After two days of concentrated laziness, it was time to crawl up from the banks of the Nile and back into the searing desert heat, resuming our journey northward to Luxor, and stopping in at two more temples along the way. First up, the medical temple of Kom Ombo


Why do I call it the medical temple? Well, because the inscriptions carved into all the walls list the medical knowledge at the time.

Knowledge like the best position to give birth

Or the prescription for Egyptian Viagra...

Does Your Staff of Ra rise up to greet the morning sun? Will I ever get tired of naughty hieroglyphs? If you answered yes to either of these questions, read on to find out who to thank!
 
This is Imhotep ^

Not to be confused with the archnemesis of Rick O Connell and beloved of Anuk sun amun

Imhotep was the first physician of recorded history. He is credited with being the author of a medical treatise remarkable for being devoid of magical thinking, the Edwin Smith Papryus, which contains anatomical observations, ailments and cures. He was the Chief adviser of Djoser, not to mention his chief architect, administrator and priest. He designed the step pyramid we saw at saqqara. 
Prior to Djosers step pyramid, as I mentioned, Pharohs tombs were just simple mounds, more like cairns than anything else. While the actual site of Imhotep's tomb is unknown, it is believed to be secreted somewhere on the grounds of Saqqara.

Imhotep was so well known to the people of the time, he was posthumously elevated to deity status and believed to be a son of Thoth (above). He was later linked to Asclepius, the father of medicine from Greek History, and even his name became the means of addressing physicians. That is to say, I would be known as Josh Imhotep, aka Dr J.
 
Not bad for a peasant, eh? Of course, the fact that I was still somewhat ill from the night before, and not yet "farting with confidence" lessened my enjoyment somewhat. Nonetheless this was the most personally significant temple to me. It even had rooms built into the back that were set up like hospitals! You know, stone bed, chamber pot, view of reception area...good times.

Next up was Edfu temple

Dedicated to the wife of Horus, Hathor (pronounced hat-whore) Edfu was equally stunning in that most of the grounds have survived without falling into ruins or losing key sections like most of the other egyptian temples

In fact, it seems to be curiously well preserved...

Almost as if something of great importance was buried here...

A hole to the stars? Hmmm, and what is that passage over there?

Could I have found it?

Yes! The entry to the stargate! Okay, check off another hidden mystery taken care of by Indiana Josh. Now I just need to track down that pesky holy grail. Ah well, I am sure it will turn up.

Next stop, Luxor! Home to Egypts Greatest open air museum!

Well after several days of running around in 100+ degree heat like a chicken with its head cut off, short round and I were ready to take it easy for a little while. After all, part of every good vacation is not just seeing the sights of the country, but living the life, absorbing the culture. The United States is really missing out on this whole siesta concept.

So when we returned from Abu Simbel, Short Round and I, along with the majority of our tour group immediately hopped on to a felucca to enjoy two days cruising down the Nile.

   

But What is a felucca? It is Egypt's traditional sailboat, in use for over 2000 years. Egypt is blessed with with a predominant southerly wind that pushes sailboats upriver, while allowing them to return on its current downstream. So pile on to Captain Fuzzy's feluccas and spend the next two days relaxing and cruising down the Nile with me

Short Round took to this form of transportation almost immediately.
Some of my shipmates, Ginnie, Duncan, Tricia and Angelo (it was their honeymoon, everyone clap!) By this point in the tour we had all spent a good deal of time with one another, and we all felt comfortable calling one another friend and mocking our fellow tourmates ceaselessly.

We ate together*, simple food as in the ancient days, bread, falafel, goat cheese, and cucucumbers

We played together, we drank together. Above our tour guide Sam, provides us with traditional egyptian music, which apparently consists of drinking until you think you know how to use traditional instruments. I kid, I kid. He never thought he knew how to use it.

We played the drinking game 21, as taught to me by the Wilsons (handy folks to know, aren't they?) It basically consists of everyone going around in a circle counting to 21, and whoever end up on that number creates a new drinking rule. If you forget what number you are on, or dont do the proper rule associated with the number like high fiving instead of saying the number five, or switching the order of the numbers 14 and 4, you take another drink.

This game is much harder than it sounds.

Be warned, in some cases it may lead to donkey rape.

But I guess if it's consensual, it's still okay, right craig?

