unruly wanderings

still in vietnam, having crazy times, motorbikes, villages, rice paddies galore, unexpected pineapples, the best coffee of my life, the best seafood of my life, and swindling children on top of sand dunes!

[Edit: I'd like to make clear that I wasn't swindling children; the children were swindling me. They were pretty damn good at it too.]

why am i always so last minute?

waking up in 3hr. for flight to nanning, guangxi in 6hr. 30min.

then it's a 4hr. bus ride over the border to vietnam!

where hopefully we shall not be devoured by giant mosquitoes.

or devour any mosquitoes ourselves.

because, you know, in vietnam they eat everything.

including beating cobra hearts.

and yes, it's time for the obligatory F. Scott Fitzgerald quote about how it's always 3am in a real dark night of the soul.

Hello, this is my brain on malaria medication speaking. No, it's my brain on mefloquine speaking. Here I am awake at 3 am for three nights in a row, because I can't fall asleep, despite being really tired, because mefloquine is the crazy drug that gives you odd sleep effects. Or maybe there's something else wrong with me and it's not the drug at all.

Regardless this is all because I'm stupidly single-minded at times, and once I get an idea, there's no getting it out of me. I admit it, I wasn't thinking!

Doctor: Would you like the nice anti-malarial that has no side effects?
Me: No, no, I want the mefloquine!
Doctor: ...Are you sure.
Me: Yes, yes, I am.

And now, okay. If I were to go back and ask for the nice anti-malarial that doesn't come with weird effects on your sleep habits, I would feel foolish. Ah yes, I was an idiot, should have listened to you! Shouldn't have been fixated on mefloquine! Why was I stuck on it anyway? I have no idea. None at all.

Oh hell i want to go to sleep. Really I do. At least the Internet is somewhat faster right now.

To add to my list of supposed health problems, I drank water containing floating colonies of mold in it today. Why did I do that? Because, once again, I am an idiot.

Oh hell. What am I going to do? Go back to the doctor and ask for nice drug? Continue this as a damned exciting experience that undoubtedly will be unlike any other I've ever had? Enjoy the ride? Buy sleeping pills?

I forget to mention that another deterrent to returning to the doctors is the medical cost. For some reason only fancy foreigner-run hospitals have this stuff readily available, so it's US$55 + cost of drug for another visit.

And, dude, in America? $10 for a consultation, yo.

Hello, sleep or poverty?

At least I paid my credit card bills, thanks, super-slow Internet that only works at 3am.