cognitive thoughts + random happenings of the week(s)

technically this is outlet for everything travel but today i'm going venture off topic a bit to talk about another kind of journey...a trip into my so called life! never fear, i haven't forgotten about the other 3-5 mediocre posts in my queue regarding egypt and jordan and promise to deliver those soon to my adoring, blog following public pronto!

i see dead people at this point.

i recently competed in my very first triathlon. you know, swim. bike. run. according to wikipedia, triathlons may have gotten their start in France in the early 1900's. that's pretty neat! in fact, there is supposedly one on the books for a "les trois sports" which featured running, cycling, and canoeing in 1902. i'd totally take canoeing over swimming any day. legs flailing about, crazy arm punches to the cabeza. the swim portion in open water can all very be very traumatizing. ironman is synonymous with triathlon, in fact it's probably the first picture that comes to mind when one thinks of the tri sport. when i think ironman, i think death, judgement day, sharks, insanity. after a 400 meter swim (that I never actually swam before the day of the race), a 14 mile cycle (on a bike i borrowed the day before), a 3.1 mile run, it's safe to say, A. it would be wise to train harder next time B. i would like new legs. i am so proud of my friends who both placed in the top 3 of their age groups. they even got a plaque! suffice it to say, i have a new found respect for competitors in les trois sports especially the 75 year old grandma who was kicking A and taking names,  running in front of ME! way to go lady, you're more awesome than awesome!

now for a random interlude--
things that ruffle my feathers:

1. toilet paper installed on the under. there is a purpose to the over people. so gobs of tp aren't mopping the bathroom tiles!

2. starbursts. they are one of my favorite candies of all time and even though i did market research for them and sent them said research, they still fail to give the people what they want! what they demand! why aren't you making single flavor packs??!@# nobody likes the yellows or the oranges and when I pay 89 cents to buy a packet, I am already disappointed since I'll only get 4 pieces of the good flavors! waste!

3. people who care more about what you are wearing that what you actually have to say or contribute. after bar hopping for a friend's bday, i made my way to meet my best bud at a winding down company- oriented dinner party. keep in mind, i was just downing a pint of beer at a place where 1/2 of the patio is devoted to corn hole and where a guy with bagpipes belted out happy birthday for all of Washington to hear. i realize that i was not appropriately dressed for a stuffy dinner party (jean skirt and 3/4 length blouse), but it was finishing up, and i was told to come before heading to the next spot. at said dinner party, i held my own and contributed to the conversation, even though all they wanted to talk about was basically how smart they all were. we get it, you are consultants. you make a lot of money and you spend 1000 hours of your boring existence of a life working on differential math equations to net cost savings and yield  exponential returns on investments for your clients. bla bla bla. you make jokes about how people don't know what a V look up is on Excel. Are you kidding me? That's supposed to be funny? Why don't you all learn how to be more well rounded individuals,  adapt to all kinds of people, and actually check out Tosh.0 for humor pointers,  instead of making the topic of conversation post party about whether or not i was wearing my skippies. Pathetic. Lame!

4. injured birds. am i supposed to help them? they are birds that desecrate all over my vehicle and make my porch look disgusting,  but they make me feel bad when their legs are broken.

what's in store: I've started greek school again. I know, it all looks russian to me. I will be winding down with business (zoe klutch and isabella dean) as I seem to spend more than I bring in. I'll still make stuff but only to sell on my online store and will take customs on a case by case basis with upfront payments. I think it's time to call it quits on that. J.U.M.P will become more of a priority in the upcoming months. I still want to get a coffee table book together and bring awareness to the young women in cairo that are trying to make a difference in their own lives!

luxor in a nutshell-part 1

Day 1-Tour Extravaganza

So sue us, we were tired and opted out of the suggested early wake up call.  Tony met us at the hotel at 8am which if you are going to the valley of the kings, is WAY to late. Trust me on this.  Skip your continental breakfast and get a move on it. You DO NOT want to be in the Valley when all 304 tour buses unload and wait in line with all those sweaty people, underground.  No central AC down there.  Back to Little Tones.  He looked like he just came out of an episode of the crocodile hunter. Khaki from head to toe. Not sure about his choice in pants however.  Really, corduroy in the dead of summer??!@# A step up from the wool clad Eqyptian soldiers but still a poor choice. I hope they were moisture wicking for his sake.  We toured  A LOT of places with Tony this day in addition to the VOTK, in fact, I am exhausted just thinking about it, so I will try to stick to the highlights.

