Day 58 July 18 – Goodbye Tim
Today is my last day at Abassa, Egypt; and my last day with Tim Sprick. I spent the morning cleaning my room and filling my suitcase. After spending about an hour cleaning up, I cooked myself breakfast. Then I headed over to the office to find Tim already looking around the internet. It was then he told me that he was leaving at three to go to some church I had never heard of. He said neither had he but Dr. Samir assured him it was famous and worth seeing.
Well three o’clock rolled around and I said goodbye to my roommate of two and half weeks. I am sure we will keep in contact through his blog and facebook. So now I was alone and very bored; being the weekend I was the only one here. I spent the rest of the day getting everything ready and cleaning. I had to sweep everything, mop, clean the shower, and do the dishes. I also removed all of my old food from the fridge, I have a tendency to just push food I don’t want to the back.
I ended up finding plenty of old nasty food in there.
Here is the plan of my return home. Someone will drive me from Abassa to Cairo. Dr. Elghobashy will drive me to the airport. I will get to there early to make sure everything goes right. Then I will fly British Air from Cairo to London. Three hour layover. Long flight from London to Phoenix. Take shuttle from Phoenix to Speedway and Wilmont, Tucson. Someone will give me a ride home from there. Anyone want to take my bet that it will not all go that smooth?
Got an Email from U of A saying I will get my roommate assignment tomorrow, nervous? Oh yea, I don’t need a crazy.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Day 58 July 18 – Goodbye Tim
Today is my last day at Abassa, Egypt; and my last day with Tim Sprick. I spent the morning cleaning my room and filling my suitcase. After spending about an hour cleaning up, I cooked myself breakfast. Then I headed over to the office to find Tim already looking around the internet. It was then he told me that he was leaving at three to go to some church I had never heard of. He said neither had he but Dr. Samir assured him it was famous and worth seeing.
Well three o’clock rolled around and I said goodbye to my roommate of two and half weeks. I am sure we will keep in contact through his blog and facebook. So now I was alone and very bored; being the weekend I was the only one here. I spent the rest of the day getting everything ready and cleaning. I had to sweep everything, mop, clean the shower, and do the dishes. I also removed all of my old food from the fridge, I have a tendency to just push food I don’t want to the back.
I ended up finding plenty of old nasty food in there.
Here is the plan of my return home. Someone will drive me from Abassa to Cairo. Dr. Elghobashy will drive me to the airport. I will get to there early to make sure everything goes right. Then I will fly British Air from Cairo to London. Three hour layover. Long flight from London to Phoenix. Take shuttle from Phoenix to Speedway and Wilmont, Tucson. Someone will give me a ride home from there. Anyone want to take my bet that it will not all go that smooth?
Got an Email from U of A saying I will get my roommate assignment tomorrow, nervous? Oh yea, I don’t need a crazy.
Today is my last day at Abassa, Egypt; and my last day with Tim Sprick. I spent the morning cleaning my room and filling my suitcase. After spending about an hour cleaning up, I cooked myself breakfast. Then I headed over to the office to find Tim already looking around the internet. It was then he told me that he was leaving at three to go to some church I had never heard of. He said neither had he but Dr. Samir assured him it was famous and worth seeing.
Well three o’clock rolled around and I said goodbye to my roommate of two and half weeks. I am sure we will keep in contact through his blog and facebook. So now I was alone and very bored; being the weekend I was the only one here. I spent the rest of the day getting everything ready and cleaning. I had to sweep everything, mop, clean the shower, and do the dishes. I also removed all of my old food from the fridge, I have a tendency to just push food I don’t want to the back.
I ended up finding plenty of old nasty food in there.
Here is the plan of my return home. Someone will drive me from Abassa to Cairo. Dr. Elghobashy will drive me to the airport. I will get to there early to make sure everything goes right. Then I will fly British Air from Cairo to London. Three hour layover. Long flight from London to Phoenix. Take shuttle from Phoenix to Speedway and Wilmont, Tucson. Someone will give me a ride home from there. Anyone want to take my bet that it will not all go that smooth?
Got an Email from U of A saying I will get my roommate assignment tomorrow, nervous? Oh yea, I don’t need a crazy.
Salam Wallaycum
Day 57 July 17 – Salam Wallaycum
This morning Tim got up early to see another harvest; I was lazy and decided not to go. I have seen plenty of fish harvests, I understand how it works. It really isn’t a complicated procedure, just time and effort consuming. I am happy to see how different farms do harvests but here it is simple; lower water, net fish, scoop in buckets up to side, sort by species and size.
Today is Thursday, the final day of the workweek so I need to say all of my thank yous and goodbyes. It was arranged yesterday that a car would come at noon to drive me to CLAR about ¾ mile way. I was perfectly happy to walk but they insist because they say it is hot and dangerous… Well at two o’clock I was tired of waiting around so I just walked over. There I said goodbye to Dr. Said, the director of CLAR, and the other top scientists. They conveniently all happened to be in the same room which saved me lots of effort.
I also wanted to thank the actual scientists who I spent about a week with actually learning the methods. I found them in their lab and spent a good hour saying goodbye and thank you to a bunch of people. One of the scientists was nice enough to give me a motorcycle ride back to my room.
I spent the rest of the day beginning to get all of my stuff together, after two months it seems to be everywhere. I did my laundry and did some of the dishes, we don’t have a dishwasher. As I took my laundry out of the washer I noticed all my whites had a distinct green tint, oops.
Because Tim had attended the harvest this morning he was given four Tilapia. We both agree that they look gross when they are just thrown on the fire so we cook them more. When we get them they look like black and brown blobs, so I peel the skin and fry the meat. Then throw that on some rice and it tastes pretty good.
This morning Tim got up early to see another harvest; I was lazy and decided not to go. I have seen plenty of fish harvests, I understand how it works. It really isn’t a complicated procedure, just time and effort consuming. I am happy to see how different farms do harvests but here it is simple; lower water, net fish, scoop in buckets up to side, sort by species and size.
Today is Thursday, the final day of the workweek so I need to say all of my thank yous and goodbyes. It was arranged yesterday that a car would come at noon to drive me to CLAR about ¾ mile way. I was perfectly happy to walk but they insist because they say it is hot and dangerous… Well at two o’clock I was tired of waiting around so I just walked over. There I said goodbye to Dr. Said, the director of CLAR, and the other top scientists. They conveniently all happened to be in the same room which saved me lots of effort.
I also wanted to thank the actual scientists who I spent about a week with actually learning the methods. I found them in their lab and spent a good hour saying goodbye and thank you to a bunch of people. One of the scientists was nice enough to give me a motorcycle ride back to my room.
I spent the rest of the day beginning to get all of my stuff together, after two months it seems to be everywhere. I did my laundry and did some of the dishes, we don’t have a dishwasher. As I took my laundry out of the washer I noticed all my whites had a distinct green tint, oops.
Because Tim had attended the harvest this morning he was given four Tilapia. We both agree that they look gross when they are just thrown on the fire so we cook them more. When we get them they look like black and brown blobs, so I peel the skin and fry the meat. Then throw that on some rice and it tastes pretty good.
Not For Chemical Fumes
Day 56 July 16 – Not For Chemical Fumes
Today the big event was finishing the nitrate test we began yesterday. Tim didn’t know why this test is important but we will ask tomorrow. Yesterday we took a 50ml sample of each of the six ponds and filtered them. The filter used is very, what’s the word, precise? Therefore we must use a vacuum to pull the water samples through the filter or it would take hours. Then we put each of the filtered water sample is a ceramic dish. The last step we did yesterday was put the six ceramic dishes on a heater so today only the dissolved solids will remain.
Today we arrived to find all the water form the samples evaporated with only the salts remaining. Tim told me to add 1ml of some chemical to each of the samples. It is not that I wasn’t paying attention it is just the vial of chemical had no label. When I added the chemical and stirred it a horrible smelling vapor rose up. At this point Tim remembered that we were supposed to be wearing masks. Soon he handed me a dust mask, I asked what these were for. Tim told me that we had to wear these because the vapors are dangerous. I didn’t think these were meant for that so I checked the box; in big bold font the box said “Not for protection from Chemical Fumes.” Oh well.
The next part of the test needed to be preformed in a hood, a special table with a fan/vacuum to keep the worker from inhaling fumes. We had to add 4ml of 33% ammonium to each of the pond samples. This is where it got slightly dangerous, when adding the ammonium to the samples noxious fumes were given off. The hood didn’t work great so we had to be careful to breathe away from the samples. After adding about 45ml of distilled water to the samples we brought the samples back to the lab. The final step of the process was to take a very small amount of each sample and measure it under the spectrometer.
Later in the afternoon Dr. Gamal came by and gave us some Egyptian deserts. Most of them were very good, but there were a few that were…an acquired taste. I’m finally starting to get everything packed up, and cleaning us the dorm room.
Today the big event was finishing the nitrate test we began yesterday. Tim didn’t know why this test is important but we will ask tomorrow. Yesterday we took a 50ml sample of each of the six ponds and filtered them. The filter used is very, what’s the word, precise? Therefore we must use a vacuum to pull the water samples through the filter or it would take hours. Then we put each of the filtered water sample is a ceramic dish. The last step we did yesterday was put the six ceramic dishes on a heater so today only the dissolved solids will remain.
