Guess which three countries Reader and Mrs. Gurney went to this summer?

[gurneyhalleck1]

I would. the people are great and the food is amazing.

Ethiopia….doesn’t get much lovelier l, I agree, Father!

And I’m sure the aromas will stay with you, quite literally, forever

 

[rusmeister]

We’re considering a Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro adventure!

If you give me a heads up, we can hook you up inexpensively. Just don’t come in high summer. October is excellent. The crowds of tourists and traffic backups along the highway along the sea fizzle out, rent prices dropped dramatically as apartment owners frantically want to get people to occupy them, and the weather is still positively wonderful. We arrived in September, and the first few months were wonderful. The vistas are amazing at any time of the year.

 

[ArmyMatt]

Easy there, Yul

glad you caught that et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

 

[ArmyMatt]

Ethiopia….doesn’t get much lovelier l, I agree, Father!
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And I’m sure the aromas will stay with you, quite literally, forever

yeah, but I would be willing to bet if you went on pilgrimage there, the holy sites would give different pics for your album.

 

[Dewi Sant]

Hong Kong, Lesotho, and Peru

just kidding, fabulous pics!

 

[Dogheaded]

Ethiopia….doesn’t get much lovelier l, I agree, Father!
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And I’m sure the aromas will stay with you, quite literally, forever

Actually yes, I have the smell of the Addis Ababa landfill seared permanently into my brain... And I smell it by recall.

And I've been to the leper colony and bought baskets woven by people who have lost all their fingers to the disease - exhibiting a craftsmanship that is extraordinary for even the able-bodied.

I loves in the poorest district of Addis where the people fasted Wednesday and Friday, such that restaurants wouldn't keep foods we abstain from on the menu because it'd be a profit loss.

However, in the extreme poverty are people better than most of us. In Ethiopia you don't crash a wedding, the wedding crashes you. You walk down the street minding your own business when a random wedding comes along and drags you into the festivities as the people in the streets are brought in among the guests.
In all my travels I have been with no people more hospitable.

I have also climbed mountains, put my life into the hands of God along steep cliffs, to visit ancient churches carved into stone. I have seen volcanic cores stretch out like lone columns into the sky and the Great Rift Valley. I have explored the castles of Gondor. I have swum in Lagano and Babagayo. I have listened to a traveling bard while sailing across "Lake Tanya to see the monasteries of this Mt. Athos of Ethiopia " I have visited where Menelik II kept his palace and where the British began their diplomacy with them. I have seen the weapons Haile Sellassies has held. I have eaten fresh mango and tasted of pure white honey of wildflowers that only grow at 8000 elevation. I have drank Tege, their mead underneath a fig tree large enough to have a full bar at it's base. I knew one of the men who introduced modern medicine to Ethiopia, who has to take care of his friends who were castrated by pagans on the border of Kenya. I have seen an Abyssinian lion whose paws are bigger than my head while on safari.

And I know of know other place where so many people hold their faith so dear and sincerely.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

If you give me a heads up, we can hook you up inexpensively. Just don’t come in high summer. October is excellent. The crowds of tourists and traffic backups along the highway along the sea fizzle out, rent prices dropped dramatically as apartment owners frantically want to get people to occupy them, and the weather is still positively wonderful. We arrived in September, and the first few months were wonderful. The vistas are amazing at any time of the year.

Well, you know me! I travel around my teacher schedule. Three weeks at Christmas or June is about it for us!

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

Actually yes, I have the smell of the Addis Ababa landfill seared permanently into my brain... And I smell it by recall.

And I've been to the leper colony and bought baskets woven by people who have lost all their fingers to the disease - exhibiting a craftsmanship that is extraordinary for even the able-bodied.

I loves in the poorest district of Addis where the people fasted Wednesday and Friday, such that restaurants wouldn't keep foods we abstain from on the menu because it'd be a profit loss.

However, in the extreme poverty are people better than most of us. In Ethiopia you don't crash a wedding, the wedding crashes you. You walk down the street minding your own business when a random wedding comes along and drags you into the festivities as the people in the streets are brought in among the guests.
In all my travels I have been with no people more hospitable.

I have also climbed mountains, put my life into the hands of God along steep cliffs, to visit ancient churches carved into stone. I have seen volcanic cores stretch out like lone columns into the sky and the Great Rift Valley. I have explored the castles of Gondor. I have swum in Lagano and Babagayo. I have listened to a traveling bard while sailing across "Lake Tanya to see the monasteries of this Mt. Athos of Ethiopia " I have visited where Menelik II kept his palace and where the British began their diplomacy with them. I have seen the weapons Haile Sellassies has held. I have eaten fresh mango and tasted of pure white honey of wildflowers that only grow at 8000 elevation. I have drank Tege, their mead underneath a fig tree large enough to have a full bar at it's base. I knew one of the men who introduced modern medicine to Ethiopia, who has to take care of his friends who were castrated by pagans on the border of Kenya. I have seen an Abyssinian lion whose paws are bigger than my head while on safari.

And I know of know other place where so many people hold their faith so dear and sincerely.

Sounds glorious, brother Dogheaded! I nominate you to go there for a month while I stay home. I’m willing to make this sacrifice with a heavy heart

 

[Dewi Sant]

You walk down the street minding your own business when a random wedding comes along and drags you into the festivities as the people in the streets are brought in among the guests.

Yes!
I did some charity work in rural Brazil and experienced this too. Cultures which are wildly non-individualistic, it’s beautiful and really makes you, the westerner, feel the impoverished party

 

[ArseniusTheSilent]

Stunning photos gurney! Thanks for sharing those.

 

[ArmyMatt]

Stunning photos gurney! Thanks for sharing those.

welcome back!