Slimed

This is me for most of our vacation in Italy. Calvin got sick and then me and Harrison got sick. I spent most of the vacation covered in mucus and throw-up and sometimes pee.

Summary of our trip:

1 day in Milan

1 day in Venice

5 days in Rome

4 days in Florence

Highlights

Duomo in Milan

St. Mark's Basilica

Doge's Palace

Colosseum

St. Peter's Basilica

Garibaldi Restaurant (Cheese Cake and Rabbit)

Gelato

Duomo in Florence

Low Lights

Sistine Chapel

It Rained about 4 days

Two trips to the hospital in Rome with Calvin

Little to no sleep

And let's not forget the train ride from Venice to Rome where Calvin threw-up on Celine and she just watched even when I was waving a bag in front of her face to catch the barf. The whole train car smelled, but I don't think people noticed because they got used to the smell. Then, when we were getting off the train Harrison was in the Bjorn and I had my hat in front of him ready to put it on my head when he barfed in it. Some girl from the train thought that was pretty funny.

First Watch

For anyone who is married and has kids, this advice is for you. Always! Always! take the first watch.

We just got back from Cyprus and it was amazing. We took turns watching Calvin usually splitting it up into half the day. He was really good considering he had to spend a couple hours in a car everyday. I would usually volunteer to take the first watch here's why...we pack snacks, treats, and games for Calvin so on our way to wherever we were going I would use up all the distractions and he would be content in the morning, but on the way home he would get more and more fussy.

So my advice - always take the first watch.

Debriefing

Summary:

We just got back from a 2 week tour of the Middle East. The trip went rather smoothly with only a few minor hiccups along the way. We had a lot planned and the trip was incredibly tiring especially with a two year old, but he was better than expected.


Egypt: Cairo

Impressions: The city was dirty and crowded. The people were rude and pushy. The feeling I got from the majority of the people that I met as tourist, was I owed them something just for going to their country and that I was obligated to give them money for doing nothing, because our economy is so much better.

Highlights: Pyramids, Sphynx, Calvin throwing up on Celine, and seeing mummies that are thousands of years old.

Low Lights: Cleaning up Clavin's throw up and the zoo with abused animals.


Jordan: Amman and Petra

Impressions: Much cleaner than Cairo and the hospitality was a little better as well. It was amazing standing in the place where so much history had taken place, but I became overjoyed when I thought about how I was standing in the very same spot where Harrison Ford and Steven Speilberg filmed Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Highlights: Riding a Camel, Donkey, hiking, and seeing "The Monastery"

Low Lights: Exahustion from carrying Calvin, having to take a poo while hiking.


Israel:

Impression: The country seems very modern and western except for the Palestinian areas. The people were very pleasent and nice. You get a sense that the country is bigger than it actually is. I never got used to seeing teenage girls carrying machine guns. (men and women have an obligatory military service)

Highlights: Going in the Red Sea, Dead Sea, Mediteranean Sea, and Sea of Galilee. Visiting all the historical sights.

Low Lights: Not enough time to see everything.

The Mystery of the Innards

While I was in Eastern Anatolia, I got up early in Saturday and went for a hike in the nearby mountain. I planned out a hike for the next morning to try to reach the top. I got up the next morning at 7am and walked through the town that had endless turns, stairs, and corners. Once above the town, I walked around a graveyard and then up a goat trail that brought me half way up they mountain. After that, I blazed a trail the rest of the way up the mountain to where it met the rock face. When I got there, I noticed a blood spot on the ground. I thought this blood looked fresh...I thought, should I follow it? I thought it could be a predator that just killed an animal or it could be a hurt animal, and I had to find out. I followed the trail for some distance, but the trail ended, and I could not find anything. Frustrated, I thought maybe I should follow it the other way. I went back to my original starting point, looked around and found the trail, so I followed it further up the mountain and into a crevice. When I got closer to the rock wall in the crevice, I saw a lot of rock piled up and blood dripping down front of the rock. This is the point where I thought I should really turn around. That if there is an animal up here it could attack and if it did I might lose my footing which would cause me to start a tumble that I wouldn't be able to stop or I would be attacked and eaten alive like Grizzly man. The choice was obvious, I went. But, I went around the rock pile of blood and went to the end of the crevice where there was a network of caves. I went close to the caves and looked in, but couldn't see an animal, so I went back down to the bloody rock where I discovered a pile of innards covered by 2 rocks. I pushed the rocks off with a stick and tried to figure out what it was. I then decided it was time to leave this killing field and went along the rock surface until I found a way up the mountain. I climbed up another crevice that brought me within 20 feet of the top. I looked at it and realized that I could get to the top, but would have a hard time getting down or would have to find another way down. So, I turned around and went back to town to get on the bus for the next trip. When I got back, I showed the tour guide the pictures, who then showed the owner of the hotel, who then asked if I could show him were it was at lunch. Then at lunch, two officials came up and asked me where it was, which is when I learned what they were. I showed him from the lunch spot as best I could. It turns out, that deer and wild goats will come down from the mountains at night to eat the crops in the gardens and drink form the town’s water. The kids will climb up and kill the animals, which is an 8,000 YTL fine. I never did find a wild animal like I had hoped, but I did find the remnants of a killer which I guess is just as exciting.

Malatya and Beyond

This past weekend I took a trip to eastern Anatolia. I traveled with 8 members of our school, and we flew from Istanbul to Malatya which took and hour and then took a 2 hour bus ride to a small town on the Euphrates. This town was centered in a sparsely populated valley that the Euphrates ran through. The town was an interesting mix of modern and ancient. The town slowly crept up the edges of the mountains that close in the river. The area once had a population in the tens of thousands, but in recent years it ahs shrunk to thousands. The people of the town and nearby villages have small businesses and keep themselves going by using local resources. There are gardens and fruit trees everywhere in the town. Grape vines grow throughout the town, even in the tiny square. There is also a relatively famous blacksmith there who specializes in door knockers. These door knockers are specially made, so the person knocking can use one knocker if they are a male and another if they are female. This is so the person in the house can answer according to their gender. I did not get one since the price was 110 YTL for a cheap one and since I do not have a door. In addition to the blacksmith they also have a mill that is run by water and grinds mulberries and local herbs. The miller then uses the ingredients to great deliciousness like Lök (A pasty candy like spread). People also use this term to describe a lazy slob referring to them as Lök, because the food sits to heavy in you stomach. On Saturday, we traveled along a dirt road that that was barely enough room to hold our van. Occasionally along the route, there were tunnels that we passed through. When the valley was more populated, they constructed this road and tunnel to try to open up trade north of the Euphrates. We went along this road and then into another valley a couple hours away to a large town. In the town we saw a famous mosque and castle. Up until the 19th century the village was within the castle walls. After we saw the mosque, we drove and then climbed up a hill to see the castle and a smaller but even older mosque. The next day we traveled around to other villages and then took a boat trip down the Euphrates. We were on the boats for about 5 hours and saw deer (That's what they called them, but they were tiny) and an Armenian church. Our driver got lost trying to find the landing where the bus was supposed to meet us. Usually this wouldn't be a problem on a river, but they put a dam up and this created a kind of lake, so we had to travel the coast until we saw the bus. We made it back to the airport with a cool 10 minutes to spare.