Journey to the Land of the Pharaohs

Posted on August 11, 2009
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Right now, we are in Tanzania, what seems to be worlds away from Egypt, even if it actually not so far geographically. I can already tell that the write-up for Egypt will not actually live up to the unique spectacle that is the ancient seat of civilization, bridging African and Middle Eastern culture.

Most people would spend their remaining week before moving from one country to another packing, organizing, and taking care of affairs. Well, we did that in about two days. For the rest, we looked at each other and said, “what the heck are we going to do around here?” Knowing that the answer was not much more than hiking in the Alps, we decided to get a bit more adventurous, and take a trip to one of the cradles of modern civilization: Egypt.

We flew into Cairo from Vienna (only a 3-hour flight). We had heard from plenty of people to watch out for the food in Egypt, as it was chronically bacteria-ridden. Not sure how seriously to take these warnings, we approached the country with a bit of caution, but the flight left from the Vienna airport, so really, there was not much to worry about with the on-board meal.

In-country, now that’s a bit different. Let’s just get this out of the way upfront. Charsey and I have traveled quite a bit. We have had lots of different cuisine, from the third-world to the first-world, and we are not too squeamish. However, after 2 doctor’s appointments and 2 prescriptions of titanic-strong antibiotic that would kill small mammals, we finally killed the persistent bacteria or whatever that we picked up from the restaurant food in Egypt. There were multiple rounds of getting better and worse, until we finally came back to Vienna, and subsequently to the U.S., with accompanying microbial travelers. I have no doubt that Egyptians live just fine on the food, but it didn’t work for us. Egypt was as dirty as it comes food wise. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

With that out of the way, Egypt was an incredibly fascinating place to visit. The sights include the Late-era pyramids at Giza, the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the early pyramid sights at Saqqara, and the Valley of the Kings, a train or plane ride up the Nile (south) in Luxor. The sights that Egypt has to offer are grand, and waning, all at the same time. The Great Pyramids at Giza, far from being in a desert oasis, give a backdrop into downtown Cairo. The Valley of the Kings lies just outside Luxor, a dingy dirty town whose best traits are the conservation areas protecting the tombs of the Kings and Queens.

The best traits of Egypt outweigh the most irritating, but I can’t say we would sign up to go back anytime soon. The pictures do much more justice to the country and its history, which is an entire conversation requiring much more time. We made the most of our time in Egypt to that respect, as we were hooked up with Ahmed Sadik, an Egyptologist bursting with energy, talent, a gift for languages, and ready to hit on the international scene as an expert. Ahmed was a fabulous guide and we learned enormous amounts about Egyptian history. For me, the visit sparked some very good questions about what Egypt can tell us in a time of climatic change. It’s one of the sights in the world that one should see in order to put history into context. Perhaps, however, one can see it once, and then read about it later. It’s better for your health…

Ciao, Wien!

Posted on August 11, 2009
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No, the blog is not quite dead yet…. Many of you already know this, as it is fairly old news, but news travels fast in the old west. As of June 2009, Charsey and I will be moving on from Vienna. No longer will there be a convenient basement apartment for visits to the artistic tourist Mecca. No longer will we have remote central European adventures at our doorstep, available via public transportation. No longer will there be a 5-mile hike followed by stumbling upon a wine festival. No, that is a shame.

We decided it was time to move on for a few reasons. For one, work was, ahem, not fulfilling (enough said). Additionally, Vienna, though having a lot going for it, it was not really our kind of city (more on that in a second). And, frankly, when a grand opportunity comes up, you have to take it. In that vein, when we were offered the chance to lead a study abroad program in Tanzania for 6 months, it seemed the perfect adventure before transitioning back to some schooling and further training in the U.S.

Vienna is quite a grand place, overly enamored in its magnificent past while not caring too much about adapting to the future. The attitude comes from its people, some of whom very respectfully will spend a weekend afternoon lounging around a Heuriger with their families without being too concerned that there may be more productive ways to spend their time. The country’s nonchalance towards work is laudable and wholly irritating at the same time. Plenty of foreigners who come to Vienna love the pace of life this lends. Many, like us, needed to move on to stave off complacency. That’s not to say it’s a bad city: it’s a great city. Just not wholly our type.

