Amanaya Guest House Addis Ababa

... nuns and monks spend their entire day in a spiritual reverie praying and chanting&#8230;as their ancestors have done for thousands of years. The entire little village rests in a cloud of ancient, quiet worship. <br><br>Still in awe we continued our travels to Axum. There is no describing how beautiful the Ethiopian landscape is. The roads wind up and down the mountains, ascending from an altitude of 1500m to 3500m and back down again to 1000m. Whilst you are going up or coming down ...

... back later', but amazing how fast they find change 'later' when I tell them I'll just pay with a credit card instead. There are some things you can't cover up with curry powder... I walk the streets of London, taking in the atmosphere one more time. Who knows? Each time could be the last time. Such is the nature of life and death and the Technicolor dreamworld between. I learned that lesson early, probably way too early. Then I go ...

... I guess this is the beauty of spontaneous travel when<br>really you have no agenda. We also contemplated crossing to Ethiopia<br>from Kenya by land, but apparently it&#8217;s a pretty rough 36 hour<br>truck ride past areas with known banditry, so we opted to dish the<br>extra mulla to fly.<br>Our primary purpose to go to Ethiopia<br>in the first place was to visit the orphanage that our church<br>(Beddington Pentecostal) has been sponsoring for the past year. <br ...

... to make the M**kato and our flight - we'd pay a deposit in cash and the rest when we started our trip (this would come back to haunt us). But being Saturday (and HEAVY traffic day) we realized the M**kato couldn't happen and just went back to get our bags. Aft** an argument with our taxi driv** at the airport regarding how much money we owed for his racing us around all morning (difficult since we didn't speak the same language), we finally made our way to the North. Whew!!

I awoke with Eileen's alarm at 530am despite my earplugs and started the engine for him using the screwdriver in the relay trick we have had to use for the last week or so. It's a pain in the neck, having to remove the side panel, unscrew the box and put a screwdriver across the terminals every time we need to start it. This is the main road to Addis, one of the arteries of the country, and it has been paved since I was last here in 2003. Alas, I can only guess, poor workmanship ...

Ok, no offence but only writting this becasue nothing else on the internet will work! so here we are, in ethiopia! yesterday had a very tearful goodbye with sadha and will...didnt think i was going to cry, but when it came to walking through those doors i couldnt help it and i sobbed like a baby! After i wrote last time, well a lot has happened. Wig got really ill with bronchitus (cant spell!) so all the touristy stuff was cancelled so she could lie in ...

... reasons, should they be reading this now: I want you to know that however people view your service, it's you that made the journey and only you that can define its significance. It takes strength to leave your home and all its familiar comforts to challenge yourself in a new environment. It takes amazing strength to realize the right decision is to go back. You've enriched my life unbelievably. May you live and love all of life's adventures, whatever form they might take.

... nbsp; The scenery was mostly hills and mountains--arid brown in appearance, spotted with numerous green trees and bushes. We crossed countless dry river beds, passed innumerable herds of cattle and goats, villages with thatched roof houses and mud splattered ...

... been reading, "The Hero With An African Face" by Clyde Ford. It's an analysis of African myths by a student of Joseph Campbell. Irina says it is very good and recommends it. Nearly all these myths involve a journey by the hero or heroine which is in reality a symbolic quest in the human unconscious in search of spiritual union, enlightenment or direct knowledge of the divine. It's a bit Jungian. In these myths there's often a character like this to hinder or trick the hero. Anyway ...

... reminiscing by viewing a photo slideshow we compiled from our ten weeks together, and listened to some motivational pep-talks from Peace Corps administrators - which, while admittedly cheesy, are honestly reassuring here in a situation so full of uncertainty and so prone to doubts. In the afternoon, we officially swore in as volunteers. Swear-in was a rather incredible affair. 120 invitations were sent out; 235 attendance confirmations were received ...