As if You Need Another Reason

It's funny how one event can change a person's perception. If I were to do a free association of "Japan" just last week, I would have thought of the following: sushi, Shinto Temples, Tea-Ceremony, Ukyo-e Prints. Lots of happy, interesting thoughts.

Now so much has changed.

This disaster isn't just a shift in perception. The whole country moved eight feet. The earth's axis wobbled. The images and numbers are so staggering, it's hard for me to wrap my head around it.

Please consider giving to the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders.

To sweeten the deal, United will give 500 miles for each donation to the Red Cross. You can even donate unused miles.

This is just too big to ignore.

Countdown

Whenever I have a large task at hand with deadline, I need to have a countdown device. Note the word, "need." Not "like" or "prefer." Need. For work, I plan out my entire semester in an Excel spreadsheet. The schedule for each course is combined in one master schedule, with monthly meeting dates highlighted. As time marches on, my schedule shrinks as I hide the passing weeks. Most of my coworkers are aware of my habit and will often ask me: "What week are we on?" and I'll reply, "Week five, only three more weeks until Spring Break." I've turned into a speaking clock.

Some (such as my darling husband) would argue that my hyper-scheduling is a manifestation of my desire for control. Sure, I'm a list-maker and planner. I will not disagree. However, my countdown also serves as a motivator. When faced with a dreary, soul-sucking task, such as grading research papers or cleaning out the refrigerator, I will visualize my next break, or better yet, my next trip. This is why on any given return flight home, I will start thinking of when I can sneak away again. Day hikes are nice, but longer trips are much better at subduing the "I-can't-not-bear-one-more-day-of-this" blues.

(I am certainly not implying that my job is more miserable than most. Rather, this tactic helps me with any monotonous aspect of my life.)

There are sometimes in life when the countdown tactic just doesn't work. In the Summer of 2009, my husband found out on a Sunday afternoon his boss was sending him to Madrid for two and a half weeks - leaving on Tuesday morning. He called me on noon at Monday to let me know that the company travel agent found a screaming deal, and bought a ticket for me. I literally had 24 hours to reschedule my life and pack for Spain. My countdown was boiled down to hours instead of weeks. Even without the long-term planning, it was a fabulous trip. It taught me to allow time for wandering, and that some of the best memories are made by having a long lunch in a restaurant not listed in any guidebook.

My constant planning also runs against the Buddhist thought of living in the present moment.* Can I really be present when I am so focused on the future? Maybe the everyday doldrums wouldn't seem so bad... Clearly this is something I have to work on.

The countdown is now 7 days until we leave for Istanbul. I do have some days planned. But there are some days that are open for suggestions and other ideas. I do not know how to count in Turkish, and have yet to buy a map. But that's ok. We'll figure it out.

Babysteps.

*I am not a expert in Buddhism. Rather I enjoy expanding my mind by looking at other religions and philosophies. 'Nuff said.

Waving Goodbye

My Wonderful Son (WS) is off on his adventure today. This morning he left for Singapore, a two-week trip on his own.

As with much of parenthood, this is a bittersweet moment. Yes, I'm happy we've raised a son who's independent and brave enough to discover the world. Just as with the first day of kindergarten, there is the achievement of reaching the milestone, but a reminder of how fast they have grown. Eleven years ago we took WS on his first trip to Europe; his first taste of escargot, playing in Sherwood Forest and skipping rocks in the Lake District. That trip was also the first time we travel out of the country as a family; something I had dreamed about, but wasn't sure we could achieve.

As WS was getting ready, it was hard setting aside the Mom-ness - "Do you have your passport? Did you pack your allergy medicine? Do you have enough sunblock?" Even though I know no matter how much you prepare, there will always be bumps in the road (or crying babies in the cabin). The most important travel skill is dealing with the unexpected. No guidebook or jet lag pill can give you common sense on the road. For just like walking, it's a skill you have to learn for yourself.

Bon voyage Son. Have fun and take chances. Show the world that some Americans love Al-Jazeera and won't let patriotism act like a blindfold. We're proud of you.

Dusting off the blog

Welcome back.

That was directed to both you, dear reader, and myself.

This project took as respite as life resumed to "normal;" working (teaching) and getting son off to college, home improvements... life.

