The cradle of civilization

After graduating from IESE at the end of April I spent some time playing tour guide to my mom and her friends who were nice enough to come visit and see the big graduation ceremony. The day after we went to Sevilla where La Ferria de Abril (The April Fair) had the city dressed up and looking amazing. There was Flamenco dancing at every turn and tents filled with people celebrating this annual event.

The next day we took a train to Granada which is home to The Alhambra, a Moorish Palace built in the 14th century. Granada is a beautiful city and The Alhambra is mind-blowing, the amount of detailed work that went into its construction is incredible.

After a week and a half of organizing my life around my pending move to San Francisco, I went to Egypt for an 11 day trip. I have not begun looking for a job so much as I have decided where I want to live and figuring out who may have access to the world I want to join. IESE has about 30 alumni in the SF area whereas LBS has closer to 150. One more reason why the exchange was a great idea. I also compiled a list of all the people I know in SF (short list) and all the people I know who know someone in SF (long list) and my plan is to get in touch with all these people and go to every entrepreneurial, networking and/or other type of event until I find the right company. I leave BCN in two days and have been packing and taking care of all the last minute stuff like closing bank accounts, cancelling my gym membership, phone, etc. It will be very sad to move away from this city but I think I am trading one very cool city where I don't speak the language so well for one where I can feel more at home.

Egypt was an amazing experience. I went on this trip solo. After so many group trips where the agenda was set and there was no room to linger or speed things up, I just wanted to do what I wanted when I wanted. I also find that travelling alone opens up all your senses to the world around you and allows one to make friends much easier.

I started the trip by flying from BCN to Rome, Rome to Cairo and then Cairo to Luxor. I arrived super late and negotiated a cab to take me to the public ferry. The cab was negotiated because in Egypt, everything is a negotiation, I mean everything. You'd like to go to the bathroom? That will be one pound. You don't have a pound, that's okay a half pound will do. You want a big water? 10 pounds. Okay my friend, 5 is okay. Where are you from? United States. Go Obama, America is a great country. Anyway, from the cab driver who tried to rip me off by 10 pounds I took the public ferry from the East side of Luxor to the West side where I found my oasis of a hotel waiting for me.

Next day I went to the Temple of Karnak all morning long and basically cooked like bacon in a frying pan. It was my first time back in 100+F temperatures since being back in Arizona and I see that my body has shed its ability to cope with such hellish temperatures. Karnak was massive and its stone hieroglyph covered columns dominated much of the structure.

After half my body weight evaporated while at Karnak, I sat at a beautiful restaurant trying to rehydrate while eating tahini and hummous and smoking sheesha. This gave me just the energy I needed to make an afternoon of Luxor Temple. Like most places in Egypt, the photos just don't do it justice, especially during the day. But when you consider that these temples are more than 2,000 years old and have been in the middle of an inhabited city the entire time, it shows the remarkable staying power of the hieroglyphs and craftsmanship.

In the evening I returned to the same restaurant for dinner. I was sweaty and disheveled and just about to dig in to my Lonely Planet when I looked up to see someone from one of the other tables peering down at me. She (Amanda) very graciously explained that she had traveled alone many times and indicated that my filth was welcome at her table. Before she had a chance to change her mind I was seated among 4 girls who were traveling across Egypt. An invitation to join four girls for dinner doesn't come along every day but what made this situation even more odd was that two of the girls were attending Thunderbird, a top MBA school located in Phoenix. Both were in the Middle East doing internships in Jordan. Amanda was one of the T-Bird students and was originally from San Francisco. What's more, a third girl, Kate did her MBA at Georgetown and was from SF. The fourth girl, Aileen was a nurse from the US but living in Cairo. It turns out that Amanda and I knew two of the same people as she grew up with two students from IESE. That was an amazing array of coinkidinks.

Amanda and Aileen were planning to travel to Hatshepsut, the death temple, the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Nobles. I explained that I hoped to do a hike over the mountain from one site to the other and in short time it was agreed that we would meet at quarter to six the next day to travel together. Lucky for me the arrangements were made because at six a phone call dragged me out of my slumber, out the door and into the waiting cab. We arrived at the temple early, before the heat and ahead of other tourists. We had the place to ourselves the entire time. Here you see Aileen and Amanda looking small in relation to this huge and very well preseved monument.

We ate breakfast on the top of the mountain separating the death temple and the valley of the kings. Our view was over all of Luxor and the Nile flowing off in the distance.

The photo below shows Amanda on our decent into the Valley of the Kings. It really feels very similar to any of a multitude of valleys you would see in Arizona the only difference is the openings that look like mine shafts which lead to some of the greatest discoveries from the ancient world, including...

King Tuts tomb which was discovered in the 1920s and which is so extremely famous because the items held within were so well preserved whereas almost all other temples had been pillaged many centuries or millenia ago. My favorite part of King Tuts tomb was the 5 minutes spent inside, my least favorite part was getting thrown out and having my camera confiscated for taking a photo (without flash) and then paying $10 to get it back. Note: photos will not be tolerated in King Tut's tomb AND the guard has eyes in the back of his head. Note to the note: whereas everyone in Egypt is more likely than not to accept a bribe for just about anything, the guard in Tuts Tomb is less likely than not. Keep that in mind. Don't let the $10 curse of Tuts Tomb get you too.

Okay this is getting too detailed and I am getting too tired to continue writing. This is the superabbreviated version of the remainder of the trip. I took a public bus to a place called Aswan where one of the coolest temples ever built is located. Its the closest I saw to the mythical nature of machu pichu. I stayed the night in Aswan at an amazing Nubian hotel made in the traditional style of mud brick and high windows and with the relaxing sounds of Nubian music always floating around the great opens spaces of the hotel. After Aswan I returned to Luxor then jumped on a 2 night cruise up the Nile on a Felucca which is a traditional sail boat like they've used on the Nile for thousands of years. Two days were spent with a group of 10 sailing back and forth across the Nile as we made out way north. The group was very fun.

From where the Felucca landed I caught an overnight train to Cairo where I spent a few fantastic days and was put up by Aileen who proved to be a great tour guide and a very nice host. She had a killer pad close to the US Embassy and very close to everything a tourist would like to see. I spent one whole day at the Egyptian Museum which is easily the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts anywhere. Any item would be a prized possession in a different museum and this place was literally overflowing with amazing items. I met up with Yasser from IESE who took me for a great dinner and drove like a maniac (which is the only way to drive in Cairo if you want to live) all over town including to an On The Go gas station that was the only place in Egypt where prices were actually listed on items and no negotiation was needed. One day Aileen showed me many of the cool spots around the city and with some of her friends we watched from a park overlooking the city as the sun set and the call to prayer from dozens of mosques drifted across the city. My final day was spent in a fast paced viewing of the Pyramids where I hired a horse and rode in from the desert. My guide was crazy as hell and liked to get the horses running while he screamed at the top of his lungs..."Hababe Hababe, I love you, YIIIIIEEEEEEEEY! That was a good way to end the trip and a great way to see the Pyramids.