Monday, August 30, 2010
Last day in Sarajevo (or How I stopped worrying and wanted to come back)
Well, today (July 15th) marks our last full day in the capital city of Bosnia & Herzegovina. I must say that it has been a helluva ride, and it's not even close to being done yet. Camp starts up tomorrow and that's going to be exciting. As far as I know we have 8 people, correction, students coming along with us. But before that we have the last day of English class and the students have their finals, oral, and they must write a conversation using all of the idioms they learned through the course. Meliha also taught us our last Bosnian class yesterday which was quite hilarious. It went from teaching us body parts to just random things we wanted to learn like; lud sam kar struja, which translates to I'm crazy like electricity. Yeah, I don't get it either but it sounds brilliant. Today's entry will be shorter again, but it may be continued at a later date. Ende. (Note: I will write a wrap up entry, now that it's been a little over a month since we've been back.)
A week and a half of English (or How I stopped worrying and dealt with Bosnian sarcasm)
The teams have reached the halfway point in English classes as of yesterday (Wednesday) and progress has been pretty good with pretty much every student showing proficiency. The days since Skakavac have been pretty uneventful, just hanging out with students after class at one of the 8 trillion cafes in Sarajevo. Last night was pretty cool, a student named Marina and I went out for dinner in old town. I forget the name of the restaurant, but we both ended up getting the same dish which was essentially a fried chicken, french fries, and some pocket bread. I ate it wrong in the sense that I ate it completely disassembled. We then traded scar stories. (Her story is being withheld, as I didn't obtain permission to put it up on here) After dinner we go ice cream and walked back towards Kairos. That about it for this one, two entries have bled together to make a short one. Till next time, Rule 32.
Skakavac (or How I stopped worrying and climbed to a waterfall...then started worrying again)
So the first week of classes draws to a close and so far I believe that the experience has been pretty fruitful. Most of the students are quite proficient in English, so for most of the class it's us shooting the breeze (after the curriculum activities, of course) After class on Friday, Emily and I went out with Saša and Irmela for the first time in a week. (this would, unfortunately turn out to be the last time we would see them the entire trip) They took us to a little pub called Cheers, yes, just like the show. Afterword, we watched a bit of Ghana vs The Netherlands game and we called it a night. Saturday we conquer Skakavac (pronounced Skah-kah-vatse.) It's a waterfall that is considered one of the natural wonder and after a 7 KM hike, I was indeed convinced. The only problem is that me, being so out of shape, it was just incredibly tough for me. Call it a total of 16km up or down some very steep hills, gravel, switchbacks, mud, of and not to mention the heat and humidity. I must have sweated out a good couple of pounds. Today is Sunday, that means church and rest. OH OH!!! Uno being played with six exhausted people is quite hilarious. A shorter entry today, we'll see what the next few weeks brings us, shall we? Till next time, Rule 32.
Days 5 through 9 (or How I stopped worrying and teached some gooder English)
This entry is going to be somewhat erratic as I am blending 4 days into one entry. There will be stuff left out, disclaimer and apology thrown out. Sundays during this odyssey will be pretty uneventful, so this one shall be the only one documented. Sunday service actually is pretty late, we get out of there around one in the afternoon after about an hour and a half. The pastor asked us if we wanted translations and we respectfully declined. Afterward, we all mingled in the KAIROS kitchen where we met a man named Jim and his wife who are originally from Louisville, Kentucky. We also met the worship piano player who is originally from Yorkshire in England. We cooked up some curry and then just hung out until about 5 o'clock. when we went to the internet cafe. Then pizza, yum a dum dum pizza. (End day 5) This week is the start of English classes which I think has been a fun experience for everyone. Before that though we (that's Emily and I) went to the vocational faculty for some more surveys which turned out to be much easier this time around now that we know what we are doing.
6 o'clock rolled around and it was time for English class. We made out way to the Ag facility and met up with our students. Emily, Kevin, Sara, and I were put into the advanced class whilst Luke, Sarah, Martha and Greg were put into the intermediate class, both of which are full of some colorful characters. Individual classes aren't going to be documented unless something extraordinary happens. My group consists of (this list dwindled and grew over the three weeks of class) Dino, Meliha, Adna, Edina, and Senad. (contd...) So far in class we've had very interesting talks about everything from pet dragons to a can of worms being opened about the Serbs. The tradition after class has become the coffee pastime. Half of us go to the BBI while the other have goes to the Importann Centar. One night we went to a cafe called Barbarossa where, upon snagging a pizza, I almost broke my tooth on an unpitted olive. Oopsa. Monday night, Meliha talked to me fora quite a while about the war which was quite humbling. (There is an additional part to this entry about the talk we had, but I'm not enclosing cos it's kind of a for me thing.) After this entry I shall resume writing everyday. (Yeah, that was overly ambitious.) Till next time, remember Rule 32.
