Preparing to travel … mentally
So my TGC cohort group was one of the last groups scheduled to travel. The Morocco and Senegal groups traveled first in the spring, a few months after our whole group symposium in Washington D.C. I was excited for them in an abstract and semi-removed manner. I wasn’t traveling yet, but I was curious to see and hear how these travel adventures would unfold now that I had meant several of the travelers in person. Then the first pictures and photos started to appear on Instagram and Facebook. Excited faces and exotic backdrops! TGC fellows started writing about their experiences as unforgettable, unbelievable, indescribable, and life-changing. My interest level grew. I started checking Instagram and Facebook more often just to look for the pictures and posts. I wanted to see what was going to happen next. By the time June finally arrived I was looking forward to the next travel group’s departure with anticipation. I rechecked the departure dates for the Peru and India cohorts. Again, the pictures and posts started to appear, and again I was drawn into the experiences with a level of expectation and interest that I had not anticipated. Not only was I interested on the other cohorts’ experiences, the anticipation and excitement for my own travel experience increased with the on-going reports from the other fellows already in their field experience. I was going to have a similar adventure! I was going to actually enact an image of myself that I cultivated from a young age. I was going to fulfill one of my primary goals and purposes for becoming a teacher and pursuing a career in education. This dream was really happening. But, as my departure date approached while my excitement and anticipation continued to grow, so too did my anxiety. Oh my gosh, I thought, what have I done? What have I gotten myself into? In an earlier moment, before the reality and anxiety began to set in, I happily explained the proposed experience to a colleague at my school. “Doesn’t that sound so cool?” I asked him. “Sure,” he replied. I sensed some hesitancy on his part. “Don’t you think so?” I asked again. “So, you’re traveling to Colombia alone for more than two weeks?” he clarified. “No, I’m not going alone. I’m going with a group of teachers,” I explained. “You know them?” he again clarified. “Well, yes, I met them in February in Washington,” I furthered explained. “So, you’re traveling to Colombia with a group of people that are basically strangers,” he responded. Well, when you put it that way, I guess so…. I guess that’s one way to look at the situation.
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Well, I’ve got this part I thought. I found out where I would be traveling. I had been to Ecuador and even Bogota, Colombia before, as I have mentioned. I considered myself already equipped with the clothes and items that I would need for two and half weeks in South America.
Again, similar to the yellow fever incident, I thought that I was well prepared. But, then the group text messages began. How many suitcases are people bringing? How many suitcases can we bring without an extra fee? Turns out to be two, sort of… What types of things are people bringing as gifts for the students, for the host teachers? Yes, of course I had considered these things, but now with all of this new information and opinions I needed to reconsider everything. I went out and shopped again for gifts. I ordered more pins for the students. And clothes, what about clothes? What kind of clothes to bring? I knew that I needed one business casual outfit to wear to the U.S. Embassy, but other than that I was at somewhat of a loss… One TGC member of the Colombia cohort from the previous year noted that dress was relatively casual in Colombia. My host teacher reported that teachers came to work in jeans and gym shoes. The weather in Bogota was cold. The weather in Cartago was hot. Are people dressing up? The group discussion and common consensus was no, people were not going to dress up. Dress expectations were reported as casual and we were traveling and most of us already seemed to have about 50 pounds worth of gifts to transport. The first evening we were on Bogota we all sat around the meeting table. We were tired from a long day of traveling and I know I for one just wanted to get into my hotel room and get to sleep. Just as I was heading up to my room for the night, we were told for tomorrow’s meeting please dress business casual. Hmmm… let me peruse my suitcase. I know I have one appropriate outfit. Two years ago, in August, I traveled with my husband to Bogota, Colombia for a few days. I went without a thought or plan about health issues. I didn’t consider the altitude or potential viruses and diseases. At the time I only thought of riding bikes through the city and visiting an underground church carved out of salt, two of our primary planned activities for our visit.
