I bussed downtown earlier this week and went to Manitoba Health to get my Out of Country Medical Card. I am not really sure what this is for, but all I know is that if you're out of the province for more than 90 days you need to have one to ensure you're covered in case of a health emergency. I waited at least 30mins in the waiting room (supervised by an RCMP member... or something close) but the whole process took about 3mins and I was out! Plus, the card was free, so that's a relief.
Yesterday I printed out all the documents I could even dream of printing. I also made photocopies for my parents to have. So both myself and my family have...
-Copies of my itineraries for Winnipeg-Colombo and Colombo-Kathmandu
-Copies of my travel health insurance policies
-Copies of my travel health insurance cards, SIN card, driver's license, Manitoba Health card, Out of Country Medical Card
-Booking information at the hotel in Sri Lanka where I am spending one night.
-Copies of my passport.
I also have a little duo-tang (remember those things?!) with all the contact information for Sarvodaya, the High Commission of Canada in Sri Lanka, the hotel I am staying at, as well as some other handy places in case of an emergency. This also includes my confirmation number for my travel visa in Sri Lanka. Dang, I'm good.
While printing off my itinerary I realized my flight actually leaves at 6:35pm instead of 10:30pm, which is what I thought it was before. Thank goodness I looked!!!
The other day my friend Beth K. came over to drop off a travel kit for me. This was so nice and so unexpected, but she is just the bomb! As a medic, she knows what is helpful to take with you when traveling. In this bag was dry shampoo, deodorant wipes, moist face wipes, wipes for your body, foaming soap, hand sanitizer, and a mini pack of kleenex.
Also, I got a whole bunch of moist towelettes from a family friend who is a nurse and from my dad who attended a Workplace Health and Safety. I know these will come in real handy for times I am out in rural areas or just needing to clean my hands before eating. I'm not sure I can have enough of these!
The other day I spent the afternoon with my Aunty Nean at Tim's and going to Goodwill, Dollarama, and Dollar Plus. We had a Tuscan Chicken Panini, donut, and french vanilla (my aunt had tea) and talked for a while. I don't even know how long it was, but it was nice to catch up about a variety of things. At the dollar stores I got some stickers, coloring books, Canada pencils, mint tea and my aunt gave me some postcards of what we are calling 'Canadian scenes' to take with me. Sri Lanka is one of the largest exporters of tea (if not THE largest). The country actually used to be called Ceylon, which is what the ceylon tea is named after. So I thought it might be fun to bring some funky mint tea in case they don't have that kind... apparently they export the good stuff and keep the rejects and murky teas for themselves... Could be a treat. And a special "thank you" to my cat, Emma, who photo bombed this picture.
I know that this whole trip is really weighing on me. Perhaps this is too much information, but I get sick when I am stressed and I have been sick several times recently. Usually it is a very sporadic thing for me with exams or some huge family thing, but this is just massive for me. I haven't been eating quite the same, sleeping the same, or been in a cheerful mood lately. I guess it's because I'm petrified. Excited. Nervous. Ready to go. Never wanting to leave.
Counting down the days..
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