The end of week 1

So today is Thursday - the first day of our weekend. It's around noon here and we haven't really acomplished much today. In the next hour or so we'll start working on getting some lectures ready. Our goal is to work really hard to get well ahead on the lecture front to give us some breathing room. As it stands now the hour before class we're busy printing, photocopying, collating, and stapling notes. We then run down to the classroom and hope the computer and the projector will actually communicate with each other.

Swell's computer isn't able to be used with the projector as they don't have the right cord available for it so she uses mine. This becomes difficult when she creates gigantic files that need to be transferred to my computer. Hopefully she'll start making smaller, more friendly files this week forward.

We don't have much to say. We're living pretty boring lives right now. We get up at 6 in the morning get ready go to school for 8 and then lecture/work on lectures until 3pm. We then come home - often stopping at the supermarket to buy food/supplies - and work some more and/or watch Freaks and Geeks. Not an exciting life but we're enjoying it.

We did spend a few hours yesterday putting a selection of our Egpyt photos up for all y'all to enjoy. (http://picasaweb.google.com/xmattodx double click on the first photo to make them bigger and then you can scroll through them. I don't suggest doing slide show) I'll try to write out some stories behind the photos later today. Now - I need to eat and get to work on next weeks lectures. But before then while we were on our Nile cruise the cleaning staff would make towel designs on our beds. They made a flower, cobra and other things. We could identify all of them but this one:




What is this? Please guess away.

Bottom line of the above post: We're still safe but we're freezing to death.

Pretty good day

Today we got our washing machine! Yepee! We will soon have clean clothes...after we go buy laundry detergent. Apparently we bought only fabric softner, not actual soap. So off to the store again. And we need the thing to hang the clothes on to dry cuz they don't make dryers here. Clean clothes will be nice. Sheepie actually washed some clothes already with fabric softner, not knowing that's what it was. We were amazed how nice the detergent smelled and how nice our house smelled for 2 days after that!

Today was the first "real lecture" day. Scary for me. Technology is not my friend. My Mac could not be hooked onto the Projector so I had to save it on a thumb drive and then play it off of Sheepie's computer...well, we didn't realize that the file was too big to be transferred. So I lectured the first 30 minutes without my lovely eye pictures, then Sheepie got about half of the slide show to work. Hopefully I can fix it tomorrow for the next day! But I did give the students all the notes, just the pictures were not available (this was disease, so you need to look at pictures). All the students then asked for the slide show as well. I said I can try to put it on CDs for them, then they all got out their thumb drives! Hopefully the lecture made sense and we'll get more tech-friendly as the week goes by. Sucks that we have to rely on technology so much and it seems so out of our hands.. like the projector might or might not work, you never know...

We are home now and I'm gonna attempt to make some chicken stew. I was a hostess to the guys who came to install the washer (2 plus our regular driver) and made them all tea and gave them cookies. Everywhere you go you are offered tea here. Usually it is Lipton "Yellow" brand, which is Earl Grey! Yummy tea. It's really cheap and it is everywhere here and Egypt. Some people put mint or sage leaves in it. At school there is a man who just goes around making us tea all day (or coffee-which is the small Turkish black coffee). The university employs him from the refugee camp (he needs the job and the president tries to find jobs for people). We also have a janitor that comes around every few hours to get our trash, clean the floor, etc! He's really nice, but we really don't make much trash; so usually we just say hello and "no trash".

We still need a few things to get settled, but it feels like we've pretty much lived here for a long time already, even though it's just a week!

The students are super nice and I enjoyed my lecture today because they really get involved with the lecture; it's not just 18 blank faces starring back at you. They actually talk to me during the lecture, it's so nice cuz I know they are all listening. They help out so much too.. set up the projector for us, clean after us, offer to pass out our papers! And they stop by our office so other people they know can meet us, makes us feel special :)

Our electric toothbrush, flash, and shaver power cord made it back from Egypt. All seems to be in working condition.

Gotta go cook. Hope this turns out okay...

swell

Cold, so cold... and dirty.

We're sitting at home right now. Swell is working on her contact lens lecture for Tuesday - I have no lectures on Tuesday which means I'm better than she is. It's true, I'm better.

Anyway we're sitting at home right now she's working on her lecture and I'm working on this. You might ask; "I wonder how he is working on a post if he is sitting at home right now with Swell sitting beside him working on her contact lens lecture for Tuesday he doesn't have a lecture on Tuesday so that makes him better than..."

...interruption...

What the heck was that? Don't mind us we're just hearing ummm.... some noises.

Anyway you were asking how I could be writing a post from home. Well we now have internet at home - well I have internet. Swell has a Mac. Mac's and developing countries... err... occupied territories... don't mix very well. Hopefully she will get online with her computer soon. Until then she'll have to use mine.

Today a fellow came set up my computer in a matter of minutes and I now have faster internet than I did back home. (Could be because I was stealing internet at home?)

We are sitting on the couch, I'm writing a post and swell is working on her contact lens lecture for Tuesday (I don't have a lecture on Tuesday!) but we're sitting in the cold. We have no water again. Surprisingly not a city wide issued despite the ummmm... noises we're hearing. The lack of water is just an us thing. One cannot have heat when the flat is heated by water. It's an unfortunate reality.

Luckily we also have electric heaters. That's nice. They heat a good square foot of space. Very lucky for us.

We have some fellows coming to look at the water situation. We hope that the ummmm... noises weren't directed at them.

We should note that we haven't seen our boss - the dean of optometry since Wednesday. Thursday and Friday are the weekend. Saturday's Israeli's (of which she is one) are forbidden from coming here under threat of arrest and fines. Not really sure why but she can't get out here on Saturdays. That means if we weren't here the students would have to have all of their lectures on Mon, Tues, and Wed. C-R-A-Z-Y. Makes us happy to be here. So far so good. Tommorrow is the first real day of lectures. Wish us luck!

Hope everyone is well.

Final for sure correct (maybe) contact information.
Cell phone: 011 972 59 907 6393
Home phone: 011 970 09 234 9525
Skype: mnpearce (according to Gilda - DON'T use skype to phone our home or cell phone only use it to phone our skype)
email: you should know it by now if not ask nicely and we'll give it to you.

There was actually a long break while writing this post. 7 guys just came to fix our water. It's fixed. We didn't break it. Someone is trying to sababtoge us.

Anyway that was long enough. I have to wait a couple of hours for hot water now so that I can have a shower.

In Trouble

So yesterday we got in a little bit of trouble. We have been a little underwhelmed by the details given to us about living and working in an occupied territory. Although everyone has been very nice the organization of our arrival left a lot to be desired.

We would have liked an orientation to living here, a list of phone numbers, things we should expect, etc. We didn't get any of those things so we're learning the hard way.

Yesterday one of our neighbours a Dr. So and so dropped by our place to politely tell us to limit our use of heat and hot water to at most 4 or 5 hours per day. Apparently our water is heated (and thereby our "central heat" is created) via the burning of gas. Apparently their is a gas shortage in Nablus. Apparently the building's tank is only at 20% of capacity. Apparently they expect it to run out in the next week or so. Apparently our turning the heat on and leaving it on while we are home (turning it off when we leave) was excessive. Who knew?

So now we will get home at 3:30ish and leave the heat off for a few hours. We will then turn it on for the house to warm up from cold to chilly and for me to have a shower every second day or so. I will then get up an hour or so before Swell (for a mere 30 seconds) to run across the house to turn on the water (a simple switch) so that she will have hot water to get ready in the morning. Once she announces she is done off it goes. Rinse and repeat.

The joy in living in an occupied territory. Thanks Israel.

The First Day

Our first day of classes today. We took it pretty easy on the kids here - and they really are kids. This is a bachelor degree - much like it is in most of the world (only the US and Canada have doctorate level optometry) so our second year students are probably 19 or 20 and our third year students are 20-21.

