I woke up refreshed this morning, despite having a difficult time falling asleep last night. I had taken a nap before dinner, and after dinner I just wasn’t tired. Eventually, Satan’s aspirin (i.e. Ambien) did the trick. I lumbered downstairs and headed over to the restaurant for breakfast with my fellow volunteers. The non-Indian fare was pretty nondescript: slices…
I’m sitting in the Mumbai airport. My flight to Goa boards in 45 minutes. Last night, after a smooth landing in Mumbai, I headed to Immigration/Passport Control. I was amazed to find very few passengers, and tons of clerks manning the windows. It’s almost always the other way around. Getting through immigration was a breeze. I headed to the Arrivals…
Yesterday, I spent the day packing. Weather reports show the temperature in Goa, Delhi, and Mumbai to be in the high 80s and possibly low 90s, so I’m just bringing shorts. I’ll have one pair of long pants, and those will be the pants I’ll be wearing on the flight. The Mission Rabies handbook says that I’ll need long pants…
As the date approached, I began receiving occasional e-mails from the Mission Rabies volunteer coordinator detailing the finer aspects of the mission. For example, we were gently reminded that many of Mission Rabies’s projects take place in warm countries, so that we should avoid risks like sunburn, heat stroke, or heat exhaustion. I looked up, on the internet, the average…
In my last posting, I told how I discovered, applied to, and was accepted for the Mission Rabies project. Well, the paperwork and preparation for a mission like this is considerable. Before I can travel to Goa and work with the team, Mission Rabies needed a lot of documents. Veterinarians and veterinary nurses need to submit a “letter of good…
It’s hard to believe that 17 months have passed since I retired from veterinary medicine. I’m still trying to figure out where the time has gone. I really didn’t know what to expect once I retired. I did a little research on the topic, and many of articles that I read highlighted three primary issues that retirees face soon after…
When I retired last year, I thought my life could be divided into my “professional identity” and my “civilian identity”, and I was happy to leave my professional identity – and all of the stresses that arose from that – behind, and just live happily with my civilian identity. But being a veterinarian is not like being a toll collector…
Amsterdam is a biking city. There are actually more bicycles than there are residents. These bicycles all have bells on them, and there are nearly as many varieties of bell as there are bikes. Solid pastels, floral patters, messages, animals, stars, logos… a little of everything. I took a few pictures of some that caught my eye.
“Do you remember lying in bed with the covers pulled up over your head, radio playing so no one can see?” -The Ramones It was just the way Joey Ramone described it. I’m in my tiny bedroom in our apartment in Brooklyn. I’ve made a little tent with my blanket, and I’m beneath it, a tiny AM radio no bigger…
It’s been a little over a month since I retired from clinical veterinary medicine. I’m still finding it hard to get used to. I overhear other people say, “I’m not working the rest of this week” or “I’m off for the rest of this month”, and I realize that hey, I’m off for the rest of my life. There are many…
Well, I had a mediocre night’s sleep. Ambien just doesn’t seem to work for me anymore. I was hoping for a good night’s sleep, because we have a grueling day ahead. Hours of sightseeing, then a few hours at the airport (our flight leaves at 10 minutes to midnight), then five hours on a plane to Beijing, seven hours on…
Our last morning in Mandalay. Rough night for my partner, Mark, though. The very spicy tomato dish we had for dinner last night at Too Too caused heartburn that kept him up half of the night. A handful of Tums and a couple of Rolaids finally did the trick and he got a few hours of sleep. We headed upstairs…
Today we got an early start. We were picked up at our hotel by Marn and our driver, and off we went. Sixty-five kilometers east of Mandalay, on the western edge of the lush Shan Plateau 1070 meters above sea level, is the town of Pyin Oo Lwin, sitting far above the dust of Central Myanmar. It was established relatively…
After an amazing day, jam-packed day, we went back to the hotel, chilled out a bit, and then grabbed a cab to see the Moustache Brothers. If you don’t know they’re story, you’re in for a treat. This is the venue where they perform. It’s their home, as well as their performance space. It stays open, and people can wander…
Our second day in Mandalay has been jam-packed. This morning we saw all the different craftspeople in Mandalay – gold leaf makers, woodworkers, bronze workers and marble makers. Then, a stroll down Mandalay Hill, a visit to the world’s biggest book, and a stop at an amazing monastery. All that activity makes one pretty hungry. Time to dine at Shan…