This is a nice, simple recipe that goes great as a main course or a side dish.  This makes enough for 2 moderate servings.

• 1/2 cup quinoa (thoroughly rinsed in cold water)
• 1/2 cup rice (I like to use jasmine rice)
• 2 cups water + bullion cube OR broth/vegetable stock (we use gluten-free vegetable bullion cubes)
• 1 small onion (or half of a regular sized one)
• 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Bring the water to a boil and add the bullion cube.

At the same time:
Dice up the onion and cook it in the oil on medium heat until they begin to soften.
Add the rice to the oil and onion and stir it around.  Let it cook for a minute or two.
Add the quinoa to the onion and rice and stir it up.  Only let it cook for a few seconds (just long enough to stir it all up).

Add the water/broth and lower the heat.
Let it simmer for about 20-30 minutes (long enough for the liquid to evaporate and be absorbed).

Then it’s done!  Enjoy!

Though I had talked about it for a while and tossed around the idea, it was a fairly last minute decision for me to actually attend the Bavarian Beer Fest.

I booked a flight that ended up being about twice as expensive as when I first searched, several months earlier, but it was still a cheap (and short)  flight from Warsaw. 

Our first day was spent primarily at Oktoberfest.  We had a table reserved for 2 hours, during which time we had 250€ to spend on food and drinks.  We had a few rounds of Weißbier, and some food.  At first our tent was mostly empty and pretty quiet, but by the time we left the band had started and people were beginning to sing along and toast strangers with a lively "Prost!".

Afterwards, we made our way around the fairgrounds, trying to make our way through several tents.  Our most successful venture was the Nymphenburg Sekt (which we quickly renamed to the Nympho Sex tent).  Most of the other tents required that you sit at a table in order to be served, however that tent had servers walking around with crates of beer to sell.  It was still outside the tent, in the beergarten, and you needed a table to eat, but it was more than we got at most other tents.

Everywhere we went were jolly groups of drinkers, reciting folk songs or chanting some more modern tunes.  I was surprised at the lack of hostility, but security was pretty serious, so I imagine most offenders were quickly dragged off to where they couldn’t ruin the atmosphere for others.

Later that evening we found a niche for ourselves at another tent.  I can’t recall exactly which one (by that point, things were getting a bit fuzzy), but we managed to share a table with one of the bartenders and his wife, which meant some great service, and entertaining stories.  At what felt like 2am, but was really only around 10pm (or earlier), we returned to our hotel to sleep it off and prepare for the next day.

To avoid a day long drinking marathon, my friend, John, had planned an excursion to visit Neuschwanstein castle and invited me along.  I thought this was a great idea, so in the morning we headed out to meet with our tour group.

After about a 2 hour bus ride, we arrived at the ski lodge near the castle.  There we rode the alpine slide, had a good lunch (passed on the beers, though), and our tour guide performed some close-up magic.  After lunch, and before heading up to the castle, he offered to teach some of his tricks.  Having always been enamored with magic, and at one point trying to practice some tricks, I couldn’t pass up.  Of course it ended up he was selling DVDs, and of course I ended up buying them.  They were overpriced, sure, but I was compelled.

After all of that, we began hiking up the gorge that led to the castle.  A few people took the bus, but the rest opted for the hike.  The gorge was, well, gorgeous.  Though not as impressive, having lived in Ithaca, but still very impressive nonetheless. 

It was a foggy day, and we couldn’t see the castle from down below, so as we came out from the woods, the castle loomed over us.  Inside was covered with some pretty amazing artwork – the king’s bedroom was particularly impressive, having taken 14 woodworkers 4 years to complete it.  Unfortunately, though, only a small fraction of the room were ever finished, so there wasn’t much to see.  But what we saw was pretty spectacular.

The exterior of the castle was equally impressive, and was used in several movies (including Spaceballs, which we watched on the busride back) and was the inspiration for the castle at Disney.  It has tall, smooth towers and was clearly built more for appearance than defence.  Considering it was built in the mid 1800s, the age of the castle was pretty much over anyways.

