Life UpdatesIt’s been a while since I’ve written and it’s about time I posted an update about my adventures. I graduated from Iowa State University in May of 2017 with a bachelor of science in public relations; a bachelor of science in women’s studies; a minor in psychology; and a concentration in history. Four years and tens of thousands of dollars later and I am the proud holder of two very fancy pieces of paper. Yay me! Higher education has always been something I planned to pursue. Therefore, during my final year of undergrad I applied to graduate school. Singular. I found one program, fell in love, and decided that if they wouldn’t have me that maybe I needed to re-evaluate my life choices. I was in luck – American University accepted my application six days after submission and awarded me a merit scholarship as well as a graduate assistantship. I am now officially and American Eagle… No joke, this is literally our mascot. So that’s where I am now. Living the highlife in Washington D.C., my favorite city in America. Haha, just kidding (about the highlife part). Like a typical grad student I’m super broke and survive mostly on the free food provided at events around campus. But I do love D.C. and I love where I’m currently living. I found (on Facebook of all places!) a one-bedroom apartment that came fully furnished. Needless to say, I’m in love with my new home. My new school has been equally impressive. I’m enrolled in three classes this semester – which is literally half as many as I took as an undergrad. Trust me though, it keeps me plenty busy! Between learning advanced theory and brushing up on my media writing skills, I’ve had a productive semester. I’m also looking forward to next semester because I’m taking a media production course as well as a crisis communication class and another theory course. Getting to ChinaSo back to the title of this post… yes, I meant to bury the lead. One of the greatest things about AU is the vast amount of resources I have access to as well as the high number of opportunities that are provided to grad students, aka me. One such opportunity came up in the form of an email sent on Oct. 10. Included in the email with an information letter briefly discussing a ten-day trip to three cities in China scheduled for mid-December. The email asked students to reply if they were interested. Immediately, I responded and said I’d like to learn more about the trip. It was kind of short notice, and I'd already bought my ticket home for Winter Break, but I remember thinking, “What the heck, I’ll at least apply.” Over a week passed and I’d heard nothing. Eventually, I ran into the AU program contact and asked if she had any updates on the trip. She informed me that there wasn’t an application like I’d believed. Instead, the first three people who had responded to her email got to attend the trip and, if I hadn’t heard anything, I likely wasn’t one of the three. Disappointed and upset, I stewed about this selection process for the next six days until I received another email. I had been asked to provide my availability for a conference call within the next couple of days. The email also included paperwork asking for my passport number, emergency contacts, etc. Shocked, I filled out the paperwork and waited for the call before getting too excited to tell anyone – with the exception of my sister – that I might be going to China. The call went well and the result was – I was going to China! It left me numb as first; it was so mind boggling that I almost couldn’t process the information. Naturally, the next thing I did was call my mom and announce it to her. At one point I mentioned how I was a bit sad I wouldn’t be home over either Thanksgiving or December to help decorate for Christmas. My mother’s exact response: “Hunter, you’re going to freaking China!” Next post: details on what I will be up to in China!Boletos Turisticos As part of our program, we were all given tourist tickets that include entrance into several site and museums in and around Cusco. Unfortunately, the tickets only last for ten days. Therefore, we were desperate to get our monies worth and visit a few more sites that weren’t included as part of the study abroad calendar. Usually I think that my weekends are jam packed with activities. However, that week I was kept busy with school field trips and self planned trips with my friends. Perks of Being a Teacher's Pet Working with our professor, we managed to squeeze two more field trips in during our 7:30 AM – 9:30 AM time slot. The first one was Thursday morning to the archeological sight: Sexi-Woman. [Cough, Cough] Excuse me, I mean: Saqsaywaman. (It’s literally pronounced the same way though.) The archeological site is massive and displays some of the greatest marvels of Incan architecture. Not to sound like a complete nerd, but it was super cool! The site also has naturally occurring … Rock slides! And yes, you can in fact slide down them. To say there were a little hard on our knees is a bit of an understatement, however, it was well worth the soreness. Good