So, I feel fantastic right now! And you're never going to believe why...
Today was my last science fiction lit class, right? And so I told myself that I wanted to have my final paper finished to turn in today when I went to class, so I didn't have to go back to LMU after today. Well, I finished my paper at 4:16 this morning! Then, I woke up to get ready for class at 7:45ish. It’s so glorious! I feel like a college student again.
Now, I realise that probably sounds stupid, as I still am a college student, but I haven’t had to stay up late all semester. With only 12 credits this semester, I’ve not had to put in a lot of work at any one time, and so I’ve been to bed at the latest 2 every night since I’ve been in London. This contrasts starkly with my average college schedule. Take for example last semester at SJC. I took 23 credits, with nine of those credits being lit classes, so I never really started a paper before the night it was due; this means I was pulling all-nighters at least once a week. I miss doing that! It makes me feel young again. That probably sounds equally stupid, but so much now, I feel like I’m actually going to have to grow up soon because I’m student teaching next semester and turning 22 this summer. I constantly hear adults say “I can’t run on that little sleep anymore.” So I’ve been afraid of devolving into such a state. But I feel great! And I haven’t even felt like I need to stop and rest.
However, all of that being said, this joy may come and bite me in the butt because I’ve got another paper due tomorrow that I need to write, but I’m completely caught up in doing other things right now. And these other things are making the paper seem not that high on my priority list at this point.
My first priority has been finding a place to stay this weekend while in Paris. I’m spending my last weekend abroad in Paris. I’m incredibly excited, but we’ve encountered quite a few snares concerning the people in the party who are going on this little expedition. Because of that, we’ve not procured a place to stay, yet. As of twenty minutes ago, two people backed out, so now the number will be either three or four. So, instead of waiting any longer, I’ve sent out a few last minute couchsurfing requests. We’ll see. I’m not terribly worried about it, because I’ve decided worrying won’t get me anywhere. And, I’ve always wanted to sleep on a park bench, so if all else fails…
Also, my other priority before writing my paper was to write this blog. We’re flying to Paris Friday after the Contemporary Britain final and won’t be flying home until Tuesday morning, so I wouldn’t want to keep my faithful audience up to speed and not make them wait until I return. Also, I do have quite a few great anecdotes from this week, so I want to share them and not have them become overshadowed by French tales of glory.
Monday I turned in my final paper in Education and gave the presentation. It went well enough. I got into a discussion with the prof about my personal beliefs about why I think mathematics was relevant and worthy of study within the National Curriculum. It was a lively discussion, and we grilled me with a few tough questions, but his reactions to my answers made me feel like he was impressed with what I had to say: great success!
After spending most of Tuesday relaxing, the evening brought with it one of the things I can honestly say I’ve been looking forward to doing since I knew I was going to be in London. I saw a Shakespearean play performed at the Globe Theatre. As my facebook status later exclaimed: “Mike Koscielny now knows what theatre is supposed to look like.” My own meager attempts to explain how amazing it was have failed; if I may, however, use one of my favourite British colloquialisms—it was bloody brilliant! Everything about it was so incredible. We bought standing tickets—they were only £5!—and were standing only a person away from the stage. There wasn’t a single part in the show that I thought faltered in any way. From the opening fight scene, I knew it was going to be great. They were trained to stage fight so well, with and without swords; it was intense. But then, I knew it was going to be great when Prince came out to stop the fight, as Paris and Mercutio were with him, and Mercutio were with him, and Mercutio went right up to Tybalt (who looked particularly furious) and… let’s say… lewdly “stroked” his sword, making a noise to match such a gesture (if you get my drift). Mercutio is one of my favorite characters in all of literature, so I was so happy when he did that, as inappropriate as it was. His character is so great, and the Queen Mab monologue was amazing.
Other highlights from the show were the party scene. The period dancing was great, but also Tybalt’s scene upon discovering Romeo was intense. Being as close as we were, it was incredible to watch. As Capulet was yelling at Tybalt, he was just shaking; it was the furious shaking that happens when you’re going to explode in a fit of anger. The fight between Romeo and Tybalt, after Mercutio’s death, was amazingly well done. It started with rapiers, then transformed into a physical brawl before the men regained sharper weapons. Again, bloody brilliant. They portrayed Paris to be a flamboyant weakling, which was particularly enjoyable. The other scene that was melt-my-face-off incredible was Capulet’s reprimanding of Juliet when she refuses to wed Paris. I knew it was supposed to an intense moment, but holy crap… I thought a blood vessel was going to explode not only in his forehead, but also on his neck. At the climax of the yelling, his face was a vibrant shade of magenta. The other thing that really really impressed me was the overly emotional scenes where the actors cried. Not once did it seem forced or fake, not once. It was so incredibly natural, not only because the scene was so well done that the emotion flowed, but because the actors were honest about it. Nothing felt fake, hammy or like the audience was being pandered to.
And, to top the night off, I was interviewed for a BBC documentary! Yeah! It happened on my way to the Globe. I was walking along the river and this woman stopped me and asked if I would be willing to be interviewed. I didn’t want to because A, I wanted to get to the Globe as fast as possible and B, because I’m not British, so I thought that might be weird. However, she insisted, saying, “Please, it will only take five minutes and you look absolutely dapper, so you’ll look even better on camera.” I let her sucker me in with flattery. But that’s okay, because I did look dapper. Haha! I was just wearing a collared shirt with my new bowtie, a blue jumper and my white sport coat (although, when I was leaving the Globe, I did get winked at by a girl walking past). Anyway, the woman had me watch an advert from a power company that was promising to reduce your carbon-emissions by 20 percent if you sign up for their special plan. She asked me what my reaction was to the advert and what I interpreted by the message being put forth. Then, she explained to me what the offer actually promised, which was in fact to email participants energy-saving tips and solicited my reaction. I watched the advert again and sure enough, it was in the fine print. I was upset. Her final question was asking for my personal energy-saving tip, so I name-dropped and explained blackle.com! I was really excited about that. The more people who switch, the better (also, that's why this blog has a black background!).
It wasn’t until the end of the interview that she told me it was for a BBC documentary. I kinda wish she would have told me before so I could have tried to sound a bit more eloquent.
Wednesday I took my Differential Equations final. It was decent. It wasn’t a pushover exam like the previous tests, but it wasn’t anything of extreme difficulty. After that, I spent the rest of the day procrastinating and finally writing the SciFi Lit paper.
And on that note, I should do something productive with my life. Who knows…
30 April, 2009
26 April, 2009
A Week Back In Jolly Londontown
I can’t even believe where the time has gone. Everything is happening so fast now. Looking back, it seems like my spring break was just a great dream I woke up from. This week back in London has been so startling rapid that I feel like I’m losing control.
Getting back to class after two weeks of vacation was rough, to say the least. I’ve been struggling in my education class because the end of the semester has become a free-for-all. The only mark we’re receiving in the class is a paper that is due at the end of the semester—which is, for me, within the next two weeks, whereas the rest of the class has another month. We are supposed to be giving a presentation (for no credit) that will mirror our paper, and we’re supposed to be doing it in groups. Well, my group is fairly incompetent, and so the presentation we are giving Monday is incoherent and not at all relevant to the assignment. However, my paper is written, and it should get me some good marks when assessed. ::knock on wood::
It was funny. Last Monday, when I was headed home from LMU, I made it a point to walk from the Green Park tube station. Not because it was a beautiful day (although, it was), but because I wanted to see Buckingham Palace. I’ve enjoyed seeing all of the London landmarks this week. After that long week of traveling, I realized that I missed London; after being away for nine days, I did really really miss London. It was such an odd feeling.
I spent most of my free time during the week preparing and writing this paper that’s due for my education class. It hasn’t been fun. I did take my second Differential Equations test on Wednesday. I was so upset at the test. The professors said it was going to be really difficult. It was only two questions and the questions were identical to those on the study guide. IDENTICAL. Sure, it was nice to know that I am going to get another near-perfect score, but I guess I was really hoping for a challenge. I wanted to “flex my mathematics muscles,” for lack of a better term. I was looking forward to having to think. Although, my comprehensive final exam is going to be in that class next Wednesday, so that should promise me some challenge.
Like I said, the week flew by. I was originally going to go to Berlin this weekend, but the girl who was going to go with me backed out, so I never booked a flight. Instead, I spent the weekend here, enjoying everything London has to offer. Thursday was St. George’s Day. (St. George’s Day is the feast day of St. George, the patron saint of England. So it’s comparatively England’s St. Patrick’s Day.) There was a huge concert in Trafalger’s Square on Saturday to celebrate; it was a bunch of ‘native’ music. It was honestly pretty cool. I was out there for most of Saturday afternoon. When I got there, a guy was performing who was like an English Jason Mraz. It was nice guitar-pop type of music, but had a nice ‘English’ twist to it. I debated buying one of his CDs for most of the day. There was a woman who played a thing similar to the bagpipes while her brother played guitar and fiddle and violin. There was the Bollywood Brass Band, which was two trombones, a trumpet, sousaphone and soprano saxophone, accompanied my three drummers. They came weaving through the crowd and ended up playing right where I was standing, so I have some great video of them, actually. There was this woman and her band who were really bizarre. It was like your typical rock band, except she was singing lead vocals playing what I can only describe as ‘rock sitar.’ Yeah! It was unique. I didn’t think they were terrible, but I really didn’t completely enjoy them either. The lyrics to the songs were kind of trite and simple. I really felt like they would have a great CD. I feel like they probably sound great in the studio, but their live show was a bit sub-par. I am going to try and find their myspace to see if my hypothesis is correct.
Friday! Before that delightful concert on Saturday, I had Friday. Okay. I’ve mentioned this a few times, but I’ve had one song that I’ve listened to basically non-stop since arriving in London. It’s called “Yankee in the Chip Shop” and it is by my favorite band, the Matches. Well, in the video for the song (which they filmed here in London) there’s a scene where they run past a collection of tipped over phone booths. It’s a really cool scene. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLKPN0bpP9Y Watch the video now and you will see what I mean. Anywho, I’ve been looking for these tipped over phone booths since I got to London. I even asked the people in charge of the programme here, hoping they would know, but they were just as clueless as I was. After spending an obscene amount of time with various google searches, I discovered in the comments for the youtube vid, someone talked about where they were located. So I got in touch with him, and he gave me the 411. So Friday morning, Andy and I trekked out to an area of London known as Kingston.
To understand London, you must know that it was a city that was, according to my history geek friends, made up originally of 32 villages, and so the city is still divided into these separate areas, similar to the boroughs of NYC. Well, Kingston is a ways away from the center of the city. It’s not necessarily far to refer to it as a suburb, because the geography of London is more complicated than that, but if you were just dropped there, it would be the easiest association to make in comparison to the “city of London.”
Anywho, so a tube ride and two bus rides later, we arrive in Kingston. It was so beautiful! And we did find the phone booths. I wanted to climb on them, but when the band was shooting the video, they were written a citation for doing just that. It wasn’t overly monumental, but it was something I wanted to do since I got here, so mission accomplished. After exploring the area somewhat extensively, we found an antique shop en route back to the bus stop. Our curiosity peaked, and so we meandered in for just a moment. It was the best thing we’d done all day. Inside of this place was a Polish Café. We decided it was then a great time to stop and eat. I ordered a plate of pierogi and I was in heaven. For six pounds, I got a plate of ten pierogis! They were so good. It basically made my day.
This weekend has been my only real productive part of my past week. I had a list of things to do over the weekend and I’ve successfully done them (except it took ALL weekend to write that miserable paper). Also, Saturday, I went out to Borough Market again. That was my last chance to go, and I wanted to because I love it out there so much. Jenna had never been there before, and she has a love for delicious food, so Andy and I took her out there. It was delightful.
Sunday, however, was an incredibly glorious and eventful day—and my eventful, I mean a single event consumed today. The London Marathon. I’ve always wanted to run a marathon; it’s on my bucketlist. However, after today, I’ve realised that if I’m going to run a marathon, the London one is the one to run. It was so great. I was out and about all day watching different portions of the race. I started the day around Canada Warf (around mile 9), and from there I saw the top runners go by. Then I went to Canary Warf and saw runners at mile 11 and 14. From there, I went to Southwark and followed the race all the way down to Westminster. It was so much fun to just walk along the racing route. I also stopped into a tent that Adidas set up, and I got a free marathon t-shirt! I was super pumped. It really was amazing to see such a huge outpouring of people out and about to support all of the runners. I was out watching the races from 10 until about 2:30. It put me in such a great mood.
Then, for dinner Sunday night, Jenna, Andy and I decided we were going to try and make kushari. Kushari is something I ate while in Cairo (if you read my mammoth spring break blog, you should remember that ;-D) It actually turned out really well! I was so pleased! And it wasn’t terribly difficult to make. Jenna and I tag-teamed it and there was no panicking at all. It went really well and it was really delicious.
I’ve only got two weeks left. I can’t even believe it.
Getting back to class after two weeks of vacation was rough, to say the least. I’ve been struggling in my education class because the end of the semester has become a free-for-all. The only mark we’re receiving in the class is a paper that is due at the end of the semester—which is, for me, within the next two weeks, whereas the rest of the class has another month. We are supposed to be giving a presentation (for no credit) that will mirror our paper, and we’re supposed to be doing it in groups. Well, my group is fairly incompetent, and so the presentation we are giving Monday is incoherent and not at all relevant to the assignment. However, my paper is written, and it should get me some good marks when assessed. ::knock on wood::
It was funny. Last Monday, when I was headed home from LMU, I made it a point to walk from the Green Park tube station. Not because it was a beautiful day (although, it was), but because I wanted to see Buckingham Palace. I’ve enjoyed seeing all of the London landmarks this week. After that long week of traveling, I realized that I missed London; after being away for nine days, I did really really miss London. It was such an odd feeling.
I spent most of my free time during the week preparing and writing this paper that’s due for my education class. It hasn’t been fun. I did take my second Differential Equations test on Wednesday. I was so upset at the test. The professors said it was going to be really difficult. It was only two questions and the questions were identical to those on the study guide. IDENTICAL. Sure, it was nice to know that I am going to get another near-perfect score, but I guess I was really hoping for a challenge. I wanted to “flex my mathematics muscles,” for lack of a better term. I was looking forward to having to think. Although, my comprehensive final exam is going to be in that class next Wednesday, so that should promise me some challenge.
Like I said, the week flew by. I was originally going to go to Berlin this weekend, but the girl who was going to go with me backed out, so I never booked a flight. Instead, I spent the weekend here, enjoying everything London has to offer. Thursday was St. George’s Day. (St. George’s Day is the feast day of St. George, the patron saint of England. So it’s comparatively England’s St. Patrick’s Day.) There was a huge concert in Trafalger’s Square on Saturday to celebrate; it was a bunch of ‘native’ music. It was honestly pretty cool. I was out there for most of Saturday afternoon. When I got there, a guy was performing who was like an English Jason Mraz. It was nice guitar-pop type of music, but had a nice ‘English’ twist to it. I debated buying one of his CDs for most of the day. There was a woman who played a thing similar to the bagpipes while her brother played guitar and fiddle and violin. There was the Bollywood Brass Band, which was two trombones, a trumpet, sousaphone and soprano saxophone, accompanied my three drummers. They came weaving through the crowd and ended up playing right where I was standing, so I have some great video of them, actually. There was this woman and her band who were really bizarre. It was like your typical rock band, except she was singing lead vocals playing what I can only describe as ‘rock sitar.’ Yeah! It was unique. I didn’t think they were terrible, but I really didn’t completely enjoy them either. The lyrics to the songs were kind of trite and simple. I really felt like they would have a great CD. I feel like they probably sound great in the studio, but their live show was a bit sub-par. I am going to try and find their myspace to see if my hypothesis is correct.
Friday! Before that delightful concert on Saturday, I had Friday. Okay. I’ve mentioned this a few times, but I’ve had one song that I’ve listened to basically non-stop since arriving in London. It’s called “Yankee in the Chip Shop” and it is by my favorite band, the Matches. Well, in the video for the song (which they filmed here in London) there’s a scene where they run past a collection of tipped over phone booths. It’s a really cool scene. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLKPN0bpP9Y Watch the video now and you will see what I mean. Anywho, I’ve been looking for these tipped over phone booths since I got to London. I even asked the people in charge of the programme here, hoping they would know, but they were just as clueless as I was. After spending an obscene amount of time with various google searches, I discovered in the comments for the youtube vid, someone talked about where they were located. So I got in touch with him, and he gave me the 411. So Friday morning, Andy and I trekked out to an area of London known as Kingston.
To understand London, you must know that it was a city that was, according to my history geek friends, made up originally of 32 villages, and so the city is still divided into these separate areas, similar to the boroughs of NYC. Well, Kingston is a ways away from the center of the city. It’s not necessarily far to refer to it as a suburb, because the geography of London is more complicated than that, but if you were just dropped there, it would be the easiest association to make in comparison to the “city of London.”
Anywho, so a tube ride and two bus rides later, we arrive in Kingston. It was so beautiful! And we did find the phone booths. I wanted to climb on them, but when the band was shooting the video, they were written a citation for doing just that. It wasn’t overly monumental, but it was something I wanted to do since I got here, so mission accomplished. After exploring the area somewhat extensively, we found an antique shop en route back to the bus stop. Our curiosity peaked, and so we meandered in for just a moment. It was the best thing we’d done all day. Inside of this place was a Polish Café. We decided it was then a great time to stop and eat. I ordered a plate of pierogi and I was in heaven. For six pounds, I got a plate of ten pierogis! They were so good. It basically made my day.
This weekend has been my only real productive part of my past week. I had a list of things to do over the weekend and I’ve successfully done them (except it took ALL weekend to write that miserable paper). Also, Saturday, I went out to Borough Market again. That was my last chance to go, and I wanted to because I love it out there so much. Jenna had never been there before, and she has a love for delicious food, so Andy and I took her out there. It was delightful.