6 o'clock rolled around and it was time for English class. We made out way to the Ag facility and met up with our students. Emily, Kevin, Sara, and I were put into the advanced class whilst Luke, Sarah, Martha and Greg were put into the intermediate class, both of which are full of some colorful characters. Individual classes aren't going to be documented unless something extraordinary happens. My group consists of (this list dwindled and grew over the three weeks of class) Dino, Meliha, Adna, Edina, and Senad. (contd...) So far in class we've had very interesting talks about everything from pet dragons to a can of worms being opened about the Serbs. The tradition after class has become the coffee pastime. Half of us go to the BBI while the other have goes to the Importann Centar. One night we went to a cafe called Barbarossa where, upon snagging a pizza, I almost broke my tooth on an unpitted olive. Oopsa. Monday night, Meliha talked to me fora quite a while about the war which was quite humbling. (There is an additional part to this entry about the talk we had, but I'm not enclosing cos it's kind of a for me thing.) After this entry I shall resume writing everyday. (Yeah, that was overly ambitious.) Till next time, remember Rule 32.
Day 4 (or How I stopped worrying and loved me some palaćinci)
Saturday was our first full funday in that we didn't have surveys or anything official to do. Emily, The Grakin and I walked down to the nearest bakery, about a quarter of a mile from here. It become a new morning tradition to grab some damn tasty pastries from Pekara Has for everyone. Anyways, later that morning we had what could be called an orientation, but was more of a history lesson on Bosnia, from 3000 BC and the indigenous tribes to the Austro-Hungarian Empire annexing the country. Very fascinating stuff. Now, Laz had told us that we were going to have a tour, walking, of the city, but it had been raining pretty hard all morning. Actually, it is right now as I write this.
Laz and Vesna, our tour guide, met us down by the river and we began our tour. Almost immediately we saw a long line of buses that had ferried people into the city, and we found out that it was a support rally for one of the Generals during the war who is apparently very famous in this day and age. We continued to a bridge that was constructed with pieces left over from the construction of the Eiffel Tower, right next to that was the Swedish Consulate, and right behind that was a church that has been turned into a Mac store. We walked for a while after that and ended up at one of the Orthodox churches in the city. It had been undergoing renovation. It was an absolutely gorgeous place. After a bit more walking (by the way, we walk EVERYWHERE in Sarajevo) we ended up at the bridge where Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Archduchess Sophie were assassinated at. It's a lot smaller than I thought it would be. More stomping around and we ended up at a museum for older Bosnian musicians, then we drank a bunch of coffee at a cafe, inside the museum. we then bid Vesna goodbye.
After more walking and a bunch of movie nerding, Laz, Miranda (the intern), Martha, Luke, Kevin and I grabbed stuff for palaćinci (crepes)as we were having a shindig at the EUS HQ. At about 7 o'clock a few people showed up, a bit awkward to start with but we eventually warmed up to each other. I met and talked with about six people before settling in with our new friend (and who would go on to become my best friend during our stay in Bosnia) Meliha, after we had a very lengthy metal nerd talk. Her, Emily and I must have gone on for hours about basketball, music, you name it. 11 o'clock finally rolled around and we decided to call it a night. Emily, Grakin, Luke and I made the trek back to KAIROS and we all proceeded to sleep. Sunday is our Sabbath, writing may be skipped on Sundays. Until next time, Rule 32.
Laz and Vesna, our tour guide, met us down by the river and we began our tour. Almost immediately we saw a long line of buses that had ferried people into the city, and we found out that it was a support rally for one of the Generals during the war who is apparently very famous in this day and age. We continued to a bridge that was constructed with pieces left over from the construction of the Eiffel Tower, right next to that was the Swedish Consulate, and right behind that was a church that has been turned into a Mac store. We walked for a while after that and ended up at one of the Orthodox churches in the city. It had been undergoing renovation. It was an absolutely gorgeous place. After a bit more walking (by the way, we walk EVERYWHERE in Sarajevo) we ended up at the bridge where Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Archduchess Sophie were assassinated at. It's a lot smaller than I thought it would be. More stomping around and we ended up at a museum for older Bosnian musicians, then we drank a bunch of coffee at a cafe, inside the museum. we then bid Vesna goodbye.
