One More and Off We Go

Marujita had her sixth injection today, and everything went as planned. No crying, no pain, the proces took no longer than fifteen minutes. However, she did not sleep well last night, so neither did we. I don't know if all those fifteen million cells working there have anything to do with her poor sleep. She is not hyper or has any kind of insomnia, she just goes to sleep and wakes up very often crying. It's as if something is hurting but I have asked her sevent five million times and no answer yet, she does not pay attention to me!

We didn't come here to sleep and this is not a hotel. We just have to carry with these events as they come; eventually, everything will be alright. At least we will be back home very soon and getting back our normal lives will help us plenty. The bad thing about not sleeping is that I can't seem to organize my thoughts and it takes a deal to concentrate and read. I am trying to relax through other methods of reading by going into news web sites and other blogs. This way, I can read short paragraphs, dedicate my attention and when I loose interest I can stand up and walk and do it again later. By the way, I have been reading news about my country, Venezuela, and it seems things are getting far worse. I feel pretty bad because I had the opportunity of spending some 23 years in my country and I had the chance to enjoy almost everything it has to offer; still do actually. But I feel bad because that is not the case for many of Venezuelans and that is just not right. I do not know anything about politics, it has never been my field of interest, but anyone can see how a single person destroys a country on his own agenda.

I would like to tell you about a web site I use to read the news because it is so convenient you might want to give it a try. It's called DailyMe (www.dailyme.com) and it belongs to two good friends of mine, Eduardo Hauser and José A. Zozaya. Basically it allows me to preselect which kind of news I want delivered to my inbox in a perfect .pdf format. You select an industry or a subject and then utilize keywords to tag those news that are of your interest. For example, if you are into technology, you would select: Technology>Software>Hardware> Cisco>Apple, and every time there is an article from a source they utilize (and they do have plenty) it will be on your news brief. Give it a try, it's easy to use and it's free.

OK, back to me now. I am going a bit crazy I think. I am talking to my computer. I love the classical board game, Backgammon, and there is a free version that comes installed on apple computers which is so good. Now, the thing is that you play against the computer but with a virtual opponent, Luna. There is a point in the game where I can't move my chips if she had played it right and when I do so, she goes: ñañañañaña! Like a baby, and today Alejandra caught me giving her the finger and cursing back at her. I am starting to think that this treatment will balance in terms of the results; it will reverse Marujita's condition but it will drive me crazy! the worst part is that there is no stem cell treatment for nut heads, so I guess I will end up in a mental hospital. It's just another bad joke, but I am in fact talking back to Luna.

Our friend Brad from next door left today. He has a condition that is totally degenerative and stem cell treatments can promise so much. However, he is a young man with all the will and faith to have come to China for treatment and for that I am very proud of him. Sometimes we feel bad, like the world is on our shoulders. It can be a bad relationship, problems at work or just a simple bad and crappy day. But let me the one to tell you, there are people with greater problems than that and are still pushing forward, stopping for no reason. they don't care if doctors said this or said that, they saw a tiny light at the end of the tunnel and the stepped on the pedal. I think we all have to think about this because we cannot let the small stuff ruin our day, and let alone our lives. Things are out there which we do not control, we have to learn to accept them and learn from them. If you want to feel pleasure, you have to experience pain. If you want to see the light, you must experience darkness first. And so the story goes and I think you get the picture, so let's try this and see what happens!

A homeless came knocking on some wealthy person's house. It took a couple of minutes before someone answered the door. Finally, this individual opens the door, dressed in a well built expensive black suit, and asks the poor man "Who are you and what do you want? Why are you knocking on my door? And the homeless answered "Sir, I am sorry if I disturbed you in the middle of the day, but can you spare me with some food and water, I am very hungry." Completely amazed by the situation, the wealthy man answered "Why should I give you anything old man if I don't even know who you are; nobody here knows who you are." The poor man looked down, as if lost, but suddenly lifted his face and saw the rich guy straight into the eye and said "But I know me sir, and I know myself, and that is far better than anything else. What good would it be if everyone around here knew me, including you, but I would not know myself?"

There is no end to this story, just a small reflection on what the world has put us to believe and to follow. I just wanted to tell it, it helps me think that if we don't know ourselves, if we do not recognize our face in the mirror, it's going to be tough to live and enjoy a happy life. I've said it before, we have to start giving and loving ourselves before we even try to give it out. It is hard, it is taking me lots of internal resources to start getting close to this, but I will try and I will succeed. It looks like a very rewarding task!

I hope Marujita has a good night sleep today so everyone can rest. In any case, she has to be tired the next day if she doesn't get any sleep, so it will be good for everyone. Tomorrow is Saturday, and it will be a slow day for us as she doesn't have acupuncture or any therapy until 11AM. We can't go out because like I said before, she can't go out one day before or after the treatment, so I will try some reading, to relax during the day. On Sunday we have to go out, we have to clear up our minds and breathe some fresh air. I think I will have a massage, after all, it is very inexpensive here even in a very nice place. A one-hour massage at a nice spa goes for RMB 135, which it's about $21 give or take.

So, until we meet next, love you all unconditionally always and forever.

Tuto.38