Sunday, however, was an incredibly glorious and eventful day—and my eventful, I mean a single event consumed today. The London Marathon. I’ve always wanted to run a marathon; it’s on my bucketlist. However, after today, I’ve realised that if I’m going to run a marathon, the London one is the one to run. It was so great. I was out and about all day watching different portions of the race. I started the day around Canada Warf (around mile 9), and from there I saw the top runners go by. Then I went to Canary Warf and saw runners at mile 11 and 14. From there, I went to Southwark and followed the race all the way down to Westminster. It was so much fun to just walk along the racing route. I also stopped into a tent that Adidas set up, and I got a free marathon t-shirt! I was super pumped. It really was amazing to see such a huge outpouring of people out and about to support all of the runners. I was out watching the races from 10 until about 2:30. It put me in such a great mood.
Then, for dinner Sunday night, Jenna, Andy and I decided we were going to try and make kushari. Kushari is something I ate while in Cairo (if you read my mammoth spring break blog, you should remember that ;-D) It actually turned out really well! I was so pleased! And it wasn’t terribly difficult to make. Jenna and I tag-teamed it and there was no panicking at all. It went really well and it was really delicious.
I’ve only got two weeks left. I can’t even believe it.
22 April, 2009
SPRING NINE OH BREAK
So this is the original blog entry I wrote about spring break... they're making me edit things in it to make it more "appropriate" for central's website, as well as breaking it into three separate entries (apparently it's a little long ::shrug::)
Saturday, 11 April, 2009: So, rather than attempting to assemble coherent stories from everything that happened over spring break in a state of total exhaustion Sunday when I return, I’ve decided to lug my heavy laptop around with me over the course of the week and make entries nightly to make more accurate (and hopefully more vivid) recollections of my journeys. Also, the other important reason is to unload pictures from my camera because at the rate I’m going, the camera will be full before the week is half through. I took 128 pictures today. My camera can only hold 334.
Anywho, last night’s airport adventure was a fun one. We flew out of one of those really cheapy flight companies, and so it was nothing like what I was used to flying. It was general admission, so you sat where you could find a seat; nothing was complimentary, no food, no snacks, no water, no anything. That was rough because it was a three-hour flight, so even some pretzels would have been nice. Alas, ‘tis the life of a poor college student I guess. Then, getting from the airport to the hostel was fun. We ended getting off at one of the wrong stops, and it was so late that no more trains were running. However, we called the place and they came to pick us up, so the crisis was averted without much fuss.
Rome, today, was incredible. Period. We woke up bright and early to go pick up the tickets for mass tomorrow (which I’m still unbelievably excited for, but I guess you’ll be reading this after everything’s all said and done… so stay tuned then for my reaction later). We basically did all things touristy, but I’m okay with that. I’m not in London, so I’m totally okay with being the giddy tourist—and believe me, I was giddy ALL DAY. We visited the Vatican, tipped the Trevi Fountian, soared up the Spanish Steps, pored over the Pantheon, hiked up Palatine Hill, roamed around the Roman Forum, and conquered the Coliseum. (Haha! And also, our pun of the day came about because someone asked what the plan was, to which Heather responded, “roam.” We all laughed quite a bit.) But seriously, it was so amazing to see everything that before today I had only ever dreamed about.
We all threw money into the Trevi Fountain, which is supposed to mean that we’ll come back and visit Rome again some day; so hopefully that will come true. When we were at the Spanish Steps, all I could think about was the Everybody Loves Raymond episode where they’re in Rome and he asks where the Spanish Escalator is. I have no idea why that little memory decided to lodge itself into my memory, but it resurfaced and I laughed. The steps weren’t even that big. In the Pantheon, we found the tomb of Raphael.
We paid a bit of money to receive a tour of the Forum and the Coliseum. It was so amazing. The Coliseum was great. My history major friends may make fun of me for not knowing this, but I wasn’t aware that they had a canopy for it. The guide explained and showed us where they would put up a canopy to shield the Roman people from the hot sun. Also, he informed us that before they made the antechambers below the floor of the Coliseum, they would flood it to have naval battles. In the Coliseum, there’s also a giant cross to commemorate all of the Christians who were killed within the walls as entertainment for the Romans. Later, seeing the top of Palatine Hill where so many of the Emperor’s palaces stood, as well as seeing the other excavated sites where Romulus and Reamus founded the city was incredible. Then, to go down and see the Roman Forum was even more breathtaking. To walk around and see the ruins of where the Senate was in session and the portions of the city really make me feel so awed. Civilization has been happening in that spot for quite some time, and to get to see it with my own eyes was an absolute dream. We saw so much today; it was incredible.
While I was outside the Coliseum, I came across quite the moral dilemma. There were tons of vendors out there trying to sell crap to people; one of the most popular items on sale was sunglasses. I didn’t bring the sunglasses I bought in London because I wanted to pick up another pair. This particular salesman knew what he was doing because he walked right up, put the glasses on my face and put a mirror in my hand. It was successful. I liked the pair (which happened to be aviators). So as I’m standing there, figuring out if I want to pay ten euro for these cheap aviators while he continues to try and sell pairs to others, a police vehicle rolls up. When the salesman sees the officer, he panics, grabs his glasses from people and runs. However, he ran away without removing the aviators from my face. Insert moral dilemma here. At this point, I could have just been given a free pair of sunglasses; I could have just walked away and disappeared with a sweet (but cheap) pair of shades. There was no way I was going to pay ten for them. My question was would what I have done really been stealing, because he was obviously doing something he wasn’t supposed to? The guy flocked back to me as I stood there, torn about my options. I eventually offered him five euro, and he agreed.
Also, I had my first real gelato today! This was almost as momentous as seeing the Coliseum. Okay, that’s not necessarily true, but I can honestly say that I was blown away by how delicious it was. Nothing I’ve ever tried in the States has ever compared to the gelato I had today. We’ve joked about only eating gelato tomorrow—and I can honestly say that I’d be okay with that… Okay, that’s not necessarily true either because the other food I’ve had was also incredibly delicious. I had a pruschutto and mozzarella panini for lunch that made my mouth water, and the pizza for dinner was equally delish—it was covered in tomatoes, basil and zucchini.
Without blabbering on and on and on about how great everything was—although, by the end of this, I’m sure that’ll be the prevailing motif—I’m going to cut it short tonight because we’re waking up at the crack of dawn to see if we can get good seats for mass. I really, REALLY want to see Benedict from as close of a seat as I can.
Sunday, 12 April, 2009: I saw the Pope! (an aside to start, the group of us at mass have actually started writing a spoof of The Lonely Island’s “I’m on a Boat,” with the title “I saw the Pope.”) We woke up at the butt-crack of dawn to get on the first train into the city to stand in line to hope for a good seat at mass. Our seats ended up not being ideal, but it’s because we were given some misinformation. We were told that Benedict was going to roll through the crowd in his Popemobile, so we stationed ourselves along an aisle to see that rather than getting as close as possible; however, unfortunately, he didn’t end up taking a ride, so our seat “strategery” backfired. Alas… However, that didn’t stop mass from being one of the most epic things I’ve ever done in my life! I mean, even if I only saw him from afar, they had massive televisions set up, that I dubbed Papalvision, to show what was going on up at the altar. AJ put it best when he said, “It was amazing! I couldn’t stop smiling through mass!!” We were Catholic geeks to the max. The mass was mostly in Latin, but then random other portions were in various languages; for example, the first reading was in Spanish and the second in English. Then, later on, other portions were in Portuguese, Arabic and other world languages. It really was amazing. There were so many people.
After mass, we were dismayed to learn that the Sistine Chapel was closed. Yeah, I was really really disappointed. However, as it was then suggested, now I have an excuse to go back. I did some shopping and then we found a place to stop and eat. Can I just say I love Italian food? It’s fantastic. We ate at a street-side cafe and were entertained first by a violinist, which was so perfect—it was straight out of a movie. But then, things got more exciting as two drunken men decided to interrupt some people’s lunches. He was farther down the sidewalk from us, so we met no interruption, but after arguing with a waiter (who, for the record, looked like he could have ripped them in half), the two men decided they wanted the bottle of wine that was on a woman’s table. There was quite a bit of angry yelling—all in Italian, so I can’t give a better play by play—and they were forced out into the street. The aforementioned angry waiter squared off with them in the street. However, the police showed up before the altercation escalated past yelling and forceful shoving. It was outrageous.
After lunch and a show, we went back into the Vatican to get in line for St. Peter’s Basilica. Following mass hours before, the line extended all the way around the square, and there was no way we were going to wait in a line that long. So when we went back, it was shorter and moving rather quickly. I do have a funny anecdote about the Basilica—at least I thought it was funny. However, when my dad reads this, he probably won’t be as amused, but I found it funny nonetheless (sorry Dad!). As I was climbing the final steps to enter the church proper (from the first vestibule area), I peered in and was completely in awe—completely and totally. Well, as I entered—still in total awe—the only thing that I could mutter (keep in mind it was an unconscious utterance, I didn’t mean to) was “holy s***.” Don’t ask me why, I’m not proud of it, but I can say I was honestly that blown away. However, as the nasty little words begin to escape my lips, I notice the body next to me ascending the stairs was a sweet little nun. So I immediately try and abort speaking with my lips pinched shut after “holy.” Needless to say, it was one of my finer moments. ::hangs head:: I don’t know why I wanted to say it either, because part of my Lenten vows was to stop swearing, and I’d been doing a really good job of keeping my mouth clean, and I’d refrained from cursing all morning. It just came out. But I guess that goes to further cement how completely astonished I was when I walked in to the Basilica.
I saw the entire church with my jaw on the floor. Any words I could describe it with would fail to really capture how grand and immaculate it all is. It was entirely monstrous in size and grandeur. I saw as much as was open to the public, as there were sections closed for various reasons. However, it was really nice because there was a small mass or something going on in the front section of the church, so there was a lot of wonderful chamber church choir music to accompany my stroll. It really was just incredible. THEN! To make it an even better visit, I noticed that there were some booths open for confession, and a couple of them had English signs on them. I got to go to confession on Easter Sunday in St. Peter’s Basilica!!! Oh man! It was amazing! My apologies if that’s too much Catholic geekitude, I’m trying to keep it to a minimum, but it was just so wonderful. The priest was surprisingly funny, actually. I don’t think English was his first language, though, because he had a thick, theological-looking text he was reading that was clearly in Spanish.
Anywho, it was awesome to the max. I could have taken a picture of every single surface of that building because they were all incredible, immaculate and beautiful. After that, some of my companions were getting tired, so they headed back to the hostel while I went south again because I never saw the Circus Maximus on the previous day. I was told that it was just a lame field, but I didn’t care. I really wanted to see it. And they were kind of right. It wasn’t anything impressive like the Forum the day before. However, I can proudly say that I ran around the same track that chariot races took place on 2000 years ago. I was really excited. My friends made fun of me a bit, but I guess that comes with the territory. We took our last looks at the city, bought a final round of gelato (our second of the day), and headed back to the hostel.
Let me just say that after that gelato, I never want normal ice cream again. The stuff is so good. I tried three different flavours with each order I made, so in all, I tried nine flavours—and I must say that they were all to die for. Also, as a closing remark for the day, I’m really glad I brought my laptop because after two days, I’ve taken 230 photos, so there’d be no way that I’d fit this entire spring break on my single memory card.
Monday, 13 April, 2009: Our shuttle left for the airport at 4:45 this morning. The first twelve hours of my day were a blur of sleeping, reading, and some napping. We flew from Rome to Milan, then from Milan to Athens. Our Rome to Milan flight left somewhere in the 6 a.m. range, but I honestly couldn’t tell you. Then, our Milan flight left noonish, if I remember correctly, so we had quite a bit of time in the Milan airport as well. And, as I previously mentioned, I was either sleeping or reading. I’m reading this delightful book Kelsey let me borrow; it’s called The Alternative Hero and it was written by a bloke named Tim Thorton. It’s about this 30-something guy who is basically a failure at life but is still obsessed with his favourite band from when he was 17. There’s considerably more to it, but there are two real appeals for me. First is the narrator, the life failure, has a pretentious indie-mentality about the music he likes and has stark opinions about the bands he doesn’t. I can relate to that quite well. The other thing is that the author is British, and so the narrator lives in London; for me then, I could have never appreciated this book before this semester. It’s very culturally British, and specifically London, that because of how fortunate I’ve been this semester, I understand a lot of the humour that I wouldn’t have otherwise.
Anywho, the flight from Rome to Milan was only an hour, so it wasn’t terrible. However, the second flight was three hours. I usually have trouble sitting for that length of time, but I spent two-thirds of the flight in various stages of comatose. I’d wake up randomly and realise that I was completely uncomfortable and needed to shift my weight somehow. These were both EasyJet flights as well, so there was no snack, and I swear the chairs are slimmer, because even I was feeling a bit cramped.
Alas, none of that mattered when we landed. After making a couple of terrible Grease jokes in relation to our location, I practically skipped out of the airport. We were supposed to be able to just take the Metro from the airport to our hostel (which is really more of a hotel), but apparently the tube line we needed is under construction—which meant we had to take a bus past the construction, then get on the Metro and go the rest of the way. The bus ride was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. The bus driver was a maniac. I believe I’ve commented on London bus drivers being fearless, but they were really good at what they did. The guy driving our bus was suffering from a bout of road rage, and in my humble opinion, a lack of depth perception. It was a rough ride, to say the least. We made it safe and sound (although, I think I have a bruise from losing my balance and falling into one of the poles one of the numerous times that the driver slammed on the braked for no apparent reason).
Our hostel/hotel is right in the centre of the city, which is great at only 20 euro a night. Overall, that is a bit pricey, but considering its location, I have no complaints. My companions booked this place without my consent, but that’s okay. It’s better than originally planned. There are five of us now, and so we booked a double and a triple, however they didn’t have a triple available, so they gave us two doubles and then a single with a twin bed, and somehow, I’m lucky enough to get the twin bed to myself. It’s pretty lovely, especially in comparison to the tiny bed at the hostel in Rome. I’m excited to be able to sleep without curling or bending my legs at all. It’s the little things in life…
With the long flights and time differences, it was early evening when we finally got settled into our rooms. We went wandering outside, and we can see the Acropolis from the front door of the hotel! We wandered through this area labelled a flea market and found this small restaurant to have some traditional Greek food for dinner (most of us hadn’t had much to eat today—personally, I’d only had a half of a baguette sandwich at 9 a.m. in the Milan airport).
There’s a fast food place back in my home town that sells gyros and a few other fast-food imitations of Greek food. Comparing that to what I had for dinner would be like comparing a McDonald’s cheeseburger to something Bobby Flay cooks up on one of his Food Network specials. We saw that there was an Applebee’s down the street from our hotel, and the girls wanted to go there, but I played the “stubborn jerk” card and refused, demanding we sample some authentic cuisine. At the end of dinner, they were grateful I had talked some sense into them. My four friends all ordered chicken gyros. I ordered a chicken bacon sandwich that had a Greek name, beginning with an S. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the thing. I’ll look it up and include it tomorrow. However, the name notwithstanding, I’ll never forget how good it was. There were big, juicy hunks of chicken wrapped up in slices of savoury bacon. And it was real bacon, too! which I do really miss, because bacon in Britain is like Canadian bacon in the States—glorified ham. I like British bacon—don’t get me wrong—but I miss real bacon. As I sit in my large bed and type this, I can still taste its flavour in my mouth (I’m prolonging brushing my teeth until I’m ready to fall asleep…don’t judge me). So on top of the matrimony of meat, there was lettuce, tomatoes, shreds of carrots, some French fries (or chips if you prefer the British terminology) and some bizarre sauce. It’s also important to note there was a seasoning on the chips and in the sauce that I want to think could have been similar to a Lauwry’s seasoning (I have NO IDEA how to spell that, Lourey’s maybe?). My parents are probably scratching their heads right now because I’m notorious for hating tomatoes and avoiding them like the smelly kid on the playground. Tomatoes included, I’ve found myself eating quite a bit of stuff that I’d always said I didn’t like—it’s almost like I’m growing up a bit, because I rarely ever meet “grown-ups” who claim to not like certain foods; they may prefer things, but never to “grown-ups” refuse food on the grounds that they don’t like it.
Okay, sorry about that little tangent, but it was something I thought about today after eating the tomatoes on my sandwich and also realising that I’ve eaten avocados and guacamole and quite a few other things that I wouldn’t ever eat back home. Anywho, the other thing that made the meal absolutely fantastic was my choice beverage. I also gave up soda for Lent, so today at the Greek restaurant, I decided to order a Sprite. It was delicious. I miss the sugary-sweet goodness of carbonated sodas.
Val and Amanda just came bursting into my room (while I write this at 11-ish at night); apparently they broke their door and cannot get into their room. They’ve been given the keys to another room, so their going to sleep there, but the locksmith isn’t coming until after 11, so the girl’s won’t get their things back until morning (they’re going to bed now because we’re waking up early in the morning and taking Athens by storm).
I feel like this is a pretty good place to wrap up for the night. Oh! The other sweet thing about dinner was that one of the gentlemen working there cleaning tables was born in New Jersey. He said his parents immigrated there and he was born and raised in the U.S., but he chose to move back to Greece. He was a really nice guy who talked to use quite a bit before and after our meal.
Haha! So I just turned my computer off and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and realised that there’s another issue that I meant to discuss that completely slipped my mind. In the bathroom, there are a couple signs regarding the plumbing, and their completely written in Greek. That’s terrifying. I can no longer fake it like I know the language. It’s not like Spanish, French or Italian, where I know a little and can make up the rest based on some linguistical skills. No pun intended, but the language is Greek to me. I mean, I recognize most of the Greek letters, but that’s only because I use them as variables in some of my math calculations. I know sigma, theta, lambda, mew, pi, but I don’t know how they are actually spoken or used. That was the most terrifying part of today. Not only was the bus driver crazy, but we had only a Greek word to identify which bus stop we wanted. We were squinting out the window and every stop, desperately trying to identify it before it was too late. Listening to people speak it is equally disheartening. Although, to be honest, I think it’s all really fascinating, so hopefully I might be able to learn a bit by the time I leave and actually pronounce a few words properly.
Here’s to hoping…
Tuesday, 14 April, 2009: Quote of the day: “That wasn’t a lick; licks have movement. Lick is a verb!” That’s what I replied when accused of licking Amanda’s face this evening right before a nightcap of elegant desserts. We were taking a picture and we decided it should be a “goofy” photo. So I waited until right before the shutter and I pressed the fat side of my tongue to Amanda’s temple. The look captured on her face is priceless!
