006.

Stepantsminda is a three and a half hour marshrutka ride north of Tbilisi, and it’s one of the most popular places to go hiking (the other is the four day hike from Mestia to Ushguli - more coming on that soon). Kazu and Satori happened to be in Tbilisi as well, so we made the trip to Stepantsminda together.

The hike to Gergeti Glacier was beautiful. We had a very early morning start at 5am in order to beat the forecast of afternoon rain and were rewarded with a glorious sunrise and stunning views of Mt Kazbek, the third highest mountain in Georgia at 5054 meters.

Lush rolling hills on the marshrutka ride up to Stepantsminda. It was difficult to find the right marshrutka because there were several marshrutka car lots scattered near the official bus stations. Many of the taxi drivers categorically denied the existence of a Tbilisi-Stepantsminda marshrutka in order to get me to take a taxi, but luckily some kind locals (and a very detailed step-by-step instruction on how to find the right car lot) directed me to the right place.

Truth! Always prepare for all sorts of whether when hiking, no matter where you are.

Outline of Gergeti Trinity Church against the early morning sunrise

The most magical and mystical sunrise, about an hour into our hike.

These views remind me of the rolling hills in Edinburgh and the Highlands in Scotland. There’s this magical, mystical quality surrounding the light

Mt Kazbek with all the sunrise colors

A mountain hut at the base of Gergeti Glacier and Mt. Kazbek

Kazu, Satori, and I celebrating reaching the glacier!

We met many hikers who were planning to hike to the top of Gergeti Glacier or summit Mt. Kazbek. They brought crampons and ice axes in order to walk on the glacier. At first glance the glacier looks like a dirt path, but it’s only black/gray because of all the rock and pollution that’s colored it this way. It’s definitely ice!

It just so happened to be the Kazbegi Mountain Marathon on the day of our hike! Of course I was thrilled about this. There’s nothing I love more than watching races in person, getting to cheer people on, and witnessing how strong the human body can be.

Pretending to be a part of the race. The Kazbegi Mountain Marathon is a trail running race with four different events, all with different race lengths. However, none of them were actually marathon length, so the name is a bit of a misnomer!

Cheering people on during the long way uphill.

A view of Stepantsminda from above

Another view of Stepantsminda ,but from my hostel balcony.

A view of Gergeti Trinity Church. Historians are unsure of when it was built but estimate it was around the 14th century. I would love to see it in the winter - I imagine the snow covered roof would be stunning.

My hostel is run by a family and is an extension of their family home so we share a kitchen. While I was there the family had received an order to cook for a large group of tourists for a five day period, so they had stocked up on a huge supply of groceries! I thought it was quite funny and cute to see all this produce stashed away.

When we first arrived in Stepantsminda it was lunch time, so we followed our noses to a local bakery. The owner invited us in to see how he and his brother baked the bread. It was so cool to see the bread baked in a traditional manner!

You can see the two khachapuri baking in the oven

Kazu looking very pleased about our acquisition of khachapuri (cheese-filled bread) and lobiani (bean-filled bread). We were lucky to get them straight from the oven so the ooey gooey cheese was scrumptious. The lobiani made a perfect hiking snack for our trip up to Gergeti Glacier.

May Chang 9/5/23 May Chang 9/5/23

Feed me Georgian food all day

I am in love with Georgian cuisine. It has many vegetable-focused dishes (very vegetarian friendly!) which was quite welcome after spending over two months traveling in Central Asia - when the focus is plov (rice with meat) or bread, you dream of vegetables other than a cucumber and tomato salad! Georgian cuisine also has a strong focus on good bread (khachapuri, lobiani, and other stuffed breads) which seems to balance out all the nutrient-filled vegetarian dishes. The fresh produce is amazing here and I definitely arrived during a good time - it’s the season for ripe stone fruit and figs and I love picking up a bag of figs on the walk back to my hostel.

Here’s a quick look at some of the meals and foods I’ve had while making my way across Georgia. If you’re in New York I recommend checking out Chama Mama. It’s a Georgian restaurant located in Chelsea that features delicious Georgian food and wine. Special shoutout to Jesse and Christine, who first recommended this restaurant, and Liz for introducing me to my first Georgian meal!

Fresh produce is a lot cheaper outside of the grocery store whether that’s in the bazaar or on small shops on the side of the street. It’s amazing how delicious and inexpensive produce is here!

A nut and churchkhela stall in the bazaar. Churchkhela is a homemade Georgian candy made from grape juice, flour and walnuts. It’s essentially a string of walnuts incased in a layer of grape juice/fruit leather. Its nickname is “Georgian Snickers” but personally I think that nickname is way off from what it actually tastes like.