Today we arrived to find all the water form the samples evaporated with only the salts remaining. Tim told me to add 1ml of some chemical to each of the samples. It is not that I wasn’t paying attention it is just the vial of chemical had no label. When I added the chemical and stirred it a horrible smelling vapor rose up. At this point Tim remembered that we were supposed to be wearing masks. Soon he handed me a dust mask, I asked what these were for. Tim told me that we had to wear these because the vapors are dangerous. I didn’t think these were meant for that so I checked the box; in big bold font the box said “Not for protection from Chemical Fumes.” Oh well.
The next part of the test needed to be preformed in a hood, a special table with a fan/vacuum to keep the worker from inhaling fumes. We had to add 4ml of 33% ammonium to each of the pond samples. This is where it got slightly dangerous, when adding the ammonium to the samples noxious fumes were given off. The hood didn’t work great so we had to be careful to breathe away from the samples. After adding about 45ml of distilled water to the samples we brought the samples back to the lab. The final step of the process was to take a very small amount of each sample and measure it under the spectrometer.
Later in the afternoon Dr. Gamal came by and gave us some Egyptian deserts. Most of them were very good, but there were a few that were…an acquired taste. I’m finally starting to get everything packed up, and cleaning us the dorm room.
This is Thriller
Day 55 July 15 – This is Thriller
Today was a long day, busy busy busy. The first thing I did was work with Dr. Waheed as he stocked another net with four male and female catfish. Tim and I picked out the fish this time, Tim’s first time working with live catfish. I also looked at the hours old catfish fry that we worked on yesterday. The catfish eggs are much smaller than Tilapia eggs, the fry also hatch from their eggs much smaller.
Tim has a schedule that lists when he needs to perform the different tests on water samples from the pond. Some tests need to be preformed every two days, while other only need to be done once a week. Today it worked out that we had to do every single test. This process took almost three hours but game us something to fill our time, a nice change.
For about the tenth straight day we had pasta with tomato sauce on it for dinner. I think I will go into town tomorrow to get a haircut. It only costs a dollar here so I will do it now so I don’t have to spend thirteen dollars when I get home. I’m getting more and more excited to come home. I love to make fun of Tim because he has to stay here for another two weeks alone. I am so excited to hang out with Sean and go see all the movies I missed. And I miss my wonderful bikes, the trails are calling to me.
Afternoons here are pretty boring so we have to find ways to entertain ourselves. Tonight we watched Jurassic Park II, terrible movie. After that we just put iTunes, full blast on shuffle, hilarity ensues.
Today was a long day, busy busy busy. The first thing I did was work with Dr. Waheed as he stocked another net with four male and female catfish. Tim and I picked out the fish this time, Tim’s first time working with live catfish. I also looked at the hours old catfish fry that we worked on yesterday. The catfish eggs are much smaller than Tilapia eggs, the fry also hatch from their eggs much smaller.
Tim has a schedule that lists when he needs to perform the different tests on water samples from the pond. Some tests need to be preformed every two days, while other only need to be done once a week. Today it worked out that we had to do every single test. This process took almost three hours but game us something to fill our time, a nice change.
For about the tenth straight day we had pasta with tomato sauce on it for dinner. I think I will go into town tomorrow to get a haircut. It only costs a dollar here so I will do it now so I don’t have to spend thirteen dollars when I get home. I’m getting more and more excited to come home. I love to make fun of Tim because he has to stay here for another two weeks alone. I am so excited to hang out with Sean and go see all the movies I missed. And I miss my wonderful bikes, the trails are calling to me.
Afternoons here are pretty boring so we have to find ways to entertain ourselves. Tonight we watched Jurassic Park II, terrible movie. After that we just put iTunes, full blast on shuffle, hilarity ensues.
Family Fun
Day 54 July 14 – Family Fun
Tim woke me up early this morning so I could see Dr. Waheed show how they perform natural catfish spawning. Dr. Waheed told us that the important factors of natural catfish spawning were water level, population density, and temperature. I was surprised to hear that the male to female ratio is 1:1.
The first step was to set up a net in a concrete tank which made a pen about 1 cubic meter in size. Then we picked out eight fish; four male and four female. We checked the color of the eggs but getting the right color didn’t seem vital. We then put the fish into the net. The water was about a foot and a half deep, warm, and clean. Putting the eight fish into such a small area made the population density slightly higher than what I have seen in normal ponds.
While I recognize that natural spawning is simple I think overall artificial spawning is better. Artificial spawning has much higher fertilization rates and a greater degree of control. Artificial spawning does require much more training but I believe the benefits greatly outweigh the costs.
Around 6pm Tim and I were sitting around watching the movie “Wanted” when the doorbell rang. Outside we found Dr. Gamal and his 18 year old son. Dr. Gamal introduced his son to us and after some chit-chat he left. After a slightly awkward goodbye I was left with the suspicion that Dr. Gamal wanted his son to stay with us. This was not at all clear but I asked Tim if he thought the same thing, he confirmed my suspicion. We agreed that Dr. Gamal meant us to hang out with his son so we headed out to find him playing soccer with his little brother. He seemed very relieved when he saw us and asked us to play with him.
Dr. Gamal’s oldest son is named Mohamed and his younger son is named Akmed. We played soccer for a few hours, surprisingly we were evenly matched. We talked about what Mohamed was going to do in his first year of college, he spoke excellent English. After a few hours Dr. Gamal and his small daughter came and joined in the game. We all quickly got exhausted while playing a full speed game in the Egyptian sun. Soon we all headed back to our rooms for cold showers and drinks.
Tim woke me up early this morning so I could see Dr. Waheed show how they perform natural catfish spawning. Dr. Waheed told us that the important factors of natural catfish spawning were water level, population density, and temperature. I was surprised to hear that the male to female ratio is 1:1.
The first step was to set up a net in a concrete tank which made a pen about 1 cubic meter in size. Then we picked out eight fish; four male and four female. We checked the color of the eggs but getting the right color didn’t seem vital. We then put the fish into the net. The water was about a foot and a half deep, warm, and clean. Putting the eight fish into such a small area made the population density slightly higher than what I have seen in normal ponds.
While I recognize that natural spawning is simple I think overall artificial spawning is better. Artificial spawning has much higher fertilization rates and a greater degree of control. Artificial spawning does require much more training but I believe the benefits greatly outweigh the costs.
Around 6pm Tim and I were sitting around watching the movie “Wanted” when the doorbell rang. Outside we found Dr. Gamal and his 18 year old son. Dr. Gamal introduced his son to us and after some chit-chat he left. After a slightly awkward goodbye I was left with the suspicion that Dr. Gamal wanted his son to stay with us. This was not at all clear but I asked Tim if he thought the same thing, he confirmed my suspicion. We agreed that Dr. Gamal meant us to hang out with his son so we headed out to find him playing soccer with his little brother. He seemed very relieved when he saw us and asked us to play with him.
Dr. Gamal’s oldest son is named Mohamed and his younger son is named Akmed. We played soccer for a few hours, surprisingly we were evenly matched. We talked about what Mohamed was going to do in his first year of college, he spoke excellent English. After a few hours Dr. Gamal and his small daughter came and joined in the game. We all quickly got exhausted while playing a full speed game in the Egyptian sun. Soon we all headed back to our rooms for cold showers and drinks.
Ruby Slippers
Day 53 July 13 – Ruby Slippers
Today I once again headed out to the ponds to check on the water levels of our ponds. We checked seepage and evaporation today because the workers refilled the pond this morning. Tim once again couldn’t reach the cover of the pipe so I had to go swimming. We had to record the initial water levels so future evaporation levels will be relevant. We didn’t have to change anything for the seepage, that is unaffected by the water level.
Home is getting closer and closer and I can’t wait. I’ve been away from home for long periods of time, but I have never wanted to be back in Tucson as much as I do now. Egypt is great but as Dorthy said, “there’s no place like home.” I wish I had some ruby slippers; they would be much more convenient than 17 hours of driving, jets, delays, and layovers. But I’m not looking forward to the five essays I need to write upon my return to Tucson.
I think I will talk a little about the clothes people wear here at the lab. The manual workers all wear one piece jumpsuits, similar to what you might see at a car mechanic shop. They don’t wear anything on their feet and most wear what looks like an old boonies hat. The scientist all wear long dress style pants with a long button down shirt tucked into them. They sometimes wear white lab coats if they are doing work outside of their offices.
Today I once again headed out to the ponds to check on the water levels of our ponds. We checked seepage and evaporation today because the workers refilled the pond this morning. Tim once again couldn’t reach the cover of the pipe so I had to go swimming. We had to record the initial water levels so future evaporation levels will be relevant. We didn’t have to change anything for the seepage, that is unaffected by the water level.
Home is getting closer and closer and I can’t wait. I’ve been away from home for long periods of time, but I have never wanted to be back in Tucson as much as I do now. Egypt is great but as Dorthy said, “there’s no place like home.” I wish I had some ruby slippers; they would be much more convenient than 17 hours of driving, jets, delays, and layovers. But I’m not looking forward to the five essays I need to write upon my return to Tucson.
I think I will talk a little about the clothes people wear here at the lab. The manual workers all wear one piece jumpsuits, similar to what you might see at a car mechanic shop. They don’t wear anything on their feet and most wear what looks like an old boonies hat. The scientist all wear long dress style pants with a long button down shirt tucked into them. They sometimes wear white lab coats if they are doing work outside of their offices.
