Where all the updates have gone!

Sorry there's been a lack of updates in quite some time.  It's partly due to a very busy schedule and non-existent internet connections.  It's also due to the fact I (i.e. Monique) have been riding out a crazy cocktail of holiday blues, and writing when I'm bummed out would NOT do the lovely Nepal justice.

So if you want to hear a catalog of cranky holiday complaints, read on my friend.  If you'd prefer to go on thinking of me as preternaturally optimistic and continually chipper, for the love of God, stop reading right now. 

1.  I'm covered in over 200 bedbug bites, courtesy of one of the poshest places we've stayed in.  (Usually, I'm not so slow to figure this out, but when the place is so nice, it takes me a bit longer to add it up.)  Yes, it does make me feel *&$%ing gross, because it is.    

2.   It's been 3 weeks (i.e. 21 days) since I have experienced the joys of either a hot or lukewarm shower.  I am clinging to the desperate hope there will be warmish water in our hotel tomorrow, but I am not overly optimistic.

3.  I weighed myself the other day, and although I haven't seen numbers on the scale that low since I was 15, I have never looked worse.  

4.  I really really really really really (did I mention really?) wanted to learn to dive, but I got a bit spooked when I inhaled a snootful of water, and the instructor got really frustrated with me.  (Partly my fault, partly her complete lack of patience.)  Then I felt really pressured into doing stuff I didn't feel comfortable with, and overly eager to please, I complied.  As a result, I didn't make it through the course and am now a Dive school Dropout.  

5.  I'm losing hair by the literal fistful.  I've probably lost about 50% of my hair thus far, but I'm sure that number will increase by next week.  Dunno, watch this space.  It's more than likely an aftereffect of the Dengue, and it should be temporary, or so the sparse information available on the internet tells me. This has been going on for a month or so now, so I actually saw a doctor about it in Bali, who told me that it should clear up in 3 months. There was a bit of a language barrier, so I hope she meant that I will stop losing my hair by then, not that I will simply achieve baldness by then. 

Jon is actually okay, he's only suffering from issue 2 above, but with the additional complaint of “Irritable Travel Buddy." 

Eh, as they say, "a bad day on vacation is better than a good day back at work" or something like that.  And for the most part, that does tend to be true, but it is still a bit touch-and-go for me right now.  This is not to say I'm completely inconsolable...I feel much better than I did a few days ago, and I do have my GameBoy.  (Defeated 3 games in the course of a few days...Donkey Kong Country 1 & 2 and The Sims Bustin' Out.  All very good games would highly recommend.)  

Oh!  I also finished my least favorite John Irving book to date (Last Night in Twisted River), which effectively means it was 99.9% more awesome than the average book.