After more walking and a bunch of movie nerding, Laz, Miranda (the intern), Martha, Luke, Kevin and I grabbed stuff for palaćinci (crepes)as we were having a shindig at the EUS HQ. At about 7 o'clock a few people showed up, a bit awkward to start with but we eventually warmed up to each other. I met and talked with about six people before settling in with our new friend (and who would go on to become my best friend during our stay in Bosnia) Meliha, after we had a very lengthy metal nerd talk. Her, Emily and I must have gone on for hours about basketball, music, you name it. 11 o'clock finally rolled around and we decided to call it a night. Emily, Grakin, Luke and I made the trek back to KAIROS and we all proceeded to sleep. Sunday is our Sabbath, writing may be skipped on Sundays. Until next time, Rule 32.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Day 3 (Or How I stopped worrying and made three new friends)
Words of advice, if you're willing to endure 48 straight hours of awake, you will not be jet lagged when you get to your destination. Yesterday marked our our first full day in Sarajevo. Right down the street from KAIROS is a small, and mean tiny, bakery that Greg, myself, and Emily decided to grab breakfast. Two jogurts and 8 pastries later (the pizza pocket is fantastic, if you're reading this, stop, fly to Bosnia right now and get one) we got dolled up and went to the EUS HQ, which is across from the Presidential building. Here is where Deron and Laz briefed us on our first assignment: break into pairs, find University campus and survey the student. The Morelli and I were put into a team and the campus we were assigned to was Electrical Engineering, criminal stuff and traffic & communication. Needless to say it was quite a daunting task. Now, to say I wasn't able to instigate a conversation is like saying the Atlantic Ocean is damp, but Emily, God bless her, was fantastic at it. It must have been some sort of major exams week as a lot of the students were quite busy, but we were able to get 7 surveys (6 for Emily, 1 for me WOO) done. That being said, our last full survey we that we took we met a couple of really cool cats, Saša and Elvis, whom I gave the nickname The King. Saša it turns out lived in Denver for about a year with an organization which, as I understood it, was like a foreign babysitters R us. He said he had a great time though. After we finished the survey they both agreed to meet us in front of the BBI (giant shopping mall) for coffee. Emily, myself, Sarah, Kevin and Greg were the little squad that showed up, Saša and Elvis were right on time and they brought a lady friend of theirs by the name of Irmela. Lovely gal. Us as a team thought we would be going to one of the large places for coffee, but they instead took us to a lesser known place deep in the downtown area. Drink choices were 3 colas, 2 coffees (with mljeko) and 3 pilsners. All 8 hoisted to a heartfelt živjeli (cheers) and we proceeded to shoot the breeze for nearly an hour and a half.
Now, this is where, at least what we Americans perceive as an anomaly comes in, even though we had all just met, after about 20 minutes you'd have though we'd all known each other for years. Around 4:40 in the PM our new friends had to head off, as they had some plans, but we got numbers. We then trekked back to KAIROS for dinner where I introduced Greg, and eventually Luke and Sarah to Top Gear. Now, their are some new fans. Till next time, Rule 32.
Now, this is where, at least what we Americans perceive as an anomaly comes in, even though we had all just met, after about 20 minutes you'd have though we'd all known each other for years. Around 4:40 in the PM our new friends had to head off, as they had some plans, but we got numbers. We then trekked back to KAIROS for dinner where I introduced Greg, and eventually Luke and Sarah to Top Gear. Now, their are some new fans. Till next time, Rule 32.
Days 1 and 2 (Or How Ćevapi should be turned into the universal good time dish.)
(Quick Disclaimer: The following few entries are from my analog edition of the blog whilst I was in Sarajevo, Bosnia from June 24th to July 27th. Read and enjoy.)
June 23rd with a psychotic blur into the 24th with no sense of solar orientation plays ping-pong with cognitive orientation. One o'clock in the morning Pacific Standard Time is the time that marks the beginning of the odyssey that marks the tenth team to be sent to Sarajevo as part of the Bosnia Global Projects. Our entire group consists of two teams, 12 people in total. 8 in Sarajevo and 4 in Banja Luka, which is located 5 hours, driving time, to the North in the Republic of Srpska which is predominantly Serb/Orthodox Christian. We arrive at LAX just before 5 o'clock in the morning to collect our boarding passes, which, we found out later was due to to inexperience, were listed as void in the 1s and 0s database of the United terminal. Once everything was kosher, we ran through security which, for one team member, was a pretty fun adventure, as TSA mistook his big box of dominoes for a suspicious package. 7:55 arrives and our flight boards: LAX to Washington D.C. Dulles airport in about five hours time. After slipping in and our of consciousness for the first part of the part of the flight we landed, much to our surprising enthusiasm, to our five hour layover where a group of us cleaned out the airport's Fuddruckers, the first time I've had it in 20 years time.
