Lazy Saturday
2 months til departure.
3 goose families of the Canadian persuasion. No, wait, 4! 4 moms, 4 pops and 18 little grey goslings. They are practicing. Alternately swimming and eating, paddling around for awhile and then waddling onto the grassy shore and pecking food from the ground. All 26 of them. A great big goose team.
A bright turquoise Yucatecan hammock looks exotic and contrasty against the bright green grassy banks of a small Canadian lake in June. It is the perfect day to break in my newly acquired treasure as the wind blows gently and the sun warms the air enough to make the temperature perfect. No bugs. A lone duck floats past staring curiously at me.
Now the young geese are learning to preen. Everybody gives themself a fluffing up and a scrubbing with their beak; young birds learning how to be real geese and do everything goose-like. Their little heads still bear tinges of yellow from when they were younger. Now they begin to nest down, in all their fuzziness.
These geese are a metaphor for all of life and as they cock their little yellow heads, all goosey, I am reminded of the brevity and preciousness of not only the summer here, but of life itself and I pray for the goddess to provide me the wisdom to appreciate and enjoy it and feel it, every magical moment.
This is how I spend my final days here. In 2 months, the landscape will be vastly different in my viewfinder and it will seem like another world far removed from this one. This is how it is when you travel.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
To be poked or not to be poked, that is the question
Just got a jab in the arm for a diptheria/tetanus booster. Did you know there are 101 lovely diseases and afflictions one can acquire in a place like India? I didn't.
I mean, I was aware of the usual ones: malaria, traveller's diarrhea, Hep A, diptheria, tetanus, polio, typhoid... I thought I had them all covered, but then there is Hep B, the vaccination against which, according to my travel clinic advisor, is all-the-rage among travellers these days (?!) Hep B is body fluid/blood transmitted and does in your liver... possibly forever. sounds exciting. and of course there is the endearing Japanese Encephalitis, mozzi born, possibly resulting in brain damage or death. Vaccine for Japanese Encephalitis consists of 3 doses at $100cad each! double ouch. We can't forget Chikungunya Fever (pronounced: chicken goonya. I know, I was laughing too). This a new one on the scene I guess. I'd never heard of it in the 17 years I've been travelling, but also mosquito born, same symptoms as malaria. The recommendation is bug dope, long pants and sleeping under a Permethrin soaked mosquito net because no other protection exists apparently . ha, ha, ha.
All this information was not only overwhelming, but terrifying. Malaria or the possible side effects of anti-malarials alone is enough to cause you to never consider travelling to a tropical or developing country ever again in your life.
Upon my departure from the clinic, she gave me two things: the pocket sized bible of all the horrendous diseases you could contract and ... a mind full of fear. Thank you. Delightful lady though... and I didn't feel a thing, I'll give her that.
So armed with all this happy information and a sore arm I am now obliged to decide how high risk I am for each of these things and whether or not I am going to opt for the vaccine. I am not a highly paranoid person, so I tend not to worry all that much about every little thing that could befall you, but one has to wonder, and be smart.
I mean, I was aware of the usual ones: malaria, traveller's diarrhea, Hep A, diptheria, tetanus, polio, typhoid... I thought I had them all covered, but then there is Hep B, the vaccination against which, according to my travel clinic advisor, is all-the-rage among travellers these days (?!) Hep B is body fluid/blood transmitted and does in your liver... possibly forever. sounds exciting. and of course there is the endearing Japanese Encephalitis, mozzi born, possibly resulting in brain damage or death. Vaccine for Japanese Encephalitis consists of 3 doses at $100cad each! double ouch. We can't forget Chikungunya Fever (pronounced: chicken goonya. I know, I was laughing too). This a new one on the scene I guess. I'd never heard of it in the 17 years I've been travelling, but also mosquito born, same symptoms as malaria. The recommendation is bug dope, long pants and sleeping under a Permethrin soaked mosquito net because no other protection exists apparently . ha, ha, ha.
All this information was not only overwhelming, but terrifying. Malaria or the possible side effects of anti-malarials alone is enough to cause you to never consider travelling to a tropical or developing country ever again in your life.
Upon my departure from the clinic, she gave me two things: the pocket sized bible of all the horrendous diseases you could contract and ... a mind full of fear. Thank you. Delightful lady though... and I didn't feel a thing, I'll give her that.
So armed with all this happy information and a sore arm I am now obliged to decide how high risk I am for each of these things and whether or not I am going to opt for the vaccine. I am not a highly paranoid person, so I tend not to worry all that much about every little thing that could befall you, but one has to wonder, and be smart.
Friday, June 13, 2008
steps on the path
Sooo, here we are. It is now exactly 2 months, 10 days and some odd hours until i leave. I knew it would go by quickly, this time, so i keep telling myself this fact, hoping that it will change it, but it does not. I have paid my deposits for both my Sivananda courses and continue to gather myself together and point myself in the direction of East. Nothing is really noteworthy, only mundane details to attend to during this time, very much like life in general. My heart is there in India already. My heart is totally into it, but i must say, it is bitter sweet, as i will be leaving behind a few people i am very fond of. Sending lots of love out. and peace.
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