Frosted Flakes: Throat Singing, Ancient Megacities and a Breakfast Burrito

My travel plans are starting to come together for the year. Next month, I’m heading to Guatemala where I plan to spend around one month before heading back to the United States in June to get the vaccine. I plan to spend a good chunk of the summer in the United States to visit different cities and promote my hiking trips for next year.

I have also been thinking about spending a bit of time in Europe this year. This morning I received another notification from Scott’s Cheap Flights about some cheap flights to Europe. This time the cities and dates worked out perfectly for me. I took advantage and booked roundtrip flights for $311 leaving in early October and getting me back into the United States just in time for Thanksgiving. It looks like I will be burning the midnight oil to watch the Huskers football games this season but it’s all worth it.

Have you made any summer/fall travel plans? Which ancient civilization fascinates you the most? When was the last time you ate a breakfast burrito? Let’s hear it in the comments below.

Anyways onto Flakes…

Nebraska Spring Football Preview: Defensive Line | Football | Corn Nation

Coach Tuioti has been an impressive hire by Coach Frost. One of the most important facets of his hire is that it should be easier to make inroads into the Polynesian community where they produce really good football players. This will be Coach Tuioti’s third season at Nebraska and the defensive line play has improved with each season.

Stivrins, Sun, Hames Named Volleyball All-Americans | Travel | Travel Pulse

is is Stivrins’ third selection to the All-America team and the second time she’s made the first team. Her hitting percentage was the best in the Big Ten this season and second-best in school history. That’s a pretty darned high bar to hit. Sun, living proof that gods live among us, earned her second All-America honor. She is an incredible all-around player.

Padding the Stats: Grateful For Games, But Sad About Circumstances | Volleyball | Hail Varsity

This entire pandemic-ridden 2020-21 athletic season has been bizarre. In a normal year, the volleyball season would have ended long ago and my beat coverage would have ended in mid-March whenever the men’s basketball team bowed out of the Big Ten Tournament. Instead, we got a spring volleyball season. However, that season ended up lasting just 19 matches for the Huskers, which wasn’t nearly enough to do this team — and this senior class — justice. This team deserved better.

Banks and Sichterman at Guard, Fidone Breaking Through, and Other Notes from Huskers Practice | Football | Hail Varsity

Brant Banks, a third-year redshirt freshman lineman from Houston, is spending quite a bit of time at guard. He’s gotten first-team reps at right guard with Broc Bando playing left guard. A big emphasis for him is working to stay low and have his hips right. He’s a rather large lineman at 6-7, so playing more in the phone booth against guards as opposed to more of the island against edge rushers has been an adjustment.

Red Report: Cerni Still Learning the Game of Football; Freshman OLs Progressing; Carnie ‘Full Go’ at TE | Football | Lincoln Journal Star

Culp had to laugh a little Wednesday when telling the story of how the Huskers have had to get Cerni up to speed on the game after the 6-foot-4, 220-pounder arrived in Lincoln from Australia last year.“The fact he didn’t know the difference between offense and defense, we had to start pretty broad. And how many yards it was for a first down and all that,” Culp said. “He’s getting the hang of it it real well — understanding special teams more every day, and he’s adjusting.”

Husker Notes: Jaquez Yant, Nouredin Nouili, Chris Hickman Among Those Standing Out | Football | Omaha World-Herald

After receiving praise from Scott Frost last week, walk-on running back Jaquez Yant received more Wednesday when coaches were specifically asked about him. “He’s a big, fast running back, plays downhill with his pads, he’s going to bring some thunder to you,” offensive line coach Greg Austin said. “Hell, offensive linemen, we gotta get our ass out of the way because he might run us over. He’s taken advantage of all the reps he’s received and done well with them. He’s been active.”

Nebraska Spring Football Preview: Defensive Line Thomas Fidone Had To Be Humbled At First, But Now The ‘Sky’s The Limit’ | Football | Omaha World-Herald

“He wanted to step out there Day 1 and be the best tight end on the team,” Beckton said. “I had to humble him early on, that’s not gonna happen. We got to stack practices, we got to stack reps on top of each other in order for him to be great. And he’s definitely moving in that direction. I’m really proud of what he did today. It shows me that he’s on the right track.”

From Husker Assistant to Kentucky’s Coach, Craig Skinner is Ready to Lead Wildcats in Final Four | Volleyball | Omaha World-Herald

Nebraska holds a special place in Craig Skinner’s life. It’s where he won a national title as a Nebraska assistant in 2000. It’s also where he met his wife, Megan Bechtold, who was a Husker soccer coach from 1995-2004. And where they started their family. Now, it is also the site of his first national semifinal appearance as a head coach.

How the NCAA is Evaluating Baseball Teams With League-Only Schedules | Baseball | Omaha World-Herald

“We’ve never been here before,” Altier said. “We can’t throw it out because there’s a few conferences that have not played nonconference opponents and the rest of the country did — it wouldn’t be fair to everybody else to throw it out. So it’s still got to be a factor to some degree.”

The One Thing You Must Eat In Each State | Travel | Travel Pulse

Nebraska: The Reuben. Seems like the Reuben would have been a creation of the East Coast, doesn’t it? You know, in one of those fantastic delis? Nope, turns out it was invented in Omaha and sinking your teeth into this pastrami, sauerkraut, and cheese-stuffed beauty is a great way to get to know this underrated state.

