All ahead -- STOP

I booked my flight and awaited approval from management for the travel expense. Time ran out waiting, and now my plane ticket is lost. This could be a circular series of events.

My stomach has been terribly upset ever since I had the vaccine shot (Hep A and Hep B). I don't know if it is the vaccine or nervousness about the journey that makes my tummy rumble.

Or it could be anger. I got mad at the Doctor, who is Indian, but has never been to India. He was so wrapped up in how I was to pay for all the vaccines that the whole office visit dissolved in to confusion and animosity. In the end, he was to write prescriptions for me and and I was to come back for another visit. Neither of these things have happened.

This can not be a good start for the trip. One dose of one vaccine, no doctor, no ticket.

The shots:

• Hepatitis A/B Dose 1 --- complete
• Hepatitis A/B Dose 2
• Hepatitis B Dose 3
• Pneumococcal Pneumonia
• Japanese Encephalitis
• Polio Booster
• Diphtheria/Pertussis/Tetanus

The pills:

• Malaria

My first journal entry

My arm is still sore from the vaccine shot I had yesterday.

I talked to a colleague on the phone who gave me pointers about my trip, she has been there. Take your own pillowcase and a top sheet. Each night put them on your bed so it will smell like home. Every day fold them up and seal in a zip bag so they will not take on the smell of the bed and the room. Everyday you will get a new bottle of water in the hotel, whether you drink the previous day's water or not. If I am there for three weeks I can have 21 bottles of water on my bedside table. The shower floor is marble and very slick , be careful, and if the crackers in the room are beyond the expiration date, call and they will bring you new ones. All important things to know.

The barking deer, mostly lives in solitude and is only very rarely seen. Sloth bears do not hibernate; they make their day beds out of broken branches in trees. I am afraid of all things monkey.

I wonder when will first see you, Rhesus Monkey? I will mark the date.