Central Asian food tends to be heavy in dairy and meat. However, being vegetarian or even vegan in Bishkek is not impossible, but you should be willing to work to both check your foods and explain your needs to locals who may not understand. Below, Sophia Rhem (vegetarian) and Kathryn Watt (vegan) recount their experiences […]

One of the best ways to jump into a new culture is through the local food. The sheer act of sharing food experiences also gives you instant conversation starter material with locals. At the same time, you’ll be looking for an array of gastronomic pleasures during your time abroad and Warsaw will not disappoint! Below […]

Jurmala is a resort town on the Baltic Sea coast with a long history. It’s known for its traditional architecture, cultural institutions, and, of course, its surprisingly warm beaches. SRAS students in Riga regularly travel to Jurmala, allowing them to see both life outside the capital, but also to see how many Latvians relax on […]

I spent 3-months backpacking as a solo female across the Caucasus, visiting each of the three republics there. In this article, I’ll cover how I spent my final three weeks in the Republic of Armenia. If you are interested in the other parts of my trip, you can check out my intro page or my […]

My Central Asian Studies Program with SRAS in Bishkek included a fantastic 9-day trip to the major Silk Road cities of Uzbekistan—Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand—which was book-ended by visits to Tashkent. At the end of my program, I made the trip to the capital of Uzbekistan again, this time independently. I stayed there for three […]

In my six years as a competitive ballroom dancer in the United States, I’ve been struck by the fact that most of my coaches, teachers, and judges are from former Soviet states. Even Ukrainian President Zelensky had a star turn as a dancer when he won a Dancing with the Stars competition in 2006. During […]