Back to Work
Day 52 July 12 – Back to Work
Today was wonderful; we had almost nothing to do. I woke up late and headed over to the office to see what we were supposed to do. After I found Tim sitting around and he told me what the days plan was, I joined him on the computers. After a few hours we went around to the other offices to check up with all the other scientists. I talked to Dr. Gamal about how I was going to get back to Cairo and the airport.
In the afternoon I needed to go into town to get some food, we were totally out. For the third time I invited Tim to come with me into town. Tim has always refused to come with me because he thought he wasn’t supposed to leave the compound. After explaining to him that I can only buy however much food I can carry, he volunteered to come. After ignoring the stupid warnings of my useless bodyguard Tim and I walked into town. Eventually we got a tuk-tuk taxi to take us the rest of the way into town. We got all kinds of fruit, bread, and chips - junk food. After showing Tim around town we headed back on a different tuk-tuk.
I was thrilled to find that Tim had all kinds of movies saved on his laptop, MOVIE NIGHT!! He copied all the movies I wanted to my computer so when I head home soon, I will have some entertainment. But I was nice to watch the movie Stop-Loss, a nice change of pace. It is a movie that points out many of the things I hate about the military but is also an excellent movie.
Today was wonderful; we had almost nothing to do. I woke up late and headed over to the office to see what we were supposed to do. After I found Tim sitting around and he told me what the days plan was, I joined him on the computers. After a few hours we went around to the other offices to check up with all the other scientists. I talked to Dr. Gamal about how I was going to get back to Cairo and the airport.
In the afternoon I needed to go into town to get some food, we were totally out. For the third time I invited Tim to come with me into town. Tim has always refused to come with me because he thought he wasn’t supposed to leave the compound. After explaining to him that I can only buy however much food I can carry, he volunteered to come. After ignoring the stupid warnings of my useless bodyguard Tim and I walked into town. Eventually we got a tuk-tuk taxi to take us the rest of the way into town. We got all kinds of fruit, bread, and chips - junk food. After showing Tim around town we headed back on a different tuk-tuk.
I was thrilled to find that Tim had all kinds of movies saved on his laptop, MOVIE NIGHT!! He copied all the movies I wanted to my computer so when I head home soon, I will have some entertainment. But I was nice to watch the movie Stop-Loss, a nice change of pace. It is a movie that points out many of the things I hate about the military but is also an excellent movie.
Early to Rise
Day 51 July 11 – Early to Rise
Today I once again woke up at 6:30am to go measure the oxygen levels of twenty ponds. After spending twenty minutes of fiddling with the stupid oxygen meter, I finally realized I was the dumb one because it was working fine the whole time. I thought it was broken because the oxygen levels were much higher than I expected.
Usually, the ponds I measure in the morning have a dissolved oxygen level of .5 to 3 mg/liter. When the ponds I measured had an oxygen level of almost 7mg/liter I assumed that the oxygen meter was, once again, broken. After almost twenty minutes of fiddling with and calibrating I tested on another pond. After this I realized that it was just the oxygen levels of Tim’s ponds were dramatically higher than the other ponds. When I returned to the room I meant to ask Tim the reason for this difference but decided going back to sleep was much more vital.
At 2pm I woke back up and asked Tim about the difference between his ponds and the other ponds. Tim told me that he asked the same questions to his boss. He told me that there were a few reasons for this difference. First, his ponds have concrete walls but a muddy bottom. These walls prevent the growth of reeds, grasses, and other plants; while these plants create oxygen in the day they remove it in the night. So with concrete walls the daily variation of the oxygen levels would be much less than dirt walled ponds.
Another factor in the difference between oxygen levels is the fact that Tim’s ponds are not seeded. For some reason Tim’s ponds have not had chicken waste added to spur the growth of plankton. The plankton leads to natural food but also to a large fluctuation of the oxygen levels.
Today I once again woke up at 6:30am to go measure the oxygen levels of twenty ponds. After spending twenty minutes of fiddling with the stupid oxygen meter, I finally realized I was the dumb one because it was working fine the whole time. I thought it was broken because the oxygen levels were much higher than I expected.
Usually, the ponds I measure in the morning have a dissolved oxygen level of .5 to 3 mg/liter. When the ponds I measured had an oxygen level of almost 7mg/liter I assumed that the oxygen meter was, once again, broken. After almost twenty minutes of fiddling with and calibrating I tested on another pond. After this I realized that it was just the oxygen levels of Tim’s ponds were dramatically higher than the other ponds. When I returned to the room I meant to ask Tim the reason for this difference but decided going back to sleep was much more vital.
At 2pm I woke back up and asked Tim about the difference between his ponds and the other ponds. Tim told me that he asked the same questions to his boss. He told me that there were a few reasons for this difference. First, his ponds have concrete walls but a muddy bottom. These walls prevent the growth of reeds, grasses, and other plants; while these plants create oxygen in the day they remove it in the night. So with concrete walls the daily variation of the oxygen levels would be much less than dirt walled ponds.
Another factor in the difference between oxygen levels is the fact that Tim’s ponds are not seeded. For some reason Tim’s ponds have not had chicken waste added to spur the growth of plankton. The plankton leads to natural food but also to a large fluctuation of the oxygen levels.
Phosphorous
Day 50 July 10 – Phosphorous
Let me begin by explaining why my recent entries have not been so packed with information. First, I am nearing the end of my trip and I have learned the basics of all the relevant subjects. Second, my current project is working with my roommate Tim in caring for six ponds. This job does not require lots of time but enough that I cannot leave to go work with the other scientists here. While learning the science is important, actually being responsible for ponds is vital; perhaps even more important.
Today I once again got up early to go with Tim and take the dissolved oxygen levels of his ponds. Everything was fine so we headed back to the lab to perform a phosphorous test on water samples from each pond. We had planned on doing this test yesterday but were thwarted because there was not enough of a certain solution. So we made the missing solution but it had to sit for 24hours.
Today everything was ready so we began the test. The way this test works is you take a sample from each pond and put them into a spectrometer. The spectrometer is set to a certain frequency, 880nm, and the light is fired through the sample. The frequency used is specific to phosphorous and is interfered by it. The amount of phosphorus in the water can then be derived by measuring the amount of light lost as it travels through the sample.
This process might sound familiar because I talked about it a few weeks ago. This same process, using a spectrometer, can be used to measure many different materials in water samples.
Let me begin by explaining why my recent entries have not been so packed with information. First, I am nearing the end of my trip and I have learned the basics of all the relevant subjects. Second, my current project is working with my roommate Tim in caring for six ponds. This job does not require lots of time but enough that I cannot leave to go work with the other scientists here. While learning the science is important, actually being responsible for ponds is vital; perhaps even more important.
Today I once again got up early to go with Tim and take the dissolved oxygen levels of his ponds. Everything was fine so we headed back to the lab to perform a phosphorous test on water samples from each pond. We had planned on doing this test yesterday but were thwarted because there was not enough of a certain solution. So we made the missing solution but it had to sit for 24hours.
Today everything was ready so we began the test. The way this test works is you take a sample from each pond and put them into a spectrometer. The spectrometer is set to a certain frequency, 880nm, and the light is fired through the sample. The frequency used is specific to phosphorous and is interfered by it. The amount of phosphorus in the water can then be derived by measuring the amount of light lost as it travels through the sample.
This process might sound familiar because I talked about it a few weeks ago. This same process, using a spectrometer, can be used to measure many different materials in water samples.
Bodyguard
Day 49 July 9 – Bodyguard
Last night I foolishly agreed to accompany Tim at 6:30am as he went to measure the oxygen levels of about 20 ponds. While normally this wouldn’t be too bad, that time is when mosquitoes are most active.
I was surprised to see how dramatically the oxygen levels had decreased overnight. I assumed that the oxygen level of ponds would only show substantial decrease if the pond contained a large fish biomass. I was surprised to see oxygen levels of 2units, compared to 8-9units in the day time in Tim’s ponds. I interpret this to mean the algae has a much larger affect on the reduction of oxygen levels than I originally suspected. It is also possible that even the small fish in Tim’s pond are making a substantial difference in the pond, but I doubt it.
At 9am we had an official weigh in for all six of Tim’s ponds. This was to be his first set of results, very exciting. We walked out to the ponds to find the working sitting with all the gear. It was not our place to tell them to get to work so we had to wait 20 minutes for Dr. Gamal to come and tell them to do just that. The workers would get into the ponds, they are about 4 feet six inches deep. They used a medium size net to catch about 20 fry, hopefully a random sample. Then Tim would measure and weight 15 of them.
The only problem I could see with this process was I don’t think the fish were an accurate random sample. First, the biggest and strongest fish would have a better chance of not getting caught in the net. Next, the fry were transported in a crate with holes it, allowing the smallest fish to fall out and not be recorded. Lastly, the person who handed Tim the fish seemed the grab the fish that he knew would be easiest to hold, the largest.
At around 4pm Tim had to go back out to his six ponds and measure the seepage and evaporation. There is a PVC pipe stuck in the mud and covered to prevent evaporation. We had to uncover the pipe and record the water level, this is seepage. Then we record the difference between the water level inside and outside the pipe, this is evaporation. We couldn’t get the top off one of the pipes so I got in the water to remove it. The water was so nice and warm I stayed in for a few minutes, until Tim reminded me of the snake… A few days ago we found and had a water snake removed from one of Tim’s ponds. This was adequate motivation for me to get the hell out of the water, flash back of Snakes On A Plane occurred to me.