Thing We Speak (Basic) Spanish! Thursday afternoon and a few friends and I were looking for another adventure. We had to plan our trip during the week since we’re always away for the weekends. We caught a cab in Cusco and asked if the driver would be willing to take us out of the city and North to the archeological site of Moray and the small city of Maras. He agree, after some slight haggled, for the price of less than $10 a person! Wonders of the Incan World We zipped along the curvy, winding roads of the Urubamba Valley and took photos of the Andes out of the windows. It was a blast! Over and hour and a half later and we arrived at the first stop: Moray. The ancient site was used for agriculture. The Incas dung deep terraces in a unique circular shape. The depths and way the terraces were carved into the mountain create several distinct microclimates. Archeologists have theorized that Moray was used for agricultural experimentation with crop growth at different temperatures. Yeah, the Incans were that smart. Asthma and Altitude Moray was spectacular. Truly breathtaking, quite literally as we ran to the bottom of the site and took dozens of photos before dashing back to the top. My chest hasn’t hurt that much since I was a child. My asthma is well control … But not so much at 11,000 feet above sea level where every breath is already as struggle without adding in tall stairs and a time crunch. Fortunately, I brought multiple inhalers with me to Peru and always make sure to have one (or three) on my person. Still, it reminded me that I always have to keep in mind my limits and be sure not to cross them because I could find myself a hundred miles from the nearest hospital. Salt, Not Snow Next, our personal driver took us to the small city of Maras were we visited the salt ponds. It was amazing! The salt ponds went on for miles connected by very narrow pathways. I’m talking centimeters wide. The ponds are harvested by locals and some of the salt is sold on site for incredibly cheap. Naturally, I bought a couple (four) bags of different kinds of salt. I can’t wait to go home and cook with them! Tourism a Better Way As we drove the long way home, we were treated to the beautiful site of Cusco after dark, when, especially high above the city, the lights fill the valley and resemble multi-colored stars. Our afternoon adventure cost less than $20 for the entire trip including souvenirs. It would have been at least twice that if we had gone to Maras and Moray with a tour group. We also would have had to deal with a bunch of tourists at both sites because the tours would have been earlier in the day. Instead, we conducted our own private tours right before closing and were treated to almost empty sites rich with history, local culture and overall tranquility in which to enjoy the gorgeous views. No Rest for the Restless Friday morning my class met again for another field trip, this time to the Regional History Museum. The hardest part about this trip was catching the taxi from our neighborhood to the plaza during the morning rush. Not only did it take twenty minutes to hail a cab and forever to actually arrive at the museum, the drive charged us double. Granted, double was just over three bucks… But it’s the principal of the matter! Next: My weekend in Puno exploring Lake Titicaca!School is Fun I’m taking two classes in Cusco. My first class begins bright and early at 7:30 AM! Yay!! … Not. But whatever, it’s the class I was most looking forward to so I deal. Luckily, my professor for History of Incan Civilization (yeah, still a nerd,) is enthusiastic about the subject. He makes an already fun course even better by creating interactive, artistic activities and, my favorite part, field trips! Our first field trip was last Sunday. We departed Cusco early in the morning for another adventure. My Incan history class, along with the professor’s other class, started our morning driving down dirt roads around invisible corners overlooking deep ravines. The ride was worth every cringe worthy turn when we finally reach our first destination: the Incan Trail. Why Did the Sheep Cross the Road? Our job was to walk the Incan trail and pick up garbage. Fortunately, the trail was incredibly clean! I was only able to personally find two pieces of trash. Not counting any pieces of paper because you definitely don’t want to go anywhere near those… Our professor has been working for years with his students to create signs in English and Spanish that say “No Littering” and such. On our hike, not very far from the main road, we came across a herd of sheep! The sheep and lambs quickly parted like the wool sea. Well, the adult sheep did. Several of the babies ran back and forth a few times bleating frantically as they tried to locate which side their mothers ended up on. We continued down the path to a place where gringos to not often frequent. However, that is likely going to change soon as zip lines and rock climbing are being set up at the site to bring wealth into the local community. Climbing up and down the wide stone steps we