restless

to follow up on my last blog entry, stomach pains were mental. i think it was a combination of heat, exhaustion, dehydration, and just psyching myself out abt eating fish.

i didn't get to blog about the library of ALexandria. Main stacks library? pshhh has nothing on this place. I don't remember exactly all the details and cool features, but you can check out www.bibalex.org. The architecture of the library is so unique and beautiful. Over 1,400 designers from around the world competed for the design, with a norweigen designer coming out on top. THe roof to the library is designed like the human eye. Eyelids on the inside and lashes on the outside. This drives the rain away from the roof and prevents direct sun rays from entering the library. I love technology that is designed to mimic nature.

Yesterday we switched hotels to the Indiana. It has the illusion of being nicer, but nothing seems to function (well their internet center is pretty good). Our toilet broke on us several times and the shower doesn't get hot. It just drips water from the showerhead. We decided to handwash our dirty clothes and hang them up to dry in our hotel! Getting a head start on all the handwashing we'll be doing in Tanzania.

I had the best falafel of my life yesterday (and trust, i've had plenty!). It cost only one egyptian pound, which equates to like.. 20 cents. It was the perfect size, perfect crispiness, saltiness, and the greens that went in were so fresh and tasty. There was arugula in the greens! I love arugula and it topped off the falafel perfectly. Instead of hummus there was this creamy, cheese sauce? I think it was cheese.. not too overpowering and balanced the falafel. Super good and i will be getting more before i leave!

We went on a cruise on the Nile for dinner last night. Dinner was eh, and we were crammed in a room with hella tourists and romantic setting. AWKWARD. After dinner, we went to the top deck and just enjoyed the warm wind blowing through our hair and scenic view of all the buildings lit up along the shore of the Nile. I felt so calm while we were up there and reassured that everything's ok. It's crazy to think that thousands of years ago these banks were not populated by buildings, but by nature and plants. How crucial the Nile was to people's survival. At the Alexandria, they had a Nilometer to gauge if the Nile would flood or dry out. AND (Not sure if i mentioned this already, but too lazy to read through my posts) All the pyramids are on the west side of the Nile because there's less water there to support life. No cities (except for Memphis) exist on the west side of the Nile because it symbolizes death. I am constantly fascinated by all the culture and history here. Always learning.

We are off to Tanzania tonight! (3:30am our time). I can't explain my excitement. I'm actually more excited now than I was when I left on 6/14. I'm growing tired of Egypt. of the heat, of the dependency on others, of being treated as a tourist, of not being able to trust anyone. I'm ready for Tanzania. I feel like I'll be welcomed with open arms there. (hope so anyway). All the months of preparing, I'm finally ready. And i'm also hella excited to dance!!!!

Speaking of dance, shouts to MS! GOOD LUCK w/ summer stacks auditions and Pride! Seriously, Huan and I are MISSING YOU here! My postcard yesterday from the fam was a picture of us at UB last year. Our team was so small, but strong. Really miss you guys.

Until next time (don't know when that'll be),
<3Vivo

Alexandria

before i dive into details on today's journeys.. i must comment on our dinner last night. after a long day of walking around Cairo, Huan and I were exhausted! We went out into town to find something to eat and came across a crackin' bakery! (not as busy as 85...obviously) but supposedly it's the most famous bakery in Egypt. We just happened to stumble across it. We bought whatever looked most exotic to us. This sweet dish that looked like fried vermecelli noodles (but later found out it was flour dough made into thin noodles) with a layer of whipped cream inside and pistacios on top. Hella sweet but hella good! It was fun trying to eat it.

we made it to breakfast this morning! loaded with carbs & dairy... i need to get my protein in somehow here. off to Alexandria, which is a 3.5 hr car ride. When we drive.. i SEE the lanes, but none of the drivers seem to believe they exist. no one drives in lanes. cray crayy. Today we learned about the Greek-Roman Egyptian history, which was a nice continuation from the ancient Egyptian history we learned yesterday. Went to a Roman tomb, which was really different from Egyptian tombs. The romans didn't believe in an afterlife, so all the bodies were burnt. At least it's sterile! woot. Then to the Alexandria where the art was a beautiful blend between Greek, Roman, and Egyptian myths. There are sculptures of egyptian gods with a roman body or a roman soldier standing w/ his left foot forward (in Egyptian mythology, the left foot is closer to your heart, or it's stronger, so it's a sign of power to stand w/ your left foot forward).

We chilled along the shores of the Mediterranean sea today. So beautiful. the water was really clear, but littered with trash.. kinda disappointing. it was nice and breezy and peaceful. we ate lunch @ alexandria..they're famous for their seafood so i figured, i HAVE to eat fish here. right?I figured I can't go wrong w/ anything fried.. SUPER DELICIOUS. uhm, why did i stop eating seafood? Idk, but my stomach is kinda killing me right now.. so i might have to cut this blog short .

It was our last day with our tour guide, Fatma. This tour was seriously amazing and so much fun. I wish her the best of luck with her wedding in April.

