Merry Christmas

Ideas for Christmas Gifts

I know it’s doubtful that I’ll get any of these things, but here is a wishlist of cool gifts and items that I would be happy to find under the tree this year.

This post may get updated a few times in the next couple of weeks, so keep checking in if you care to. 

A New Suit

Yes, I’m such a complete dork that I want to look like my favorite TV Character.  David Tennant looks so good in his suits as the Tenth Doctor, and I think I could pull that look off.  Magnoli Clothiers offers a high quality, tailored replica of the Tennant Suit in the original colors for $575.  I prefer the dark brown with blue stripes (pictured on their site and in the pic below), but would also like the electric blue with red stripes, which is pictured second below, but is not displayed on the Magnoli site.  I’m a 42 R with a 35 inch waist and a 33 inch inseam, though I’d prefer a enough room to get it tailored locally.

Dr. Who Suit bu Magnoli Clothiers: $575

Looking Good in Brown

Bogart Dinner Jacket

Who can say no to looking like rick?  I already have all the other Tux stuff – pants, shirt, tie, etc.  I have a black jacket.  Now I need a white one.  Magnoli Clothiers also makes this jacket for $299.

Bogart Dinner Jacket: $299

Bogie

A Better Sleeping Bag

The Therm-A-Rest Sleeping System is a combined blanket, fitted sheet,  sleeping pad, and compressible pillow that works together to be more comfortable than a standard sleeping pad.  If I ever get traveling again, this would be a great, warm, comfortable, and lightweight way for me to keep my bedding with me on the go.  The whole system costs under $200.  Remember, you need to order each of the following for it to all go together, all from Therm-a-Rest and listed at the link below: Tech Blankey, Fitted Sheet, LuxuryCamp Mattress, and Compressible Pillow.   See the blog post about it below for details.

Them-a-Rest Sleeping System: $199

Good Zs

A Better Light Cold Weather Jacket

Padagonia has a great jacket for cold weather that’s ultra-light and can compress into its own pocket!  It’s warm and weather resistant.  Since it’s so light and compact, it’ll be the perfect travel jacket.

Patagonia Nano Puff Pullover Jacket: $150

A New Knife

I lost my Gerber Multi-Tool a few months ago.  Please replace it.

Gerber Evo™ Tool + Gerber Evo™ Jr. Serrated Combo Special: $58.40

I Keep the Multi-Tool in MY Car for Emergencies

A Small Trebuchet

Thinkgeek, one of my favorite gift sites, has wooden trebuchets that fit on your desk!  Only $35!

Desktop Trebuchet: $35

Lay Siege!

Onion Goggles

Because I hate cutting onions!  These will keep me happy and tear free when I make you a gumbo in thanks!

Onion Goggles: $25

No More Tears!

Stainless Steel Carabiner Mug

You guys know I love to travel, and that I like to be green and not use styrofoam.  This mug is great for both!

Stainless Steel Carabiner Mug: $11:99

Good to Go

Messenger Bag

I love to bicycle, and messenger bags were originally designed with the cyclist (bike messengers, hence messenger bags!).  This one is ueber.

The Bag of Holding Messenger Bag: $42.99

Hold My Stuff

Gorillapod

When I travel, I’m going to want to take a lot of pictures with me in them.  You can’t always have a friend to take your picture with you, and you can’t always depend on strangers to do it either.  The Gorilla pod is a tripod that can be used just about anywhere, anytime, on anything.

Gorillapod: $21.99

Smile!

TARDIS USB Hub

I’m always wishing I had one more plug, or that my plugs were easier to get to.  This TARDIS USB Hub solves that AND is the coolest Doctor Who gadget out there!

TARDIS USB Hub: $29.99

Vrooop... Vrooop... Vroooooooop... Shunk!

Sonic Screwdriver

Just for fun.  I’ll want it even more if I get the suit up top!

Sonic Screwdriver: $19.99

A Bit of Jiggery-Pokery!