stumbled (and by stumbled I mean the professor gleefully pointed out) a burial site. An exposed burial site. Cuy Farm Our final stop for the afternoon was a rural village. My favorite part was stepping inside a cuy farm. Granted, all of the little guys will likely end becoming food, but they’re super cute in the mean time! The way of life is very different in the village than how we’ve been living in Cusco, which is drastically different than our lives in America. The woman whose home we visited told us about her son, who is ten: he has to walk over an hour to school and an hour home every single day because the village only has a primary school. The woman reminded our professor that her son had asked for a bicycle. Later, our professor explained that he’s going to set up a collection box in our school in order to buy the boy a bike. Our hope is to raise enough money that when our professor takes his fall class to the village he can give the boy a bike as a Christmas present. I hadn’t thought much about my lasting impact here in Peru, but while visiting the village and even spending time with my host siblings, I’m beginning to realize that my time here in Peru has meaning beyond progressing my Spanish speaking abilities and climbing Machupichu. Reflection Time Walking through the dense forestry, my thoughts drifted to my childhood spent wandering around the jungle exhibit at the Henry Dorley Zoo. The real thing puts one of the top exhibits at the best zoo in the world to shame. Not that I don’t still love the Henry Dorley Zoo, because I do and always will. #NebraskanForLife
It just made me stop and think how far I’ve come, literally and figuratively, from being a small town girl to an experienced young woman who has seen parts of the world that were once mere dreams. It makes me stop and think about how proud of me my family is and how proud of me my family who watches over me would be too. Valle Sagrado Saturday morning was our first group trip. We visited several archeological sites, learned a lot from locals and have an all around wonderful day! Fur-ever Friends Our first stop was an alpaca and llama farm were I made many new friends, mostly by feeding them. At the farm we learned about the history of my furry llama friends. They came from North America and made strange, new furry babies with the locals (alpacas). We did get to see some of the wild vicuña, however, they’re kept far away from the tourists because they’re apparently mean! Písac The first archeological site we visited was: Písac. It was a bit (lot) of a hike because of the altitude. If there were more oxygen in the air, it would have been quite present. With the lack of air it made every step a bit more of a challenge, but totally worth it to walk in the footsteps of the Incas. Also, the views were spectacular. Next, we stopped at a wonderful restaurant buffet and chowed down on Peruvian cuisine. I even got to try alpaca! It’s a very tender meat and super yummy. The restaurant complex also have a llama and alpaca farm that also included several other species that we’d learned about that morning. I also got to stand face to face with a vicuña! Five second after my friend took this photo he tried to spit at us. I was so proud.Ollantaytambo After lunch we toured Ollantaytambo where the Incan Temple of the Sun sits high atop a mountain. We climbed said mountain. Fortunately, our guide has years of experience and stopped every three terraces for us to catch our breath. Again, the view from the top was worth every sore muscle and both puffs from my rescue inhaler. We drove for a long time after leaving Ollantaytambo. But it wasn’t a boring drive. Rather, the winding roads revealed spectacular views of the Andes Mountains. As we drove higher we could see miles and miles of the snow-topped peaks. Chinchero Chinchero was our final destination for the evening. There we entered one of the oldest churches in Latin America as dusk. I put the knowledge I gained from my ISU Colonization of Latin America history class to good use within the church as I explained that while the Spaniards forced the indigenous to convert to Catholicism, many retained certain beliefs that combined with Catholicism to form religion in Latin America. This is literally illustrated on the walls of the church when images of vines and flowers are painted near pictures of baby Jesus. Pictures may or may not have been allow within the church but I also may or may not have been able to resist just one. Afterward we were able to explore the grounds in the twilight. Shopping! Our final activity before returning to Cusco was to sit in on an alpaca weaving demonstration. Several women showed us how they clean the alpaca wool, spin it while multitasking, dye it with natural products, and finally how they weave it into spectacular patterns. Incredibly, the main presenter worked the entire time with a fussy baby strapped to her back as her five year old ran around being helpful. We learned that five is the age when the women first learn how to spin the wool. It was clear that if she grows up to be anything like her mother, the five year old will have quite a bright future ahead of her. The stunning demonstration was a fantastic way to end a truly spectacular day. Next Post: My adventure hiking the Incan Trail!Things I Have Learned So Far
