I finally did it!! WOOOO!!!

I came up with a snappy comeback!

Kurt and I were discussing the medical personnel on the ship. His ship is too small to have a "real" doctor, so they have a Chief who is a Hospitalman (in other words, an HMC).

For some reason, I said, "Yeah, but HMC isn't a real doctor!"

Kurt responded, "Well, he can perform tracheotomies and emergency appendectomies."

Me: "Yeah, well, so can I."

Kurt: "Huh???"

Me: "I got my qual [qualification] off the internet!!"

Tee hee hee!!

OK, it was funnier in person. Kurt took a moment to process what I said, then busted out laughing. It was PERFECT!!

Trust me.

I had Kurt do one of those Visited Countries maps, so here's where he has been:

create your own visited countries map

Kinda makes you sick he's been all over, don't it?? ;o)

I have been to Africa (Kenya, specifically), and he hasn't. So there. That must count for something. Oh, and I've been
to Italy and he hasn't.

I went to Kenya with my church in July 1996 and Italy with my school in March 1997 as my graduation-from-high-school present.

If I had to do it all over again, I would love to go back to Kenya. There is just so much poverty and hopelessness there. We weren't the rich masungu [white people] that came to Kenya simply to go on a photo safari at Tsavo Game Park (although we did do that too). We stayed on the grounds of a polytechnic school, where boys and girls were taught a trade so they could make a living in the world. We lived in tents. We had no electricity, although we did have running water and if you have to pick between the two, definitely choose the running water. Toilets are way better than holes in the ground. We had those when we went out to preach. We cooked our food over a campfire in a cooking stove. Basically we lived almost like the Kenyans did, although we did have more food.

If you ever find yourself in the backwoods of Kenya without electricity, I would strongly suggest that you become a vegetarian for the duration. The meat isn't refrigerated, and when we went to market you could see flies swarming over the meat. Flies lay eggs that become maggots. No fun. Also, being a city girl at heart, I was a bit squeamish about eating a chicken I'd chased out of the yard just that morning.

Then to be in Italy just seven months later. I was quite the world traveler that year, eh?? Definitely I want to go back to Italy. I was allowed to go simply because I was the teacher's aide for one of the teachers going, which meant I wasn't in on the preparation all the other students got. I knew that what I was seeing was important, but I didn't really grasp the enormity of it till much later after I watched a zillion documentaries on the History Channel. I want to go back and do a bunch of preparation before I go so I know what it is I'm looking at!

So yeah. Chaos and Caroline and I will go to India, then possibly hit Italy on the way back. Anywhere else we should go, ladies??

In other very minor news, I just finally found the box of Kleenex that went AWOL months ago. Kurt and I have been looking for this box for a loooooooooong time. I've been using napkins as tissues because dammit I know there is a box of Kleenex somewhere in the house and damned if I'm gonna buy a new one until I find the old one! Just now I stood on my computer chair to look for something on top of the computer armoire, and there was a box of Kleenex!!!

It's Kurt's fault. I'm not tall enough to put a box of Kleenex up there...