Plenty of things about Vienna in particular, and Austria in general, are right on the money. The access to public transport and walkable urban cores in Austria, stemming from urban development in a time before cars, is great. We all have stress, but not needing a car prevents a lot of stress. The populace’s love of the outdoors, highlighted by the prolific number of hiking trails that comb the country, is spectacular. Along with this comes the country’s realization of the need for reduced energy consumption and renewable sources, as well as its obsession with locally-grown produce.

We must say once a for all that it is NOT a viable strategy to have 3 supermarkets open for the entirety of the Vienna metropolitan area on Sundays. Period. Open up the d%#@ stores on Sunday.

In any case, Vienna is a changing city, as much as it tries not to be. Change is all around it: the opening of Eastern Europe, the continued burgeoning in world tourism, the “new” economy where developed countries must emphasize finance and innovation, and an integrated global economy. Vienna will continue to adapt to this world, probably kicking and screaming. That’s probably okay, since we always need curmudgeons. We met many great friends while in Vienna, many Viennese, and many not Viennese. We wish them all the best wherever their travels take them.

And with that, with a significant bout of excitement, we say Ciao, Vienna!

Food, Farms and Life in Romania

Posted on May 7, 2009
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The whole motivation for catching the blog up to speed was really to write the current entry regarding our recent May Day travels to Romania. The few consistent readers that Tales of Traverse maintains might remember last year’s post on what exactly is May Day and why it is a holiday. No need to re-hash that here. Instead, we’ll talk about this year’s weekend, which was much more exciting.

img_9244We had the great pleasure to travel down to Romania with one of our friends, Diana, who happens to be a Romanian-Canadian living currently in Vienna. Diana also, quite impressively, happens to speak four languages, and was able to do on-the-fly translations for us of the quick banter, which certainly contributed to the delightful experience. Thanks chica!

We traveled on Thursday night down to the western corner of Romania, a short distance from the Serbian border, to a small farming village called Teremia Mare, and the nearby lovely city of Timisoara. It was somewhat akin to other Eastern European or Russian villages I have visited, so I was really taken aback when, during our run through the countryside, Diana said that the village was actually a former village of German-speaking settlers. Huh?

img_9185I had to research this one. Romania has a lot of history. It’s major towns are ancient hubs of commerce and civilization, dating back to the first millennium. The Romans colonized these areas for their rich agricultural production and warmer climates. Romania was rather prosperous up through the medieval Turkish invasions, where the invading Turkish armies swept through the midlands and Balkans en route to capture Europe. The Viennese always celebrate the conclusion of this period since the advance Turkish armies was stopped twice at the gates of Vienna, the last time in 1683. After this, the Ottomans retreated, leaving a vacuum of power and potential territories in the wake. That is where the German settlers come in.

As the Ottomans retreated, the Germans, motivated by both southern German lords and Austrian Hapsburgs, advanced. Several waves of German-speaking immigrants, commonly referred to as the Schwaben, swarmed down to Romania during the Eighteenth century in order to fill in the “empty space.” Maria Teresa, the famed Austrian Empress, was at the heart of several of these waves of immigration, traveling herself to the lands to promote the settlements. The settlers endured for over a hundred years, only being kicked out with the advent of Romanian Communist rule after1944. Who knew?

img_9263With that as the background, we heard no German while there, except for the Romanian residents who knew German for one reason or another. The village was purely farming, suffering from the same depressed fate as many communities around the world who try to farm in a globalized economy. That did not inhibit their spirit, however, for they were some of the happiest, most energetic, boisterous, and compelling people you could meet. We had the pleasure of spending most of the time with Diana’s family, who run a number of farm plots throughout the surrounding area. Being keepers of the land, only recently “inducted” into the globalized agriculture economy, they were all about knowing what they ate. And wow, was it good. Fresh pork, lamb, potatoes, vegetables, you name it. Saturday afternoon found us benefiting from a huge barbecue with four different types of home-grown meat. Absolutely spectacular. Charsey and I ate without inhibition, as the food was excellent.

img_9155On Friday, we also visited the pleasant city of Timisoara. One of the largest cities in Romania, but still relatively clean, Timisoara has a long and storied history of culture, dating back to the middle ages. It was the first European city to install electric lighting in the city center, and still serves as a hub for numerous cultures. Timisoara, though it could in the future be overrun as a destination such as Budapest or Prague, was still genuine. Walking the streets, you did not run into many tourists, and the city amenities for non-locals were minimal. It seemed a destination where Romanians could live the good life. Especially those Romanians escaping the economically-depressed villages.

