"USA could be considered my second home " a United States of America Travel Page by Minashka

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Me in Washington DC

MiniMe as an exhange student

In 1995 I was lucky enough to win a scholarship to study in California as an exhange student for one year. It was my first time abroad, especially for such a long period, at the age of 15. Being Senior at an American high school was completely different from the Soviet type education I had received at home. While living in California, I traveled to Mexico, Canada as well as to more than 10 states within the U.S. Though I was hosted in southern Cali, I must say that San Francisco is THE best town in the States!!!

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Washington Monument

Representing Azerbaijan in Washington DC

Went back to the States again in 1998 and in 2001 was offered a job in the US-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC. While working in DC, I traveled all over back East, went to Alaska, Louisiana and some other states. New Orleans is a great city for jazz & blues lovers, whereas Alaska with its beautiful nature is the place for hiking. DC has lots if history, but nothing could compare to Boston! Just the sight of Harvard Univ makes up for the bitter cold during the winter. If you're planning a visit to DC, make sure to go there in April to see the cherry trees blossom...

USA was the first place to where I traveled by myself and kind of my first time out of USSR. When I got to the States, It felt like I was on a different planet. Europe had always been closer to us not only by distance - also culturewise. But here everything was so different! And then California felt like a different country by itself. Seeing smiling people everywhere was great! You could feel the freedom in the air. Coming from a former USSR country, this was completely new to me. This is where I saw the ocean for the first time, where I got to learn Spanish and did many "first"s :) There were shocking moments also... like for the first time in my life I saw really big - obese people. I was taken aback. Strawberries were big and looked so good but tasted like water - my first disappointment! But I also met the most generous and nicest people everytime I traveled to the States. Sometimes I thought some of the people were narrow-minded and didn't know anything about the rest of the world when they'd ask me if we wore shoes or had TVs in Azerbaijan. But that's where I also learned to be tolerant and accept people as they are. In United States is where people from all over the world come together and live in harmony. US has something to offer to everyone and it's a matter of accepting it with all your heart and making the best out of your time there!!!