Now that we’ve straightened out our group’s little logistical nightmare we’re all dashing about frantically to pack and prepare for departure (well, at least I am). A lot of the things we’re packing are meant for a little humanitarian aid. Unfortunately it’s not 80-pound sacks of rice or palletized medical supplies. Actually, all we could fit in our duffle bags was candy bars and a bottle of aspirin. I know it sounds pretty chinsey, but we called ahead and asked what people there really wanted. Gaye, a registered nurse, has coordinated for a visit to the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. On her visit four years ago she was appalled to find the very poor conditions of their medical facilities. She says it was horrible compared to Western standards, and she wanted to help them out in some way. In preparation for this trip she has emailed ahead and asked what she can bring along to make a difference for them. It turns out they only have a few mercury thermometers to use amongst all the patients (with no good way to sterilize, so they apply it in the underarms). They also said they just needed some aspirin, so we’re bringing the biggest bottle we can find. We really want to help more, and when we go there for a tour, we will get a better idea of what we could do for them.

Great news! My passport has finally lurched into my hands after a dubious send-off from the Passport Agency in South Caronlina. We had the entire postal service in our area on high alert to watch for it in the early morning sort. To great relief we got a call from them early to let us know the package had arrived. Some would say I should be joyful, but I’m really just spitefully simmering because it has caused a tremendous PITA. You wouldn’t believe the lengths I was poised to go in order to get myself a passport and to catch up with the flight to Bangkok. Since the Los Angeles office was booked solid for the next week, that really gave us trouble. LA is along the route, and I could have stayed there until monday to get my passport there. We are sure that if we could contact a congressman they would have gotten me an early Monday appointment. Circumventing the automated telephone appointment system proved to be intractable. We called on all possible contacts, and had to settle for an appointment at the new center in Aurora, Colorado.