Then life gave me a wake up call.

One ordinary morning this Spring, I was on my way to work with neither coffee nor lunch - not a pleasant situation. I stepped into Starbucks to correct both issues and hovered over the sandwiches. "I don't like chicken salad with tarragon, the tuna looks dry, the egg salad could kill me..." Without the caffeine, my decision making skills were nil. It was several agonizing minutes before my lunch was decided upon.

As I turned to get into the coffee line, a gentleman motioned for me to go ahead of him. He was a normal, docker-wearing guy - wire-frame glasses, fresh haircut, button-down shirt. The kind of fellow that mom would approve of. Nothing out of the ordinary. I deferred his offer to cut in front of him by saying, "That's ok, I don't know what I want." To which he replied,

"You don't know what you want out of life?"

"Uhhh.....no.... yes, no... I mean... I don't know what coffee I want... no really, go ahead."

The now cruel, but ordinary looking man shrugged and went ahead. Meanwhile, I was shaken to my very core. "What do I want out of life? What am I doing with my life? What kind of sick bastard would ask someone such an existential question before they had coffee?" By the time I had gotten to the barista, not only did I still not know what I wanted but felt like I was thrown into some supernatural scene from the 90's show "Northern Exposure."

After I fumbled my order and paid for my latte and sandwich, I saw the gentleman leave. I was starting to wonder if I hallucinated the whole scene, but seeing him leave with his grande drip coffee struck me even more. He wasn't some stoner, or punk, or Mr. Anti-Establishment. He was a Mr. Ordinary asking an extraordinary question.

As I continued my walk to work, wondering how I could possibly carry on with an ordinary day with such questions rattling in my brain, the answer came to me as clear as a bell:

"I want to travel and I want to write."

This hasn't been an easy thing for me to accept. On some level I feel like an eight-year-old wishing for a pony and wanting to be a ballerina. Sure, honey, good luck with that. Who wouldn't want to travel and write?

Ironically, I have traveled out the country since this blog last updated - twice. In both cases, I considered posting updates with "wish-you-were-here" type of antidotes, but I didn't. Keeping up a blog while traveling is work; work that would keep me away from the experiences of travel. (And I am not the only one facing this conundrum.)

What was missing was the writing component. Over the last several months I have taken some classes and workshops with Lighthouse Writer's Workshop. I am still forming ideas, and taking one-step at a time. But if I want to write... maybe I should be writing.. something.

So here we are. Thanks for coming along.

Home

I've been home for over a week now, and am slowly getting back in the swing of things.

My plane arrive on Thurs (7/31) evening, and the next day I was shopping for WS's dorm room. I highly recommend being jet-lagged for such an occasion, as you are too tried and disoriented (even with a triple-shot from Starbucks) to really get into the emotional aspect of what you are doing. Instead to thinking, "Oh my God, my baby is going off to college," I was thinking, "Please God, get me through this so I can go home and take a really long nap."

A couple of culture shock points:

-Driving. It's been two months, and Egypt was a pretty scary place to be in a car, or on the road. (I neglected to mention in my blog, that we did witness someone getting hit by a car while attempting to cross the road in Alexandria. Not a happy moment.) I feel my driving skills are just fine - but I have noticed that I do speed a little more than I normally would. The Egyptian mentality of "If the road is clear - GO" may have rubbed off on me; but I don't believe a police officer would let me off the hook for that.

-Suburbia. Except for Cinque Terre and Lake Maggiore, I've really been in urban spaces. I currently live in a beautiful example of suburbia; and for some reason it does feel a little odd. It is so clean here, I feel like I could lick my sidewalk. My house seems stinkin' HUGE, the yard even huge-er. I'm starting to resent the fact that I have to driver nearly everywhere. (I will be taking the bus into work three-days a week this Fall, maybe that will help.) Now don't get me wrong, I love my neighbors and I don't see us putting up our house for sale any time soon. It just seems to be so big... so American, to live this way.

-Walking. I've been trying to keep up my walking from Europe/Egypt; and it will require determination. It's not like I lost a lot of weight (my stomach would not let me eat a salad in Egypt), but I do feel better (and sleep better) when I walk more. In an attempt to keep up with the walking (and raise money for a worthy cause), I've signed up for the AIDS Walk on September 6th. I know it's only a 5K (3.1 miles) but it's a start.

