http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/gasiorr/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from gasiorr en-us Wed, 06 Jan 2010 02:04:38 +0000 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 02:04:38 +0000 Waking up early seemed like a reoccurring theme during our journey through Italy today was no exception we were up early and packed heading to the Naples train station. Even though it was the early morning the humidity was probably 100 but Grace and I have adjusted to read learned to deal with the weather in the South. We were headed further south catching a five hourlong train to Bari http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Basilicata/Matera/blog-435246.html The alarm went off at 600am. I resisted the urge to snooze for an extra eight minutes of sleep. Why am I getting up so early I asked myself The only window in our room at the hostel showed that it was still dark outside. The other five roommates were still asleep. Slowly but surely I climbed out of my upper bunk bed and woke Grace to get ready for the day. We tiptoed around the room hoping n http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Campania/Capri/blog-434997.html Mt. Vesuvius towers over the skyscrapers of Naples and is the only active volcano in mainland Europe. If it were to erupt many lives would be lost along with their homes. The Italian government has tried to persuade residence to move away from the vicinity of the volcano with a relocation incentive of 30000 Euros but these incentives have not been successful. An eruption would be catastrophic f http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Campania/Pompei/blog-423883.html A week and a half after my trip to Lebanon I was in the air again but this time to Europe I haven't been to Europe since my last visit to Poland in the summer of 1999 so I was very excited for this trip. Italy has held the number one place on my list to visit along with Egypt but obviously that has be satisfied and I was still trying to comprehend that I was actually going. I was meeting my http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Campania/Naples/blog-420764.html I have been patiently waiting to find the right time to travel to this remote oasis located in the Western Desert of the Sahara only 40 km away from Libya. When I found out in May that my friend from high school Mushi was planning to visit me in Egypt I knew right away that we needed to make the journey to Siwa. After running late and being stuck in horrendous Cairo traffic on the way to the b http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/Siwa-Oasis/blog-406075.html Beirut the Paris of the Middle East as it has been previously called seems to be reclaiming the title. The New York Times has ranked it 1 on its list of 44 places to visit in 2009 .What is it that makes this a mustsee placePeople walk around the streets with a bandage on their nose and bruised eyes as if it were trendy. Move over L.A. Beirut is the new Silicon Valley of the World. You need http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Beirut/blog-414427.html About 40 km north of Beirut you will find Byblos or Jbeil the oldest inhabited city in the world. Historians estimate that the first settlers date back to 6000 B.C. After investigating my transportation options I decided to head to Jbeil by public bus. The journey takes about an hour but depends on traffic and on the way there only cost me 2 or 3000 Lebanese Lyra my taxi ride to the bus sta http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/blog-423692.html Boarding the plane to Beirut already gave me a glimpse of what the city would be like fashionable people young Lebanese children speaking in English or French instead of Arabic. Women were dressed in sleeveless tops and skirts above the knee attire that would be frowned upon in Cairo andor would attract some unwanted attention. The fight to Beirut is short only taking one hour. The city lo http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Beirut/blog-410243.html Just a couple weeks late in posting this...News cameras and journalists flooded the hostel to interview the residents trapped inside the morning the quarantine was finished. They were definitely trying to find a story that would set them apart from the rest of the news agencies. I overheard reports asking students Were you scared or Were the living conditions horrible etc. The students hones http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/Cairo/blog-409029.html Cairo is one of the megacities of the world. Not only does it have 20 million inhabitants it is also one of most densely populated cities in the world around 10000 people per square kilometer. Since my friend was visiting Cairo we decided to check out the Cairo Tower which provides great views into every direction of Cairo. With an entrance fee of 65 LE for foreigners it was expensive for me http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/Cairo/blog-409528.html About two months ago I made a site visit to the Zaballeen Community. Zaballeen means garbage collectorspeople in Arabic. I went along with two AUC students who are a part of the program that I manage. The students in the program must partner with an NGOCBO to work and develop a student led project within the community. The community lies just outside the city limits of Cairo and has very few v http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/Cairo/blog-393569.html Since a lot of my friends in Cairo wanted a taste of Poland I decided to take on the task of cooking Polish food I thought it would be best if I had a Polish Party which would include food drinks and music. When I told my mom that I was throwing a polish party she asked in a surprised tone Who is cooking the food Growing up I would always see my grandma spending hours in the kitchen co http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/blog-404346.html Day 1At 600pm Monday night all the residents at the Zamalek Hostel were supposed to find out the results of the swine flu tests. But unfortunately those the results were delayed until 800pm and then 1000pm and then by tomorrow morning. That evening the Associated Press AP released an article stating that we would be under quarantine for seven days The residents of the dorms were never http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/Cairo/blog-407158.html Several of my friends and I took a couple days off work to head to Basata located in the Sinai Penninsula. The 67 hours it takes to get there is definetly worth it. Life in Basata is simple. As one person I met in Basata said here you feel every minute as it supposed to felt. Unlike Cairo or any other large city where time flies by and you don't ever stop to reflect. You sleep in huts with n http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Sinai/blog-401610.html Day 5The next morning my family and I had an early flight to Luxor. Upon arrival at 630am I arranged for a private tour of Karnak and Luxor temples with a tour guide recommended by other interns. My favorite part of Upper Egypt was Karnak Temple a lot of credit could be given to our tour guide Hasan. Hasan did a great job of explaining the general structure that is used to build all the temple http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Luxor/blog-404383.html As I was getting ready for work this morning I was informed by one of the other interns that the entire AUC hostel building is under a 24 hour quarantine. This lockdown was imposed by the Egyptian Ministry of Health because of two confirmed H1N1 virus cases found in American study abroad students who arrived in Cairo last week and residing in the university hostel. Reuters and Al Arabiya News http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/Cairo/blog-406488.html After having both of their flights cancelled in December my family successfully arrived in Cairo at around 300am in April. Although Cairo is The city that never sleeps at 300am there are very few souls awake. A couple days before my family arrived my coworker laughed when I read off my familyrsquos itinerary to him. In only 8 days my family and I managed to cover the major things in Egyp http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/blog-392509.html This blog has been LONG overdue but there is definitely a lot to say about the Journey to Jordan. Lauren Corey Muriel Joslyn and I traveled as a group throughout the entire country of Jordan. We pretty much saw everything you could in 8 days including travel. To begin our journey we boarded a 10pm Delta bus from Cairo to Nuweiba 67 hour ride. It was my first time riding the bus in Egypt. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/blog-365988.html The journey began at 600am from Cairo. Lauren my friend and fellow intern and I traveled south of Cairo to the Western desert's Bahariya Oasis to experience one of Egypt's natural wonders. We arrived at the oasis over an hour ahead of schedule the drive from Cairo only took 4.5 hours mostly of which we both slept through. From the town of Bawiti in the oasis we jumped into a jeep with our B http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/Baharia/blog-383688.html I have to apologize because there has been little time for me to sit down and write.It has been about 7 months since I first arrived in Cairo. Although there have been some times that I missed home family and friends as well as other aspects of the western world I haven't had a bad case of homesickness. I like to think of myself as a low maintenance person and therefore the many comforts t http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/blog-378425.html