We started the morning bright and early—carpe diem, you know? The hotel had a complimentary breakfast that started at 7:30, so that’s what time we were ready by. We immediately ascended up to the Acropolis. We stopped momentarily to peer down into the ruins of the Agora. Oh man, I almost died. There’s no exciting story, but I just couldn’t handle everything I saw. We then found the Theatre of Dionysus and my head almost exploded. In ancient Greece, there was a huge festival in Athens that celebrated Dionysus in all of his drunken glory, and the culmination of this week-long festival was three straight days of dramatic, which—if you couldn’t guess—took place in the very theatre I saw today. That’s where drama started! The first plays were just a single person, then a chorus of people to join the one actor, then two and three thespians to entertain the Greek masses. I blame this obsession on Dr. Garrity, an English prof at SJC. He basically knows everything about ancient Greek drama, and in my assorted classes with him, I’ve heard everything he knows at least twice.
As epic as it felt to lay eyes on the ancient theatre, climbing the rest of the way up to the top of the Acropolis was even more amazing. The Parthenon was magnificent. Holy cow, to see it in person was incredible; pictures do not do it justice. It’s so big. However, the postcard version isn’t covered in scaffolding. They’re constantly doing renovation and restoration on the structure, and so there was almost half of it that had scaffolding erected around it. However, that really didn’t take away from the magnitude of it, it was just different. The one dynamic to the visit that was interesting was to observe peoples’ sentiments to the British Museum. For anyone who is unaware, the British Museum owns quite a bit of the sculpture that once adorned the Parthenon and they refuse to return it to Greece. The average person only sees the British Museum as a greedy antiquities collector that won’t let go, but the Museum does have honest and justifiable reasons behind their refusal. It was removed and taken from Greece by a private collector a long time ago because he saw it was being used inappropriately (for target practice!) by the Ottoman Army (who was in control of Greece at the time). The collector offered the government a sum of money and they sold him the pieces. The Greeks argue that no one consulted them about it, just a tyrannical government in power at the time. The British Museum argues that if it wasn’t for this collector (who later donated the pieces to the Museum), the stuff would have been completely destroyed. Also, the British Museum argues that more people will be able to see it if it’s in London. Anywho, long tangent cut short, it’s an interesting debate—and it’s one of personally haven’t picked a side to support. However, AJ has an internship at the British Museum this semester (he provided most of the information I explained above) and decided to take a photo wearing his museum identification card just to be goofy and cheeky. He was a bit afraid, so we did it when no one would notice and then he promptly returned the badge to it’s hiding spot, because we didn’t want any incidents.
After we spent time up at the Parthenon, the beautiful weather disappeared behind some angry looking rain clouds. We visited the ruins of the Temple to Zeus under dreary grey skies. It was unfortunate. However, something glorious did happen that I forgot to mention earlier, but must be told because it basically made my day. It costs twelve euro to but a ticket that will get you into six historical spots around Athens. However, we learned that EU students do not have to pay anything; that means because I had my LMU student ID card, I got into all of the places for free. It was friggin’ amazing! I was totally pumped for that. We wanted to beat the rain back to our hostel, at least for a bit, but we first stopped at the old Olympic stadium. It’s not from the 2004 Olympics, but from the time previous that Athens hosted the games. We weren’t sure how long ago that was, but the stadium was pretty neat. It paled in comparison to the stadiums of the recent games, but it was still really cool to see. I wanted to run a lap around the track, but it was all fenced off. I was really disappointed.
After letting the rain run its course (and eating lunch), I headed out to the 2004 Olympic site, which was a 30 minute Metro ride out into the outskirts of Athens. That was really bizarre. First because the Greek Metro is just different in comparison to London. I feel like I’ve been spoiled by the wonderful way London does things, however, some of it isn’t even anyone’s fault. The Greek people just don’t have the same etiquette on the Metro that is expected in London. The Greeks were far pushier and more impatient. They also don’t wait for people to exit the train before entering, which is a pet peeve of mine in London. Alas, it was just part of the experience. However, finally arriving at the site added a sense of delusion. I’ve always wondered what happens to huge buildings that are not being used after the games. It was really pretty close to what I imagine a ghost town to be like. We did see people using the outdoor pools. There were swimmers and water polo players. So it made me a little happy to see that some of it was still being used, but most of the stuff was just fenced off and closed up tight. It just seemed so wrong. It cost so much to build and use all of the different facilities that just lie dormant and vacant. I dunno, it just seems like such a waste to me. However, that being said, it was really cool to out there and see all of it.
There was a TV in the kitchen that was stuck on CNN, so I got to see Barack’s speech. We watched that and then went out for dinner. The place we went wasn’t as good as the first place from yesterday, but it was still pretty good. I got a chicken gyro. However, after dinner, we went walking around and found this place to get a delicious dessert as a nightcap. We ordered these two elaborate sounding dishes, one being a heavenly chocolate cake with ice cream, the other being something more Greek, with a caramelised banana and some other pastry and ice cream. However, the funniest thing happened during our stint in the restaurant that made all of us almost pee ourselves laughing. While discussing what we wanted to order, AJ—with all the confidence in the world—said “If you want something traditionally Greek, look no further than this.” We all look and see that he is, in fact, pointing to the crém brûlè option on the menu. He apparently didn’t know what I t was, but because it has so many different accents on the letters, he just assumed it was Greek. We all got a good kick out of it. He probably won’t ever live it down.
I’m kind of exhausted, so I’m going to try and get some sleep. The awkward thing is, even though I’m in love with the fact that the bed is large enough for me, it’s also very loud. The wood frame makes quite a bit of noise with the littlest of movements, so the bed wakes me up every time I shift my weight or try and roll over. However, if that’s the biggest complaint I have about my stay here in Athens, so be it.
Wednesday, 15 April, 2009: Right now, I’m on a plane (luckily, there haven’t been any snakes), flying from Athens to Cairo. Today has been quite the day. Our supergroup of awesome parted ways after breakfast this morning; the rest of them ferrying off to Greek Isles. Val and I decided to try and hit up a few more sites in Athens after she bought some sandals in the market. We took quite a bit of time in the morning exploring the Agora properly. It was so delightful. It’s almost set up like a park the way there are so many various trails and such. The Temple of Hephaestus was by far the coolest thing to see. It is the most complete temple structure still standing—its construction is similar (if not identical) to that of the Parthenon, it’s just smaller. It was funny because there were a number of the sculpture stones adorning the temple still in place and in a fairly decent condition, and they were depicting a battle between centaurs and some other mythical race. AJ and I were discussing the day previous whether or not centaurs appeared in Greek mythology, because neither of us could remember. It was serendipitous; I was just sad he wasn’t there to see it. Also, one of the structures had been restored, renovated and turned into a pseudo-museum. They had quite a few wonderful artefacts on display—very cool indeed. The other incredibly exciting moment of the Agora expedition was realising that the vantage point that we looked down into the Agora from yesterday was in fact Aeropagus. Aeropagus was famously where St. Paul spoke to the Greek people and worked to evangelise them. My dad was the one who pointed it out to me, but I cannot remember which book of the Bible it appears in. However, AJ and I looked for it the day before without any luck, so I was going to be really disappointed if I couldn’t find it.
Okay. I need to break from my quasi-narrative for a moment and rant. What kind of unnecessary hubris must a person have to think it’s okay to invade another person’s limited personal space on an airplane? It is my firm belief that reclining seats should be permanently removed from all aircraft. I’m 6’4”; and most of my height is in my legs. If I sit in the seat on an airplane properly (although, the same is true on buses as well), my legs just barely fit between my seat and the one in front of me—barely. So I don’t understand why, then, I have to tolerate someone who is so inconsiderate that they ram their seat into my poor knees because they cannot handle to sit in an upright position with good lumbar support. Are they so slothful that they feel they must sit with an obtuse angle at their waist, and this will help them achieve a greater zen? No, the only thing achieved is my bruised legs, first from the jerk slamming his seat forward, then from anything going up and down the aisles because that is where my leg must end up without room within the confines of my seat. It makes me so angry. Especially because this particular jerk-off is as tall as I am, so he should be more considerate. Plus, he’s teaching his two daughters, both under 5’5”, that it’s completely acceptable, if not encouraged, to recline the seats to make yourself “more comfortable.”
I’m sorry; rant finished. Nope, no it’s not… He just, on top of his fully reclined seat, pushed the seat back even farther. It has a bit of give, which he apparently is going to take full advantage of by pushing it back as he lazes. I’m about to have a neuro-psychotic episode where I daydream I’ve put the blunt end of my pen into his eye and beat on it with a hammer. Haha! With something like that, it's like I'm in my own episode of Scrubs!
I’m sorry; that’s a bit over the top. But honestly, reclining chairs on public transportation is one of my biggest pet peeves ever, right above Rachel Ray’s voice and right below un-perforated toilet paper.
After my delight in finding the Aeropagus, Val and I decided to travel over to one of the other hills we saw yesterday from the Acropolis. At the top was the Temple of the Muses, or it was also called the Temple to Filopapou. At about the time we left the Agora, the beautiful sunshine was attacked by some auspicious-looking cloud cover. We made it about half-way up this hill when the heavens opened and dumped a poop-ton of rain in our general direction. Val and I cowered underneath my little umbrella for probably 15 minutes while this rain poured and poured. I found it appropriate at this point to get my iPod out and listen to All Time Low’s cover of “Umbrella.” It was charming. Then, in the most bipolar of fashions, the sun usurped the sky once more, the rain disappeared and it got hot again. Squishing the rest of the way to the top was glorious (even if our shoes were thoroughly soaked). From this vantage, we could see the water—so beautiful! We then found some random trails to wander down the other side of the hill, weaving through a fantastic amount of beautiful nature.
We made it to the bottom of the hill and out to a collection of cafes before the rain started pouring again. After another huge bout of rain, Val and I went to lunch at the first restaurant we had dinner at. I had a salad called Gyristroula. It was chicken, bacon, lettuce, tomato, carrots and dressing. It was pretty tasty. And, for the record, the sandwich I ate before was called Souvlaki. I really feel like the restaurant deserves to be in guidebooks because it was really delicious, really cheap and tourist friendly.
After our meal, we went on a trek through the city to try and find a place that has baklava. It was a failure in finding what we wanted, however it was a success seeing the city one last time. It was a great way to see things. We dried off back at the hotel for a while and then headed to the airport to meet Jessica, who’s joining us for the Cairo part of our journey. On our transit to the airport, we met a man on the tube who was born in the UK and is a Greek citizen. He overheard us talking about London and we had a delightful conversation on the trip. He told us that this was probably one of the worst times ever to visit Athens because apparently there was a young boy who was killed by the police and when the story broke on the news there were quite a few riots that took place. It’s kind of a scary thought. I wonder now if that had anything to do with the monstrous amount of graffiti that was all over the city; I don’t know if I mentioned that before, but the city looked dirty in that regard. I really didn’t find it to be gross, but the graffiti was unsettling. I just assumed it to be something that culturally wasn’t a big deal, but who knows.
* * *
So we are at our host, Tarek’s, house. He was supposed to pick us up at the airport, but apparently something came up and he had to take care of, so we ended up taking a taxi from the airport to his flat. It was quite the confusing fiasco. There is another couchsurfer here (Ben) at his place who is keeping us company. We may end up crashing before Tarek gets back. We’re totally exhausted.
Thursday, 16 April, 2009: We awoke to a bright, sun-shinny Cairo morning. Tarek didn’t return home until I got out of the shower, which was at nine-something. Tarek and his wife said that the pyramids were something that needed to be seen if one is going to “seize the day.” Instead, Val, Jessica and I (with Ben joining us!) decided to tackle the Egyptian Museum. Wow. I was first really upset because I forgot my student ID, so I had to pay full price to enter the museum—it made me really angry. It was such a bonehead thing to do. It was also disappointing because they don’t allow cameras in the museum at all. The museum houses the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world—as it should. We spend hours in that place; it was massive. I saw more sarcophagi than I ever thought existed. Everything in the museum was amazing; however the crown jewel of the museum was the room housing King Tutankhamen’s personal effects that were collected from Luxor, including the legendary headdress. I reacted similarly to what I did when I saw the Rosetta Stone, only to an extreme degree—because it was the headdress of King Tut, and I was in Cairo.
The museum was amazing. After spending a long time there, we walked down and saw the river… and by the river, I mean the Nile! I basically went nuts because I was standing on the shore of the Nile (don’t judge me). The four of us walked around the downtown area for some time.
I really feel like I need to stop providing a play-by-play and unload about everything I’ve seen. I’ll admit that I was a bit worried about coming to Cairo because there’s something terrifying about being in a completely different culture, even physically another continent. It was something that I started to notice last night that was realised in the morning as well when Tarek gave us a lift into town. There really aren’t any traffic rules—at all. Driving is basically a free-for-all. Most of the roads don’t even have any lines on them. Okay, the more freeway-like roads do, but they’re ignored; and all of the other roads are just open concrete. Then, if that’s not exciting enough, throw pedestrians into the mix, who are also travelling on the roads in a free-for-all-like manner. It’s pure chaos. The only means of communication is honking. You honk to get in front of someone; you honk to let someone know they’re welcome to get in front of you; you honk to let someone know they are in your way. Everyone honks for every reason; it’s pretty nuts.
The four of us decided to take a taxi into the Islamic part of Cairo to see some of the largest mosques. Unfortunately, the citadel closed less than a half an hour before we got there. It was frustrating, however I glowed the entire ride because I successfully bartered with the guy to get a lower price. Unlike in the States, you agree with the driver up front what the ride will cost. I prefer this to the meter-method in the US. We walked down to see some of the other mosques and entered a small one down the road. I’d never been in a mosque before, so I had no idea what to expect. I knew I had to take my shoes off, but other than that, I was ready for anything. It wasn’t terribly busy, but there was a small collection of men praying. Ben and I sat down with a few men and they explained something about the lineage of the mosque. It was hard to understand first because I don’t really know much about Islam, and second because their English was very broken.
After the mosque, we went to find something to eat for dinner. I think I’m going to take this time to just gush about the food. I was really excited to try the local fare; I wanted to eat real Egyptian food. In the morning, before we left, Tarek provided us with three different types of things in pita bread. The first was lettuce, carrots, tomatoes and French fries. The second he called fuul, which was basically fava beans blended together and smashed into a paste form. The third was called falafel. It was this herb paste that was kind of fried and it was in the pita with lettuce and tomato. There was also a plate of sliced carrots on the table, and to my pleasant surprise, when I bit into one, it turns out they were canned and pickled with spicy peppers. (My dad used to can peppers and when he threw a carrot in, my brother and I would always fight over it because it was the spiciest, ergo most delicious.) After our first successful experience with Egyptian food, I was excited when Ben said he wanted us to try something and went in search of an eatery selling it. We found a place selling it, and Ben ordered four bowls for us—it was called Koshari. It was noodles and rice in a bowl with lentil, peppercorns, fried onions and a couple other things I’m still not sure what they were. Then, we poured spicy tomato sauce all over it (as well as some chilli sauce, but that was optional). It was friggin’ delicious. I loved it; I inhaled my bowl of it. Then, I almost collapsed in shock when Ben asked how much we owed and he said eight pounds. Ben paid his eight pounds, then as I got mine out, he shook his hand and head, saying “no, no, no. eight pound for all.” That means that we ate our meal for two Egyptian pounds, which is 35.5 American cents. Yeah!
By the time we were finished with dinner, it was sundown. However, we took a moment and looked in this bakery that was across the street. We peered inside and were welcomed by a nice man who invited us back to see them making some bread. I laughed quite a bit because when he asked us where we were from, and we responded the United States, the next word out of his mouth was “Obama!” The man gave us a sample of a few sweets. We then hopped on a bus to make it back to the city centre. It was a trip trying to figure out which bus would take us in the right direction. We wanted to take a felucca ride on the Nile. There were motorboats and sailboat to choose from. The motorboats were lit up like broken carnival rides and were blasting tons of obnoxious music. We really wanted to ride a sailboat. Ben, being completely fearless, walked up and down the river to find the best price for the four of us to take a ride. We ended up paying ten Egyptian pounds for thirty minutes on the river in a sailboat. It was wonderful.
I should explain Ben. Ben is from the upper peninsula of Michigan. However, he’s spent the last 18 months travelling Asia and Africa. Yeah! After he graduated with an undergraduate degree, he decided he wanted to see the world. He’s been travelling through Asia and India, then flew from India to South Africa and bought a motorcycle that he’s used to tour the continent. Yeah! So he’s pretty much one of the coolest guys I’ve ever met. He’s become a companion to us over our adventures and it’s been great.
After Tarek picked us up when he got off work, we returned to his house to relax, only to go out again. Tarek decided that we had to experience Cairo at night. Tarek and his wife said that Cairo never sleeps, and they weren’t kidding. We kind of noticed it taxi-ing from the airport, but heading back out into the city solidified the notion that it really doesn’t ever sleep. The city looked as alive at eleven at night (when we left for a second dinner) as it did in the afternoon. Tarek took us into city around this mosque that was actually draped in lights. Tarek explained that because of the various holidays (specifically both Easter celebrations), it was almost like a festival. We lead us around a bunch of twists and turns and brought us to this restaurant for one of his favourite meals—pigeon. That’s right, pigeon. For dinner at 11:30 p.m., I had two pigeons. One stuffed with rice and seasoning, baked and the other grilled, on top of a “pigeon soup,” which was a seasoned broth made with pigeon meat. It was outrageous; I still can’t get over the fact that I ate it. I figure I’m not going to turn anything down while here—I’ve got to experience everything I can. There’s not much meat on a pigeon. It didn’t taste bad, honestly. Tarek made fun of me during the meal because I put the pigeon and rice in a pita with the veggies on the table (onion, tomato, cucumber and lettuce) and a bit of the hummus (I’m not terribly keen on the hummus, but I can handle small bits of it with other things—I think it’s the texture). He called me a victim of the American sandwich culture (he also made fun of me for doing it in such a meticulous fashion).