-Food. Not only are our supermarkets huge, they are filled with crap. How many twinkie/ho-ho variations do we as a culture need? Or types of cereal? Or cans of soup? When we were in Cairo, our hotel was right across from a "Metro" which was "Egypt's largest supermarket chain." It was maybe a quarter of the size of my local market. Granted in America there is a larger market for "ethnic foods" than there was in Egypt; but why do we need so much?

-Normalcy. This may sound very odd, but there are moments when I'm sitting on my sofa, or laying in my own bed, that I wondered if the last two months really happened. Was I really out of the country? Did I really see all of those things? Almost like the trip was an outer body experience and I've been thrown back into reality.

Now I don't want to say this will be my last blog post, and I did want to set up this blog as "Thoughts on Travel and Life" not just one particular trip. With that said, a slight hiatus is in order. My teaching srarts tomorrow (our school is starting early, but closing down during the Democratic National Convention) and WS will be leaving soon. Life and its demands will be knocking.

In any case, thank you for reading. I hope it didn't bore you, or that my typos drove you nuts.

Ciao!

Back at Cairo

Our last couple days were back at Cairo. One of our lectures was at the Arab League. (Think the Arab version of the UN.) It was pretty impressive touring the facilities.

However, during the lecture it was hard not to say "I'm sorry" on how our current administration has ignored everything the Arab League has suggested in terms of international policy. That being said, the issue of Radical Islamic Terrorism never came up. I guess both sides have some faults - with no easy solutions.

One of the highlights for our last couple of days in Cairo was going to a concert. A week prior I had ventured out to the Zamalek neighborhood. (That's were the Islamic Ceramic Museum was. A museum that has no gift shop, nor do they allow photography inside. Do these people not know how frustrating this is for me?!?) As I was wondering around, I found a fabulous bookstore, Diwan - like a little Egyptian Barnes and Noble. (Me finding a bookstore - there's a surprise! Ha!) Being in an adventurous mod, I bought a CD by Fathy Salama. (Check out his My Space page.)Low and behold he was having a concert at the Outdoor Theater of the Cairo Opera House.

In a great example of the contradictions of Egypt, his band consisted of a man wearing the traditional turban and galabeya playing the finger cymbals, along side the bass player with this "Iron Maiden" tee-shirt. I never thought I would say, "Wow, that accordion solo was amazing!" but it was. He had a fabulous singer from Algeria, Karima Nayt. (Her CD is coming out in September, you heard it here first.)

Allison and I were tickled to met him after the show. Such a great musician, and he was so nice. He wanted us to come see his show in Alexandria, or again in Cairo in August. Sadly, we're leaving on Thursday.

Alexandria

After two nights in Cairo, we were back on the road to Alexandria. The highlights of Alexandria for me were the Biblioteca Alexandrina and the roof-top bar at the Four Seasons which was one block away from our hotel. (The Greco-Roman Museum was closed.)

First, the Biblioteca Alexandrina. This new institution is basing itself on the ancient library in Alexandria, often dubbed at the birthplace of Western academia. (I highly encourage you to check out their website, I couldn’t possibly cover all of their research centers and support. Their Eternal Egypt site is awsome.) The architecture was well-thought out. There was text from every language on the outside.

The inside was filled with natural indirect light.

They have a children’s library (which is pretty rare in Egypt), a manuscript collection, an internet archive (first one outside of the US), a couple of museums, a Planetarium and this really cool interactive program. They have nine (!!) projectors synched with each other to create one huge panoramic screen. With a pretty cool remote, you can navigate though a computer system on Egypt – past and present. For example, you can pull up a panoramic view of the Temple of Ramses II, with various links on the Aswan Dam, the history of Ramses II, how it was constructed, etc. (Being a group of teachers, we all wanted one in our classroom!)

While we did some sightseeing in Alexandria, the second highlight for me was the Four Seasons. Their bar, Blue, was outside over looking the Mediterranean; a perfect spot to watch the sun set.

