Middle Eastern Adventures

March 10th, 2014

I am back for a quick minute to just share some upcoming things I have going on, and to share a video I made from an amazing trip I took exactly a year ago!

I am now officially 75 pounds lighter from my highest weight ever!  I am still continuing my love for zumba, and have included lots of hiking into the mix.  I am blessed to live in a part of the country where I can go hiking in a t-shirt during the middle of winter! 

I have a few trips set in stone now.  Next month I head to New Orleans for Jazzfest,  a week later I go to a work conference in Orange County (not too far away, but I will still have to be out of town for that).  Two weeks after that I head off for my big trip.  My first stop will be Ireland (my 50th country!), where I will be partying in Temple Bar, kissing the blarney stone, visiting the Guinness factory, having an Irish Car Bomb, and visiting the Giant's Causeway and Cliffs of Moher.

Afterwards I head down to Kenya to visit the Masai Mara, visit an elephant orphanage, and to go on a few safaris before heading to Uganda to go gorilla trekking! After visiting Uganda for a few days I am back in Kenya to relax before venturing to Tanzania to see the great migration at the Serengeti and to see Mount Kilimanjaro.  To end the trip I will be relaxing on the beach in Zanzibar.

I am hoping that after these few trips I will have enough miles for some free flights around the USA.  :)

A year ago I was starting my big annual trip in Egypt and Jordan (I traveled for another month after that in Europe).  I met the most amazing people and we just meshed so well together.  In fact, I met up with one of my friends that I met on that trip for breakfast last week, and we talked for over 3 hours that the restaurant began serving lunch while we were there!  It always amazes me the friendships I have made simply by traveling. 


Life is treating me so well right now, and I am so fortunate that things continue to come into place.  I miss you all, and leave me a comment and tell me how you are doing!

Eat Stuffed Pigeon In Egypt

This is the story of the day I decided to eat a flying rat.

I'm sure you are quite aware what a pigeon is...

That's my friend Janice at the Piazza San Marco in Venice surrounded by pigeons.  I didn't want to get near them so I offered to be the photographer from a cautious distance.

When I found out that eating Stuffed Pigeon was a delicacy in Egypt I immediately knew I had to try it.  It goes along with my passion for trying weird eats like Guinea Pig in Peru.

Egyptians have been eating pigeon since 3000BC, so it can't be that bad, right?  Right!?!

While in Luxor, Egypt we went to a restaurant by our hotel that specialized in Stuffed Pigeon.  The catch was that you had to order the Stuffed Pigeon in advance. One day in advance?  Did they have to hunt my pigeon down on the streets?  I became weary, but my guide assured me that the pigeons were not like the ones you find on streets, and are bred solely for food consumption.   We then had the choice of having the pigeon stuffed with rice or corn.  I opted for rice because I was craving some rice (yes, I CRAVE rice!). 

Since I couldn't get my stuffed pigeon that day I opted for some moussaka and took a few bites of my friends camel dish.  I was surprised at how tasty camel was!

The following evening I found myself back at the restaurant for my stuffed pigeon dish.....

Before I continue I have to tell you that I have a texture issue when eating any type of meat.  I hate bones!  I'm a boneless type of gal if ordering any type of meat.  I knew the bone-in pigeon would be a challenge for me.

Just before I could start diving into my dinner this happened.....

City Wide Blackout!   Apparently this happens quite often due to the government.   The restaurant owners profusely apologized for the blackout and began a long rant about the demise of their government.  This was a constant topic throughout my travels through Egypt, and I could feel the increasing tension in every Egyptian person I met!

So they finally lit a few candles, and in almost complete darkness we began to eat our pigeon.  Don't people pay big bucks to dine in the dark at those fancy schmancy restaurants? 

Crack, crack, as I heard wings and pigeon backs breaking in the darkness.  I was beginning to feel queasy.  

I took small bites, but it was really difficult to taste the meat because their wasn't much of it.  I got to the rice and I wasn't impressed.  The flavors and spices they used for the rice were not good at all.  As I started really tearing into the pigeon, I was beginning to feel blessed that we were eating in darkness.  My guide noticed I was having difficulty and told me to just hold the pigeon with both hands and just crack the bones to open it up.  I couldn't do it, so I just kinda ate around the bones.

While some of my friends ate it in its entirety with only the bones remaining, I was only able to eat about 1/4 of it.  I'll stick with the camel next time. 

Date Accomplished:  March 27th, 2013

Float In The Dead Sea

Floating in the Dead Sea was one of the experiences I was looking most forward to while traveling to Jordan.  It looks like any ordinary sea, but in actuality it is quite different.   The salt content is so high that it is almost 9x saltier than the Ocean.  Because of its high salt content it makes it difficult for animals to thrive in the waters, hence it being called the Dead Sea.  The Dead Sea borders Jordan to the East and Israel to the West.    It is 34 miles long, and 11 miles wide.  It is also 400 meters below sea level, and the lowest point of land on Earth.

Because of the high salt content it makes it a bit too easy to float....

