Thursday, January 21, 2010

New Year's Resolutions.



Stay the fuck away from the internet. Read books. Study the crap out of Arabic (everyone in the Middle East can understand Egyptian Arabic) Learn to play the guitar again. Learn all the Ray Lamontagne, Bon Iver, and Leonard Cohen you need to sing your heart out. Cross-continental african road trip. Cross-country American bike trip. Get yer wilderness first response training - get over your fear of the river. Get comfortable living alone (work your ass off). Cook. Don't spend money on things - make things. Write snail mails. Keep books.

Friday, January 15, 2010

The world works in mysterious ways.



As Owen says, "when it rains it pours." Damn straight. This week has been a showering of unexpected, impossible events. Let me make a list.

1. Our photos of Cairo appear in this months edition of CNN Traveller Magazine.
2. I met an amazing Austrian traveler who has been traveling through Africa for 5 years and we got to kick it and exchange music collections. I think he is my new hero.
3. My Egyptian/American friend Mona was busting ass to get into the Gaza Freedom March but like everyone else, couldn't hack it, so ended up coming for a splendid weekend Luxor visit.
4. My friend Mark also just so happens to be in Luxor visiting.
5. I somehow ended up in a National Geographic television show about the ancient Syrian city of Cutna which they filmed here in Luxor on the 13th and the 14th.
6. The German film crew working on the show were positively hilarious and we had ourselves a glorious time singing karaoke and dancing till 2 in the morning at Genesis. Twas one of those days that goes down in the book as almost unreal.


Details to follow.

Friday, January 01, 2010

i still exist











its day one. January first 2010. a new decade. probably the finest to come. this is the decade where i fall in love, where i finally pick a career, where i settle down (?), have kids, where i get around to all those important things. probably.

(NOTES FROM YESTERdAY, 12;31,09 1st day back in Egypt after vacation in Uganda)

being back in Cairo is depressing. would much rather be anywhere else - America, St. Pete's, Kampala. ANywhere. Things with Owen are completely stagnant. feel suffocated. we spend the day walking in silence. ready for different company. ready for a change of scene. uganda was so green & fertile. a paradise. And the white water rafting was unlike anything I've ever experienced. Truly unbelievable. Leaving the Kampala airport I felt like Africa has so much more to offer - that I really need to find a way to get back there.

(Today, 1/1/10)

triumvirate of Denis, Jesse, and the New Zealander boatman from the Uganda white water trip - Kamo - in my dreams - i'm getting back to the people I miss & love. This memory of Kato instills the same feelings all over that I had leaving the Grand Canyon - wanting to throw myself in my boatman's lap & declare my love, to live on his boat forever. Back then is was nearly pre-pubescent. Now i'm technically an adult, rounding 27 years & I'm filled with the same emotion after just one day on the water. Fast-talking, quick witt, non P-C, hilarious, rugged, fuck-it attitude - it gets me everytime. hard to find time to write or be alone even for a moment. owen showers & I scribble this down.

"Concentrate upon Uganda" was the quote from Winston Churchill painted on the bathroom wall at Adrift. The source of the Nile is indeed a big prize. Pretty sure I'm not man enough to work white water in AFrica. At least I'd have to build up my balls somewhere else - perhaps in the Canyon. The idea of photojournalism as a career is still foggy - still haven't arrived at it & can't evaluate if it's what I want. Of course, I would love to drag J. to the canyon or Africa but these are petty dreams.

Things to do when I get back: write Kyle about this summer. Research other long rafting trips:Nepal? Tibet? New Zealand? Write back to Jimmy about rafting in Uganda/Africa. Write to J's friend who rafted n the US. Research UGandan music. Stop wasting money on expensive gifts/records. Summer plans - summer plans are what I don't have - if I could get in the Canyon for 2 weeks that would be ideal. Otherwise I should look for some stories - head down to New Orleans - meet up with Serene. Call & contact everyone I've got up my sleeve. Can work on adding archeology & wedding section to my website. Do some things on my own - get back to being self-sufficient. Maybe rent a room somewhere - in San Fran, Nola, or elsewhere.

when i get back to luxor later today I will try to write more about the nile white water. gotta jump a plane in a couple hours. miss you all terrible.

ps - those pictures at the top, not mine. but the same company/boatman that i went down the nile with. ADRIFT. check them out: http://adrift.ug/