After sitting for a what felt like not a very long time, we boarded Lufthansa for what turned out to be an 8 hour flight to Munich. I made the appealing decision of watching out GPS readout of plane position for a decent amount of time which was a friggin' mistake. For four hours it looked like our plane didn't leave the southern edge of Greenland. Finally after the blackout ended, the plane's windows and lights were shut off for a majority of the flight, I was able to see a break in the clouds just as we were flying over Ireland's east coast. Spectacular. Our plane touched down in Munich around 11:35 AM local time, at which time our puddle jumper to Sarajevo was boarding. What proceeded was the proverbial mad dash to the finish line. With about five minutes to spare we boarded our place bound for our final destination. The short flight produced one of the most amazing sights in the (for those keeping track at home) 14 hours of total flight time, the German Alps. One eternity later, we touched down in Sarajevo, tired, cranky, dirty, and ecstatic that we are finally here. I started playing car nerd nearly immediately, spotting and pointing out Renault, Citroen, and Opel just to name a few. Finally we arrive at our home for three weeks, a quint little church in the southern hills overlooking the city (sort of.) We meet our host, Tamara, and I grab a quick power nap.
I awaken to find that the Banja Luka team was sent off, good luck and God speed guys. Our team meets up with Deron and Laz, two American transplants who take us into the heart of the city. During our journey we come across a fountain that we all proceed to drink from. According to legend, those who drink from it are destined to return to Bosnia. We arrive in Baščaršija, which is comprised of old Ottoman architecture, and we are taken to a little restaurant called Željo, where they serve the staple equivalent (but far superior) of the hamburger, Ćevapi! It's an 8 inch piece of pocket bread, stuffed with small sausages, decet in my case, served with or without onions, and kajmak, (see Meliha, I finally remembered what the stuff is called!!!) which is basically cream cheese that's been whipped all light and fluffy. Needless to say, we all decreed that it should the be the street food of choice EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD!!! We then proceeded to a small cafe and partook in the social life blood of Bosnia, really really damn good coffee. Upon returning to KAIROS (the church home) just before 10 in the PM I settled down for the rest of the sleep that I had started earlier in the day. I then awoke at 10 to 4 in the morning, showered, read some book, and I've been writing these words. Today we go to University and do surveys...joy. We shall see what day three has in store for us. More to come and remember rule #32.
Final team tally: Sarajevo Banja Luka
Myself Bekah
Kevin Nicole
Luke Stephan
Sarah Eric
Martha
Emily
Sara
Greg
June 23rd with a psychotic blur into the 24th with no sense of solar orientation plays ping-pong with cognitive orientation. One o'clock in the morning Pacific Standard Time is the time that marks the beginning of the odyssey that marks the tenth team to be sent to Sarajevo as part of the Bosnia Global Projects. Our entire group consists of two teams, 12 people in total. 8 in Sarajevo and 4 in Banja Luka, which is located 5 hours, driving time, to the North in the Republic of Srpska which is predominantly Serb/Orthodox Christian. We arrive at LAX just before 5 o'clock in the morning to collect our boarding passes, which, we found out later was due to to inexperience, were listed as void in the 1s and 0s database of the United terminal. Once everything was kosher, we ran through security which, for one team member, was a pretty fun adventure, as TSA mistook his big box of dominoes for a suspicious package. 7:55 arrives and our flight boards: LAX to Washington D.C. Dulles airport in about five hours time. After slipping in and our of consciousness for the first part of the part of the flight we landed, much to our surprising enthusiasm, to our five hour layover where a group of us cleaned out the airport's Fuddruckers, the first time I've had it in 20 years time.
After sitting for a what felt like not a very long time, we boarded Lufthansa for what turned out to be an 8 hour flight to Munich. I made the appealing decision of watching out GPS readout of plane position for a decent amount of time which was a friggin' mistake. For four hours it looked like our plane didn't leave the southern edge of Greenland. Finally after the blackout ended, the plane's windows and lights were shut off for a majority of the flight, I was able to see a break in the clouds just as we were flying over Ireland's east coast. Spectacular. Our plane touched down in Munich around 11:35 AM local time, at which time our puddle jumper to Sarajevo was boarding. What proceeded was the proverbial mad dash to the finish line. With about five minutes to spare we boarded our place bound for our final destination. The short flight produced one of the most amazing sights in the (for those keeping track at home) 14 hours of total flight time, the German Alps. One eternity later, we touched down in Sarajevo, tired, cranky, dirty, and ecstatic that we are finally here. I started playing car nerd nearly immediately, spotting and pointing out Renault, Citroen, and Opel just to name a few. Finally we arrive at our home for three weeks, a quint little church in the southern hills overlooking the city (sort of.) We meet our host, Tamara, and I grab a quick power nap.