After our tour of the castle, the bus dropped us off near the Oktoberfest fair grounds, along the route that was more travelled by the locals.  We got back and attempted to meet up with the rest of our group, finding only a few of them left (the others had been there since 10am, and it was around 7pm at that point).  We grabbed some great sausages from a stand outside of the tents, then went to find a place.  Eventually, we were able to sneek into one of the tents (Augustina I believe) later that night.  The area was immense and the people were so friendly and happy.

Among the songs everyone was singing was a Bavarian toast to happiness and well being.  I wasn’t able to tell what was being said, and I thought at first that they were saying "I’m Homesick".  I also heard "I’m Frozen" and "I’m Prosting", the second being the closest.  But the actual lyrics are:

Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit.

Translation:
A toast, A toast, To happiness

We decided in the end, that if we were to go back, we would have to be sure to reserve a table in one of the larger tents.  Going without reservations is all right, but not something I’d want to do twice.  Unless of course, I was going to spend more time in the carnival part, riding rides and whatnot.  I’d also like to go back and tour more of the city, and the Bavarian area in general.  What we saw was all very nice, and it seems like it would be a great place to spend some time.

My sister and cousin were taking an extended vacation in Greece, making their way through Athens and a few of the islands.  Being so close, I could hardly pass up an opportunity to meet up with then, if only for a weekend.  To make it more worthwhile, I planned for a 4-day weekend.

I flew out on Thursday, arriving in the early evening.  After a perilous cab ride through the winding streets, narrowly avoiding several pedestrians and scooters, I arrived at the hotel.  The hotel is situated just off of the beach.  At first glance, it wasn’t what I expected, but once I got inside, I could see it was much nicer than my first impression.  It took a few laps around before I was able to find the girls’ room, and I only got there moments before they were about to leave.

The first night, we walked down the beach and found a nice restaurant.  The food was so good.  Just like home, but a little better.  I’m not sure if it was because I hadn’t eaten like that in a while, or if it was a side effect of the long travel, but it was great.  Getting to see Laura and Kristen added to it, too!  We had a lot to talk about and stayed there for a while, enjoying the good food and view of the beach.

The next day we hung out on the beach by the hotel: Platis Gialos.  That evening we found another restaurant that was advertising Greek night, complete with dancing and plate breaking.  We had a great time there, but eventually had to leave.  After that we went downtown and out to the clubs.  At first it wasn’t very fun, but things picked up when we found a place with a little more room.  We danced under some napkin confetti, got some overpriced light sticks, then caught a cab (after, of course, Kristen made sure that we rode with the one who had been waiting the longest). 

The next day, we wanted to take an excursion, so we bought tickets on the ferry around the island to a secluded little beach called "Super".  When we first rounded the corner into this small, secluded cove, the view was amazing.  Like much of the rest of the island, it was rocky and mountainous, sharply descending to the clear, blue waters.  The beach was nearly empty when we arrived, but quickly filled up.  More secluded than the beach by our hotel, there were more people here who went completely nude.  It was a bit of a shock at first, but we quickly got over it.  Though we didn’t stop cracking jokes until we left.

After returning from "Super", we headed back into town for dinner and some wandering through the shops.  I wanted to get something for Jess, but it was all very expensive and nothing caught my eye.  We stopped in to a small little bar to have some drinks before heading home.

The next morning Kristen and Laura left, and I had lunch overlooking the beach.  I tried reaching Jess, but my phone had run out of money and it was a long, frustrating evening trying to reach her.  I was eventually able to send an email from an Internet cafe, and she got money on my phone and I was able to reach her.  I had a lot of time on my hands, so I decided to walk from the hotel into town.   There was some nice scenery along the way, but nothing too spectacular.  For the most part, it was very barren and rocky.