We learned a lot today. We didn't teach much today though.

We had three classes. One for second years (an ocular disease class) and two for third years (a disease class and a procedures class). In each of the two disease classes we simply took the time to introduce ourselves complete with pictures like this:





They were very impressed with the one above.






We then went over the syllabus and that was that. Before letting the students leave we took an individual picture of each of them and spelled out their names phonetically in the hope that we can learn all of them before we leave.

In the procedures class we just got a feel for what they already know and then gave them an example of what one of our exams is like.

Very nice students. I am very concerned with their level of knowledge. By our third year of optometry school we were doing complete eye exams on patients. They do not yet know how to determine a prescription or look at the health of the eye. I see no time in their four year schedule where they will be seeing patients. It seems to me that they will graduate with a lot of theoretical knowledge but very little practical experience. I suppose it's difficult to gain practical experience with no equipment.

There are three complete eye exam lanes here. They got them earlier this academic year. There are (between the three classes)about 60 students.

This is a quasi-public school, in that it is not truly private but they receive no funds from the Palestinian government. They depend solely on tuition (not much)and private donations. It is very difficult to convince people to donate to Palestine - after all they are terrorists. This difficulty creates issues with receiving necessary equipment. Earlier in the year they were given a little bit of money which immediately was used to buy the little equipment they have. It's a start.

It will be interesting to see how the students progress this semester. Hopefully the third years will have at least the "finger skills" to conduct an eye exam by the end of the semester.

We're still safe. We are no where near the Gaza Strip which is where all the news is coming from. Don't worry about us.

For some reason the phone number I wrote in the last post doesn't work. I'm not entirely sure why.

The country code for Palestine is 970. Apparently if you use the Israeli country code of 972 you can get a hold of us.

So our number is: 011 972 59 907 6393 and our home phone number is:

011 972 09 234 9525 (I think - I get confused with all these numbers. The cell phone works for sure as we spoke with someone recently who had the initiative, nay, the drive and wisdom to figure out my earlier mistake - Thanks Gilda)

Not much else going on. We still don't have internet at home. We still don't have a washing machine at home - which is going to be a problem soon. I guess we'll have to find a dry cleaner or something. Hope everyone is well. Talk to you soon.

Had some more time

I had a few more minutes before the end of the day (we finished 5 syllabi (sp?) today and will work on trying to get a weeks worth of lectures done by the end of the "weekend")

A few short notes:

We work from 8:00 to 3:15 everyday (Saturday to Wednesday) - it's a hard life.

It is freezing here.

We have radiator "heat". It is cold at home.

We live on a mountain.

We work in the valley between two mountains.

We live in a city that also has Samaritans. They are good.

We have like 1000 channels on the TV. I can understand maybe 15 (12 of which are news channels). Swell can understand 16 as we get Romania TV.

We brought a lot of DVDs. We will watch a lot of DVDs.

If you want to contact us you can phone us at 011 970 59 907 6393 (if that doesn't work try 011 970 059 907 6393). This is our cell phone number. We also have a home number but I don't remember what it is. We have free incoming calls so cell phone/home phone no difference.

PLEASE NOTE: we do NOT live in your time zone.

Mustard, Pa, JDL, BBL, Jill, George, Cami, Cheese, The good one you live in E'Town.
E'town has a 9 hour time difference from us. That means we live in the future. So to figure out what time it is look at your watch SUBTRACT 3 and change am to pm. It is 7 pm at your house. You look at your watch and exclaim: "It is 7 pm at my house!" you then subtract 3. After putting your socks back on you say 7 minus 3 is 4. You then take your 4 and change that pm to am. So at our house it is 4 am. DO NOT CALL WE ARE SLEEPING!

Mama, Tata, Crina, Matt, April, anyone else who lives in PST. Do the same as above but subtract 2 so when it is 7 pm at your house it is 5 am at our house. STILL DO NOT CALL - WE ARE SLEEPING.

Gilda - you have it easiest. This is necessary because we all know that Romanians can't do math. You just change your am to pm. So you look at your watch and see that it says 7 pm. You then contemplate the tan line that your watch is leaving and say if it is 7 pm at my paradise it must be 7 am in their hell. You can then call. We are not sleeping.

To All. Please strongly consider how you are calling us. Skype may be cheaper (Free if you call our computer but that is for when we have internet at home) or if you find an international calling card that may be cheaper. Find out what works best for you and your budget. WE WILL NOT ACCEPT COLLECT CALLS. WE ARE BROKE.

Call me if you have any questions.

Sheepie and Swell (who is shivering across from me at her desk)

P.S. my abstract was accepted for the South Africa conference so I'll be presenting something there. Wish me luck.

Love all of you deeply - even the lurkers. (Seriously we do even if we don't know you.)

P.P.S please excuse spelling/grammatical errors. I was in a hurry.

A picture of us at the Step Pyramid - the great pyramids older brother (Note size - of the pyramid not me - by looking at the wee tiny people in the bottom right cornerish area of the pyramid):

Contentment Shattered

Sorry for the lack of updates. We've been slow to settle into our new lives here in Nablus.

We arrived in Tel Aviv on Monday January 22 at 4:19 am. The flight from Cairo was only one hour. Very short - very quick. I don't remember anything about the flight, however. I was sleeping from the moment we sat in the plane until the moment we landed in Tel Aviv. Checking in for the flight I do remember.

It took 3 hours.

We flew El Al to and from Cairo. El Al is the Israeli national airline and, therefore, a branch of the Israeli government. They require that you arrive at your departure airport 4 hours! before departure. We needed all four hours.

We arrived at the airport. Our Cairo tour coordinator showed us the proper security gate to go through and we were on our way.

Our luggage was screened by an X-Ray machine. We passed through metal detectors just to gain access to the departures counters. We then stood in the El Al line. The end of the line was marked by a velvet rope. An available representative would open the velvet rope for the next passenger and take them to a music stand where the interrogation would begin.

I am not exaggerating. It was an interrogation.

“How long have you known each other?”

“Why did you visit Egypt?”

“Why are you going to Israel?”

“How did you get to Egypt?”

“Where are you staying in Israel?”

“How long have you known the person you are staying with?”

“Four months in Israel? Why? How do you have the money to do this? Why 4 months in Israel and only 10 days in Egypt?”

“Where did you stay in Egypt?”

“What did you see in Egypt? Do you have pictures?”

And on and on. We answered the same questions for 45 minutes. Swells passport picture is now 8 years old, or so, so they needed to see more ID. Her name is changed from her passport and the US passport people simply typed an amendment in the back of the passport. All of these things caused great concern for our representative so she talked to her superiors multiple times.

When we were deemed non-threatening by this woman (who was kind and considerate by the way) we were sent to special screening so that new folks (also kind and considerate) could go through our luggage. Every single item we packed was removed from our luggage and x-rayed. If it was electronic we needed to show them that it was in working condition. We were questioned about many items. We were in the special screening room for a good 2 hours. We were taken individually to a backroom where we were wanded and pat down. Swell had to remove her pants. (Surprisingly enough the buttons on her pants kept setting the wand off. Apparently in Israel this is of great concern.)

We passed the tests. Our luggage mostly passed. They detained our electric toothbrush, our external camera flash, and the cord that plugs my electric razor in for further questioning. I feel bad for said items as I am sure they are currently being tortured and scrutinized. The toothbrush wouldn’t show that it was charging for some reason so it couldn’t come. The camera flash is old and seldom used; unfortunately there were some batteries in it that had corroded. It failed multiple tests (personally I’ve always been concerned about the flashes friends – an unruly bunch to say the least. I wouldn’t be surprised if it were up to no good. Trying to come to Israel to “flash” people. Pervert. My razor would also not show that it would charge. The cord failed but the razor worked so they let me keep the razor but they detained the cord.