The Streets of Belgrade

After Sarajevo Carey and I flew to Belgrade, the capital of Serbia and formerly of Yugoslavia, the Land of the South Slavs.  We spent a day and a night there, before quickly moving on to London.  If Cairo was the most miserable (I was sick and it was polluted) but spectacular (the Pyramids ARE spectacles) Belgrade was probably the most laid back (almost boring) but uneasy.  I say unease because it’s hard to go to Belgrade after spending over a week in Bosnia and forget that thousands of Serbian nationalists gathered to mourn Milosevic when he died while on trial at the Hague for his war crimes during the Yugoslav wars.  Walking the streets you could help but wonder if the people walking alongside you supported or even participated in the ethnic cleansing.  Sure, the regular Serb Army didn’t do much per se, but their tacit and direct support of the ethnic Serb militias and partisans in the various conflicts throughout the wars make them just as guilty in my mind.  Now, I’m a little sketchy on a lot of the factual history and timeline, and I’m not an expert on the conflict.  I know there’s a lot of guilt to be thrown around in every direction, but there is such a thing as evil in this world, and it was alive and well in greater Serbia in the early 90’s, and in 2006, while I wasn’t but a few hundred miles away, it reared its head right in Belgrade, on the same streets I was walking a little over a year later.  Now don’t get me wrong.  I don’t think all Serbs are guilty of the crimes committed by their people, nor do I think everyone of them supported those crimes, or even the motives behind them.  But the point it I felt like the Doctors Jones in Last Crusade – a pilgrim in an unholy land.

Relaxing in a square with a cup of hot coffee after landing.

Anyway, so in Belgrade we didn’t do much.  Basically we walked around, saw some sites, and went to the zoo.  Here are the pictures.

The lovely view outside our hostel

The Marshall's yummies.

St. Michael's in Belgrade, with a Michael in the front (me!). There was some famous cafe next to it where we ate.

Kalemegdan Fortress and Park

Carey at the park, overlooking the Danube

Either Serb weaponry on display or captured spoils of war, one of the two

Fun at the zoo. There was nothing but a small guard wall to prevent one from falling into the tiger pit with the tigers.

I think this Llama was coming on to me.

He was making a lot of noise.

In case you didn't know which room this was, here it is in 25 languages.

After Belgrade we went to London for a single night, which basically consisted solely of getting dinner with Charlotte, Ian, and their friends.  Still, it was worth it to see them!

Looking thin at the Belgrade airport.

Yay, Charlie!

I think they're talking about me.

Well, now I KNOW they are.

Next stop, Paris!

Ben's Blow

The last three days in Sarajevo were less focused on exploring the city and doing fun stuff and more focused on just relaxing and enjoying ourselves.  A lot of my time was spent chasing a position at the OSCE.  It didn’t work out, obviously, but it was the first spark of interest in working in Sarajevo.  Anyway, the first night back from Mostar we went out to the Sarajevo Brewery, where Carey couldn’t hold on to his beer, apparently.

Ivana Got a "Wee" Beer

Then Carey Dumped His on the Table

The next night we celebrated Ben’s Birthday by making food at the house while he was at work and inviting over a bunch of his and Ivana’s friends.

Dutiful Wife and Buddy Working Away in the Kitchen

Ivana Lighting the Birthday Log

Ivana and Friends Enjoy the Party

Jack's Boots, You Wouldn't Understand

On our last day, we pretty much just chilled and wandered around.

My Favorite Sarajevo Picture - Calling out the Prayer without Amplification

I Want to Be This Guy When I'm Old

WWII Fortress on the Hillside - Used During the Seige by the Serbs

Gun Turret - "Pew Pew Pew!!!"

