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Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Choir Practice
I recently joined the Baha'i World Centre Choir. There are about fifty or sixty of us overall, and it is so much fun to rehearse.
I happen to be a "low" soprano, which basically means I can sing high, but not high enough to shatter glass with my voice. There are about a dozen sopranos altogether, which makes us the smallest section in the choir. I've never been in a choir where the bass section is larger than the soprano section, but I have to admit it does give us a beautiful, well-rounded sound.
We get to rehearse in the Seat every Tuesday evening after work. I must admit that I'm usually pretty exhausted by the time I arrive for practice, but the voice warmups and actual singing get me really pumped! By the end of rehearsal I feel like a million bucks! Which is useful, because I then have to walk home...
We have our first show on 9 November; I believe it's a celebration for Baha'u'llah's birthday. At home we celebrate His birthday by the Gregorian calendar (12 November); here in the Holy Land we celebrate The Bab and Baha'u'llah's birthdays as twin celebrations that follow the lunar calendar. So that means that Their birthdays won't be celebrated until January of next year. So, in deference to the importance of the date, we are putting together a celebration for Baha'u'llah in November.
I'm looking forward to all the fun I'll be having over the course of this next year with the choir!
I happen to be a "low" soprano, which basically means I can sing high, but not high enough to shatter glass with my voice. There are about a dozen sopranos altogether, which makes us the smallest section in the choir. I've never been in a choir where the bass section is larger than the soprano section, but I have to admit it does give us a beautiful, well-rounded sound.
We get to rehearse in the Seat every Tuesday evening after work. I must admit that I'm usually pretty exhausted by the time I arrive for practice, but the voice warmups and actual singing get me really pumped! By the end of rehearsal I feel like a million bucks! Which is useful, because I then have to walk home...
We have our first show on 9 November; I believe it's a celebration for Baha'u'llah's birthday. At home we celebrate His birthday by the Gregorian calendar (12 November); here in the Holy Land we celebrate The Bab and Baha'u'llah's birthdays as twin celebrations that follow the lunar calendar. So that means that Their birthdays won't be celebrated until January of next year. So, in deference to the importance of the date, we are putting together a celebration for Baha'u'llah in November.
I'm looking forward to all the fun I'll be having over the course of this next year with the choir!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
The Promised Pictures of Our Play
I take a break in the Smith's house
Being silly while putting the sets together
I take a little peek through the window to see what's going on...
May casually relaxes in Mrs. Snowton's house
Geoffrey tests out the "Floroscopic Soul Assessor" I created
Shot of dress rehearsal in progress for The Divine Spark
Backstage on show night - capturing the spectacle!
Getting ready for some makeup magic; you can never have too many sparkles
The rest of my backstage crew: Jonathan, Dave, Kat, and Luis
The impish little souls from Heard on High. Still Homebound
Wow, so I'm reading Kat's blog and feeling like a complete slug for not blogging more frequently. However, I'm not really feeling like there's a whole lot going on in my life right now.
Let's see...what can I possibly say about what I've been up to for the past few weeks?
1. I've been growing my hair out. I know that seems like a cop-out answer, but I actually am trying to grow my hair longer. It seems the shorter Kat chops her hair (which looks good on her), the more I want my long hair back again (which looks good on me). We have a funny dynamic that way.
2. I had many a friend visit the past week or so. I haven't felt this popular in ages! I guess it takes a painful medical procedure to bring people out of their homes and into mine. Who knew? I haven't had to cook dinner for myself for almost two weeks now; leftovers are especially yummy if you didn't have to cook the original meal. I just have to remember how quickly food turns bad here and try to avoid the dishes with furry mould in them. Time to clean out the fridge and see what's lurking behind my pitas and cream cheese...
3. I tried to go back to work today. I made it into the office with relative ease, albeit the trek to the bus stop was the most I have walked in two weeks. I thought I could make it through the day; turns out I made it about two hours before I had to call it quits and go home. It should be ok; my coordinator has made it clear he is fine with me taking as much time as I need to recuperate before coming back in to work. There's no point in pushing myself too hard and screwing up all the healing progess I've made so far.