Especially when drinking a Strawberry Tequila Mojito:

Maybe the seven-week mark was harder than I imaged, but I really loved hanging out in this bar, and I had some company. (Ok, I will admit that is me on the far right, looking the other way. I honestly didn’t think I was in the shot, and I was watching the sun set.)

My friend Kathy got this shot from the bar – amazing!

Aswan and Abu Simbel

Going further down the Nile, we stopped at Temple of Edfu, one of the largest ancient Egyptian temples in existence.

The Temple of Edfu, like many other ancient temples, had a Nilometer. The ancient Egyptians used a Nilometer to measure the level of the Nile, and collect taxes. If the Nile was exceptionally high (flood-stage) or low (drought) then the taxes were reduced, since the farmers were suffering from ill-conditions. Conversely, if the Nile was flowing at an optimum level, the higher taxes were levied.

There are some local legends in which if a woman is scared in a Nilometer, she will become pregnant. Our guide Selma noted that is was rare to see locals in these temples, but what did we see coming out of the Nilometer:
An older women and (presumably) her daughter.

Later that day we had a felucca ride on the Nile. This is what a felucca looks like:

Quickly into the ride, a row boat with two young boys came along side ours. Just like Christmas carolers, they sang songs, hoping for a tip.

Then our crew provided the entertainment with Nubian songs:

Our cruise docked at Aswan, home of several ancient temples Temple of Kom Ombo, and Temple of Philae. Now, as much as I love ancient Egyptian temples, they were starting to look the same. “Oh look, a huge column covered with hieroglyphs.” “Hey, another image a Horus.” Many of us were suffering from temple burn out. On interesting aspect to find how the later Christians changed the site, or old graffiti.

But even with the temple burn-out, what did many of us do? Take the optional flight down to Abu Simbel to see yet another temple. The half-hour flight saved several hours of driving through the barren desert. When tour buses do make the trek, they go caravan style, just in case one breaks down. There are no services between Aswan and Abu Simbel, if a bus breaks down, it is abandoned and everyone gets on to the other tour buses. Waiting for a tow truck could be deadly, due to the heat.

With Aswan having a rather small airport, we were pretty surprised to see this:

Yes, that is a Sbarro’s in the Aswan Airport. This spread of Western fast-food never ceases to amaze me.

Abu Simbel is south of the Tropic of Cancer, the furthest south I had ever been. Ramses II, being such a modest guy, built his most impressive temple down here to intimidate the Nubians, and anyone else coming down the Nile.

While the temple is large and certainly impressive, the “wow” factor for me is that temple was moved in the 1960’s. When the Egyptians constructed the Aswan High Damn, they calculated that this temple would be submerged. So the entire temple, inside and out, was disassembled and placed in a man-made mountain on higher ground.

Surprisingly, it was not unbearably hot at Abu Simbel, as there was a nice breeze coming over Lake Nasser. (Read: It only felt like it was 102F, instead of 120F.)

Our return flight brought us back to Aswan around noon. We spent the afternoon on the boat, before heading back to Cairo on the overnight train. Plane, boat and a train in one day. Is it any wonder that several of us (myself included) felt an odd sensation like we were still “moving” the next day in Cairo?

Crusing

After touring for so long, and buying the majority of our meals (and trying to stay on budget); being on the cruise felt decadent. Three full meals a day – plus tea-time! A pool! A gift-shop! A bar! But like every cruise, there is the somewhat goofy evening entertainment. The “highlight” was costume night, where we had to “dress-up” as an Egyptian. (I must say that this did bother me on some level. Is this not what the English did when they came to Egypt, the basis of Orientalism? Contrive a romantic notion of what Egyptians were, all the while as distancing themselves as being superior? Wasn’t the idea of this trip to understand a culture, not give a Western attitude of Egyptians being “the other”? Maybe I just think too much…)

So here I am on the Nile, in my Egyptian get-up. (That veil did not want to stay on my head; now I know why so many Muslim women use straight pins to keep them put.)

Here’s my roommate Peggy:

Dan and Kathryn looking good!

Now what do you do with a bunch of adults in costumes? Make them play silly games, of course, such as passing an empty water bottle around.

It certainly was touristy, but fun.

Temple Tour, Part Two

The next day we left early for the Valley of Kings, where generations of pharaohs were buried. Sadly you can take photos outsides of the tombs, but not the interior.

