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| As some of you know, I recently traveled to Egypt because I can. Here are some pictures and stories! (If you don't like swearing, just look at the pictures - I know I'll be swearing at least once)
You know we have to start with the pyramids.
This was on my first full day in Cairo - I went to the pyramids with a German woman I met in the airport in Cairo. It helped to have a fellow traveler, because everything was so different. We decided to try to get to the pyramids using public transportation (no taxis), which is a bit more difficult in Egypt than Europe. We had to take two separate mini buses, but the problem was that they weren't labeled in any fashion. You simply flagged a bus down, yelled "Al-Gize" into the window, and if they nodded, you got in. We relied greatly on the kindness of strangers :)
Construction site at the pyramids - see the piece the guy at the top is holding? They just passed it up the outside of the structure. It was amusing.
That night we went out to a reasonably nice dinner, and I tried to take artistic pictures of the decoration - I believe I was moderately successful (if a bit cliche)
Then, we went to the Marriott, where Claudia had her first Shisha pipe. We tried to get a picture of her blowing out smoke for her husband (Holger...I had trouble pronouncing it, so we either called him Olga or Muhammed), but she was less than successful.
I like their motto "Authentically Palatial"
Claudia
In Cairo, I also met a nice Egyptian named Ali, and got to spend some time hanging out with him and his friends. He had visited the US once, and I was struck by his observation - "All individuals, no harmony"
With him and his friends, I also discovered another tendency of Egyptian men when confronted with a westerner - the tendency to talk about sex. The first thing they started talking about was Viagra, and eventually they (and a few random people I met in taxi's or on the street) asked me, "So, how many girl's you fuck?" As a westerner, this just isn't a common question, and I was generally confused upon being asked. However, being an ass, I decided to confirm their assumptions and went with one for every year I've been alive. Though I think my answer of 23 and 10/12 was a bit confusing.
This was my room in Cairo - all to myself. Notice the lack of air conditioning. I had to move my bed under the fan to survive, and open the window (which permitted the influx of bugs that subsequently ate approximately 40% of my skin). Also, the bed was well designed so that it sagged in the middle. If I lay on my back, my left arm would consistently fall asleep due to the curve of the bed.
The bathroom. I like the shower just over the tile floor - gives a lot of room to wander :)
The next day, I went to the museum of Egyptian antiquities (no pictures, sorry), and my last day, I went to Coptic and Islamic Cairo
Hanging Church, Coptic Cairo
St. George's, Coptic Cairo
Then, that evening at 8:30, I caught a train south to Luxor (I paid the extra for a sleeper train, considering I hadn't really slept the two nights prior due to my questionable accomodations). Getting the tickets was an epic in itself, requiring approximately 3 hours and visits to 4 separate financial institutions. Ah, the joy.
I arrived in Luxor at 5:30 in the morning, got off the train with my bags, and suddenly realized to my dismay that I had to go to the bathroom. Now. So, I hurried to my hotel, which was 3 minutes walk away, but was not yet open for the morning. Peering in through the glass doors, I could see Egyptians sleeping on the ground, so I knocked but failed to wake them up. So, I pushed on the door. It opened. Unfortunately, all the bathrooms in this hotel were en-suite, so I dropped my stuff and went to a cafe where I paid a little to use their bathroom. It was a 'squatter' type with only a hose for post-going-rituals. Needless to say, it was an experience, and I felt the need for a shower at the end :).
Then, I grabbed a taxi to the Temple of Karnak as it was opening at 6am. That was awesome.
This is the whole temple complex. A soldier led me up here for a little extra baksheesh (tip)
This was another temple within the complex. Because it was early morning, and no one else was around, I snuck into places I shouldn't have. I couldn't help myself :).
And the view as I was leaving around 9:30. For this, we are going to have a caption contest. Here are my submissions:
1. Onslaught of the Geriatrics!
2. At the entrance to the Bengay convention
3. *Overheard* "No way! You use Chanel No. 5 too!?"
The decor in my hotel in Luxor. Horrifying :)
That evening, I went to the Temple at Luxor around sunset.
The Egyptians had a penis thing.
Luxor in the evening.