A view into the produce market next to the bus station.

One of my favorite things about Georgia, especially visiting in August and September, is the fresh and sweet figs and stone fruit! These figs are the best I’ve had in my life.

Bread is a staple in Georgian cuisine. Here you can see khachapuri (bread stuffed with cheese) being baked in a traditional oven.

Chebureki is a fried dough stuffed with meat that closely resembles an empanada. The pastry was deliciously flaky, but the meat filling inside was quite sparse!

Look at that fig! Equally beautiful and delicious.

One version of khachapuri, cheese-filled bread, bought in Kazbegi, Georgia. We were able to get them fresh out of the oven from a bakery owned by a pair of brothers who invited us into the shop to take a look at how they bake the bread. They only make khachapuri, lobiani (bean-filled bread), and plain bread.

One of my favorite dishes - pkhali. Pkhali is traditional Georgian dish where chopped and minced vegetables are mixed with ground walnuts and herbs to form a paste that’s rolled into a ball. Typically pkhali balls are made from either beets, carrots, eggplants, or spinach.

In this platter you’ll also see mchadi, Georgian cornbread, which is typically eaten with pkhali. The platter also included several types of Georgian cheese (not my favorite - Georgian cheese tends to be quite strong and a little sour in flavor) and jonjoli salad (a salad made from pickled jonjoli bushes. I’d never heard of this plant before - Google tells me the plant is also called Staphylea or bladdernuts)

Another look at pkhali, also from Cafe Leila where the previous photo was taken. The purple ball is made from beets, the green from spinach, the orange from carrots and peppers, and the brown from eggplant. The white are balls of cheese.

Every country has its version of the dumpling and in Georgia it’s khinkali. To me they are more similar to 小籠包 (xiao long bao) than regular 餃子 (jiao zi; dumplings) because khinkali are filled with broth.

Similar to 小籠包, khinkali are eaten by first biting a hole in the dough to suck out all the soup before proceeding to consume the rest of the khinkali. However one part that differs is that most Georgians typically don’t eat the top of the khinkali! I found this very strange because the dough is my favorite part and it seemed like a random part to leave uneaten. However this is because most of the time the top part is still raw despite the rest of the khinkali being cooked through and because people want to leave more space in their stomachs for more khinkali / filling rather than dough.

Khinkali typically feature a filling of mushrooms (my favorite), ground beef, a mixture of ground beef and pork, or potatoes and cheese.

A refreshing mint lemonade. Most of the lemonades here are fresh and natural, rather than the sodas back home or in Central Asia, so I found this quite refreshing!

Kubdari is a Georgian bread filled with spiced meat and is local to the Svan region (northwest Georgia).

A meal while in Sighnagi, the “City of Love” located in Kakheti, the wine region of Georgia. We had this meal at a family-owned winery where the food was cooked by the mother and grandmother. All of the produce is grown in their own garden - locally sourced!

On the left: Nigvziani badrijani (eggplants with walnut paste) is one of my favorite dishes in Georgia! It features pre-grilled sliced eggplant that’s lathered with a walnut paste.

On the right: a version of khachapuri where this one is a round bread filled with cheese.

On the top: Green beans with scrambled eggs. These green beans tasted more similar to Southern-styled cooked green beans (aka boiled).

I had this delicious Georgian platter at Sisters restaurant in Kutaisi (western Georgia) that featured some of the most well-known Georgian dishes.

Left: Khachapuri (round bread stuffed with cheese)

Left corner: Pkhali (balls of minced veggies and ground walnuts) and sliced eggplant with walnut paste

Top: Georgian cheese

Top right: Mchadi (cornbread)

Right: Cucumber and tomato salad - a favorite Georgian salad. It’s funny because this salad is also quite popular in Central Asia but mixed with different spices. My favorite Georgian version of this salad is when it’s mixed with walnut paste and cilantro.

Bottom: Chicken liver with plum sauce - a dish local to the region we were in. Not my favorite but interesting to try!

Bottom left: grilled chicken

A meal in Mestia, a town in the Svaneti region of Georgia.

Top: mushrooms baked in a clay pot - so simple yet delicious! Mushrooms are featured frequently in Georgian cuisine and are cooked so wonderfully.

Bottom: Eggplant salad with walnut paste.

Wine ice cream*! Yup, you read that right. I’m not quite sure how this ice cream is made or flavored, but it definitely tastes like wine. The first bite tastes like grape but then you get an aftertaste of wine.

*This is not “typical” Georgian cuisine. I’m pretty sure this is a tourist / marketing / hype product but it was awesome.