dreaming over the ocean

September, for the rest of my life, will always bring joy and sorrow.  At the most joy, it is my wedding anniversary  (wowza!  we were just saying that with the approach of two years, we are no longer "newly weds.  Where did the time fly!?) In addition, it brings melancholy, and grief, as I remember the life of my sister Shaunnie Rebecca, who passed away on the 23rd of Sept, 2012. As you may know, Rebecca passed away at the Alberta Hospital, while under care for her schizo-affective disorder.  She passed away in the early morning, after not fully awakening for breakfast.  It was found that she had a toxic level of an anti-psychotic medication, Clozapine, in her blood serum.  From there, it is unknown as to what caused her death.   Our family called for a public inquiry by the province of Alberta.  Public Inquiries are not to find fault, but rather to make recommendations so that things like this don't happen again.  Public i...

if this post works, I will be *thrilled.*  my internet is SO touch and go these days.  skype cuts in and out.  webpages just don't load. even at the college the other day, it took about 3 hours for one episode of "bones" to download.  i can't read any facebook notifications or messages, they just don't load (gasp.   what in the world am I going to do!??!   ha!)  emails may or may not load.  siiiiigh.  and, yet... I try.  I try to connect to the internet, even when the internet gods are telling me to cease and desist.   oh well. I am over my tizzy from last week.  And, I am SO glad about that.  The calm, the joy, the wonders of being here in Malawi have returned from lacking last week.  my grouchiness has past, and most days I am walking around with a little jump in my step again. except... I am sick.  I feel a little silly, because I am such a typical "muzungu" and, I automatically expect malaria.  "its ...

two days a week, I spend my day at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, here in Blantyre.  QECH is the largest referral hospital in Malawi, with approximently 1100 beds, spread out over a massive land area.  It is interesting, because, apparently, when they were designing this place, it must of thought it would be unwise to go "up" in building, so they just went a single story... so, it is perhaps the most sprawling hospital that I have ever been in. Have I ever mentioned how much I am a big fan of public health care?  Think what you might, but I think that health is a human right~  not something that you should have to pay for.  and, that is why it thrills me that I get to be doing my  clinical rotation in a public hospital in Malawi.  I was even a patient there, during my week of explosive diarreah.  and, I when i was brought there, I was asked "Are you scared?"  um... no? they do have qualified doctors and nurses, right? (yes) they ...

There is something about African sunsets that, in my opinion, are unmatched in the world.  Now, I have never been everywhere else in the world, but, one thing I do know... sunsets here kick any Canadian sunset. I think it is probably how you can almost directly look at it and the sun is this radiant light, which, if you turn away (or blink) at the wrong moment, will suddenly disappear... when it nears that horizon... watch out.  it will disappear in seconds.    That magnificent reddy, orange, pink, purple, radiant circle of light. Tonight, as I was sitting tonight reading my book, watching the sunset, I thought about big A Africa.   you know the one.  the one where there is this continent of unknowns, and there are either wild animals running rampant, or civil wars where people are having their limbs lopped off with machetes, or people who are all the same, or disease is ravaging everyone, and every person is part...

Today is day one of training for 2011. I don't have solid goals set up yet. I know it will be something very similar to this past year. I am waiting to find out about some items with school, and with some things that I have applied for, that will help dictate my schedule. one thing is for sure though. about 2 weeks ago, I was not sure if i was going to be ready to start training again. I have enjoyed the off season. But, something has gone wrong. And, I will tell you what it was. My health (as you know) really has plummeted in the past 2 weeks, or so. to the point that I thought I had hypothyroidism, or anemia, or something. and, that, to me, was surprizing. I have been staying active (until, at least up to 10 days ago, when my body just screamed at me one day during yoga by being weak, and shaky, and stupidly sweaty), but just not in the same way. Now, I know that exercise and diet make all the difference in the world for health. To stay healthy, you have to exercise...