Heading Home

Ugh, what a day! All I've got to say is I wish I had a few more days in BC, and also that Imodium is my new best friend. I seriously thought I was going to have to postpone my flight out. I was that miserable yesterday.

Now I'm at Seatac though, chilling at my gate, and in another 5ish hours I'll be back in IL. Then it's back to blanketing the internet with job apps and resumes....

And of course on the last day, I get sick

It stopped snowing last night long enough for us all to go out for dinner. We went to a Greek place down by the beach; it was pretty quiet, no doubt because there were six inches of snow on the ground and apparently that's more than this area usually gets in a couple of years.

Dinner conversation was fun: apparently there are parts of Canada that are so desperate for workers that even the local McDonaldses will pay $25/hr just to get people in, sometimes also offering signing bonuses. Now, I have no desire whatsoever to step foot anywhere near those golden arches for any reason, even if they're paying me, but it got me thinking. Maybe I can get a job up here somewhere after all. I had an interview with a school in Japan last week that I think went pretty well, but it sounded like I won't hear back for a little while longer. I've wanted to see Canada for a long time. I've said for years that it seems like the kind of place I could enjoy living. After visiting for the last couple of weeks, I think I might be on to something. I think I'll have to look at what's available and what's involved in getting a work visa....

After dinner we came back and lounged around for a while before bed. Brij and I watched some Seinfeld; I can't remember when the last time I actually sat down and did that was, but it has to have been at least a good 5 or 6 years ago. I developed a tummy ache and drank some tea so hopefully I'd be comfortable enough to sleep.

Everything was fine until about 5am, at which point I woke up suddenly and decided I'd better head for the bathroom. My belly was all gurgly and weird-feeling, and I remembered feeling like that sometime in the not-too-distant past, but I couldn't think of when it would have been.

After making it to the bathroom and relaxing  and doing my thing, it suddenly hit me... India. India's where I'd felt all that tummy rumbling. Ugh. That's one thing I don't miss.

I decided to lie down on the couch in the living room so I'd be close to the toilet should I need it again and looked outside. The snow was piled up on the patio, on the tree branches, but none was falling from the sky. In fact, the clouds and fog had cleared up so much that I could clearly see not just the ocean but the lights across the bay. It was beautiful. I sat myself down on the couch with a glass of hot water and admired the view until I felt like I could fall asleep again.

That's where we are now... I'm still on the couch; the stomach pains come and go. What a way to spend my last day in Canada, eh? We were hoping to take a trip up to Whistler because apparently the view is incredible, but with big fat snowflakes falling out of the sky once more and everything blanketed in fog -- not to mention the roads being covered in snow -- it doesn't seem worth the trip. Maybe next time.

Spot Remover

My "spot situation" has improved markedly, thanks for asking. I went and visited a local medical clinic yesterday where the doctor seemed convinced that I had been bitten by either bed bugs or fleas. Prednisone and calamine lotion in hand (and one other drug I can't remember the name of... something starting with L), I returned to my room to wash all of my laundry and sheets in the hottest water I could get. This morning all of that, as well as my mattress, is out in the sun in an attempt to kill whatever may be lurking within.

More importantly, today is a very special day. If you haven't already, head on over here and wish my amazing mom a very happy birthday! No offense to any of you other moms, but she's pretty much the best there is. Happy birthday, Mom! <3

A proper send-off

Class Friday closed with a speech from one of my students, Phaivong, a Thai monk. He is heading back to Thailand and asked if he could say a few words before he went; in his speech he thanked, me, his classmates, and HH the Dalai Lama for his time in India and in English class. He has a tough time with listening (which I appreciate more now that I've got people speaking to me in Hindi and expecting answers), but when he reads he does pretty well. It was really sweet.

Gusti and me with my Elementary class.

Good luck, Phaivong! We'll miss you!

Before that happened, though -- before I left my room in the morning -- I noticed some bumps on my forearms. It wasn't so bad at first, just annoying, so I figured I'd keep an eye on it and go from there. By lunchtime it had spread a bit and I noticed some spots on the tops of my feet.

Wth?

I went down to the clinic at Tibet Charity where one of the nurses wiped me down with iodine and applied some Tibetan medicine; it itches a little but it's not so terrible. It looks worse than it feels. Today I think I'll hit up a clinic or one of the local hospitals and see if they can tell me what's going on. The theories I've gotten from my friends so far include: poison ivy, chickenpox, smallpox, cowpox, ringworm, allergic reaction, bed bugs, mosquito bites, spider bites, leprosy, fungal infection, and that flesh eating virus. It's definitely not mosquito bites or spider bites. All I had for breakfast yesterday was an orange and a cup of coffee (Starbucks Via > Nescafe... thanks, Mom and Dad!), so I thought maybe the acidity was messing with me... My other thought is maybe that Tibetan medicine isn't agreeing with me. I avoided accidents etc, but I didn't drink the saffron concoction... maybe this is what I get for not following directions?

Tibet Charity hosted a dinner for the volunteers yesterday evening at which we said goodbye to Gill and Verity, as they are both heading back to their respective homes this week. We also welcomed a couple of veterinarian volunteers and a couple of doctors from Denmark who will help out in the clinic. These dinners are a little more upscale than the average lunch we get at TC; we usually get rice, boiled potatoes with mutton (I don't eat that part) and herbs, cauliflower in garlic or something similar, and yogurt. Yummm... I do love potatoes. They're so simple but so delicious.

Dinner complete, a bunch of us headed up to McLeod Ganj to play table tennis. We wound up staying two hours and ordering some beers (I did not have any... it's not my thing), playing a whole lot of ping pong -- including a 4-person version that involved running laps around the table -- and afterward Brij, Verity, Kalden, Van, and I hit up one of the local Tibetan clubs. A few more drinks, some really hilarious photos I can't post here, a couple plates of French fries, and a bunch of dance music and sweet moves later (once we all started dancing everyone else joined us), we finally headed home, concluding what was easily my latest night out since I've been here (most places here close by 10). Brij and I rounded out the night with some sitting on the balcony eating sunflower seeds as we have taken to doing. In another few days we'll be on our way to Rajasthan and after that he's heading off to visit family and then out of India, so our nights on the balcony are limited; gotta enjoy it while we can.

The rest of today will consist of spending our last few hours we can with Verity before we see her off to the bus station this evening. After that I'll go study some Hindi, maybe get in an impromptu lesson with Kuldeep, and just chill. I've also been working on my end of a collaborative art project with my good friend Brandi, so I may do some brainstorming for that as well.

Adventure!