After dinner, Tarek lead us around through some different alleys—making up a ridiculous story about vampire mummies along the way—so we could partake in another traditional Egyptian activity, smoking shisha. We ordered a dessert called Umm Ali and had a tea drink I cannot recall the name of, but trust me, it was delicious. They were both spectacularly delicious. I had always turned down my friends who’d invited me to smoke hookah back home, but I didn’t want to be rude, so I partook on this occasion. It was interesting. It was apple-flavoured. The place we went was really classy! There was even live music. There were two gentlemen with an Eastern-looking string instrument (I don’t know the names of all the different guitars) and a tambourine, and they were singing and they were really great. We didn’t return to Tarek’s until well after two in the morning, and the streets were still alive with activity.
Friday, 17 April, 2009: I can die a happy man. I fulfilled one of my greatest childhood dreams today. I SAW THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZA!!!!!! Even now, as I reflect to write about it, my heart’s aflutter. It really was sooo amazing. I can’t even believe it. The four of us (Ben joined us again today! He said he was going to sleep in, but changed his mind in the morning) left bright and early, hopped in a taxi and departed for what I can easily call one of the greatest things I’ve ever done in my entire life. Seriously, this is one of those times that if I was in a sentimental mood, I may start to get choked up.
I remembered my student ID today, so everything was half price. I practically pranced through the entrance. I FRIGGIN’ SAW THE PYRAMIDS! Sorry, that’ll be my last outburst of overexcited-ness. We first went over to the Sphinx and took a boatload of pictures. We then walked around to the back side of the pyramids and take a boatload of photos. We paid to enter the Pyramid of Khafre. That is the middle pyramid—the one with the limestone still on top of it. I was so terribly excited to enter the actual pyramid that I didn’t let the obscenely small tunnel nor the unbearably hot temperature bother me. It was honestly like a sauna in there; and I hit my head and back trying to make in through the entrance shaft (I got a headache from the pyramids!). We walked around and touched and took boatloads of pictures of all three of the great pyramids. Then, we made a friend in a man named Sahid. He was one of the many men their selling camel and horse rides around the plateau. However, after Ben and I talked with him for a few minutes, he proved to be totally legit and an honest business man. It was refreshing considering how many people are there to rip you off. For 50 Egyptian pounds, he took us around the plateau to the highest points to take a boatload of great photos and was really helpful. We took two camels and two horses so we could switch half way through (and say that we rode both around the pyramids). Before we started, we went over to where Sahid had the animals, and another man was there (apparently the boss-man of the operation) and he offered us what he endearingly called “Egyptian whiskey.” It turns out this was just chai, but I thought its other name was better. That also delighted me greatly because I’d been wanting to have some real chai while I was here (I love the fake American stuff quite a bit, so I figured genuine chai would be a dream—and it was!). I started out on a camel—I was really excited to ride a camel—and it was delightful. I was on my own, without a guide to drive me, so I really felt awesome. After having a great time on my camel, I got to ride a horse. It was even better because he let me actually ride it a bit and I got it up to a nice gallop. I almost did it once, but the stirrup broke. So he stopped me, collected them both, and let me go a bit again. I felt like a complete badass galloping along, looking to my left and seeing the pyramids.
I condensed most of the great day into those 461 words, but we were at the Giza plateau all day. The four of us had such a blast. At the end of the day, Ben and I were talking and he mentioned that for a while, he developed an obsession for taking mid-air photos, where he would leap off of something to get the most air in the photo. Well, before we left, I decided to take one leaping off of a marble block, with a pyramid in the back ground. When I get back, I will probably change it to my profile picture, because it’s really sweet; I like it a lot, although I’m still fond of my current profile picture quite a bit. After leaving, we found another place to have some Koshari. We retired home early because we’re all rather exhausted and pretty crispy from the sun. That’s another reason I’m excited—I’ve got me some color (even if it’s a nice shade of pink, it’ll turn tan-ish eventually)!
I really like it here; I’m sad I only have one more day in the city. The people here are very nice and polite. Some obviously have ulterior motives in mind, but they’re still delightfully pleasant and I really enjoy talking with people. The little kids are fun, too. It happened today and yesterday in front of the museum as well. I get stared at like I’m a dinosaur. It happened in Guatemala quite a bit, and so it’s not a problem. It’s kind of funny really. They like to practice their English and ask me questions.
Also, another anecdote to reiterate the point that Cairo doesn’t sleep. Tarek got home from work around 9:30 p.m. and then immediately changed and left again because he had a wedding to attend. Then, Asser (Tarek’s wife), ordered dinner at around midnight because Tarek was expected back soon.
Saturday, 18 April, 2009: Our final day in Cairo was a wonderful one. We spend most of the morning at the Citadel. The Citadel was founded in 1176 and is now one of the most popular tourist attractions in Cairo (that bit I lifted from Frommers). It’s a fort-like structure that now has a few mosques and museums inside. I’ve been wanting to go to a mosque since I booked my flight to Cairo, and so I was again giddy. The largest mosque in Cairo, the Mosque of Mohammed Ali, is within the Citadel. The first mosque we entered, however, was called the Mosque of an-Nasr Mohammed. It was unique in that it was more like a marble courtyard (for lack of a better description). There was a square outer wall and a hallway around it, opening into the centre. In fact, the best way I can describe it is by paralleling it with a cloister. The real difference was that the centre was marble, not a nice lawn.
Mohammed Ali Mosque was incredibly beautiful—incredibly incredibly beautiful. The massive domed ceiling was ornate and all of the hanging lights added such an amazing effect to the room. Jessica, Val and I took the time to just sit there and enjoy just how wonderful it was. When I get back to the States, I’m going to read a book about Islam. AJ recommended one to me that I’m going to try and find at my local library. I do want to learn and know more about the faith because it’s so fascinating.
Throughout the Citadel, there were flocks of school children. Today, I decided rather than acknowledging them when they called out to me, I would make any responses to them in Spanish. It was really funny to see some of their reactions; there was a mix of really confused and really excited. The excited kids just yelled “HOLA” right back to me. It was cute nonetheless.
We visited two of the museums within the Citadel, neither with any sort of excited gusto and fervour. We walked through both the military museum, as well as the carriage museum. The military museum was basically a disorganised collection of everything “fighting” Egypt had ever done/participated in. Yes, that was a poorly constructed sentence; in fact, it was completely terrible, so allow me to explain. There were artefacts from not only modern wars and battles that Egypt had fought in (i.e. the World Wars, the conflicts for its independence from Britian), as well as fighting from older times (i.e. weaponry and such from Islamic and XXXXX periods). It lacked real organization, but it was cool to see the inside of the building and think that it used to serve as an amazingly sweet palace. The other museum, the carriage museum, was really just a collection of a dozen or so horse-drawn carriages that had some historical significance.
After our Citadel adventure, we went back to Khan al-Khalili (which, if I didn’t mention before, was the area where the mosque was lit up and we ate pigeon the other night) because there were quite a few shops there and the girls and I wanted to do a bit of souvenir shopping (the girls wanted to do a lot of shopping, I just had a couple of things to pick up). I spent most of the time talking to various shop keepers; when they’re not incessantly trying to peddle their goods to you, they’re actually wonderfully pleasant people—although, that could just be part of the act. The three of us got a kick out of how many of the men told me I was a lucky man to have two ladies with me. On a couple of occasions, I was offered to sell them for some camels; I thought that would have been a pretty sweet deal, but the girls didn’t seem too keen on it. I was also told quite a few times that I had beautiful hair (yes, by the men in these shops). It was a good time to be had by all. The one thing that I sort of wanted to buy, I couldn’t find one up to my obsessive standards—I wanted to purchase an Egyptian chess set. I examined quite a few, but I found something I really didn’t like with all of them. I’m afraid I may be too obsessive compulsive about it, but my justification is that if I’m not completely happy with it, I shouldn’t spend money on it.
Speaking of spending money, with all the time I spent in the market today, as well as all three taxi rides, I feel like I’ve refined my art of negotiation and bartering for a cheaper price. Everything I bought today, I bought for my price without compromise (and it’s not that I’m trying to be arrogant about it, but I am proud). Before we left this morning, Asser gave us a tip that was very successful. She said that one tactic is to have your money out, in your hand, for them to see. Inversely to how buyers are more likely to buy something if they touch it, the merchant will be more likely to accept the price. The hardest bargain to make was for the taxi ride back from Khan al-Khalili to Tarek’s house. We only paid 20 Egyptian pounds to get into the city in the morning, so I (against the wishes of Val and Jessica) wouldn’t accept a taxi unless it would cost 20 again. The first two drivers wouldn’t go lower than thirty—with the second driver even having another driver step in and try to tag-team me into paying a higher price. However, we crossed the street (the direction of traffic then headed in the direction we needed to go) and were immediately successful. I’ve also found that the less the cabbie is being paid, the faster he drives. That makes the ride much more interesting.
We got back to Tarek’s around 4:30, just in time to see history in the making (and make it onto Egyptian national news). Allow me to digress for a minute to properly explain. When we first arrived, Ben explained that Asser was organising a non-violent protest to sexism and sexual assault. She explained later to us that she was harassed by a gang of men one night, and one of the boys assaulted her. She took her assailant to court and the judge immediately threw the case out because she was a woman. That was apparently the catalyst behind the event she was organising. There was a whole slew of media who had turned up for the event. Tarek said that three of the four major news networks appeared and was taking footage and interviews. Admittedly, the presence of Ben, Jessica, Val and I also brought about quite a bit of attention. Ben was interviewed by two different TV stations, three radio stations and two newspaper journalists. Jessica did three television interviews. I’ll admit I was a bit jealous. It would have been so amazingly cool to be interviewed, but I was in the back of most of the shots as they put people holding signs in the background of every single shot. I did have an obscene amount of pictures taken of me, however. One photo, as well, promises to be really amazing. I was wearing my aviators (see 11 April for that story), which are reflective, and one of the photographers took a shot of my face with one of the protest signs reflected in my sunglasses. It was a very cool shot, indeed. This was nowhere near as momentous as the women marching in Afghanistan, but to see so many there to hold signs in protest, and even more press there to document what was going on. Asser was the woman of the hour; it was great! We got a great chuckle thinking about Mark, Central’s London Programme Director, who during G20 adamantly told us to stay away from protesting, turning on CNN and them running something about this and seeing us there.
Sunday, 19 April, 2009: ::big sigh:: it’s 8:58 a.m. in Athens and I’ve been sitting in the Athens International Airport since 5:20 a.m. Our flight left Cairo at 2:45 local time and took an hour and twenty-five minutes to make it to Athens (another time zone east). The cheapest flight we could find from Cairo to London brought us back to Athens first, and it brought us back for a seven and a half hour layover. I wish there was some other way, but this was the most expensive flight of our entire vacation, so we went with what was cheapest. It is Easter Sunday in the Greek Orthodox Church. If the Metro wasn’t closed and the bus such a hassle, Val and I may have considered going back into the city (I personally would have liked to see an Orthodox mass), but instead, we’re sleeping on benches. I wish I could say I did the cool thing and watched the sun rise over the Grecian horizon, but it’s really cloudy out, so I just can barely see the sun through the clouds now. I figure this would give me a good amount of time to finish writing what appears to be the longest word document I’ve ever written.
I also MUST mention one of the most giggleworthy things I’ve ever seen. At the Cairo International Airport, in one the cafes, they had a TV on, and it was playing The Mummy Returns. I got a good chortle out of that.
The flight to Athens was easily one of the most pleasant flights I’ve ever taken. Getting on the plane, I was bitter because I was in a window seat, however the plane was barely half full, and I actually had the entire row of three seats to myself. Also, it was terribly roomy! I hope our next Olympic Air flight is that nice. The row of seats in front of me was far enough away that I could comfortably sit with my left ankle on my right knee. It was a nice flight and the meal was good. Is it bad that I really like airline food? There’s such a stigma of disgusting that follows airline food, but I always find it to be quite tasty. Not all of it is gourmet cuisine, but I rarely eat things that I think taste bad. I guess I’m just odd.
Looking back and rereading everything, I can’t believe I’ve had such an opportunity. This week has been a sprint of epic proportions. I’ve seen more this week than some people will ever as long as they live. Without a doubt, this will be the greatest spring break in the history of all history, but more than that, it’s been fulfilling what, before January when I left for London, was only my wildest dreams. Without any superfluous reflections, I do want to thank anyone who took on the daunting task of reading this mammoth of a post, or even reading only part of it. It does mean a lot to me.
Cheers!
Saturday, 11 April, 2009: So, rather than attempting to assemble coherent stories from everything that happened over spring break in a state of total exhaustion Sunday when I return, I’ve decided to lug my heavy laptop around with me over the course of the week and make entries nightly to make more accurate (and hopefully more vivid) recollections of my journeys. Also, the other important reason is to unload pictures from my camera because at the rate I’m going, the camera will be full before the week is half through. I took 128 pictures today. My camera can only hold 334.
Anywho, last night’s airport adventure was a fun one. We flew out of one of those really cheapy flight companies, and so it was nothing like what I was used to flying. It was general admission, so you sat where you could find a seat; nothing was complimentary, no food, no snacks, no water, no anything. That was rough because it was a three-hour flight, so even some pretzels would have been nice. Alas, ‘tis the life of a poor college student I guess. Then, getting from the airport to the hostel was fun. We ended getting off at one of the wrong stops, and it was so late that no more trains were running. However, we called the place and they came to pick us up, so the crisis was averted without much fuss.
Rome, today, was incredible. Period. We woke up bright and early to go pick up the tickets for mass tomorrow (which I’m still unbelievably excited for, but I guess you’ll be reading this after everything’s all said and done… so stay tuned then for my reaction later). We basically did all things touristy, but I’m okay with that. I’m not in London, so I’m totally okay with being the giddy tourist—and believe me, I was giddy ALL DAY. We visited the Vatican, tipped the Trevi Fountian, soared up the Spanish Steps, pored over the Pantheon, hiked up Palatine Hill, roamed around the Roman Forum, and conquered the Coliseum. (Haha! And also, our pun of the day came about because someone asked what the plan was, to which Heather responded, “roam.” We all laughed quite a bit.) But seriously, it was so amazing to see everything that before today I had only ever dreamed about.
We all threw money into the Trevi Fountain, which is supposed to mean that we’ll come back and visit Rome again some day; so hopefully that will come true. When we were at the Spanish Steps, all I could think about was the Everybody Loves Raymond episode where they’re in Rome and he asks where the Spanish Escalator is. I have no idea why that little memory decided to lodge itself into my memory, but it resurfaced and I laughed. The steps weren’t even that big. In the Pantheon, we found the tomb of Raphael.
We paid a bit of money to receive a tour of the Forum and the Coliseum. It was so amazing. The Coliseum was great. My history major friends may make fun of me for not knowing this, but I wasn’t aware that they had a canopy for it. The guide explained and showed us where they would put up a canopy to shield the Roman people from the hot sun. Also, he informed us that before they made the antechambers below the floor of the Coliseum, they would flood it to have naval battles. In the Coliseum, there’s also a giant cross to commemorate all of the Christians who were killed within the walls as entertainment for the Romans. Later, seeing the top of Palatine Hill where so many of the Emperor’s palaces stood, as well as seeing the other excavated sites where Romulus and Reamus founded the city was incredible. Then, to go down and see the Roman Forum was even more breathtaking. To walk around and see the ruins of where the Senate was in session and the portions of the city really make me feel so awed. Civilization has been happening in that spot for quite some time, and to get to see it with my own eyes was an absolute dream. We saw so much today; it was incredible.
While I was outside the Coliseum, I came across quite the moral dilemma. There were tons of vendors out there trying to sell crap to people; one of the most popular items on sale was sunglasses. I didn’t bring the sunglasses I bought in London because I wanted to pick up another pair. This particular salesman knew what he was doing because he walked right up, put the glasses on my face and put a mirror in my hand. It was successful. I liked the pair (which happened to be aviators). So as I’m standing there, figuring out if I want to pay ten euro for these cheap aviators while he continues to try and sell pairs to others, a police vehicle rolls up. When the salesman sees the officer, he panics, grabs his glasses from people and runs. However, he ran away without removing the aviators from my face. Insert moral dilemma here. At this point, I could have just been given a free pair of sunglasses; I could have just walked away and disappeared with a sweet (but cheap) pair of shades. There was no way I was going to pay ten for them. My question was would what I have done really been stealing, because he was obviously doing something he wasn’t supposed to? The guy flocked back to me as I stood there, torn about my options. I eventually offered him five euro, and he agreed.
Also, I had my first real gelato today! This was almost as momentous as seeing the Coliseum. Okay, that’s not necessarily true, but I can honestly say that I was blown away by how delicious it was. Nothing I’ve ever tried in the States has ever compared to the gelato I had today. We’ve joked about only eating gelato tomorrow—and I can honestly say that I’d be okay with that… Okay, that’s not necessarily true either because the other food I’ve had was also incredibly delicious. I had a pruschutto and mozzarella panini for lunch that made my mouth water, and the pizza for dinner was equally delish—it was covered in tomatoes, basil and zucchini.
Without blabbering on and on and on about how great everything was—although, by the end of this, I’m sure that’ll be the prevailing motif—I’m going to cut it short tonight because we’re waking up at the crack of dawn to see if we can get good seats for mass. I really, REALLY want to see Benedict from as close of a seat as I can.
Sunday, 12 April, 2009: I saw the Pope! (an aside to start, the group of us at mass have actually started writing a spoof of The Lonely Island’s “I’m on a Boat,” with the title “I saw the Pope.”) We woke up at the butt-crack of dawn to get on the first train into the city to stand in line to hope for a good seat at mass. Our seats ended up not being ideal, but it’s because we were given some misinformation. We were told that Benedict was going to roll through the crowd in his Popemobile, so we stationed ourselves along an aisle to see that rather than getting as close as possible; however, unfortunately, he didn’t end up taking a ride, so our seat “strategery” backfired. Alas… However, that didn’t stop mass from being one of the most epic things I’ve ever done in my life! I mean, even if I only saw him from afar, they had massive televisions set up, that I dubbed Papalvision, to show what was going on up at the altar. AJ put it best when he said, “It was amazing! I couldn’t stop smiling through mass!!” We were Catholic geeks to the max. The mass was mostly in Latin, but then random other portions were in various languages; for example, the first reading was in Spanish and the second in English. Then, later on, other portions were in Portuguese, Arabic and other world languages. It really was amazing. There were so many people.
