Hiram Bingham climbed up a hill

Happy 101st Anniversary of your coming out, Machu Picchu! People have been awed by your intricate architecture and extraordinary altitude since July 24, 1911!

When I first visited Peru in March 2011, I almost didn't go to Machu Picchu! After tossing my cookies at Lake Titicaca, I dreaded visiting the mountaintop ruin. All I wanted to do was curl up in my bed at the inn and sleep off the dizziness. But I am so glad I stuck it out (having already paid for the tickets and tour was also a strong impetus for climbing the mountain.) After waking up at 5AM to and traveling 4 hours by van and train, I finally saw this:

  

And it was all worth it!

countdown

It's less than one month until I leave for Colombia and I am ramping myself up as best as possible. I'm revisiting my old college Spanish book, exercising (almost) everyday so I am not that fat of a chingra, and listening to Colombia's rich and varied music scene. One of my favorites is Bomba Estereo, a genre-bending group that I had the pleasure of seeing live last year.

Lili raises the roof!

Fuego is one of the band's first hits and it shows off the colorful and slightly subversive style that Bomba Estereo is still known for.

the side effects

Yesterday I was perfectly fine, until the bus ride home. Then I started feeling lightheaded, and my shoulders started feeling stiff.

Uh oh, that's how I feel when I'm sick!

Mr. Yuck, a real American hero...
at least since I first saw him on a bottle in my dad's medicine cabinet.
Image courtesy of google image search

I know that vaccines are supposed to be weakened cousins of a virus but that yellow fever vaccine I got on Monday was quite the kicker. Once I returned home yesterday I made a pot of tea and drank the last of the beouf bourguignon I made on Sunday. I swapped my yoga pants for sweatpants and cozied up with a sweater and a blanket. The most telltale sign? I fell asleep during Animal Planet's Viking Wilderness. It's just totally not me to fall asleep when there are baby fox cubs playing on TV.

It's also not me to fall asleep at 9PM when I could be up until 1AM knitting and reading and watching crappy television. 9PM!

Well perhaps it's a good thing I went to bed early last night. I sweated out that fever like Scandinavians in a sauna and though it sucked to get out of bed, the symptoms soon wore off and I worked a full day. The symptoms are down to a bare minimum now... just a weird sensation at the crown of my skull when I shake my head really hard. And why would I have to shake my head anyways?

Now that my body has paid the price, I am ready for Colombia. Once I pack, that is.

follow the yellow brick road

It's less than two months until my trip to Colombia and I finally got my yellow card, the internationally recognized proof of yellow fever vaccination. Woohoo!

Passport to travel safely!

Since I'm on the lovely cut-rate health plan where my primary care physician can tell me what's wrong but can't fix it, I hopped on over to the Adult Immunization and Travel Clinic in the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Well, I made an appointment, then hopped over. You wouldn't think that the place is buzzing but it is small. Also, I swear that the clerk on the phone told me my appointment was at 3 PM but when I checked in, a very nice and slightly sassy lady told me that my appointment was at 2:50 PM. Good thing I arrived at 2:49 PM!

The prices are a touch steep but don't let the $49 travel consultation deter you. The nurses at the Travel Clinic know a lot. They can dissect a country and tell you where the high risk areas are for yellow fever and malaria (which is not recommended for Colombia unless you're going to the Amazon.) My nurse was very thorough and gave me some advice on other issues that my PCP didn't say. All in all, I feel like I got better care at the health clinic than I do when I go to my PCP. That helps to mitigate the $149 price tag on my yellow fever shot.

By the way, the card is valid for ten years. Don't consider it an expense, consider it an investment in your journey!