Journey of a lost Indian, part 2

 It's really happening. The airline tickets to Asia are booked! Bali is a mere 2 weeks away.

I like to think of our impending journey as a Motorcycle Diaries-ish adventure-  Without the Leper colony, the crippling Asthma condition, or the Cuban Revolution. Better still, en lieu of a Latin-American man with a moustash pressing up against me for ten thousand miles... I will have a gorgeous blonde hanging-on to my waist.

No offense, Dr. Alberto Granado. I know you understand

 This week started with Simone receiving her first round of tropical disease vaccinations. I, however, politely declined the Doctor's attempt to woo me into his super-sterile office for some 'healthy jabbing'.
(Ya, thats right... Dave said 'NO' to an injection. Is it 2012 already?)

Was refusing my shots slightly ignorant? Perhaps. Borderline reckless? Some might say so. Still, I remain steadfast in my decision to abstain from having genetically modified micro-organisms 'professionally' forced into my bloodstream. Now, I confess, thoughts of doubt concerning my refusal to conform DID arise in my mind for a moment... Especially as the Dr eyeballed me with a look that says:
"I know better than you. And if it weren't illegal, I'd stab you with this needle right here in front of your girlfriend."  The look was really quite similar that of an 8th grade Math teacher, after choosing a student to solve one of those ridiculous Algebra equations. You know, the question that he KNOWS you can't answer.

Well, I'm sorry Mr Stevens, but i'll never understand why A = B. Especially
if AB = 2 + C... But god bless you for giving me that 61%.

OK, seriously now, contracting a virus or developing an infection would be a terrible 'downer' during our travels. I assure you that we are adequately prepared to prevent and/or combat these illnesses with a cocktail of modern medicine, herbal remedies, bug spray, and common sense.

Japanese Encephalitis? Dengue Fever? Hepatitis A? I say Hepatitis B -ring it on

Moving forward, here is the first entry of what I intend to develop into a periodic addition to my blog

 The section is called 'Observations, Honorable efforts, and Know-it-all's'


Observed:

Simone's adorable word of the week


The Word:                 Storenate

Definition:                  Unknown

Used in a sentence:   "I want you to take-off some pictures and storenate them."

*In attempt to satisfy her wishes without mentioning that 'storenate' was an unfamiliar word to me, I handed my ipad to her with the photo link open. I figured that way, she can storenate some photos exactly how she wanted to.


Honorable effort:

I admit, I have somewhat 'slacked' in attempting to becoming fluent in the German language since arriving in Europe. I'm constantly learning, but languages, like math or playing piano-  clearly are not my forte.

On that note- Swisgerlish is a word that I use to describe the errors I make while attempting to converse with the people in this part of Europe.
 Swisgerlish is my personal fusion of Swiss words, spoken with an attempted German accent, that come out of my mouth mostly English. Completely involuntary and with the best intentions, my words are frequently spoken in this dialect.

There is also 'Swench.' It's my version of Swiss, attempted with the existing French vocabulary memorized from my upbringing.

Finally, there is my personal favorite; Spangerman.
For reasons unknown to me, I periodically slip a Spanish word, or word(s) into my attempted German sentences. This generates curious looks towards me, while I proceed to order a non-carbonated mineral water at the restaurant table.

 " Ein wassa, ohne kohlensaur- Muchos gracias. (Confused, I wonder how I let those last two words slip out... especially since I don't even know how to speak Spanish)

Rosetta Stone, why don't you have an ipad App yet?


Know-it-all's moment:

Dave's Self-Diagnosis of the week


Diagnosis: Hypokalemia (Moderate-severe Potassium defficiency)

My symptoms:  -Unusually high occurrences of acute muscle cramping
                       -Facial edema


Probable cause: Over-intake of dietary sodium. (It's not unlikely for me to eat 8oz-1lb of cheese on certain days)

 Another possible cause of my alleged Potassium imbalance: Sabine's passion for cooking everything on full temperature. Those of you who know me well, know that high-temperature cooking scares me. (I have not used a microwave or toaster in over 6 years).  The Bargetze household features an induction cooktop that has temperatures ranging from 'Pleasently warm to the touch,' all the way to
'Core of an active volcano.'  Sabine cooks using the later. However, in this specialized case, I digress. Reduced bio-availability of minerals is a small price to pay for the pleasure of enjoying the dishes that Sabine masterfully creates. Delicious and passionately crafted, I would never ask her to prepared it any other way- I'll just chase my molten zucchini quiche with 1800mg of sustained-release KCl. Problem solved.

*The above mentioned facial edema could be an isolated incident, or, very possibly, entirely fictitious- potentially caused by a hypochondriac flashback from when it was rampant in my younger years. Another plausible explanation, is that I simply became fatter.

As I look back at this post, and reflect on my time spent while formatting the first one, I realize how happy I am to be able to stay in touch with my friends and family during this time away. With that said, thank you all- for being an inspiration for me to continue with these posts. Without you, I would just be talking to myself, about myself... and that would make me feel like even more of a crazy person.


Love and light to everyone

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