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My Egyptian Odyssey

academictravel — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:54:23 +0000

In September of 2007, I had the opportunity to go on Smithsonian Journeys’ Egyptian Odyssey trip. It was truly an odyssey – a glimpse into a distant land, seeped in history and even an air of mystery. When my fellow travelers were asked why they had chosen the trip, most of them responded with phrases like, “it has been a lifelong dream of mine” or “I have always been fascinated with Egypt.” Both of which were also true for me.

On our very first day, we approached the Great Pyramids of Giza, gazing skyward as the bright sun beat down on us. Standing in the shadow of these monuments, one cannot imagine what a task it must have been to create such structures. Being able to touch the huge blocks and to even climb on top of the stones was a dream come true. Suddenly it hit me – “I’m actually in Egypt! Standing on a pyramid!”

Throughout our journey, we learned about both ancient and modern Egypt, asking question after question of our wonderful guide and study leader. In addition, since we were there during Ramadan, we were able to learn about and to experience this holiday firsthand. We cruised the Nile in a felucca, rode camels, explored ancient tombs, spoke with modern Egyptian women, and marveled at the treasures in the Egyptian Museum. We visited the Alabaster Mosque and the Hanging Church, saw the brand new library in Alexandria, danced with belly dancers, heard the call to prayer echo from minarets, and held our breath as we came upon Karnak at dawn.

Would I go back? In a heartbeat! Next time though, I want to make sure I make it to the Sinai Peninsula and over into Petra.

Annabelle Peake
Tour Communications Specialist
Academic Travel Abroad

Learn about our Egyptian tours click here.

Guias de viaje vs Blogs de viaje

Carlo Alvarez Spagnolo — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:39:39 +0000

Preparar un viaje con tiempo, documentarse y leer sobre los habitos de vida, son experiencias gratificantes, a veces casi tanto como el propio viaje.

Internet tambien ha mejorado esta parte del viaje. Las guias de viaje cuentan con hermanas digitales que se actualizan más a menudo que las de papel y que muestran videos y mapas interactivos. Mas aun, han evolucionado a comunidades de viajes que se alimentan de los UGC y se complementan de maravilla con ese otro gran negocio de las opiniones de usuarios.

Las opciones se multiplican: Tripadvisor, Trivago, TravBuddy, Minube, Boo, IgoUgo, VibeAgent, WAYN, Travellerspoint, Driftr, Wikitravel, Zoomandgo, Virtualtourist, eDestino, GLOBOsapiens, la oferta de sitios con contenidos de destino subidos por usuarios es impresionante. Incluso American Express ha lanzado su comunidad.

Las guias clasicas parecen solventes en sus expertas opiniones pero a veces queda la duda de si son imparciales. Las opiniones de usuarios parecen transparentes y espontaneas pero queda la duda de si son solventes. Ambas se complementan y desde luego son una fuente inagotable de información. Pero desde mi punto de vista son insuficientes, porque no son capaces de mostrar la cotidianeidad.

Una vez satisfecha la necesidad de obtener informaciones prácticas y datos historicos y socioeconomicos por medio de las guias, y una vez resueltas las dudas acerca de donde dormir, que parques visitar etc, en las páginas con UGC, sigue quedando una laguna de curiosidades insatisfechas.

Esta laguna se puede (y debe) tratar de cubrir leyendo literatura relacionada con el destino. En el caso del viaje a Japón que estoy preparando, por ejemplo, se puede leer a Haruki Murakami, pero para mi, el verdadero descubrimiento mientras me documentaba sobre Japón, han sido los blogs.

Para el viaje a Japón que empiezo mañana, me han dejado alguna buena guía y he comprado la última edición del Tokyo Guidebook de TimeOut, pero tras tres meses de lectura de blogs de Japón, por primera vez, me dispongo a partir con la sensación de que se me escaparán menos detalles de lo que vea a mi alrededor, que dispongo de más elementos para entender la realidad que me circunda. Soy de los que gustan de ‘perder el tiempo‘ callejeando y admirando las diferencias, precisamente el tipo de observación que recojen los blogs y que no recojen las guias más que en su sección de curiosidades, y que no recojen las comunidades de viajes porque los que hablan son viajeros que estan de paso, con menos tiempo para observar que los que viven alli. Para muestra de lo que quiero decir: la luz verde de los semaforos de Japón, ¿es verde o es azul?.

Quizas habría que distinguir entre los blogs que hablan de muchos destinos y los que se centran en uno. Para mi, estos últimos, son el complemento necesario a las guias porque, junto con la literatura, son los mejores observadores de la cotidianeidad.

Blogs de Japón:

¿Alguna recomendación sobre Japón?

Internet social networks - Social networks managers wanted

socialnetworkjobs — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 08:33:02 +0000

Internet social networks: list of social networks

Welcome to our list of social networks! Please let us know if your social network is not listed here, this is just the start of the list. Links to this post, with link titles such as “Internet social networks”, list of Internet social networks and reviews of Internet social networks are welcome!

Open source social network: registering one account on this social network allows you to access dozens of other affiliated social network. No more nightmares remembering passwords etc.
European social network: social network for European users
Social network for peace : social network promoting peace by linking people
Second life avatars social network: social network for Second Life residents
Polska social network: social network for Polish users
Magyar social network: social network for Magyar users

Internet social networks: jobs in social networks

Here we list vacancies from social networks and other Web 2.0 companies. Best wishes for your search of employment online!

Social networks managers wanted
If you are familiar with European social networks as IWIW.HU, MySpace.com, Orkut, Grono.net, Rate.ee, Limpa.ru, etc you can be the right person for us! We are looking for European social network managers, able to lead our communities in their own countries/languages. Managers are evaluated and paid on performances, for this reason we are 100% flexible about working time and location. You can work from home, travel and work, work little or many hours; that is all up to you! We monitor only performances, so if you deliver on your promises, you will be rewarded.

Application process is very easy. At this stage, we hope to hear from as many candidates as possible. Then, we will short-list the candidates who look more suitable. The top performers will be offered a job as social network managers, and the top manager in each country can become social network country manager and co-ordinate the whole site.

Please make yourself familiar with one or more of our sites (they all use the same social network platform):
European social network
Social network for peace
Second life avatars social network
Open source social network

After, please contact us on http://www.smilegrid.com/contact.php providing:
- contact information
- why you are the right person to be social network manager
- how many users you can bring us in the first week
- how many users you can bring us per month
- salary expectations
- projects you already worked on
- copied-pasted resume (if you have one)
- any information you consider relevant

Tags: Jaringan sosial, Rete sociale, Ismeretségi hálózat, Sociaal netwerk, Sieć społeczna, Rede social, Socialt netværk, Soziales Netzwerk, Sotsiaalne võrgustik, Red social, Réseau social, Ismeretségi hálózat, IWIW, MySpace.com, Orkut, social networks, hungarian social networks, European social network, Second life avatars social network, Open source social networks, Social network for peace, www.IWIW.hu