After the Valley of Kings, we went to the Temple of Hapshepsut. When looking at the temple you have to image it originally being covered with bright sculptures and lush plants.

While the tour was fun, it was unbearably hot. Sweat was running down into my eyes. We returned to the cruise ship and began to cruise down the Nile. (No, that is not our cruise ship!)

As luck would have it, two days prior to leaving Luxor, Arlene, a fellow traveler, gave me the book, Down the Nile by Rosemary Mahoney, as she had just finished it. Mahoney wrote about her experience rowing down the Nile, something virtually unheard of in Egypt. Though our trip was opposite of hers, (She started in Aswan, and followed the river flowing northward, we went up the river.) it was incredible to follow her story as we were surrounded by the beauty of the Nile. While I did not have the same experience that she had in Luxor, I certainly agreed with many of her observations of Egyptian life.

New York Times Article

The New York Times just posted an article on Agriculture in Egypt. I must say, from what we have seen and all the lectures we have attended, it is spot on.

Upper Egypt, Part One

Yesterday morning, we returned from our trip to Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simel. This section of Egypt is known as “Upper Egypt” even though it is Southern Egypt. As the Nile flows northward to the Mediterranean Sea, “upper” refers to “up the river.”

Our first stop was Luxor, via overnight train from Cairo. This, along with so many aspects of our trip, turned out to be a cultural experience. The overnight train consisted of cabins (Here with my roommate, Peggy):

And dinner: (Umm… not the best I’ve had.)

A beer I can not recommend:

And a club car:

(I didn’t hang around too long here, pricey drinks and too smoky.)

The porters then came around to pull out the beds:

Our tour guide, Selma, said that only tourists took this train. We weren’t sure if this was due to security or financial reasons. (With Egypt Air flying to Luxor and Aswan from Cairo, maybe the issue was time.) For the most part the train followed the Nile and/or one of the drainage canals parallel with it.

Normally I can sleep anywhere - planes, trains and automobiles. This ride was a bit rough; the train kept jerking and stopping.

Arrive at Luxor, we boarded our cruise ship. The ship, The MS Nile Odyssey, was part of a large fleet; very British in every way. There was tea time at 5pm, four course, sit-down dinner at 8pm. Lunch was a large buffet. As lovely as the food was, when it’s reaching 40C, I really didn’t feel like have stuffed duck, mashed potatoes and gravy for lunch. There were some salads, but with my recovering stomach, I really didn’t want to chance raw veggies.

With the sweltering heat, we toured the sites either very early in the morning, or late in the afternoon. Our first temple was Karnak.

With these ancient temples, you soon find how inadequate the English language can be in conveying size and scale. “Big” just doesn’t cut it. “Enormous” comes close, but still does not capture the height, as it is subjective.

We then went on to Luxor Temple:

This ancient Egyptian temple was buried under sand for over a thousand years. Where part of the temple was sticking out, the Egyptians built a mosque, which is still there and in use. (The tourist below are in the ancient section that was buried.)

Break Down

Before I left for Luxor, I was getting a serious case of home-sickness. I was approaching week six of the trip, and missing the comforts of home. The idea of re-packing for the trip made me want to tear my hair out (we typically leave one bag in Cairo, with our souvenirs, extra clothes, etc, and take another bag with us). It wasn’t that I didn’t want to go to Luxor, more that I didn’t want to go anywhere – just let me stay put for the love of God! The constant change was grating on my nerves; which in itself surprised me as I always loved to travel. To break past this mental wall, I went for the culinary equivalent of an American security blanket – McDonald’s.
I ordered a Big Mac, with Fries and Soda.

What was surreal was that it tasted exactly the same from the States. If you had a Big Mac from the Denver sitting right next to one from Cairo, you couldn’t tell them apart. (I take that back, I bet the one from the States is bigger.) There are different menu items, such as a Chicken Big Mac, and a McArabia, a chicken pita:

(I have not had the McArabia, and it had gotten mixed review among our group; either they love it or hate it.) Another differnece? In Egypt, McDonald's delivers:

While the McDonald’s fix was comforting, that Big Mac sat in my stomach like a rock – just like at home.