Two Lottery Winners

First the bullet, for those of you who are not on vacation and have actual work to do:  I'm fine and I'm (again) scheduled to sail tomorrow, this time from Ensenada.  The SAS students join the ship two days later than the staff, so I had that window to get diagnosed and cleared for travel.  With many people working on the project, that has all come together and I am scheduled for arrival early tomorrow (Wednesday) morning.  As a result of everyone else's hard work, I got to do a practice run as a tourist in a country where I speak the language reasonably well.  (It turned up some serious issues I will have to address, but we will cover that in another post.)

My eye problem, as hypothesized earlier, turned out to be a vitreous detachment, which is common, heals pretty quickly without treatment, and--if you are lucky--heals in a way that actually protects against the more serious retinal detachment.  The eye doctor I saw Tuesday morning said he was comfortable supporting either option (go around the world or stay where I had easy access to medical facilities).  There is some risk of complication, but being a week from shore does not compromise treatment.  I chose door number one (or gangplank number one).

I have also gotten word that I am welcome back, which is essentially a second opinion that the risk is low enough to warrant the gamble.  Health and safety are the number one priorities for this voyage (and have been all along; my new boss told me this at my initial interview), and I will do my very best to be the poster child for the good outcome for the challenging situation.

Who is the other lottery winner?  The taxi driver who took me to the doctor's office this morning.

I struck up a conversation with the driver today, learning that he was from Ethiopia (one of the few African countries I can still place on the map).  I'm not going anywhere near there, of course, but asked him how he had come to this country.  He had won the chance to come in a "diversity lottery," after trying for 8 years.  He, his wife, and three children were all able to come, and the US government provides up to four years of help for the settlement process.  It's a side of immigration that we don't often see.

It was good to hear a success story.  He got his family self-sufficient after two years, and he has Ethiopian buddies in town.  Everyone likes it here, at least two of the kids are doing fine (his assessment).  Living the American dream.  Say what you might about our immigration policies, this man is a success story.  Our conversation started me off feeling happy, and I stayed that way all day.