As evening of the first night approached (I was getting hammered and sleeping on a boat all day, how many pics do you want?) We pulled alongshore not for one of our frequent potty breaks*, but to spend the night eating dinner with some more Nubians in an actual Nubian house. I like the word nubian. nubian nubian nubian.

The rooms have domed ceilings to circulate the air better and cool it, as electricity is not a high priority, and windows would get too hot.
 
Bright colors, and large open courtyards make the place feel just as welcoming as any home in beverly hills
 

Not a bad life, if you can break away from the Matrix for a while.

We spent the night docked on the banks of the Nile, and arose either with the 4:00AM haunting call to prayer, or the 5:00AM sunrise, depending how heavy a sleeper you were

Sunrise illuminates the Nubian Moon
 
And shortly after the rest of the Nile.

Now those of you who follow my travels know I am no stranger to Sunrises. Usually they are from a jungle, or a mountain or even a rooftop. A river sunrise however, is something else entirely. The light on the water, the stillness of the air, the sheer act of just being awake is practically transcendental in and of itself. These meditative nature sojourns are what lets me maintain the maturity of a 5 year old while presenting the professionalism of the 28 years I actually have.


In case you are wondering what these kids are floating on, it is plastic bottles in a garbage bag as in impromptu raft. Recycle, Reduce, Reuse and close the loop!

We began our second day of tacking up and drifting slowly back down the Nile and it went pretty much the same as the first with one or two exceptions* (dont worry, I will explain the asterisk at the end)

However, as an important health safety message kids, always remember to wear sunscreen if you are going to be outdoors for an extended period, or this could happen to you. And I will mock you for it. So will the rest of the tour group.

Cap'n BahBah, Fuzzy's second in command, hard at work steering us slowly down the Nile

Can't you just hear the Gilligan's Island Theme Song?

Lunch on the felucca wasnt always cold food...it's just that the keftas took a little longer to cook

We docked the second night in the late afternoon to play some more frisbee, drink, and swim in the Nile. Well, I didnt swim. Not only do I have well known issues with water creatures attacking me, I know exactly what kind of parasites and bacteria inhabit these waters thanks to my medical education. I stayed safely ensconced away from the watery doom that awaited me in all but one place on earth (ooh! foreshadowing!)

Instead I watched the sunset

And soon after, joined my shipmates in a Nubian Bonfire and sing along

We danced and sang all the songs the Nubians could teach us, then when they ran out, they asked us for suggestions. I am proud to say that I have now taught people in multiple countries the words to Living on a Prayer, and Don't Stop Believing. Better living through 80's music, that's what The Josh is all about people. Give me one beer and the world is my karaoke bar.

The next morning we sailed on to our final port of call, The temples of Kom Ombo and Edfu, en route to Luxor. Our brief respite had come to an end, and it was time to rejoin the helter skelter pace of the modern world.

Do NOT read below this point unless you are used to my stories about human bodily functions!

*So at one point or another, all of us on the tour were brought low by Tutankhamens Revenge, Travelers Diarrhea, or whatever you prefer to call it. I will gladly inform you that one of the less pleasant ways to experience this is trying to run down a narrow gangplank in pitch blackness in the middle of the night while avoiding a pack of feral dogs who think you are trying to play a game while hoping you dont fall into the very hole in the sand you are looking to make a donation to.

Every morning our tour guide, who knew about the sensitive stomachs of us foreigners, would then ask us who in the group was still "farting with confidence" This phrase has now become my favorite way to describe the squirts, and considering the medical field I want to specialize in, I will get to use it often. So you see, we engaged in a fair an equal cultural exchange. I taught the egyptians 80's music, they told me how to politely tell someone you have the shits.

The next morning dawned bright and early...quite early, around 4am local time on what was only day 3 of the vacation. This was because we had to book it down to the airport to fly from Egypt's southernmost city Aswan, 40 minutes into the middle of the desert at Abu Simbel.

Domestic Flights in Egypt leave something to be desired. The following video ought to paint you a rather accurate portrait:

I was seated in the smoking section of the plane as seen by my ticket

In fact two of the members of our tour group were pilots in their normal everyday lives and the fact that both were hyperventilating and overall nervous during the entire flight did not sit well with the rest of the group. That said we made it in one piece, so I guess everything worked out...

