Some appointments were noteworthy. One was an eye operation. You may recall that in Morocco I was diagnosed with secondary cataracts, after playing cards one day and noticing that there was a little blur. Secondary cataracts happen often after cataract operations – as the Rabat doctor put it, it’s like a windshield getting dirty. You go in with a laser and in two minutes it’s like cleaning the windshield and it never happens again. By the time I was diagnosed, though, there wasn’t time for the operation and its follow-up in Morocco. Armed with a P-127C form from the Peace Corps, I went to an eye doctor in New York last year; he told me it wasn’t bad enough to justify the operation and to come back in six months. This almost held up my medical clearance for the Philippines – I had to get a note from him saying that I wouldn’t need the operation while I was gone and that if I came back in nine months instead of six it would be okay. By the time I came back, it had progressed to the point where he would operate, and a few minutes later, no more blur! It’s inevitable that I’ll need it in the other eye at some point, but so far I don’t.
I didn’t have a blog (were there even blogs?) when I had my cataract operations; here are pictures of what the world looks like when you have my type of cataracts (it really did get this bad before I had the operation…):
Compared to:
Another appointment… while I was away, the Brazilian Keratin hair treatment became all the rage, and I was talked into getting one. It’s a conditioning treatment that also straightens your hair – no frizz! I can painstakingly blow-dry my hair straight if I have the patience, but I also like to scrunch it curly. This treatment leaves it wash-and-go straight, no muss, no fuss. It takes several hours and costs a small fortune (well, everything does in New York – I’m still not used to that) and you can’t wash your hair for 72 hours after you get it, and it lasts for three months. I was told over and over that I would love it and – well, I didn’t. My hair was way too flat! And I made the mistake of getting this the week before my 30th Princeton reunion! I eventually decided it wasn’t bad, but it took a month to be less flat, and being unhappy with it one month out of three didn’t seem to justify getting it. There’s apparently another version, where you don’t have to wait to wash your hair, and it doesn’t look so flat for the first month, but I have so far resisted getting it done. It’s finally wearing out (so it actually lasted for four months) but so far I have resisted getting it done again. Here’s a picture of it from Reunions – too flat!
I haven’t done a year-on-year comparison, but I feel as though I’
Another thing I did some of in New York was shopping. When I came back from Morocco last year, I just wasn’t ready to buy new clothes. My sister told me I had to, but I just wasn’t ready. And it was kind of all right in the end, because I was able to wear my Morocco clothes in the Philippines. I left most of them there – they were pretty worn out and enough was enough. It was easier to shop this year – in part because I did some shopping in the malls in the Philippines, but just being around the malls made it less of a shock to be back – and in part because and I simply had to get some things to wear, both every day and to interviews. I like the idea behind the Great American Clothing Diet – nothing new for a year – and maybe I can consider it some day, but not until I am reunited with the clothes I have in storage and have appropriate clothing for Whatever is Next.
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