Marshal Tito

Another View of the Famous Holiday Inn

On day 5 in Sarajevo Carey and I spent most of the day walking around and hiking (read: getting lost in random neighborhoods).  The above shot is one of my favorites from the trip.  I’ll just post the pictures without much narrative.  Not much had gone on that day.  The most interesting part of the hike was the cemetary we went through, complete with the guarded grave of the first president of an independent Bosnia and Herzegovina, Alija Izetbegović.  A lot of the graves were from the war.  Just thousands of them all with the same years on them during the siege (mostly 92).  Here are pics from that hike.

Another View of the City, This Time with Carey

A View of the Old Library Where We Saw the Concert

Another City View, Not How the Cemetaries Are Built Right In

Carey Walking Along a Fortified Hill's Wall

A Good View of the Manor That's Bombed in the City Center

Walking Along the City's Edge at the Site of an Old Fortress

Looking out from the City

On day six Carey and I followed the recommendation of our hosts, Ben and Ivana, to visit a town called Mostar.  Mostar is so named because of the famous bridge there (most, pronounced like moss with a “T” sound, is the Slavic for “bridge”).   It was a site of some of the fiercest fighting during the war, as you’ll see from some of the scarring.  The damage sadly included the destruction of the original bridge, but it has since been rebuilt.  Despite the damage, it’s still a beautiful city, though you can still sense some ill-ease in the air.  One obvious symptom was the gigantic church steeple, erected specifically to be taller than any of the local mosques’ minarets.  Still, it was a nice experience if a little touristy.  I think the most memorable thing for me was the strikingly emerald water in the river.

Misty Mountains and Winding Roads

More Mist on Mountains, This Time with Water and an Old Bridge

Mountains and Sky

Signs of Battle in Mostar

The other side of the street; the tourist town we were visiting was the scene of one of the war's front lines.

The Base of the Church with the Bell Tower

The Tall Tower

Still a Lot of Rebuilding to Do

They Are Making Progress, Though

Approaching the Bridge at the City Center

Looking back on our Way to the Bridge

A Look at the Tower, with Another Sign of Who is Boss Over the Town

Not Sure if This Was Supporting a Football Club or a Partisan Group or What

Wandering around the Back Alleys

More Wanderings

The Not Famous Bridge in Mostar

The Beautifully Emerald Water

The Bridge for Which the Town Was Named

Carey's Journal

Days three and four seemed to have been pretty laid back.  I was still feeling ill form Cairo at that point, but it was still a lot of fun just chilling out with two of my best friends from Peace Corps.  The big news at this point was that I had decided to interview for a job with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).  I think it would have been fun, and I thought the interview went well, but, unfortunately, the lady I interviewed with ended up going on vacation right after and then quitting to boot.  I imagine I got lost in the shuffle pretty easily.  I spent most of those days working on my resume and stuff for the process, but still had a lot of fun in Sarajevo.  On that Monday (day 4 of Sarajevo) I had the interview, which is why you see me in a tie later on.  Here are some pics from those days.

Ben and Carey

Proof That Beer Loves Me Back!

A Friend of Ivana's and Ivana Herself

The Bee Festival

Men Playing Chess in the Center Square by the Bee Festival

Post Interview Beers with My Boys

Birds Over Sarajevo

Sunset Over Sarajevo

Deflating with a Clove

We Didn't Know That By Just Ordering "Beer" We'de Get Wee Ones...