They promise to ship us the remaining items by ground so hopefully they make it soon. I miss my toothbrush. Once you go electric you can’t go back to regular. It just isn’t right.

When we arrived in Tel Aviv we were met by a driver (we met him the last time we were in Tel Aviv – before our flight to Cairo) who was to take us to Nablus – about a 45 minute drive.

We arrived at the final Israeli check stop into Nablus at 6:15 am. They wouldn’t let us in as the check stop was yet to be open to vehicular traffic. You could pass on foot but not by car.

Our driver, to help pass the time, took us to a café for breakfast. Swell was in heaven. Eating, drinking – generally being merry.

After breakfast we tried the check stop again. Closed. The driver drives people around for a living and is quite adept and getting in and out of Palestine so he found an Israeli army dude that he knows who led us through the still closed check stop. People were everywhere. Palestinians trying to get to Israel or other parts of Palestine to go to work or school were milling about trying to get permission to live their lives. Permission is often denied or the people are detained for hours. We have been told stories of students who want to go home for the weekend – a mere 10 minutes away who take 3 or 4 hours to get home due to harassment at the check points. Due to the presence of the check points most students rent apartments near the university (many students per residence) in order to avoid having to go through the check points. Quite an expense.

We eventually arrived in Nablus and were taken to meet the dean of the optometry school and were given a tour of the old campus where we met the University President, Vice-President, directors, etc. So many people. So many names. Don’t remember any of them.

One fellow we met gave us a tour of the library and other buildings in the old campus. (The school has two main campuses in Nablus old and new – named after their age). He was very nice and kept making Swell cry and me. He constantly told us that we are a gift to the people here. That above all we will help the students, who often suffer from depression, know that they are not alone in the world. We will show them that they are not forgotten by everyone and that people do care for them. He mentioned that students often have very low self-esteem/self-worth due to the occupation and that it is very helpful for foreign visitors just to listen to the students – to be friends with them. It was very humbling to listen to him. An experience not to be forgotten.

We were shown that flat that we will use for the next four months as well. A small place. Only three bedrooms, three bathrooms, dining room, living room, kitchen. In all seriousness you could fit our condo in the living room, dining room area. Far too big for us but we’ll take it – and the satellite TV, and the soon to be set up internet, and the coming washing machine, and the weekly maid service, and the first set of groceries.

All in all our first day here was a great day. We enjoyed meeting the people. We enjoyed seeing the city.

We didn’t enjoy hearing gunshots (a stupid police/security kid firing into the air) and seeing our driver and everyone else in the van ducking for cover.

We didn’t enjoy last nights wind storm.

We didn’t enjoy being without hot water on our first day, and without water on our second. (Swell still hasn’t had a shower – I’ve had two.)

We didn’t enjoy having to end our shopping for supplies because: “The Israelis have entered Nablus” (turned out to be an idiot French diplomat who came to Nablus with armed security but didn’t tell the Palestinian authorities so they thought it was Israeli security).

We didn’t enjoy hearing last nights gun battle – VERY FAR FROM OUR VERY SHELTERED HOME – WITH BULLET PROOF SHADES!!

Now we’re working on syllabi for the five courses we will teach. Met some of the students. Very nice – very young.

We’ll write more in the near future. It may be a couple of days because we don’t have internet at home yet and it is the weekend on Thursday and Friday.

I’ll also have contact information for all of you soon.

Typical Tourists

So yesterday we were the stereotypical bad tourists. We were scammed (more later but to put your mind at ease no money or valuables were lost), we ate at a non-Egyptian restaurant, and we yelled at the locals.

1) Everywhere we read about travelling in Egypt mentioned scams. The particular scam we fell prey to was the one I read about the most. I fell for it. Swell did not. She tagged along with me so that she could mock me for the rest of our life.

You see we started today being adventurous tourists. We set out in the early afternoon to find a Falafel stand. Falafel in Egypt is different from what I am used to and probably what most of you are used to. Rather than being made for Chickpeas it is made with some other type of bean (Fava?) and is more moist here. It is delicious and we set out to find a very cheap and filling meal. As we wandered the streets of Cairo a very friendly fellow stopped to talk to us and asked us where we are from. We say Canada (to which the locals all respond as if prompted by God himself - CANADA - CANADA DRY!!) and he proceeds to talk to us a little. He asks if we are staying at hotel X. We reply surprised "why yes we are"! He tells us that he works there and just got off of his shift and is on his way home. "What are we looking for?"

"Falafel! I can show you a great Falafel place it just across this very, very busy street. Come with me."

We follow, albeit a bit reluctantly as we had no desire to cross this crazy street. He points out the restaurant down the street and puts his scam into full effect.

"The restaurant is closed for the next 30 minutes as they are cleaning it out and getting ready for the lunch." (Everywhere you read they mention that this is how the scam starts. Something is always closed. It never really is.)

"While you're waiting for the restaurant to open again why don't you come into my brother's shop?"

I am far too polite and can't say no. So in we go. We are told that we can just sit and wait but while we're waiting they'll tell us about Egypt and the goods they have to sell. Scam continues. Swell says over and over we are not buying anything. The man (the "brother" of the previous man starts to get angry - telling us that not all Egyptian hassle the tourists. We are friends and he just wants to show us his goods. If we don't want them - fine. The pressure mounts throughout our time in his shop and Swell eventually walks out leaving me to thank the man for his hospitality and kindness.) We escape but ended up falling prey to the oldest scam in Egypt. At least we didn't buy anything.

2) We ate at McDonald's yesterday. I'm sorry. We ended up buying Falafel for lunch but ate McDonald's for lunch. I know many of you who read this will be so upset to hear that we ate at an American restaurant while in a foreign land. I do apologize but I did have something not available in the US. I had a Big Mac Chicken. It is exactly like a Big Mac but with chicken. It was ok.

3) We only did one site yesterday. We went back to the Giza pyramids in the evening for a sound and light show (laser and dialogue show that lights up the pyramids and sphinx and talks about their history). Our travel representative arranged for a car to pick us up and take us to the show. We know from our guide book that tickets to the show cost 30 Egyptian pounds ($6 US) and a taxi for the day only costs 120 Egyptian pounds (~$25 US) so when the tour operator told us to bring 100 we assumed it was pounds. We were wrong. When he asked for $100 US Swell went insane. I have never seen her like this before and don't desire it again. She basically called the guy a liar and a thief. It was not a pretty sight. I was able to calm her down and convince her to just go along with it. We got to the show and Swell wanted to go to a particular cafe to get something to drink while waiting. The tour operator stopped at a different cafe (Swell knowing that anytime a guide or operator takes you anywhere specific there is probably some type of commission given to them insisted to go elsewhere.) When we got to her desired location we were unable to get in so we went back to the original one. We sat with the operator for an uncomfortable 45 minutes asking about life in Egypt. He was kind enough to talk to us despite being called a thief and a liar. Swell felt worse and worse about the Romanian in her coming to the surface (her words not mine).

We ended up going to the (obviously) outdoor show where we sat through a wind storm, dust storm, and rain. All in all not worth the money but an experience none-the-less.

We leave tonight to start the real reason for our trip. Hopefully we will have more dependable Internet access and won't have to wander the streets for an hour searching for Internet like we did today. So I'll leave you with that - and the knowledge that as I sit here typing this I am drinking a Strawberry milkshake - from McDonalds

The Pain of Finding Internet in Egypt

nWe're sitting in an internet cafe in Aswan Egypt. Next to us sits a five year old Egyptian boy playing Counter Strike online against someone from who knows where. He can barely see over the counter top to see the screen. Interesting sight.

We sailed to Aswan (from Luxor) over the past four days. We sailed in a caravan of cruise "ships". There are 300 odd ships that sail the short distance from Luxor to Aswan. They vary in their quality - some are five star hotels on the water - others look quite shabby. Ours was somewhere in the middle. It was nice enough but not something you would want to live on for the rest of forever.

