Gabi's Narnia

Perfect, beautiful BODY

I am not very thrilled by the timing of this post, when flocks of people are going to flood here from my friend's, Andrew's blog. (BTW, this blog came into being by Andrew's nudging over 4 years ago, when he visited for a conference here in Budapest! Thanks Andrew!!!) However, I already decided on the tram to post about it, so I'll go ahead and hereby I apologise from anyone who thinks this should not be shared publicly. I am going to talk about body functions.

Exactly a month ago I had to cancel almost all my lessons due to the bodily function that shows up with a 4-week frequency. It is amazing that you could adjust a technical, mechanic equipment to the timing inserted into my body which neither gets much sleep, nor is treated overly well in a city of 2 million with traffic and pollution and a VERY busy lifestyle. OK, I don't take any pills, try to avoid preservatives and have a pretty good standard of living compared to 95% of the rest of the world. Still. It is amazing and beautiful.

The feeling is heightened by a recent visit to the BODIES exhibition. Let's not get into the controversies over the possible POW status of the "artifacts" or the fact that these are real human bodies which do stink despite the chemical treatment and the silicone coating.
Let's suffice to see the manifold beauty of Creation that is US, human beings. I won't get into the terminology which I am more than unfamiliar with. One sign read "endocrine system" and tiny bits revealed power over our entire existence and chemical balance.
The front part of the hip area, with that bone which loosens upon labour and the delivery of the baby... that hole in the skeleton, exactly the size of a baby's head that allows our offspring to come into this world.

Although I am disgusted at the butcher counter and by the time I take home the meat purchased (once or twice a year - seriously!!!) I have no intentions whatsoever to eat what I cook... well, here I came as close as possible to the smelly parts and with eyes wide open I observed the miracle.
Sorry, no more words since with "miracle" it all stops. But for those who might be worried about my protein intake... I do eat meat prepared by my Mom, Dad and grandparents and certain restaurants. This exhibition is a must. Might go again, want to join?

The helper is there when you climb

Upon the invitation of the Hungarian Association of Mountain Climbers Doug Scott gave a presentation titled Himalaya Alpine Style here in Budapest last Monday. The mind-blowing pictures (new!!!) he projected on the university lecture hall's screen had double effect on me. One was the natural adrenaline increase  someone feels when re-visiting memories and although Kilimanjaro could never equal to K2 or Ogre or Mount Everest, the memories of my own adrenaline adventure came rushing back... and that led to the second portion... a craving for more adventure, more adrenaline rush and the desire and greater willingness to take risks!

Doug shared about the times when mountain climbing wasn't all about the proper equipment that makes it possible for safety-freaks to go and climb mountains relying heavily on technology... But it was truly more common to take risks even in the ordinary spheres of life and climbers e.g. didn't sue National Parks when accidents happened as he referred to a weirdo in Ozzie land who was publicly humiliated by his fellow climbers for such a legal action.

I felt an urge to go and conquer newer heights, not that almost 6000m (19.341 feet) wouldn't be enough, but for the sake of satisfying a deep hunger for adventure in my soul. All this in full awareness of the fact that I am one of the most adventurous and boldest people I know!

The squirming never ceased during the two-an-a-half-hour-presentation, but I learned about a certain phenomenon I had not previously known about and which deserves some attention. It has to do with symptoms that manifest usually above 8000m... allegedly when someone experiences hypoxia, there is a great chance for hallucination. Many climbers report about a THIRD person (when climbing in couples) or ANOTHER person who is there with the climbers. This person gives good advice, encourages people and is always helpful. Always. Wonder whether God's love for high places wouldn't qualify this THIRD person as the Holy Spirit. Of course for me it is His person... and it's really amazing to hear such a precise description of the third person of the Trinity in reference to mountain climbing!