After mass, we were dismayed to learn that the Sistine Chapel was closed. Yeah, I was really really disappointed. However, as it was then suggested, now I have an excuse to go back. I did some shopping and then we found a place to stop and eat. Can I just say I love Italian food? It’s fantastic. We ate at a street-side cafe and were entertained first by a violinist, which was so perfect—it was straight out of a movie. But then, things got more exciting as two drunken men decided to interrupt some people’s lunches. He was farther down the sidewalk from us, so we met no interruption, but after arguing with a waiter (who, for the record, looked like he could have ripped them in half), the two men decided they wanted the bottle of wine that was on a woman’s table. There was quite a bit of angry yelling—all in Italian, so I can’t give a better play by play—and they were forced out into the street. The aforementioned angry waiter squared off with them in the street. However, the police showed up before the altercation escalated past yelling and forceful shoving. It was outrageous.
After lunch and a show, we went back into the Vatican to get in line for St. Peter’s Basilica. Following mass hours before, the line extended all the way around the square, and there was no way we were going to wait in a line that long. So when we went back, it was shorter and moving rather quickly. I do have a funny anecdote about the Basilica—at least I thought it was funny. However, when my dad reads this, he probably won’t be as amused, but I found it funny nonetheless (sorry Dad!). As I was climbing the final steps to enter the church proper (from the first vestibule area), I peered in and was completely in awe—completely and totally. Well, as I entered—still in total awe—the only thing that I could mutter (keep in mind it was an unconscious utterance, I didn’t mean to) was “holy s***.” Don’t ask me why, I’m not proud of it, but I can say I was honestly that blown away. However, as the nasty little words begin to escape my lips, I notice the body next to me ascending the stairs was a sweet little nun. So I immediately try and abort speaking with my lips pinched shut after “holy.” Needless to say, it was one of my finer moments. ::hangs head:: I don’t know why I wanted to say it either, because part of my Lenten vows was to stop swearing, and I’d been doing a really good job of keeping my mouth clean, and I’d refrained from cursing all morning. It just came out. But I guess that goes to further cement how completely astonished I was when I walked in to the Basilica.
I saw the entire church with my jaw on the floor. Any words I could describe it with would fail to really capture how grand and immaculate it all is. It was entirely monstrous in size and grandeur. I saw as much as was open to the public, as there were sections closed for various reasons. However, it was really nice because there was a small mass or something going on in the front section of the church, so there was a lot of wonderful chamber church choir music to accompany my stroll. It really was just incredible. THEN! To make it an even better visit, I noticed that there were some booths open for confession, and a couple of them had English signs on them. I got to go to confession on Easter Sunday in St. Peter’s Basilica!!! Oh man! It was amazing! My apologies if that’s too much Catholic geekitude, I’m trying to keep it to a minimum, but it was just so wonderful. The priest was surprisingly funny, actually. I don’t think English was his first language, though, because he had a thick, theological-looking text he was reading that was clearly in Spanish.
Anywho, it was awesome to the max. I could have taken a picture of every single surface of that building because they were all incredible, immaculate and beautiful. After that, some of my companions were getting tired, so they headed back to the hostel while I went south again because I never saw the Circus Maximus on the previous day. I was told that it was just a lame field, but I didn’t care. I really wanted to see it. And they were kind of right. It wasn’t anything impressive like the Forum the day before. However, I can proudly say that I ran around the same track that chariot races took place on 2000 years ago. I was really excited. My friends made fun of me a bit, but I guess that comes with the territory. We took our last looks at the city, bought a final round of gelato (our second of the day), and headed back to the hostel.
Let me just say that after that gelato, I never want normal ice cream again. The stuff is so good. I tried three different flavours with each order I made, so in all, I tried nine flavours—and I must say that they were all to die for. Also, as a closing remark for the day, I’m really glad I brought my laptop because after two days, I’ve taken 230 photos, so there’d be no way that I’d fit this entire spring break on my single memory card.
Monday, 13 April, 2009: Our shuttle left for the airport at 4:45 this morning. The first twelve hours of my day were a blur of sleeping, reading, and some napping. We flew from Rome to Milan, then from Milan to Athens. Our Rome to Milan flight left somewhere in the 6 a.m. range, but I honestly couldn’t tell you. Then, our Milan flight left noonish, if I remember correctly, so we had quite a bit of time in the Milan airport as well. And, as I previously mentioned, I was either sleeping or reading. I’m reading this delightful book Kelsey let me borrow; it’s called The Alternative Hero and it was written by a bloke named Tim Thorton. It’s about this 30-something guy who is basically a failure at life but is still obsessed with his favourite band from when he was 17. There’s considerably more to it, but there are two real appeals for me. First is the narrator, the life failure, has a pretentious indie-mentality about the music he likes and has stark opinions about the bands he doesn’t. I can relate to that quite well. The other thing is that the author is British, and so the narrator lives in London; for me then, I could have never appreciated this book before this semester. It’s very culturally British, and specifically London, that because of how fortunate I’ve been this semester, I understand a lot of the humour that I wouldn’t have otherwise.
Anywho, the flight from Rome to Milan was only an hour, so it wasn’t terrible. However, the second flight was three hours. I usually have trouble sitting for that length of time, but I spent two-thirds of the flight in various stages of comatose. I’d wake up randomly and realise that I was completely uncomfortable and needed to shift my weight somehow. These were both EasyJet flights as well, so there was no snack, and I swear the chairs are slimmer, because even I was feeling a bit cramped.
Alas, none of that mattered when we landed. After making a couple of terrible Grease jokes in relation to our location, I practically skipped out of the airport. We were supposed to be able to just take the Metro from the airport to our hostel (which is really more of a hotel), but apparently the tube line we needed is under construction—which meant we had to take a bus past the construction, then get on the Metro and go the rest of the way. The bus ride was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. The bus driver was a maniac. I believe I’ve commented on London bus drivers being fearless, but they were really good at what they did. The guy driving our bus was suffering from a bout of road rage, and in my humble opinion, a lack of depth perception. It was a rough ride, to say the least. We made it safe and sound (although, I think I have a bruise from losing my balance and falling into one of the poles one of the numerous times that the driver slammed on the braked for no apparent reason).
Our hostel/hotel is right in the centre of the city, which is great at only 20 euro a night. Overall, that is a bit pricey, but considering its location, I have no complaints. My companions booked this place without my consent, but that’s okay. It’s better than originally planned. There are five of us now, and so we booked a double and a triple, however they didn’t have a triple available, so they gave us two doubles and then a single with a twin bed, and somehow, I’m lucky enough to get the twin bed to myself. It’s pretty lovely, especially in comparison to the tiny bed at the hostel in Rome. I’m excited to be able to sleep without curling or bending my legs at all. It’s the little things in life…
With the long flights and time differences, it was early evening when we finally got settled into our rooms. We went wandering outside, and we can see the Acropolis from the front door of the hotel! We wandered through this area labelled a flea market and found this small restaurant to have some traditional Greek food for dinner (most of us hadn’t had much to eat today—personally, I’d only had a half of a baguette sandwich at 9 a.m. in the Milan airport).
There’s a fast food place back in my home town that sells gyros and a few other fast-food imitations of Greek food. Comparing that to what I had for dinner would be like comparing a McDonald’s cheeseburger to something Bobby Flay cooks up on one of his Food Network specials. We saw that there was an Applebee’s down the street from our hotel, and the girls wanted to go there, but I played the “stubborn jerk” card and refused, demanding we sample some authentic cuisine. At the end of dinner, they were grateful I had talked some sense into them. My four friends all ordered chicken gyros. I ordered a chicken bacon sandwich that had a Greek name, beginning with an S. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the thing. I’ll look it up and include it tomorrow. However, the name notwithstanding, I’ll never forget how good it was. There were big, juicy hunks of chicken wrapped up in slices of savoury bacon. And it was real bacon, too! which I do really miss, because bacon in Britain is like Canadian bacon in the States—glorified ham. I like British bacon—don’t get me wrong—but I miss real bacon. As I sit in my large bed and type this, I can still taste its flavour in my mouth (I’m prolonging brushing my teeth until I’m ready to fall asleep…don’t judge me). So on top of the matrimony of meat, there was lettuce, tomatoes, shreds of carrots, some French fries (or chips if you prefer the British terminology) and some bizarre sauce. It’s also important to note there was a seasoning on the chips and in the sauce that I want to think could have been similar to a Lauwry’s seasoning (I have NO IDEA how to spell that, Lourey’s maybe?). My parents are probably scratching their heads right now because I’m notorious for hating tomatoes and avoiding them like the smelly kid on the playground. Tomatoes included, I’ve found myself eating quite a bit of stuff that I’d always said I didn’t like—it’s almost like I’m growing up a bit, because I rarely ever meet “grown-ups” who claim to not like certain foods; they may prefer things, but never to “grown-ups” refuse food on the grounds that they don’t like it.
Okay, sorry about that little tangent, but it was something I thought about today after eating the tomatoes on my sandwich and also realising that I’ve eaten avocados and guacamole and quite a few other things that I wouldn’t ever eat back home. Anywho, the other thing that made the meal absolutely fantastic was my choice beverage. I also gave up soda for Lent, so today at the Greek restaurant, I decided to order a Sprite. It was delicious. I miss the sugary-sweet goodness of carbonated sodas.
Val and Amanda just came bursting into my room (while I write this at 11-ish at night); apparently they broke their door and cannot get into their room. They’ve been given the keys to another room, so their going to sleep there, but the locksmith isn’t coming until after 11, so the girl’s won’t get their things back until morning (they’re going to bed now because we’re waking up early in the morning and taking Athens by storm).
I feel like this is a pretty good place to wrap up for the night. Oh! The other sweet thing about dinner was that one of the gentlemen working there cleaning tables was born in New Jersey. He said his parents immigrated there and he was born and raised in the U.S., but he chose to move back to Greece. He was a really nice guy who talked to use quite a bit before and after our meal.
Haha! So I just turned my computer off and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and realised that there’s another issue that I meant to discuss that completely slipped my mind. In the bathroom, there are a couple signs regarding the plumbing, and their completely written in Greek. That’s terrifying. I can no longer fake it like I know the language. It’s not like Spanish, French or Italian, where I know a little and can make up the rest based on some linguistical skills. No pun intended, but the language is Greek to me. I mean, I recognize most of the Greek letters, but that’s only because I use them as variables in some of my math calculations. I know sigma, theta, lambda, mew, pi, but I don’t know how they are actually spoken or used. That was the most terrifying part of today. Not only was the bus driver crazy, but we had only a Greek word to identify which bus stop we wanted. We were squinting out the window and every stop, desperately trying to identify it before it was too late. Listening to people speak it is equally disheartening. Although, to be honest, I think it’s all really fascinating, so hopefully I might be able to learn a bit by the time I leave and actually pronounce a few words properly.
Here’s to hoping…
Tuesday, 14 April, 2009: Quote of the day: “That wasn’t a lick; licks have movement. Lick is a verb!” That’s what I replied when accused of licking Amanda’s face this evening right before a nightcap of elegant desserts. We were taking a picture and we decided it should be a “goofy” photo. So I waited until right before the shutter and I pressed the fat side of my tongue to Amanda’s temple. The look captured on her face is priceless!
We started the morning bright and early—carpe diem, you know? The hotel had a complimentary breakfast that started at 7:30, so that’s what time we were ready by. We immediately ascended up to the Acropolis. We stopped momentarily to peer down into the ruins of the Agora. Oh man, I almost died. There’s no exciting story, but I just couldn’t handle everything I saw. We then found the Theatre of Dionysus and my head almost exploded. In ancient Greece, there was a huge festival in Athens that celebrated Dionysus in all of his drunken glory, and the culmination of this week-long festival was three straight days of dramatic, which—if you couldn’t guess—took place in the very theatre I saw today. That’s where drama started! The first plays were just a single person, then a chorus of people to join the one actor, then two and three thespians to entertain the Greek masses. I blame this obsession on Dr. Garrity, an English prof at SJC. He basically knows everything about ancient Greek drama, and in my assorted classes with him, I’ve heard everything he knows at least twice.
As epic as it felt to lay eyes on the ancient theatre, climbing the rest of the way up to the top of the Acropolis was even more amazing. The Parthenon was magnificent. Holy cow, to see it in person was incredible; pictures do not do it justice. It’s so big. However, the postcard version isn’t covered in scaffolding. They’re constantly doing renovation and restoration on the structure, and so there was almost half of it that had scaffolding erected around it. However, that really didn’t take away from the magnitude of it, it was just different. The one dynamic to the visit that was interesting was to observe peoples’ sentiments to the British Museum. For anyone who is unaware, the British Museum owns quite a bit of the sculpture that once adorned the Parthenon and they refuse to return it to Greece. The average person only sees the British Museum as a greedy antiquities collector that won’t let go, but the Museum does have honest and justifiable reasons behind their refusal. It was removed and taken from Greece by a private collector a long time ago because he saw it was being used inappropriately (for target practice!) by the Ottoman Army (who was in control of Greece at the time). The collector offered the government a sum of money and they sold him the pieces. The Greeks argue that no one consulted them about it, just a tyrannical government in power at the time. The British Museum argues that if it wasn’t for this collector (who later donated the pieces to the Museum), the stuff would have been completely destroyed. Also, the British Museum argues that more people will be able to see it if it’s in London. Anywho, long tangent cut short, it’s an interesting debate—and it’s one of personally haven’t picked a side to support. However, AJ has an internship at the British Museum this semester (he provided most of the information I explained above) and decided to take a photo wearing his museum identification card just to be goofy and cheeky. He was a bit afraid, so we did it when no one would notice and then he promptly returned the badge to it’s hiding spot, because we didn’t want any incidents.
After we spent time up at the Parthenon, the beautiful weather disappeared behind some angry looking rain clouds. We visited the ruins of the Temple to Zeus under dreary grey skies. It was unfortunate. However, something glorious did happen that I forgot to mention earlier, but must be told because it basically made my day. It costs twelve euro to but a ticket that will get you into six historical spots around Athens. However, we learned that EU students do not have to pay anything; that means because I had my LMU student ID card, I got into all of the places for free. It was friggin’ amazing! I was totally pumped for that. We wanted to beat the rain back to our hostel, at least for a bit, but we first stopped at the old Olympic stadium. It’s not from the 2004 Olympics, but from the time previous that Athens hosted the games. We weren’t sure how long ago that was, but the stadium was pretty neat. It paled in comparison to the stadiums of the recent games, but it was still really cool to see. I wanted to run a lap around the track, but it was all fenced off. I was really disappointed.
After letting the rain run its course (and eating lunch), I headed out to the 2004 Olympic site, which was a 30 minute Metro ride out into the outskirts of Athens. That was really bizarre. First because the Greek Metro is just different in comparison to London. I feel like I’ve been spoiled by the wonderful way London does things, however, some of it isn’t even anyone’s fault. The Greek people just don’t have the same etiquette on the Metro that is expected in London. The Greeks were far pushier and more impatient. They also don’t wait for people to exit the train before entering, which is a pet peeve of mine in London. Alas, it was just part of the experience. However, finally arriving at the site added a sense of delusion. I’ve always wondered what happens to huge buildings that are not being used after the games. It was really pretty close to what I imagine a ghost town to be like. We did see people using the outdoor pools. There were swimmers and water polo players. So it made me a little happy to see that some of it was still being used, but most of the stuff was just fenced off and closed up tight. It just seemed so wrong. It cost so much to build and use all of the different facilities that just lie dormant and vacant. I dunno, it just seems like such a waste to me. However, that being said, it was really cool to out there and see all of it.
There was a TV in the kitchen that was stuck on CNN, so I got to see Barack’s speech. We watched that and then went out for dinner. The place we went wasn’t as good as the first place from yesterday, but it was still pretty good. I got a chicken gyro. However, after dinner, we went walking around and found this place to get a delicious dessert as a nightcap. We ordered these two elaborate sounding dishes, one being a heavenly chocolate cake with ice cream, the other being something more Greek, with a caramelised banana and some other pastry and ice cream. However, the funniest thing happened during our stint in the restaurant that made all of us almost pee ourselves laughing. While discussing what we wanted to order, AJ—with all the confidence in the world—said “If you want something traditionally Greek, look no further than this.” We all look and see that he is, in fact, pointing to the crém brûlè option on the menu. He apparently didn’t know what I t was, but because it has so many different accents on the letters, he just assumed it was Greek. We all got a good kick out of it. He probably won’t ever live it down.
I’m kind of exhausted, so I’m going to try and get some sleep. The awkward thing is, even though I’m in love with the fact that the bed is large enough for me, it’s also very loud. The wood frame makes quite a bit of noise with the littlest of movements, so the bed wakes me up every time I shift my weight or try and roll over. However, if that’s the biggest complaint I have about my stay here in Athens, so be it.
Wednesday, 15 April, 2009: Right now, I’m on a plane (luckily, there haven’t been any snakes), flying from Athens to Cairo. Today has been quite the day. Our supergroup of awesome parted ways after breakfast this morning; the rest of them ferrying off to Greek Isles. Val and I decided to try and hit up a few more sites in Athens after she bought some sandals in the market. We took quite a bit of time in the morning exploring the Agora properly. It was so delightful. It’s almost set up like a park the way there are so many various trails and such. The Temple of Hephaestus was by far the coolest thing to see. It is the most complete temple structure still standing—its construction is similar (if not identical) to that of the Parthenon, it’s just smaller. It was funny because there were a number of the sculpture stones adorning the temple still in place and in a fairly decent condition, and they were depicting a battle between centaurs and some other mythical race. AJ and I were discussing the day previous whether or not centaurs appeared in Greek mythology, because neither of us could remember. It was serendipitous; I was just sad he wasn’t there to see it. Also, one of the structures had been restored, renovated and turned into a pseudo-museum. They had quite a few wonderful artefacts on display—very cool indeed. The other incredibly exciting moment of the Agora expedition was realising that the vantage point that we looked down into the Agora from yesterday was in fact Aeropagus. Aeropagus was famously where St. Paul spoke to the Greek people and worked to evangelise them. My dad was the one who pointed it out to me, but I cannot remember which book of the Bible it appears in. However, AJ and I looked for it the day before without any luck, so I was going to be really disappointed if I couldn’t find it.