I still want to upload (download? what's the correct terminology?) pictures of recent events here; perhaps I can do that over the next few days now that my nausea has subsided and I can look at a computer screen for prolonged periods of time.
Let's see...what can I possibly say about what I've been up to for the past few weeks?
1. I've been growing my hair out. I know that seems like a cop-out answer, but I actually am trying to grow my hair longer. It seems the shorter Kat chops her hair (which looks good on her), the more I want my long hair back again (which looks good on me). We have a funny dynamic that way.
2. I had many a friend visit the past week or so. I haven't felt this popular in ages! I guess it takes a painful medical procedure to bring people out of their homes and into mine. Who knew? I haven't had to cook dinner for myself for almost two weeks now; leftovers are especially yummy if you didn't have to cook the original meal. I just have to remember how quickly food turns bad here and try to avoid the dishes with furry mould in them. Time to clean out the fridge and see what's lurking behind my pitas and cream cheese...
3. I tried to go back to work today. I made it into the office with relative ease, albeit the trek to the bus stop was the most I have walked in two weeks. I thought I could make it through the day; turns out I made it about two hours before I had to call it quits and go home. It should be ok; my coordinator has made it clear he is fine with me taking as much time as I need to recuperate before coming back in to work. There's no point in pushing myself too hard and screwing up all the healing progess I've made so far.
I still want to upload (download? what's the correct terminology?) pictures of recent events here; perhaps I can do that over the next few days now that my nausea has subsided and I can look at a computer screen for prolonged periods of time.
Friday, October 26, 2007
So Sick of Being Sick
I am SO BORED!!! (and still really sore...)
I've been stuck at home for over a week, while everyone else is at work. It's absolutely no fun getting over surgery, and even less so when everyone is so busy. :(
But it hasn't all been bad; people have been stopping by in the evenings to hang out and bring me food. I haven't really had the energy or drive to cook for myself, so the friends have been cooking up a storm and giving me food. Love it! Who could complain about free food and company?
Guess what? Having your nerves severed means that you're in for a whole world of pain in terms of recuperating. I had no idea what to expect until the night before last, when the intense muscle/spinal pain was so bad that I threw up. Not cool. I ended up going to the hospital again yesterday to get checked out and see if they could prescribe some other pain killer that would actually WORK and wouldn't make me continually nauseated. They gave me some liquid oxycodone while in the ER, and damn, that was awesome! I was floating the rest of the afternoon. I totally wish they could have perscribed that stuff for me. Damn.
Anyhoo, now I'm taking stuff for the general pain, for muscular-skeletal pain, and for nausea.
Let's hope this means I can go back to work the day after tomorrow. I don't know how I'll be feeling by Sunday, but I'm going to try my hardest to get in to work and see what I can do. If worst comes to worst I'll have to leave early. But I really miss seeing everyone in the lunchroom and around the BWC.
I've been stuck at home for over a week, while everyone else is at work. It's absolutely no fun getting over surgery, and even less so when everyone is so busy. :(
But it hasn't all been bad; people have been stopping by in the evenings to hang out and bring me food. I haven't really had the energy or drive to cook for myself, so the friends have been cooking up a storm and giving me food. Love it! Who could complain about free food and company?
Guess what? Having your nerves severed means that you're in for a whole world of pain in terms of recuperating. I had no idea what to expect until the night before last, when the intense muscle/spinal pain was so bad that I threw up. Not cool. I ended up going to the hospital again yesterday to get checked out and see if they could prescribe some other pain killer that would actually WORK and wouldn't make me continually nauseated. They gave me some liquid oxycodone while in the ER, and damn, that was awesome! I was floating the rest of the afternoon. I totally wish they could have perscribed that stuff for me. Damn.
Anyhoo, now I'm taking stuff for the general pain, for muscular-skeletal pain, and for nausea.
Let's hope this means I can go back to work the day after tomorrow. I don't know how I'll be feeling by Sunday, but I'm going to try my hardest to get in to work and see what I can do. If worst comes to worst I'll have to leave early. But I really miss seeing everyone in the lunchroom and around the BWC.