I even got to exit from the BACK OF THE PLANE! How awesome is that?

But you dont log in to read about Indiana Josh's plane adventures, no sirree. You come here for excitement and a glimpse into the past...

Mighty abu simbel was built specifically in the middle of nowhere by Ramses II

This guy was a dude's dude. Prior to him, Pharaohs were considered to be descended from the gods. Well Ramses II was having none of that. He declared himself not a reincarnation or avatar, but an actual living god. And to prove it he did things like build giant temples out in the middle of the desert just because he could



There are a total of 4 statues of Ramses and each one is slightly different from the next as they represent him as a young man aging into maturity as a pharaoh. The tinier figures near his knees are his wives and children, since they are not as important they dont get to be as big.

How many wives? 49. I am reminded of the saying...bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same


SO before short round and I explore further, let me fill you in on some of the facts that make this temple so cool:
1. It was constructed in such a way that the light would shine through the temple into the inner sanctum illuminating 3 of the 4 gods (excluding the god of the underworld) on only 2 days...the pharaohs birthday and his coronation. For better pictures of this, please go to fushmush.net the site of two of my travel companions and newest friends, the wilsons (they taught me how to throw a frisbee FOREHAND)

2. The temple was carved in one whole piece straight out of the side of a mountain. That is hardcore right there.
3. Just like Philae, the damming of the nile and creation of lake aswan meant that the entire temple, mountain and all had to be dismantled, picked up and moved piece by piece to its current location so as not to be underwater. This movement meant the temple is now illuminated 2 days off its original schedule and only 2 of the statues light up on those days instead of the three correct ones.

You may be wondering then, why abu simbel wasnt considered a wonder of the world? Well because it was in the middle of the desert, no one knew it was there except for some dutch/swedish/random european explorer who came out of the desert babbling to the natives about a giant temple carved into a mountain 40 miles away from any civilization...crazy much, they thought?

But I digress...let me grab the key of life and enter the temple of Abu SImbel!


Boy the line to get in here sure is long

You must be this tall to enter the temple. No pregnant women, smoking, or camels allowed inside. If you have a heart condition, we will gladly remove it for you, along with any other excess internal organs so that they might be sacrificed to the all powerful amun ra and ramses ~the Mgmt

This is the great entry hall of Abu Simbel...the entire temple is decorated with frescoes and hieroglyphics depicting triumphs of Ramses II. It is also the only pic you are allowed to take of the inside of the temple, or else you once again risk fines/jail time.

Really people, if you cant figure out where this is going by now, I dont know why you even bother coming here:


Josh's Jail Avoidance Count: 3
After exiting the temple I took a closer look at the adjoing temple, dedicated to the 23rd of 49 wives, but the number one in his heart (awww) Nefertiti


It was a nice temple, but not too much to write home about after seeing the majesty of Abu Simbel
Now while you may have seen a number of the pics above (at least I hope so, or what are you doing all the way down here!) It is hard to accurately convey the scale of how grand these structures are. Luckily I devised the most mature method of doing this for you

WET WILLY!

So at the end of the day, just what was it like to be a God?

...the world may never know

Although I enjoyed my Dam tour, you can only stand on a wall for so long before you start thinking of jumpin, so it was off to the next destination. I mentioned earlier that Aswan High Dam resulted in the man made lake Nasser. Well, one side effect of this lake and the river it diverted was that a number of people and monuments had to be displaced as well, lest the redirected river swallow them up forever like Sobek, the crocodile god of justice.

One of these temples that was shifted over just a scooch was Philae Temple. Lets take a ride there, shall we?


Looking at it, you would never know the entire temple was relocated piece by piece to avoid being drowned by the rising waters of the man altered waterways. It still retains it's sense of worth, the power that it never fully gave away

And although i remain impressed with the temples and the architecture and history they encompass, I have lost a little bit of the awe for egyptologists. I always though deciphering hieroglyphics would be nigh impossible due to their fading with age, dusty remants that archaeologists had to half guess to complete before they could translate. But you know what?

clear as freaking day. Totally unintelligible to anyone who doesnt know ancient egyptian though...except for maybe this symbol here...

something about summoning back a...

JOSHUA! DO NOT READ FROM THE BOOK OF THE DEAD!

right right, sorry i keep forgetting.

