After having missed Eric's phone call on Saturday morning, needless to say I was a little bummed. However, not for long! Later that night I was at a friend's birthday party with Jonathon, karoke at SpoonMe, and I got a call from an unknown number. Unknown=India. Not having talked to him for over a week I was pretty excited. He told me he had had yak cheese for breakfast and that Indians aren't as good with English as much as people say they are. One must adopt an Indian accent to speak with Indians, which in my very ethnocentric American view would seem a bit racist, if I were in the States. How different things are when you simply change the zip code and find instead that you yourself are the minority. Anyway, he is good. He is fantastic actually and perhaps dead on his feet tired from the sound of it.
If there is a time during this trip Eric will feel altitude sickness it was yesterday and today. Sunday, after having woken up in Rishikesh, they ventured back through Haridwar to New Delhi for the night. Then yesterday morning they took a 400 mile plane ride to Leh, way up in the nethermost northern regions of India. Think Pakistani and Indian disputed Kashmir to the west and Tibet to the east and a difference of only 300 miles between the two. Also, from New Delhi to
Leh there is a 12,000ft difference in elevation. This is where the altitude sickness meds hopefully came in handy. Eric doesn't like to take medicine if he doesn't have to normally and while packing realized that between the malarial pills, altitude meds, and other various handy remedies, (think calming the bowels of 19 days of foreign fare), he was likely packing more medicine than he had taken his entire life. At the time I thought to myself, "I definitely could never say that! ...Am I a pill popper?" Haha. So, between the flight yesterday and today, the group has been attempting to acclimate themselves to the elevation before doing anything strenuous. This means they've pretty much been chilling around Leh like a bunch of bums, taking in the sights and probably taking much needed naps. Apparently this also means hanging out with the Mayor of Leh, since they were hoping to stay in his guest house if it was available. Again, I'm just reporting on the itinerary I've been given. Perhaps I should have at least looked at it and asked questions before he left? Nah, I'm sure I'll get the nit an grit of it all after he wakes up from brushing off the jet lag upon return, as will all of you.
On a personal note... tonight I attended an AA meeting with the girls at work. For those of you who don't know, I am a courier for a local sub-acute psychiatric treatment center for teenagers with behavioral disorders. Last Monday this meant taking the campus dog, Charlotte, to the vet to get her anal glands "expressed". Charlotte is a bear weighing in at over 170lbs. Imagine me getting that thing in to a van. Today my job meant taking the girls to AA. It keeps me on my toes. As a courier we get lots of one on one time with the clients but rarely moments of deep self reflection. Ex, "Rihanna is a fool. I don't care if he's Chris Brown... nobody should let their man treat them like that." However, tonight quite a few of the girls shared their thoughts, not just in meeting but on the way back as well, ranging from "AA is so boring it makes me want to use!" to "self inventory is what saves me every day. It lets me know I don't have to use, I don't have to be perfect, but that I can take this time for me to take care of myself and progress. Alcoholism is cunning, you know? But, I know it doesn't have to control me, that I don't have to obsess about my next drink, and this is what gives me the opportunity to be myself again. To find myself again." Sometimes it is really great to simply have the opportunity to hear their most honest thoughts, that they would trust me, their staff, and others, who are complete strangers, with those most precious self reflections. At work I get to witness the tremendous amount of work that has to be done for some people to simply survive but I also get to see the amazing potential of the human resolve to carry on, to want something better, to know one's self through learning to love one's self and the courageous people who do it and as well as help facilitate it. Whether it be a therapist, client or fellow alcoholic so much of our opportunity to learn and grow comes through each other, not simply because of one another. That's all for now...
Tomorrow: Leh to Chilling, 11,000ft ASL and first day of fall semester.
So... we've been busy. Busy = half moving to Florida. Half = the Eric part. I'm currently attending my last semester at UVU and then I get to go join him in May. The holidays I wish had been a little more relaxing and restful. Haha, on both Christmas Day and our anniversary Eric was sick. I spent most of my time packing boxes, boxes, boxes. We figured it would be easier to sell as much of our belongings as possible ($12 four drawer dresser from yard sale, oil paints, kitchen cart, etc.) rather than moving it across the country. Just the renting of the U-haul truck would have been over $2000 not including the gas. I moved into a house in Orem, to save money, where I have my own room and get to play with two dogs: Orion and Pumpkin. Instead of living in a two bedroom apartment I now get to put the extra cash from rent towards monthly trips to visit husband, which I did this past weekend. After driving across the country Eric began work last week and is officially a Hydrogeologist..."BACK OFF MAN! I'm a scientist." Meanwhile, I'm banging out a heavy credit load and living like a hermit in my little room. It's all worth it though when I get to have Sundays like this last one where I got to go on a walk with husband in Delray Beach... he says hello. (Blogger wasn't uploading my vid, so until I get that figured out here is the youtube version)