Monday, October 22, 2007
...Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig
Well, I'm home from the operation, which was a resounding success.
I feel like I've been run over by a sherut, since it's hard to breathe, but no matter. It shall get better as time progresses.
I've been trading off days where I feel fine between days where I'm really nauseated and woozy the whole time. My Accommodations partner-in-crime, Adam, was a nurse before coming here, so he's been giving me lots of advice about how to get better quicker and without the vomiting. :) Apparently going off your pain meds too early can actually make you feel worse before you feel better. That explains a LOT... I gotta remember to keep taking those pain killers until I feel 100% better.
I'm still feeling pretty out of it today, so this is just a short post. But I wanted everyone to know that I am alive and kicking, albeit with not too much energy or drive. C'est la vie, n'est pas?
I feel like I've been run over by a sherut, since it's hard to breathe, but no matter. It shall get better as time progresses.
I've been trading off days where I feel fine between days where I'm really nauseated and woozy the whole time. My Accommodations partner-in-crime, Adam, was a nurse before coming here, so he's been giving me lots of advice about how to get better quicker and without the vomiting. :) Apparently going off your pain meds too early can actually make you feel worse before you feel better. That explains a LOT... I gotta remember to keep taking those pain killers until I feel 100% better.
I'm still feeling pretty out of it today, so this is just a short post. But I wanted everyone to know that I am alive and kicking, albeit with not too much energy or drive. C'est la vie, n'est pas?
Monday, October 8, 2007
Endoscopic Thoracsic Sympathectomy
That's the name of the surgical procedure I'm undergoing in a little over a week.
I've elected to have surgery to correct my case of hyperhydrosis, a condition characterised by overactive sweat glands that activate without warning or reason. It affects approximately 1% of the population (I think this statistic is from the States, but suffice it to say, this condition is either fairly rare or completely undiagnosed a lot of the time). The surgery basically entails me going under anesthesia while the doctors create several tiny incisions under my arms to thread the endoscope (tiny camera) through to my spine. Apparently they will have to collapse my lungs in order to manuever the endoscope through the ribs and towards the spinal column where the nerve clusters are that they have to locate. Once located, they will then go ahead and sever the nerves leading to the affected areas.
Hyperhidrosis is something that's affected my life for quite some time now. For years, it has negatively affected me, where my hands and armpits sweat profusely without rhyme or reason. It's a most embarrassing condition to be faced with; people don't want to shake my hands, people ask why my clothes are stained, people ask if I'm feeling alright because I seem to be so sweaty. When buying clothes, I have to constantly wonder if this particular fabric/ colour/ design will show the sweat stains that will inevitably present themselves. Even thinking about the future had always given me trouble - I wondered about getting married, what that would entail: shaking peoples' hands at the reception, being excited and nervous and thereby exacerbating the condition - all sorts of worries that normally wouldn't affect someone's life, but worries that I have been all too acutely aware of for far too long.
I'm lucky to be able to have this procedure done while I'm serving here at the World Centre; it would have been extremely uncomfortable for me to have to wait until I moved back home to Canada. However, I have to admit that I'm getting really nervous about the whole situation - none of my family is here, and I feel pretty isolated right now. Sure, I have a lot of friends here, and they're being really supportive, but I almost hate having to tell people that I'm having surgery at all. I'm vacillating between excitment and sheer terror, but it's exceedingly hard to articulate that to anyone. So I'm left trying to explain myself to people who have no idea exactly how deeply this condition has affected my life, socially, physically, and mentally.
I'm sure I'm simply overanxious about the whole thing; things will work out the way they're supposed to, regardless of whether I stew about them or not.
