Solitude in Scotland.

I still haven't written anything about Eastern Europe or Barcelona. I'll get to those at a later time. I've got some downtime at my hostel right now, so I figure I might as well reflect on the day. I travelled alone for the first time today. I left London Gatwick at about 9 am, arriving in Edinburgh a couple hours later. I took a ridiculously slow bus from the airport that brought me towards the city center and walked to my hostel from there.

I dropped my bag and took to the streets, deciding to walk up and down the Royal Mile (Scottish Parliament on one side, Edinburgh Castle on the other). The mile was full of shops and pubs that were either touristy or quintessentially Scottish. Either type suited me. This may not be the Highlands, but it is still beautiful. The highlight of my day was hiking to the top of an ancient volcano which I believe is named Arthur's Seat. Travelling alone isn't very fun, I've decided. Kerouac romanticized the idea for me, but it didn't play out how I imagined. I've spent the day walking for miles, people-watching, and thinking about my family members, some of whom are no longer with us.

Listening to- Nothing, because my iPod died. But I heard a great rendition of Simon and Garfunkel's Sound of Silence in the Scotsman's Lounge earlier.

I'll add pictures when I get back to London.

Eastern Europe.

I'm heading to Eastern Europe on Friday afternoon.

I'm looking for suggestions as to things worth doing in Budapest, Vienna, Prague, and Berlin.

Help me out.

Listening to: Hold Time- M. Ward

EGYPT.

The problem with my blogging is that I've talked every one of my topics to death by the time I decide to sit down and actually write about them. In any event, let me fill you in on what my trip to Egypt was all about.

We flew from London to Luxor on February 9th, where we stayed at a resort-like hotel along the Nile, certainly a step up from the hostel setting I'm accustomed to in my own travels. When we weren't busy seeing everything there was to see in Egypt, we were able to use the swimming pool or smoke hookah (Egypt's national past time) in the hotel bar. The first attractions we visited were the the Valleys of the Kings/Queens. There we were able to see many ancient tombs, which were cool if you kept reminding yourself that the tombs were really old and important. Otherwise, the experience of shuffling in and out of the tombs in hordes was a lot like waiting in line for the Indiana Jones ride but never actually getting to go on it. I hate to be a naysayer (that's not completely true), but I feel if you've seen one ancient Egyptian tomb, you've seen them all. I'd have preferred my one tomb to be that of Tutankhamen, but he's kind of a big a deal and Pepperdine didn't want to shell out the cash. Later that day we visited the Colossi of Memnon for pictures, and eventually took a look around the Temple of Karnak. The highlight of my day was my mode of transportation to the restaurant for lunch: an hour-long donkey ride. We rode through rocky desert area (Egypt looks a lot like Arizona actually), green farmland (in which my underfed donkey insisted on stopping to eat every few seconds), and ramshackle villages as we were followed by running dogs and waving children. I felt pretty cool pulling right up to the restaurant on my donkey.

Overall (many of you won't understand this reference), my experience in Egypt felt very much like a Wes Anderson film. If you haven't seen a Wes Anderson film, you have no idea what I'm talking about and should disregard it. The cast of characters I met in Egypt were all eccentric yet straightforward, much like Anderson's characters. The interactions I had with people, predominantly because of the language barrier, were characterized by bizarre tempos and content. If you do understand this reference, ask me about this sometime so that I can more accurately fill you in.

The next day, we visited the Temple of Esna and the Luxor Museum. Esna was cool; a few of us wandered off the beaten path and hiked up onto some cliffs. I guess we weren't allowed to be up there, because a man in a robe ran our way yelping and clapping. He stood at the base of the cliff and continued these antics until we ran down the hill. By the time I approached the man, he was already leading my friends on a scavenger hunt through the temple. He took us into a few dark rooms, showed us a hidden well, and made us pose for a picture with a very old man he called his "son," who was waiting for us at the bottom of what appeared to be a drained swimming pool. These are the sorts of adventures Egyptians were always leading me on. I never really understood what was happening, but I'd follow along saying things like "yes" and "good," and without fail, I'd be asked to fork over a few Egyptian pounds at the conclusion of the nonsensical tour. I saw a few mummies in the Luxor Temple. Next to Ramesses I, the inscription read "discovered in a museum in Ontario, Canada." Hmm.. After it got dark, we took a carriage ride to the well-lit Luxor Temple where we saw some more columns.















I'll take a moment to explain a few notable things about interactions between Egyptians and Americans. I've been informed that tourism is the number one source of employment in Egypt, and it certainly seems that way. Everyone wanted to sell me an alabaster Nefertiti or a painting of the pyramids on some papyrus. I had money in my pocket, and the Egyptians all hustled to get it. That was the extent of our interaction. Something I found funny was the fact that Egyptian men who interact with tourists have a few inside jokes and catchphrases they pull out for Americans. They all say, "Welcome to Alaska!" Everyone, everywhere--somehow the whole country is aware of this joke. They find the idea of Alaska hilarious. I was told it's because Alaska is really far away, and has such a different climate than Egypt. My roommate, actually from Anchorage, found this very amusing. The Egyptians didn't seem to believe he could actually be from such a ridiculous place. I wonder if that joke started before the emergence of Sarah Palin? Another joke they throw around a lot is the offering of a certain amount of camels for the companionship of a female. I think every girl in my group got a a few dozen marriage proposals and the promise of thousands of camels.

