Mrs. Peabody's School for the Extremely Clever

ALL-ways trying to broaden my horizons . . . .

This page is a collection to document my travels to other countries. The first country other than The United States of America that I ever set foot in was not surprisingly, Canada. Dad and Mom took us on several summer vacation trips in the 70's. One of them was to the Calgary Stampede and we crossed into Canada at International Falls, Minnesota. Since then, I have been to Canada several times, but I have no digital photos of those experiences.

Nor do I have any of the one and only time I have been to Mexico. I went there just briefly while on a trip with the Penn State Horticultural Judging Team. We were on our way to the National Competition in Las Cruces, New Mexico. We had a layover in El Paso, TX. We walked across the Rio Grande [not very grand-smaller than the Mahoning Creek] into Juarez, Mexico. It was not an inviting place. We did not stay too long.

My third foreign country was The United Kingdom. Still no digital camera. . . That was in the winter of 1987-8 when I went with the Honor Society Annual trip to England at the invitation of Suzy and Jackie L. I have a nice set of analog photos that maybe I will get scanned some day. We welcomed the new year in from Trafalgar Square, but did not interact very cordially with the natives because we had been warned that it had become a tradition to stomp on the feet of Americans. Previously, they had taken to throwing Americans into the fountain; but, the government had boarded over the fountain. They adapted to that by instead stomping on the feet of anyone they identified as American. There were plenty of "Bobbies" about to prevent it if possible; and, we still opted to simply keep a low profile, and just observe the natives.

Twenty years passed before I got to another foreign country. Paul and I had tickets to Germany where he had accepted a fellowship at the Max Planck Institute in Stuttgart in 1983. John was to have been born over there; but, it never came to pass. Paul's health necessitated cancellation of that trip, and so it was not until August of 2007 that I finally set foot in Germany. That was at the Frankfurt Airport, a stop on my way to Cairo.

This page (if you keep on scrolling down) has (or will eventually have) the digital pictures from my Egypt Contract experience, our Christmas in Denmark (We visited Sweden while there.), and my Advent season in Israel.

My 2 worlds are the SON & The Earth.

States visited: 48 [Still need CA & HI]

Continents visited: 4 [Still need South America, Australia, & Antarctica]

Countries visited: 10 [USA, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom(England), Germany, Egypt, Hungary, Denmark, Sweden, Israel]

Planets: 1 [Earth (terrestrial locations only, as listed above)]

Bodies of water: Small streams too numerous to mention, Allegheny River, Monongahela River, Ohio River, Susquehanna River, Mississippi River, Missouri River, Snake River, Columbia River, Rio Grand River, Colorado River, Russian River, the Delaware River, The Alligator River, The River Jordan, The Avon, The Themes, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, Lake Erie, Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Lesser Slave Lake, Lake Ontario, Chesapeake Bay, English Channel, Pamlico Sound, Albemarle Sound, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Gulf of Aqaba, Nile River, Sea of Galilee, Suez Canal and Gulf, North Sea. . .

Wouldn't it be cool if we could ALL travel like Glinda, the good witch of the North?

BOO WHOO. . .

While I was living in Cairo, no one came to visit me, not even those who said they would. Traveling is ALL-ways nicer if you have companions. My friends had visitors; and, I joined them on a few occasions.

Modes of transportation I have experienced:

Mom, Dad, grandparent,

other adult relatives, my own feet

automobiles of many types,

baby carriage,

baby walker,

4-wheel pony,

little red wagons,

elevators, escalators, moving walkways,

sleds of many types,

tricycles, trucks and buses of many types,

tractors of several types,

unicycle, bicycles and motorcycles of many types,

go-karts,

pony, pony cart,

stilts, pogo stick, ice skates,

roller skates of 3 types,

horses of a few types,

horse'n'buggy,

one-horse open sleigh,

haywagon,

elephant,

camel,

airplanes of many types,

trains of many types, skis of 3 types,

boats of many types,

bulldozer (D9), road grader,

snowmobile,

3-,4- & 6-wheel ALL-terrain vehicles.

Later on I will maybe detail all the separate types of planes, trains, boats and sleds. Maybe the cars and trucks, too.

Sometimes it is too far to walk. Get longer legs and twice as many, for an extra lift.

My photo of riding on the elephant is analog and I can't even find it to scan it.

Still on the bucket list:

Hot air balloon, helicopter, seg-way, canopy or chasm sky-pulley, glider or hang-glider, Flying car, and Spacecraft

A 2-year contract in Cairo, Egypt

During the contract time I also had opportunities to travel to Denmark for Christmas 2008, and to Israel in December 2009. Other breaks and long weekends were spent in Al Areesh near Gaza, Alexandria on the Mediterranean, Dahab on the gulf of Aqaba, and in the Sinai.

In June of 2007 Mom C and Mom L and I traveled south so that we could visit Aunt Jenny and I could attend the JobFair at the Bethesda Hyatt Regency. We stopped to eat in Breezewood.

