Reasons

It appears there are reasons for the delay of our trip to Sri Lanka. July 1 was the day we were to fly out to Sri Lanka, but my 87 year old father was fighting for his life in the Intensive Care Unit of Royal Inland Hospital. Ventilated to support his breathing, he also had to undergo dialysis as his kidney function was compromised. All of this was in response to surgery he underwent to correct an abdominal aortic aneurism that was diagnosed in emergency on Saturday, June 26^th. I doubt that I would have had the courage to leave Canada with my father is such a state. He is a good, kind and funny man and we are so happy that this morning, he rounded a corner and was taken off ventilation. He is talking and is again, cognitively intact. I told him that he had scared us and he replied, "I thought I was a goner myself." I am glad I didn't have to wrestle with the decision to leave when my Dad was so sick.


So, with Dad on the mend, I can focus on other things. I wanted to tell you that my friends Satwinder Paul and Pichu Multani have outfitted me with some clothing suitable for Sri Lanka. "Enough to get you going," said Satwinder. I have 4 outfits or suits that consists of a Kameez (top that looks like a long tunic), some bottoms that are either Salwar (long and very baggy pants) or Pajami (wide pajama type bottoms but which are tight from the knee to the ankle). All outfits come accessorized with a Duputta (a matching scarf). The suits are most beautiful and exceptionally comfortable. I can't wait to wear them for real. Imagine me wearing one of those suits, astride a motorbike going to work!

We are of course, extremely disappointed with the delay, but have rebooked our flights for October 1 and again, plan to fly through Korea to see our daughter Lisa, before continuing on to Sri Lanka. With this delay, we are also able to avoid the travel home for Shelley's wedding the long weekend in September. We are beginning to plan our cycle bike trip into the Kootenays, but this will likely be in late August or mid September. We need to get training to avoid a sore butt!


We continue to live with my sister Linda and our brother-in-law, Nick, in Bachelor Heights. Although still living out of boxes, bags and knap sacks, we seem to be adjusting, as our levels of tidiness are finally improving. Disorganization and sheer chaos seemed operative words to describe the state of our small room.

We have all our travel medications sitting in paper bags on the floor: Cipro for infections, Flamazine for skin conditions, and Mefloquine for Malaria. We have been immunized against Japanese Encephalitis and rabies. We each had three shots of rabies at $200 each ($1200) and each had two shots of Japanese Encephalitis at about $190 a piece ($760). That does not include the costs for the other travel medications or our regular prescriptions. The cost of these inoculations and all our medication costs are covered by CUSO, and assist us all to realize the cost of sending a volunteer overseas. Our medications and our health are supervised by CUSO's own, Dr. Mark Wise, a travel physician who wrote the book, The Travel Doctor. He is a Jewish man, very witty and getting quite famous. He was the key note speaker at the Canadian conference of travel medicine.

Bill and I continue to ride our motorcycle. We don't share well, so do sometimes fight for possession. However, we ride to ensure our safety and comfort riding a motorbike. For any of you that doubt why CUSO spends $800+ apiece for motorcycle training, I have enclosed some evidence of their logic (see below).