Prolonged indecision regarding spring break plans landed me and Samangie on a cruise on the Nile... Sorry the post took me so long, with papers, presentations, and projects I've been busy!

The Alps, as seen from the plane on the way into Luxor.

Called the Colossi of Memnon by the Greeks who first found them, although their actually statues of someone else... I can't remember who, though. Sorry!

Statue of Hatshepsut at her temple in Luxor.

Stairs leading to the tomb of Thutmes III in the Valley of the Kings. We had to climb up all of these before climbing back down ladders and wooden stairs inside the tomb. It was particularly interesting especially when Samangie stepped on my shoe and it almost fell into the depths of the tomb. Not a fun idea. Unfortunately, no photography is allowed inside the tombs so I don't have any interior pictures.

Me and Samangie at the Valley of the Kings. When we were walking out, one of the vendors saw my camera and asked, "I give you 10,000 cameras, you give me one?" Um, no... but it's cute that he thought I might stop to consider it.

Facade of the Temple of Luxor, including statues of Ramses II (also known as Ramses the Great) who was responsible for many of the temples seen today. Our boat was docked right across the street so the view out our porthole for the first two nights was of the temple. Amazing.

Muslim mosque built inside the Temple of Luxor. It's still in use today, but they moved the main entrance so that it's outside the ancient temple.

Temple of Karnak, view into the pillar room.
Samangie and me in the pillar room, in front of one of the 134 pillars.
According to our tour guide the top of the columns is supposed to be big enough for 55 people to sit down for dinner. I don't know that I'd accept an invitation to a dinner party up there, but I bet the view would be fantastic.

Facade of the Temple at Edfu, dedicated to Horus.

Horus, son of Isis and Osiris. I swear to God (or maybe Horus), I was about to spontaneously self-combust in front of this statue. I was trying to get a picture, and, apparently, tourists don't understand the concept of getting a picture of the statue on its own, as in, without your partner/friend/family member/stranger-you-met-on-the-street in front of it. I kept waiting, even sending Samangie up there, but as soon as she stepped to the side so I could get the picture, some irritating French or Italian or something tourist got in my way. Stupid people.

Caleches lined up outside the Temple of Edfu.
We rode one in Luxor on our last afternoon in Egypt.

Temple of Kom Ombo - only daylight view I got as our tour was at night.

Using my arm as a tripod... the pictures Samangie got of me turned out better than the ones I was trying to take... oh well.

Nile Crocodile towel animal...

I guess he's hungry!

Samangie and me
We decided to dress up for the cocktail party, even though it was listed as informal.

Vendors trying to sell galabiyas (the traditional Egyptian clothing) to passengers aboard the cruiseships waiting to go through the Esna Lock.

Temple of Philae... my favorite.
It was so peaceful I could have stayed on the island all day!

View through the temple onto Lake Nasser.

Just me.

Sunrise on the way to Abu Simbel - 3AM wake up call to make the convoy (yes convoy, with a police escort and everything...) across the desert to Abu Simbel.

Abu Simbel, built by Ramses II, these are all statues of him.

Mirage on the way back from Abu Simbel.

Apparently the Arafat family has a side business...

Stray cat on Kitchener's Island at the Botanical Gardens.

Capsized felucca... we rode one of these on our last afternoon, as well...
Ours didn't tip over, though!

Samangie, Lorraine, me, Rob, Julie, and Roger
Our dinner group, the night of the Galabiya party.

There's an elephant in my glasses. How he got into my glasses I'll never know...

On said felucca... Samangie thought it would be funny to pretend to push me into the river. I disagreed, but I guess I'll leave it up to you.

All in all, definitely the best spring break of my life. Sun, friends, history, great opportunities to take pictures and experience new things... what more could a girl want?

I'm going to Granada in two weeks to visit one of my oldest friends, so expect pictures shortly after (within a few weeks, not a whole month, I promise!). I hope this finds all of you well... I'll be swamped with work for the two weeks preceding my last trip to Granada and then finals are the following week. I fly into LAX May 5 to spend a weekend in Redlands before taking the train home on the 7th. I've had a good semester but am definitely ready to come home for the summer!

As promised, pictures from my various birthday adventures... plus a few other things, because they're just cute.

First, my brother is a dork. He bought light sabers "for the kids" for Christmas, but he protects them like they were the Crown Jewels or something...
Second, my brother is still a dork... he also had me shoot some video of his retardation, which you can see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlXfoVcDMb8
Really, you should go watch it, it's hilarious.Third, well, look at him, he's adorable, and he's ice-skating! I came home to find an ice-skating rink at the Sunken Gardens in Atascadero... I don't skate, but watching the kids skate around is fun!
Me and Lauren, the cutest little girl in the world, and, if you try to argue, I'll beat you with strawberry flavored marshmallows.
Stephanie and me, just a walk on the beach... where Lauren felt the need to write things in sand... when did she learn to spell so well? She's supposed to be young and innocent!!
Sami and Jessica surprised me with a cake the Friday before my birthday... is there anything better than amazing friends?
Me, Moina and Sami - traditional Cheesecake Factory birthday dinner... James was there, too, but he's behind the camera.
Joe's idea of a good 21st birthday card... I really think he enjoys these things more than I do...
I don't like beer. He made me try it!
Me, mom, dad... happy!
Just me and mom :)
Joe made me go to a liquor store and buy alcohol... I wanted to be really irritating and buy a bottle of Jagermeister and then leave it at his house, but I decided not to be that cruel... so I bought a bottle of Jameson instead, just to piss off Sami ;)
Me and Gabrielle
Everyone at Texas Embassy:
Iain, Vasi, Anne, Samangie, Court, me, Lauren, Gabrielle
Amazing friends and amazing food... (oh, and amazing margaritas for everyone else)
Me, Lauren and Gabrielle
Court and me
Me and Lauren
Samangie, me, Gabrielle, Lauren on one of the lions at Trafalgar Square... those things are scarier than you might think. Rocks I can climb, lions... not so much.
Iain, me, Lauren, and Gabrielle, still on the lion
Me, Gabrielle and Lauren... and the back of Iain's head... they had to take a whole bunch of pictures on the lion because they knew they weren't going to get me back up there again!
Lauren, me and Court, this time in front of one of the fountains
Court, Lauren, me, Gabrielle, Iain
Right before we broke out into the theme song from FRIENDS...
yes, yes we did... in the middle of London... six Americans broke out into song... in front of a fountain. Perfect.
Just me, but I like the picture.
Me, Gabrielle and Lauren at the end of the night...
Samangie likes to take pictures of us walking, and this one was perfect.

We haven't done a whole lot since being back... we've had a trip to Portobello Road planned for a couple weeks and hopefully it'll actually happen this weekend. Mostly our weekends consist of staying in and watching West Wing to avoid homework. It all gets done in the end, though.