It has been an interesting trip. We've loved the Egyptian sites. They are more than we imagined and worth seeing sometime in your lifetime. Actually worth seeing more than once. We vacation poorly, however. Everywhere we go Swell and I note the poverty rather than just the historical stuff. It is a surreal experience to float down the Nile in a relatively luxurious boat with all the food and drink you can eat. We have 70 or so staff on the boat - there are probably 50 tourists. On either side of the Nile sit hovels barely fit for habitation. So the wealth of the world floats idly by the poor on either side of the Nile. The passengers on the boats do their best to ignore the poverty. Instead of saying: "Oh my! Look at these poor people washing their clothes in the polluted Nile/look at them collect water to take back to their homes/look at them fishing for food/look at their unfinished homes" the tourists visit while drinking $5 beers wearing nothing but their underwear.

That was quite a site. Women of the world your bra is not an outdoor outfit especially in a Muslim country where the women are covered from head to toe. Women who weigh more than 200 pounds please invest in a nice one piece swim suit rather than your jeans and a bra.

We do a good job of ignoring the poor. While in Egypt we ignore them as we walk past their shops, we ignore them as we walk past them trying to sell us flowers they just picked from the side of the road. We ignore their offers to show us the "best picture" all for the hopes of baksheesh (tip). On a grander scale the poor are ignored by our governments and in our day to day purchasing/lifestyle choices.

I haven't travelled a lot - let alone in such a touristy fashion as we are this week - but everywhere I've travelled I've seen more of the same. People just trying to eek out a life. Growing their food in rural Romania even at the age of 70, suffering - even in childbirth in very rural Honduras for lack of transportation.

Its interesting to make these observations but even when you make them while visiting the country it is difficult - I would say impossible - to truly understand what the people experience. It takes "walking a mile" in their shoes to see what it is like to live after the ravages of communism, to live in an area ignored by world leaders, to live with under $2 a day, to live without access to an improved water source/sanitation. While we won't be doing these things in our time in Nablus it is one step closer to experiencing life the way the vast majority of our brothers and sisters live - poor and hopeless but content in their community experience. Perhaps living this life will give us the knowledge of how better to pursue equality and justice for all when we move back home. Perhaps it will give us the knowledge to make better life choices so next time we visit an underdeveloped country we will see progress rather than economic/health care stagnation.

We promise to post about our trip (the sites) but want to do so with pictures and that will have to wait until we have access to our own computers.

'Till then I'm going to go get a little more sun.

Sheepie

P.S. It seems to me that my title makes no sense to the post. I was going to write something different because the above post was written much better yesterday in my journal. I forgot said journal at the boat and I was going to wait to write it later. I couldn't so the title doesn't match. "Why didn't you just change the title then?" Shut up.

In Egypt not Dead

We are currently in Luxor which is the starting point for our four day Nile cruise. The boat is acceptable - about what one would expect in Egypt - which means it is tolerable. It has a warm shower and that in itself is nice. We have a lot of stories but we just happened across this internet cafe and don't have much time to write them.

We arrived in Luxor via an overnight "sleeper" train. Not much sleeping possible what with nearly falling off the bed every 10 minutes. Noisy, smelly, and really shakey. It was an experience I wouldn't want to repeat.... oh crap... we'll be repeating the experience in four days.

Pyramids were awesome, Egyptian museum was really cool. We had a great guide.

Swell is well but did have a day where she passed up shopping and food! Now that's a story.

We'll be in touch.

Good flights but bad trip. Here and Nicole's already crying...

We had really nice flights. British airways is a good airline. We had a half of an upgrade - not all the way from cattle-people class to first class but from cattle-people to slightly better. We'll write about that later. (We're about to be picked up to go back to the airport to go to Egypt.) The bad part of our trip was the 12 hour layover in London! more about that later as well.

Nicole has been here for less than 12 hours. She has already cried twice.



The first was when she saw the breakfast buffet at our hotel. She was in heaven. Tears of gastronomical joy covered her face.

The second set of tears came after our 9 hour mid-day nap. They came because of the awesome dinner we just had. Nicole will be a whole new person when this is all done. I predict a 15 pound weight gain.

Short update 'cause we're short on time but we're here, we're happy, and we're safe.

Three things:

1) Swell is no longer swollen. The treatment seems to have worked. Her first dose didn't seem to do anything but the second dose made some rapid improvements. She is still in some pain - different pain from swollen pain though. We think its just from being swollen for a number of hours. She is no longer nauseous which is great. She should be good to go by tomorrow.

2) Swell wanted me to post our Egypt itinerary so that people know where we are and when we are there. She also wants to rub it in that we will be in Egypt and all y'all will be at work - working.

Jan. 12^th (Friday) – Arrive Cairo: 01:15 a.m. Arrive Cairo Transfer to Pyramisa Hotel .
Tel # (02) 3367000 Fax # (02) 3605347

Jan. 13^th (Saturday) – Cairo:
Pick up from hotel & meet your guide .
Full day tour to visit the Pyramids of Giza , Sphinx , Memphis & Sakkara .

Jan. 14^th (Sunday) – Cairo / Luxor:
Full day tour to visit the Egyptian Museum , Citadel & Khan El Khalili Bazaar
Dinner & overnight on board the sleeper train (1 Twin compartment) .
Jan. 15^th (Monday) – Luxor:
Transfer to M/S Sherry Boat . Tel # (012 2165947) .P.M.
Visit Karnak Temple & Luxor Temple .

Jan. 16^th (Tuesday) – Luxor / Esna:
A.M. Visit the West Bank (valley of the Kings , Hatshepsut Temple & Colossi of Memnon) .

Jan. 17^th (Wednesday) – Esna / Edfu / Kom Ombo / Aswan:
A.M. Visit Horus Temple in Edfu . Sail to Kom Ombo .
P.M. Visit Kom Ombo Temple . Sail to Aswan.

Jan. 18^th (Thursday) – Aswan:
A.M. Visit the High Dam , Unfinished Obelisk & Temple of Philae .
P.M. Free at leisure .

Jan. 19^th (Friday) – Aswan / Cairo:
A.M. Felucca sailing trip to view Elephantine Island & Agha Khan Mausoleu
Dinner & overnight on board the sleeper train

Jan. 20^th (Saturday) – Cairo:
06:45 a.m. Arrive Cairo Train Station .
Transfer to Pyramisa Hotel . Tel # (02) 3367000 Fax # (02) 3605347
Free day at leisure

Jan. 21^st (Sunday) – Cairo:
Free day at leisure. Overnight at Pyramisa Hotel .

Jan. 22^nd (Monday) – Depart Cairo:
03:20 a.m. Board your flight to Tel Aviv.

3) We are still hearing a lot of concern about our decision to do what we are doing. Most of that concern is for one of two reasons: i) Location ii) That we are working with Muslim/Arab people.

I can't guarantee our safety in Palestine. I wouldn't be able to guarantee our safety in Africa, Asia or anywhere in the US either. I trust that we will be safe. I don't see this move as being us taking an obscene risk with our lives. If we're hurt it will be an accident, just like it was an "accident" that my idiot brother-in-law drove Jill and I into a moose. Just like it was an accident that some stupid old lady ran me over with her car. Just like it was an accident that one of my Optometry school roommates tried to have us killed by driving in front of a speeding truck. I should be dead/permanently injured a great number of times over.

It's time for me to put actions to the words I've spoken for so long. I've long ranted against the poverty that exists in the world, the injustice that plagues developing countries, and the unfair burden of illness in the impoverished world. Do I truly think that teaching optometry to 13 students in the occupied territories of Palestine will solve world poverty, injustice, or bring health equality in the world? No. It will however help a government reach its VISION 2020 goals which should help them decrease the incidence/prevalence of preventable blindness in their communities. That, for me, is a start down what I hope is a long road for me.