Mom if you're reading this, you'd be so happy to see all the skirts I'm wearing. (I still hate skirts though).

It is exciting to be traveling anywhere right now. The world cup enthusiasm can be felt anywhere I go and it brings so many people together.

Lots of love,
Vivo

P.S. my ass is kinda sore from the camel ride yesterday...weak sauce
AND.. to all those who participated in my one-a-day 80 letters, thank you so much. i'm having so much fun w/ them and taking you guys with me on this journey. <3

people are afraid of time, but time is afraid of the pyramids

hello from egypt :)

Huan and I had a long journey before we finally arrived in Cairo this morning at 3:30am. First we flew 10 hours to Amsterdam. Then had a 9 hour layover in Amsterdam. The customs were very friendly, helpful, and let us leave the airport to rendevous around town. We took a taxi into the city, which cost us a FORTUNE (over half the euros we had). The city was beautiful, just as I had remembered it. This time with a hint of orange everywhere you go in full spirit of the World cup. Soccer balls and orange flags all around the city. The weather was nice, a little on the chilly side, or rather.. I just wasn't used to the cold wind on my head. I was so cold throughout my whole commute! After hitting up a few stores and coffee shops, we split some fries. Eating their fries was one of 2 things on my agenda to do in Amsterdam. Soooo delicious, but we asked for mayo and he slathered the thing with mayo. As if it weren't fatty enough? and i hate mayo. gross. After hours of people watching and almost falling asleep everywhere we went, we decided to catch the train and wait at the airport instead. Train cost us like a DOLLAR (freaking taxi cab ruined us). I hella knocked out the whole time waiting at the terminal. Luckily for HUANITO we didn't miss our flight.

So another 5-6 hour flight to Cairo. The moment we walked out of the plane I could feel we were in Egypt. The warm desert air welcomed us into the land of kings, pharrohs, goddesses and gods..but also so so much more to this country. We were driving around at 3:30am and people were still up and about. As our tour representative says, "Cairo is the crazy city." As intimidating as it is, being completely immersed in another's culture is refreshing. I couldn't even try to speak arabic if I tried and nothing is in English around here. I love it. The people hookahing, children running on the streets, people selling fruits on the trucks. Even the guards.. I love them too. makes me feel safe.

We had to meet our tour guide at 9:00am today, but slept through all our alarms. We are so fortunate in that we are the only 2 people on the tour, so our guide waited around for us. Fatima is super sweet and so beautiful. She took us to the Egyptian museum where we learned about all the history, myths, and culture. Now I know what the different hats mean on the kings and what a raven symbolizes. Did you know, that the men were depicted darker because they are out working in the sun? Women are depicted with fair skin because they were supposed to stay in the homes. So much history to take in. Huan and I were super exhausted in the museum. Hadn't eaten for over 12 hours and running on maybe 3 hours of sleep in 1.5days. Random memory..the toilet exploded at me in the museum. Rather, it like sky rocketed water and I couldn't get it to stop. I had to just take a chance and jump through the water. Felt so bad but I couldn't stop it!!

After the museum, we hit up a papyrus store and they showed us how to make real papyrus. Bought a couple of paintings and finally headed off to eat lunch! I didn't realize I was hungry but once I ate, I was apparently famished. Egyptian food is really tasty and vegetarian friendly. Woot!!

Off to the pyramids :) We saw the pyramids of Giza and rode camels around to the Sphynx. Camels were rough, but fun to ride. The cutest kid was pulling my camel, and I felt bad he had to walk that distance in the heat. We got some sweet pictures at the pyramids. Truly amazing to see the pyramids last through all the years. Imagine if your backyard was the pyramids?

Then we went to a perfume store... and boy did we have a hard time getting out of there without buying anything. We ended up just tipping the guy and bouncing, because we had no use for 4 bottles of perfume. After the perfume shop, we finally got back to the hotel and I took the first shower in about 2 days. I feel sooooo goooooooooooood. Not sure how I'll last in Tanzania without showering everyday, but I'll have to make it work.

Visit Huan's blog for pictures (he is taking pics for the both of us). I can't reiterate enough.. thank Allah for huan.

http://huaninafrica.blogspot.com/
2 days down..78 more to go.
miss and love you all <3

hello goodbye

goodbye
to the additional 5 degrees of warmth my hair provided me
to the cars, the fine dining, and the well-dressed people of suburban southern california
to the coffee, the 100 varieties of bread, and the fast-p a c e d environment of an 85 employee
to the home-cooked meals, the shared beds, and the comfort of home
to the amazing company and the fulfillment and wholesomeness of family
to society as i know it

hello
wind on my bare neck
berkeley air and drinkable tap water
functionally dysfunctional lifestyle
to My life.. but only for a brief moment



shout out to T-pan <3
stay tuned for round 2 of the hair cutting series

unbelievable

all of this is. what's real? my life today, my life tomorrow, my life in 2 weeks.

maybe all of it is.. or n o n e of it is.
this moment matters.

believe in me, because i don't believe in anything