The Newlyweds at It Again

Ben in Front of His Office Building

Carey and I said goodbye to Cairo on the early morning of Sept. 14th, 2007 and were happy to leave.  We had gotten the hostel owner to set us up with a driver (his cousin or something who had his own independent service).  We agreed upon a set price for the fare, but, of course, the guy wanted baksheesh.  We didn’t tip him despite his qualms and went into the airport.  It was another bit of shuffling around and Carey spending his last Egyptian pounds on us to snack and hydrate.  I was not looking forward to what a flight was going to do to m stomach, but it ended up being ok.  Before a terribly long time we were on our way to Sarajevo.  It felt good to see the Balkans and other such mountains under us once we got back into Europe.  I have to admit, I feel comfortable in southeastern mountain ranges there now.  I enjoy them.  I’m familiar and comfortable with them.  I was not so with Cairo.  I’m sure that I could have gotten used to Egypt, but Cairo was too much.  Once we landed Carey and I were very pleased to be able to use our Bulgarian again to communicate to others (Bulgarian and Serbo-Croation are pretty close) rather than to hide our identities as Americans.  We were able to catch a cab after deciding not to use one guy who was trying to rip us off (or maybe we didn’t and did get taken for a literal ride, but I remember arguing with a cabby).  Anyway, we arrived into downtown Sarajevo without too much incident (no lost luggage this time) and got in touch with Ben to meet us out in his building’s lobby.  After a quick lunch of chicken sandwiches we were able to drop our bags off at Ben’s and explore the city a bit while he returned to work.

Sarajevo's Eternal Flame Dedicated to the Fallen of WWII

Carey and I did some walking around, hit up an internet cafe I’m sure, and basically just enjoyed not being in Cairo (recurring theme, I know).  Afterward Ben and his then new wife Ivana met up with us and we went to a street cafe before decided to get dinner at the Sarajevo Pivaria, or brewery.  We ended up there a few nights during our stay, but it was good and fun.  Here are some more pictures from that first day.

Ben and Ivana at a Cafe

Bullet Holes from the War on Ben's Apartment's Outer Wall

The View from Ben's Terrace

Day 2 in Sarajevo (Sept. 15, 2007) was a Saturday, so Ben and Ivana both had the day off and were able to show us around.  Our principal objective for the trip was to weave through some of the old town and make our way to a hilltop cafe called Biban.  We also stopped every now and then for local delights and to just chill and enjoy the city.  Here are some pics from that walk.

A Building Still Bombed Out from the War

Baščaršija, a Famous Street / Neighborhood in the Old Turkish Quarter

At a Mexican Place in Baščaršija

Carey Eating Burek, It's Hot!

Carey and Ben Sitting Opposite the Store I Was Shopping At

The Main Square in Baščaršija

Never Quite Figured Out What This Place Was, But Better Looks at it Reveal Massive Bomb Damage

The Old (Bombed Out) University Library

The Bridge Where WWI Started

A Chinese Tower Cafe, Where Later in Our Stay We Got Refreshments

Men Playing Chess During the Sarajevo Bee Festival

Ben and Ivana at Cafe Biban

Uppers + Downwers = Heaven Mid-Hike

Sarajevo from Cafe Biban

Still Newlyweds

Narrow Sidewalk

A Sarajevo Rose - Site Where a Mortar Killed Someone

After the hike Ben arranged for us to experience a rare treat.  The Italian Embassy was giving a concert in the old library seen above and arranged admittance for us.  It was a great night of excellent music in a beautiful old ruin of a building.  They’re slowly restoring it, but much, much work was still yet to be done.

Getting Pretty for the Concert

The Italian Chorus

Me Observing from the Second Floor Balcony

A Plaque Commemorating the Attack on the Building

A Video of the Concert

Dancing with Ivana at a Cafe After

Sarajevo by Night from Ben's Terrace

Sick as a Dog

I was pretty sick by this time in Cairo.  We made a foray to the Egyptian Museum, but I was having none of that.  I made a quick scan of King Tut’s stuff between sprints to the cafeteria toilet and decided to spend the day resting in the hotel while Carey had fun.  That night we met up with some of Carey’s friends doing mission work in Cairo,ate some fast food, and pretty much chilled.  Here’s some filler images, however, so that you can see more of Cairo despite my own inactivity that day.

El Abd Bakery - YUM!