It's time for me to stop delaying my work in the world and put actions to my long, boring, and tiresome rants. I want to work with the poor, the distraught - the orphan and the widow. My skills are limited. I am an optometrist. I think I can teach. So I will.

"But why are you going to Palestine? Why are you going to work with Muslims?"

We're not going so that we can work with Muslims. We're going so that we can work with our brothers and sisters who may or may not be Muslim. We're going to work with people - to share, to the best of our ability - our knowledge of optometry with 13 students. We are going in order to help a lone Israeli citizen who is the dean of the optometry school. We hope to decrease the amount of work this one woman has to do by taking away some of her teaching duties. We are going because we were asked. We didn't look through classifieds to find this opportunity. We didn't choose this over other opportunities. We were presented with one choice. Palestine or stay in the USA.

We chose Palestine because we are tired of the materialism that grips our lives here. We chose Palestine because we see a country that needs help in building healthcare infrastructure. We chose Palestine because both Swell and I have a heart for the suffering and there is a lot of suffering in Palestine. We don't know what our time there will bring. We just know that we want to have some time there.

You will gain more insight into our thoughts and beliefs if you choose to continue to read about our adventures in Nablus. Feel free to comment and challenge our beliefs. I hope that you consider your own when you read our ramblings.

Always pursuing peace, love, and justice - and now hoping that our actions lead to more of the three,
Sheepie and Swell

HAE rears its ugly head.

We thought we made it.

We thought we survived.

We thought Swell wouldn't get sick this year.

We were wrong.

She woke up this morning with an abdominal swelling and is currently at the study center being treated. The study she is participating in is a double blind treatment. She had a 66% chance of receiving medication rather than placebo.

Three hours after dosage she feels "the same" - which is actually good. She could be feeling worse.

This study gives you either placebo, half a dose, full dose. After four hours you get either placebo (if you had full dose initially), half dose (if you had half dose to begin with), or full dose (if you got placebo initially). You then have to wait another four hours before you're allowed to leave. She will be there until 7:30 or so. I'm home because someone had to clean the house. I took her. Hung out with her a bit. Did a few errands. Went back. Hung out a bit. Now I'm home and will go get her in a couple of hours.

For those that don't know HAE is Hereditary AngioEdema. Basically an HAE person is missing an enzyme that brings the complement system to a halt. Therefore, Swell, when having an attack can't stop saying what a great guy I am, how nice I am, how attractive I am, how smart I am, and what a great provider I am... wait... no... that would be a defect in the compliment system. She has a complement defect - I always get those two confused.

The complement system is involved in fighting infection and brings about inflammation - among other things. So when she has an attack the complement system over-acts and she gets uncontrolled inflammation. The abdomen is the most painful/annoying area to have an attack. The throat the most dangerous.

The treatment is a blood product that replaces the enzyme she is missing. Hopefully it works and she's better tomorrow for our 6:30 pm flight.

Happy Birthdays!

In honour of JL's Birthday:



In honour of Pa's B-day...One half of this year's champions!


Happy Birthday to you both. Hope you had wonderful days.

I HATE PACKING!!!

Maybe someone can be hired to come do our packing, while ensuring we are well underweight while maintaining all the supplies we think we'll need. It's been an awful, torturous last 2 days of trying to fit everything we want to take. It makes it harder since we are packing for Egypt separately since we leave within 24 hours of our arrival. A few hours ago we thought we were done... then Sheepie gets the bright idea to check the El Al flight restrictions and lo and behold we had to begin again. You see, they allow us to check-in luggage of up to 70 lb on British Air, but just 1 check in of 40 lb on El Al! That would've been okay since we are planning on dropping off most of our stuff in Israel before we leave... but we only packed one bag of 70 lbs for both of us for Egypt... so Sheepie gets another bright idea of packing half of our stuff for Egypt into another backpack and putting that bag into the big suit case and we'll just split it later! Horray.. this just might work. So we are now at 4 bags total, each weighing the limited 70 lbs. And for our carry ons we are just allowed ONE bag. For Sheepie the huge camera bag (2 cameras, 3 lenses, tons of accessories); for Swell her backpack. Nobody probably wanted to hear all this, but I wanted you all to share in my pain. I just took out some of the clothes I was going to pack... but it will be okay.... just 6 months... and they do have malls there somewhere...We must lose some stuff along the way if we are to bring anything back with us though! Or maybe just ship stuff back.

I wanted to add some pictures from my camera from the sledding. It was so much fun. Thanks to all who came! I enjoyed it so much...just wish it didn't have to be so darn cold! It's hard to eat hot dogs with gloves on!

It sure was cold...



Yummy food and warm fire.




Sheepie and his brother playing in the snow!

Well, we should go to bed soon. Tomorrow will be our last full day in the US for a while! So we should do something really American! Like what? I'll have to work on that. I'll make sure I get my grande carmel macchiato though; and it better me made well!

Swell
(I miss the mood bears)

Tidying up a few loose ends

70 pounds.

Not a lot of weight but when you're trying to keep your luggage to under 70 pounds it becomes a magic - almost celestial number.

So far I'm doing well packing - swell, not so much. I've kept two bags containing 80% of our things and most of my clothes to under 70 pounds. Swell is still crying about what to take and what to leave behind.

We are taking four bags - our allotment as cattle-people who buy economy tickets. Had we purchased first class tickets we would be allowed to take three bags each and two carry-ons. Rich people have privileges, they control the world's oil supply, they make the world's laws, they choose what we can view on television and they can carry excess luggage. In the words of the immortal and aurally pleasing Thee Pirates: "Bourgeoisie you make me sick".

Part of the problem of keeping our luggage to under 70 pounds is the fact that we're taking 40 pounds of notes and books. You read that right. 40 Pounds! I did, in fact, weigh our books and notes.

I was asked by a certain someone to take time out of my busy schedule (read: watching football) to put up a few pictures of the sleigh ride we had back in E'town. I have no preamble for these pictures - other than my shin is killing me. It doesn't hurt. It's just at that irritated-itchy-scabby-bruised stage. For those that don't know the story. I jumped off the sleigh because I was stuck in a bad spot and couldn't get past people. While trying to heave my obese self back onto the sleigh I stepped in soft snow just as the sleigh took a downward dip, thereby exposing my shin to a good sleigh-scraping-down-one's-shin. I was left battered and bruised.

Anyway onto the pictures:

The sleigh when it was empty.


The back of the sleigh with some people on it:


One shot of the scenery:


A picture of the post-sleigh ride hot dog roast. Good fun. Haven't done that in years!


My beautiful-easily-chilled-stress-filled wife.

I didn't take a lot of pictures because I was busy throwing my brother in the snow...and then tackling him in the snow...and then dodging his attempt at tackling me into the snow.

FUN!

Thank Goodness!

Today was supposed to be the day that we left for Nablus. We would not have been ready. We'll be lucky if we are ready by Tuesday - our new departure day.

We bought a few more things that we require for our trip today - the complete West Wing series for one - and we learned about the Egypt tour that we signed up for. Our itinerary includes the following:
The pyramids - of course
The sphinx - of course
All the other good stuff in that area
A four day Nile cruise
A sleeper train ride for two nights

I'll write more about the trip as it approaches. Needless to say we are very excited. Very excited.

Not much going on other than boring preparations. I'm finally loading Swell's Ipod with the music she wants - she has been very bad about telling me what she wants on it.

We're living very boring lives. We'll fill your lives with exciting stories soon.

Home Sweet Home

We made it home. Swell worked. I spent money. We bought tickets to Egypt. We arrive in Tel Aviv on Jan. 11 at 5:25 am. We leave for Cairo at 1:15 am on the 12th. That means we'll only be in Israel for less than 24 hours. Should be good times.