Last August, as I mentioned, I did realize that I might need to consider potential health issues with traveling to Colombia for a more extended period of time. Hence, my scheduled appointment with my doctor well in advance of the trip to prepare. At long last, after several anxious months of anticipation, IREX issued our field experience assignments… I was assigned to Colombia! Hooray! Now I knew where I would be traveling to in the coming summer. I could report back to my doctor and move forward with all of the necessary shots and health safety precautions. I was confident I would be good to go well ahead of time. I spent the next several months traveling back and forth to my doctor’s office to receive the series of necessary immunizations, hepatitis of all sorts, typhoid, measles (my childhood immunization was not effective, who knew?!), etc. Of course we discussed yellow fever. Of course we consulted the CDC website and carefully examined the travel recommendations for Colombia. From all of the evidence we had to work with, it didn’t seem to be absolutely necessary. Good, I thought, one less shot to worry about. But then, as we got closer to our travel date, one of my Colombia cohort members casually mentioned the yellow fever immunization (and the all important yellow card of proof) in our group text chat. Don’t forget your proof of your yellow fever shot if you plan to visit any national parks she reminded us all. Wait, what? What was that? I detected a slight uptick in my anxiety level at this point. I did not know that I needed my yellow fever shot to visit national parks. Then we had our safety and security webinar. The gentleman that led the webinar repeatedly mentioned the need for proof of yellow fever immunization to enter the country. Wait, what? Each time he mentioned the need for the yellow fever shot a semi-frantic side conversation started. Who has their yellow fever shot? Who doesn’t? Did everyone know we needed this shot? How did I miss this? The webinar monitor from IREX repeatedly responded to the frantic queries, that no, we did not need the yellow fever shot for Colombia. Ooookkkk. Thank goodness. In the meantime, my partner teacher, Ellen, and I were planning our visit schedule with our host teacher, Angelica. Ellen thought we should ask Angelica about the shots. Good idea, I agreed. Malaria? In Cartago? No, no, no, never heard of anyone having malaria Angelica laughed in response. Yellow fever? YES, you must get your shot. It is very serious she told us. Ooookkk…. Let me get right on that! Yikes! Especially since we are scheduled to leave for Bogota in two weeks. I called my doctor right away. They told me that unfortunately there was a shortage of yellow fever shots available due to some unexplained mishap with the United States’ immunization supply. Due to this shortage, they did not have the shot available at my doctor’s office. They referred me to a travel health clinic. I scheduled an appointment at the nearest office on-line. I went to the travel clinic office, waited 45 minutes past my scheduled appointment before being seen by the nurse, listened for another 45 minutes as she reviewed all of the health and safety recommendations for Colombia, even as I politely tried to inform her that I had not only already discussed these concerns with my doctor, but in fact had also received the recommended shots and medications, only to be told that no they do not have the yellow fever shot available at this location. Wait, what? I would need to make another appointment at their other location. On the plus side, the nurse kindly noted that I would not be charged for this additional clinic visit. Again, I arrived at the travel clinic, at the second location, for my scheduled appointment. This time I was seen on time, thank goodness. Again I listened to a lengthy explanation as to why it was difficult to obtain a yellow fever shot. Some new information was included in this explanation, such as that fact that the United States was not currently producing the yellow fever shot. Oh no! But, France was producing the shot. Hooray! But, the shot from France was not currently FDA approved. Oh no! But, if I was willing to sign a waiver, not only could I receive the shot that had been produced in France, good for me, but I would help build a body of evidence that would support the French produced shot being officially FDA approved in the future, good for everyone. I spent approximately 30 seconds silently debating whether or not the risks of getting a shot that was not FDA approved outweighed the risks of not getting the shot at all. I signed the waiver. I got the shot… $300 out of my pocket and two days before I left for Colombia. But not before I had to watch a twenty-minute video on travel health and safety at the clinic… In a completely anti-climatic end to the entire yellow fever shot saga, I was fine. I did not have any adverse reaction to the shot. I did not need to show anyone my invaluable yellow card as proof that I had indeed received the immunization. In a casual stroll through Cartago, as an aside, Angelica pointed to a small office on a corner. “Oh, that’s where you can get a yellow fever shot,” she noted. |
AuthorTeacher, traveler, life-long learner. Archives |