Stories, photos... you name it

I got tagged by my dear friend Sandy (with whom I get to hang out in Cleveland in just a few days! Yay!) with this photo tag meme.

1. Open your first photo folder.
2. Scroll to the 10th photo.
3. Post the photo on your blog and tell the story behind it.
4. Tag some CREATIVE JUICY people to do the same!

Luckily, the first photo folder on this particular computer holds my Ethiopia photos. It's not a terribly inspiring photo, but at least it's from an interesting place. I'd just arrived at the Ghion Hotel in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. I was suffering from major jet lag, but I was SO EXCITED I just had to start snapping pictures. My hotel room had a small patio out the back which I took full advantage of - sitting for hours reading, writing postcards, and processing all that I'd witnessed.

I arrived in Ethiopia 3 days before any of my companions did. I was bringing a film crew into the country to film some of our agriculture programs, but before they could enter, I needed to obtain the necessary film permits and government blessing (which required a whole lot of leaping through hoops, sweet-talking, and... well, it's too complicated to tell you the whole story). In between multiple visits to the appropriate government offices, I wandered the streets of Addis Ababa (and that's an adventure, I tell you!), and did a lot of de-compressing on the very spot on my patio that this photo was taken.

One thing you should know about Ethiopia that you probably never heard from anyone else - it is a STUNNINGLY beautiful country! Set aside all the images that come to mind when you think of Ethiopia (you know the ones - people dying of famine) and imagine a place where you begin your day of driving with vistas that rival the Rocky Mountains, in the afternoon you drive through the desert, and in the evening you pass through the Grand Canyon. In between, you reach the top of a plateau that is so surreal in it's odd apocalyptic beauty that there are no words to describe it. Your jaw gets tired by the end of the day because it has dropped so many times. A few of my other photos are here.

And now it's time to tag someone else. Hmmm... let's see...I'll go with
1. Michele
2. Anvilcloud

On an unrelated note, those of you who were present at my launch party for my new website (and maybe even those of you who weren't) might enjoy the guest post I wrote about it over at this blog.