Ticket to fly

I have no reason to be sad, especially not today.

October 1, 2012.

I have reason to be excited, actually.

Chicago to Frankfurt.

My tickets for Egypt have been purchased, and aside from packing, I am ready to go.

Frankfurt to Cairo.

Because of work, I haven't had too much time to think about it, really.

December 22, 2012.

I have been preparing for the trip by finishing small and big projects at work.

Cairo to Munich.

I've also been gathering information and data I need for my own work while I am overseas.

Munich to Chicago.

It is not lost on me that I am traveling. It is not lost on me that I am traveling to Egypt. It is not lost on me that I will be living in Egypt for three months.

I am being asked repeatedly whether I am excited for this trip.

Yes, when I think about it.

But in a weird way, I am not that excited about it. That may seem odd, and it still is to me, but there are reasons for the lack of giddiness on my part.

I was not born in the United States, so being outside of this country is not a novel experience.

I have been outside of the United States for months before, so I am used to being away from home for so long.

I have been on an overseas archaeological excavation before, so the opportunity to participate in something so awesome is great, but a bit muted.

But there are other factors as well. I am going for work purposes. Yes, how many people get to leave the country for work and have everything paid for? I know the answer is not many, but in my world, it is many. I work in an environment with students and faculty who routinely spend their summer or whole calendar/academic years living in Italy, or Turkey, or Egypt. To gloat in my upcoming experience makes me feel childish, like a kid with a toy he just got for Christmas, while the older kids have played with it many times before.

I will be in the field with people who return to Egypt every year for the same amount of time that I will be there.

This is not meant to kill all the excitement for this venture. Far from it. But my mind can't help but to put it in perspective.

But in the past two days, something happened that is making this more real, more excitement-inducing.

I am going away...

...I got my ticket to fly...

...and I do care.

Preparing for the journey

"It's a magical world, Hobbes, ol' buddy...let's go exploring!"

And that is my intention. 

I am not much of a talker. I work in a building where my office is one floor underground. It is off-limits to the public, and it is not en route to anywhere else. Co-workers don't pass by there unless they are in the office for something specific.

I used to work in a building where my office and work space were two floors underground. In winter, I would sometimes get in really early, before the sun rose, and leave late after the sun had set. I would hide in the back room not avoiding anyone, but just getting my own work accomplished. My work space would be locked, off-limits to the public, and only two or three people had a key to the space. I didn't talk to many people there.

Other jobs were similar. Off-site, back in a storage space, away from others, only occasionally coming out. There were the odd jobs where I worked with the public, and I did sell to customers, but those were part-time and not part of my professional career.

I am not adverse to speaking to people, but it is not my forté. I don't do small talk very well, and my attention span for people is limited. I won't talk about the weather, sports gets boring very quickly, and I don't remember the names of your children. I love talking about my career and what I do, but most people I run into are not interested in such things, or they don't understand it. Unless you know what I do, it is difficult to explain it.

Which all leads to one very important question. 

Why the hell does this guy have a blog?

Well, that is a fair question. And there is a simple answer for it. The answer is a magical sled. Not Rosebud, but Calvin's sled (or box, or wagon, or whatever he had at the time), the one he used for exploring. It would open up the world for him, to feed his imagination and enjoy life. 

I don't have Calvin's imagination, but I do share his love of the world (albeit not always the people who inhabit the world). I want to get out there and explore, to see what I haven't seen before. To experience cultures I don't have at home. To eat foods I can't find at my grocery store. 

Great, fantastic, excellent. So why the blog?

The impetus for this blog is my upcoming trip to Egypt. This blog would have made sense years ago when I lived in Ukraine, or when I traveled through Europe, but blogs were not around in 1997, and I had no desire to write anything while visiting the Coliseum. Besides, I had someone there to share the experience with me.

Egypt will be different. I am not traveling alone, but I won't be with close friends and family. I will be with co-workers and friends, but new friends. Not the people who get me.

Since I won't have anyone close with me, I get the feeling people will be worrying about me. As if I have never traveled before. As if I have never traveled anywhere dangerous before. As if Egypt is truly dangerous. People fret. I tell them not to worry, but they still are concerned. For that I am thankful.

This blog will then serve three purposes.

One, to let everyone know I am alive.

Two, to share with everyone my adventures.

Three, to jot my experiences for my own memory.

I will be traveling with a camera, and when I can I will upload those photos and post new stories. However, I cannot guarantee Internet connection will always be reliable. I cannot guarantee I will always remember. I cannot guarantee I will be near a computer to write and upload anything. But when I do, you will hear about it here.

What is my purpose for going to Egypt? The director of the archaeological dig at the site of Karanis (Fayoum area, southwest of Cairo) invited me to join them for the 2012 season. I will act as registrar for the site, documenting and entering data for the teams' finds. I may do some other work as well, but this is my primary role.

I leave sometime around October 1 (happy birthday, Patrick!). The field season at Karanis begins October 10. I will spend a few days traveling and visiting Cairo, and perhaps other sites. Meeting new people, seeing new things, trying new foods. Exploring.

I'll be in Egypt from October until December. Season ends December 21, and I should be back in the States right around or right before Christmas. I will be away from friends and family and work for quite a long time, but I am really looking forward to this. It's been too long since I last traveled internationally. Too long since I worked on a dig. Too long since I rode that sled.

And what's waiting for me there?

Treasure.