Sugar sweet defeat

Saturday, February 11th, 2006

I have to admit, we really didn’t plan to stay in the US as long as we did, but one thing led to another and between taxes, website, blog writing and family events (two birthdays and a double bat mitzvah), we sort of got a bit stuck. Nevertheless, this didn’t stop us from having fun! Boris, Shurik’s brother in law, invited us to go skiing with him and his friends to North Carolina, and if anyone knows Shurik, it’s like asking a bear if he would like some honey, so of course we went. Sugar Mountain in North Carolina was pretty nice. The weather was just right — cold enough to ski, but not too cold to arrive at the end of the lift as a popsicle. We were supposed to ski for four days, but of course our newly acquired adventurous spirit could not let it end at that. Anna, our fourteen year old niece, got bored of skiing by the end of the second day and spent the third one snowboarding her butt off (literally) which looked like a lot of fun. And even though the next day she was saying every bone in her body was sore, and she could not move her neck, me and Shurik were determined to try it out.

Well, what can I say, it didn’t end well. Two runs down the bunny slope and Shurik was ready to try a green hill. “We don’t even know how to turn or stop without breaking the fall with our own bones,” I pleaded. “Neah,” Shurik replied, “the green slope is the same as the bunny hill, just a bit longer, and it has a lift”. Well, what could I say to that? We took the lift to the green hill, and to my surprise I didn’t break my neck getting off it! With new found confidence, we began sliding down taking turns to watch each other fall on the knees or butt. We almost went half way through the slope and Shurik was watching me go down a not particularly steep hill, when a beginner skier who I though would get out of my way by the time I reach her, stopped dead in her treks. Before I could think of anything to do, my board wrapped around the front of her legs, and I slammed my knees into the backs of her boots. Actually, this could have been not as bad as it turned out to be, if only consequently the woman skier would not have fallen on me throwing her skies up in the air and then landing their edges once again on my knee. Man, did that hurt. In broad day light I saw stars all around me. And just like that, my snowboarding experience for that day was over. No worries though, my knees didn’t break; however, walking using my left leg was not an option either. The rest of the slope I did on my butt, sitting on the board and braking with my hands. From there, Shurik gave me a piggyback ride to the cafeteria where I was spotted by a ski patrol dude who insisted I go to their First Aid cabin to dress the gash in my knee and fill out a report. Such is life. Although it is pretty pathetic of me to travel through South America for the past two month, climbing mountains, riding bikes, and sliding dunes, only to hurt myself on the easiest mountain I ever skied on.

Tags: health, skiing, us
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Back in the USofA

Wednesday, January 18th, 2006

We spent a couple of days in Lima without an incident and even visited a Russian speaking doctor that was recommended to us in Miami on the day before we left the US regarding a small pre-trip medical problem and a more recent one. Tests have shown that everything is fine, so after a few days of shopping for presents we boarded the plane back to Miami.
( Captain America )

Tags: extreme, flying, health, people
Posted in Places»South America»Peru, Places»North America»USA | No Comments »

Jump

Friday, December 30th, 2005

Even though staying in Copacabana sounded quite attractive, going to a doctor in a small town didn’t. As soon as we got off the boat from Isla del Sol, we booked a bus going that very evening to La Paz where our guidebook assured us we could find an English speaking doctor. However, before we got on the bus, I had about three seconds to sneak a phone call to my gynecologist (and my mother’s best friend) in Israel, who gave me some amusing and quite logical advice: “Drink a lot of water,” she said, “and jump.” “Jump?” “Yes, jump. If this is indeed a kidney stone it might be lodged somewhere down the line and needs to be shaken loose so you could pass it.”
( more… )

Tags: health
Posted in Places»South America»Bolivia | No Comments »

Isla del Sol (на раны)

Thursday, December 29th, 2005

After spending a night in Puno, we headed to the Copacabana on the Bolivian side of the Lake to visit one the most important Inca centers: Isla del Sol or Island of the Sun. According to Inca mythology, the Sacred Rock on this island is the birthplace of the white bearded creator god Viracocha, of the sun and the moon, and of the first Incas Manco Capac and his sister wife Mama Huaca. A short bus ride took us to the border, which we crossed on our two feet, and then got back onto the same bus for another short ride to Copacabana. In Copa, we found Jurgen, the German guy we met on our previous island tour, and Shin, a Japanese guy studying English and chiropractics in the US. Together, we took the boat to Isla del Sol. Despite its famous name, Copa is a tiny little town without the attractions of its famous namesake in Brazil (which was named in honor of the shrine here), so without wasting any time we all headed straight to the Isla del Sol.

Tags: health, people, ruins
Posted in Places»South America»Bolivia | No Comments »

THE VERDICT IS IN

Wednesday, October 12th, 2005

Well dear friends, the verdict is in, and it seems I’m going to live. My morning visit to Dr.Goldsmith’s office looks to be my last one for a while, and I could not be happier!

Thanks to all who has been crossing their fingers for me!

Now the plan is truly in motion so we will “induce labor”, aka- buy tickets.

Tags: health, pretrip
Posted in Places»North America»USA | No Comments »

UNFORESEEN EVENTS

Monday, October 10th, 2005

With the house taken care of now, our plan was to stay with our friends Masha and Leo for the month of September, during which we would deal with any unfinished business. However, just as we were elbow deep in packing, our “adventure” before THE adventure decided to take place. You see, while most of our immunizations were given to us by the Travel Clinic, where you are sent to by our doctor the second you mention the sort of trip we were about to take. However, as it turned out, some of the more common shots like Hepatitis A, B, and TD, can be given to you in your own doctor’s office. Now, I am not a big believer in regular checkups, but when I heard that I would have to go to the doctor’s office anyway, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and get myself a full physical. The check-up happened right before we signed the contract regarding the house, so the call about my results could not have came in a more hectic and stressful moment. “We found some abnormal cells,” she said, and then was quick to add, as my medical history was probably right in front of her as well, “It is not cancer” (my father passed away four years ago from gastric cancer). “Yet”.

The next couple of weeks passed by with one specialist appointment after another. I had a biopsy that confirmed that I do indeed have certain pre-cancerous cells present, but I was assured that my condition is 100% treatable. I had to undergo a minor operation and now await my Oct. 12th checkup to hear that all is well, and by the end of the month we would be free and safe to leave the country. Exciting.

Tags: health, pretrip
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Aichmophobia

Saturday, October 8th, 2005

Seriously, I did not even think how much work preparing for a trip like this requires. The immunizations alone are enough to scare anyone away. For those of you who are interested, both Shurik and I had over 10 shots each. Total cost: over $3,300 for both of us.

And it is not enough that the shots themselves are not too pleasant, some of them really burn going in, but after you should be fine. However, as usual, I am the “lucky” one. The after-the-shot side effects blew by Shurik with just minor discomfort; whereas I had everything from flew-like symptoms, to my arm swelling up looking like I had a baseball implanted under my skin (lasted more then a week). Have to admit though; I quite enjoyed freaking people out with it.

Tags: health, pretrip
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