BWAHAHAHAHA I SUMMON THEE IMHOTEP!
nothing? weird, maybe I mispronounced that little falcon or something...

Looks pretty cool, right? But if you examine some of these so called "hieroglyphs" a little closer you find instead...

THAT'S RIGHT! PORN! Ancient egyptian naughty pics of Isis and Osiris. Still dont believe me? take a closer look at where Osiris is placing is hand, the randy devil.
Then again this was a temple to Isis, the goddess of fertility and such, so maybe she gets that a lot, who am I to judge. I leave judging to the christians that secretly converted this temple to a church at some later point in history



looks like a great resting place for a grail, doesnt it? However, no such luck. I will have to add the holy grail to the list of things I will search for along with the stargate and a way to attain unlimited power over the undead.

because only an adventurer so scholarly...

So determined...

so willing to brave the ridiculous...

and of course his trusty sidekick

could achieve so lofty a goal such as these.

So lets head off the island...

hmmm...wasnt there a boat somewhere here?

oh drat, pirates got it. Guess we will have to take another. But all that adventuring has made me famished...So short round and I took our appetites over to another island where we dined with some Nubians, a tribe of people integrated into egypt but a tad darker of skin than your standard egyptian. Nubians keep to a very loose time schedule...when things happen, they happen...it's a simple life, but a relaxed one.

good food

good music

dancing like spinning tops, not a bad life at all. During dinner, nubian eyes were watching short round, and he even made a friend

and much to his chagrin (and my not so secret delight) Short round was once again dragged up onstage against his will by the natives to dance with them

Heyyyyyy, nubian macarena!

Bellies filled, we took another boat back to our hotel, for the next morning we would be temporarily leaving civilization to fly out to a grand temple in the desert. For which we would need snacks

okay, now we rest til tomorrow when you will see the wonders of...

Oh really, you didnt think I was gonna spoil the surprise did you?

With the heat of the day causing the air to shimmer like a mirage before my eyes, I took one final look at the pyramids


Then like so many others before me, I turned my back on the past and continued forward...into the further past. Turns out I am really bad at time travel.

The next stop was Saqqara just south of Cairo/Giza. Upon seeing the entrance, I held out much more hope of finding the stargate


In fact, I am pretty sure I even saw Anubis looking over my shoulder at one point

nah, couldn't be.

Saqqara is home to the step pyramid. You see, the ancient Egyptians didnt instantly seize upon the current pyramidal shape as perfect (though years of practice taught them a 52 degree angle is the most stable which is why the pyramids have survived multiple earthquakes to the current day)

No, they used trial and error to learn the ideal shape in which to house their pharaohs.

This was the incarnation immediately before the one we are familiar with. Before this existed came the bent pyramid and the square pyramid.

Nor did the pyramid exist by itself. Instead it was surrounded by a funerary complex, which would include the burial of the architect, tombs of favored servants and even temples

But I must remind you when visiting temples in Egypt you MUST NOT READ FROM THE BOOK OF THE DEAD

And wouldnt you know it just as I was trying to escape from the temple of DOOM, I ran into my perpetual conscience in the hall of the dead

I secured myself in a hiding place

while short round demonstrated his Air Jordan pose because we know the audience eats this stuff up

The funerary complexes and burial grounds were all situated in a similar way. Sites for tombs would be in a place elevated with respect to the Nile, so yearly floods would not erode or destroy the tombs. The sun set (died) in the west, so they would always be placed to the west, and hot dry areas were picked so as to better preserve the bodies and buildings. The dichotomy between where people lived and where they buried their dead is pretty impressive, but since I dont want to spend a thousand words telling you, I will just show you this

Didnt expect that much green in a desert didja? Anyway, it was off to a local restaurant for dinner and nostalgia...have an extra helping of each, on me!

next stop was an overnight train to Aswan, the southernmost city in Egypt. I spent most of the night getting to know my fellow tour group, mostly through copious amounts of alcohol consumption on the train and the infamous "cat head" story. Ask me about it sometime.

Aswan is less developed than cairo and most people still live a fairly simple day to day life...though normal things like a trip to the butcher are not quite what you may be used to

On the whole though, Aswan is famous for a couple of things

1. The stupidly ridiculous heat: As the southernmost city closest to the equator it gets hot. Also, there was a heatwave while we were there 47 celsius, 117 farenheit. In the shade. of which there wasnt much.
2. Spices. I had a chefgasm.