After I got into the town, I wandered among the shops for a bit, then stopped for some coffee at a cafe looking out over the bay.  Unfortunately I was too worried about trying to get a message out to really enjoy myself, so I had to go walk around some more and look for a way to get a message out to Jess.  Along the way, I stopped for a glass of wine, but again got too restless.  Once I finally got the message out, it was close enough to time to go to the airport, so I caught a cab and sat to read my book.  I had a long layover in Athens afterwards, and then I was home. 

By the time I got home I was very travel weary and happy to be back, but it was a great trip, and I’m looking forward to another visit to Greece in October!

Ranking right up there in powerful experiences, was a recent visit to the former Gestapo headquarters.  Currently a remaining portion is preserved as a museum to honor the memory of those who resisted and suffered, as well as a painful reminder of the human capacity for evil and ignorance.

I had meant to write about this earlier, but I haven’t been good about keeping up with my writing.  I’m resolving to fix that.

The building is now occupied by the Ministry of Education, with the museum below in the underground section.

From 1939 to 1945, this building functioned as the headquarters for the Nazi secret police: The Gestapo.  Prisoners from Pawaik Prison were driven here twice per day to be brutally interrogated. 

The museum walks you through the rooms where prisoners were held in solitairy confinement, queued for questioning, and subsequently tortured.

The first rooms we saw, after an introductory, informational video, were the solitairy confinement cells.  These small, nearly empty cells held a single prisoner, who was bound by a chain, bolted to the center of the floor.  Aside from a small window, there was a single cot.  The rooms look to be between 6 and 10 feet square.  In some rooms, there were bullet holes along the back wall from when the Nazis would fire at them through the peephole.

Some of the prisoners had etched letters to family, poems, prayers, and vengeful promises into the walls of the cells.  Many of these have been subsequently painted over during reconstruction, but were preserved in photographs and rewritten in an easier to read format.

Beyond that is the main office, where the prisoners were tortured.  There was not much there, except for a plain desk, and a display case containing the various implements used to torture the prisoners.  The music from a radio in the hall could be heard.  This music was played loudly in order to drown out the screams of the prisoners.

Next to that was a row of holding rooms, each containing rows of small wooden chairs.  Prisoners had to wait here for their turn to be tortured.  They were not allowed to move, even a little bit.  If they did, they were beaten.

Food was also, not surpisingly, insufficient.  At the end of the hall is a repeating projection of a prisoner struggling to stand.

Around the bend are a series of monitors, each displaying a lot of different information.  Some had information about the prisoners that were held and tortured there, others showed the progression of executions throughout the course of the war.  All of the information was gut-wrenching and painful, but important nonetheless.  There were stories of hope and strength.

The prisoners were all so dedicated and determined that few, if any, ever revealed any information.  Though it was very saddening, almost to the point of physical illness, it was also inspiring knowing that despite that terrible torment, the Polish people still refused to surrender.

Find more information at the Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team

Despite all of the things I did growing up that could have injured me, I’ve never broken a bone or received stitches.  I’ve also never ridden in an ambulance, or had to visit a hospital for anything more than some tests.  That all changed (except for the broken bones) on Wednesday night of last week.

The day started out great.  Lately I had been very tired because, I guessed because I’d had a stomach bug since the previous Tuesday.  I hadn’t been feeling well, and I imagined I wasn’t getting the most out of my meals, either.  Not that I was helping the situation by eating anything and everything I came upon.  But that morning, I felt great.  So great that I finally went out and got the hair cut I’d been meaning to get.  I had also mowed the lawn, another chore I had been putting off until I felt better.

But this was also the day that our dog, Greta, was getting spayed, or steralized as they say here.  So I dropped her off around 4 in the afternoon.  They gave her a shot to knock her out, and I stayed with her until she practically melted into my lap and was out cold.  It was after this that I went to get my hair cut.

I should also mention that Jess was out of town on a school trip, as was another friend of ours whose dog I was watching.  So after my haircut I came back to walk and feed Natty, and get some more work done.  Around 6:30 or so I got the call from the vet that Greta was all ready and I could come pick her up. 

