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Showing posts from October, 2012

Sharks!

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Sharks! The Maldives are infested with sharks.   White tipped sharks and black tipped sharks patrol the lagoon around Paradise Island; stealth, silent, dangerous.   Ok, so the biggest are only about four feet long, with the average size about two feet long.   Just the same, there are many and we saw them during our dives as well.    It can be a bit unnerving and I must admit, I wasn’t up to snorkelling in a skimpy bathing suit.   Why do I feel so safe is a wetsuit and scuba gear?   Cognitive distortion for sure. The water in the Maldives is the most unbelievable aquamarine colour you can imagine. The colour is really, quite hard to believe, so clear, so aqua, so calm. White coral beach sand and palm trees paint the picture for you.   The oceans are abundant with huge schools of fish, dolphins, ocotopus, turtles, mantas and lovely coral.   The islands are idealic from an aesthetic point of view. However, functionally, the Maldives capital, Male, is seriously overcrowded and alth

Scabies

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Yes, I have scabies, but, kindly, I shared them with Bill. Finally, after seeing three doctors, I was referred to a dermatologist who, after taking my history and examining my spots, opined the spots were "consistent with scabies." Scabies are a parasitic eight legged mite that have burrowed into our skin and cause intense itching. For a little slide show of the creatures and the spots, go to: http://www.medicinenet.com/scabies_pictures_slideshow/article.htm My husband was, by now, also tearing off his skin, so the dermatologist offered to treat both of us with a cream called, Permethrin. I felt the dermatologist inclusion of treatment for Bill was highly unfair. First, he wasn't even there and secondly, that he should receive prompt and immediate treatment, when I had endured the parasitic burrowing for nearly six weeks before receiving treatment.  Bill, his conscience undisturbed by the inequality of the situation, grabbed at his prescription cream and liber