I mean sure it's no spice house in chicago, but all the colors! and varieties! w00t!

3. The Aswan High Dam: resulting in the largest man made lake (lake Nasser) the Aswan high dam not only provides power to just about every corner of Egypt, but also to several neighboring middle eastern and african countries. Now that is dam powerful (get it?)

This however is the only picture I could take because the men with guns get edgy if you start snapping photos all over the place, and then they take your camera and go have a nice talk with you.

For those of you keeping count, this would be 2 times I could have ended up in an egyptian prison. How many more do you think there will be?

Luckily the soldier was in a friendly mood, so I got to take a bonus picture of the friendship monument. The name is pretty much all I remember about it, but it looked nice...

Next time, it's back to the temples and a taste of ancient egyptian life on the Nile...

Hello and Welcome all my xanga friends, internet stalkers, and random people who googled/stumbled upon something that led you here. I realize I have been gone for nigh on an eternity via internets time, and this is the first of myriad posts filling you in on just where in the world I have been during that time.

What you are about to embark upon is none other than the tale of an epic journey undertaken to the middle east, the holy land, the place of sun and scouring sands, wherein the grail is hidden, the stargate buried, and the mummy returned. Some of the things you might see in these posts will shock you, some might amuse you, and some might just change the way you see the world (I like to aim high). With that in mind, I invite you to put on your sunscreen, grab your desert gear and join me, Indiana Josh and my trusty sidekick Short Round as we set forth on THE ROAD TO JORDAN

Day one begins in the bustling hubbub of Cairo, 6th largest city in the world, capital of Egypt, and home to the last standing ancient wonder of the world, which shortly will be revealed. But first, let's once again meet the perpetrators of this pilgrimage of pain, peril and panache, Indiana Josh and Short Round

Some of you may remember short round from the Thailand: Bangkok Dangerous adventure...if not, you will see plenty more of him in the posts to come. Some folks bring along stuffed animals or good luck charms on their trips...I bring sidekicks, an essential component of all hero-ing.

So we begin with perhaps one of the quintessential, nay, archetypal sites of Egypt


The Great Pyramids of Giza, the only one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world still remaining today (bonus adventure points if you can name the 6 lost to the sands of time)

Turns out that contrary to popular belief the great pyramids were not built by slaves at all. No the egyptians viewed their leaders as gods, and to assist in building the house of a god was an event to be remembered to your grandchildren. Slaves would be allowed nowhere near these sacred grounds.

Nor would most tourists. To climb the pyramids outside the steps to go into designated areas is to invite a 6 month jail stay minimum

So of course you know where this was taken.

Luckily I can always rely on short round to pull my bacon out of the frying pan when the tourist police draw near. Or the hand of god himself

Okay, while i will probably reference God a lot on this trip (it IS the holy land) I urge you to recall that God helps those who help themselves. So the finger of God?

really the finger of The Josh



still, it's not hard to see how this is considered a wonder of the world. To look upon such scale and splendor and realize it was all done by the hands of man, and without the use of modern technology, no less...Truly wondrous.

That moment of silence aside, on with the tour!

Oh...erm...not that tour though. That group was never seen again.

The big hole in the middle was from some governmental type looking for the entrance, but the granite casing at the bottom is a restoration of the original. You see, the pyramids used to be smooth all over, but time has worn them down

hey, lets see how you look after several thousand years.



How marvelous the sphinx! A little smaller in real life than you would think, mostly due to scale comparisons with the pyramids, but still. How noble! How majestic!

WET WILLY!

sacred monument defaced I make a nonchalant escape walking like an egyptian

as you can tell, I blend in with the locals almost instantly, and short round tags along as we explore further...

no stargate in Giza, but dont let such early defeats get to me...I will find it.

Now lets learn to make paper the way the ancients did...with papyrus




Boy that worked up an appetite.

this is the most daring thing I ate the whole trip. It is called khoshari, and its the egyptian mac and cheese...instead they use tomato sauce and spices instead of cheese, and pasta and rice instead of mac. good stuff.

Well thats all for the moment...tune in next post when I journey onward to the step pyramid of Saqqara

p.s. If you have been tagged, its cause I thought you would enjoy this and I know you might have forgotten me after not posting for a while...just message me and I will remove you from any future tagging.