Cusco is at a very high level of elevation. Approximately 11,152 feet above sea level. That being said, if the lack of oxygen in the air doesn’t get you, the changes in food and water likely will. Have no fear! Traveling makes you, and your stomach, stronger. Getting to Cusco After returning from Europe on June 10th, I barely had time to unpack before repacking to move to Iowa. Once there, I continued to live out of my suitcase and boxes stacked in the garage. I left home again on Thursday, June 30th so I could spend the night at my great aunt’s house because it is two hours closer to the airport. The next morning I had my cousin drive me to the Omaha airport at 7 AM. (I paid him in pizza.) Then, a day less than three weeks after I landed in America, and 24 hours of travel later, I landed in Cusco, Peru. Host Family Unlike my semester in Greece, in Cusco I’m living with a local family made up of a mother and father and two of the most adorable children I’ve ever met. The little girl is four and as cute as a button. She loves princesses and stickers, which was what I brought her as a present, coloring and playing games. Needless to say, we’re getting along swimmingly. She is also the biggest help with my Spanish language skills. She is a preschooler, and my Spanish abilities are about that of a preschooler despite Dulingo and two semesters of college Spanish, meaning that she's the perfect teacher. The other child, a boy who is one year and three months old, has stolen my heart. I meant it. I’m completely taken with this little guy. He’s got big rosy cheeks and flirts with me over his supper as he purposefully spills it all over his highchair tray. My first night, I went to bed fairly early and he kept banging on my door trying to get to me. The little boy waves at me every time he or I leave the apartment, even if we’re actually going someplace together! The girl, on the other hand, always helps me pick out a sticker to wear before I’m allowed out the door. I already am sad about having to leave them in a matter of weeks. But yeah, so like, the city and school are okay too… I guess ;) Living the Dream, Again In all honestly though, I’m so happy to be in Cusco. This city is amazing! The colors, the sights and people come together to create a wonderful place to spend the remainder of my final summer before my senior year of college. So yeah, any of you that might have been wondering why my social media has been so quiet recently, there’s your answer. Until next post, ciao! Coming up next: I’ll fill you in on my course schedule and the trips planned for my summer in Peru.I went to Egypt with the expectation of never being able to return. Arriving in Luxor Luxor was the single most incredible place I’ve ever been. Normally, when I travel I dread the question: “Where was your favorite place.” Well, after going to Egypt, Luxor in particular, I can now answer that question without hesitation. The combination of the Temple of Luxor and Karnack Temple nearly brought tears to my eyes as I walked among ruins that I’ve spent two decades watching documentaries and reading books about. We arrived in Luxor very early in the morning. For some reason, I had made the incorrect assumption that we would be able to visit our hotel before we visited the temples of the East Bank. However, considering the temperature later in the day and the fact that you can’t even check into a hotel until 11 AM at the earliest, we did not go to the hotel first. This means that I arrived in Luxor in my glasses, without sunscreen and generally ill prepared for the day. However, because I packed so well, I was able to slap some sunscreen on and put my contacts in before we ventured to Karnack Temple. Side note for travelers: I highly recommend always carrying soap sheets (not just hand sanitizer) and tissues. This goes for travel in general, but especially in Egypt I was thankful to always have both items because the bathrooms often did not. Living the Dream, Literally Karnack was glorious. I can’t even begin to describe to you the feelings I had while being surrounded by the columns topped with open and closed papyrus flowers representing the cities and villages of Egypt at the time. This temple is also the sight of one of my favorite movies: Murder on the Nile, by Agatha Christie, (an author I hero worship). Many parts of the sight are closed restoration. However, the ‘guards,’ local men, will gladly open doors and show you secret pathways just prior to asking you for a tip. I have a hard time deciding between this being a sad thing and it being kind of awesome. Maybe a bit of both? Walking away from Karnack was difficult. I felt as if I was leaving a piece of my heart behind. But I would soon be leaving another piece of it behind as we visited Luxor Temple. Discovering Ancient Egypt At Luxor