The next day, I woke up at 5:30 to get the ferry across the Nile so I could see the Valley of the Kings before it got really hot (I was there toward the tail end of the hot season). However, halfway across the Nile, I realized I had forgotten most of my money! NOOOO! So, I only had money to go to the Temple of Hatshepsuit and some of the tombs of the nobles. But it all worked out well :). I hiked up over the hills to the Valley of the Dead at sunrise and got some nice pictures. And in the temples of the nobles, I was the only person there, so the locals opened them especially for me and led me around, taking me into a lot of prohibited areas for a little extra baksheesh. They even brought out a surprise :)
Valley of the Nile at Sunrise, seen from the hills overlooking the Valley of the Kings
Hatshepsuit's Temple
The surprise! Yes, that's really the 3000 year old head of a mummy. And it still had hair on it.
Unfortunately, besides the nice things to see, Luxor is an absolute hellhole. 85% of its economy is tourism, so you can't go anywhere without getting bothered by people trying to sell you things. And I'm not talking a simple "Hey, check this out", but a hard sell, where they'll follow you a hundred meters down the street pestering you. My worst experience with this was on the way to the Valley of the Kings. On the ferry, I was approached by a taxi driver offering to take me around the Valley of the Kings for the day (its a large area, so this is common), which I politely refused, especially since I was so short on cash. However, he would not leave me alone. My guide book informed me that there were pickup trucks with benches in the back that would take me to the Temple of Hatshepsuit for 50piasters. However, as I tried to approach these pickups, the taxi driver (who would not leave me alone and was following me) would run up and speak to the in Arabic, obviously saying something like "Hey, charge him extra and we'll split it". As a result of this bastard, I ended up paying 10LE to get to the ticket office, then, because of my intense distrust and dislike for this taxi driver (who insisted, naturally, on coming along), I got off and hopped on the back of a passing motor cycle who took me the rest of the way. In any case, after the stressful days in Cairo and Luxor, my next destination was going to be paradise (even if the trip there was...interesting)
From there, I traveled by bus to Hurghada, spent the night there in a hideous hotel (where I slept on the roof because of the heat), caught an overpriced taxi to the ferry (and argued for 10 minutes about our agreed-upon fee), took the ferry across the Sharm-el-Sheik, hopped in the back of a taxi that had been hired by a rich Russian (paying 1/4 of what he already had), and ended up in Dahab on the Gulf of Aqaba.
It was pretty. There, I got my advanced scuba diving license in some of the most beautiful places I have dived (I also discovered two things from Egypt that do not go well together...diving and diarrhea...hmmm)
Me and my diving buddy Chris, looking so punk rock it hurts.
Local bus #22
On the way to the dive site - about 2 inches on either side of the jeep.
We are the real slim shady.
And that's our one-toothed Bedouin driver.
I hope you enjoyed :)
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| (see...thats funny because I took something Saddam Hussein said and used it ironically...you'll understand when you're older.)
Ok, so I know its been...a little while...I choose to blame the excesses of capitalism. Please don't ask me what that means. Anyway, here are a lot of pictures, and some words for your viewing pleasure...
GO!
1st things first...I went over the Rigi on a hike and then took a boat to Luzern...
A warning: you may find yourself wanting to visit Switzerland on account of these pictures...
 
Alright. Then I went to Amsterdam...
And briefly to Liechtenstein. Briefly because there's not much there. This picture pretty much captures the entire country. And by 'captures the entire country' I don't mean it gives you an idea of what everything there looks like. I mean thats the entire country.
Then, I went to Barcelona. We rented an apartment in Las Ramblas. It was sweet.
We saw the Sagrada Familia
And the Picasso Museum
And a terrifying advertisement.
Later, my older sister and her lovely husband visited. We went to Mürren. I took all the kitschey pictures I could...
That's my sister and her husband! She's pregnant! I'm running a campaign that they'll give him the middle name 'Danger'
Then my parents visited. We did a lot together. Whit came too while they were here...
That's my mom.
and that's a giant blue angel! I told them to meet me under the blue angel...Dad wanted more directions. I told him he wouldn't need any.
We went to the RheinFall - its a European version of Niagra falls. Which means its smaller.
We saw the sun set.
This was in Stein am Rhein. I'm imagining the artist talking about it.
"So...what's your vision for this wall?"
"Well, I'm thinking of doing some facade work..."
"Good."
"And then, I think the focal point should really be a pregnant fawn with her horrible mutant baby."
I've started playing with an ultimate team here, ZUF. We're #4 in Switzerland! This is the parrot who lives next to the field where we play. His name is Rolli. We've played there long enough that he's learned to talk like us, and makes random 'Up' calls throughout the game. Its a bit distracting, though he normally does it when the disc is thrown.
Then, I took a week vacation to Spain: Madrid, Bilbao, San Sebastian/Donostia, Pamplona, Granada (it looks like a lot more than it is...but I tried to do something cool each place.)
