
My days and nights are filled with thinking about the Open House, organizing the delivery of work, writing about the weekend. And getting my own work done. I’m also preoccupied with the preparations for my trip to India. Every day there’s something else to do, someone else to call or email.
I need to get a Typhoid Vaccination with a few others for my trip. To get a Typhoid vaccination I have to go to the County Health Center, have an appointment with Dr Leach ( I squirmed at his being a man and his name). “An hour”! I exclaimed to the very nice woman on the phone setting up my appointment. How could it take an hour for him to give me a vaccination.
It turns out he’ll go through my trip Itinerary and tell me what the specific health risks are depending on where I’m going. He’ll give me prescriptions for antibiotics to bring with me in case I get sick. Then send me off to the nurse down the hall for my typhoid shot.
I haven’t been to a doctor in such a long time I had to call my High School to get my childhood vaccination records which Dr Leach needs. Even on the answering machine, the Long Island accent was thick. Did I used to talk like that? I’ve been told it still comes through sometimes when I’m excited or pissed off.
I haven’t been back to my High School since I graduated thirty four years ago. And the only reason I remember the year I graduated is because my friend Cindy had the blue and white tassel with the cheap plastic, gold colored “82” on it, from her cap, hanging from her rear view mirror. When I think of her I see the tassel.
But, even though I’m so removed from the place I grew up, when I called the school, I saw the rotary phone in the main office. The not so friendly secretary, who was all business.
I think it’s kind of amazing that they still had my vaccination records. And that they sent them to me within a few days.
Then, last night I woke up and started to spin awful stories in my head about spending over six hours in Dubai Airport from 7pm to 2am on a layover. I’ve heard the airport is like a giant mall. You can even buy a car there. Still, when I wake up in the night, my mind often goes to dark places.
But Jon was awake too, so instead of continuing my stories, we looked at videos on his ipad of the Dubai Airport. It was a fear of the unknown. The stories in my head were soon replaced by the images on Jon’s Ipad and suddenly I was tired again. Able to go back to sleep.
Little by little it all gets done. There’s always something else to think about, something else to worry about. But not having to think about the money anymore, not only makes the trip possible, but so much easier. ( Thank you again to everyone who donated to my trip).
Ultimately, for me, the excitement of everything that’s going on overshadows the concerns. There’s so much I can’t know until I actually experience it. And that’s what a trip like this is so much about. Seeing, doing and learning things so out of my life experience I can’t even imagine them.
OH, MARIA! A SHOT FROM DR. LEACH?!? This is so ironic that it must be good!! Your blog fills my mind with peace and my soul with gladness!! I love reading all you write and all your photos, even tho I don’t always write. HOW WONDERFUL THAT YOU HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH $10,000 FOR YOUR TRIP TO INDIA!! A sure sign that you are meant to go and you will bring our sisters in India much good. Annie
Oh I hope you’re right about Dr Leach Annie! Thanks for your good words.
Maria, Perhaps you have already answered this but I am wondering if you will have a “trip to India” donation basket at the open house. I bet many would love to contribute to your journey and this new unfolding of your art.
I wasn’t thinking of it Lois. We started putting out a Donation for the Open House basket in June and it helped us break even with the costs of putting on the Open House. So I’ll probably just keep it to that. But thanks for the idea.
OH, MARIA!! I AM SO EXCITED THAT YOU BROKE EVEN AT YOUR JUNE OPEN HOUSE!! I didn’t realize it until reading this!! What a wonderful idea, putting out a basket for donations to cover your costs. You and Jon put so much good, so much of yourselves, out into the world, into us, spreading JOY. It is just not right for you to have to fund all that goodness out of your own pocket as well. Annie