Temple we learned a great deal about Ramses II. As we learned, and could clearly see within the temple, Ramses really liked commissioning statues of himself. Connected to a lot of the statues were smaller statues of his beloved wife, Nefertari. We also discovered something incredible deeper into the ruins: the cartouche of Alexander the Great! Living in Macedonia, I’ve learned so much more about Alexander III than I would have living in any other part of Greece. I’ve visited his birthplace, the tomb of his father and son, and while in Egypt I discovered a temple he built for the Egyptian gods in an effort to respect their heritage and culture. This discovery was completely unexpected and one of the coolest parts of the trip, especially after spending the last four months surrounded by the legacy of Alexander. #sorrynotsorry Our afternoon was spent poolside in the hotel. I had almost as much fun snapchatting my friends, both in Greece and in America, pictures of the pool as I did swimming in the pool. Valley of the Kings Luxor day two was my favorite day of the entire trip. Our guide took us to the Valley of the Kings and I nearly wasn’t able to bring myself to leave. We visited three tombs while in the Valley of the Kings. Each was incredible in different ways and by the third I had absorbed enough knowledge that I was excited to notice that it was unfinished. The deepest room did not contain carvings, only paintings. Again, I’m a giant nerd so this was exciting to have noticed on my own and have confirmed by our guide. You might notice that this section of my post will be decidedly lacking in photos. That is because you’re not allowed to take pictures within the valley. The above picture was taken at Karnak Temple in a room that is currently under renovation and not open to the public... Hence the locals demanding tips. But imagine even more incredible wall carvings and brilliantly preserved colors and that was the inside of the tombs. Surprised Mom? While driving into the valley, a long and winding road, I began asking questions. I first asked if there are other limestone valleys in Egypt such as the one we were driving into. The answer was yes, which lead me to question two: Why this valley? Why, out of all of the valleys in Egypt, did the ancient Egyptian kings choose this one? Our guide smiled and told me that he’d explain once we were in the valley. Sure enough, twenty minutes later, under the scorching sun (I’ve actually never been as hot as I was in that valley) he explained why the tombs of the most powerful men in Egypt were placed just outside of Luxor. History Lesson Ancient Egyptian history is made up of three parts: Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom. The pyramids are an example of Old Kingdom tombs. Giant, grandiose structures built to protect the valuables of the pharaohs from grave robbers. Well, it didn’t work very well. So by the New Kingdom, the pharaohs were looking for a new way to protect their possessions and bodies in preparation for the afterlife. This lead to the first pharaoh buried in the Valley of the Kings all the way to Luxor where he presumable was wandering around through valley after valley until he looked up and was like, “A-ha!” (Totally a true story). Fast forward thousands of years and our guide told me to look up. Above us, high up in the valley, is a limestone formation of a pyramid. The Valley of the Kings is located where it because the pharaohs of the New Kingdom wanted to better protect their tombs, but they also wanted a pyramid to mark the spot because, lets face it, pyramids are cool! In all of my studies, avid book reading and consumption of an unhealthy amount of documentaries about Egypt, I’d never heard about the Pyramid of the Valley of the Kings. It was incredible to learn about it while standing at the base mere feet away from the entrance of a tomb. Lights, Camera, Action! The next place we visited did allow pictures, and I took a bunch of them. In my Luxor photos I’m often wearing my headscarf, this had nothing to do with religion or culture and everything to do with the fact that the desert is freaking hot!Hatshepsut One of the figures we learned a lot about during our trip was Hatshepsut, the first female pharaoh. She was totally bad ass! After her husband’s death, she built bigger monuments, created better trade routes and built awesome temples including one of the few temples on the West Bank of the Nile. Ancient Egyptians believed that the East Bank was for life, temples and palaces, and the West Bank was for death, tombs. However, Hatshepsut’s Temple was a mortuary temple and therefore revolved around death hence the placement on the West Bank Warning: Major Nerdiness Ahead Hatshepsut was the most incredible woman of Ancient Egypt. When she came to power after her husband's death, she had difficulties with the people because she was a woman. To combat this ancient sexism, she ordered all statues of her to be carved in male figure. However, if you look closely at all of her statues, her face is still remarkable feminine. Sneaky artists, sneaky. Hatshepsut was responsible for creating a trade route to what is modern day Somalia. She traded cows for everything from gold to henna trees. The story of her success is still carved into the walls of her temple. However, tragically, few images of her remain at her temple. Once her stepson was old enough, he overthrew her, put her to death and tried to wipe her from the record of Ancient Egypt by having her images, temples and monuments destroyed. Fortunately, he wasn’t entirely successful. Advanced Civilization While at Luxor, our guide showed us his pride and joy: the perfume room. It was nearly perfectly preserved; the ceiling still almost entirely covered with the blue and yellow stared image of the night sky. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Our guide informed us that much of his research consisted of sitting in that room from dawn until dusk translating the hieroglyphics written on the walls. He told us that much of the writing was recipes for perfumes! The Ancient Egyptians used oils and essences for more than smelling good. They also used aromatherapy to cure everything from headaches to stomach pains. It’s incredible to think about how advance civilization was in Ancient Egypt that they were able to use the plant life to create these remedies that still plague us today. Reality Check Traveling to Egypt was a well thought out, well-planned adventure of a lifetime. I’d worked with a travel agent to make sure that traveling companion and I would be as safe as possible. This included airport transfers, four and five star hotels with bomb sniffing dogs, and guides who rarely left our sides. I thought I’d thought of everything. But nothing could have prepared me for the reality of Egypt. Egypt was nothing like I’d ever experienced before. I’d stepped from my comfortable little world and into an entirely unfamiliar environment. It was as wonderful as it was shocking. Unlike some other top tourist destinations I’ve been too, cough Cancun cough, it’s impossible to hide the reality of daily Egyptian life from the tourists. The streets aren’t shinny and the views aren’t all the glossy images from post cards and National Geographic documentaries. The photos I posted on my social media pages and even so far in this blog post fail to illustrate the shear amount of poverty in Egypt, and I’m confident I didn’t see the worst of it. Run down buildings, broken roads, garbage on the streets and in the canals and layers of dust and grime covering everything. There is also vibrancy and passion and a strong sense of community. Egypt is not a destination I would recommend to first time travelers, nor it is a placed I would recommend you go on a whim. Do your research; reach out to people who have been before. All this being said, I loved Egypt and had a wonderful trip. However, I believe it is important to remain transparent about what I saw while I was in Egypt so as not to appear hypocritical when I post images of fancy hotel pools and selfies with the pyramids. Take Away Message The reality is Egypt’s number one cash crop is tourism. Ever since the revolution, there has been a decrease in tourism to Egypt, particularly from America. My mother was especially not enthused when she learned that I had bought my plane tickets and was flying to Cairo. I never do anything half heartedly or without careful preparation and research. Traveling the world is possible with enough forethought and planning and I’d be happy to help launch someone else’s dream of visiting Egypt. Be on the look out for my next post about my two week backpacking adventure across the UK and Italy!Like every great adventure, my trip to Egypt began at 5 AM. Adventure of a Lifetime Half a day later and I found myself looking out the window at another new continent as the plane flew over the Egyptian desert and I caught my first glimpse of the Pyramids at Giza. When Dreams Become Reality My second glimpse of the pyramids came on day two. The representative from our travel agency, who had picked us up from the airport and given us our Egyptian visas, introduced us to our guide Ahmed. He and our driver, Mohammad, drove us to the providence of Giza. Walking up, I was stunned by the sheer enormousness of the Pyramid of Cheops (the biggest one). I was torn between being in awe, being way out of my comfort zone and back to an almost overwhelming sense of joy that I felt standing at the base of a pyramid I’ve been reading books about since I was two. After learning some general history about the pyramid, our guide gave us free time to wander around. With our free time came some specific instructions: don’t tell people you’re American, don’t buy chachkies from street vendors, and don’t take any unlicensed camel rides. Camels and Tips and Pyramids, Oh My! Well, we broke rule number three right out the gate. Our guide hadn’t even been away from our sides for more than two minutes before we’d been forced to follow some Egyptian guy with a pyramids badge. He lead us to a place where we could crawl inside of a pyramid, where we