Climbers of great heights, once again, report something extremely interesting. In those elevations they claim as if a 6th sense would open up and they are able to see themselves extra-body... I mean they somehow leave their body and they give direction to their very person where to step, how to walk, how to avoid danger. They see themselves from above, see very clearly to many-many miles away and they have full assurance that they are part of something far bigger than themselves and they feel something extraordinary that could be described as unity with creation or harmonious embedding into the world and peace. Huge peace. Now, let me ask once again... doesn't that remind us of something else?!?! :) For me this is pretty much God's Kingdom and as God has manifested himself in Nature and as I have referred to that, in High Places... let me just suffice to say that the biggest miracle for me is if a climber doesn't fall in love with the Creator of such beauty. I would have never thought such things happened to climbers although they sound very reasonable. If you think selfish ego is manifested in this climber... well, the tide has turned and he is using his fame to collect money for building schools and nurseries, hospitals in the poor country of Nepal. He praised the sherpas and the porters... and as you can recall that was a major message I came home with from Tanzania... that without James I wouldn't have made it and I'm so happy to have carried my stuff myself, because it's modern day slavery what these men are doing for the sake of rich "Western" tourists... It's deeply humiliating and sobering.

Home delivery

Just a little info preceding the need to breastfeed. It's the delivery of a baby. There is a pile of noteworthy articles on my desk which I have been collecting for almost 8 months. Among them is one from Nick Thorpe who happens to be BBC's Eastern European correspondent.
In the Hungarian article he shares that all of his five children were born in Hungary, all at home. He speaks about what a "home delivery" involves, what are the numbers for occurrences of mishaps in or out of hospital. This is the only relevant news item in English I could find at this hour. No, I'm not expecting, at least not a baby yet ;)

Breast-feeders chill-tool

OK, this is creepy but I need to keep records somewhere and this blogs allows me to be altruistic in doing so by sharing the information with you guys as well. If you happen to breastfeed, want to breastfeed sometime or you are simply interested in innovative solutions for an ordinary problem, click here. Most probably I got their info at WAMP, which is the cooler art fair/bazaar ever in Budapest. My dream is to save up LOTS of money and go for a big shopping... it is a dream. I have a dream. Oh, it's getting out of control! :)

baseball is only physics

Just had my first baseball lesson, with a small board and live situational play and online tutoring included. I guess it's fair to say it is not Chinese anymore :)
Here are some highlights from the latter part of my education:

PS: we are having a great time with Lea and Doug, for sure :)

Not contagious

Just the other day I learnt that shingles are not contagious! To be fully accurate, if you have already had chicken pox (I have) then you cannot catch shingles. Either you stress yourself out or there is a major trauma that you suffer which invokes the virus to move into action so if you make sure these are eliminated (easy, eh?) you should be fine.
Read more from wiki. Or another site on shingles. I'm happy that Kati neni is doing much better.

Breathing in altitude

Everyone who asks about the climb mentions the lack of air as a tangible element among the difficulty factors. Let me share on that, you might smile or shake your head in disbelief... but I frequently use the Lamaze birth giving breathing to cope with the pain (of you know what) and I am a disciplined breather both at running and honestly you cannot do it otherwise, when swimming.
Take all that into consideration. Now at around 3700m your heart starts pumping like crazy, your pulse is WELL ABOVE 80, more around 90... I started to freak out and it was very late at night when I realised that sth is out of order and at first I blamed it on the muscle cream I used to loosen the backpain (which contains snake poison extract) that in a very talented way I managed to massage into an open wound on my hand! No, it wasn't the snake poison extract... others were breathing too fast also, I learnt the following day. After that I paid extra attention, especially (only) half-way going up from Kibo Hut (4700m) to the rim (5681m) during which my heart was pumping like crazy. So I started a small routine. First sat down on a stone/in the sand to rest and drink (until my water froze :) and then started "real fast" with special breathing that concentrated all my energies and went about 30 steps. Then rest again, special breathing while pushing it hard and rest again. It would have been too tiresome to keep a regular breathing at all times, but once we were on the rim I kept to the very disciplined breathing (now at all times) and someone could have well thought that the Orient Express arrived to the top because I was giving out sounds along with the used oxygen that my body exploited from the originally low oxygen content. So I was puffing (what does a train "say" in English?) at a regular speed and James, my guide got used to that too. First he thought I wasn't doing ok (wasn't I?), then he just accepted that his company is a steam-engine covered with lady's skin.
Unfortunately my body got so drained that when coming down we encountered a slight rise (you can imagine that wasn't too frequent) the loco-music style came back and I was puffing again. Poor James, only now I start to realise how much he had put up with :)