Okay. I need to break from my quasi-narrative for a moment and rant. What kind of unnecessary hubris must a person have to think it’s okay to invade another person’s limited personal space on an airplane? It is my firm belief that reclining seats should be permanently removed from all aircraft. I’m 6’4”; and most of my height is in my legs. If I sit in the seat on an airplane properly (although, the same is true on buses as well), my legs just barely fit between my seat and the one in front of me—barely. So I don’t understand why, then, I have to tolerate someone who is so inconsiderate that they ram their seat into my poor knees because they cannot handle to sit in an upright position with good lumbar support. Are they so slothful that they feel they must sit with an obtuse angle at their waist, and this will help them achieve a greater zen? No, the only thing achieved is my bruised legs, first from the jerk slamming his seat forward, then from anything going up and down the aisles because that is where my leg must end up without room within the confines of my seat. It makes me so angry. Especially because this particular jerk-off is as tall as I am, so he should be more considerate. Plus, he’s teaching his two daughters, both under 5’5”, that it’s completely acceptable, if not encouraged, to recline the seats to make yourself “more comfortable.”
I’m sorry; rant finished. Nope, no it’s not… He just, on top of his fully reclined seat, pushed the seat back even farther. It has a bit of give, which he apparently is going to take full advantage of by pushing it back as he lazes. I’m about to have a neuro-psychotic episode where I daydream I’ve put the blunt end of my pen into his eye and beat on it with a hammer. Haha! With something like that, it's like I'm in my own episode of Scrubs!
I’m sorry; that’s a bit over the top. But honestly, reclining chairs on public transportation is one of my biggest pet peeves ever, right above Rachel Ray’s voice and right below un-perforated toilet paper.
After my delight in finding the Aeropagus, Val and I decided to travel over to one of the other hills we saw yesterday from the Acropolis. At the top was the Temple of the Muses, or it was also called the Temple to Filopapou. At about the time we left the Agora, the beautiful sunshine was attacked by some auspicious-looking cloud cover. We made it about half-way up this hill when the heavens opened and dumped a poop-ton of rain in our general direction. Val and I cowered underneath my little umbrella for probably 15 minutes while this rain poured and poured. I found it appropriate at this point to get my iPod out and listen to All Time Low’s cover of “Umbrella.” It was charming. Then, in the most bipolar of fashions, the sun usurped the sky once more, the rain disappeared and it got hot again. Squishing the rest of the way to the top was glorious (even if our shoes were thoroughly soaked). From this vantage, we could see the water—so beautiful! We then found some random trails to wander down the other side of the hill, weaving through a fantastic amount of beautiful nature.
We made it to the bottom of the hill and out to a collection of cafes before the rain started pouring again. After another huge bout of rain, Val and I went to lunch at the first restaurant we had dinner at. I had a salad called Gyristroula. It was chicken, bacon, lettuce, tomato, carrots and dressing. It was pretty tasty. And, for the record, the sandwich I ate before was called Souvlaki. I really feel like the restaurant deserves to be in guidebooks because it was really delicious, really cheap and tourist friendly.
After our meal, we went on a trek through the city to try and find a place that has baklava. It was a failure in finding what we wanted, however it was a success seeing the city one last time. It was a great way to see things. We dried off back at the hotel for a while and then headed to the airport to meet Jessica, who’s joining us for the Cairo part of our journey. On our transit to the airport, we met a man on the tube who was born in the UK and is a Greek citizen. He overheard us talking about London and we had a delightful conversation on the trip. He told us that this was probably one of the worst times ever to visit Athens because apparently there was a young boy who was killed by the police and when the story broke on the news there were quite a few riots that took place. It’s kind of a scary thought. I wonder now if that had anything to do with the monstrous amount of graffiti that was all over the city; I don’t know if I mentioned that before, but the city looked dirty in that regard. I really didn’t find it to be gross, but the graffiti was unsettling. I just assumed it to be something that culturally wasn’t a big deal, but who knows.
* * *
So we are at our host, Tarek’s, house. He was supposed to pick us up at the airport, but apparently something came up and he had to take care of, so we ended up taking a taxi from the airport to his flat. It was quite the confusing fiasco. There is another couchsurfer here (Ben) at his place who is keeping us company. We may end up crashing before Tarek gets back. We’re totally exhausted.
Thursday, 16 April, 2009: We awoke to a bright, sun-shinny Cairo morning. Tarek didn’t return home until I got out of the shower, which was at nine-something. Tarek and his wife said that the pyramids were something that needed to be seen if one is going to “seize the day.” Instead, Val, Jessica and I (with Ben joining us!) decided to tackle the Egyptian Museum. Wow. I was first really upset because I forgot my student ID, so I had to pay full price to enter the museum—it made me really angry. It was such a bonehead thing to do. It was also disappointing because they don’t allow cameras in the museum at all. The museum houses the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world—as it should. We spend hours in that place; it was massive. I saw more sarcophagi than I ever thought existed. Everything in the museum was amazing; however the crown jewel of the museum was the room housing King Tutankhamen’s personal effects that were collected from Luxor, including the legendary headdress. I reacted similarly to what I did when I saw the Rosetta Stone, only to an extreme degree—because it was the headdress of King Tut, and I was in Cairo.
The museum was amazing. After spending a long time there, we walked down and saw the river… and by the river, I mean the Nile! I basically went nuts because I was standing on the shore of the Nile (don’t judge me). The four of us walked around the downtown area for some time.
I really feel like I need to stop providing a play-by-play and unload about everything I’ve seen. I’ll admit that I was a bit worried about coming to Cairo because there’s something terrifying about being in a completely different culture, even physically another continent. It was something that I started to notice last night that was realised in the morning as well when Tarek gave us a lift into town. There really aren’t any traffic rules—at all. Driving is basically a free-for-all. Most of the roads don’t even have any lines on them. Okay, the more freeway-like roads do, but they’re ignored; and all of the other roads are just open concrete. Then, if that’s not exciting enough, throw pedestrians into the mix, who are also travelling on the roads in a free-for-all-like manner. It’s pure chaos. The only means of communication is honking. You honk to get in front of someone; you honk to let someone know they’re welcome to get in front of you; you honk to let someone know they are in your way. Everyone honks for every reason; it’s pretty nuts.
The four of us decided to take a taxi into the Islamic part of Cairo to see some of the largest mosques. Unfortunately, the citadel closed less than a half an hour before we got there. It was frustrating, however I glowed the entire ride because I successfully bartered with the guy to get a lower price. Unlike in the States, you agree with the driver up front what the ride will cost. I prefer this to the meter-method in the US. We walked down to see some of the other mosques and entered a small one down the road. I’d never been in a mosque before, so I had no idea what to expect. I knew I had to take my shoes off, but other than that, I was ready for anything. It wasn’t terribly busy, but there was a small collection of men praying. Ben and I sat down with a few men and they explained something about the lineage of the mosque. It was hard to understand first because I don’t really know much about Islam, and second because their English was very broken.
After the mosque, we went to find something to eat for dinner. I think I’m going to take this time to just gush about the food. I was really excited to try the local fare; I wanted to eat real Egyptian food. In the morning, before we left, Tarek provided us with three different types of things in pita bread. The first was lettuce, carrots, tomatoes and French fries. The second he called fuul, which was basically fava beans blended together and smashed into a paste form. The third was called falafel. It was this herb paste that was kind of fried and it was in the pita with lettuce and tomato. There was also a plate of sliced carrots on the table, and to my pleasant surprise, when I bit into one, it turns out they were canned and pickled with spicy peppers. (My dad used to can peppers and when he threw a carrot in, my brother and I would always fight over it because it was the spiciest, ergo most delicious.) After our first successful experience with Egyptian food, I was excited when Ben said he wanted us to try something and went in search of an eatery selling it. We found a place selling it, and Ben ordered four bowls for us—it was called Koshari. It was noodles and rice in a bowl with lentil, peppercorns, fried onions and a couple other things I’m still not sure what they were. Then, we poured spicy tomato sauce all over it (as well as some chilli sauce, but that was optional). It was friggin’ delicious. I loved it; I inhaled my bowl of it. Then, I almost collapsed in shock when Ben asked how much we owed and he said eight pounds. Ben paid his eight pounds, then as I got mine out, he shook his hand and head, saying “no, no, no. eight pound for all.” That means that we ate our meal for two Egyptian pounds, which is 35.5 American cents. Yeah!
By the time we were finished with dinner, it was sundown. However, we took a moment and looked in this bakery that was across the street. We peered inside and were welcomed by a nice man who invited us back to see them making some bread. I laughed quite a bit because when he asked us where we were from, and we responded the United States, the next word out of his mouth was “Obama!” The man gave us a sample of a few sweets. We then hopped on a bus to make it back to the city centre. It was a trip trying to figure out which bus would take us in the right direction. We wanted to take a felucca ride on the Nile. There were motorboats and sailboat to choose from. The motorboats were lit up like broken carnival rides and were blasting tons of obnoxious music. We really wanted to ride a sailboat. Ben, being completely fearless, walked up and down the river to find the best price for the four of us to take a ride. We ended up paying ten Egyptian pounds for thirty minutes on the river in a sailboat. It was wonderful.
I should explain Ben. Ben is from the upper peninsula of Michigan. However, he’s spent the last 18 months travelling Asia and Africa. Yeah! After he graduated with an undergraduate degree, he decided he wanted to see the world. He’s been travelling through Asia and India, then flew from India to South Africa and bought a motorcycle that he’s used to tour the continent. Yeah! So he’s pretty much one of the coolest guys I’ve ever met. He’s become a companion to us over our adventures and it’s been great.
After Tarek picked us up when he got off work, we returned to his house to relax, only to go out again. Tarek decided that we had to experience Cairo at night. Tarek and his wife said that Cairo never sleeps, and they weren’t kidding. We kind of noticed it taxi-ing from the airport, but heading back out into the city solidified the notion that it really doesn’t ever sleep. The city looked as alive at eleven at night (when we left for a second dinner) as it did in the afternoon. Tarek took us into city around this mosque that was actually draped in lights. Tarek explained that because of the various holidays (specifically both Easter celebrations), it was almost like a festival. We lead us around a bunch of twists and turns and brought us to this restaurant for one of his favourite meals—pigeon. That’s right, pigeon. For dinner at 11:30 p.m., I had two pigeons. One stuffed with rice and seasoning, baked and the other grilled, on top of a “pigeon soup,” which was a seasoned broth made with pigeon meat. It was outrageous; I still can’t get over the fact that I ate it. I figure I’m not going to turn anything down while here—I’ve got to experience everything I can. There’s not much meat on a pigeon. It didn’t taste bad, honestly. Tarek made fun of me during the meal because I put the pigeon and rice in a pita with the veggies on the table (onion, tomato, cucumber and lettuce) and a bit of the hummus (I’m not terribly keen on the hummus, but I can handle small bits of it with other things—I think it’s the texture). He called me a victim of the American sandwich culture (he also made fun of me for doing it in such a meticulous fashion).
After dinner, Tarek lead us around through some different alleys—making up a ridiculous story about vampire mummies along the way—so we could partake in another traditional Egyptian activity, smoking shisha. We ordered a dessert called Umm Ali and had a tea drink I cannot recall the name of, but trust me, it was delicious. They were both spectacularly delicious. I had always turned down my friends who’d invited me to smoke hookah back home, but I didn’t want to be rude, so I partook on this occasion. It was interesting. It was apple-flavoured. The place we went was really classy! There was even live music. There were two gentlemen with an Eastern-looking string instrument (I don’t know the names of all the different guitars) and a tambourine, and they were singing and they were really great. We didn’t return to Tarek’s until well after two in the morning, and the streets were still alive with activity.
Friday, 17 April, 2009: I can die a happy man. I fulfilled one of my greatest childhood dreams today. I SAW THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZA!!!!!! Even now, as I reflect to write about it, my heart’s aflutter. It really was sooo amazing. I can’t even believe it. The four of us (Ben joined us again today! He said he was going to sleep in, but changed his mind in the morning) left bright and early, hopped in a taxi and departed for what I can easily call one of the greatest things I’ve ever done in my entire life. Seriously, this is one of those times that if I was in a sentimental mood, I may start to get choked up.
I remembered my student ID today, so everything was half price. I practically pranced through the entrance. I FRIGGIN’ SAW THE PYRAMIDS! Sorry, that’ll be my last outburst of overexcited-ness. We first went over to the Sphinx and took a boatload of pictures. We then walked around to the back side of the pyramids and take a boatload of photos. We paid to enter the Pyramid of Khafre. That is the middle pyramid—the one with the limestone still on top of it. I was so terribly excited to enter the actual pyramid that I didn’t let the obscenely small tunnel nor the unbearably hot temperature bother me. It was honestly like a sauna in there; and I hit my head and back trying to make in through the entrance shaft (I got a headache from the pyramids!). We walked around and touched and took boatloads of pictures of all three of the great pyramids. Then, we made a friend in a man named Sahid. He was one of the many men their selling camel and horse rides around the plateau. However, after Ben and I talked with him for a few minutes, he proved to be totally legit and an honest business man. It was refreshing considering how many people are there to rip you off. For 50 Egyptian pounds, he took us around the plateau to the highest points to take a boatload of great photos and was really helpful. We took two camels and two horses so we could switch half way through (and say that we rode both around the pyramids). Before we started, we went over to where Sahid had the animals, and another man was there (apparently the boss-man of the operation) and he offered us what he endearingly called “Egyptian whiskey.” It turns out this was just chai, but I thought its other name was better. That also delighted me greatly because I’d been wanting to have some real chai while I was here (I love the fake American stuff quite a bit, so I figured genuine chai would be a dream—and it was!). I started out on a camel—I was really excited to ride a camel—and it was delightful. I was on my own, without a guide to drive me, so I really felt awesome. After having a great time on my camel, I got to ride a horse. It was even better because he let me actually ride it a bit and I got it up to a nice gallop. I almost did it once, but the stirrup broke. So he stopped me, collected them both, and let me go a bit again. I felt like a complete badass galloping along, looking to my left and seeing the pyramids.
I condensed most of the great day into those 461 words, but we were at the Giza plateau all day. The four of us had such a blast. At the end of the day, Ben and I were talking and he mentioned that for a while, he developed an obsession for taking mid-air photos, where he would leap off of something to get the most air in the photo. Well, before we left, I decided to take one leaping off of a marble block, with a pyramid in the back ground. When I get back, I will probably change it to my profile picture, because it’s really sweet; I like it a lot, although I’m still fond of my current profile picture quite a bit. After leaving, we found another place to have some Koshari. We retired home early because we’re all rather exhausted and pretty crispy from the sun. That’s another reason I’m excited—I’ve got me some color (even if it’s a nice shade of pink, it’ll turn tan-ish eventually)!
I really like it here; I’m sad I only have one more day in the city. The people here are very nice and polite. Some obviously have ulterior motives in mind, but they’re still delightfully pleasant and I really enjoy talking with people. The little kids are fun, too. It happened today and yesterday in front of the museum as well. I get stared at like I’m a dinosaur. It happened in Guatemala quite a bit, and so it’s not a problem. It’s kind of funny really. They like to practice their English and ask me questions.
Also, another anecdote to reiterate the point that Cairo doesn’t sleep. Tarek got home from work around 9:30 p.m. and then immediately changed and left again because he had a wedding to attend. Then, Asser (Tarek’s wife), ordered dinner at around midnight because Tarek was expected back soon.
Saturday, 18 April, 2009: Our final day in Cairo was a wonderful one. We spend most of the morning at the Citadel. The Citadel was founded in 1176 and is now one of the most popular tourist attractions in Cairo (that bit I lifted from Frommers). It’s a fort-like structure that now has a few mosques and museums inside. I’ve been wanting to go to a mosque since I booked my flight to Cairo, and so I was again giddy. The largest mosque in Cairo, the Mosque of Mohammed Ali, is within the Citadel. The first mosque we entered, however, was called the Mosque of an-Nasr Mohammed. It was unique in that it was more like a marble courtyard (for lack of a better description). There was a square outer wall and a hallway around it, opening into the centre. In fact, the best way I can describe it is by paralleling it with a cloister. The real difference was that the centre was marble, not a nice lawn.
Mohammed Ali Mosque was incredibly beautiful—incredibly incredibly beautiful. The massive domed ceiling was ornate and all of the hanging lights added such an amazing effect to the room. Jessica, Val and I took the time to just sit there and enjoy just how wonderful it was. When I get back to the States, I’m going to read a book about Islam. AJ recommended one to me that I’m going to try and find at my local library. I do want to learn and know more about the faith because it’s so fascinating.
Throughout the Citadel, there were flocks of school children. Today, I decided rather than acknowledging them when they called out to me, I would make any responses to them in Spanish. It was really funny to see some of their reactions; there was a mix of really confused and really excited. The excited kids just yelled “HOLA” right back to me. It was cute nonetheless.
We visited two of the museums within the Citadel, neither with any sort of excited gusto and fervour. We walked through both the military museum, as well as the carriage museum. The military museum was basically a disorganised collection of everything “fighting” Egypt had ever done/participated in. Yes, that was a poorly constructed sentence; in fact, it was completely terrible, so allow me to explain. There were artefacts from not only modern wars and battles that Egypt had fought in (i.e. the World Wars, the conflicts for its independence from Britian), as well as fighting from older times (i.e. weaponry and such from Islamic and XXXXX periods). It lacked real organization, but it was cool to see the inside of the building and think that it used to serve as an amazingly sweet palace. The other museum, the carriage museum, was really just a collection of a dozen or so horse-drawn carriages that had some historical significance.
