Introduction

   Hi, my name is Jake Marten, and I'm currently a Freshman at Penn State studying Geosciences. I was born in Houston Texas and lived there for 3 years before moving to Norway, where I lived for another three years. When I was six I moved back to Houston for a year, after which I moved to Cairo Egypt where I lived for 11 years. My life has taken me all around the world, and it's been pretty crazy. I have one brother and one sister, both of whom have graduated college. In High School I was pretty active in clubs and sports. I played four years of Varsity Baseball with one year as Captain, I joined the Model United Nations club and served as President of the Security Council, and also did one year of Wrestling and one year of Basketball. Living in Egypt gave me the opportunity to travel to tons of places and see incredible things. I've gotten the chance to build homes in the poorest regions of Ghana, and I've been able to witness a revolution from my balcony. I only hope that I can continue my experiences into my adult life. I think one of the most important things that a person can do is to explore the world and expose themselves to new cultures and strange places.

   I thought I would write a blog about my experiences overseas both good and bad, and how living in Cairo has compared to life in America. I thought it might also be cool to give advice that I've picked in my traveling, for those of you who might be going on a trip sometime in the near future. I'll try to include any pictures I can find and hopefully it'll be as enjoyable to read as it is to write.