I am 28 years old today!

Another year has passed on by
Another year i didnt die
Another year around the sun
Another year of having fun
Another year, make no mistake
Another-screw this, time for cake!

I have a birthday today. I love my birthday. It is a defiant little holiday: HA HA HA I AM HERE. TAKE THAT, SUCKERS.

 It would be cool if you grew every single year on your birthday. Or maybe people should start to shrink at a certain point in their lives instead, and get gradually smaller and smaller until death. Then you could keep Grandma in a jar (dont forget to poke some holes in the lid!) and when she disappeared, you would know that she had died. Solves the nursing home issue but the potential for elder abuse goes way up. Hmmm.

With the traditional part of the post out of the way, I should also probably mention that I am in fact future posting this, as I will be spending my actual birthday exploring the sphix, looking for the stargate under the giza pyramids, and making zombie noises at other tourists in the necropolis...maybe even reading from the book of the dead, who knows?

As you read this, I am dressed like Indiana Jones, complete with fedora, satchel, leather jacket, and whip if it made it through airport security.

Hope everyone in xangaland is doing well, I will resume posting and catching up with everyone when I return in a month

For more of my adventures, go watch Indiana Jones and the raiders of the lost ark, the last crusade, lawrence of arabia, the mummy, the mummy returns, or stargate

Okay now this is just getting ridiculous-I have sent in the majority of my applications, and a few of the optho programs want supplemental materials. For the most part this is easy, as they are merely requesting my CV and a photo, the photo presumably because nobody wants to be treated by an ugly doctor, and that will help me pass the first cut-off in interview selection.

One school however, the university of Miami, an amazingly good optho program requires this:

U miami Bascon Palmer: Additional
materials required aside from CAS: a signed autobiographical sketch
not to exceed 600 words

Are you freaking kidding me? Could we make this any more vague? I mean, i already sent in my personal statement (thanks internet for proofing that which covers the whole why i want to be a doctor and now they are requesting ANOTHER personal statement and I honestly have no clue what they expect of me. Including my alternate statement for my backup specialty, this will make the third ps i have had to write in 2 months. I am just about drained of personality.

In any event, like all my other statements, I am going to post it here on xanga. Not in the hopes that you, my ever so patient readership will assist in editing. No, I have asked that too much of you lately, and it is hard enough to get people to comment. I am posting it here because I have a functional writers block staring at a blank open office document, but I seem to be able to pound something out, no matter how inane or craptastic staring at this little text box here on xanga. So if you read this, thanks for your time, and if you dont...erm, thanks for nothing?

------------------

Umiami Autobiographical Sketch: No Reservations

Scorpion doesnt sting quite as much as you would think-at least on the tongue. I discovered this at the Night Market in Beijing, China. I visited China for one month in the summer between my first and second year of medical school to study traditional chinese medicine such as acupuncture, moxibustion, and cupping. Learning about eastern medicine however, was only a part of the reason behind the trip, the remainder being to explore a new culture, country, and continent.

I have always loved traveling, and China was only my latest stop in a series of jaunts around the world. In each locale I always tried to find not only some activity unique to the country, but also to learn at least a few words in the language, and immerse myself in the regional cuisine. Considering myself a bit of a "foodie", I figure the best way to start learning about another culture is to eat it. Nothing starts a conversation like a shared meal.

Which is how I found myself staring down the stinger of a deep fried scorpion. A group of us all in the acupuncture program has set out to complete an Iron Stomach Challenge, competing in a gustatory version of the game "chicken" to see who was most willing to fully embrace the full range of edible oddities available. We had already sampled the famous Peking duck complete with internal organs at a five star restaurant, rancid butter tea and yak genitals at a Tibetan restaurant, and "meat on stick" as the sign read at the stand adjoining our hotel. A travel guide listed Wangfujing street as the place to find exotic street food, so that was decided upon as our next stop.

The stalls were lined with vendors selling cockroaches, starfish, crickets, snakes, everything I could imagine and a few things of which I had never thought. My digital camera at the ready as always, I snapped pictures of everything to ensure I wouldnt forget the experience; I needn't have worried.