I awaken to find that the Banja Luka team was sent off, good luck and God speed guys. Our team meets up with Deron and Laz, two American transplants who take us into the heart of the city. During our journey we come across a fountain that we all proceed to drink from. According to legend, those who drink from it are destined to return to Bosnia. We arrive in Baščaršija, which is comprised of old Ottoman architecture, and we are taken to a little restaurant called Željo, where they serve the staple equivalent (but far superior) of the hamburger, Ćevapi! It's an 8 inch piece of pocket bread, stuffed with small sausages, decet in my case, served with or without onions, and kajmak, (see Meliha, I finally remembered what the stuff is called!!!) which is basically cream cheese that's been whipped all light and fluffy. Needless to say, we all decreed that it should the be the street food of choice EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD!!! We then proceeded to a small cafe and partook in the social life blood of Bosnia, really really damn good coffee. Upon returning to KAIROS (the church home) just before 10 in the PM I settled down for the rest of the sleep that I had started earlier in the day. I then awoke at 10 to 4 in the morning, showered, read some book, and I've been writing these words. Today we go to University and do surveys...joy. We shall see what day three has in store for us. More to come and remember rule #32.
Final team tally: Sarajevo Banja Luka
Myself Bekah
Kevin Nicole
Luke Stephan
Sarah Eric
Martha
Emily
Sara
Greg
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Metallic Matt's Poltical Soapbox. (Or: How I learned to stop worrying about what others thought and started writing what was on my mind)
(Before you read the meat of this blog I'll should tell you all that this is a fairly old column that I wrote in May of last year. There is a disclaimer in it, so please read that and take it into full account. Thank you, and enjoy.)
So, I log on today to see if I've gotten any new messages from an old friend whom I haven't seen since 2004, and I'm bombarded with thoughts of people on the main issue of California for this day and age. For those of you living under a rock, that is Proposition 8. Ever since the issue has been brought up, I have time and time expressed my interest in not taking an interest in it. Now, I'm about to and God help me. I realize that as I write these words, I could potentially be opening a Pandora's Box of hate mail due to what I am about to say. If anyone has any ill feelings towards me on this subject due to nature of this here writing I am here to say...I will not apologize for anything I am about to say, this is America and I am free to say what I believe on any subject I see fit without having to take guff from anyone in the world. I'm probably going to though. (phew, long ass disclaimer done)...here it goes.
I see today that the State of California's Supreme Court upheld Prop 8 which prohibits same sex marriage in California. What the people who are ashamed by, sadden by etc. etc., have to realize that Prop 8 was voted into law once before as a mandate BY THE PEOPLE! CA Supreme Court overturned it (some would say) because of their personal feelings, anybody who isn't completely naive will know that it was an extreme politically motivated action. (No, I don't have to explain why) The proposition once again turned up on the ballot and the majority spoke once again. This time it upheld the voters decision. Now, why is that significant? This is the way a democracy is supposed to work. Remember, the Government works for us, not the other way around. When the people are ignored that is the beginning of a slippery slope that leads to Totalitarianism...and that BAD!!! Ok, now listen, I'm sure some of you are going to make some harsh decisions about me but here's my flip side. If Prop 8 were the other way around, being supportive of same sex marriage, it was voted into law and court over turned to ban same sex marriage I'd be incredibly pissed off like everyone is today. For the exact same reason, court over turning a mandate from the people is a bad thing NO MATTER WHAT!!!
I now propose to you (no pun intended) that I believe the reason Prop 8 was passed into law is not cos people "aren't ready for it" or any of those piss ant excuses people have been giving in response to Prop 8's success, I believe it's because California and, let's face it, most of the other states, think that there are more pressing matters at hand. Forgive me for saying so, but I think that our collapsing economy is a little more worrisome. When the fat cats in D.C. can throw around numbers like 3.6 TRILLION DOLLARS like it was some kind of cheap candy, that's a problem. Or when our leader is still still chanting his mantra's about change and the only thing that changed is his taking of more of our (and particularly my) tax dollars to help irresponsible people...that's Socialism...and that's a problem.
To sum up, I believe the issue of same sex marriage can be kept on the stove but needs to be put on the back burner for a while. Bring it back up after we see whether or not our beloved America will survive the onslaught of crippling policies that are attempting to be shoved through the Congress right now. Once the dust has settled, and the issue has moved up to matter of more importance, than the majority may be all for same sex marriage.
So, I log on today to see if I've gotten any new messages from an old friend whom I haven't seen since 2004, and I'm bombarded with thoughts of people on the main issue of California for this day and age. For those of you living under a rock, that is Proposition 8. Ever since the issue has been brought up, I have time and time expressed my interest in not taking an interest in it. Now, I'm about to and God help me. I realize that as I write these words, I could potentially be opening a Pandora's Box of hate mail due to what I am about to say. If anyone has any ill feelings towards me on this subject due to nature of this here writing I am here to say...I will not apologize for anything I am about to say, this is America and I am free to say what I believe on any subject I see fit without having to take guff from anyone in the world. I'm probably going to though. (phew, long ass disclaimer done)...here it goes.
