back to NY
I returned from Poland last Sunday and already got into the whirlpool of NY life. A week has passed already and so many things happened in it.
In Poland I spent time running errands, visiting various institutions, etc. but also relaxed in the company of old friends, went to visit some nice castles around my hometown, and as much as I could I spent time walking with dogs in the forest and around the lake behind my house. My mom went on some of these hikes. Rain or shine we were walking... Buffo who turned 13 last February didn't go for very long walks. He is doing fine but is a little weaker than before so his older age has to be taken into consideration. But on colder days he walked around the lake. Maksio, who turned 10, is still full of energy and chasing after sticks but gained weight since last July so I took him with me to my friend Michal's house on the coast and we went for really long walks on the beach. I think he lost some weight and hopefully will lose more - mom got instructions to slim him down. We had a wonderful road trip to the coast. It takes 5 hours from my hometown to reach Wiselka, the small village on the Baltic coast (and on the island of Wolin) in which Michal lives. I think I mentioned this all before but just in case... So we drove there with Maksio, stopped in the forests to walk around, had some breakfast and tea in roadside cafes. It was lovely, to see all this budding nature outside the window, listen to the Polish radio and feel the wind of freedom. The first few days on the coast I couldn't stay awake. I slept 12 hours every night - that seems like the only thing I can do after the semester ends: sleep and eat. But during the day we were walking on the beach and lying on the sand. In the evenings we visited Michal's father and sister with her family who live nearby. We also went together with Michal's father and Maksio "abroad" - the border with Germany is 20 km away. Now with all EU borders open we just drove through it without being stopped by anybody - the check point that used to be on the border was closed. We crossed it and Michal said to his father: "Dad, we are in Germany." "Really? How come?" It felt weird. Even Maksio was surprised. We crossed the border and found ourselves in the island of Uznam. We went around the villages, small ports that used to be fishing ports but are now more like yacht marinas. We also visited a hill, the highest in this area, which used to be a park and which now is a memorial and a cementary. At the end of the WWII the area of Miedzyzdroje, which is a city now on the Polish side but belonged to Germany at that time, got bombarded by the Alies (the planes belonged to Americans but orders were given by Russians) and 22,000 civilians were killed. The remains were buried on the hill. Another remainder of how sensless wars are. We also visited the towns of Herringsdorf, Ahlberg and Benzin - summer vacation spots which were rebuilt to what they were before the war - all buildings are kept in the same architectural style and there's nothing "new" there. There are nice boardwalks, restaurants and galleries.
Wiselka is heaven: quiet, simple, smelling of forest, moss and salt water. The beach is white and long. I got out on it, I looked ten kilometers to the left, ten kilometers to the right and I didn't see one person... In the summer I might see a few vacationers. It was a wonderful place to relax. Maksio went with me everywhere I went. He is an incredibly intelligent and witty dog and he didn't forget the manners I thought him when he was a puppy. He made friends with the dogs that welcomed him and ignored the ones who were barking from behind fences, not getting into any silly disputes. When he saw the sea he did a little dance - I think he remembered the beaches of Long Island. He was running toward me, then toward the water, dipping his tongue, caming back to me laughing, as if he wanted to tell me: "Did we come here again? Is this the place I remember from before?" I told him it was not the same place but much better! He got it at the end. Nobody was chasing us out and we could walk without a collar and a leash and people would be friendly and not terrified. It was really cool. That's what I call freedom. No such thing as "beach for nudists", "beach for dogs", "beach for families with kids", "private beach - keep out!", "leave before dusk", "no kite flying, no ball playing, no bird feeding" etc., etc. A beach is a beach. Period. Long and wide and there's space for everyone and everything. I was walking around naked one warmer day, I was flying my shirt in the absence of a kite, I was playing ball with Maksio, feeding swans, waiting for sunset and leaving after it got dark, and Maksio was pooping in the dunes and "writing letters" to other animals on the trees. We got the spice out of life and it tasted superbly. In the evening we had long conversations with Michal and were viewing pictures from Michal's journey to South America, from which he returned a month earlier. This time he went to Guyanas, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Venezuela.