were asked to tip the guy at the entrance, before being placed on camels and then were accosted for money for the privilege of sitting on top of a camel. Fortunately, I’d done enough research to know that if you stand your ground, the shady business men will (hopefully) back of, which in this case they did (after I coughed up the amount of Egyptian pounds I was willing to pay and not a cent more). Not going to lie, it was worth the equivalent of 10 bucks to learn our lesson and to sit on a camel at the base of the biggest pyramid in the world! Made in China Refraining from buying street chachkies on the street wasn’t difficult since our guides in both Cairo and Luxor took us to several shopping centers where I was able to purchase everything from an Egyptian cotton blouse to alabaster statues to a cartouche with my name on it! When I snapped pictures of my cartouche to my friends and sent a photo to my mother I was surprised by the question ‘what does it say?’ It seemed that not everyone is as obsessed with Ancient Egypt as I am… In my excitement I’d forgotten how much of a nerd I truly am! Rule Number One Rule number one wasn’t actually an issue at any point, however scary it seems to not be able to tell people you’re from America. Since I’m super pasty (surprise!) as is my traveling companion, we were clearly of European descent, which to street vendors and people looking to hassle tourists, means that we speak English. Not to mention that we both clearly look American (yes, you can tell. You can trust me on this one after I’ve spent time traveling around Europe). We tried everything. We told some people that we were from Greece, to which most responded ‘poli kala!’ (Which means very good). Now, I’m enrolled in Greek 101, meaning I know a number of Greek phrases. However, my traveling companion is not and mostly stared blankly when the Egyptians would respond in Greek… basically giving away our lie. Sometimes we tried to pretend we were Canadian because, really, who hates Canadians? Unfortunately, to most people in Egypt, Canadian is a synonym for ‘basically an American.’ Eventually, we found that no one we spoke to reacted negatively, at least outwardly, to the fact that we were indeed from America. Camel Time! I don’t care how touristy it was, going for a camel ride with all three Giza Pyramids in the background was awesome! Two Egyptian boys lead us out into the desert: one was wearing jeans and a baseball hat and the other was wearing the traditional galabeya, an ankle length, loosely fitted cotton garment, of an Egyptian villager. Riding a camel in Giza is definitely near the top of the list of the coolest things I’ve ever done. I couldn’t stop smiling, especially when the boys asked us if we wanted the camels to go fast. I, of course, was eager for the camels to lop along at a quicker pace. It was exhilarating and incredible and words don’t even do justice to how much fun I had with my new camel friend. Mystery of the Sphinx Next we visited the Sphinx, which, ironically, is a Greek word. The statue, carved from a single block of stone, was larger than life. Photographs fail to demonstrate the true scale and majesty of the Sphinx. After lunch we visited a papyrus factory where we learned how papyrus is made, which is a long and extensive process that doesn’t require skill so much as attention to detail and a lot of practice. Our final stop on day two was Dahshur, easily my favorite part of day two in Egypt. Highlights of Egypt Dahshur is a small region outside of Cairo in which the pyramids of several pharaohs are located. The guide took us to the Red Pyramid first. Not only was I able to take photos from outside, I was also able to crawl inside a second pyramid down a very long, very steep, very narrow shaft and all the way back up again. Totally worth the sore legs I had the next day. Next was my absolute favorite pyramid: the Bent Pyramid. The Bent Pyramid was one of my additions to the itinerary and therefore one of the sights I was most looking forward to seeing. It did not disappoint. Egyptian Museum However, my second addition that I was equally if not more excited to visit, was a bit of a disappointment. After visiting museums around the world and seeing the displays of Ancient Egyptian artifacts, I was beyond thrilled to spend part of the day in the Cairo Museum. My excitement was somewhat dashed by the reality of the museum. As Egypt has fallen on hard political and economic times, things such as the Cairo Museum have suffered. It was still amazing to see the royal treasures of Tutankhamen and to be surrounded by artifacts from an amazing ancient civilization. Dinner and a Show Our final night in Cairo was marked by a Nile dinner cruise. We dined on the Nile amid traditional and non-traditional Egyptian music before a belly dancer performed along with two male dancers that had huge spinning skirts. The one man’s skirt even lit up with neon lights! The next morning we said goodbye to Cairo because, like every great adventure, my trip to Luxor began at 5 AM. Stay tuned for Egypt Part