When I got there, they brought her out in her green doggy hospital gown, all laced up the back.  She was still very groggy from the anesthetic, but her tail was wagging when she saw me.  The vet handed her to me and asked me to wait.  They were tending to a cat at the moment, and I still had to pay and take care of a few things. 

So I sat with her for about 20 minutes or so.  While I had her I noticed her foot was still bleeding (we had a dew claw with no bone in it removed to avoid possible problems with it in the future).  It wasn’t much, but the combination of the blood, unrine soaked smock, and drugged puppy were a bit sad.

Once they were able to see me, I went in and showed them the foot.  They then wrapped it with gauze, as well as her front foot where the IV was.  They said we had to leave it in until we came back in 2 days when they would remove it and give her a check-up and a few shots (pain medication and another shot to help her immune system).  After the bandaging was done, I reminded them I still needed to pay for some other medication they gave me previously, but they waived it. 

It was around that point, almost an hour after I arrived, that I started to feel a bit dizzy.  This has happened to me in sterile environments like doctor’s offices and hospitals.  I’m not sure, but I think it’s usually a combination of the smells and the overabundance of flourescent lights and white furniture/walls.  While they ran the card, I took a seat and waited for the dizziness to pass.  It was actually getting worse than a normal head rush or fleeting dizzy spell.  When they brought my card back, I stood to put it in my wallet.  I was a bit too shy to just admit I wasn’t feeling well and sit and wait for it to pass, and thought I could just power through.

The next thing I remember was waking up from a dream to look up from the floor at the 2 doctors.  I had apparently passed out, and hit my head on the table on the way down.  Strangely my neck and back of my head didn’t hurt at all, but my temple was throbbing and I was still very disoriented. 

They cleaned me up, and after a few minutes had me move to the couch.  They also called for an ambulance for me.  It took probably 20 minutes or so, maybe more, for them to arrive.  They looked me over, took my information and walked me to the ambulance. They didn’t seem concerned, and I’m guessing that their initial tests told them there was nothing serious wrong, and that I’d just need a few stitches.

Wait?  Stitches!?  Never had those before!  Those were my thoughts as I staggered to the ambulance.  The night air helped clear my head, though the ambulance ride had started to make me nauseous.  Once we got to the hospital it was very simple.  The doctor stitched me up, and I did my best to answer his questions with my limited Polish.  Then they took a head x-ray and sent me on my way! 

My friend, Dale, came and picked me up, and on our way home we swung by to get the dog.  Later, when I was telling Jess about it, I commented on how it was funny the way things always seem to work out for me, and reaffirmed that I must have a friend upstairs looking out for me.  Of course she looked at me cross-eyed, so I had to explain. 

Since I had just gotten my hair cut, it was easy to see that there were no cuts hiding under my hair.  The lawn was mowed, so I didn’t have to worry about that.  Getting a ride with Dale meant that I didn’t have to carry the dog home.  When I hit my head, I only got a small gash in my eyebrow.  So I was lucky enough not to hit my eye, or my temple (at least, not directly…  that part of my head was pretty sore).  Plus the cut is hardly visible, since it blends with my eyebrow.  I had no concussion or anything like that.  It happened in a medical facility, so they were able to clean the cut with antiseptic and gauze, plus take care of me.  Also, their English is pretty good, which was helpful.

I also got a lot of medical firsts out of the way all in one, relatively painless, shot; stitches, ambulance, hospital, foreign hospital.  Plus I got to practice my Polish a bit.

I don’t know… call me optimistic, but the whole thing was actually a pretty positive experience overall.  You know, aside from the pain and all. 

It’s time to play a little catch-up.  When it comes to writing, I’ve been a bad little monkey lately.  So I’m finally going to take the time and get back on the wagon, starting with the tale of our vacation in Egypt.

