The Dirtiest Things You Touch When You Travel

The top 5 dirtiest things you'll touch during your travels are not things you'd normally consider. Nope, bathroom toilet seats or even wild animals are mentioned...

1. Airplane Bathrooms

The close proximity of the toilet to the sink are significant. Germs can easily move about from one area to the next in these tight quarters.

2. Public Transport

The best next thing in touching other people and transmitting germs among one another is touching the very same things where they've been. If people exercise unclean practices anyways, the items they carry are just as filthy. Be aware of where other people's travels as much as your own. Not only can these germ-infested zoos be found throughout public services but also in rental cars.

3. Computer Keyboards

Again, let me please reiterate how people are constantly around and have most likely visited where you are right this minute. Computer keyboards hold a lot of dust between those tiny cracks of the keys. Dust is a collection of dead skin cells. Need I say more...?

4. Money

Yes, it's true that 90% of money has come into contact with cocaine. But, the transmittance of money between people is even worse. Anything related to money, such as Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) are just as bad. The beauty of it is bacteria and diseases can't last very long as money is a dry object and isn't the best place for a bacterial festering ground.

5. People

This merely relates directly back to how only 49% of people who use public restrooms wash their hands directly afterwards. I can not emphasize too much the importance of normal, daily hygiene methods.

Please don't have hand sanitizer consume the rest of your life, or any anti-bacterial solutions for that matter. As introduced to me in 2005, triclosan should be avoided as much as possible for the betterment for all of us. This mostly used anti-bacterial ingredient is said to be of no use... soon! It is said that bacteria are growing a rapid resistance against triclosan and this evolutional adaptation of bacteria may not longer be barred by our common use of anti-bacterials. This may create a fairly large issue in the medical field as endless numbers of people cross-culturally rely on these medications. So please practice simple hygiene methods and reduce the use of anti-bacterials as much as possible.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/europe/travel-tips-and-articles/77521

Corrections about Christopher Colombus

As today is Colombus Day, is has become very commercialized in the Western World. It is a day to celebrate sales and buy that new mattress set, not to venture on a pilgrammage of Colombus' voyage.

According to MSNBC, here are the top 5 misconceptions about Christopher Colombus:

1. Colombus set out to prove the world was round.

The earth's roundness was proved nearly 2,000 years earlier, beginning with Pythagoreas in the 6thC BCE.

2. Colombus discovered America.

Instead, Colombus' journey included Hispanola, Central & South America. The only reason why the misconception about Colombus discovering America is prominent because the Thirteen Colonies were at war with England and not Spain. Therefore, we named the day our land was discovered after a Spainard. (It was actually discovered by the true American Indians and later by England's John Cabot.)

3. Colombus introduced syphillis to Europe.

Syphillis was a world-wide disease before Colombus. Coincidentially, a case of syphillis broke in Napels, 1494 following Colombus' return. The earliest known case of syphillis was described by Hippocrates in Classic Greece as a pre-Colombian theory. Though, these two arguements are widely discussed throughout anthropology and history.

4. Colombus died unknown in poverty.

At the time of his death in 1506, Christopher Colombus was living comfortably (like most of you and myself are today). Fernindad & Queen Isabella did not alow his to keep his discoveries, as promised to him, from his endeavors. Instead, a twenty year lawsuit occurred and finally his heirs regained ownership of the artifacts.

5. Colombus did nothing significant.

Christopher Colombus was miguided about many things but assisted in two key concepts of history. The first was his navigation techniques. He established some knowledge about tradewinds, specifically the lower-latitude easterlies and higher-latitude westerlies. Also, Colombus was the first European to stay in the Western Hemisphere. This direct contact built the foundation for further discoveries and voyages between Europe and the Americas.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44846249/

Morocco's Famous Rose Festival at Kelaât M'Gouna

This festival in Kelaât M'Gouna, Morocco is a celebration of the Damask roses from nearby valleys. The vibrant pink flowers are widely used for perfume oil production. Damask roses' history may be traced to the time of the Crusades as it was spread between Northern Africa and Europe. Moussems celebrate a life or good harvest. During the rose festival, the population of Kelaât M'Gouna rapidly grows as visitors join the festivities to give thanks. This festival is a weekend long journey in celebrating the roses' bloom. Since it is dependent upon the time of year, the actual date of the festival changes annually.

http://www.fotopedia.com/magazine/stories/vuhTlE1G0ig/Moroccos_Famous_Rose_Festival_at_Kelaat_MGouna

Gospel of Jesus' Wife Papyrus

The papyrus of the "Gospel of Jesus' Wife" is said to be a forgery, noted by the Vatican. The text is written in Ancient Egyptian Coptic and was researched by a Harvard scholar. Among academics, a huge debate of the artifact's authenticity spread across diciplines. Regardless, the Catholic Church defends it's a forgery as the battle between science and religion continues.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/28/us-religion-jesuswife-idUSBRE88R0NT20120928

Daily Routines

It's very difficult, or so I've found, to stay within a daily routine while in college: dinner plans are made on the fly, a random volleyball game begins, and things come up naturally. Though I, for one, have not stayed on the path toward regularity since my junior year of high school; this is a start to begin anew.

Routines, not necessarily daily, are our Western society's form of rituals. It is perfectly normal to wake up at the same time every morning from the same side of the bed and continue the same tasks within a timely manner. I do not have such. I sleep in quite often (as often as possible) and take certain liberties with hygiene practices which seem so taboo in the States.

Here, the forever-jointed line between anthropology and psychology arise yet again. The differences of learned and inherent behaviors are boldly distinct. Yet, they are one of the same in this case. Waking up at 7:34 am is an inherent behavior as set by your circadian rhythm (biological clock). Habits are formed within 7 to 12 days of the exact same behaviors. However, most of the tasks included in said daily routines are founded learned behaviors. Brushing one's teeth or washing one's hair are strikingly obvious examples. Phrases like "squeaky clean" help bring further imagery as a visual stimulant to trigger the processes of the upcoming task.

Regarding showers: if a person's b.o. gets so disgustingly putrid, please encourage them (even if it might be yourself) to take action and TAKE A SHOWER! On the biological side, what about pheromones? If mates are attracted to each other through a sense of smell, would suggestive shower taking introduce a larger number of interested mates to one another? Or should such action take place only while the animal is at peak or "in heat"?

These are just some of my anthropological daily musings about the society we live in today. . .