Now we're trying to book a tour. Will update more soon.

Happy New Year

So it's 11:35 pm Pacific Time as I write this. I'm not going to make it to midnight. We have a 6:45 am flight tomorrow and won't get to the ATL until 7:30 pm Eastern. New Years is a big whatever in my book. So the calander changes a year. Yippee! I'll still be writing 2006 for the next month or so - cause I can't remember to write the correct year for most of Jan. usually.

We're having some major weight issues with our luggage. We are bringing some long forgotten notes with us. Major jettison of gifts occurring. No new books for Swell. She's crying. No candles for Swell. She's bawling. No new remote control bus for me. I'll cry about it later. We'll see if we have to leave anything else behind when we get to the airport. I broke the scale yesterday so I can't weigh the bags. (I'll leave the "He broke the scale" jokes to you - the true story is I accidentally stepped on it while getting off the ladder with a 50 pound box of books and notes.)

Also having major problems with British Airways. We're only allowed a single carry on bag... that causes a big kink in our plans. I'll do some figuring on that front next week.

Any way. I hope everyone has a fantastic year. Here's to new beginnings - let's all go on a diet.

Shopping Spree

So since we've quit our jobs and have no income for the foreseeable future we decided it would be prudent to go on a shopping spree.

JL (my Sis) gave me a great gift for Christmas. It was season 3 of a Canadian television show. Since I've not seen a single episode of this family-proclaimed "great show" and I'm unable to bring myself to watch the third season of a show without seeing the first two I bought the first two online. They should arrive sometime next week.

Swell received, from the same Sis, Fraggle Rock Season 2. Swell, being sheltered - read locked in a closet - her whole life has not seen a single Fraggle Rock episode (it might be because she wasn't even in the US during Fraggle Rock's epic run but I prefer to think of it as her being a little slow in the head). Because of her self-imposed Fraggle Rock ignorance I had to order her Season 1 before I allow her to watch season 2. It should arrive sometime next week.

On our run from our arrival gate to our departure gate in Vancouver we had to make time to buy me a hoodie (imagine the word Canada written like the brand-name Puma, with the picture of the Puma replaced by a Moose - awesome, no?). We also had to make sure to buy Smarties, Coffee Crisp, and Aero bars.

Today, for some unknown reason, we went shopping and spent more money. We're not that bright.

We also put a flight from Tel Aviv to Cairo on hold and are considering spending the GNP of a small, underdeveloped country on a week-long Egyptian tour.

We are now accepting donations to finance our lavish lifestyle. If you can't donate now think of us in the future.

We're a little sad that our Christmas vacation is coming to a close. One more day and then it's back to Hotlanta (via Houston, via San Francisco) then a week of preparation and we're off to the great unknown.

We're still looking forward to it despite efforts to dissuade our excitement. As soon as I can sit quietly for a considerable length of time I think it would be beneficial to some of my family members if I write an essay on who I am and how I think. Distance clouds the observation of meaningful life changes and what seems evident to one-self is not quite so evident to others.

Cheers,

Christmas is over...

So it's a good thing our flight from Vancouver to Edmonton was delayed on the 23rd. It took us a full 2 hours to get from the Portland to Vancouver arrival gate, through customs/immigration, pick up our luggage and re-check it in, go back through security (what kind of stupid airport forces you to leave the secure area to move to another terminal which of course means you have to be re-checked?) and get to our departure gate. Our second flight was, as I said before, delayed by about an hour. We got to the gate just as they began boarding. Had the flight not been delayed we would not have made it.

Christmas was great this year. Seemed very relaxed. It was a good time with family. Took family pictures, opened gifts, ate, played games, ate, went on a sleigh ride and ate some more.

Swell survived a week in Edmonton without getting a virus which is great. She's been sick while in Edmonton for the last few years. Hopefully she stays well for the rest of the year.

It was an interesting trip back to Portland/Washougal. We flew back to Vancouver, BC and had a lot of time there to get from arrival gate to departure gate (arrive, long walk to US customs, talk to immigration guy, pick up bags, drop off bags, get re-screened, long walk to gate). While waiting for the flight to Portland I was spending the last of our Canadian money. I was behind some guy in line who was throwing a fit because a book he was trying to buy with US money was $11.50. His contention was that the book was labeled $7.99 US and that was what he should pay. Of course in reality the book costs $10.99 CDN. If you convert that price to US currency and add in taxes, etc. they were asking for $11.65 US. He was livid. "The book costs $7.99 US. You have to honour the price that is listed on the book." The woman at the store very calmly (and correctly) stated that the price in US funds does not account for the shipping and handling, etc. that occurs to get the book to Canada. The book costs $10.99 in Canada. If he chose to pay for it in US funds it would be $11.65. This made perfect sense to me. He got all mad and basically said that he WAS British and that he didn't put up with this crap. He would pay in British pounds but they had the nerve not to accept Pounds as a form of payment. It was an entertaining way to spend some of our waiting time.

To the women who sat behind us on the flight from E'town to Vancouver:

The Washington Capitals do NOT play in WA state. They play in Washington DC which is neither Seattle nor "near the mountains of Washington". Furthermore, if it took your sister 4 days to drive from Olympia to Edmonton it's not because it's sooo far away. It's because she drives 4 hours a day. I made it from Forest Grove, OR to Edmonton in a 1970 VW in 24 hours. That included a couple of sleep breaks on the side of the road.

It was a great Christmas and we're looking forward to an exciting new year.

The start of the second leg of our trip.

Whose bright idea was this? DO NOT TRAVEL on December 23 when Christmas falls on a Monday. It is busy.

The man at the checked baggage screening area will make you lift your 50 pound bags over a stack of other bags for no apparent reason. He could simply move the other bags as they were ON A WHEELED CART! You will have to do this despite having thrown out your bad back the day before filling said bags with gifts for ungrateful family.

There will be a crazy lady who holds up the line searching for who knows what in her purse (which was the size of Swell). She will then tell the ID/Boarding pass lady that "Christ is coming back", when the screening lady asks "when?" crazy lady will respond; "today". Glad I'm not on her flight.

You will use the self-check-in screen and learn that the perfect flight - the flight that Swell agonized about trying to find - the flight that cost a few more dollars than other choices - the flight that was to get you to E'Town at a good time - in fact a good enough time to go to Boston Pizza - is delayed. No, not the first flight. They've already delayed the connecting flight by almost an hour. Why? Dunno. How do they know to delay a flight that doesn't leave for 4 hours? Dunno.

Great day so far. At least they have free internet at PDX. Long live the Pacific North West.

Promised update to my Christmas list

I promised BL an update to the Christmas list that was posted at the other place.

As a great surprise to me my inlaws purchased the most expensive thing on my previous list - a second camera. This second camera will see much use but will be a second camera - i.e. I have needs for two cameras now.

Filters: UV filters (total three: 1 for 58 mm, 1 for 52 mm, 1 for 62 mm)
Neutral Density filters (total three - sizes as above)
Any other filters you can think of or that you are told are cool (NOT FOR THE 52 mm lens)

Eye cup for Canon Rebel 35 mm camera (I lost mine and was yelled at royally by jerky-jerk in Atlanta)

Extra battery(ies) for Canon Rebel XTi (Battery Model: NB-2LH)

External hard drive to back up photos onto (80GB or more)

Fish Eye Lens (or attachment for 52 mm or 58 mm lens)

CD case(s) - to carry our DVDs to our new home.

Hello Kitty Pens

I know this is real late but if you're a last minuter I hope the above are helpful.

Looking forward to being in E'town tomorrow.