Egypt is one of those places I’ve always wanted to visit.  There’s so much history there, and it’s so vastly different from where I grew up.  It’s a place that, to me, has always been mysterious and exotic, yet frighteningly alien.  And discouragingly far away.

But that’s different now.  Living in Warsaw has given me the opportunity to visit places I might never have otherwise been able to.

This past Spring (2009) my wife and I booked a last-minute deal vacation to Marsa Alam, at resort on the coast of the Red Sea, right on the reef.

The Resort

The resort was very nice, and relatively empty.  It was a man-made oasis in stark contrast to the barren surroundings, situated right next to a beautiful coral reef.

It was a fun place to stay.  It would have been more fun with more people playing games, or maybe a livelier "Animation" crew.  But the meals were good, and the facilities very nice.  And with fewer people, it was a very relaxing place to be.

There was a section of shops within the resort that we shied away from at first.  We had a good time visiting the shops, drinking tea with the proprietors and chatting with them while browsing through their goods.  It was unnerving and uncomfortable at first, but it wasn’t long before we were looking forward to our regular visits to the shops.

Camel Ride

One of the activities offered by the resort was a camel or horse ride through the desert.  This was intriguing to both of us because neither of us have ever ridden a camel, and I’ve never seen a desert in person.  Jess had been to deserts in the Mid-West, but they were very different than this.

We started out by riding up the coast to the next town.  This town was still being built, and was still empty.  It was strange to see a city in the middle of the desert with almost no people in it, but the main reason it was built was tourism, and it hadn’t been fully opened for tourists yet.  Though there were some divers who were based out of there.

After that we arced around, crossed the highway, and headed into the desert.  I’ve never seen anything so desolate and barren.  With the exception of the trash, there was just sand.  And not beach sand… it was like dead earth sand.  The sun was relentless, and as far as you could see was all sand.  It wasn’t long before we couldn’t see the sea or the resort anymore.

At one point the horses were given the opportunity to run.  One boy riding either wasn’t able to, or didn’t want to stop his horse, so we had to wait on our loping camels while the rest of the horses chased them down. 

It was very interesting and enlightening, but not something I think I’d like to do again.  At least, not without a purpose.  The desert is less than friendly, and the camels aren’t exactly comfortable, either.  Though being so high up does give the advantage of being above the heat radiating off of the sand.

Cairo

Our next stop was an excursion we had booked to Cairo.  Due to our still limited grasp of the Polish Language, we looked for an English group to go with.  We left from our hotel around 1am, and didn’t return until the same time the next day.  It was long, but worth it, despite the fact that on the bus ride to the airport I started to feel sick.

After a bus ride to Hurgada, and a short plane ride to Ciaro, we were on our way.  Our first stop was the Mosque of Muhammed Ali (not the boxer).  The Mosque is located within the fortress of Sala al-Din (A.K.A. Saladin).  The mosque is very plain, as mosques tend to be to emphasize the focus on God, but still impressive.

From outside of the mosque, you could just make out one of our next destinations, the pyramids at Giza.  If it had been less hazy, they would have been very visible.

Before that, though, we went to the National Museum.  We had a quick tour up to the King Tut exhibit, which was really cool.  Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed in the museum.  Other exhibits included ancient artifacts that were so old it boggled my mind.  It was incredible to be standing there, looking at something that someone made 5000 years ago.

We then took a bus right up to the pyramids.  It was really impressive to see them up close.  I knew they were big, but when you stand next to one of the blocks and it’s bigger than you, it’s pretty awe-inspiring.

Near the pyramids is the Sphynx.  Something else I had always wanted to see, and I wasn’t disappointed.  Though I would have like to have been able to get closer and really look at it, that’s reserved for the professionals, and opening it for tourists to climb all over is probably not a good idea.

After the sphyx we made a stop by the Grand Bazaar, but didn’t have enough time to really visit, and I was still feeling horribly sick.  After a small stop at a papyrus shop, we were on our way home.