Inside

Another Look at Sequoia

Breathing Fire from Shisha

The Nile by Night

The Stuff of Which Dreams are Made

Where to start with Hristina?  She and I first met my second summer in Bulgaria.  I had been helping Matt run the summer day-camp he and I had put on and which I took over the next year.  Hristina was dating another American volunteer at the time.  He was in the same group as Matt was, so he and Matt were both about to leave the country.  Hristina was driving him through Bulgaria to say goodbye to his friends, and they came through Zavet to meet up with Matt.  That night she crashed on the floor with her boyfriend in my spare room after helping cook dinner.  Ends up she was an archaeologist (how sexy is that!?) and cut hair in Sofia.  The barber in my town had just left to go back to the Netherlands, and I could no longer get my hair cut in town since the ladies at the beauty shop didn’t cut men’s hair.  So, I got Hrisi’s number, and told her I would call for an appointment when I got back in to Sofia, which I did at least every three months.  It became a strong friendship.

I saw Hristina almost every time I went to Sofia.  I’d call her, make sure she had an opening, and would go get my haircut.  A couple of time we’d go out to a party together.  Eventually she came back to Zavet a year after we’d met to participate in the camp.  She volunteered to come and paid 40 leva to travel 12 hours round trip to get there (keep in mind most Bulgarians only earn about 300 Leva a month!).  She spent two days volunteering and even chipped in for food and beer (meanwhile some Peace Corps volunteers – whose job it was to be there – were grumbling about 5 leva a day for food and beer and lodging at Chez Koubi).  What a beautiful soul!

At the end of my time in Bulgaria she came out to my going away dinner, as seen in this post.  It was a sad affair saying goodbye to her, but I had faith I would see her again.  Continuing my friendship with her (we still email and chat online), is one of the big reasons I am hoping to get stationed in the Balkans with the Foreign Service.

Anyway, I’m surprised it took this long for me to do a post about her.  Хриси- Лиспваш мен!

Looking Oh So Beautiful

BFE Indeed. Excuse me, sir, can you tell me how to get back to Interstate Ten?

Alright, I’m super-pissed at WordPress right now.  I FINALLY get back to trying to update this thing for once and it autosaves right when, for some reason while undoing some poor image entry with <ctrl>+<z>, I lose the whole post and wordpress autosaves the post!  I lost everything, and I was almost done!  Argh!  Cairo continues to curse me even after a year plus!  Curse you right back, Cairo!

So here goes rebuilding this post from memory…

Carey and I arranged with the hostel owner to have one of his relatives drive us out to the pyramids on the morning of day three.  This was not a cab.  This was us paying his cousin or brother of third uncle twice removed on his step-dad’s side or something.  Keep that in mind for later.  The ride over was interesting.  Any car ride in Cairo as a visitor is interesting.  It’s just so busy.  I’d hate to have to drive in it, but it’s kind of fun to see it as a spectator, provided you’re in no hurry.  By the time we got to Giza and started to see the Pyramids poke through gaps in buildings we began to see camels alongside the road pulling carts and stuff much like donkeys did in Bulgaria, only this was new and fresh and interesting to us again because, hey, there’s a camel!  This mood was quickly spoiled by our destination outside of Giza – a shabby stable for a racket where our driver oh so kindly took us to a place where we could rent horses or camels very cheap to see the pyramids on.  “Oh, it’s so far, and it’s so big.  You’ll get tired.”  Whatever, dude, we’re not falling for it.  That may work for some fat middle-aged tourist from the industrialized West who isn’t used to walking anywhere exept to his bed, couch, table, desk, or car, but we Peace Corps veterans are used to walking around all damned day.  Also, your camels and horses are not exactly the best looking animals in the world, and I refuse to support your business and the conditions it keeps them in.  Also, I’m not too keen on the smell of the damned beasts and don’t want it to dominate my experience.  So, after being harassed for five minutes there we walked up to the pyramids.