Well I finally meet me bodyguard. We were running low of food so I headed back toward Abassa for the fourth time. As I got to the security gate the guard asked what I was doing, after telling him I was going to town he told me “no, too dangerous.” Then my bodyguard walks over, he is either in his late 40s or early 50s. He was unarmed and it was quickly obvious he could no more protect me than do a push-up. My bodyguard starts speaking in Arabic and pointing toward town and himself. Now I never asked for a bodyguard, nobody at Abassa asked for a bodyguard, and he is obviously useless. So I stop asking and more start telling him to open the damn gate, I can take care of myself. I tower over everyone else here, I’m fit, and always bring my knife with me when I go into town alone. Most importantly I have already been into town many times and never had any problems.
Eventually the guard opens the gate and I start walking away, ignoring the bodyguards Arabic. I wondered weather my bodyguard was going to walk the two miles to town with me, I wasn’t sure he would be able to. Therefore I was not surprised to find myself walking alone along the dirt street. Everything was fine in town and returned with some badly needed food.
Last night I foolishly agreed to accompany Tim at 6:30am as he went to measure the oxygen levels of about 20 ponds. While normally this wouldn’t be too bad, that time is when mosquitoes are most active.
I was surprised to see how dramatically the oxygen levels had decreased overnight. I assumed that the oxygen level of ponds would only show substantial decrease if the pond contained a large fish biomass. I was surprised to see oxygen levels of 2units, compared to 8-9units in the day time in Tim’s ponds. I interpret this to mean the algae has a much larger affect on the reduction of oxygen levels than I originally suspected. It is also possible that even the small fish in Tim’s pond are making a substantial difference in the pond, but I doubt it.
At 9am we had an official weigh in for all six of Tim’s ponds. This was to be his first set of results, very exciting. We walked out to the ponds to find the working sitting with all the gear. It was not our place to tell them to get to work so we had to wait 20 minutes for Dr. Gamal to come and tell them to do just that. The workers would get into the ponds, they are about 4 feet six inches deep. They used a medium size net to catch about 20 fry, hopefully a random sample. Then Tim would measure and weight 15 of them.
The only problem I could see with this process was I don’t think the fish were an accurate random sample. First, the biggest and strongest fish would have a better chance of not getting caught in the net. Next, the fry were transported in a crate with holes it, allowing the smallest fish to fall out and not be recorded. Lastly, the person who handed Tim the fish seemed the grab the fish that he knew would be easiest to hold, the largest.
At around 4pm Tim had to go back out to his six ponds and measure the seepage and evaporation. There is a PVC pipe stuck in the mud and covered to prevent evaporation. We had to uncover the pipe and record the water level, this is seepage. Then we record the difference between the water level inside and outside the pipe, this is evaporation. We couldn’t get the top off one of the pipes so I got in the water to remove it. The water was so nice and warm I stayed in for a few minutes, until Tim reminded me of the snake… A few days ago we found and had a water snake removed from one of Tim’s ponds. This was adequate motivation for me to get the hell out of the water, flash back of Snakes On A Plane occurred to me.
Well I finally meet me bodyguard. We were running low of food so I headed back toward Abassa for the fourth time. As I got to the security gate the guard asked what I was doing, after telling him I was going to town he told me “no, too dangerous.” Then my bodyguard walks over, he is either in his late 40s or early 50s. He was unarmed and it was quickly obvious he could no more protect me than do a push-up. My bodyguard starts speaking in Arabic and pointing toward town and himself. Now I never asked for a bodyguard, nobody at Abassa asked for a bodyguard, and he is obviously useless. So I stop asking and more start telling him to open the damn gate, I can take care of myself. I tower over everyone else here, I’m fit, and always bring my knife with me when I go into town alone. Most importantly I have already been into town many times and never had any problems.
Eventually the guard opens the gate and I start walking away, ignoring the bodyguards Arabic. I wondered weather my bodyguard was going to walk the two miles to town with me, I wasn’t sure he would be able to. Therefore I was not surprised to find myself walking alone along the dirt street. Everything was fine in town and returned with some badly needed food.
Secret Service
Day 48 July 8 – Secret Service
So during a short conversation with Dr. Gamal he informed me I had a bodyguard. It turns out when I registered my passport with the police department, to extend my visa, they took note. The police now have a guard posted at one the two gates. Dr. Gamal told me that he thought this was ridiculous and wouldn’t let the police man onto the grounds. He said he was posted there more to show off than to actually protect me. I think having my own guard is ridiculous; the only time I have feared for my safety was from a police man, now I’m stuck with one.
Tim is sick and feeling lazy so I followed suit, this worked out great for me. The day was not a complete waste; Tim taught me how to do the phosphorus test. To do this test we made a solution, I have the formula here but it’s kind of boring. The next step would be to put the samples in the spectrometer to obtain a measurement. Tim told me that we will actually perform this test on pond samples in a few days.
So during a short conversation with Dr. Gamal he informed me I had a bodyguard. It turns out when I registered my passport with the police department, to extend my visa, they took note. The police now have a guard posted at one the two gates. Dr. Gamal told me that he thought this was ridiculous and wouldn’t let the police man onto the grounds. He said he was posted there more to show off than to actually protect me. I think having my own guard is ridiculous; the only time I have feared for my safety was from a police man, now I’m stuck with one.
Tim is sick and feeling lazy so I followed suit, this worked out great for me. The day was not a complete waste; Tim taught me how to do the phosphorus test. To do this test we made a solution, I have the formula here but it’s kind of boring. The next step would be to put the samples in the spectrometer to obtain a measurement. Tim told me that we will actually perform this test on pond samples in a few days.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Take Me Home Country Roads
Day 46 July 6 – Take Me Home Country Roads
I left Cairo with Dr. Elghobashy at around 7am to drive back to Abassa. Having stayed up late last night, I slept most of the hour long ride. Upon returning to Abassa, I left Dr. Elghobashy to go back to my room to drop off the food I bought. Back at the room I found Tim who told me about what he had been doing over the last few days.
Tim won some contest so was given to opportunity to come and spend time here at Abassa. But this agreement comes with restrictions, his schedule is much more tightly controlled and he is not supposed to leave the “secure World Fish Center area.” He is also required to do a large scale experiment, which he is completing in the six ponds I previously mentioned. He is also required to write up a complete scientific article compiling all of his data and results. He has a lot of data, haha.
I once again started working with Tim, helping collect data and measure aspects of the water. Tim spent about an hour trying to get a spreadsheet to work correctly, while I read other journal articles on similar subjects. While there were many articles on the subject of Tilapia stocking densities, I couldn’t find any that measured so many parameters of the pond as Tim is doing. The fish in Tim’s ponds are about 2cm long, from what I have seen so far.
I have been trying to figure out what I need to do for the flight home. Do I need to confirm the tickets, I am flying British Air? If so, how early can I confirm them and can I do it online? When I go to the ticket counter what do I need to have with me?
Top Gear could be the greatest show ever.
CIPRO, one of the medicines I was prescribed for “intestinal difficulties” was urgently recalled because it caused tendon damage. Good thing I didn’t use any.
If I cut my own hair for the next 50 years I could save ten thousand dollars. One haircut every three weeks at 12.50$ for fifty years = 10,863.09$. I am going to buy a hair cut kit when I get home. (see what happens when I am bored for hours a day.)
I left Cairo with Dr. Elghobashy at around 7am to drive back to Abassa. Having stayed up late last night, I slept most of the hour long ride. Upon returning to Abassa, I left Dr. Elghobashy to go back to my room to drop off the food I bought. Back at the room I found Tim who told me about what he had been doing over the last few days.
Tim won some contest so was given to opportunity to come and spend time here at Abassa. But this agreement comes with restrictions, his schedule is much more tightly controlled and he is not supposed to leave the “secure World Fish Center area.” He is also required to do a large scale experiment, which he is completing in the six ponds I previously mentioned. He is also required to write up a complete scientific article compiling all of his data and results. He has a lot of data, haha.
I once again started working with Tim, helping collect data and measure aspects of the water. Tim spent about an hour trying to get a spreadsheet to work correctly, while I read other journal articles on similar subjects. While there were many articles on the subject of Tilapia stocking densities, I couldn’t find any that measured so many parameters of the pond as Tim is doing. The fish in Tim’s ponds are about 2cm long, from what I have seen so far.
I have been trying to figure out what I need to do for the flight home. Do I need to confirm the tickets, I am flying British Air? If so, how early can I confirm them and can I do it online? When I go to the ticket counter what do I need to have with me?
Top Gear could be the greatest show ever.
CIPRO, one of the medicines I was prescribed for “intestinal difficulties” was urgently recalled because it caused tendon damage. Good thing I didn’t use any.
If I cut my own hair for the next 50 years I could save ten thousand dollars. One haircut every three weeks at 12.50$ for fifty years = 10,863.09$. I am going to buy a hair cut kit when I get home. (see what happens when I am bored for hours a day.)
Passing is Good
Day 45 July 5 – Passing is Good
Well today I decided to officially decide what my five essay topics would be for college credit. The five topics are supposed to cover topics of culture and aquaculture. Here they are…
Enhanced Aquaculture techniques
Catching Jumpers- how often
Green Houses
Artificial spawning vs Natural Spawning
Biological filters - natural and artificial
Hormones – Testerstrone and Estrogen
Worms from Ishmail
Constant current
Paddle wheels
Mixing Tilipia, Mullet Polyculture
7 stages of intensification
Explain levels
Levels of Dr. Ishmail's farm
Explain factors cost vs benefit analysis
Problems in developing countries - power outages - unreliable water
Exanimation of Islam and its cultural effects
Clothing
View on Atheism
Separation of Church and State?
