Three Good and a Bad

Sorry sorry sorry.

I haven't renounced technology, become a hermit, or relapsed. It's just...that thing, that our mothers taught us, you know: if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all, well, it's hard to overcome this brand of intense programming, so I've been keeping my mouth shut.

But now, I am once again prepared to say things 'nice'.

Nice Thing Number One: I had a visit with my doctor in Medellin yesterday. The importance of this cannot be understated. My test results were great. I am now 1/10 of the way towards being 'cured'. (Five years without relapse = cured.) Also worth noting is the fact that I happily travelled over five hours each way in a crowded and sweltering van to sit with this doctor for half an hour and talk about all kinds of things, most of which were not related to my health. It was totally worth it. I shall leave you to your own conclusions regarding what this implies.

Nice Thing Number Two: I have joined a gym, and am reminded three to four times a week how good it feels to be doing exercise again. Except on Sunday mornings. The gym is in a shopping mall, and one side of the gym is actually an open space which looks down into a food court. Sunday mornings they clear out the tables and install a priest with an offensively loud stereo system, blasting Jesus crap powerful enough to drown out the sound coming from my generations-old mp3 player. At the time I had a little chuckle because really what is more offensive - Eminem ranting about some guy looking for a slut of f**k in his hummer truck, or...being force-fed Christian rock music? Tough call. So no more Sunday mornings and sweating for Jesus.

Nice Thing Number Three: Book Club! When I took this job two years ago, a major factor influencing my decision to accept was that my boss told me that we would have a book club. I think this was more influential than the promise of mountainous country-side or ample prep-time. The club itself did not materialize until this year, and we had our first meeting last weekend. The book we read was not spectacular, but meeting with others to talk about it was. Nerdy, maybe, but very satisfying.

Nice Thing Number Four: Erm.... nope. There is no number four. But since I said three nice things, does that buy me one not nice thing without being accused of rampant negativity? I am getting tired of this place. It has been cold and raining a lot, which wouldn't be a huge problem if my moods weren't somehow directly connected to the weather. I am already counting down the sleeps until the Christmas Holiday so I can go see my family. Did I really get better only to be able to spend the vast majority of my free time in almost complete isolation? What the hell was the point of that? So clearly, this area needs some fixing.

Something else to consider; in my class right now we are learning the Five Ws. Who, What, When, Where, Why...The boss will be looking for decisions regarding contract renewal before Christmas, so all of these questions must be applied to my own life in a rather serious way in the near future. (And we mustn't forget 'How', which despite its contrary nature in not beginning with the correct consonant, is perhaps the most important questions to consider...) I am overwhelmed by the enormity of these questions, so for now I am mostly ignoring them. We'll see how long I can keep that up.