US Travel and Tourism Industry Lost $766 Billion in 2020 | Travel | Travel Pulse

According to the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) annual Economic Impact Report (EIR), travel and tourism supported more than 16.5 million jobs in 2019, a number that declined 33.2 percent to 11.1 million last year. The sector saw a decrease of a staggering 62 million jobs in 2020 around the world.

TSA Finds Crystal Meth Inside Burrito At Airport | Travel | Travel Pulse

Once the wrapper was open, the Transportation Security Offer (TSO) noticed something dark and unusual in the middle of the burrito. Because the food item didn’t quite match the description provided by the traveler, a supervisory TSO was asked to assist, and she decided to run the breakfast burrito through the X-ray.

Cheap Flights: How Long Will They Last As More Travelers Book? | Travel | Conde Nast Traveler

“Demand levels are at the moment lower than they used to be, which means that eventually drives the [ticket] costs lower as well,” says Bayram Annakov, founder and CEO of App in the Air, a travel tech platform for frequent fliers. “That’s why I think in the next six to nine months, until the end of 2021, we’ll see much lower ticket prices than what we used to have in 2019, for instance.”

Vaccinated Americans May Be Able to Travel to France This Summer | Travel | Conde Nast Traveler

“We will progressively lift the restrictions at the beginning of May,” Macron said, for both European citizens as well as Americans. “We are working hard to propose a very concrete solution, especially for U.S. citizens who are vaccinated, so with a special pass, I would say.”

Families, Travelers Reunite As Australia-New Zealand Travel Bubble Opens | Travel | Travel + Leisure

“The bubble marks a significant step in both countries’ reconnection with the world and it’s one we should all take a moment to be very proud of,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in joint a press release with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Alaska Will Give Tourists Free Coronavirus Vaccines This Summer | Travel | Travel + Leisure

Starting June 1st, tourists entering Alaska will be able to get a vaccine shot at one of the state’s major airports, Alaska’s Governor Mike Dunleavy said during a news conference on Friday. The vaccine will be available outside the security area at four airports: Juneau, Fairbanks, Ketchikan, and Anchorage.

Malta is Paying Travelers to Visit This Summer | Travel | Lonely Planet

Visitors staying at participating five-star hotels will get €100 ($120) per person towards the cost of their stay, and those staying at four-star hotels will be allocated €75 ($90) per person. Guests at three-star hotels will receive €50 ($60) per person off every booking. Participating hotels are expected to match the incentive amount granted by Malta Tourism Authority.

Israel Will Open to Vaccinated Travelers from May | Travel | Lonely Planet

A limited number of groups will be permitted to enter from 23 May, and the number will be increased based on the health situation and progress of the reopening program. Individual travelers will be allowed into Israel in the second stage of the program, with health considerations determining the timeline.

The Man Who Mapped An Ancient City By Hand | Travel | BBC

Known as “the Indiana Jones of Grenada”, Telfor Bedeau is something of a nationwide celebrity. He has walked, rowed and mapped nearly every nook and cranny of Grenada’s rugged terrain, covering 16,093km and climbing its highest peak, Mount Saint Catherine, a staggering 217 times.

Out of Thin Air: The Mystery of the Man Who Fell From the Sky | Aviation | The Guardian

In 2019, the body of a man fell from a passenger plane into a garden in south London. Who was he? What is his story?

Does Birth Order Really Determine Personality Traits? | Family | TIME

In 2003, two U.S. and two Polish psychologists asked hundreds of participants what they knew about birth order. The majority of respondents were convinced that those born earlier had a greater chance of a prestigious career than those born later and that those different career opportunities had to do with their specific birth-order-related character traits.

How to Survive a Killer Asteroid | Science | WIRED

The impact that wiped out the dinosaurs would probably have killed you too—unless you were in the exact right place and had made the exact right plans.

Archaeologists Discover Mysterious Monument Hidden in Plain Sight | History | National Geographic

New find pries open an enduring question: why two ancient superpowers abruptly turned from diplomacy to brutality.

America’s Lost Ancient Megacity | History | BBC

In the ancient Mississippian settlement of Cahokia, vast social events – not trade or the economy – were the founding principle. A thousand years ago, on a site near the modern US city of St Louis, Missouri, Cahokia was renowned for bashes that went on for days.

The Genetic Mistakes That Could Shape Our Future Species | Future | BBC

New technologies may have already introduced genetic errors to the human gene pool. How long will they last? And how could they affect us?

A Revival of Indigenous Throat Singing | Culture | BBC

Inuit throat singing was at risk of extinction after years of erasure by colonists and missionaries, but TikTok star Shina Novalinga is sharing the tradition for a new generation.

Getting Sick For the Sake of Advancing Medical Research | Medicine | Undark

Jimmy Bernot watched with interest as the nurse carefully transferred a small amount of liquid containing dozens of hookworm larvae onto a piece of gauze, and then placed it on his wrist. Bernot couldn’t see the larvae — at just about half a millimeter long, they are all but invisible — but he could soon feel them: a tingling, itchy sensation as the worm larvae wriggled through his skin and into his bloodstream.

Surviving the Crackdown in Xinjiang | China | The New Yorker

As mass detentions and surveillance dominate the lives of China’s Uyghurs and Kazakhs, a woman struggles to free herself.

Blockbuster.

Picture related to the story posted above.