I see today that the State of California's Supreme Court upheld Prop 8 which prohibits same sex marriage in California. What the people who are ashamed by, sadden by etc. etc., have to realize that Prop 8 was voted into law once before as a mandate BY THE PEOPLE! CA Supreme Court overturned it (some would say) because of their personal feelings, anybody who isn't completely naive will know that it was an extreme politically motivated action. (No, I don't have to explain why) The proposition once again turned up on the ballot and the majority spoke once again. This time it upheld the voters decision. Now, why is that significant? This is the way a democracy is supposed to work. Remember, the Government works for us, not the other way around. When the people are ignored that is the beginning of a slippery slope that leads to Totalitarianism...and that BAD!!! Ok, now listen, I'm sure some of you are going to make some harsh decisions about me but here's my flip side. If Prop 8 were the other way around, being supportive of same sex marriage, it was voted into law and court over turned to ban same sex marriage I'd be incredibly pissed off like everyone is today. For the exact same reason, court over turning a mandate from the people is a bad thing NO MATTER WHAT!!!
I now propose to you (no pun intended) that I believe the reason Prop 8 was passed into law is not cos people "aren't ready for it" or any of those piss ant excuses people have been giving in response to Prop 8's success, I believe it's because California and, let's face it, most of the other states, think that there are more pressing matters at hand. Forgive me for saying so, but I think that our collapsing economy is a little more worrisome. When the fat cats in D.C. can throw around numbers like 3.6 TRILLION DOLLARS like it was some kind of cheap candy, that's a problem. Or when our leader is still still chanting his mantra's about change and the only thing that changed is his taking of more of our (and particularly my) tax dollars to help irresponsible people...that's Socialism...and that's a problem.
To sum up, I believe the issue of same sex marriage can be kept on the stove but needs to be put on the back burner for a while. Bring it back up after we see whether or not our beloved America will survive the onslaught of crippling policies that are attempting to be shoved through the Congress right now. Once the dust has settled, and the issue has moved up to matter of more importance, than the majority may be all for same sex marriage.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
How titanium is the end all cure all for aching and misshapen bones. (Or How I learned to stop worrying and finally accpeted the Lord.)
Good day to you, all of the ones and zeroes of the internet! This is the first entry in The Confessions of the Heavy Metal Hunchback, your source for everything there is to know about...well, crap that I've done. Sounds a bit arrogant but I've got some great stuff.
Maybe I should actually start with the whole hunchback thing. Back in 1999 when Pokemon was going hot and Pogs were cooling down I ended up getting diagnosed with Scoliosis. For those who don't know, Scoliosis is just a one word term for an irregular curvature of the spinal column. At first, everything was okay. I could rassle, still play guns in the woods, and hit things with hammers without any consequence. Ah, those were fun times.
Around the latter end of 2000 when my family and I moved from our humble hovel in Ojai, CA to our suburban settlement in Santa Maria, CA, we had noticed that the curvature was getting worse. After a couple years of back braces and false hope, I was told that I would have to undergo corrective surgery. According to the Doc, as long as everything went swimmingly, I would only be in the hospital for three weeks max and would under go two surgeries. As of that moment, the scoliosis (front curve) was at two 35 degree curves. The kyphosis (back curvature) was at an astounding 89 degrees. I'll let that sink in...THAT'S ONE DEGREE AWAY FROM A RIGHT ANGLE!!!
What was my reaction to this? BRING IT ON!!! Basically it was this or die. I don't know about you, but life is pretty fun. So, on the morning of January 8, 2003, my mom and I made the trek to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital to undergo the first of two. After being poked twice to start my food regiment for the next few weeks I was wheeled into the prep room where the nurses asked me if I wanted anything before it was showtime. All I could think to say was, "You know for some reason, I'm really craving pancakes." So, the anesthesiologist comes and tells me everything that's going to happen while I'm awake, which is only for the next two minutes. I say goodbye to my Mom and I get the shot which puts me out for a good twelve hours.
Now, it's down to work, my surgeon (Dr. Richard Kahmann, if you ever need anything done, call this guy!) slices the right side of my open and preceded to deflate my right lung. After the deed was done they cut out one of my ribs and took out a lot of my discs. To this day I don't know how many were taken, but I was told that if I lost another, I would never walk again. So, my rib is grounds into a rough powder...or something, hyper-extended the hunch I had and inserted the bone discs in. When that was all done, they stitched me up with interior stitches, shoved a tube into my chest, covered me in iodine, bandaged me up, and called it a day.