On the plane to NY I saw a very nice movie about Gordo - a dog who traveled from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia: "Gordo's Journey to the End of the World". It put me into a good mood. I got back and it turned out I had a class on Monday - a continuation of the rather boring ethic class which is now a class on communication. But I really enjoy the other classes: clinical skills with John, biomedical pathology with Adriano, needling with Enrico, and clinic where my supervisor is Peter and I follow Bruce - a student of 3rd year. Last Friday we were extensively needling ourselves. Now we get to needle every point, learn depths and angles of needling and what every point does. I finally got to the very practical knowledge and application of it. It's getting to be very interesting now. I am getting nerdy because there's no way around it - putting all that stuff into my head. On my big table there's Materia Medica of Chinese herbs - I read it before and at breakfast. On the sofa table there's a book with patters of TCM, which I have to learn this semester - I read it when I sit on the sofa. On the bedside table there are flash cards with points to be reviewed - I review them before I go to bed. I take a book - comprehensive study - with me to read on the subway. And in the bathroom and bathtub I read pathology notes. I should find time to review tui na and dietary medicine but there's not much time left... I guess Chinese medicine is becoming my garden...
I found this nice Chinese saying in a book in Poland: "If you want to be happy for a short period of time - get drunk. If you want to be happy for a longer period of time - fall in love. If you want to be happy for ever - start cultivating a garden." In other words: find something you can do with passion, or find a passion so that there something which will always interest you. Alcohol evaporates, people come and go, they die or they leave or they change... A passion once cultivated always is a passion and is a pleasure in the time of stillness and a comfort in the times of storm. I guess in my case, and the case of my classmates, our passion is helping other people realize their full potential so that they can be in charge and responsible for their health and life. Being able help others do that is worth all these calluses on one's butt from spending time sitting and absorbing the knowledge that leads to liberation of oneself and other fellow beings.
In Poland I spent time running errands, visiting various institutions, etc. but also relaxed in the company of old friends, went to visit some nice castles around my hometown, and as much as I could I spent time walking with dogs in the forest and around the lake behind my house. My mom went on some of these hikes. Rain or shine we were walking... Buffo who turned 13 last February didn't go for very long walks. He is doing fine but is a little weaker than before so his older age has to be taken into consideration. But on colder days he walked around the lake. Maksio, who turned 10, is still full of energy and chasing after sticks but gained weight since last July so I took him with me to my friend Michal's house on the coast and we went for really long walks on the beach. I think he lost some weight and hopefully will lose more - mom got instructions to slim him down. We had a wonderful road trip to the coast. It takes 5 hours from my hometown to reach Wiselka, the small village on the Baltic coast (and on the island of Wolin) in which Michal lives. I think I mentioned this all before but just in case... So we drove there with Maksio, stopped in the forests to walk around, had some breakfast and tea in roadside cafes. It was lovely, to see all this budding nature outside the window, listen to the Polish radio and feel the wind of freedom. The first few days on the coast I couldn't stay awake. I slept 12 hours every night - that seems like the only thing I can do after the semester ends: sleep and eat. But during the day we were walking on the beach and lying on the sand. In the evenings we visited Michal's father and sister with her family who live nearby. We also went together with Michal's father and Maksio "abroad" - the border with Germany is 20 km away. Now with all EU borders open we just drove through it without being stopped by anybody - the check point that used to be on the border was closed. We crossed it and Michal said to his father: "Dad, we are in Germany." "Really? How come?" It felt weird. Even Maksio was surprised. We crossed the border and found ourselves in the island of Uznam. We went around the villages, small ports that used to be fishing ports but are now more like yacht marinas. We also visited a hill, the highest in this area, which used to be a park and which now is a memorial and a cementary. At the end of the WWII the area of Miedzyzdroje, which is a city now on the Polish side but belonged to Germany at that time, got bombarded by the Alies (the planes belonged to Americans but orders were given by Russians) and 22,000 civilians were killed. The remains were buried on the hill. Another remainder of how sensless wars are. We also visited the towns of Herringsdorf, Ahlberg and Benzin - summer vacation spots which were rebuilt to what they were before the war - all buildings are kept in the same architectural style and there's nothing "new" there. There are nice boardwalks, restaurants and galleries.
