Challenging the Theory of Karma

So, I’m sick for the fourth time in three weeks.  I got incredibly ill in Italy, bloated and throwing up and throwing down and throwing curses like they were going out of style.  I deduced, through trial and error (namely, getting sick twice) that it was the Italian water acting as a wolf-in-lamb-costume.  Sure, no one else got sick from it, but I also have the Indian water poisoning background, so I figured it was a repeat exposure problem.

Sickness hasn't taken away my Ansel Adams-osity. This is Retiro.

It was a great theory because it explained why I got better once I switched to bottled water.  It was a great theory because it explained why I got sick once I got to Italy, having been totally healthy in Spain.  It was a great theory because it was convenient; drink bottled water in Italy and you’re golden.  It was a great theory.

However, the best laid theories of rats and women oft’ go awry.  Because last weekend I got sick with identical symptoms.  And then this morning I woke up with identical symptoms.

Which means I’ve picked up some type of doomy thing (virus? bad luck?), or I’m allergic to something, or I’m dying.  None of those are great theories, from a logic or convenience standpoint.  So I’m sort of lost as to where to go from here.

But one theory I can get behind is that karma isn’t real, because I know I’m a quality human being.

Anyway, I’m going to try to navigate my day as if I’m not sick, even though I’m not hungry and wearing pants makes my stomach hurt worse.  Who needs pants?

Following are random thoughts that beg sharing.

1) I recently rediscovered my blog from when I was a mere baby, namely five years ago.  I found this:

"If there was something
I’d want to write about
It wouldn’t be you
It would be all the stars in the sky,
All the wishes in your eye
And the dream that one day
Things will be better."

I like it.  It doesn’t really mean anything and if I wrote it today, I’d write it differently, but that doesn’t bother me.

In fact, if I wrote it today it would read something like

“if there was something

I wanted to write about

it wouldn’t be you.

it would be a pulitzer prize

explaining why boys tell lies

and the dream that one day

I recover from this pestilence”


Because I don't use capital letters in poetry as much anymore, and because pestilences are annoying.

2) Patrick Rothfuss is playing self-described “beautiful game” in which he and five of his friends all impersonate him on Twitter and we have to guess which is the real him.  I have my theories.  If you click the link it shows the six feeds and lets you easily compare the real Rothfuss to the five fake Rothfi.  My guess is @Pat_Rothfuss.  It’s really not a valuable use of one’s time; I am just sick and bored.

3) I’m sad that the semester is going by so quickly.  Spain and I have become bosom buddies.  I also just booked my flight to Copenhagen in November, to visit Eleanor, and Florence in December as an end-of-semester jaunt with some friends.  There’s talk about Amsterdam for Thanksgiving, and on my list is also Paris (Louvre! oh, and pastries!), Granada (Alhambra!), and (Romans & Muslims!).

The French do it right. I assume you've already seen this because you've clearly checked out my photo album that I posted last week, because you have nothing better to do than pay attention to me, but wow does this bear repeating.

4) My mother told me she saw a post in which I contemplated “throwing away my AU education,” and she says that if I do, I’ll owe her a lot of money.  I’m not sure if she’s referring to “Depart from Hollywood Standards” in which I say ‘part of me wants to become an author,’ or just me talking about never coming back to the US.  Regardless, it made me laugh.

Speaking of which, I have tentatively-definitely picked my classes for next semester, and I get to take Intro to Creative Writing.  Boom shaka laka laka.  Which means if I become a writer I’ll only be throwing away MOST of my AU education.  However, don’t count on that.  I see myself doing some enviro-humanitarianism because I’d feel guilty if I didn’t (that whole "responsibility to help people" thing).  And if I get published by the school’s elitist lit magazine along the way, all the better.

5) Should I be talking about Spain?  Last weekend I had two “dates” with Ryan.  On Saturday night, we went to a movie called La Gran Familia Española, which was a classic “large family reunites and hilarity/disaster ensues.”  Spanish humor is different than American humor; we felt uncomfortable at parts that seemed to make fun of the mentally-disabled brother, who was reminiscent of Lenny in Of Mice & Men (second reference to that this post, odd).  Otherwise we enjoyed it.  No subtitles, so there were lines I didn’t get, but it was good practice.

On Sunday, we went with my host mom to a local market, where Roma (gypsy, but I don’t know if that’s politically correct) people sell their wares.  I got a ring and my host mom surreptitiously bought me a pair of mock pearl earrings, because she is sweet.  We also bought 2 kilos of mandarin oranges for 1 euro, which is insanely cheap. 

My hair is short.

Afterward, we returned home for a feast of WAY too much food, to celebrate her saint day/birthday/Ryan joining us for lunch.  His fluency in Spanish (and general badassery) made them fast friends two months ago when we arrived and they briefly met.  We ate way too much food (clams, barnacles, spider crab, bread, anchovies, paella.  Barnacles are weird, but a delicacy because they’re hard to find and dangerous to collect.) and then ate some amazing chocolate mousse cake.  I know I’m sick because that doesn’t sound appetizing right now.

Since then, I’ve been “doing as the Spanish do,” namely sitting around plazas, cafes, and parks drinking “coffee” (hot chocolate) and “beer” (Diet Coke).  Yesterday we hung out in El Parque de Buen Retiro, ("Retiro" to locals) and I took the B&W photo above.  Also, I have been studying because I remembered that I am a student and midterms are a thing.

6) That should suffice for this week.  Jason owes us a post, because I skyped him on Tuesday and he told me to expect one within the next 24 hours.

Pray to your gods for my swift recovery.

-Rachael