The first bite was a cross between shrimp and french fries, crunchy on the outside with a chewy salty center that was actually rather pleasant on the tongue. The stinger while intimidating at first, was actually the easiest part and only pricked my tongue slightly while being consumed. Thankfully, no acupuncture was needed to heal me afterwards, though I am sure any of my fellow classmates would have been more than happy to put our newly accquired knowledge to good use should my qi have needed correction.

On my return to the states, I posted all the albums and journal entries on my blog where the friends I made on my travels could see the adventures we had shared like bento boxes at the summit of Mount Fuji, fresh caught seafood on the banks of the mekong river in Thailand, paella and rioja at a tapas bar in Madrid and many others. (do i come off as too pushy here?-if so, nix this paragraph)

I view life as an adventure, and among my goals is to visit every continent at least once and learn about its people, places and cultures while I am there. I hope to one day be able to combine my love of traveling with the career I have chosen for myself, and participate in medical missions which will allow me to interact with a place's inhabitants as more than just a tourist, providing services in exchange for the opportunities I have been given to explore the world around me. At the very least, I can discover if everything really does taste like chicken.

 I am tired. After almost a month of NOT doing any real medical work, jumping back into 12 hour days was a bit of a trial. This despite having no call and no weekends i need to work. Sub-I will be crazy indeed.

But for now, while I still have not uploaded all the road trip pics, here is our last tourist stop we made before driving straight home. BTW, this time the trip took 3 days, at an avg of 95mph. I suspect it may be my last xcountry trip, but you never can tell.

Now let me begin by explaining why this site was so awesome. Some of you out there may watch a show called south park. Some of you may even have seen this particular episode, entitled, Casa Bonita

That said, you may not be aware that Casa Bonita is a real place. I certainly wasnt, until my brother mentioned it offhandedly while we were departing the Coors Brewery. At which point, I had the reaction...holy canoli! it's REAL? get directions. So we proceeded to call the frathouse where the reactions were all pretty much exactly the same-it's REAL? go there! take pics! So we did.

It was off to the Disneyland of Mexican Restaurants


and what sort of entertainments awaited inside?



Look at the map carefully. This place is HUGE. Brian and I got lost inside once or twice, and I still dont think we saw everything Casa Bonita had to offer

A show EVERY 15 minutes! and PINATAS on fridays! Sadly we drove through on a saturday night, and so had to miss it.

Oh yes, Black Barts cave is real

Here are the caverns where we got our all you can eat mexican dinners, complete with Sopapillas. You are given a little flag, and when you raise it, more food is brought to you.

here is a gunfight show.



oh, and did I forget to mention the CLIFF DIVERS?






Puppet shows...

Gift shop and Jailhouse pics

waterfalls that are too dark too see now that i look at this picture

Mariachis

Treasure Chests filled with candy



A semi authentic mexican village


i think that about covers it. Oh except for the fire jugglers

yeah, that is a pretty crummy pic

Yes, that caveman is juggling fire and then stop for no apparent reason to scream at the woman behind him. Truly, the restaurant was accurate in its description of itself as the most exciting eatery in the world. Next time you find the occasion to visit colorado springs just outside of denver, I highly suggest you do it. If not for me, then for Casa Bonita

Alright, so in an effort to keep myself active and always learning, I am starting a new game/feature in this blog, which will consist of me visiting various chicago landmarks on my days off and describing them to those of you not in the loop. (Pun intended-chicago's main sites are all near the elevated train known as the "El" of which the main part consists of a track called "the loop" ha ha oh it is to laugh.)

So off I set on my bike (10-15 miles a week! w00tsauce me!)

This is me biking down lakeshore drive and that is the hancock building you see in the distance

And here is my first location

The international museum of surgical science...admission $4 for students and free on tuesdays...and yes i go to medical museums on my day off, but if anyone doubted my nerdiness before, you clearly havent been playing along

Asklepios, son of Apollo, founder of the medical profession in ancient greece and bearer of the a single serpent entwined staff that has become the symbol of the medical profession and is indelibly inked on both my psyche and my arm.

Another well known figure, that of Hippocrates...cant make out the words of his oath?