Travel Update

We are still here in the Pacific Northwest. It is freezing here! So cold. I suppose it's not too bad leaving the abnormally hot weather in Atlanta to come to the abnormally cold weather in the northwest. What's a change of 45 degrees Fahrenheit between friends? (It was in the low 70's in Atlanta our last week there and is in the high 20's in the morning here). It better warm up in Edmonton or I'll have something to say. There is enough money floating around Alberta these days that I think they should buy some type of large heater to heat the province. Make it some type of man-made tropical area with a constant temperature of 25 degrees Celsius and a nice cool breeze. With the destruction of the environment in the oil sands how much more damage can changing the entire climate do?

We have changed our flight to Palestine back 5 days. We are leaving Atlanta on the 9th instead of the 4th. We are going to look into booking something into Egypt for the 12th to the 18th or 19th. I think we'll look into a flight and a tour group because I'm not keen on travelling around Egypt unaccompanied - but I'll buy a guide book today to see if my concerns are unfounded.

What are we going to do with our extra five days in Atlanta? Hopefully work. Swell will contact her boss today and ask if he can use her (and hopefully me). If he can't use me I may swallow my pride and ask if they can use me where I used to work. (Commercial optometry is like a drug - you can't get away from it even when you try.) We'll make some money and do a better job of packing/cleaning/etc.


BUT I JUST REALIZED WE HAVE NO SATELLITE TV ANYMORE! Woe is me.

Out of the dirty south... and none too soon.

So I'm sitting at my in laws in Washougal, WA happy to be out of Atlanta. It was a very interesting last day in the south. Eye opening to say the least.

N. and I were waiting to cross a street to go back to our car on Saturday morning before work. A car stopped at a stop sign but we were hesitant to cross just in case he didn't see us. (Having been hit by a car in the past it isn't an experience I'd like to replicate.)

The car did, in fact, stay stopped so that we could cross the street. As we were crossing an older "gentleman" said: "You never know if they are going to stop do you?"

I responded: "It's like taking your life into your hands."

Poor man must have been partially deaf because he heard: "Brother, I, too am a member of the KKK and share your racist beliefs. Let us now have a conversation extolling racist thoughts." because he proceeded to say: "Black people especially don't stop...."

As he was saying this my chin hit the pavement but he continued. I, being startled, didn't really catch the rest of his diatribe but Swell swears the end of his sentence was: "They'll run you over - it's like black redemption. Have a nice day."

I don't know why he decided it appropriate to say such things but the worst part of it was when Swell was relaying the story to someone they were in complete agreement with the old man. She couldn't even finish the story due to the: "Amens" and "Preach it's" coming from the person's lips. Apparently - and this is news to me - black people in Atlanta all desire to run over as many white people as they can.

Now I could have just said: "Wow that was weird!" and moved on with my day but upon my arrival at work I was met with some shocking news. Swell and I sent a very nice woman - a hard worker and a kind person - over to talk to the owner of an optical business about a new job.

She had her interview with this guy Friday Night. The gist of the interview (aside from the illegal questions of "How many children do you have?" and "What are you going to do about your kids if you're working?") was that this woman was "too black" to be at this particular store. It wasn't specifically stated that way but she was told that she would have to change the way she speaks (she speaks with a southern accent) and that it would probably be a better fit for her at another store where the "rappers and gang bangers" shop.

Maybe I could chalk that up to simply a misunderstanding but that same day Swell related a story about a fellow who came into a place that had a sign indicating "help wanted". He asked about the job and was told to submit a resume for consideration. A few hours later another fellow came in and asked about the same job. Fellow 1 had yet to submit his resume and had not been interviewed. Fellow 2 was told the job had been filled. Fellow 1 - white, fellow 2 - not so much. What is wrong with people?

Being Canadian I remember when living in Canada thinking that race relations in the US is blown out of proportion. That things couldn't possibly be so bad that their needed to be things like affirmative action, and public debates on race relations. I guess my time in the South (see previous post at old blog about the great race "discussion" in one of my classes) has shown me that racism is alive and well and that I have no clue what minorities go through in their day-to-day lives. I can't wait to move to a place where people are civilized and look past skin colour/religion/etc.

Saturday was an AWESOME last day of work. I told at least 2 people to never come back to the company I work for because they won't receive the care they deserve there. I also made a woman so very angry! I love making people angry.

Woman: "I have a 3:30 pm appointment."
Staff member: "Ummm... it's 4:40 pm now."
Woman: "I'm late."
Staff: "O.K. fill out this paper work..."

Woman: "Will I get my glasses today?"
Me/Staff member 2: "It depends on your prescription/what you pick/etc but probably shouldn't be a problem."
Woman: "Because if I can't get it today I'll just go to Lenscrafters. I am going out of town tomorrow."
Me: "Left this a little late didn't you."
Woman: "Well I just got back in town..."
Me: "O.k. You can go to Lenscrafters. You could also get your exam here and take your prescription there if we can't do it today."

Me in waiting area to another patient: "Alright Ms. Smith are you done with your paperwork?"

Ms. Smith: "Yes"
Woman: "I'm done with mine too."
Me: "Ummm... o.k. Ms. Smith will be going first because she has an appointment."
Woman: "I have an appointment too."
Me: "At 3:30."
Woman: "Harrumph"

I finish with Ms. Smith and take the woman back for her exam.

Woman: "I need glasses. I saw an ophthalmologist on Wednesday and he said I have dry eyes. He gave me drops X and Y and said it will take at least a month for me to start getting better."
Me: "Ok." I start her exam and soon realize that even with the best glasses I can find she can't see very well at all. So I stop trying to do a prescription and look at the health of her eyes. They look terrible.
Me: "We're not going to be able to find a prescription today because your eyes are very dry. You need to continue to use the drops your doctor prescribed and when you're doing better we can get you a glasses prescription."
Woman: "So what's my prescription."
Me for the next 5 minutes: "We can't do a glasses prescription today. Your eyes are very unhealthy. If I were to give you a prescription today it would just be me making up numbers. You wouldn't be happy with the glasses and I wouldn't be happy giving you that prescription."

Woman eventually leaves the exam room and I start to get my next patient. As I'm seating him woman comes back. So when do I get my glasses prescription.

I continue to educate her again about her eyes not being healthy and that my prescription would just be a guess, etc. etc.

She says: "Well I don't think I should have to pay then."
Me: "Oh. You're not going to pay for the eye exam today you'll just pay for an office visit."
Woman: "I'm not getting a prescription?"
Me: "Sigh... no."
Woman: "Well I don't think that's fair. I should get something in writing."
I proceed to write the following on a piece of paper

Diagnosis: Keratitis Sicca [that means dry eyes]. Plan: follow Ophthalmologists instructions and return to clinic upon resolution.

That allowed me to go and see my next patient. She continued to complain to the staff about everything but paid. 30 minutes later she phoned and asked to talk to me - reason, she doesn't feel she should need to pay to see me if all I did was tell her what the ophthalmologist told her. I refused to talk to her for two reasons: 1) If you talk to me YOU PAY ME! 2) It was after 6 pm and I NO LONGER WORK THERE!

AND I NEVER WILL AGAIN!

I'm going all gung-ho with the post today (and I'm not even going to talk about how drinking soy milk apparently makes you gay - people are so stupid.). I'm not a manly man or anything like that. I don't hunt, drink, fish and all that jazz. I know nothing about cars but today, today was a sad day.

I saw it again. I miss it so much. I opened the door to it just to smell it. Tomorrow I'm going to sit in it and pretend to drive it. I read all the stickers on it again. I had tears in my eyes.

I love you 1970 VW Bus that I haven't been able to drive in 2.5 years. I haven't forgotten you. I'll fix you one day. You were good to me (unlike your cousin 1971 VW Bus that drove into a moose and allowed me to be covered in moose blood/feces/fur for hours and hours). We will hang out again when I move back to the NW.

What do we do?

