Hello again!

Its been a long time since I last blogged, over a year now in fact. That time has just flown by and in between times i've had plenty of blog-worthy experiences I could have shared with you.

Ethiopia for example is an amazing country with some outstanding landscapes, beautiful people and a fascinating history. It is also remote and under-developed however, with hardly any telephone, let alone internet connections, making ' real-time' travel updates impossible. Add to that that I had to medi-vac my feeble French ex-boyfriend, making the end of the trip premature, abrupt and very stressful and the result is no documentation of my time there, other than photos.

This annoys me for 2 reasons; Firstly its not a 'popular' destination, which is a shame as its a fantastically easy place to travel. If anyone is searching the web for feedback on Ethiopia I would have wanted them to be able to find my blog and to share my experiences with them - to encourage them to go. Secondly I use these posts as a journal and when i'm stuck at home/work with the urge to escape i'll often look back through them and come across a moment i'd forgotten and spend a happy 5 minutes daydreaming.

Ethiopia's not the only thing i've missed. There was a great week walking on Minorca with my friend Liz back in June. Then a fantastic weekend with Doug in Annecy where I had my first para-gliding experience. I can't blame lack on internet connections or flaky ex-boyfriend's for those missing posts. Simple that this past year has been a year in which much has changed for me, and change (whether expected or not) is often the catalyst for more change, which requires reflection, putting me in a more introverted mind-set and so not in the right frame of mind to blog.

That is why I need this trip now. After 9 years of happily ' coasting' along with my life in Paris I think 2010 is going to be a year of more change, but planned, coordinated change this time.
I might buy a place to live, go back to school, or change jobs, or all three! This may be the last ' long' trip i'm able to make for a while if I load up on debt or change employers so I have to make the most of it, whilst using it to buy some quiet time with myself and work out the plan for the next couple of years.

So, starting today and until 02h15 on 23Nov i've absolutely no commitments and only a handful of vague ideas as to where i'll end up. What I will do though is try to log-in every so often and tell you what i've been up to. At least then if my plans go wrong, or even right, and I end up debt-ridden and cramming for exams i'll have something to look back on.

Ethiopia



Words are on their way, but in the meantime here are just some of the pictures.

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HAPPY NEW YEARS !!

This post is dedicated to Ethiopia who today, Sept 12 2007, joins the 21st century!

I first became aware of Ethiopia back in 1984 when news reports brought images of starving children into our lounge. Bob Geldof rapidly mobilized the masses and Band Aid raised more than GBP 8 million, then it all went quiet again.

Twenty years later if you say 'Ethiopia' to me the word conjures up a very different image, namely large plates of delicious stews and salads served on 'injera' (large flat bread) and washed down with 'tej' (honey wine).

Not a pot-bellied infant in sight!

Ethiopia has made huge inroads into other areas of our day to day life recently. We're now all addicted to its Arabica beans and Broken Flowers brought Malatu Astatke, the father of Ethio-Jazz, on to our ipods.



Ethiopia's still a poor and troubled country. you only need to take a look at its infant mortality and HIV infection rates to see that but culturally and historically its rich, oh so rich; The queen of Sheba, Haile Selassie, Communism, Rastafaris, Haile Gebreselassie, Zion... need I go on?

Today, 12th September 2007, in honor of Ethiopia joining the 21st century pour yourself a mug of Ethiopia's finest and please make time to familiarize yourself a little more with their country and culture...


Link to Wikipedia , crack open the CIA factbook, download some Ethiopian tunes, and look up your nearest Ethiopian restaurant for dinner - you wont be disappointed!



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