After our Citadel adventure, we went back to Khan al-Khalili (which, if I didn’t mention before, was the area where the mosque was lit up and we ate pigeon the other night) because there were quite a few shops there and the girls and I wanted to do a bit of souvenir shopping (the girls wanted to do a lot of shopping, I just had a couple of things to pick up). I spent most of the time talking to various shop keepers; when they’re not incessantly trying to peddle their goods to you, they’re actually wonderfully pleasant people—although, that could just be part of the act. The three of us got a kick out of how many of the men told me I was a lucky man to have two ladies with me. On a couple of occasions, I was offered to sell them for some camels; I thought that would have been a pretty sweet deal, but the girls didn’t seem too keen on it. I was also told quite a few times that I had beautiful hair (yes, by the men in these shops). It was a good time to be had by all. The one thing that I sort of wanted to buy, I couldn’t find one up to my obsessive standards—I wanted to purchase an Egyptian chess set. I examined quite a few, but I found something I really didn’t like with all of them. I’m afraid I may be too obsessive compulsive about it, but my justification is that if I’m not completely happy with it, I shouldn’t spend money on it.
Speaking of spending money, with all the time I spent in the market today, as well as all three taxi rides, I feel like I’ve refined my art of negotiation and bartering for a cheaper price. Everything I bought today, I bought for my price without compromise (and it’s not that I’m trying to be arrogant about it, but I am proud). Before we left this morning, Asser gave us a tip that was very successful. She said that one tactic is to have your money out, in your hand, for them to see. Inversely to how buyers are more likely to buy something if they touch it, the merchant will be more likely to accept the price. The hardest bargain to make was for the taxi ride back from Khan al-Khalili to Tarek’s house. We only paid 20 Egyptian pounds to get into the city in the morning, so I (against the wishes of Val and Jessica) wouldn’t accept a taxi unless it would cost 20 again. The first two drivers wouldn’t go lower than thirty—with the second driver even having another driver step in and try to tag-team me into paying a higher price. However, we crossed the street (the direction of traffic then headed in the direction we needed to go) and were immediately successful. I’ve also found that the less the cabbie is being paid, the faster he drives. That makes the ride much more interesting.
We got back to Tarek’s around 4:30, just in time to see history in the making (and make it onto Egyptian national news). Allow me to digress for a minute to properly explain. When we first arrived, Ben explained that Asser was organising a non-violent protest to sexism and sexual assault. She explained later to us that she was harassed by a gang of men one night, and one of the boys assaulted her. She took her assailant to court and the judge immediately threw the case out because she was a woman. That was apparently the catalyst behind the event she was organising. There was a whole slew of media who had turned up for the event. Tarek said that three of the four major news networks appeared and was taking footage and interviews. Admittedly, the presence of Ben, Jessica, Val and I also brought about quite a bit of attention. Ben was interviewed by two different TV stations, three radio stations and two newspaper journalists. Jessica did three television interviews. I’ll admit I was a bit jealous. It would have been so amazingly cool to be interviewed, but I was in the back of most of the shots as they put people holding signs in the background of every single shot. I did have an obscene amount of pictures taken of me, however. One photo, as well, promises to be really amazing. I was wearing my aviators (see 11 April for that story), which are reflective, and one of the photographers took a shot of my face with one of the protest signs reflected in my sunglasses. It was a very cool shot, indeed. This was nowhere near as momentous as the women marching in Afghanistan, but to see so many there to hold signs in protest, and even more press there to document what was going on. Asser was the woman of the hour; it was great! We got a great chuckle thinking about Mark, Central’s London Programme Director, who during G20 adamantly told us to stay away from protesting, turning on CNN and them running something about this and seeing us there.
Sunday, 19 April, 2009: ::big sigh:: it’s 8:58 a.m. in Athens and I’ve been sitting in the Athens International Airport since 5:20 a.m. Our flight left Cairo at 2:45 local time and took an hour and twenty-five minutes to make it to Athens (another time zone east). The cheapest flight we could find from Cairo to London brought us back to Athens first, and it brought us back for a seven and a half hour layover. I wish there was some other way, but this was the most expensive flight of our entire vacation, so we went with what was cheapest. It is Easter Sunday in the Greek Orthodox Church. If the Metro wasn’t closed and the bus such a hassle, Val and I may have considered going back into the city (I personally would have liked to see an Orthodox mass), but instead, we’re sleeping on benches. I wish I could say I did the cool thing and watched the sun rise over the Grecian horizon, but it’s really cloudy out, so I just can barely see the sun through the clouds now. I figure this would give me a good amount of time to finish writing what appears to be the longest word document I’ve ever written.
I also MUST mention one of the most giggleworthy things I’ve ever seen. At the Cairo International Airport, in one the cafes, they had a TV on, and it was playing The Mummy Returns. I got a good chortle out of that.
The flight to Athens was easily one of the most pleasant flights I’ve ever taken. Getting on the plane, I was bitter because I was in a window seat, however the plane was barely half full, and I actually had the entire row of three seats to myself. Also, it was terribly roomy! I hope our next Olympic Air flight is that nice. The row of seats in front of me was far enough away that I could comfortably sit with my left ankle on my right knee. It was a nice flight and the meal was good. Is it bad that I really like airline food? There’s such a stigma of disgusting that follows airline food, but I always find it to be quite tasty. Not all of it is gourmet cuisine, but I rarely eat things that I think taste bad. I guess I’m just odd.
Looking back and rereading everything, I can’t believe I’ve had such an opportunity. This week has been a sprint of epic proportions. I’ve seen more this week than some people will ever as long as they live. Without a doubt, this will be the greatest spring break in the history of all history, but more than that, it’s been fulfilling what, before January when I left for London, was only my wildest dreams. Without any superfluous reflections, I do want to thank anyone who took on the daunting task of reading this mammoth of a post, or even reading only part of it. It does mean a lot to me.
Cheers!
Old London Blogs
the preamble to my spring break…
Posted April 9th, 2009 by Michael
::heavy sigh::
Here I am, a day or so away from beginning the greatest trip I’ll ever take, and I find myself at a loss for words. I’ve spent the week in an almost vegetative state. Okay, that’s not true. I’ve run every day this week. However, LMU has a two-week break, so I’ve been off since Monday. I’ve been freaking out, anticipating anxiously my departure.
I’m writing this blog as a precursor. I won’t be on or even near a computer until I return from spring break. And then, upon my return, things are going to fly. There are only two weeks left of class when we return, so I’m going to have quite a bit to do. However, I will, upon pain of death (or an overwhelming amount of work to do—which, if you’re keeping track, is far more likely) get a blog entry up either Monday or Tuesday when I return.
I’m flying out of London Gatwick tomorrow afternoon. We are flying to Rome. We are spending the weekend in Rome; and while in Rome, we are attending Easter Sunday Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. I would have written that sentence in all capital letters to try and convey my excitement, but honestly, this entire blog would be in all caps; and that would just be awkward to read. But anywho, I got tickets to attend Easter Mass with the Pope, so that’s going to be fantastic to the max. On Monday morning, we are flying to Athens, Greece and spending the next few days there. I really want to see all of the touristy things, like the Acropolis, the Parthenon and the like. However, after that, I really just want to enjoy everything. I’ve been told the beaches in Greece are to die for, so there’ll probably be some relaxation time spent there as well. Then, on Wednesday night (honestly, the flight is at, like, eleven in the evening) I am flying with a couple of friends to Cairo, Egypt. (That sentence, on top of being in all capital letters, needs to be in size 84 font to properly convey my excitement.) We’re going to be in Cairo, couchsurfing, until Sunday morning. Our flight leaves Cairo at 2:45 a.m.
One morning last month, I was in the shower and that was when I got this bright idea. We had already booked Rome and Athens, and I was trying to think how to punctuate my glorious spring break adventure. Then, I started to play “connect the logical dots” in my head, and it dawned on me that I was going to see the Coliseum and the Parthenon, so I was seeing two great ancient civilizations. Then, it hit me! There’s another incredible ancient civilization just across the Mediterranean that I’ve always had a fascination for. So, in my head, my spring break is Ancient Western Civs. 101.
Yeah, so I’m preparing and avoiding packing. I’m not taking anything that I can’t carry in my backpack. I’m not wasting my time with any sort of large luggage. So right now I’m trying to figure out what I should and shouldn’t take. In Egypt, I’m probably not going to be able to wear shorts, so I need to pack a few pairs of trousers. I’ve asked our host in Cairo for his advice as far as appropriate dress. However, it’s going to be a bigger deal for the ladies who are joining me in Egypt.
Anywho, sorry there hasn’t been anything exciting to chat about. Although! I did go and get my haircut on Monday. It was almost terrifying because I decided to go to a cheapy place. The sign advertised £7 haircuts, which is really cheap. I, feeling poor, decided to go there rather than a nice place. It was painful, but I’m pleased with the final product. It felt like the woman did more pulling of my hair than cutting it. However, all’s well that ends well, I guess.
Okay, I’m going to continue to fake being productive and look at tourism websites. So long for now…
Parliament Building = Amazing
Posted April 6th, 2009 by Michael
Before I dive into the nuts and bolts of a blog o’ramblings, I want to apologise for such a smarmy title to my last blog. It wasn’t my intention at all to have something so snide. It happened because when I went to post it and I needed a title, I reread my first few lines where I talk about the dog races. Because it was so long, I kinda forgot that I included that portion of my experience, so I just found it amusing that I had opened and closed my blog discussing different cultural experiences with canines.
I can’t believe another week has passed so quickly. It’s terrifying to think that I’m going to be flying home in a month. It’s finally started to hit me that my time in London is coming to an end. I really feel unprepared to go back to the States. But enough of my silly insecurities, I had a fantastic week in London this week.
The week was really, looking back, a blur. I can’t believe it happened so fast. Monday ended without a second thought. I’ve got an end of the semester project looming in my Education class that I must finish before I leave London, so I have two weeks less than the rest of the class to finish it. Tuesday was really great! As I promised, I went back out to Greenwich to enjoy it with improved weather. Jenna’s older sister and aunt are in town for the week to sightsee and then see Jenna and Andy in the play that they’re in, so Jenna’s sister came with us out to Greenwich. It was great there now that the weather’s not miserable. We took some more silly photos at the prime meridian and just took in the city. Jenna and her sister left early, so Andy and I continued to wander around the park. Then! It happened! We found another tree to climb! It was the coolest tree I’d ever seen. It looked like it had grown out of the ground and twisted anti-clockwise as it grew. It was soo amazing! It was funny because we both kind of paused and looked at each other at the same time. It was straight out of a movie. We tore off up the tree. However, when we were both up there, a little clique of kids walked by and I thought they were going to steal my bag—which was sitting at the foot of the tree. He looked right up at us and even slowed at the foot of the tree. I thought I was going to have to fly down the tree and chase him; my heart stopped for a minute. It was terrifying. But after my heart started back up again, we continued to enjoy the tree. It was really a fantastic time. From one place in the park, you could see the entire London skyline; it was amazing. And I bought that shirt I didn’t buy last time I was there, so it was a fantastic day.
Wednesday is one of my favorite days because I really enjoy my Differential Equations class. That sounds mildly insane, but I do really really enjoy it. We’ve got a test the week back from spring break, and I can’t wait. I was entirely unproductive this week. I spent most of my time reading things about the G20 summit—either things going on with the world leaders or the riotous protesters and anarchists that were losing their minds. I just finished reading the graphic novel for V for Vendetta, and so part of me was excited at the idea of something big and nasty happening. I’m sure that sounds terrible. hahaha! I blame it on the graphic novel. The G20 stuff was kind of terrifying though. They were prepared for the worst. The tube stations near protests were closed; the entire Waterloo & City Line was closed; at one point, I heard that Bank station had to be evacuated. There was total media coverage as well. All of the papers, legit and freebee, were running story after story about it.
Wednesday night also brought with it Jenna and Andy’s London debut! Earlier in the year, they tried out for and were cast in a production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Wednesday night was opening night. They did such a wonderful job. It was a cute little production in this tiny theatre and it was just great. That night, we chose to walk from Waterloo back to Vandon because it was such a beautiful night. While meandering our way down streets and alleys, we discovered this tunnel, aptly named “the tunnel,” that was a specific place designated for graffiti artists to tag the walls, floors and ceilings. It was so amazing! I really want to buy a can of spray paint and make my own mark there…. Then, Thursday brought with it more musical adventures of creamy delight. The Central Programme got the group tickets to see the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Holy cow! It was so amazing. I forgot how much I enjoy classical music. I didn’t buy a program at the door, so I can’t tell you what they played exactly, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. There was a guest violinist who soloed throughout one of the songs, and it was melt-your-face-off incredible and beautiful to hear him play. Then, after two hours of classical elegance in music, Jenna’s sister and I went wandering off to find this random pub that was having a free show. It was kind of random, but so great. We took a long tube ride out there, but then, when we to leave, it was too late and all of the tubes had stopped for the night. It was actually my first time being out late enough to have to find my way home on night buses. It was actually a pain because a lot of buses that were supposed to be running were not. We ended up walking from Marble Arch back to Vandon just because the night trains were so inconsistent. However, we got to the pub and listened to the last band play. It was really a glorious indie/garage scene where it’s such a small show, nothing could go wrong. It was highly enjoyable to go to a little show like that and just enjoy the music and the company. Alissa (Jenna’s sister) and I bonded earlier in the week over a common taste in music and a geeky love for teaching.
I need to get some sleep because it’s been such a long week. I said it went quickly, which it did. However, I have gotten less sleep this week than any other week of the semester it seems. It didn’t help that today was a long and exhausting day as well.
We spent the morning exploring London’s East End and Spitalfield Market. In the East End, it’s one of the largest immigrant populations in the city. Most of the street signs are even in another language as well as English. Then, to make the day even more wonderful, the Central Programme bought us an authentic Bengali meal. Let me just say it was delicious. The one buzz-kill that I realised was that because it was Friday, I had to consume the vegetarian option for lunch. However, what I had—the vegetarian meal—was still incredibly tasty. Seriously, it was so delicious. I enjoyed it quite a bit; and the best part was, it was free! Central paid for our lunch! Also this afternoon, we got a tour of Parliament. That was a stunning tour. The inside of the building was incredible. I was sad they wouldn’t allow anyone take photos inside the building other than in a single room. It really was grand. Then, we almost got into serious trouble outside the visitors entrance because we were trying to take goofy photos, and an angry police officer yelled at us and told us to “move along.”
I don’t feel like I should move on, because I don’t think I’ve done it justice. The houses of Parliament are really incredible. That is one thing that I would recommend to anyone visiting that they should try and see while here. That was also organised for us through the Central Programme, so it was also free for us. But seriously, it was incredible.
i talk about dogs in this blog entry… it’s really swell
Posted April 1st, 2009 by Michael
First I must explain that this has been a fairly uneventful week, so I apologise to my faithful audience for not writing up two blog posts this week (hahaha! I don’t know who I’m kidding… Sorry Mom). I spent most of the week faking productivity and attempting to write a paper due next month.
Tuesday night, however, was interesting because there was another outing through the Central Programme. Tuesday, they arranged for us to go to a greyhound race. Greyhound racing is (as they told us) the second highest spectator-sport in the UK. I wasn’t originally going to go because I didn’t want to pay to enter, nor was I entirely comfortable with the idea of dog racing. However, the afternoon before we went, Mark told us they were going to pay for it, so that was enough of a push to convince me to go. It was, like I said, interesting. Really, the thing that stuck out is simply the perpetuated fact that I should never ever gamble. Never in my life. I bet on a dog to place in both races, which means the dog either had to get first or second. However, in both races, the dog I bet on got last place. Meanwhile, it’s important to note that some of the guys around me bet on the winning dog for three and four races in a row, while I find myself in-the-hole five pounds. It was pretty bad.
One thing I will say that I really enjoy about the London Abroad Programme, other than being in London (obviously), is the fact that I’m cooking for myself. I’ve never really done that before; I still live at home during the summers back in corntown Indiana, and so it was never something that was necessary. However, I’m having quite a bit of fun cooking for myself and making random dishes and experimenting with different things together. For example, I cooked a “chicken apple skillet.” I stole an apple from breakfast that I didn’t cook, so I decided to cook it with the chicken I bought earlier that day. I was first really terrified because it was my first time dealing with real raw meat, but I got over that and cooked it up all nice and tasty like. It was incredible.
This weekend brought with it my greatest adventure thusfar in my time abroad. ::insert excited anticipation:: I spent the weekend in Zürich, Switzerland! Before this weekend, I was the only person in the house that hadn’t left England yet. This was my first chance to see something in Europe that wasn’t British. I was really excited about it. Also, on top of being my first chance to see Europe, it was also my first couchsurfing. One of the guys here has talked about it a couple times, so I looked it up. There’s this incredible website that networks travelers from across the globe to spread the good cheer of humanity. It’s a way to find people in different cities and countries, connect them and help them find places to stay.
Anywho, I signed up and joined the site and hooked up with a guy in Zürich, Stephan, who allowed us to crash for the weekend—“us” being Severa and I. The weekend was really really fantastic, and I attribute a lot of it to Stephan and his hospitality. I really don’t think Severa and I would have had nearly as much fun without everything they did for us.
We got in on an obscenely late flight Thursday night (and then Friday morning if you want to be technical about it), but it wasn’t bad because Swiss Airlines gives you complimentary chocolate. Yeah! Like, I’m sure by real “swiss” standards, it’s just crappy cheap chocolate, but it was still crappy cheap SWISS chocolate, so it was friggin’ delicious. I was really excited.
But yeah, it was supposed to rain all weekend, so I was a little bummed, but then Friday ended up being an incredibly beautiful day. The sun was shining and it was gorgeous, and that was perfect because it was a gorgeous city! It’s the largest city in Switzerland, but it was surprisingly small—and by small, I really mean compact. It wasn’t really necessary to take any sort of public transportation to get from place to place. The city is just nestled in the Alps on the shore of Zürich Lake. Really, words can’t describe how beautiful it was. There were mazes of cobblestone alleys on one side of the river (that feeds into the lake), and on the other was the expensive Zürich. The Zürich that would charge you for window shopping it’s so expensive. It was all so wonderful.