Religious divisions – Suni Shia?
View on other religions
5 pillars of Islam
Similarity to the five minute activity in Big Brother
Examination of Islamic Prayer
Movements
History
Scripture
Mosque
Dawn Prayer?
1pm prayer
4:30 pm afternoon
7:50 sunset
9:40 evening prayer
Ramadan
Super Male
Don’t have to pay for hormones
People don’t like hormones in food
One time investment
None of the small wimpy fish – more control
No unwanted mating
Done at ista 6?
Need 1000 to work Dr Ishmail had 30
Once done it will continue by itself
Well today I decided to officially decide what my five essay topics would be for college credit. The five topics are supposed to cover topics of culture and aquaculture. Here they are…
Enhanced Aquaculture techniques
Catching Jumpers- how often
Green Houses
Artificial spawning vs Natural Spawning
Biological filters - natural and artificial
Hormones – Testerstrone and Estrogen
Worms from Ishmail
Constant current
Paddle wheels
Mixing Tilipia, Mullet Polyculture
7 stages of intensification
Explain levels
Levels of Dr. Ishmail's farm
Explain factors cost vs benefit analysis
Problems in developing countries - power outages - unreliable water
Exanimation of Islam and its cultural effects
Clothing
View on Atheism
Separation of Church and State?
Religious divisions – Suni Shia?
View on other religions
5 pillars of Islam
Similarity to the five minute activity in Big Brother
Examination of Islamic Prayer
Movements
History
Scripture
Mosque
Dawn Prayer?
1pm prayer
4:30 pm afternoon
7:50 sunset
9:40 evening prayer
Ramadan
Super Male
Don’t have to pay for hormones
People don’t like hormones in food
One time investment
None of the small wimpy fish – more control
No unwanted mating
Done at ista 6?
Need 1000 to work Dr Ishmail had 30
Once done it will continue by itself
Monday, July 14, 2008
No Quiet on the Eastern Front
Day 44 July 4 – No Quiet on the Eastern Front
Once again, Dr. Elghobashy’s son got kicked out of his bed, and was relegated to the couch. After sleeping till about 1:30 I got up and had breakfast. I didn’t have any plans so until about 5pm I just sat around and watched TV. At 5pm I just wanted to get out so I took a short walk over to the mango juice stand. For 50 cents I can get a tall glass of fresh squeezed mango juice, delicious. I can never only have just one glass.
My next expedition was a walk up the main street near the Elghobashy house. I walked about two miles up the street until it turned into a housing area, no shops or people working. While it is fun to go out and see the town there is one thing that drives me crazy, the noise. It is outrageously loud in the city, the cars and music become very frustrating.
When people in Egypt get married, instead of dragging cans or painting “just married,” they just lay on the car horn. It is also tradition for all the wedding guests to follow behind and do the same thing, sometimes with illegal sirens. While this is annoying by itself there are other factors that make it even worse.
Cairo is a very old city, the population has increased so dramatically while the size is limited by the surrounding environment. Because of these influences Cairo has built up, not outwards. The vast majority of the buildings in Cairo are multiple stories; the Elghobashy family lives on the fifth of six floors.
So when I walk on the streets of Cairo (no sidewalks) I am surrounded by tall stone buildings on all sides. These tall building amplify the noise, and the blaring car horns seem to make my brain rattle. People are constantly honking, there is usually only a second or two break between a blast of the horn. When walking along with a wedding procession the blaring horns are nonstop, literally. The deafening noise really gets annoying quickly; I was sorely tempted to profanely tell them to stop with the honking. I have to disagree with Simon and Garfunkel, the sound of silence isn’t so bad.
At night, around 9:30, I left with Dr. Elghobashy’s son to go see a movie. Two mico bus rides later we got to the mall. Once again I was very impressed by the largest mall in Egypt. I was disappointed that Batman and Wanted were not at the theaters, but I settled for What Happens in Vegas.
I miss 4th of July, one of my favorite American holidays.
Once again, Dr. Elghobashy’s son got kicked out of his bed, and was relegated to the couch. After sleeping till about 1:30 I got up and had breakfast. I didn’t have any plans so until about 5pm I just sat around and watched TV. At 5pm I just wanted to get out so I took a short walk over to the mango juice stand. For 50 cents I can get a tall glass of fresh squeezed mango juice, delicious. I can never only have just one glass.
My next expedition was a walk up the main street near the Elghobashy house. I walked about two miles up the street until it turned into a housing area, no shops or people working. While it is fun to go out and see the town there is one thing that drives me crazy, the noise. It is outrageously loud in the city, the cars and music become very frustrating.
When people in Egypt get married, instead of dragging cans or painting “just married,” they just lay on the car horn. It is also tradition for all the wedding guests to follow behind and do the same thing, sometimes with illegal sirens. While this is annoying by itself there are other factors that make it even worse.
Cairo is a very old city, the population has increased so dramatically while the size is limited by the surrounding environment. Because of these influences Cairo has built up, not outwards. The vast majority of the buildings in Cairo are multiple stories; the Elghobashy family lives on the fifth of six floors.
So when I walk on the streets of Cairo (no sidewalks) I am surrounded by tall stone buildings on all sides. These tall building amplify the noise, and the blaring car horns seem to make my brain rattle. People are constantly honking, there is usually only a second or two break between a blast of the horn. When walking along with a wedding procession the blaring horns are nonstop, literally. The deafening noise really gets annoying quickly; I was sorely tempted to profanely tell them to stop with the honking. I have to disagree with Simon and Garfunkel, the sound of silence isn’t so bad.
At night, around 9:30, I left with Dr. Elghobashy’s son to go see a movie. Two mico bus rides later we got to the mall. Once again I was very impressed by the largest mall in Egypt. I was disappointed that Batman and Wanted were not at the theaters, but I settled for What Happens in Vegas.
I miss 4th of July, one of my favorite American holidays.
Goodbye Fayoum
Day 43 July 3 – Goodbye Fayoum
Sorry batteries on camera are dead, can’t find more. No pictures for a few days.
Well I found out last night that today was going to be my final day in Fayoum. Today the adviser picked me up and drove me to the same farm as yesterday. Again we did the rounds; looking at the ponds and adjusting food levels based on the responses of the fish. I got even more practice checking the farms by sight, and recognizing other “symptoms” of a pond.
After a few hours of walking around in the sun we took a break in a building for tea and lunch. I refused tea today because the last thing I wanted was a boiling hot drink, I was dreaming of Eegee’s. Turning down the tea made everyone concerned, I had to convince them that I felt fine and that I wasn’t sick. The lunch consisted of, you guessed it, fish. The way they cooked the fish was about as simple as it gets, just chuck it in the fire. They made a small fire and just laid the fish right down of the wood, ash, and embers. Five to ten minutes later they grab them out and plop them down on the table. Obviously, you don’t eat the skin; all burnt and nasty looking. But once you peel back the skin the fish tasted fine. Not good, fine.
I finally figured out why I have been feeling so awful whenever we drive in Egypt. I have never gotten motion sickness, or carsickness in my life; but I always feel terrible when we drive here. I realized that it is the combination of noise, THICK air pollution, driving style, and the roads. The noise is ridiculous, everyone is honking their horn, it drives me crazy. The air pollution is a major problem inside Cairo, I can feel it in my lungs whenever I’m there. The way the drivers are constantly swerving, accelerating and decelerating also contributes to the problem. The roads are so bumpy and uneven that you are constantly bounced into the air. It is necessary for me to sit in the middle seat, otherwise I constantly smash my head into the roof of the car. These things all put together make me carsick nearly every time we drive. I have been able to keep it down but I still feel awful.
After lunch we drove back to Cairo and I moved back in with the Elghobashies. I was happy to sit around for the rest of the day, update the blog, and catch up.
Sorry batteries on camera are dead, can’t find more. No pictures for a few days.
Well I found out last night that today was going to be my final day in Fayoum. Today the adviser picked me up and drove me to the same farm as yesterday. Again we did the rounds; looking at the ponds and adjusting food levels based on the responses of the fish. I got even more practice checking the farms by sight, and recognizing other “symptoms” of a pond.
After a few hours of walking around in the sun we took a break in a building for tea and lunch. I refused tea today because the last thing I wanted was a boiling hot drink, I was dreaming of Eegee’s. Turning down the tea made everyone concerned, I had to convince them that I felt fine and that I wasn’t sick. The lunch consisted of, you guessed it, fish. The way they cooked the fish was about as simple as it gets, just chuck it in the fire. They made a small fire and just laid the fish right down of the wood, ash, and embers. Five to ten minutes later they grab them out and plop them down on the table. Obviously, you don’t eat the skin; all burnt and nasty looking. But once you peel back the skin the fish tasted fine. Not good, fine.
