- When Donald Trump praises his pick for Secretary of Defense, General James Mattis, as “the closest thing to General George Patton we have”, does he refer to the mistreatment of soldiers or to Patton’s antisemitism?
- After my story about the Peruvian girl, several people have asked me what chicha is. Wikipedia explains it better than I could. I first tried it in Bolivia, where it was made of peaches and quite mild. The one I tried in the story was very strong. Too strong for me, but then more and more children gathered around me and were interested in it. I offered them a gulp and they finished the whole mug in a minute, pouring down jar after jar. Obviously, they loved it and weren’t allowed to drink it very often. I wondered if their parents would notice anything that night.
- – How can you afford to travel so much? – I never bought an Apple product in my life.
- A long distance hiking trail from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea sounds like a great idea. It is far from being completed, though.
- But there are already enough hiking trails in Europe to keep you occupied for years.
- I am an athletic guy trapped in the body of someone who loves cake.
- To a friend who sent me a link to a piece on Russia Today (RT) about the “liberation of Aleppo”: “Pro-tip: When there is a war, don’t get your news from the government channel of one of the warring parties, particularly if that country is more known for war crimes than for a free press.”
- Patty and Bobby Tillerson in 1952: “Let’s call him ‘Rex’, this way he can never get elected to public office.”
- Did you know that 99% of Brazilians are descendants of immigrants?
- This is one of the terrible songs I have to listen to in Peru all the time. From my neighbors, bus drivers and people sitting in front of my house with ghetto-blasters. All of them playing this crap at maximum volume. At least 12 times a day.
The Happy Hermit 
Wonderful. The hiking map will come in handy during the DJT administration.
You could easily spend 4 years that way.
I am going to do one of these colossal transcontinental hikes when I return to Europe next year.
I recommend sticking to the hiking trails in the continental Europe. I’m not sure where this Trans-Caucasian trail will go, but the region seems to have too many various simmering and active conflicts (Chechnya, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorny Karabakh) to really enjoy the hike.
Although the scenery should be amazing.
According to the map of the Trans-Caucasian Trail, it does indeed go through Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
I wondered if that wouldn’t make it too complicated to get visas, but then I read on their website: “It is currently impossible to travel between South Ossetia and the neighboring regions of Racha and Mtianeti. Hopefully someday this will change, and the TCT will follow the high Caucasus through South Ossetia. An alternate route may connect Racha to Mtianeti through Borjomi and Shida Kartli.”
Haha! I’m an athletic person too, trapped in the body of a dessert-lover.
But at least we are mentally very athletic. :-)
True that. Amusing. 😋😊
I honestly think it’s hard to be mentally and physically very fit, because both requires a lot of time. And the time spent at the gym or playing with a ball would be lost for intellectual stimulation like reading or studying. I prefer to work on my brain instead of my butt.