In Madrid, I went to a bullfight (though I forgot my camera)
I also met these two - Iza and Candice. They were fun.
I like the warning signs.
"Floating children may not touch the walls."
"No booty dancing the train."
Then I took a train to Bilbao, where I saw the Guggenheim
I almost got pickpocketed upon arrival. I was trying to find my hostel in the rain at 10pm and wandered into a sketchy part of town. A guy asked me if I had a cigarette, and after I told him no, he tried to sell me weed. After refusing and starting to walk away, he called after me, and I stopped. He walked up, moved my umbrella to my other hand so I would have a free hand and started the shake my hand. While doing this, he seemed to think the best way to distract me so he could get my wallet was to wrap one leg around one of mine, shake my hand, and hop up and down. Needless to say, I found this terribly attractive and asked him for his phone number noticed his attempts, pushed him away, and swore at him violently in Spanish.
The next day, I went to San Sebastian/Donostia....which was amazing.
Look! Blue sky! Woot.
Anyway, by accident I discovered that the running of bulls would be happening while I was in Spain. So I went for a little run...
I slapped the ass of the bull you can barely see in this pic. Woot.
Then, I went back to San Sebastian and took 2 buses and a train overnight to Granada, where I cleaned up and went to the Alhambra. For anyone who is a fan of any kind of visual art, I recommend it. I've never taken so many pictures before. Absolutely amazing.
My last night in Spain was kind to me...this was the view from the roof of our hostel.
Then, back in Switzerland, we took a train to Airolo and rode our bikes over the Gotthard pass to Göschenen.
This was the way up. Cobblestones.
Its a bad thing when the descent, which is steep enough to let you catch up to cars, has views like this. Distractions are only good at low speed.
This is those of us who went. Giancarlo is the shirtless italian.
Last, I have been working on my MD/PhD Applications for the last month or so...Is this essay a bit over the top? You be the judge.
(The prompt was 'why do you want to pursue an MD/PhD?)
The sky was falling, Thor was throwing a temper tantrum, and the North Wind was making me her bitch. Steeling myself, like Theseus, in preparation for a confrontation with the gods, I gritted my teeth and stepped forward into the maelstrom.
It was precisely the sort of day on which great things seem to happen, or at least be talked about. The clash of the elements excites the human will and intellect, spurring us on to great deeds worthy of song (and, in rare instances, coordinated dance).
Children were screaming, old women being blown hither and thither, clinging tightly to their floral patterned umbrellas. My clothes clung to me, soaked, and I waded determinedly through the ankle-deep torrent in the street, shaking my fist in defiance at nature.
Nothing could keep me from my goal - not Thor, not Zeus, not even the tram and bus trying to run me over simultaneously.
As I stepped over the threshold, my way was blocked by a powerfully built woman, clad primarily in leather.
"Xena?" I asked.
She nodded.
"The Warrior Princess?"
She nodded again, pointed her sword at me and asked, "What do you seek?"
"Knowledge," I replied.
"To what end?"
"That's a good question," I replied philosophically. "Knowledge, learned once and applied for years afterward to problem solving, as in medicine, is unsatisfactory when compared with the discovery of new information. However, I have difficulty focusing on knowledge for the sake of knowledge, and I worry that a career in science alone might become focused on that. I suppose you could say I seek new knowledge for the service of good - that is, knowledge with a purpose outside of its own learning, like medical research."
She stared back at me, obviously confused.
"I mean," I said, "I seek knowledge so I may construct a leather outfit such as your own."
"Ah," she replied happily, "Then you may pass."
I continued on. Soon, my path was blocked by a terrifying apparition. It took the form of a man with oddly slanted eyebrows and bushy red hair. As I approached, it spoke.
"I'm Carrot Top!" it screeched in a voice like a dying cat in heat. I made a mental note to make my imaginings less terrifying in the future.
"What's important to you?" it screeched.
"People, and never hearing your voice again...but mostly people. I want to be able to help them - I hate to see anyone suffer unnecessarily. That's why I'm interested in medicine. It offers an opportunity of immediate benefit to people that is lacking in research, even medical research."
It nodded silently and let me pass onto the next trial, a wall painted with the question, "How will you pursue that which you seek and that which is important to you?"
I paused for a moment, considering my reply, and realized that the opportunity to both perform research and practice medicine was the only satisfactory alternative. Each provides something that I require and the other lacks.
With that realization, I blacked out and woke up in front of my computer with this story on the screen.
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| i just cloned 4 genes in one day.
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