I finally figured out why I have been feeling so awful whenever we drive in Egypt. I have never gotten motion sickness, or carsickness in my life; but I always feel terrible when we drive here. I realized that it is the combination of noise, THICK air pollution, driving style, and the roads. The noise is ridiculous, everyone is honking their horn, it drives me crazy. The air pollution is a major problem inside Cairo, I can feel it in my lungs whenever I’m there. The way the drivers are constantly swerving, accelerating and decelerating also contributes to the problem. The roads are so bumpy and uneven that you are constantly bounced into the air. It is necessary for me to sit in the middle seat, otherwise I constantly smash my head into the roof of the car. These things all put together make me carsick nearly every time we drive. I have been able to keep it down but I still feel awful.
After lunch we drove back to Cairo and I moved back in with the Elghobashies. I was happy to sit around for the rest of the day, update the blog, and catch up.
Nothin
Day 42 July 2 – Nothin
Well today both of the men I have been working with are busy so I stayed in the hotel all day. I went swimming and read my book, that’s it. There is nowhere to go do touristy stuff so I laid around all day. At least I had a good dinner again.
Well today both of the men I have been working with are busy so I stayed in the hotel all day. I went swimming and read my book, that’s it. There is nowhere to go do touristy stuff so I laid around all day. At least I had a good dinner again.
Keel Haul
Day 41 July 2 – Keel Haul
Today I went to a new farm with a different adviser. This farm was also on that giant bird reservation. The Egyptian version of SpeedRacer was our driver to the farm. The drive there is beautiful, some of the most amazing sand dunes I have ever seen. The colors are so uniform that is impossible to see any detail, I couldn’t tell if what I was looking at was near hill or a far mountain.
As we were walking around the farm I noticed lots of little frogs, then lots and lots of little frogs. Looking down into the nearest pond I realized there was an infestation of inch long frogs. I was very surprised to see them in the water; I assumed to fish would eat them. I took this assumption from an experience I had at the family farm in New York. I was playing with a little frog then, taking it out further and further down the dock and watching it swim back to shore. Until one time I took it too far and a big fish swallowed my little friend. The adviser assured me the fish would not eat them because Tilapia are not carnivores. I would disagree because they eat mosquitoes and mosquitoes larvae. He said the frogs are a problem because they eat the fish food, but they also disappear three week after the pond is filled. I believe the fish grow large enough to eat the second generation of frogs, but the adviser does not think so.
I was also told that the color of the water is important as an indicator of water quality. If the water is dark green it indicates an abundance of phytoplankton; if brownish-yellow, zooplankton. Having zooplankton is better but both are necessary. The concentration of plankton can be influenced by introducing fermented chicken manure to the pond (yummy).
Once again I decided to take my afternoon swim, today I went out much later than yesterday. I finished my swim about 30 minutes before sunset but decided to stay in and watch it. After a beautiful sunset I swam back to the rocky shore. Normally I can easily step over the submerged wall which is used as a wave break. When the sun goes down the wind really picks up. This caused the water level to rise on my side of the lake, making it necessary to crawl over the wall. The waves caused by the wind made this treacherous and now my hands, feet, and stomach are covered in cuts from the barnacles.
For some reason my room is infested with tiny little ants, they are in everything. They crawl into this laptop’s keyboard, into my socks, my shirts, even into my hat. We can add those ants to the list of things in Egypt that drive me crazy; flies, mosquitoes, and ants.
For some random reason all the restaurants were closed tonight. Therefore my dinner consisted of a 7up, two HoHos, and a bag of chips. Because there is nothing to do here I end up reading a lot. In the three days I have been here I’ve read I Robot, Foundation, and Siddhartha.
Have you ever read a book you liked so much that other books you read seem unimpressive by comparison? Like having your first car be a Ferrari then being stuck with a Corolla the rest of your life.
Today I went to a new farm with a different adviser. This farm was also on that giant bird reservation. The Egyptian version of SpeedRacer was our driver to the farm. The drive there is beautiful, some of the most amazing sand dunes I have ever seen. The colors are so uniform that is impossible to see any detail, I couldn’t tell if what I was looking at was near hill or a far mountain.
As we were walking around the farm I noticed lots of little frogs, then lots and lots of little frogs. Looking down into the nearest pond I realized there was an infestation of inch long frogs. I was very surprised to see them in the water; I assumed to fish would eat them. I took this assumption from an experience I had at the family farm in New York. I was playing with a little frog then, taking it out further and further down the dock and watching it swim back to shore. Until one time I took it too far and a big fish swallowed my little friend. The adviser assured me the fish would not eat them because Tilapia are not carnivores. I would disagree because they eat mosquitoes and mosquitoes larvae. He said the frogs are a problem because they eat the fish food, but they also disappear three week after the pond is filled. I believe the fish grow large enough to eat the second generation of frogs, but the adviser does not think so.
I was also told that the color of the water is important as an indicator of water quality. If the water is dark green it indicates an abundance of phytoplankton; if brownish-yellow, zooplankton. Having zooplankton is better but both are necessary. The concentration of plankton can be influenced by introducing fermented chicken manure to the pond (yummy).
Once again I decided to take my afternoon swim, today I went out much later than yesterday. I finished my swim about 30 minutes before sunset but decided to stay in and watch it. After a beautiful sunset I swam back to the rocky shore. Normally I can easily step over the submerged wall which is used as a wave break. When the sun goes down the wind really picks up. This caused the water level to rise on my side of the lake, making it necessary to crawl over the wall. The waves caused by the wind made this treacherous and now my hands, feet, and stomach are covered in cuts from the barnacles.
For some reason my room is infested with tiny little ants, they are in everything. They crawl into this laptop’s keyboard, into my socks, my shirts, even into my hat. We can add those ants to the list of things in Egypt that drive me crazy; flies, mosquitoes, and ants.
For some random reason all the restaurants were closed tonight. Therefore my dinner consisted of a 7up, two HoHos, and a bag of chips. Because there is nothing to do here I end up reading a lot. In the three days I have been here I’ve read I Robot, Foundation, and Siddhartha.
Have you ever read a book you liked so much that other books you read seem unimpressive by comparison? Like having your first car be a Ferrari then being stuck with a Corolla the rest of your life.
Friday, July 4, 2008
SoRy Mi Englash iz no Gud
Day 40 June 30 – SoRy Mi Englash iz no Gud
Before I start I actually saw a calendar and realized that today was the 30th, that means two days have disappeared from my blog. Don’t worry I’m sure your not missing anything interesting, I probably just slept the whole day and didn’t bother to write about it.
Well I found out the town I am living in is named Fayoum, it has a few restraints and a salt factory.
Today I woke to a knock on the door, room service brought me breakfast, cool! It was a very typical Egyptian breakfast. It was that round flat bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, white mystery goo, and eggs. It was ok but I would pay good money for some honey nut Cheerios and milk. I went down to wait for the car at 7:58, I came back up at 8:45 after getting bored. The car eventually came and Mr. Akmed Shariff took me to the farm he was advising that day. As usual, before we started work, we stopped for 30 minutes for tea.
Akmed told me how he is hired to come to this farm twice a week, he does everything from testing the water to changing feeding levels. As you might have guessed from the title, Mr. Shariff’s English was not great, but I am grateful he tried so hard. At the end of our work my notepad was covered in drawing used to communicate.
I found that on this farm they don’t feed the fish on Friday, the hope is the fish will better utilize any natural food present. This would save money is the short term but I am not sure that the longer growing season would make this profitable over the long term. They only run the paddle wheels during night, they rely on plankton to create oxygen during the day. Sandy bottoms are better than muddy bottoms. He told me that during the climax of summer the salinity is much higher because of increased evaporation in the watershed. Their growth/feed ratio is 1 to 1.3-1.5.
After checking all the ponds we went back to the little one room building for more tea. While there Akmed suggested I visit a city on the coast, a nice tourist destination. The conversation eventually lead to the fact that there is a sanctioned Egyptian price and a tourist price. After I made a sour face he asked what problem I had with this. I told him that I thought I was unfair that for the same services I have to pay more money. He argued that Egyptians are poor so should get a better price. We agreed to disagree.
There are some cultural differences that I have mentally classified as un-American ideas. For example: Baksheesh, a poor person believes they are entitled to your money, they deserve your money because they are poor and you are rich. In the US poor people must beg for money, they must acknowledge that they are at the givers mercy. Another is this foreigner/Egyptian price difference. If in the US there was a sign saying “Entrance Fee” Americans 5$ Mexicans 2$ Europeans 10$ Africans 3$ people would be outraged. There would be a racial discrimination lawsuit in the blink of an eye. As I said, to me, these ideas seem distinctly un-American.
I finally found a good place to eat dinner, had shrimp and tilapia. Turns out is was also a chicken farm, he invited me in to see the chickens. Realizing, as they climbed all over my shoes, that getting Avian Bird Flu would probably suck.
Once again I took my afternoon swim in the giant lake.
Ants seem to have a strange fascination with this laptop.
Ants seem to love the inside of my socks…yea not cool.
Dinner cost 34 pounds ~ 7.50$
I guess guests at Egyptian hotels don’t need toilet paper.
Before I start I actually saw a calendar and realized that today was the 30th, that means two days have disappeared from my blog. Don’t worry I’m sure your not missing anything interesting, I probably just slept the whole day and didn’t bother to write about it.
Well I found out the town I am living in is named Fayoum, it has a few restraints and a salt factory.
Today I woke to a knock on the door, room service brought me breakfast, cool! It was a very typical Egyptian breakfast. It was that round flat bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, white mystery goo, and eggs. It was ok but I would pay good money for some honey nut Cheerios and milk. I went down to wait for the car at 7:58, I came back up at 8:45 after getting bored. The car eventually came and Mr. Akmed Shariff took me to the farm he was advising that day. As usual, before we started work, we stopped for 30 minutes for tea.
