I knew it:

Research Finds Firstborns Gain the Higher I.Q.

…although, I didn’t actually bother reading the article.  In Jerusalem now.  It’s very hot and historical.  The bagels are delicious

..especially when the trees look like this.

more to come.

Masr = Egypt, or Cairo (in Arabic) 

I’ve posted more pictures from most of my African jaunt here.  There are no captions, so if you are really curious about what is going on in a certain frame, email me.  Sorry!

I’ve spent the last week very slowly taking in Cairo.  I’m based in the expat suburb of Maadi, some 10 kilometers south of the city proper.  An excellent metro system has turned me into a bit of a commuter tourist.  I liiiiiiiike it.   It’s been fantastic to have a semi-permanent base, making it easy to deal with the challenges Cairo presents (little English signage, pollution, heat, sprawl, aggressive touts).  The city’s myriad mysteries are spread out, so taking my time means I can see everything from the local camel market to the medieval Islamic quarter to the Giza pyramids, and still have time for a pub crawl or a frisbee game.

Off to the Red Sea for a bit, then back here for the wedding of a college friend.  I have a few stories and thoughts from a while back that I’ll be posting soon.

First off, some fellah decided to publish an article w/one of my pics online at nowpublic.com, one of several newish news source trying to rope together all the bloggy aspects of the media these days (see the article here).

Secondly, the Juneau Empire just posted their ‘Neighbors’ section for tomorrow, and an editor-friend of mine gave me the heads that some pics from a JMR training a while back are in there (see it here, not sure how long the link is good for).
okay, thats it for the plug-of-the-day

-P

ps, just trained with Stowe Mtn. Rescue (SMR) today, seems like they have a good team. I will hopefully get another chance to do some more rope work with them sometime soon, but their next training is during the MRA conference. Utah, or Bolton, VT? Hmmm, choices…

pps, SMR has moolah up the wazu from fatty FEMA grants, a funding source I have yet to examine for some JMR projects….

Arrived here several days ago, and almost the first thing I did was attend the graduation ceremony for the Cairo American College, at the Giza pyramids.  What a bizarre introduction to the city.  Are they indoctrinating the kids to be more open to American influence, or the other way around? 

Either way, the confluence of symbols caused my head to implode. 

A good friend is putting me up for an indefinite period of time, so I have time to sort through pics.  First up:  Kenya