Snorkeling on the Reef

After visiting all of the ancient man-made artifacts, we spent some time enjoying the natural wonders.  I’ve never seen anything like a reef, so for me this was another incredible experience.  Luckily we decided to buy an underwater camera.  It was amazing and really makes me want to take diving lessons, despite how much it hurts my ears.

We had an awesome time in Egypt, despite getting sick.  I would definitely like to go back some day, and hopefully visit the places we missed the first time around.

I realize that I haven’t been keeping up very well with this blog lately, so I’m going to play a little catch-up by writing about last week’s Triathlon.  I still probably won’t be writing regularly (I’ve got too many distractions at the moment), but I’ll eventually get around to posting the big stuff.  I’m also trying to work on some more poetry, so hopefully I’ll have something worthwhile to share from that crop.

May 1st is Labor Day here in Poland and the school was closed that day, so a few of the teachers decided to organize a triathlon.  I’m glad they did it!  It was fun and challenging, and the first time I’d ever done anything like that.

We started bright and early at the school pool.  We had enough people for 2 heats, but somehow I ended up with my own lane.  I hadn’t put much training into swimming, so it was by far my weakest event.  Up until then, I was swimming only twice per week, and then only practicing the breast stroke.  The first day I did a full 500 meters without stopping was, of course, the day before the triathlon.  But I managed to putter along at a decent pace, and was out of the water after about 12-13 minutes.  I was told a swim cap and a "snugger" swimsuit would help (I was wearing my big baggy surfer-style swimshorts).  But I didn’t want to change anything that close to the event.

After that, I took the longest in transition to the bike.  I think this is in part because I planned to slough my stuff around with me, so I packaged it very neatly into my bike bag, which I ended up leaving for the voluneers to bring along.  I also got a bit stuck putting on my bike shirt (it was bunched under my armpits – I imagine it would have been very humorous to watch me dancing around the locker room)

Knowing I am a slow swimmer, and that I was behind, I shot off the mark on my bike.  My newly purchased bike computer showed me my speed, and I was quickly up to 20km/h.  But I hit a snag at the back entrance when I realized I wasn’t sure which direction to go from there to get to the trail.  Luckily the security guard there pointed me in the right direction.  After I passed through the sand, I was able to get back in my rythm and was able to get myself up to around 30km/h (according to the computer – may be configured wrong).

Not long after that, I came to the only street crossing on the trail.  Now, a sequence of events was about to domino into sending me down the wrong path…  So I’ll start with the background.  Before leaving the school, I mentally ran through the course.  It was pretty much identical to how I get to and from the school on a regular basis.  I usually cross the road at the crosswalk, and was visualizing myself hitting the button, waiting, and crossing there.  However, when I arrived at the intersection, one of the volunteers was there to monitor traffic and help us cross quickly.  When he waved me across, my brain malfunctioned and figured for some reason that he was waving me along the course, which I had wrong.  So I shot across the street and kept going when I should have turned.  Part of the reason I thought this was part of the course, was that I had ridden it the week before.  At the end of the road, I realized I’d gone the wrong way, but rather than turn around, I knew the trail reconnected to the main trail farther up, and I figured it would save me time to keep going, rather than turn around.  What I didn’t figure on, was that the trail angled away, and that the trail was rough dirt and sand, whereas the trail I was supposed to be on was paved.  So I ended up taking much longer both in time and distance, and when I finally reconnected, I was a bit disheartened.

My speed dropped down around18-20km/h as I watched everyone pass by me.  I was really mad at myself, and bummed.  Not so much because I got slowed down, as that my time didn’t apply to the course, so I won’t really know how good I did.  But shortly after I rounded the halfway point, I firmed up and took control again.  I thought about my taekwondo training and our emphasis on indomitable spirit.  I’d let myself slip, but just knowing that re-lit my fire.