Wiselka is heaven: quiet, simple, smelling of forest, moss and salt water. The beach is white and long. I got out on it, I looked ten kilometers to the left, ten kilometers to the right and I didn't see one person... In the summer I might see a few vacationers. It was a wonderful place to relax. Maksio went with me everywhere I went. He is an incredibly intelligent and witty dog and he didn't forget the manners I thought him when he was a puppy. He made friends with the dogs that welcomed him and ignored the ones who were barking from behind fences, not getting into any silly disputes. When he saw the sea he did a little dance - I think he remembered the beaches of Long Island. He was running toward me, then toward the water, dipping his tongue, caming back to me laughing, as if he wanted to tell me: "Did we come here again? Is this the place I remember from before?" I told him it was not the same place but much better! He got it at the end. Nobody was chasing us out and we could walk without a collar and a leash and people would be friendly and not terrified. It was really cool. That's what I call freedom. No such thing as "beach for nudists", "beach for dogs", "beach for families with kids", "private beach - keep out!", "leave before dusk", "no kite flying, no ball playing, no bird feeding" etc., etc. A beach is a beach. Period. Long and wide and there's space for everyone and everything. I was walking around naked one warmer day, I was flying my shirt in the absence of a kite, I was playing ball with Maksio, feeding swans, waiting for sunset and leaving after it got dark, and Maksio was pooping in the dunes and "writing letters" to other animals on the trees. We got the spice out of life and it tasted superbly. In the evening we had long conversations with Michal and were viewing pictures from Michal's journey to South America, from which he returned a month earlier. This time he went to Guyanas, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Venezuela.
On the plane to NY I saw a very nice movie about Gordo - a dog who traveled from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia: "Gordo's Journey to the End of the World". It put me into a good mood. I got back and it turned out I had a class on Monday - a continuation of the rather boring ethic class which is now a class on communication. But I really enjoy the other classes: clinical skills with John, biomedical pathology with Adriano, needling with Enrico, and clinic where my supervisor is Peter and I follow Bruce - a student of 3rd year. Last Friday we were extensively needling ourselves. Now we get to needle every point, learn depths and angles of needling and what every point does. I finally got to the very practical knowledge and application of it. It's getting to be very interesting now. I am getting nerdy because there's no way around it - putting all that stuff into my head. On my big table there's Materia Medica of Chinese herbs - I read it before and at breakfast. On the sofa table there's a book with patters of TCM, which I have to learn this semester - I read it when I sit on the sofa. On the bedside table there are flash cards with points to be reviewed - I review them before I go to bed. I take a book - comprehensive study - with me to read on the subway. And in the bathroom and bathtub I read pathology notes. I should find time to review tui na and dietary medicine but there's not much time left... I guess Chinese medicine is becoming my garden...
I found this nice Chinese saying in a book in Poland: "If you want to be happy for a short period of time - get drunk. If you want to be happy for a longer period of time - fall in love. If you want to be happy for ever - start cultivating a garden." In other words: find something you can do with passion, or find a passion so that there something which will always interest you. Alcohol evaporates, people come and go, they die or they leave or they change... A passion once cultivated always is a passion and is a pleasure in the time of stillness and a comfort in the times of storm. I guess in my case, and the case of my classmates, our passion is helping other people realize their full potential so that they can be in charge and responsible for their health and life. Being able help others do that is worth all these calluses on one's butt from spending time sitting and absorbing the knowledge that leads to liberation of oneself and other fellow beings.
posted by Asia Kabat at 8:43 PM
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