Akmed told me how he is hired to come to this farm twice a week, he does everything from testing the water to changing feeding levels. As you might have guessed from the title, Mr. Shariff’s English was not great, but I am grateful he tried so hard. At the end of our work my notepad was covered in drawing used to communicate.
I found that on this farm they don’t feed the fish on Friday, the hope is the fish will better utilize any natural food present. This would save money is the short term but I am not sure that the longer growing season would make this profitable over the long term. They only run the paddle wheels during night, they rely on plankton to create oxygen during the day. Sandy bottoms are better than muddy bottoms. He told me that during the climax of summer the salinity is much higher because of increased evaporation in the watershed. Their growth/feed ratio is 1 to 1.3-1.5.
After checking all the ponds we went back to the little one room building for more tea. While there Akmed suggested I visit a city on the coast, a nice tourist destination. The conversation eventually lead to the fact that there is a sanctioned Egyptian price and a tourist price. After I made a sour face he asked what problem I had with this. I told him that I thought I was unfair that for the same services I have to pay more money. He argued that Egyptians are poor so should get a better price. We agreed to disagree.
There are some cultural differences that I have mentally classified as un-American ideas. For example: Baksheesh, a poor person believes they are entitled to your money, they deserve your money because they are poor and you are rich. In the US poor people must beg for money, they must acknowledge that they are at the givers mercy. Another is this foreigner/Egyptian price difference. If in the US there was a sign saying “Entrance Fee” Americans 5$ Mexicans 2$ Europeans 10$ Africans 3$ people would be outraged. There would be a racial discrimination lawsuit in the blink of an eye. As I said, to me, these ideas seem distinctly un-American.
I finally found a good place to eat dinner, had shrimp and tilapia. Turns out is was also a chicken farm, he invited me in to see the chickens. Realizing, as they climbed all over my shoes, that getting Avian Bird Flu would probably suck.
Once again I took my afternoon swim in the giant lake.
Ants seem to have a strange fascination with this laptop.
Ants seem to love the inside of my socks…yea not cool.
Dinner cost 34 pounds ~ 7.50$
I guess guests at Egyptian hotels don’t need toilet paper.
It’s Been A Bad Day
Day 36 June 26 – It’s Been A Bad Day
Well today was very divided, it began well but ended horribly. I left Abassa at around 6:20am and drove almost 4 hours, trough Cairo, to a new town. We drove into a large bird reserve while also contained a fish farm. The fish farm seemed normal but I was impressed that all the ponds used paddle wheels. They were not running but I was assured that they run at night. I followed around a group and was impressed by how well everyone watched the fish. They mentioned that yesterday the fish didn’t eat much food, implying a high level of ammonium, so they reduced the amount of feed for the fish tomorrow.
After a short ride we stopped to see the only waterfall in Egypt, a nice 12 foot fall. It was all artificial and worked by a pump but was still nice. I still love how everyone goes swimming fully dressed, long sleeves and long pants. Most of the women swimming were still wearing head scarves. Then again they weren’t actually swimming, they clung to inner tubes for dear life after the water got 5 feet deep. It was a horribly hot day and I really wanted to go swimming but wasn’t dressed appropriately. Well I guess I was dress socially appropriately but I had no intention of getting my nice clothes wet and dirty.
I discovered I was staying at a hotel, once again feeling bad because it was probably expensive. It is right on the beach of a massive saltwater lake, at least 5 miles wide and many more long. Winter is the tourist season and right now most of the tourist locations are abandoned. It was awkward as I sat in the 30 table cafeteria in the hotel and ate alone. Next at about 2pm I decided to go swimming, I walked down to a very secluded area so I felt fine going in just my shorts. I swam a mile or two up and down the coast seeing many people on their tubes, none more than 100 feet from the beach.
This is the point where my day turned for the worst. I headed up to the room and took a little nap, and discovered the room only has a tiny fan. After I woke up, covered in a fresh layer of mosquito bites, I came down for dinner. I was surprised to find the hotel abandoned, it was about 9pm. (no it is not too late people here eat dinner really late, lunch was at 3pm.) True, I am the only person renting a room but that should mean the service is excellent. After a while I decided to just leave and find food myself. Then I discovered every door is locked, yea what the hell? So I wander around the hotel yelling hello and Salam trying to find anyone to let me out. No luck, I’m getting really hungry now, all I have are bags of skittles. Well eventually I have to climb out a freaking window to get out. After climbing the locked security gate I walked down the road to try and find a restaurant. I found two places that looked promising but when I went in I was pretty much told they don’t serve food. One had a sign with a picture of a dinner plate with food on it.…
Eventually I came to a place where the man took me to a table and gave me a glass of water. I communicated that I wanted to eat fish, I said “Samak” he nodded and said “fish” and made a eating gesture. After sitting there for about 30 minutes I got suspicious, I walked over to investigate. After repeating the message the metaphorical light bulb lit up above his head. I thought to myself, what the hell did you think I meant with I said fish, do you think I wanted to watch them from the deck?!?! After paying far too much money for a damn glass of water and an empty table I stormed off. All that was left was the Egyptian equivalent of an Am/Pm. My dinner consisted of a little bag of Doritos, a bag of skittles, and a water bottle. So now I’m writing this in a very bad mood, oh well. Tonight I hate Egypt and just want to go home and sleep in my own air-conditioned room.
Well today was very divided, it began well but ended horribly. I left Abassa at around 6:20am and drove almost 4 hours, trough Cairo, to a new town. We drove into a large bird reserve while also contained a fish farm. The fish farm seemed normal but I was impressed that all the ponds used paddle wheels. They were not running but I was assured that they run at night. I followed around a group and was impressed by how well everyone watched the fish. They mentioned that yesterday the fish didn’t eat much food, implying a high level of ammonium, so they reduced the amount of feed for the fish tomorrow.
After a short ride we stopped to see the only waterfall in Egypt, a nice 12 foot fall. It was all artificial and worked by a pump but was still nice. I still love how everyone goes swimming fully dressed, long sleeves and long pants. Most of the women swimming were still wearing head scarves. Then again they weren’t actually swimming, they clung to inner tubes for dear life after the water got 5 feet deep. It was a horribly hot day and I really wanted to go swimming but wasn’t dressed appropriately. Well I guess I was dress socially appropriately but I had no intention of getting my nice clothes wet and dirty.
I discovered I was staying at a hotel, once again feeling bad because it was probably expensive. It is right on the beach of a massive saltwater lake, at least 5 miles wide and many more long. Winter is the tourist season and right now most of the tourist locations are abandoned. It was awkward as I sat in the 30 table cafeteria in the hotel and ate alone. Next at about 2pm I decided to go swimming, I walked down to a very secluded area so I felt fine going in just my shorts. I swam a mile or two up and down the coast seeing many people on their tubes, none more than 100 feet from the beach.
This is the point where my day turned for the worst. I headed up to the room and took a little nap, and discovered the room only has a tiny fan. After I woke up, covered in a fresh layer of mosquito bites, I came down for dinner. I was surprised to find the hotel abandoned, it was about 9pm. (no it is not too late people here eat dinner really late, lunch was at 3pm.) True, I am the only person renting a room but that should mean the service is excellent. After a while I decided to just leave and find food myself. Then I discovered every door is locked, yea what the hell? So I wander around the hotel yelling hello and Salam trying to find anyone to let me out. No luck, I’m getting really hungry now, all I have are bags of skittles. Well eventually I have to climb out a freaking window to get out. After climbing the locked security gate I walked down the road to try and find a restaurant. I found two places that looked promising but when I went in I was pretty much told they don’t serve food. One had a sign with a picture of a dinner plate with food on it.…
Eventually I came to a place where the man took me to a table and gave me a glass of water. I communicated that I wanted to eat fish, I said “Samak” he nodded and said “fish” and made a eating gesture. After sitting there for about 30 minutes I got suspicious, I walked over to investigate. After repeating the message the metaphorical light bulb lit up above his head. I thought to myself, what the hell did you think I meant with I said fish, do you think I wanted to watch them from the deck?!?! After paying far too much money for a damn glass of water and an empty table I stormed off. All that was left was the Egyptian equivalent of an Am/Pm. My dinner consisted of a little bag of Doritos, a bag of skittles, and a water bottle. So now I’m writing this in a very bad mood, oh well. Tonight I hate Egypt and just want to go home and sleep in my own air-conditioned room.
Mas Comida
Day 35 June 25 – Mas Comida
I couldn’t sleep last night, I think it has something to do with walking up late and laying around all day. I got up at 4:30am to call home, dad had said to call at 6:30pm; I guess without checking the time difference. I walked across the farm and climbed to the roof of a building. I watched the sunrise then headed back to the room. As I retuned to the room I saw a driver who was waiting for Tim. I went in to make sure he was awake, then said goodbye. He was headed off the see the pyramids.
Tim returned much faster than I expected with food, delicious food. After almost two weeks of frozen chicken, bread, and chips I was thrilled to eat something else. He got some juice, pasta, candy, and other stuff. Best of all he got me a box of skittles, SKITTLES! Too bad I am leaving tomorrow to go to a fry farm, if the food is gone when I return I may have to murder my new roommate.