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Why so Busy?

Posted on May 6, 2009
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As I mentioned before, the multitudes of work, and as such lack of blog entries, is truly justified. Since January, Charsey and I have been up-against-the-wall busy, and I am only now getting around to writing about it. In that time, I’ve been busy working on a web page for my grandfather (who is an author) as well as a whole bunch of other research initiatives. More importantly, however, we’ve got another adventure coming up…

As of June, it will will say ciao to Vienna, ciao to the job, and ciao to Europe (for now, anyway). We were not back in the U.S. in April for any fluffy sort of vacationing reason. We have been working our tails off preparing an entire curriculum for out students. Students? What students?

Come the end of June, we will be heading to Tanzania for 6 months, where Charsey and I will be leading a program for her Alma mater. We will be bringing a dozen or so undergraduates to the country, traveling around to study animals, cities, public health, culture, and any other number of topics. So, come June, if you are looking to catch up with us in Vienna, you will be out of luck. If you think of tracking us own in Tanzania, that might be challenging too, as we’ll be moving around a lot. Hopefully, though, some blog updates will be possible along the way, and I’m working on procuring Blackberry access here and there, so it won’t be as if we are in some faraway continent such as Antarctica…

In any case, in our last month in Austria, we’re packing in more European adventures, which will be updated here and there.

It’s Back

Posted on May 6, 2009
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img_8945Since the blog was recently declared dead, I am out to prove that, yes, indeed, blog entries still occur. The infrequent nature of them has real reasons, I promise- mostly that I have been ridiculously busy. More on that later, however…

For now, some interesting observations, as well as some well-earned congratulations. Back in April, Charsey and I were back in the U.S., visiting Ohio, Indiana, and Washington, D.C. Again, more on that later. For now, you can check out the view from Magoo’s new apartment (picture above), as well as a few observations of the U.S., after living overseas for almost two years:

- Compared to what we are used to in Austria, Americans are incredibly nice and helpful. Thank goodness, for I was beginning to lose hope. Seriously…

- What is happening to American English? Where did all of the “likes” come from. I had realized that you could identify an American from 10 meters when you heard them speaking loudly and using the filler-word, but it is inconceivable how much this word is stated in common speech. I use it some, but having hung out with college students, we are at a crisis of epidemic proportions. The CDC needs to drop all of this swine flu business and deal with this first. Who cares if we are sick- for when we sound so silly, we are better off indolent. The WHO, however, should keep on the swine flu problem, since, being married to a PhD infectious disease expert, we’ve got a real situation on our hands. But I digress…

- The parking lots for shopping centers are bigger than our Vienna city block. Driving along strip mall central in Ohio, I couldn’t believe how many cars would sit in endless traffic, when directly beside the two filled-up lanes, there were acres of open space filled by nothing but the white lines on the asphalt, broken up by the occasional lone-standing Burger King. Really, I know that people really don’t want to pay for roads, but we do understand that we pay for the unused parking lots too, right? Perhaps a bit of redistribution is in order

- Where do the restaurants get off charging that much for garbage wine? At least in Austria, they usually charge less for garbage wine than for O.K. beer.

- And finally, it was nice to be back in the home for a bit. I have not been away long enough to begin criticizing everything, thank goodness. Having lived elsewhere has actually increased my appreciation for what the U.S. offers: openness, innovation, mobility, freedom… and did I mention nice people!

img_89951So then, we returned to Austria, to be joined by Charsey’s long-time friend Jeremy. They ran the marathon. The whole one. All 42.2 kilometers. I ran the half. You might remember my post from last year regarding the marathon. It was a mess. This year was better on account of better starting positions. The weather, although again beautiful, was the hottest day we’ve had so far. That’s great for beach volleyball, but it does not create good race conditions. I was lucky, for the heat started as I was coming in to the finish line.  At that point, unfortunately, Jeremy and Charsey still had another 21.1 km to go. They both finished in good time, however, so they deserve some significant congratulations! Much celebrating, partying, and eating of (for Jeremy, vegetarian food) was had.

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