Hybriding (Lexus RXh)

Right before I read Future Cars' comment to a previous post I had the privilege to sit in a one-year-old Lexus RXh. The car looks gorgeous, especially with the tiny lady who drives it (mostly) for green reasons. She enthusiastically explained how the two + one electronic and the one fuel engine run.  The computer display showed the chart which engine was being used and lots of other technical complexities that I didn't quite grasp, but found amusing so I sought help from a car nerd friend who said that hybrids are not the best solution and they are not that green after all. Maybe he's right, but it's someone else who should challenge that statement :)
Well, as you can tell mechanics is not my major field of interest, but aesthetics and beauty is - the car is nice and doesn't consume that much for its size (around 9l/100km).

How green am I? Yes, long warm showers are a must after a rather tiring day, but I don't own (nor plan to purchase) a car, take public or ride the bike everywhere. Also, try to reduce plastic consumption by buying paper bags even though they cost triple. The girls started to respect the selective management of household garbage as well. For that proof I need to upload the photo I took of Tündi bending over SORTING the content of the special bin I dedicated for the purpose :)
You need to take into consideration that I ride an airplane at least once every other month. That kind of annuls all the tiny efforts I guess, but one should do what's within his/her own abilities.

And please, let us not panic. If you read some books on the history of changes in the global climate and you can see how limited our data is. What must have the Egyptians thought during the great famine? Why weren't the Egyptian magicians able to predict what was going to happen? Guesses?

UPDATE: Life's irony is that the waterheater in the bathroom just now decided to stop running :) Had a very refreshing shower, utterly 'green' experience!!! :)

 

Gosh, what a pet!

There is an "EVERYTHING FOR FREE" mailing list I'm on, where you can offer what you don't need and request others to give you sth for free. Today the weirdest offer so far came in:

Kinek kell? Afrikai óriáscsiga bébik ajándékba elvihetõk. Praktikus háziállat gyerekek nagyon szeretik. Virágföldben lakik, salátát uborkát eszik, kezdetben (egy évig) egy nagyobb befõttes üveg elég neki. Többet megtudhatsz az achatina.hu oldalon. Tel:

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Offer: Giant African snail babies. They are practical house pets--children will enjoy them a lot! These snails live in topsoil. They eat salad/cucumber and for the first year a preserve jar will do for living space. Learn more about the snails at this site (http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/6210)

[translated by moderator, Zsolt]

Now I don't know about you, but it's more than what I could handle... Have you seen the yuck-tail snails leave behind from close-up?

the subject is physiological

Tundi said these words tonight after having tickled me into incredible laughter and having tortured my body for her stretching exam tomorrow. She is studying to become a physical therapist and so far I have been the most willing volunteer to be subjected to massage and whatever else she was studying.
Right now I have some concerns about being this much available :) Since I had to turn all over the place on the top of the dining table in my room and had to press against her and several times I almost fell off the table... I'm much stronger than an average person she claims.
It's great comfort to know that my physical functions are in order and that I'm particularly blessed in this regard. Many people don't have the right muscles or whatever... I could have become an athlete a professional runner said 4 years ago. You know I'm glad it wasn't sport though... sport injuries are nasty creatures and I got away with a minor ankle accident in the many years of active gymnastics, running, swimming and primarily basketball.
But now I feel my body is getting older, at 27 that sounds pretty stupid, but I'm being serious. Formerly if I missed some months of exercise - who cared - just strained my body and never thought twice about it. Nowadays conscious planning precedes any major move and since I do have plans, it's better to be cautious. I'm simply getting old. But still physiological :)