Ch-ch-changes!

We have been slacking and thus have a myriad of updates to announce. I will proceed in chronological order - first, we have adopted a kitten, or perhaps she has adopted us. While Jess was reading in bed, she heard the most pitiful whining and before she could identify the source, she had a little, black alien kitten curling up under her chin. We have named her Kitten, a classic, and have spent the last few weeks becoming too attached to her whiny, playful little self while being amazed by her growth and progress. As I said, she looked like an alien with huge eyes and protruding cheek bones, and is now just an adorable 6-ish week old kitten who has now worked up to catching and eating little lizards and spiders! We are very proud mothers, yet have failed her in a way by transforming her from a survivor, orphan kitten to a domesticated baby who sleeps only when having direct contact with a warm body (in other words, German neighbor Deiter's method of putting her in a small plastic bucket at night is unsatisfactory for both Kitten and me). We are currently trying to recruit some equally sappy, sentimental kitten-keepers to look after her when we leave, which is quite soon because...

We are officially yoga teachers! After a month of daily practice, leading classes, and putting our bodies in new, unforeseen positions, we are certified. One may think we would be the very vision of health, alas...

We are both sick! Well kind of, mine is self- inflicted as I have decided to do this Ayurvedic cleanse called Panchakarma that has been hip and trendy in India for say, the last 5,000 years, and has just caught on in the greater Los Angeles. Jessica warns me against sharing this as all of the Los Angelinos will judge me for giving into the latest of the Hollywood health fads along with Lindsay Lohan and Madonna, alas the 2 week treatment comes to a close tomorrow and it has been a most fascinating experience. Unlike western medicine that concentrates on curing the physical with medication while discounting the role of the emotional and mental self, Ayurveda takes all three as equally influential on the functioning of the body and its health. The point of the cleanse is to take the toxins out of the body which means that the doctor took a wooden stick and pressed it into very specific pressure points all over my body provoking the organs to release the stored toxins. So for a few days I walked around with 23 years of toxins flowing out of my organs causing me to be weak, nauseas, and a little unhinged - generally a joy to be around. The toxins are now out and I feel very, well, clean. Our fair, sensitive Jessica, however, is legitimately ill and didn't even invite it as I did. She has Giardia, not to be confused with the amoebas that she had a few weeks ago (and may still have), which is a hearty, hard-shelled parasite that is forming an army in her digestive system as we speak. It doesn't take excellent hearing to sense that something is amiss as her stomach sounds like the belly of a ship during a tempestuous crossing of the Atlantic. This most recent development has caused me to pull a mom move. I am not the best at channeling my maternal instincts, but I suppose that when I do, they come full force. We are flying to Germany in less than a week.

Ah the joys of living without plans and commitments...I was sitting at the computer with the task of buying our plane tickets to fly to Germany at the beginning of September and started to think that the next few weeks might be spent in a bathroom instead of on a camel or motorbike as planned. With this very sudden change of plans, lifestyle, and mentality, we will be arriving in Frankfurt with the mission of buying a cheap, used car and embarking on an epic road trip alllll over Europe in what is surreally the final leg of THIS around the world adventure.
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