The next day, we visited the Temple of Hator in the morning, where we played a bit of Frisbee before some nice men with AK-47s asked us not to, and then flew to Cairo in the evening. We stayed in a Giza Hotel, to which were confined. Our first day in Cairo was pyramid day. We saw the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx of Giza. We played Frisbee there also. At the main pyramid, hustlers prowl around and try to get you to take a picture with a camel. I was warned of this phenomenon, but was not warned harshly enough. As I was walking around the pyramid, a man approached me and wrapped a piece of cloth around my head like a turban. He asked me if I wanted a picture with a camel. I told him "no," and figured this would be the end of the interaction. At that point, he grabbed my camera from my hand and told me he would take my picture for free. I, again, said "no," but he began to walk away, holding my camera, towards a group of camels. I followed him, demanding my camera back--he kept walking, finally stopping beside a crouching camel. I reached for my camera; he forcibly placed me on the camel and then kicked it, making it stand. At that point, I was stuck 10 feet in the air atop a large ungulate, with an angry Egyptian man telling me to pose for a picture, with the pyramid in the background. He said that while the picture was free, he would, of course, need money "for the camel." I didn't get my camera back until I emptied my wallet and promised to get more money from my friends. Here's that picture--it accounts for about half my Egypt budget so enjoy it.
















Later that day, we visited Sakkara, the Step Pyramids, and a papyrus factory and returned to the hotel. That night, we all decided we were getting sick of Egyptian cuisine. Every meal we'd eaten thus far had been buffet-style, which might sound like a positive thing, but wasn't. We were sick of being served rice, potatoes, and a questionable item labelled "meat" three times a day. As a result, we pleaded with our director for permission to break the lock-in rule and cross the street to obtain real food. That night, armed guards from our hotel stopped the intense flow of Cairo traffic and led 30 American youths on their hajj to... McDonald's, which we cleaned completely out. Everything, from McFlurries to McArabias, was brought back to our hotel. Also that night, I broke the rules and left the hotel to take a look around. I now understand and respect Pepperdine's decision to imprison us in the Hotel Zoser. I'll leave it at that.

Our final day was spent at the Egyptian Museum, a "hanging church" where young Jesus apparently spent some time after fleeing Bethlehem, and the Mosque of Mohamed Ali. We had lunch at the Al Azhar park, which provided us with a great view of the city and allowed us to show canoodling valentines what USA was all about. After a busy day, we visited the Khan El Khalili bazaar, the same market where a bombing took place a couple of days ago.

The next morning--we flew back to London. All in all: an exhausting, educational adventure.

Listening to: Red Yellow & Blue- Born Ruffians

Snow in London.

I've spent the last couple of weeks exploring the UK, taking midterms, and preparing for a trip to Egypt.

Last weekend, I went to Oxford. It was nice to see the massive campus, but the highlight of the trip was sitting down for a meal at The Eagle and Child, a pub where the inklings (C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien) used to meet regularly. The next day, I visited the outdoor market at Portobello Road, a popular London attraction I had not yet seen.



On Sunday night at about midnight, the students in our house all gathered in the lounge to watch the cardinals lose the super bowl. As the game began, snow was falling lightly outside. By halftime, London was covered in 6 inches of snow. The young adults went out and played in the snow for rest of the night, some for nostalgia's sake, and some because they had never seen snow. (snowball fights, snowmen, snow angels, streaking, etc.) London was shut down Monday morning, as it experienced its largest snowstorm in 18 years. Most of the tube lines were closed down at least partly, and the entire bus system was closed for the day. Some of our classes were cancelled, as professors had trouble getting to campus. I experienced my first (and likely only) college snow day.

We leave for Luxor Monday morning, where we will spend a few days before heading to Cairo. I'll put some Egypt pictures up in about a week.


Listening to: Port O'Brien- All We Could Do Was Sing

Weekend In Heidelberg

Life in London is going well.


I had the surreal experience of watching Obama's inauguration from a crowded bar called The Texas Embassy; the group in attendance was in no way an accurate microcosm of the Lone Star State. The tide has changed here. Virtually every European I encounter is now enamored with America. We'll see how long the honeymoon lasts.

Classes are easy, as I have been accountable for almost no work so far, apart from a few reading assignments. I'm enjoying my Modern History of the Middle East class, as now is an ideal time to dissect the Arab-Israeli conflict.

A group of friends and I visited Heidelberg, Germany this weekend and stayed at the Pepperdine house in Old Town Heidelberg. It was my first time to Germany and ended up being a very good trip. Unlike most of my previous destinations, Heidelberg did not host a long list of tourist attractions I needed to check off my list. This freed up some time and gave me the opportunity to blaze my own trail and discover the town. We visited the Heidelberg Castle, hiked Philosopher's Way (apparently Mark Twain used to kick it there), and enjoyed the German staple foods (schnitzel, gummy bears, and beer). Mostly, we were able to walk around and enjoy a setting far less congested than London or any of the other large cities we usually choose to visit.

This weekend, I plan to visit Oxford for a day trip and spend the rest of my time studying for midterms.

That's all for now,

Aaron Schrank.

Listening to: Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago

back to school.

After returning to the states for Christmas, and listening to countless complaints regarding my failure to blog or write about my experiences, I've decided to start this thing back up. I can't promise how often I'll write, but I'll try to share some experiences every once in a while.

I've been in London for almost a week and am back in the swing of things. Classes seem good, but it's too early to tell what the homework load will be like. Tomorrow we are going to Winchester Cathedral as a group. I'll spend the rest of the weekend checking out parts of London I have not yet explored.

Places I plan to visit this semester, if finances allow (the majority of what I'll blog about):

- Heidelberg, Germany (next weekend)
- Egypt (our educational field trip)
- Budapest Prague, Vienna, and Berlin ( 10-day Spring Break)
- Scotland
- Spain
- Portugal
- Morocco