A sad day in our household today - we had to give up our satellite box this morning. Due to the way the billing cycle falls our satellite service would end while we were away for Christmas. We were leasing the receiver so they demanded it back. We had to leave it with the condo manager this morning. We only have regular TV now - like poor folk. A sad, sad day.

Swell was told by multiple patients over the last few weeks how much they will miss her. How they want her to contact them if she ever practices in the ATL again so they can see her. She was even hugged by some of them.

Me - let's just say that patients won't miss me. I won't miss them either. Took yet another person out of contact lenses today for abusing them (and one yesterday) - yelled at plenty more over the past few weeks. Had more people express their dismay for having to actually pay me (a whopping $29!). Had 4 patients scheduled for 3 o'clock today. Four full exams. I don't know how I can see four people at the same time - good thing one of them didn't show up. Three at once I can do.

We're partying at work tomorrow - the staff because I'm leaving and they'll be happy to be rid of me. Not really, they like me. 75% of the people I work with are looking for new jobs. One had an interview today, another last week. Resumes are being copied on our photo-copier like nobody's business. Not a great work environment.

To clear up some confusion. I did leave my camera with the rude camera dude. I went to pick it up today. (He said it would be done on Friday.) I showed up and said to the lady: "Lady I'm here to pick up my camera."

Lady: "Did you receive a call to say it was done?"

Me: Thinking: "Crap" saying: "Ummmm.... Noooo. I want it if its done or not."

Lady: "Ok." She goes to the back and says to rude dude: "He wants it if its done or not."

Rude dude looks over at me pulls lady aside and says something I couldn't hear.

Lady waltzes over with my camera and says: "It's not done".

I grab my camera and say: "Thank you".

DON'T GO TO JACK'S CAMERA IN DECATUR, GA!!!

As I wrote the above I wanted to ensure I got the name of the shop right - I did. I knew I got it right because the first result that came up in google was... of course... a complaint.

A Change in Plans

Only two more days of work left! For those of you following along at home I thought I'd outline our itinerary for the next month.

We depart Atlanta for Portland, OR on December 16 - this Sunday morning! We plan on visiting friends and family before leaving for Edmonton on December 23. Normal Christmas festivities will follow our arrival in Edmonton. Normal festivities for my family involve opening presents on Christmas day for 4 hours and then eating a large meal, followed by two days of fun and games. Good times and times we look forward to every year. We sure miss our families and need to move closer soon.

Following our trip to Edmonton its back to Portland (from Dec. 28 until Jan. 1)

We arrive back in Atlanta in the early evening of January 1 (via San Francisco and Houston - terrible flights but CHEAP!)

Our current intention is to depart Atlanta for Tel Aviv on January 4 (we don't arrive until very early on Jan. 6). I say current intention because I received an interesting email today. Due to the plethora of feasts falling in early January the start of school has been postponed from January 13 to January 20. We were given the option of postponing our arrival - with any fees for the ticket change to be covered by the University or to go at the same time. We have a big decision to make. I lean toward going at the same time to have a week to sight see (perhaps go to Egypt?) but it would be nice to have a few extra days in Atlanta to more thoroughly prepare for 6 months away from our home.

Swell is very upset by the recent email because - and this will tell you a lot about her - she is upset because we weren't invited to the feasts. Always thinking about food that girl.

As I think about it the delay in the start of school is actually a very good thing. N very may well swell up as she usually does this time of the year and it will be good to be able to postpone our departure if she needs - in her words; "gets" - to participate in one of the HAE trials she is signed up for. Gives us time to get her better if need be.

What would you folks do? Go at the same time? Go later? (Not go is not a choice mother.)

I heart Jury Duty

I am so thankful that I didn't get picked for the trials! Any other normal week it would have actually been kind of fun to be a juror, but not this (my last day off until our trip to WA). It was just 3 hours of sitting in a cold room, listening to my iPod, hearing judges' speeches (trying to be funny - they were a little) and watching a movie on how to be a juror. It wasn't a bad experience, but I forgot to bring a book... For any of you getting summons in the future, remember to bring a book. And snacks. One guy had his laptop...I was jealous. Anyways, I'm happy I didn't get picked! Oh, but this means I must clean the house and have no excuse to make M. do it tomorrow! :( Oh well.

N.

People and why I hate them.

I wouldn't say I'm a photographer. I would say that I enjoy photography though. I don't go out on Sunday afternoons to take pictures, I don't have a dark room, I don't read photography magazines. I love taking pictures when we're on our trips, I love seeing the results. I have one camera and two lenses. I'm not part of the photography fraternity.

On a few pictures on a few rolls of pictures taken on our Romania/Italy trip there was a small hair on the developed pictures.

I took my camera in to get cleaned today. About 10 days ago I took it in to be cleaned and the store owner (a Mum and Pop shop) said he wouldn't clean it until I brought some pictures with me to show him what (where?) the problem was. As he was telling me he wouldn't clean my camera without seeing pictures he was telling me how filthy my camera is and how much it needed to be cleaned. I didn't quite follow why he wouldn't clean it at that point but I didn't ask questions.

I brought the camera back to him today. Wonder of all wonders he looked at the pictures and said there is a hair in the camera - just like I told him last week. As he looks at the camera he gets all snooty and says this camera is filthy it really needs to be cleaned. (As you , the reader may recall, I took the camera in to get cleaned - apparently he has short-term memory loss.)

He then opens up the battery compartment and says: "You also need to change your batteries."
Me: "They're brand new."
Him: "They're cheap. You need to get high end batteries."

Him: "You really need to do some research. You shouldn't put your camera in the case like that. You need to dry the case on low and then put your camera back in in a plastic bag."
Me: "O.k."

Him: "Never buy this type of lens again."
Me: "I bought it because it was cheap and met my needs."
Him: "It's a terrible lens."

Him: "Where is the eye piece?"
Me: "Oh, I must have lost it."
Him: "Tsk, tsk. You can buy one from me. It's $15"
Me: "O.K."
Him: "It'll be done on Saturday."
Me: "Actually I think I'll just take it somewhere else."
Him: "Calm down. I'm easy to talk to."
Me: "Actually, no you're not. You haven't been every time I've come in here."
Him: "I'm just telling you how it is."

He could have said all that he said in a different way and I would have thanked him, felt good about myself and felt educated, instead he acted like an elitist photography expert who is bitter when "amateurs" have the nerve to own cameras and not know every little thing about them. Jerk.

More Tales from Work

As the slow transition from our old journal to this new blog continues I thought I'd post a couple of work stories.

I had an older male patient in the other day. I asked for his chief complaint.

He states: "My vision has been cloudy...errr... foggy for the past few weeks."

I state: "Ummmm... o.k. Can you please describe that a little bit more?"

"My vision seems foggy, like there is a cloud over my vision. It happens when I'm in the bathroom."

I was looking at the auto-refractor result (an estimate of his prescription) and noted that he had a lot of uncorrected refractive error so I asked: "Do you mean your vision is blurry."

He says, and I kid you not, he says - as he pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket - "LET ME SEE WHAT MY WIFE SAYS" as he reads her description of his problem off of her note. He proceeds to say: "Yep, cloudy and foggy."

O.k. You know you're whipped when you depend on your wife to describe your medical complaint and then ask me to talk to her on the phone to tell her what is going on with you.


Story 2:

Worker to me: "Doc, I had a patient yesterday who asked; 'Is he ever happy?' to which I responded; 'He's not feeling well today'. She responded by asking; 'Was he not feeling well last week either'."

Funniest thing ever.

Story 3:

Me to patient: "Why are you studying to be an optician?"

Patient: "I'm still trying to decide if I want to do the eight years necessary to become an optometrist."

Me: "Don't become an optometrist."

Story 4:

Patient to me: "Well you warmed up at the end there."

Indicating that I wasn't all happy and kind at the beginning of the exam.

Moral of the story: I hate my job and apparently everyone is well aware of it. Ha!

Sheepie