When I awoke from the anesthetic, the first thing I regained control of was my mouth. There's some good news. The nurses heard my croak and asked if I needed anything. I said, "DRUGS!!! NOW!!!" After, what seemed life twenty minutes, I clawed my way through the haze and opened my eyes, completely cognitive. That was hard. I stayed in the ICU until that Friday when I was finally put up in the pediatrics wing. That's right I was in the wing with kids, but I had Nintendo...bagow! That Saturday I got my chest tube out (I think it was Saturday) and I was pumped full of enough drugs to knock out a Varsity football team.
Fast forward to the next Wednesday and it's time for the big one, the whole enchilada. Wednesday January 15, 2003, (the day before my 16th birthday) the day that I had two Harrington rods, along with over 70 pins, screws, needles and spring grafted onto my spine to keep me from collapsing in on myself. I am put under for 16 hours on this one. Forty eight welding electrode and twenty three rolls of duct tape later, I am essentially good as new! Again they use the interior stitches. Three days later, I'm back in my room and my Physical Therapists walk in and I proceed to roll over and make my daily round down the hall of pediatrics so I can learn to walk...again. As I roll over they tell me very quickly to stop, I look down and notice that my bed is COMPLETELY CRIMSON! I ask what I deal was and they called in my Doc. After a quick examination, it turns out that my stitches didn't take and I had been leaking fluid and being in danger of splitting open in bed for the last few days. Great.
On Monday I'm scheduled for one more trip under the scalpel. Dr. Kahmann tells me that they going to fillet me open, clean me out, take culture for a possible Post-Op infection, and stitch me up with one hundred and fifty nylon stitches. I ask him what would happen if I had an infection and he tells me that they would keep for another month, I would have to have another surgery and if it didn't subside with the antibiotics, I would probably die. Wow, Doc, thanks! So, I'm sitting in my bed, face to face with my own mortality for the first real time in my life and the only thing I could think to do is watch Conan O'Brien (this was when Comedy Central would run the reruns.) and laugh myself silly.
Wednesday January 22, 2003, I'm wheeled into the O.R. for one last run, my life literally in the hands of the best orthopedic surgeon in California. No pressure, Doc. They give me a thorough cleaning and stitch me up, all of which took nearly five hours, not too bad. When I come to, I ask my doctor what the odds are that I will have a post-op. He puts his hand on my shoulder and says that's it's pretty much certain, 99.9 percent. Needless to say that my mood dropped exponentially for the next few days. Saturday January 25, 2003, I'm sitting in my room watching some stand up and watching the nurses wheel in a cart of very very strong antibiotics. About twelve in the afternoon I get a phone call from Dr. Kahmann, he was at a medical conference in San Francisco for the weekend, and he says to me, "Matt, the cultures from you back came back from the lab. The results are negative. Call you family and pack you bags, you're going home today."
I was positively ecstatic. I called my dad and told him to come and get me, he was there in a matter of an hour. I grabbed all my stuff and bid the nurses a fond farewell. It took nearly six months, lots of pain, and some opium addiction to recover to the point where I could go outside. Afterwords, I decided to think about my near infection what could have saved me from a fate...wait, it was death, disregard that last part. After months of going over the math, I realized I couldn't divide by zero and at that moment I decided, without a shadow of a doubt that there was indeed a God. There has to be, in no way could chance has kept a certainty from being completely nullified from existing. It was and is a fantastic feeling.
At this moment, I must say, that this is the end of this story, but there are plenty of other I can tell in the coming time. My nearly falling into the Grand Canyon, San Francisco, and even Washington D.C. All are great tales and all will be told at some point.
So, until next time, keep on keeping on and remember Rule 32: Enjoy the little things.
Maybe I should actually start with the whole hunchback thing. Back in 1999 when Pokemon was going hot and Pogs were cooling down I ended up getting diagnosed with Scoliosis. For those who don't know, Scoliosis is just a one word term for an irregular curvature of the spinal column. At first, everything was okay. I could rassle, still play guns in the woods, and hit things with hammers without any consequence. Ah, those were fun times.
Around the latter end of 2000 when my family and I moved from our humble hovel in Ojai, CA to our suburban settlement in Santa Maria, CA, we had noticed that the curvature was getting worse. After a couple years of back braces and false hope, I was told that I would have to undergo corrective surgery. According to the Doc, as long as everything went swimmingly, I would only be in the hospital for three weeks max and would under go two surgeries. As of that moment, the scoliosis (front curve) was at two 35 degree curves. The kyphosis (back curvature) was at an astounding 89 degrees. I'll let that sink in...THAT'S ONE DEGREE AWAY FROM A RIGHT ANGLE!!!