We went up into one of the church towers of Grossmüster and I got some gorgeous photos of the city and the lake, all of it set into the backdrop of the Alps; it was breathtaking. We went out and just sat in a park and enjoyed the weather for a while. While I was at the park, I found an orphaned football that I then proceeded to dribble around with me for the next hour or so until I lost it under a parked car. I was so sad. But yeah, one thing I really liked about Zürich was, while we were wandering around the residential area in the mountainside outside the center of the city, as well as the city itself, it seemed like everyone had art. There were sculptures everywhere. Also, there were quite a few fountains, but they were kind of a mixture of both of the mental associations people have with fountains. They were like public displays—including some sculpture—but there were quite a few that then, while having adornment, appeared to be built to drink from. A couple even had similar pools near the ground, presumably for canines. That brings me to another observation: they love their dogs in Zürich. I saw people with their dogs on leashes everywhere—and that includes in building. I watched a woman enter a bizarre, super-ritzy-type department store with one. It was outrageous. The only place dogs weren’t allowed, from what I gathered because this was the one place I saw some tied to lampposts outside, was the post office.
Saturday, all of that rain that was predicted came, and it rained from the time we woke up until around six in the evening. That was kind of a bummer. It was cool though because we spent a lazy morning in Stephan’s flat. I don’t know if I made it clear enough, but he was such a fantastic host. While we were relaxing, we even played his Wii. At first, that may seem dumb. I spent time in a foreign country playing Wii. However, it was really nice to do something that was normal, if that makes sense. I have a Wii back home, and so there was a reassuring level of normalcy doing something that I haven’t done since I left in January. That, and it’s just a lot of fun. Also, while in Zürich, I managed to show a bit of will power. I really, REALLY wanted to buy a nice Swiss Army Knife, simply because I was in Switzerland and there was a gargantuan selection of them in one of the stores. It was a jaw-dropping arrangement of knives. What made in really difficult was that they had a special purple Boy Scout knife that had the international insignia of scouting on it. (The International Patch is purple, so that’s the significance of the knife’s color). I wanted it so bad. It was fifty Francs. The Swiss Franc is almost the same as a US Dollar; it’s like a Canadian Dollar.
Okay, this has developed into a rather lengthy blog. If I remember more anecdotes from my weekend, I will include it in my next post.
Cheers!
“by the sea”
Posted March 26th, 2009 by Michael
Friday, the Central Programme paid for us to take a day trip to Brighton. Brighton is one of the English cities that are seaside on the English Channel. It is really famous because King George IV made it his home for most of his life and it’s today very popular for its bohemian culture and beautiful coastline.
The Programme first paid for us to see the Royal Pavilion. It was the palace home of George before he became King of England. It was outrageously gorgeous. George IV was a very elaborate and extravagant gentleman. The “beach house” looks like it should be the guest house of the Taj Mahal, with an obvious Indian architecture. However, as soon as you step in the front door, you think you’ve stepped into an elaborate Kung-Fu movie. The interior of all of the entertaining rooms—rather the rooms George would entertain guests in—had oriental dragon motifs. The audio tour explained it was in vogue at the time, so naturally, George had to do it better. I wish I could have taken pictures in there to capture what it was like. It was incredible. In the dining room, there was this chandelier to put all other chandeliers to shame. The audio guide said it weighed about a tonne. Yeah! An entire tonne! There was a dragon coming out of the ceiling holding it; there were six smaller dragons holding lotus flowers in their mouths; there was more glass, crystals and mirrors than I’ve ever seen hanging in one place. Then, there were a few other chandeliers in the room along the outside of the room, as if the one Godzilla Chandelier wasn’t enough. The entire house was full of equally flabbergasting elegance and extravagance.
After the Pavilion, we headed down to the water and Brighton Pier. The Pier was cute. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It was delightfully quaint and fun. There were a few little roller coasters that we road; it was a good, wholesome and fun time. The one thing I couldn’t believe was that when we went into the arcade, there weren’t any skee-ball machines! I love skee-ball machines; I will always play one at least twice when I go into an arcade. Call me idiosyncratic, but I think there’s something so delightful about playing them. It’s nostalgia at its finest. So needless to say, I was super disappointed to see that they were absent. I wept. Well, that’s not true, but I was still sad. However, it was too beautiful of a day to be sad for long. It was a gorgeous day outside and the Channel was beautiful. After exhausting the novelty of the pier, we went down to the water. The girls waded in first while I finished my apple. They all screamed because it was cold, but I didn’t believe them. They’re from Texas, so I figure they’re completely spoilt by the Gulf of Mexico. When I rolled up my jeans and waded in, it was cold; don’t get me wrong. But I didn’t think it was terrible. I mean, it is only the middle of March. We relaxed on the beach and soaked up the sun for a bit. The one odd think was that there was no sand on the beach, it was entirely rocks. It was something to get used to running around without shoes. However, when I got back into my shoes, my feet felt better, like they’d been given a massage. There was also a nude beach a walk down the shore, so we all turned into curious tourists and wandered down there. We couldn’t stop ourselves.
After that, afternoon was waning, so we explored town a bit and hopped a train back to London. It was such a great day, by far one of the best day trips I’ve been on. In the town, there were these tiny alleys full of great shops and the like. It was neat to explore and window shop.
Today (Saturday), I was going to go out to Stratford-Upon-Avon today and see the birthplace of Billy Shakes, but decided instead to relax. I’m going to run and sleep; hopefully be a bit productive.
Also, below, I’ve included some links to my pictures on Facebook. They’re all public albums, so everyone should be able to view them without any trouble. Cheers!
Brighton: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010751&id=1161450072&l=b388fb1871
Canterbury: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010490&id=1161450072&l=ea196f12c1
I perf’d it!
Posted March 24th, 2009 by Michael
I think I’ve mentioned this before, but it must be said again: I love London.
The weather is improving everyday as spring inches closer and closer. The parks have put out collections of lawn/beach chairs for the public to sit in and enjoy. When I got off the tube and walked home through Green Park, I saw them and was flabbergasted. There was a small plaque that said they cost some nominal fee (I cannot recall specifically now), but I didn’t see anyone around collecting money from the peoples in the chairs. The weather has been wonderful since the weekend. It’s that early spring weather that’s chilly in the morning and evening, but gorgeous during the day to the point where you wish you were wearing shorts and a t-shirt.
During my Differential Equations class today, we received our marks from the test we took last week. I GOT A PERFECT SCORE!! Needless to say, I was pretty excited. It was funny; the professor said that he was disappointed that people did so well. He said that meant he could have made the test harder. I was honestly surprised by how easy it was, to be honest. Oh well, no complaints here.
I also went to see Watchmen “the largest screen in Britain” (read: in IMAX). It was a fantastic film. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I’ve started a forum on my blog to discuss it, as well as the graphic novel, and how they compare. That was also my first experience seeing a movie in IMAX. It really was amazing how large the screen was. I couldn’t believe it when I first saw it. I’m still in awe. Then, after the movie and dinner, we headed out for a bit of St. Patty’s Day shenanigans. It was a bit disappointing because most of the pubs stopped serving at eleven. I got a sweet leprechaun hat and I had a sip of my friend’s Guinness, so I think I fulfilled my obligations for the holiday. It was a nice evening, and I was told I looked good in green, so overall a plus.
This post seems fairly short in comparison to some of my previous ones, but I had to let everyone know about my mark on the DiffEq test. I was far too excited. I practically skipped back to Vandon.
Posted in London, England | Comments (0)
frisbee, pi, pie and bridges
Posted March 16th, 2009 by Michael
Friday the Thirteenth struck me bitter. Friday I hopped on a bus to Cambridge by myself because I found myself with nothing to do on Friday. When I arrived, I discovered my camera had stopped working. It’s done this once before, before I went to a show back in Chicago. It fixed itself when I plugged it back into the wall, so do not fret; I was just terribly disappointed because I spent the day wondering through Cambridge without the ability to take photos to remember everything. Regardless, I spent the day walking and walking; I did what I could to never walk the same street twice for that matter. Overall it was a glorious day.
My first goal for the day was to find Christ’s College and the gardens they have within the college walls. John Milton studied at Christ’s College, receiving both a BA and Masters from the school. It’s said that the gardens were Milton’s favourite place to sit and enjoy the beauty of nature. Wow. Entering Christ’s College, the initial green had a small, quaint pond and there were ducks just sitting along the shore, by all of my estimates, sleeping. They were sitting with their heads turned around backward and nestled into their feathers; I assume to keep their bills warm. There were probably a dozen of them, all in rows. I walked right next to them, they never moved.
Then, however, I followed a path to another garden, and that’s when I knew I had found the place. I simply froze in my tracks; I understand why Milton studied to become an Anglican priest and so frequently wrote about God, he saw it all around him in the blessed beauty of the natural world. Slowly strolling along the footpath, I felt like I was in another world. All of the college’s gardens—but especially Christ’s College’s—were havens of tranquility, nestled into the walls of the school, protected from the pandemonium of the outside world. The realm of chaos has no bridge to this Eden. The massive trees, in fact, perfect timeworn relics that have been watching the garden since Milton sat under them, penning some of his early works, contemplating God and man, life and death, heaven and hell. The footpath went most of the way around the garden, through epic trees, juxtaposed with blooming bulbous flowers of all colours and sizes. I do wish that I had words elegant and wonderful enough to properly paint a portrait of how beautiful it was. It was hallowed ground for me; to walk too loudly was to disturb an absolute tranquility that blanketed nature
I can honestly say that Cambridge was by far my favorite place in England, outside of London. I cannot fairly compare it to my trip to Oxford because they were under different circumstances. When I went to Oxford, I was with a semi-large group of people. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my trip to Oxford and all the people I went with, but Cambridge by myself was completely different. One super-extreme bonus that I discovered, I apparently look like a college student. Who knew?
If you don’t follow, allow me to explain. Some of the larger, more popular colleges require tourists to pay an admission to see their hallowed grounds. Well, I didn’t pay an admission for any of the colleges I entered. I was never once stopped by any of the people taking money. They must have thought I looked like a college student; and in fact, one who attends their respective universities. So, I figured this was a blessing on my budget, so I just walked by with a stern, studious look on my face. It probably didn’t help that I had my man-bag on, it containing a few books. This gave me an opportunity to see a lot of things that I would not have because I couldn’t have paid for it.
The Cam is a river that flows through the western portion of the city, and a few of the more prevalent colleges own the territory on either side for a good length of the river. Because of my good fortune, I managed to walk every bridge that crossed the Cam for the mile of the river that is the touristly attracted area. The first bridge was by far my favourite. It is called Mathematical Bridge! (Anyone who knows me well is now rolling their eyes, possibly burying their head in a hand or two). The bridge dates back to 1902 and is the only wooden bridge still in Cambridge. You notice immediately its unique design, and the apocryphal story is that when it was originally built, it didn’t need nails or any bonding tools of any sort; it was solely made of wood arcing over the water. It was one of the times I really really wished I had a camera.
Every single one of the colleges was awe-inspiring. To go on about each individually would be a superfluous repetition of descriptives and silly superlatives. I can list all of the colleges I entered though: Christ’s College, Emmanuel College, Queen’s College, St. Catherine’s College, King’s College, Clare College, Trinity College, St. John’s College, and Jesus College. Like I said, all of them were gorgeous and amazing to just walk around in. Some highlights included Trinity College. The road leading up to the school was lined with bulbs of flowers that were just starting to bloom; the great part was that all the bulbs were purple and white, which are Trinity’s school colours. It made me smile quite a bit. St. John’s College has another great attraction called the Bridge of Sighs. It is an old covered bridge that architecturally matches the surrounding buildings. It was really beautiful. And again, it’s not something that they allow tourist to even get close to. There is another bridge parallel to it that tourists can take pictures from, but because I looked like I knew what I was doing, I wandered up and down it, admiring the architecture and the Cam from the inside.
I also went to the pub where Watson and Crick first announced their discovery of the double helix. It was across the street from King’s college. It was a nice little pub called the Eagle. There was a plaque outside commemorating the event. That makes sense; I mean, they DID win a Nobel Prize for their discovery. I also took a short jaunt through the Fitzwilliam Museum. I didn’t stay for very long. I just did a little wandering and then set off to discover more of the city. It was all so delightful.
The weekend, after a glorious trip to Cambridge, was pretty satisfying. There is a paper due for class that I finished on Saturday. Also, Saturday was Pi Day. As a mathematics major, to not celebrate such a glorious day would be blasphemous to say the least. This Pi Day was by far the greatest I have ever experienced, though. Jenna, Andy, Jill, Jill’s friend and I actually made our own pie from scratch! Can you believe it?! I googled a recipe and we ran to Sainsbury and bought all the stuff we needed. It was the most glorious apple pie I’d ever had. We baked it, cut it into five pieces, covered the pieces in vanilla ice cream and feasted in a glorious celebration.
Sunday, I went and played Frisbee with the ultimate club I found online! I discovered a website, londonultimate.com, that had information on every club that meets in the city, and I found one that meets in Hyde Park on Sunday afternoons. So today, Schnicker and I went out and played a couple of pick-up games with them. I relaxed in the evening and watched two movies.
Posted March 12th, 2009 by Michael
After that last cliff-hanger of an ending last time, I know people have been dying to read another blog, including my mysteriously mentioned perplexity. I heard a bit on the news this morning that just added to the quizzical nature of the whole thing. But first, I must address something else. My grandfather, in a letter he sent me, asked me what the weather was like here, so I thought the best way to answer him (also his suggested method) would be to include the information in my blog.
The weather, as stereotyped, has been rather wet. However, as the days get longer and spring approaches, the rainy days have decreased considerably. When we first arrived, it seemed like we only saw the sun once a week. Now, however, the opposite is true; we really only get serious rain once, maybe twice a week. It’s still almost chilly on most days, but the sun just makes everything feel wonderful. London is a windy city; not as bad as Chicago, but windy enough to where it makes me want to wear a hat every time I go out. There was a terrible storm, complete with a single bolt of lightning, on Sunday (8 March). It also rained yesterday (10 March). When it storms, the wind inevitably picks up quite a bit. This city eats umbrellas for its morning coffee, breakfast, brunch, lunch, mid-day snack, afternoon tea, dinner, supper… you get the idea
And now onto my mind-meld of a pondering: Every country—obviously—has a superiority complex; it’s quite apparent in the States. However, given history, I feel like there’s a special love-hate relationship between the UK and the US. I find myself wondering why it was all such a big deal so many years ago. I feel like there’s this uncomfortable complex separating the two nations, and most of it revolves around who is better. It’s bizarre. Then, part of me gets caught up in it, and I wonder if I’m horrible because I feel like there are quite a few things that they do better than we do. Obviously, the reasons for these differences can be traced in some way back to our breaking away and establishing something different. Other differences may seem trite or arbitrary, but looking at it honestly, it still means something. Take, for example, faucets… most sinks over here have two—a hot and a cold. At first, it seemed terribly odd and an overall pain. However, it was pointed out to me that this reduces waste. Someone cannot turn it on to whatever temperature they deem perfect and then just let it run. If you need a mix of hot and cold, you have to fill the basin with a mixture you deem appropriate. The amount of waste is reduced considerably. Another thing I’ve noticed, you rarely, if ever, see cars speeding in London. Sure, you can say it’s a crowded city, but that doesn’t make it impossible. People also don’t run lights here like they do in the States. When it turns yellow, you stop, not pump the gas to make it through. On the ride back from Canterbury, I had a discussion with Mark, the Programme Director (and a wonderful and pleasant guy, I might add) and he told me it’s because most places are monitored quite heavily. If you’re caught on camera breaking traffic laws, the city will send you a bill in the post. I think that’s wonderful. It has clearly been effective in eliminating the problem. Also, there was something else that I learned on the first tour of the city we had back in January; I don’t know if I mentioned it then, but Mark shed some new light on it as well. If anyone wanted to drive their vehicle within the city, they are required to pay for it. Now, I didn’t ask if there’s some permit, or any of the logistics for that matter, but these cameras also will catch you if you’re not supposed to be there. They have these regulations on driving in the city for obvious congestion reasons, but nowadays, there’s a green reason to control things like this. Originally, the tour guide from January said that it does cost different amounts for different makes and models of cars. I find that to be a brilliant thing to implement.
Continuing in this vein, I chuckled this morning because I heard that there are talks to implement American-style crosswalks (zebra crossings is the British colloquialism) throughout London to try and eliminate the “straggler” pedestrians who try and cross when it is too late. American-style crosswalks are the type which countdown the amount of time remaining before the signal changes. I laughed at this report because after all the times I feel they’ve one-upped us, they have deemed something we do more successful. Also, at crosswalks, I’ve noticed that traffic lights get yellow lights on both sides of a green light. So right before the light turns from red to green, it goes yellow again. This, I feel, has increased the problem they’re having at crosswalks because the cars are then starting to inch forward and there are still pedestrians thinking they have time to walk. However, I don’t blame the extra yellow; I actually think that it’s a wonderful idea. I wish we had yellow lights to signal both changes. And on top of all of this, we’ve had some lectures about the British monarchy and how the British government works; so on top of all of the little stuff, I’ve been processing everything I’ve learned about Parliament and comparing it to what I know about our own governmental workings (which is, granted, still considerably more than what I know about how they do things here).
I had my first real test today in my Differential Equations class. It was awesome! I feel like I did really well, so we’ll see what kind of marks I get. I’ve got my first real paper due tomorrow morning (Thursday, 12 March), so I’m excited to turn that in. I have another paper due Monday, but it’s only 1200 words, so I’m not terribly worried about getting it done in a timely manner. That being said, I’ve got nothing planned for the weekend. I waited and tried to plan something now and I’ve had no luck at all. It’s fairly discouraging; however, it’s my own fault for being lame and not planning anything sooner like I should have.
We went on a Ghost Walk around London this evening and it was grand. The guide was actually the same guy I mentioned above, who gave us our first tour. He’s a really really funny guy. There were less of us, so he was a bit looser, and had some pretty delightful asides about certain things. It was cool because it was around the City of London specifically, and that’s a part of London I haven’t really been out to very much, so it was like walking around for the first time. I’m always discovering new places I’ve never been. I love it here; I can’t say that enough.
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