Before floating in the Dead Sea make sure you don't have any open cuts, and avoid shaving a few days before your visit.  Also do not get the water into your eyes!  My friend was unaware of this and decided to dive in.   It was one of those moments that you can replay in slow motion as my friends and I, and 2 local Jordanian guys were screaming "Nooooooooooooooo!" as he dived in head first.  The shocked look on his face when he emerged out of the water was priceless.  Needless to say he learned his lesson.

My friend took our photos, and somehow I managed to get ZERO photos of me floating in the Dead Sea.  But some of my friends did it with so much more class that I had to share their photos.  The water felt oily on my skin, but don't be fooled by the calm looking waters. The waves were pretty intense and had us swishing all over the sea.

Then it was time to look like this.....

Because of the high salt and mineral content the dead sea mud apparently has many healing properties.  For a few dollars we paid to rub this black mud all over our body.  It BURNED!! 

We took turns helping each other paint this stuff on our bodies, and we laughed and giggled the entire time.    This was probably the best part of the ENTIRE experience. 

We turned into Dead Sea Mud Monsters, and the Dead Sea version of the Incredible Hulk.  We had caked so much of the mud on us that it took 15 minutes to dry in direct sunlight!  My face was burning, but I patiently waited for the mud to dry.  As the mud dried our bodies became stiffer and stiffer, and I really began to feel like a Monster.

Once the mud dried we had to PAINFULLY walk back into the Dead Sea.  The Dead Sea floor was VERY ROCKY, so it was one of the most painful and unexpected ways of exfoliating the soles of my feet.  It took us another 15 minutes to wash most of it off our bodies.

There was a shower up a hill that we washed the remaining mud off our bodies.  Actually the shower had the slowest trickle, so my friend found a hose and hosed us all down like dogs!  I found small remnants of mud still on me the following 2 days!

If I were to do the experience again I would not apply any of the mud on my face.  The burning feeling I felt on my face was in fact my face being burned!  There was a small dry red patch on my upper cheek that lingered for a few days.

At the top of the resort sits huge beautiful pools.  When we first arrived we didn't understand why ANYONE would want to go into the pool if the Dead Sea was just a few feet away.  Well we understood it after our Dead Sea experience.  The pool was just more relaxing and pain free than the stinging waters of the Dead Sea!

Date Accomplished:  April 4th, 2013

....And Do The Harlem Shake

I will dance to just about anything, and just about anywhere.  This is likely no surprise to those that personally know me.

I was the "inventor" of dance parades and dance parties at my hospital.  The main focus of the project was to get patients out of bed, to have fun in a hospital setting, and to see their doctors, social workers and nurses boogie.  I won a nation wide award recognizing my care for my patients, and the entire unit threw me a dance party to celebrate!  The dance parties have become known hospital wide, and it even made it onto the local news (I'm still working to get on Ellen!).  I am not claiming to be a good dancer, I dance to have fun. 

The more absurd the dance, the more I gravitate to LOVING it.

For example, remember that time I did the Gangnam Style (horribly) in the middle of a park in St Louis?  In case you may have blocked the images from your brain, let me refresh your memory....


Then the Harlem Shake came along, and it was even more ridiculous, and more approving of my horrendous dance moves.  It was a dance that encouraged outrageous and discombobulated movements to form a successful dance.  Wikipedia has an entire HISTORY behind the Harlem Shake (...and I don't know about you, but Wikipedia is most definitely a reliable source in my book...like ALWAYS). 

After watching what seemed like 873 versions of the Harlem Shake I decided that I needed to do it.

We had some time to kill in Abu Simbel, Egypt, and with a laptop in hand, I somehow managed to get my guide to log onto You Tube to watch the Harlem Shake.  He became obsessed.  We both looked at each other, and then looked around to find our future Harlem Shake victims.  Muhahahahaha.  Victory is mine!

My group was not difficult to persuade, partly because we were all nuts that were void of any ounce of attention growing up, and now we were seeking attention from anyone and everyone.

I mean, just look at us.....


Our first Harlem Shake attempt was on the Nile River on top of our support boat.  The "support" boat had the least supportive side rails ever created.  The side rails would probably fail to protect a gnome from being pushed overboard.  Somehow during the dance I found myself surrounded by three sweaty, shirtless men bouncing in every direction. It almost sounds like the beginning of a kinky porn flick, but think more horror flick.   I started screaming "DON'T PUSH ME GUYS!!!!!!!"

Thankfully I didn't get pushed into the Nile, but I'm sure that would have made for a good video.

Our second Harlem Shake was while we were heaps drunk at our resort on the Red Sea.  We had been to Cairo the day before and practically cleared out an entire bottle shop! We had two days to drink our entire alcohol stash before leaving on a boat to Jordan.  Our livers were aaaaangry with us those two days.

Because we were beyond intoxicated, we were a little off on the timing of our Harlem Shake.  None of us were even remotely sober enough to even recognize.  Oh and yes, I call the guy humping the pillow, and subsequently beating it up, my friend.

It was ridiculous.  It was fun, and it made some great memories with new friends.

How many of you guys can say you did the Harlem Shake on the Nile River?  How many of you probably would never want to (admittedly) say you have? 

Date Accomplished:  March 24th, 2013