What was my reaction to this? BRING IT ON!!! Basically it was this or die. I don't know about you, but life is pretty fun. So, on the morning of January 8, 2003, my mom and I made the trek to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital to undergo the first of two. After being poked twice to start my food regiment for the next few weeks I was wheeled into the prep room where the nurses asked me if I wanted anything before it was showtime. All I could think to say was, "You know for some reason, I'm really craving pancakes." So, the anesthesiologist comes and tells me everything that's going to happen while I'm awake, which is only for the next two minutes. I say goodbye to my Mom and I get the shot which puts me out for a good twelve hours.
Now, it's down to work, my surgeon (Dr. Richard Kahmann, if you ever need anything done, call this guy!) slices the right side of my open and preceded to deflate my right lung. After the deed was done they cut out one of my ribs and took out a lot of my discs. To this day I don't know how many were taken, but I was told that if I lost another, I would never walk again. So, my rib is grounds into a rough powder...or something, hyper-extended the hunch I had and inserted the bone discs in. When that was all done, they stitched me up with interior stitches, shoved a tube into my chest, covered me in iodine, bandaged me up, and called it a day.
When I awoke from the anesthetic, the first thing I regained control of was my mouth. There's some good news. The nurses heard my croak and asked if I needed anything. I said, "DRUGS!!! NOW!!!" After, what seemed life twenty minutes, I clawed my way through the haze and opened my eyes, completely cognitive. That was hard. I stayed in the ICU until that Friday when I was finally put up in the pediatrics wing. That's right I was in the wing with kids, but I had Nintendo...bagow! That Saturday I got my chest tube out (I think it was Saturday) and I was pumped full of enough drugs to knock out a Varsity football team.
Fast forward to the next Wednesday and it's time for the big one, the whole enchilada. Wednesday January 15, 2003, (the day before my 16th birthday) the day that I had two Harrington rods, along with over 70 pins, screws, needles and spring grafted onto my spine to keep me from collapsing in on myself. I am put under for 16 hours on this one. Forty eight welding electrode and twenty three rolls of duct tape later, I am essentially good as new! Again they use the interior stitches. Three days later, I'm back in my room and my Physical Therapists walk in and I proceed to roll over and make my daily round down the hall of pediatrics so I can learn to walk...again. As I roll over they tell me very quickly to stop, I look down and notice that my bed is COMPLETELY CRIMSON! I ask what I deal was and they called in my Doc. After a quick examination, it turns out that my stitches didn't take and I had been leaking fluid and being in danger of splitting open in bed for the last few days. Great.
On Monday I'm scheduled for one more trip under the scalpel. Dr. Kahmann tells me that they going to fillet me open, clean me out, take culture for a possible Post-Op infection, and stitch me up with one hundred and fifty nylon stitches. I ask him what would happen if I had an infection and he tells me that they would keep for another month, I would have to have another surgery and if it didn't subside with the antibiotics, I would probably die. Wow, Doc, thanks! So, I'm sitting in my bed, face to face with my own mortality for the first real time in my life and the only thing I could think to do is watch Conan O'Brien (this was when Comedy Central would run the reruns.) and laugh myself silly.
Wednesday January 22, 2003, I'm wheeled into the O.R. for one last run, my life literally in the hands of the best orthopedic surgeon in California. No pressure, Doc. They give me a thorough cleaning and stitch me up, all of which took nearly five hours, not too bad. When I come to, I ask my doctor what the odds are that I will have a post-op. He puts his hand on my shoulder and says that's it's pretty much certain, 99.9 percent. Needless to say that my mood dropped exponentially for the next few days. Saturday January 25, 2003, I'm sitting in my room watching some stand up and watching the nurses wheel in a cart of very very strong antibiotics. About twelve in the afternoon I get a phone call from Dr. Kahmann, he was at a medical conference in San Francisco for the weekend, and he says to me, "Matt, the cultures from you back came back from the lab. The results are negative. Call you family and pack you bags, you're going home today."
I was positively ecstatic. I called my dad and told him to come and get me, he was there in a matter of an hour. I grabbed all my stuff and bid the nurses a fond farewell. It took nearly six months, lots of pain, and some opium addiction to recover to the point where I could go outside. Afterwords, I decided to think about my near infection what could have saved me from a fate...wait, it was death, disregard that last part. After months of going over the math, I realized I couldn't divide by zero and at that moment I decided, without a shadow of a doubt that there was indeed a God. There has to be, in no way could chance has kept a certainty from being completely nullified from existing. It was and is a fantastic feeling.
At this moment, I must say, that this is the end of this story, but there are plenty of other I can tell in the coming time. My nearly falling into the Grand Canyon, San Francisco, and even Washington D.C. All are great tales and all will be told at some point.
So, until next time, keep on keeping on and remember Rule 32: Enjoy the little things.
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