Sphinx, and Two of Three Great Pyramids

On of the first things that strikes you about the pyramids, besides their enormity, is how close they are to the city.  In the nice pictures you always see of them they always look like their off in the distant desert with civilazation nowhere to be found.  Not the case.  As Clark Griswold would say, “I think they took this from a different angle.”  The city is right there, and its pollution’s haze distorts your gaze if you look back at it.  This picture from behind the Sphinx illustrates the proximity well:

The Sphinx Watches over Giza

The first thing you get to do is walk around the Sphinx, which is in a pit from when it was excavated.  Some of it, as you can see above, has been reconstructed.  It’s still pretty large and impressive, though.  And beautiful.

Riddle Me This...

After the Sphinx you can walk up to the rest of the complex, dominated by the three Great Pyramids.  It also includes a series of smaller ones, however.  Tourists can enter the biggest one, Kufu’s, but they limit that to just a few hundred a day (and thousands come every day), so it’s hard to get in.  The smaller pyramids are, on the other hand, open all day long to whoever wants to see them.  We entered one such pyramid, as seen in these images:

A Smaller Pyramid

Where, Apparently, Queen Henutsen Was Buried

After a Long, Low, Narrow Stair in, You Go Through the Hole and Even Deeper

Carey Coming Down

Carey Checking out the Glyphs

Heiroglyphs!

Being inside a pyramid is pretty cool.  It’s just amazing to know that your inside something that old.  Of course the signs said no pictures, but the guard said it was ok to do it anyway.  Of course, then he wanted bakhshish for it.  We refused, of course.  It wasn’t our style to pay someone to not do their job.  After that small tour, we spent an hour or so just walking around and looking at the massive things.  Carey wrote a bit in his journal while sitting on the Great Pyramid, I took lots of photos, etc.  Basically we just marveled at the majesty of these huge structures.  Here are the more interesting pics:

Look at the Size of These Stones!

And If You Thought THAT Was Big...

BFFs on the Great Pyramid

The Pyramid of Kharfe

It Is Also Big

Very Big

And to Think the Other Is Still Bigger

Hot Sun over Giza

Glyphs Inside a Temple

More Glyphs

Leaving Giza before Saqqara

After walking around for an hour and some more, we reunited with the driver and he dropped us off at Saqqara to walk around some more.

Walking through the Dessert in Saqqara

The Step Pyramid Peaks through the Distance

Carey Has a Little Captain in Him

The Step Pyramid of Djoser

A Redneck in Egypt

Saqqara went more quickly than we expected, and we were tired and ready to go, but the driver wasn’t there to take us to the next stop until the when we told him we’d be done, so we had to wait an hour.  We just sat and the shade and waited.  It actually wasn’t too bad of a break, really.  Still, a good driver looking for a tip should have waited around (you still remember this wasn’t a cab, right?).  Anyway, after an hour of waiting he shows up and we head for Memphis.

The Sarcophogus of Amenhotep (Huy)

A

Ramses II

After Memphis, which really only took about 20 minutes, we headed back to the hostel.  It had been a long day already and we were tired.  Of course the driver wanted bakhshish for having done his job in physically transporting us which we had already paid him for, but we didn’t.  Still, it kind of irked us that he would ask after we already paid for his services, especially since they weren’t that great.

So that night Carey and I went out and got some awesome food and shisha at Seqouia, a restaurant on the Zamalek island in the Nile.  It was the best food experience we’d then had in Cairo.  The place is all open air under a large tent, with shisha coal-boys running around constantly.  It’s on the tip of the island, so all around us was the Nile.  It was magnificent.  Check out Carey blowing out shisha smoke and the video of what the place was like.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/elkoubi/3032939611/

Dragon Carey

Surrounded by the Nile at Night

Awesome!  I hadn’t seen this version before.  Thanks, Ivan!

Also, I’ve been super-swamped lately.  In case y’all didn’t notice, we had a hurricane come through Baton Rouge, then I had to do a bunch of United Way stuff with that, and now I’m currently working on studying for the Foriegn Service Officer’s Exam and the lenghty application to take the test.  So be patient with me, I’ll try and get some more content up soon, but don’t hold your breath.