Two: LuxorSo I finally finished my Spring Break blog post!! Only, it wasn't a blog post it was the chapter out of a novel... so rather than posting it on my blog page I've decided to link it separately. Click below to read my two and a half week long adventure around Europe! Stay tuned for details about where I'm headed next on Twitter and Instagram!1.) Ireland: enough said!My favorite part of Ireland was the Wicklow Mountains. Ireland in general is utterly stunning and I’m SO excited to someday go back. 2.) Dutch foodStroop waffles, free cheese samples and the VIP Heineken tour make Amsterdam a great place for eating and drinking delicious delicacies. Did I mention free cheese? During the Heineken tasting not only did I receive a beer bottle with my name on it, I was aslo able to sample a beer that’s not even on the market yet! 3.) An old fashioned car ride around PragueMy favorite part about Prague was being driven around in style! Prague is at the top of the list of my favorite cities in all of Europe. The food was great, the architecture is lovely and the history and culture are fascinating. 4.) Carpathian Mountains: Transylvania, RomaniaI have seen a great number of mountains in my somewhat brief lifetime. However, the Carpathian Mountains are something out of a fairy tale. The view was literally magical. 5.) Greek Islands: cruising around on the back of an ATVSantorini and Mykonos would not have been nearly as good of a time if there had not been an ATV involved. The four-wheeled death trap allowed me to see the majority of Santorini and a good deal of Mykonos. Best part: I even drove it! … For all of two seconds (during which I nearly drove off the road), but still! 6.) DelosDelos is a small island just west of Mykonos. Historically, it played a significant role in the formation of religion and trade in Ancient Greece. I’d also learned a great deal about the island in my History of Ancient Greece class, therefore, I was triply excited to hike around and see the ruins of the mythological birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. This was a very brief recap of my Spring Break. |
We arrived at the Louvre first thing in the morning and tried to start with the Mona Lisa (but got very lost.) Instead, we ended up in front of the Venus de Milo. We were the only ones in the entire section to the point that I had to check to make sure it was actually her we were standing in front of. Five minutes later the exhibit was packed. |
My second favorite part of Paris was when the Eiffel Tower sparkled. I actually didn’t know it did that before I went, so it was an astonishing sight.
We visited the Tour Eiffel on both our first night and our last night. It was amazing from the first moment I laid eyes on it to the last moment.
We visited the Tour Eiffel on both our first night and our last night. It was amazing from the first moment I laid eyes on it to the last moment.
Upcoming Adventures
I will likely not update my blog for a couple of weeks as my spring break starts Thursday.
Madeline and I will fly to Athens tomorrow and visit the top tourist attractions there (I look forward to acting as her tour guide and showing off my knowledge of Ancient Greece!) Friday, Jordan will join us and the three of us plan to spend the day trekking around Athens.
Friday night, Madeline and I will part ways and Jordan and I will make our way to Dublin. We are spending several days in Dublin before flying to Amsterdam, Prague, Bucharest (home of Dracula!!) and then back to Greece to spend our second week of spring break on the islands of Santorini and Mykonos.
If you think this sounds like a lot, that’s because it is. I’m probably going to pass out for an entire week after I return because I doubt we’ll get much sleep while adventuring around Europe!
I will likely not update my blog for a couple of weeks as my spring break starts Thursday.
Madeline and I will fly to Athens tomorrow and visit the top tourist attractions there (I look forward to acting as her tour guide and showing off my knowledge of Ancient Greece!) Friday, Jordan will join us and the three of us plan to spend the day trekking around Athens.
Friday night, Madeline and I will part ways and Jordan and I will make our way to Dublin. We are spending several days in Dublin before flying to Amsterdam, Prague, Bucharest (home of Dracula!!) and then back to Greece to spend our second week of spring break on the islands of Santorini and Mykonos.
If you think this sounds like a lot, that’s because it is. I’m probably going to pass out for an entire week after I return because I doubt we’ll get much sleep while adventuring around Europe!
To follow my adventures, check out my Twitter and Instagram pages.
Author
My name is Hunter and this the blog of my worldwide adventures. The purpose of this blog is to show that you can be a traveler, not just a tourist.
Archives
March 2019
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
Tags
All
Chicago
Classes
Greece
Greek Consulate
History
Iowa State
Photography
Sea Sailing
Study Abroad
Travel
Proudly powered by Weebly