So I pounded out the last stretch and rolled into the last leg – the running.  One of the other triathletes, Larry, was finishing his run as I biked in, so there was a bit of confusion as to where I should go.  But I got in and off the bike no problem.  Then it was time to run.  I was all ready to go, so I just had to hop off and get moving, but my legs had another plan.  They were stiff and I felt like the tin-man before he got oiled!  After a few steps, though, I started to loosen up, and about half-way it actually felt really nice.  The problem came shortly after, when the combination of allergies and cold air made it tough to breathe, so I got a bad stitch in my side.  I didn’t want to walk, but I eventually gave in and walked, stretching and breathing.  I tried to run again after a bit, but it came right back.  I kept walking, but was cringing at each breath.  After a while of deep breathing, I was feeling good again, and finished the course at a good jog.

The feeling at the finish line was awesome.  Getting cheared on and finishing something so challenging was a great feeling.  And the barbecue afterwards was a good feeling too!  The next few days I expected to be really sore, but surprisingly wasn’t.  In fact, I felt like doing it again!  That’s a testament to the training I’d been doing, and next year I plan to be even more prepared and really reduce my time.  Mostly by going the right direction, but also from training, too.

I’ve finally gotten around to beginning the work for remaking my site.  I’m saving myself some effort for the time being by using Joomla (a pre-made content management system).

As a result of this new, and easier to manage site, I will no longer be posting technical articles here (not that I did many).  Additionally I hope to actually write more of them and post them on the main site.

So this blog will now be solely for personal articles – the usual sharing of experiences.  The main section of my website will be devoted to web design and hosting, and I will be doing some spring cleaning on the server – archiving old files and removing them from the server.

I’m still not opening the doors and taking on new design clients – I simply don’t have the time – but I’ll be putting the information out there nonetheless.  I may even get into template design, or some other more hands-off approach, and hopefully I can get together some good articles published that will help people out.

This is the last you’ll hear from me on this subject, promise!

So I feel I may have been too hasty in summing up the polyphasic sleep experiment experience.  Now that I’ve had a few days back on "normal" sleep, I can make a much better comparisson.

First of all – in conclusion I believe that this sleep pattern is NOT something anyone can make into a lifestyle.  It is, however, useful for brief periods of time where one needs to be awake almost constantly.

On the topic of exercise and muscle recovery…  I figured the uberman sleep would not be sufficient to regenerate muscle tissue, and that I would be constantly sore.  To test this, I worked out twice per day (sometimes thrice).  My shoulders would get sore, but I would recover.  And that recovery seemed fairly quick.  Additionally I felt I was more flexible.  However, looking back now, I can see that my starting flexibility was indeed greater, but my elasticity suffered.  So I was like an old rubber band – stretched out to the max, but unable to go farther.  I felt I needed less time to warm up and that I had more energy, but this was an illusion created by the fact that my muscles never "unstretched", and the extra energy was from the frequent naps.  The same kind of energy and alertness can be gained by napping with a regular sleep schedule (though I admit you need less time if you nap regularly).

Now on a biphasic sleep schedule (I have also eliminated my alarm clock – since that’s the worst thing for you!) I have noticed that my flexibility is not that great to start, but I can stretch it easier.

My back pain, however, is significantly worse.  But it was worse as I changed back, so I’m guessing a similar situation to flexibility, where it wasn’t hurting, but it was not in a healthy state and now that it has the time to heal at night, I feel it.  I have decided to go back to other methods of fixing the pain, such as core strengthening and stretching (I was doing these during uberman, too).

The Uberman schedule constantly recharges you with naps, however, considering the "Clock and Hourglass" model (Explained at supermemo’s website, along with a strong arguement against this type of sleep pattern, you can see how this is only a temporary fix.  The body eventually forces you to sleep (thus my increasing oversleeping)

It is said that you will suffer creative and memory… reduction.  However, I noticed neither.  Of course, when I was intensely sleepy, I wasn’t remembering or creating anything.  Oftentimes my only thoughts were that next nap.  But that would be due to preoccupation, not some physical change.  But aside from continuing my Polish lessons, I did not test this.  My Polish did not suffer as a result, though this was hardly a quantitative test.