Break on through to the other side-To get to the valley of the kings you have to cross from east bank to the west. Total contrast from the modest hustle and bustle of taxi traffic near Winter Palace. The West Bank looks like something out of ancient times magazine. Comprised entirely of fertile lands, mules, farmers, tall green stalks, thatched roofs, ox and plow. Holy cow! The Nile serves as the dividing line where green meets desert.

Alas, after a scenic drive, we made it to the Valley of the Kings. I am embarrassed to say I did not really have an idea to what this was (even though the name is pretty self explanatory) before our arrival to Egypt.  For those inquiring minds who care to know, The Valley of the Kings is a network of 63 underground tombs.  For over 500 years, this has been the primary burial grounds of pharaohs and royalty.  VOTK is a world heritage site and an archeological dream. As recent as 2008, two more tomb entrances have been discovered. Neat huh??  No photo taking is allowed here, so mental images will have to suffice.  Trip advisor has a great picture depicting the valley. Here you can see one of the many tomb entrances.  http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/2e/2b/c7/valley-of-the-kings.jpg  Your ticket will gain you entrance into 3 tombs.  They are rotated throughout the year so no one tomb is bombarded with masses of tourists and their perspiration. It's a preservation thing.  You can also buy a separate ticket to enter King Tut's tomb which by comparison to the others, is very shallow, narrow, and small and is the only tomb out of the lot in which it's original occupant still lays.  Throughout the years, tomb raiders have wrecked havoc on this place and the only visible treasure left is the writing on the wall.  Amazing to think that painted drawings and patterns have lasted the test of time.  They still look as vivid as the day they were painted on.  Beware of hawkers here as well.  To be honest, I am surprised there weren't some actually stationed within the tombs to try to sell you postcard pictures.  It's absurd.

Tony the guide and me-Carter House

After making our escape from VOTK hawkers, we made our way to the newly opened Carter House.  So newly opened, that NOBODY knew about it and we toured it all by ourselves. It was a nice change of pace given the amount of people we just left behind at the VOTK.  Howard Carter was an English bloke obsessed with Egypt. He was an archeologist and an Egyptologist most notable for his discovery of King Tut's tomb in the VOTK in 1922.  His home with original clothes, drawings, radios, etc was transformed into a museum. Cool to go to but something you can skip if you'd rather see anything else. How many homes of English men do you really care to tour? Unless David Beckham or Bear Grylls is having me over for tea and a showing, I'd say I met my quota.

Up until this point, Tony had far exceeded my expectations. He was an excellent guide.  Extremely well versed in the places he took us too. I was less than thrilled however, when he dropped us off at an alabaster shop.  Otherwise known as tourist trap central. Guides partner with these shops in hopes for a commission on pieces you buy.  It's really quite the show getting you involved in the whole alabaster pot making trinket world. Wow, did I really just travel all this way, sweating my buns off in this heat because women have to be covered to the nines, to check out alabaster figurines?? I was not happy to say the least and Tony's performance points went down by 1000.

I almost forgot about one of the coolest temples we went to.  It was the last stop on this tour. This one is not to be missed. Hatshepsut (aka. Hot Chicken Soup) was a modern woman built far before her time. She was a successful pharaoh reigning longer than any other woman. Hatshepsut's tomb is massive, artfully designed by a famous architect, Ineni.  Definitely give this place two mini thumbs up. Must see. Learn about her before you go, you will be even more impressed.

Hatshepsut's Tomb

one of many paintings within the temple

That's it for today kids. After a nice pasta lunch poolside, we laid low for the rest of the day. Check out Part 2 for day 2 and 3 of our Luxor experience- 6am tour of karnak (amazing), luxor temple, luxor museum, karnak night light show. day 3, leisurely, read by pool, almost called US Embassy when mom went missing, lunch, walk around before fly back to Cairo.