Tsunamis Great and Small

Helllo Folks,

Just wanted to check in and wish everyone a very Happy New Year and all the rest. And, no, it's not too late. The year is yet new, is it not? And besides, I'm in a third world country, I'm backward. Which makes it difficult to find clothes to fit.

As I've had many inquiries, let me first assure everyone that I am fine, no Tsunamis have crested my shores. There is a rather large chunk of landmass called India that fortunately sheltered us here. It's probably the first time Pakistanis were thankful for India. As my friend Jeff said, "Let me reveal my lack of geography and ask if you are ok." Well, hazy South Asian Cartographers though you may be, I thank you all for your concern.

Unfortunately, as you know, other countries in the area were not so fortunate. All joking aside, it is devastating. It's rather shaking as well, because I was in Sri Lanka such a short time ago. I have seen beaches and towns on the news that I visited that are now destroyed, if you can even consider them there at all anymore. What you have to understand is that in Sri Lanka, the population is concentrated along the coasts. My hotel was maybe twenty metres from the ocean. The
main, north-south road down the island never strays much more than a couple hundred metres from the water. There is just no infrastructure, as we know it, to accommodate what's happening there. The people are poor, and really didn't have much to begin with. I know it's not much of a personal connection, but having been there has taken away that distance that watching CNN creates. Usually I would watch something like this, and think, wow, that is horrible. But now, I can't watch it anymore, I get choked up. The media drives me nuts on these kinds of things. I don't need to see survivors relentlessly badgered about how they had to watch their children swept away. But, since 24 hour news is the norm now, that's a lot of time to fill. Well, I'm getting dangerously close to ranting and raving about the sad state of affairs in the western media, so I shall digress. Let me just say, that if you do have the means, please contribute to the relief efforts. My guess on this one, and don't hold me to it, is that the death toll will top 500 000. There are whole towns in Indonesia, of 100 000 plus, that they can't reach, and appear to be
devasted from the air.

But, on happier notes, let me tell you about my Christmas. I decided I would manufacture my own Christmas spirit and it went quite well. Everyone knows about Christmas here, but it is not really celebrated per se. It is a national holiday, but that is only because the founder of Pakistan was born on Dec. 25th. Its actually quite a common birthday here. I tried to explain to people here that it's not common at home, because, you see, it gets cold in the winter... and that's when people tend to... cuddle. So, I ordered in a frozen turkey at the local supermarket that caters to foriegners. Turkey is not a common food here, and thus, it was the most expensive turkey dinner in the history of the world. I paid Rs. 3250 for that bird, or about $65 Canadian. But hey, its Christmas. So, I got up early, fired up the oven and got cookin. I served about 12 people, and we had a gift exchange and sat around with the wine and stories until after midnight... it was probably one of the most special nights I've had here. Real Christmas spirit in the Islamic Republic.

Unfortunately, the next day, my own mini-Tsunami struck. I found out that my Grandfather had died quite suddenly. It was certainly a shock. We were quite close, and he was an amazing man, as anyone who knew him could attest. I was quite shaken. Especially given the impotence I feel from being so far away. My sister in Africa, and I can only take solace in knowing that he was very proud of our travels and would have been upset if we had come home just for him. I wrote a small piece that my brother read at that funeral, I won't include it here, since we're already going long, but if anyone would like to read it I will happily send it along. Also, thanks to everyone that sent their condolences, if I haven't responded to you personally, I will soon.

So, that brings us to New Years. I took some time off from work, and had some time to myself in my own grieving process, and by New Years Eve I was ready to blow off some steam. I had committed to bartending for a large charity Ball for a few hours. Wow. That was quite the experience. Looking out over the crowd when they announced that the bar was free for two hours, was something akin to standing in the streets of Pamplona and saying, "oh look, bulls." Four of us went full throttle, until almost all the booze was drained. It was a lot of fun though, and got me primed for the rest of the night. It really was an experience, there is no other way
to explain it. There were nearly 2000 people there, and when I looked out across the crowd, I couldn't help thinking, well, if you invited my whole town to a party, this would still be more people. Not how I would want to spend every New Years, but still, a good time was had by... well... me.

I'm happy to report that my January 1st was uneventful. Sometimes the first day of the year can be indicative of the year to come. For example, last year I locked my keys in my car, while it was running, on empty, with the lights on, at midnight, and had to wait for two hours in the freezing Calgary night, until I got a tow truck, drove home and promptly slid into a telephone booth. This eventuality, in retrospect, apparently means that your entire life will change and you will end up in a third world country by year's end. Who would have guessed?

And so I shall sign off. I will write a full on Chronicle of Dave soon. I know that I have been negligent. I will try to appease my fans soon.

Happy New Year Everyone,

David