Last year I spent a couple months wandering Europe. I've avoided talking about it here because I don't think it's technically relevant, but recently I've seen some people list it in their general development so I thought I'd do the same. It also helps answer the question, "So what have you been up to?"

Another question could be, why? I always wanted to obviously, but I also said I would. Since 9th grade in high school when I began studying German, I wanted to achieve fluency and see Germany for myself. Since then I've also followed European events and wanted to develop for myself a picture of things there. In other words I was fulfilling the Gen-ba of seeing the real situation with my own eyes. Another reason of course is I couldn't afford to go until I finished my schooling and worked for a while. So not only was it a personal achievement for me, but it was the beginning of me seizing my career and developing the skills to get to where I want to go.

Here's the beginning of my trip.

I started my trip flying into New York, it was my first time there and I got a lot out of it. Central Park really is massive. The Metropolitan Museum is rich with ancient history and artifacts. Something that struck me was the prevalence of Syncretism, the combining of religious and historical themes between disparate cultures. Such as statues of Egyptian gods wearing Roman clothing, a Buddhist statue of a snake in the tradition of the local snake worshippers. These were sometimes efforts to spread religious faiths or to allow foreign rulers to appear as heirs to traditional power. Again the frequent example is Romans appearing traditionally Roman in Italian statues, but in statues displayed in Egypt the Roman emperors are depicted in Egyptian headdresses and robes.

I also had a Humans of New York moment when I wandered around Downtown NY starting around the United Nations building. As I walked up into the financial district, large chauffeured black German automobiles circling the consulates segued to sheer faces of glass and steel buildings and the financial uniform became prevalent. Suddenly my tennis shoes and tanktop stuck out. I was just looking at the hive of people swirling by when one guy stopped and told me he liked my tanktop. It's a vintage print of He-Man with muscles rippling and the caption "Don't act like you're not impressed." The guy explained he grew up watching He-Man and it really took him back. Then he melted back into the uniformed crowd. That was the only humanity I saw down there.

Eventually my time concluded with me running in the rain trying to find the right subway. Soaked through I finally found the right line, caught my transfer, missed my stop, caught another subway coming back, got off at the right spot and rolled up to the airport. Late. But the flight was late too. I caught my international flight with some sweet talk to the counter, "we probably shouldn't be doing this..." However we all made it and then I flew to Istanbul. This was my first flight across the Atlantic so naturally I didn't sleep a minute. Three movies, two meals and one landing later, I was running through Ataturk's massive airport to catch my connecting flight. Thankfully they delayed the flight to Athens but not on my behalf. So me and the dozen or so others flying from NYC->Athens hopped on the bus and made it to the waiting plane.

I should be honest I didn't know what to expect when I flew into Istanbul, I chose Turkish Airlines specifically for the price discounts offered due to the unrest and coup ongoing. Most other people were fleeing the airline or any other flight plans going through Turkey, but I saw an opportunity. Flying from Texas->Greece / Germany->Texas cost me $700 total including a stop in New York. That ticket was 6 flights, 3 layovers. Not bad! Now of course I wasn't totally oblivious of the situation in Turkey, I knew the coup lasted less than two days. I had my eyes open for any signs, but really only saw enormous Turkish flags draped down the buildings that looked new. The in flight magazine however was extremely interesting. The thick magazine featured the explanations from the Turkish authorities, including Erdogan, castigating the Gullenists. Then it was followed by page after page of statements of support from western political and corporate leaders. The who's who of western power.

I made it! - Istanbul

And then to Greece.