Finally got the last of my shots for India a few days ago, and I figured I've got just enough material for a dry run at this blog thing. I really didn't want to start with a bunch of garbage like "omg twoooo weeks! packing sux!" Nobody wants to read a blog about some unemployed yutz from Urbana, right? You want to see a bunch of photos of India and read really cool tales of temples, rickshaws, and diarrhea. Instead you get to hear about all of the vaccinations I had to get. Hopefully things eventually get more exotic than that.
The first shot I got was for Hepatitis A (Not Hepatitis G, one of many signs of the collapse of Civilization), which I actually got back in Watseka. After having trouble getting that appointment in Champaign, I just decided to try the Iroquois County clinic. "Can you come in today?" I do love small towns. You never have to wait for appointments. You also never have to pay for parking. When I went to Carle for the last of my shots, I had to pay $1.50 for the 2 hours of parking, and I felt pretty ripped off. The lot in downtown Urbana is 25¢/hr for your first 2 hours, and 50¢/hour thereafter. I think parking in the Loop maxes at $12/hour. You have no idea the lengths to which I've gone to avoid paying to park in Chicago.
In small towns, you also don't have to worry about things like Typhoid and Malaria, or about getting a booster just to make sure you're still immune to Polio. Nor to you get prescribed Cipro for the diarrhea (or "Delhi Belly"). Nor do you get warnings not to walk barefoot on beaches, since "animals and people defecate on them," as my kind, possibly Indian doctor put it (his name was Mohammed, but he knew all about Bangalore and Karnataka, so I'm betting Indian Muslim). So, note to self: stock DEET and sandals.
But that's pretty much exactly why I'm going. This is about as much of a clean break from the JD as I can get, bizarre inoculations included. If I wanted to keep shopping at Meijer, parking on the cheap, and writing a blog about a yutz from Urbana, I could do that. If I wanted to throw in the towel after this law thing went to Hell, I could've done that. But staying in downstate Illinois, getting a crappy law job, and riding out my 20s in the doldrums is the last thing I want to do. Neither downstate Illinois nor the law will bring me fulfillment. So screw it. I'm moving to India! I have no idea where this leads me (other than to the actual doldrums), but worst case, I spend a year or so in India. Not a bad deal, even if I do get Dengue.
