Gunga hits the road again- "feeding the rat"

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Hello old friends and new. Val and I are embarking on another adventure this time to Egypt and Turkey. I read a quote from Colin Mortlock. He said, " Adventure: anything containing equal parts high endeavor, questionable outcome, and good companionship." How lucky I was to find Val ( on an OAT trip to Thailand in 2001). This is about our 12th trip together.

I know a lot of you follow along and travel with me vicariously while other shake their heads and think I'm a bit crazy to do the things I do and go the places I go. Really, I can't help it. I come from a long line of adventurous women(and men). All my grandparent's came to this country (two from Canada and two from Ireland) barely out of their teens, with the clothes on their backs, and not much more. They knew they would never see their parents or families again yet they still got on those boats. When people tell me I am brave I sort of chuckle because I know what true bravery is. It is knowing you have no home, no job, no friends, nothing except your strong arms and backs to support you. It is enduring a terrible passage, most likely in steerage, to reach a new life. So will I complain about an uncomfortable bed- no, a delayed flight- no, food that may not be what I am used to- okay, maybe a little? You get my point. All I do is click on some flights, e-mails some hotels and I'm booked for 10 days in Istanbul. Is that brave? I don't think so.

Geof Childs says," The fearful stay home, insulating themselves from other cultures, other ways of seeing things, other ways of experiencing life and our place in the world. It is the brave who go out and build bridges."

So while the climate in our country thrusts a crazy self proclaimed 'minister'( I use the term loosely) in FL who wants to burn the Koran, and others, who have never been to NYC, who picket against an Islamic center being built next to a sub shop, a strip joint, and unoccupied buildings, I am looking forward to going to two Islamic countries. Because if I have learned anything from my travels it is that people are people. They all want peace. They want to educate their children, feed their families, and work honest work.

Back in 1980, when my family started hosting foreign students, we wondered why so many groups( mostly teenage Japanese girls) came to very small rural communites in Massachusetts. One of their leaders told us it was because the United States was such a dangerous country and their parents were fearful of our cities because everyone walked around with guns. We were shocked. This wasn't the country we knew. How times have changed. Think about all the militias and their stockpiles of guns waiting for, well, what are they waiting for? Now that I live in the mid- south I am constantly shocked at how people want to be allowed to carry their guns everywhere. In fact, when people ask me if I am afraid to go some of the places I go I now answer, "I live in Memphis." It is the # 1 or 2 most dangerous city in America. I usually feel much safer when I travel.

Mo Anthoine, a Welsh climber, believed that "...having once drunk from the well of adventure travel, a person must either occasionally 'feed the rat' or suffer the vexations of withdrawal. So it's time for me to 'feed my rat' and venture to a new continent for me ( Africa) and return to beautiful Turkey. I went there in 2000 and have longed to return. After our OAT tour in Egypt, Val and I will fly from Cairo to Istanbul and spend 10 days there on our own exploring magnificent mosques, Topkapi, the Grand Bazaar, and, well, I'm sure we'll find lots to do in the cradle of civilization.

A boring note- I am adding 'gunga' to the header of all my blogs because often 'google',' bing' and 'internet explorer' won't bring up my personal blogs. Instead anything with the word 'gunga' comes up- but nothing to do with me. Someone suggested I start all my entries with the word'gunga' and see if that helps. We'll see. Oh, and if you want your name removed please let me know ASAP. Remember to add this to your address book: [e-mail] so your computer doesn't think it is SPAM.

Off to pack.....
Carolyn ( aka 'Gunga)

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