"I swear by apollo, asklepios, hygea, panacea and all the gods and goddesses that i will carry out this oath and its indenture according to the best of my ability and judgement. To hold my teacher in this art equal to my own parents...ton conside4r his family my own brothers and to teach them this art without fee or indenture...to impart instruction to pupils who have taken the physicians oath...I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgement...I will keep pure and holy both my life and my art...Into whatsoever house I enter, I will enter to help the sick and whatsoever I shall see or hear in the course of my profession i will never divulge, holding such things to be holy secrets...Now if i carry out this oath may i gain forever reputation among all men...but if i transgress it, and forswear myself, may the opposite befall me"

You will notice, that while it is certainly implied, primum non nocere (first, do no harm) is never explicitly stated as part of the oath. Fun fact.  One other random fact...listerine is named after Joseph Lister, who was in the hall of immortals for his implementation of sterilization of surgical instruments

The Hallway of one of the 4 levels of the museum

In the exhibit of Pain, i found a bottle of choloroform!

and subsequently got a date...oh yeah!

An early amputation kit...what no self respecting chirugeon would be without

And in the exhibit on spinal surgery, here is an early kit for bone taps and spinal screws

Some sort of medieval torture device? 19th century girdle? steampunk brassiere?

Nope! picture of a early 20th centrury back brace for scoliosis (spine curvature) that i forgot to turn right side up!

Prostheses to help new amputees get a leg up on the competition, or at least their foot in the door

This would be handy to have around.

Early wheelchairs were designed more for aristocracy than mobility...but damn you would look all upper class in this

This is a struvite stone from the kidneys. Someone at one point had this in their bladder and had to pee it out. **Wince**

I want random paintings of surgeries like this in my house someday

In the exhibit on medical technology i discovered this old school EKG machine

And this ultrasound...did you know that the Ultrasound was invented by the Japanese? I dont know why this surprises me, given the nations propensity for electronics, and its deep seated fear of giant ocean dwelling lizards whose presence could be detected by such a machine

And who could forget the trepination device? Wondering how it is used?

In one of the oldest known surgical procedures, a hole was drilled into the skull. This goes back to neolithic times (surgery so easy, a caveman could do it!) when it was believed in other recorded civilizations that creating an egress in the noggin could allow for the release of evil spirits. It is a procedure still occasionally used today, although for different reasons. And it only takes a brief leap of imagination to picture this as the preferred method of zombie surgeons to get access to those juicy juicy brains through a crazy straw

YES! ZOMBIES HAVE BEEN WORKED INTO ANOTHER POST!

A gratuitous shot of downtown chicago, near the entrance to greektown

Thus completes the first episode of "blown about the windy city"

On another note, I was feeling pretty bummed out a few weeks ago about my boards scores, and the disparity between what i thought they would be, and what they actually were. And randomly, my resident , who knew nothing about this, said something in passing to me today that finally got through my thick skull faster than a trepination tool.

"Why do some people study all day long and do poorly, while others never open a book and ace every test? It's not all just pure intelligence...after all, everyone in med school is smart-you got into med school, what do you have to prove to anyone, right? The key is in how you organize the information. The people blazing through the test have learned to organize the information in a way that allows them to access it faster even if you know more."

Even though he was referring to studying for the Shelf exam, something struck a chord. All this time i was upset thinking that i know i studied more than some people, that i am smarter than others, and yet i still didnt achieve my target. I kept thinking the fault lay with me, in some way that i hadnt studied enough, or blew through the test to fast, or got cocky because everyone kept telling me i would do well. And while any of those may be true, what it ultimately comes down to, is that no matter how much i may have known going in, i still was not thinking about in the right way, and THAT is what is reflected in my score...not a lack of intelligence, but a lack of organization. And i can live with that

The words of Ralph Waldo Emerson come to mind: "Whilst he sits on the cushions of advantage, he goes to sleep. When he is pushed, tormented, defeated, he has a chance to learn something."

Or in the words of Robert Ludlum via his character Allan Demarest: "Can't see a way out? take the time to see things differently. See the two white
swans instead of the one black one. See the slice of pie instead of the pie with
the slice missing. Master the Gestalt. It will make you free"

I can finally get over myself, and take this for the opportunity it presents.

And of course, thanks be to the buddhas, karma, or whatever chain of coincdences brought all three of this isolated experiences to my attention at the same time. When you look for answers genuinely, they are usually there

if you read this whole post down to my whining, you may ALREADY be a winner! Keep reading indefinetly to one day claim your prize potentially

-J