Black Tea and Super Colliders

Hey everyone,

This message comes from myself. My anti-self will be posting here shortly.

I arrived in Cairo early this morning after a couple lovely flights and a short and rainy layover in Amsterdam. Oh. There is so much to tell.

On the flight from Houston to Amsterdam I sat next to a lovely, lovely lady named Jetske who was traveling to Holland for her mother's 100th birthday. If I have a 100th birthday, it will be a barn burner for sure. And you are all invited. Thinking about it though, I think 100th birthdays could be sad. You probably can not see well so there's no point decorating. You probably can't move well so you won't be dancing. And, worst of all, you probably do not have teeth so no cake! Tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. Jetske was great company and the flight went by quickly.

Amsterdam is a neat place. I visited the Rijksmuseum, home to the paintings of Dutch master painters. The most famous work in the collection is Rembrandt's The Night Watch. It is huge, in many senses of the word. The public transportation in Amsterdam is great. I'm a big fan. Being in Europe is tough though. Everyone is super trendy. That was definitely the most self-conscious eight hours of my life.

On the flight from Amsterdam to Cairo I sat next to a teacher from England. She teaches reception (the British version of kindergarten). Reception sounds so welcoming.

I am staying with my friend Lizz, a Midd graduate, in Cairo. She, her mother, and her roommates showed me around. They are all great. I will meet the rest of the sports camp group tomorrow evening at the airport.

Okay. Now seriously, have you all heard about this Large Hadron Collider in Geneva that could create a black hole and consume the planet? They are looking to recreate the conditions that existed after the Big Bang. Now I'm not a doctor, but that sounds risky. And what does the city of Geneva think of this? Do lab coats and picturesque mountains offer protection from black holes? Or practically, how do you collide two sub atomic particles? They're so tiny. Some one explain this to me.

Oddly, the term super collider could be used to describe traffic in Cairo. Or chaos theory.

The beard is going strong. So full and manly and non-existent. I am not giving up hope. You shouldn't either.

43 hours without a shower, yummy tea, and good company