The hotel had a huge atrium. The JobFair activities were held for three days. On the third day, I got 4 offers. I took the one in Cairo.

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I took the subway right to the Jobfair and had to take evening clothes so I could change for the later events. A kind lady who had a room allowed me to use her room to change .

Aunt Jenny was so welcoming to us and I am forever grateful for that, not just because of her family warmth, but because it saved me nearly a thousand dollars.

During what was left of the summer between accepting the contract and leaving for Africa, John and I went with the PA family to celebrate Sam's graduation with the Ohio family. I said my farewells to the Ohio family there.

Went to the SSCD annual festival. (below)

Said farewells at the Shriver Reunion and the Lister/Cowan reunion.

Then my very thoughtful family supported my adventure with a lovely "Bon Voyage" party which Becky and Ray graciously hosted.

They had this neat sign made for the occasion.

Below (left) from the top of Izzy's head clockwise: Bonnie's back, MomC, Alex, John, DadL, Melissa. Right from red shirted Ray, Eric, Uncle Rony, Jim A, Dad C

Below (Left): Gram, still seeing well enough to use eyeglasses. (Right): Skip and MomL.

<Melissa, Mason, & Izzy. v v Said farewell to friends, too.

Colleen, Wanda and I enjoyed a nice day at the Phipps Conservatory where there was a showing of the Gilooly Glass sculptures. Extensive and impressive displays were all through the gardens.

Jackie came to my place to say farewell. Wished she could have visited a bit longer; but, she has always crammed a lot of life into her days. I have often suspected her of secretly owning a time machine. ; )

That Summer went by very quickly. It was a nice high for me and as usual, I got my expectations up there a bit higher than I probably should have.

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The American International School of Egypt provided me with an airline ticket. I flew United to Frankfurt, and Lufthanza to Cairo.

Frankfurt Airport had fairly good organization; but passengers still had to be tram-bussed to the planes instead of boarding from covered gates.

It was very clean. Things appeared to be well-maintained.

My feet in Germany, I had a bit of a layover in which I had time to look around the airport. I shot a view out from there and sat and watched the people, wrote in my log, and had a teeny bit of a feeling of rooted belonging except when they gave me grief about the size of my carry-on. I had to take my laptop out of it and check it even though it would have fit easily into the overhead compartment, just as it had on the United plane.

I was happy to have set foot in another country for the first time; but when Delta offered a non-stop between NY & Cairo, I opted for it--less expensive, too.

My Third Continent

Pyramids visible from the plane. More pollution than fog. It is standard policy to circle wide on approach to point out the pyramids.

I was taken directly to my condo. My unit was around the back on the 7th floor, #31.

There was a racetrack for horses when looking north off the balcony.Rooftops are full of dish antennae.

Just below the track view was this villa. Later on I was told it was the recently built home of the Egyptian ambassador to Spain.

Looking south and down off the balcony. Filth. I lost the brush end of my vacuum off here the first time I tried to clean the balcony.

Looking East and down at the rubber tree and the plant collection on a neighbors balcony. After I lost my best bath towel off the line, I never hung clothes outside to dry again. 'Finders, keepers' is the general attitude.

Artwork above the bed. I preferred it to the racy piece above the bed in the other room. When I arrived, I thought each bedroom had a balcony----not. There was just one bathroom. That is fabric on the wall.

The bathroom was large enough and there was a washing machine in the corner opposite the tub. The view is taken from the corner with the toilet.

The roomie assigned to the same apt. arrived late the evening of the day I arrived. She was originally from Reno, NV and said she did not care if she ever got back to the USA. She was not too pleased with the apartment, and eventually not with me either.

The phone line was not working when we arrived; and, even after it was, no one told us for a couple weeks that it had free dial up to the internet. So, we went to this free WiFi cafe' a block or 2 away to contact relatives. Deb had no computer; but, she was on the phone a lot.

The orientation committee knew it was a good idea to show newcomers that there were some clean places in Cairo, so they took us to this park even before we got to see the school. It was a 'beautification project' idea of the President's wife.

The park had only been open for a couple years; so, there were many locals still there as tourists. Mostly a lot of young 'courting couples' supposedly because they felt more able to show signs of affection in public when there were so many foreigners around.

The living room of my 2 bedroom apartment had a dark pine hutch cabinet. The kitchen entry is the door to the left. The dining table was on the left where only one chair can be seen here. It had 6.

The kitchen had tile very much like in my house and granite counter tops. The range and fridge were small by US standards; but, clean and functional. The sink is out of frame to the left.

This is Mona. She was pretty nice and was the one who scrubbed the lobby floors and dusted the corridors. I think she was the Boab's 'wife'; but he looked like he was old enough to be her grandfather. He was a lazy money-grubber.

