Here are some powerful facts I've learned since moving to Eastern Europe...

*Wild boar, reindeer, and elk make excellent sausage.

*In Latvia you can go on excursions with your friends that involve vodka, shotguns and shooting kegs of beer and "shotgunning" them. See this link: http://www.argonauthostel.com/special1.php Of course, "pussies and drunken Finnish guys need not apply". It's really a good deal with everything included for about $90...even "madness"!

*You can serve rye bread with anything...including Asian food.

*Azerbaijanis make some awesome shish kabobs.

*Skype might be one of the best inventions of the 21st Century. Free calls anywhere in the world? Yes please.

*Tallinn is not only the Party Capital of the World 2006, but also New Europe's Boomtown (both quotes from the New York Times).

*It is completely acceptable and even sophisticated to drink beer at breakfast.


These are just a few of the reasons I love Eastern Europe...