The added freetime was also a bit of an illusion.  Technically, I had created a 21 hour day (I slept 30 minutes every 4 hours, which is a total of 3 hours asleep).  However, this day was broken into very small chunks, often too small to be useful.  My schedule worked very well, however, in that I was doing things in roughly 3-4 hour blocks.  So I would finish and rush back for that nap.  But sometimes I spent the 30 minutes before and after in a daze, and sometimes an entire block was rendered useless.  Other times, I was severely limited in what I could do during my block of time.

So, though I had created more hours, they were less productive and less useful.  I was only able to do slightly more, instead of the mountains of time I had believed I would create.  In conclusion, it would be better to be on a monophasic or biphasic sleep schedule, and just spend my time more productively.  I figure if I have the willpower to try uberman, I can make myself do my chores in a timely manner, and pay attention to work better.

From all of the research I read, and my own experimentation, I would say that Uberman is a great temporary fix.  But it is like walking the edge of a knife.  It’s a delicate balance, that can have disasterous consequences.  Instead, it would be better to sleep on a biphasic schedule (sleep a large chunk at night, then have a brief nap the next afternoon), since this lines up with human physiology better. 

I’m not sure what the long-term effects of a polyphasic schedule would be.  The effects of sleep deprivation in the short term (5 weeks for me) were nearly eliminated, so there is some merit to it.

Being a dreamer, and a martial artist, I firmly believe in the power of the body to adapt, and the mind to overcome.  I have seen people do things that others would say are impossible.  So I still maintain that it might be possible to adapt so something like this.  However, it would take the right alignment of personal physiology, discipline, and environment, though.  And even then, who knows.

Jess’ school is holding a triathlon this spring, and we’ve decided to enter and give it a shot.

Only this past week have I really started giving thought to the training.  The event is May 1st, and will consist of:

500 m swim in the ASW pool
14 km bike ride from school to Wilanów
3 km run

My training so far is:

Monday & Thursday mornings – swim before teaching TKD
Bike in to school and home whenever I go in (4 days/week currently) (I live in Wilanów, so this is perfect practice)
Running with Greta.  Which is usually just a few small sprints, or a jog around the block, but it’s helping.

The biking is pretty straightforward, and I’ve been getting more used to this since we moved to Poland.

Running I can do, but I need to do a little training, but mostly I need to focus on core and back strengthening, because running causes my back to hurt a lot, and causes some of my back muscles to cramp up really badly.   Diet will help me out here, too.

The swimming is the hardest part.  I’ve never done lane-style swimming.  Just freeform in the pond type swimming.  So I’m learning better form, and breathing…  my God the breathing is the hardest part!  If I’m not sucking in water from the pool, I’m getting it as it streams down my face.  It’s frustrating, and I’ve also been breathing too shallow up in my chest.  So I’m working on this, and I’m also putting more focus on breathing again in my taekwondo training.

I’m hoping to find a taekwondo school, maybe this week.  It will make the training I’m doing even harder, but that’s ok!

With all the training I’ve been doing, I’m starting to notice that I’m getting in better shape again.  Muscles are getting more defined, sleep and apetite have been really good.  And I’ve just been feeling really great.  Though my back is killing me these past few days, I blame my sleep shift, and the fact that I’ve just started riding the bike again – which hurts my back, but not as much as running.

I might try to get the clip pedals and shoes for the bike, because that makes it much better.  I never realized why before, until someone explained that you pull on the up-stroke, as well as pushing down, so the force is doubled, but the energy is more or less the same.  Plus it’s more of a constant pressure, which reduces the resistance and shock.  We’ve got a great (if expensive) bike shop a block away, so I’ll probably go see what he’s got. 

I’ve been watching what I eat, too, though not quite for the training.  I’ve been having a lot of fruits and vegetables, plus a fair bit of carbs and starches.  Probably too much of the latter, but as I start to do more, it will balance out.