Her niece Dahlia was always smiling. She knew a couple English words. I think it was either her mother or grandmother who always sat on the sidewalk bench.

Each table had a little reminder of home. They spoke a fair amount of English there and Deb thought the waiters were 'hot'. She was close to 40; but, recently divorced, I guess. It was a smoky place most of the time.

The natives spent a lot of time sitting on this bench across the side street from my building, while the kids played in the streets, and the litter rolled by.

There were many tables outdoors; but, those were mostly for diners who would arrive after the sun set and the air had cooled a bit. Our dinner was indoors in the tables reserved earlier by the committee.

There is a restaurant, cafe, gift shop, and rest rooms in the gate building at Al Azhar Park. [This link will take you away from my website to a URL where more professional photos appear.] The Ladies room there is shown below. It would not meet US building codes; but it was cleaner than any other public restroom we would see (save the Mall) for a while.

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Another day during orientation, we were taken to Giza for the evening "Light Show". I guess I was expecting some huge laser show like one sees at Sea World or Disney, only maybe more spectacular because this was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. . . A global destination, after all. . . .Okay, . . . . . . .It was nice; but there were no lasers, there was nothing in the presentation that came anywhere near being as impressive as the pyramids themselves, or the Sphinx. The sound was not all that well done and the whole presentation was overall somewhat 'cheezey'. I had to just keep reminding myself of the fact that the pyramids themselves are awesome, and along with the Sphinx, just being there and planning to touch these ancient masterpieces was enough of a "WOW" experience on its own.

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We got to the pre-arranged restaurant (Felfala's) near the pyramids ahead of the other buses. At first we decided to wait for the others before ordering. Unfortunately, some of the other buses got lost and by the time they showed up, there was not enough time for them to order, wait, eat, and still be on time for the Light Show. Lots of folks were ticked that their orders did not arrive before we had to leave, even though they had ordered soon after we got there.

My camera ran out of batteries and I got the photo to the left from a friend who was also taking a picture of this musical group. It was NOT 15 minutes after noon as her print indicates. We both missed the shot of the kilted bagpipers. Someone said that these pipers were always at the light shows; although, I found that difficult to believe because they were not well organized. One would think that if they were used to performing repeatedly for tourists, that they would be better at it than they appeared to be.

It sort of intensified the 'cheezey' impression. I was still anxious to return to Giza and see the pyramids and the Sphinx in the daylight, and up close.

I would later learn how to get myself there easily on the 2 pound buses. That amounts to going all the way across the city, on out to Giza right to the entrance to the Pyramids for about thirty-four cents. I went a few times.

Anyone can rent some camels or horses to ride there, and it is good that I researched the whole experience beforehand in order to keep from being scammed by the tourist predators. The ones who try to sell cheap trinket souvenirs are relentless until you learn how to say you are not interested in Arabic.

The committee took us on a Falucca evening.

The launch area [the lower right area of the first picture] was paved with chips of tile. There were little patterns in the mosaic here and there. Some of the area was simply concrete, which is where I made my first Egyptian wildlife siting--a toad.

That is "John" the 9-10 guidance counselor with the 'Willamette" T-shirt. He and his wife Kathie (an elementary teacher) were from Eugene, OR. John was interested in the wildlife siting as well.

The falucca is basically a sailboat with a coffee table in the middle. On the Left are (all new) Stephanie with the sun glasses, then Debra, John, Kathie, Beverly, and Charlene. J & K are back in Oregon now. Charlene is in Hong Kong, and as far as I know the others are still in Cairo. On the Right--Kayla and Sarah were new, to their left sat Kathryn & Heinrich who had been there 5 years, and then Ray, who had been there since the middle of the previous year. Ray and his wife Nancy are in Seoul, Korea now. Sarah is in Italy, and not sure where Kayla is.

As the sun set and it became a little cooler, the canvas tops were removed. The sails seemed to be either white or green.

We just went round and round because the mast would have had to be taken down to get under the bridges fencing us in. On the right is a huge rubber tree.

Many of the taller palms were not trimmed of their dead foliage. There were several huge hotels along the Nile of course. Many dinner cruise boats were also working.

The restaurant on top of that hotel rotates. We sailed fairly close to the one dinner cruise boat, the Scarabee.

As the sun set, the reflections in the river were lovely. The skylines from that area sharpened in shadow, and the air was a bit cooler.

This was an abandoned old "palace", so sad looking--I am sure it probably had a great story to tell; but no one knew it. The lights above are in the dome of the opera house. Later on in the Spring, I went to see Madame Butterfly there.

Being that it was the first week after my arrival, I was still a little "chubby". Several of those pounds would disappear in the week that followed--the "tourista" struck me. Not to worry. . . all that I had managed to shed while there has returned. . . .and then some.

The above has not changed since May 2010. Maybe I will have time this year to add the rest of the Cairo pics.?????

Coming Soon:

A one-year contract in Kazakhstan

Asia is my 4th continent