I've elected to have surgery to correct my case of hyperhydrosis, a condition characterised by overactive sweat glands that activate without warning or reason. It affects approximately 1% of the population (I think this statistic is from the States, but suffice it to say, this condition is either fairly rare or completely undiagnosed a lot of the time). The surgery basically entails me going under anesthesia while the doctors create several tiny incisions under my arms to thread the endoscope (tiny camera) through to my spine. Apparently they will have to collapse my lungs in order to manuever the endoscope through the ribs and towards the spinal column where the nerve clusters are that they have to locate. Once located, they will then go ahead and sever the nerves leading to the affected areas.
Hyperhidrosis is something that's affected my life for quite some time now. For years, it has negatively affected me, where my hands and armpits sweat profusely without rhyme or reason. It's a most embarrassing condition to be faced with; people don't want to shake my hands, people ask why my clothes are stained, people ask if I'm feeling alright because I seem to be so sweaty. When buying clothes, I have to constantly wonder if this particular fabric/ colour/ design will show the sweat stains that will inevitably present themselves. Even thinking about the future had always given me trouble - I wondered about getting married, what that would entail: shaking peoples' hands at the reception, being excited and nervous and thereby exacerbating the condition - all sorts of worries that normally wouldn't affect someone's life, but worries that I have been all too acutely aware of for far too long.
I'm lucky to be able to have this procedure done while I'm serving here at the World Centre; it would have been extremely uncomfortable for me to have to wait until I moved back home to Canada. However, I have to admit that I'm getting really nervous about the whole situation - none of my family is here, and I feel pretty isolated right now. Sure, I have a lot of friends here, and they're being really supportive, but I almost hate having to tell people that I'm having surgery at all. I'm vacillating between excitment and sheer terror, but it's exceedingly hard to articulate that to anyone. So I'm left trying to explain myself to people who have no idea exactly how deeply this condition has affected my life, socially, physically, and mentally.
I'm sure I'm simply overanxious about the whole thing; things will work out the way they're supposed to, regardless of whether I stew about them or not.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly in the Plains...
...on the other hand, the rain in Israel falls mainly on the mountain of God in Haifa.
It's that time of year, where the gently misting rain begins to fall at night and continues into the morning. It rained last night, but I thought I was just hearing people shuffling on the street all night.
But it was really sweet this morning; the sun was out, the sky was cloudy but not overcast, and it was sprinkling rain down on my shoulders as I walked to the office. I wish the weather could be like this all year! So gorgeous. Plus, it clears all the dust out of the air, so I can't complain there... :)
A little bit of rainy beauty can go a long way to lifting my spirits.
It's that time of year, where the gently misting rain begins to fall at night and continues into the morning. It rained last night, but I thought I was just hearing people shuffling on the street all night.
But it was really sweet this morning; the sun was out, the sky was cloudy but not overcast, and it was sprinkling rain down on my shoulders as I walked to the office. I wish the weather could be like this all year! So gorgeous. Plus, it clears all the dust out of the air, so I can't complain there... :)
A little bit of rainy beauty can go a long way to lifting my spirits.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Blast from the Past
Today I ran into Ryan Lash in the Food Centre. Talk about your blast from the past! I knew this guy from when I was a toddler back in Milton, Ontario in the eighties. Crazy!
It's really interesting to see where the Baha'i youth I grew up with have ended up. Most of them (the ones I've been able to keep track of, anyway) have not really remained active as Baha'is. So it's refreshing to see when someone has stayed really active and faithful to Baha'u'llah. Inspiring.
Ryan is now a consultant who is invited to the World Centre every few months. I'm not sure exactly what he consults about, as that would be confidential, but it's nice to know I'll see a familiar face here every so often over the next couple of years.
Won't Mom be surprised when I tell her I ran into Vicki's son here in Israel... :)
It's really interesting to see where the Baha'i youth I grew up with have ended up. Most of them (the ones I've been able to keep track of, anyway) have not really remained active as Baha'is. So it's refreshing to see when someone has stayed really active and faithful to Baha'u'llah. Inspiring.
Ryan is now a consultant who is invited to the World Centre every few months. I'm not sure exactly what he consults about, as that would be confidential, but it's nice to know I'll see a familiar face here every so often over the next couple of years.
Won't Mom be surprised when I tell her I ran into Vicki's son here in Israel... :)
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