I couldn’t sleep last night, I think it has something to do with walking up late and laying around all day. I got up at 4:30am to call home, dad had said to call at 6:30pm; I guess without checking the time difference. I walked across the farm and climbed to the roof of a building. I watched the sunrise then headed back to the room. As I retuned to the room I saw a driver who was waiting for Tim. I went in to make sure he was awake, then said goodbye. He was headed off the see the pyramids.
Tim returned much faster than I expected with food, delicious food. After almost two weeks of frozen chicken, bread, and chips I was thrilled to eat something else. He got some juice, pasta, candy, and other stuff. Best of all he got me a box of skittles, SKITTLES! Too bad I am leaving tomorrow to go to a fry farm, if the food is gone when I return I may have to murder my new roommate.
Friday is my Favorite Day
Day 34 June 24 – Friday is my Favorite Day
Friday is my favorite day here in Egypt because it is the beginning of the weekend; it is my day to do absolutely nothing. I think I woke up at around 1PM then moved 20 feet and laid down in front of the TV. A while later Tim came in telling me that he locked his keys in the office…YAY an adventure. Well I was bored so I volunteered to help, got my leatherman, laptop, and headed over. First we checked the windows, not going to work. Then we tried to mess with the handle and door but also no luck. Then I hooked up to the wifi and looked up “picking locks” on youtube. 5 minutes later we had to door open, I love the internet.
I spent the rest of the day screwing around on the internet and listening to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on audio book. Egypt is pretty boring on the weekends when your stuck at Abassa.
Friday is my favorite day here in Egypt because it is the beginning of the weekend; it is my day to do absolutely nothing. I think I woke up at around 1PM then moved 20 feet and laid down in front of the TV. A while later Tim came in telling me that he locked his keys in the office…YAY an adventure. Well I was bored so I volunteered to help, got my leatherman, laptop, and headed over. First we checked the windows, not going to work. Then we tried to mess with the handle and door but also no luck. Then I hooked up to the wifi and looked up “picking locks” on youtube. 5 minutes later we had to door open, I love the internet.
I spent the rest of the day screwing around on the internet and listening to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on audio book. Egypt is pretty boring on the weekends when your stuck at Abassa.
Add the Blue Stuff to the Red Stuff
Day 33 June 23 – Add the Blue Stuff to the Red Stuff
Today Tim and I measured the alkalinity of his six ponds, Tim showed me how. We measured the alkalinity by the process of titration. I didn’t have an opportunity to look up what alkalinity was and how it is caused and effects fish, so comments would be helpful. We took a small water sample then added 5 drops of ethyl orange as an indicator. Then we slowly added a different chemical (sorry forgot the name) until the sample turned pink. At that point we write down the amount of mystery chemical it took to turn the sample pink. We then use a formula to find the alkalinity.
The next and final stop with the international students was a demonstration on how to feed fish. Most of it was pretty obvious but I did learn something. I saw the workers adding small amounts of water to power fry food. This causes it to sink in small chunks instead of just sitting on top of the water. Then Tim taught a short class on what he was doing at the six ponds to the rest of the international students. Before Tim could start he was interrupted by the other students getting all worked up about a water snake in one of the ponds.
I have not been impressed by the international students. Not because they don’t know very much about fish or fish farming, which is true, but because they don’t really seem to care. For example, during the floy fish tagging three of the adult women were more interested in using the shiny plastic tabs as jewelry than listening. They used to tabs as forehead decorations and added them to their earrings. They even distracted everyone else by giggling and talking during the presentation. Now I’m all for slacking off in big classes, 50 or more people. But not paying attention in a group of 8 people with the teacher right there is not cool.
The scenery was beautiful this morning; a mist was rising off the rice paddies and ponds. Because of the mist you couldn’t see the ground; you could only see the palm trees and buildings in the distance.
Today Tim and I measured the alkalinity of his six ponds, Tim showed me how. We measured the alkalinity by the process of titration. I didn’t have an opportunity to look up what alkalinity was and how it is caused and effects fish, so comments would be helpful. We took a small water sample then added 5 drops of ethyl orange as an indicator. Then we slowly added a different chemical (sorry forgot the name) until the sample turned pink. At that point we write down the amount of mystery chemical it took to turn the sample pink. We then use a formula to find the alkalinity.
The next and final stop with the international students was a demonstration on how to feed fish. Most of it was pretty obvious but I did learn something. I saw the workers adding small amounts of water to power fry food. This causes it to sink in small chunks instead of just sitting on top of the water. Then Tim taught a short class on what he was doing at the six ponds to the rest of the international students. Before Tim could start he was interrupted by the other students getting all worked up about a water snake in one of the ponds.
I have not been impressed by the international students. Not because they don’t know very much about fish or fish farming, which is true, but because they don’t really seem to care. For example, during the floy fish tagging three of the adult women were more interested in using the shiny plastic tabs as jewelry than listening. They used to tabs as forehead decorations and added them to their earrings. They even distracted everyone else by giggling and talking during the presentation. Now I’m all for slacking off in big classes, 50 or more people. But not paying attention in a group of 8 people with the teacher right there is not cool.
The scenery was beautiful this morning; a mist was rising off the rice paddies and ponds. Because of the mist you couldn’t see the ground; you could only see the palm trees and buildings in the distance.
Ave, Morituri te Salutant!
Day 32 June 22 – Ave, Morituri te Salutant!
Well today’s big event was a post-mortem investigation of a fish, well I guess it was pre-mortem until we killed the fish. Anyway, first we examined to fish’s exterior; we looked at the gills, skin, eyes, and fins. We make sure that the eyes were not bulging out or retracted into the skull. I also looked for bloody spots on the skin, a sure sign of infection.
Next we cut a big hole in the side of fish so we could see the guts. We checked to make sure everything was the correct size and color. I also saw the little heart of the fish still beating. I was poking around when I accidentally ripped the spleen open. The spleen was full of nasty green liquid which got all over my sleeve. I asked the teacher to show me where the pituitary gland of the Tilapia was, I had only seen it in a Catfish. PETA would not have appreciated my activities over the last few days, I dissected a fish just to see what was inside, and performed minor surgery for practice. While yes, they were under anesthesia it was obvious they could still feel what was going on. Almost makes me feel bad for them. Then again, their sole purpose to exist is to die so I can eat them.
After taking a group picture with the other students from the international group I worked with Tim. We walked out to the six ponds Tim is using to experiment with different stocking densities of Tilapia. Periodically throughout the week he measures pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, nitrite, alkalinity, temperature, hardness, phosphorus, ammonium, and mortalities. Today we measured dissolved oxygen and temperature levels of the six ponds.
Dad told me a while ago that algae in the ocean is a major contributor to the creation of global oxygen. I also learned in my marine bio class that while algae is found in every ocean around the world, sometimes it is very densely concentrated. This is known as an algae bloom. When the conditions are just right there can be an explosion of algae growth; this creates vast amounts of oxygen and sequesters large amounts of CO2 on the bottom of the ocean. I wanted to see this in the real world so when I noticed that a corner of a pond had turned dark green from an algae bloom I had to investigate. Most of the ponds we tested had a dissolved oxygen level of about 12 (ppm I assume), The algae bloom area had a dissolved oxygen level of 19ppm. That is a 58 percent increase in dissolved oxygen caused by the concentration of algae.
Today’s movie is Gladiator! Ave, Morituri te Salutant! I wonder if this is what the fish thought as they saw their impending death.
Well today’s big event was a post-mortem investigation of a fish, well I guess it was pre-mortem until we killed the fish. Anyway, first we examined to fish’s exterior; we looked at the gills, skin, eyes, and fins. We make sure that the eyes were not bulging out or retracted into the skull. I also looked for bloody spots on the skin, a sure sign of infection.
Next we cut a big hole in the side of fish so we could see the guts. We checked to make sure everything was the correct size and color. I also saw the little heart of the fish still beating. I was poking around when I accidentally ripped the spleen open. The spleen was full of nasty green liquid which got all over my sleeve. I asked the teacher to show me where the pituitary gland of the Tilapia was, I had only seen it in a Catfish. PETA would not have appreciated my activities over the last few days, I dissected a fish just to see what was inside, and performed minor surgery for practice. While yes, they were under anesthesia it was obvious they could still feel what was going on. Almost makes me feel bad for them. Then again, their sole purpose to exist is to die so I can eat them.
After taking a group picture with the other students from the international group I worked with Tim. We walked out to the six ponds Tim is using to experiment with different stocking densities of Tilapia. Periodically throughout the week he measures pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, nitrite, alkalinity, temperature, hardness, phosphorus, ammonium, and mortalities. Today we measured dissolved oxygen and temperature levels of the six ponds.
Dad told me a while ago that algae in the ocean is a major contributor to the creation of global oxygen. I also learned in my marine bio class that while algae is found in every ocean around the world, sometimes it is very densely concentrated. This is known as an algae bloom. When the conditions are just right there can be an explosion of algae growth; this creates vast amounts of oxygen and sequesters large amounts of CO2 on the bottom of the ocean. I wanted to see this in the real world so when I noticed that a corner of a pond had turned dark green from an algae bloom I had to investigate. Most of the ponds we tested had a dissolved oxygen level of about 12 (ppm I assume), The algae bloom area had a dissolved oxygen level of 19ppm. That is a 58 percent increase in dissolved oxygen caused by the concentration of algae.
Today’s movie is Gladiator! Ave, Morituri te Salutant! I wonder if this is what the fish thought as they saw their impending death.
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