Photos -I had a very good Friday in Italy.

Posted on April 19, 2014 by johnageddes

Enrico and Lilli by the Secchia River, San Michele, Italy.

For the past 14 years I have been friends with Luca and Gloria Tracendi who live in San Michele, Italy. We have met many times in Italy, Canada, Florida and Barcelona. I rocked their son Enrico when he was three months old. We met serendipitously on an internet chat site in the very early internet days in the late 1990’s when I was working in Bosnia and have chatted online every couple of weeks since then. Enrico is now almost 13 and as tall as his Dad. I enjoy visiting them from time to time and they make me feel very much at home. I now know the neighbours and family. What a delight to have them as friends. This week I am visiting them again at their home in San Michele. Yesterday Enrico and the dog Lilli and I did some wandering by the river and the hills around the village, appropriately ending up at the top of a big hill where a crucifix overlooked the village below.

Musical triggers.

Posted on April 16, 2014 by johnageddes

Music sometimes engenders distinct visual images and remembrances in me. The music can be random or have no particular association with the remembrance other than that I link both hearing the song and a very specific time, place and surroundings. Whenever I hear that song, I immediately am transported to the memory with visual recollections that are vivid and detailed.

Here are a few of my most distinct memories and the songs that trigger them. There are many, many more. What are yours?

Never Can Say Goodbye – Gloria Gaynor – I am sitting at a counter on the sixth floor of St Joseph’s Hospital about 9 pm on some evening in 1974 when I am an intern on call at the hospital and writing an admission history in a metal hospital chart. The music is playing from a transistor radio that is in the corner of the desk. I have an image of one of the nurses working that shift as well – she had a funny little crinkled nurses cap (back when they didn’t just wear sweat pants and floral shirts).

I Try – Macy Gray. I am standing on a hillside on the island of Brac on November 10, 2000 (I know the date exactly because I know when I took the photo) with my friend Daren Trudeau. We have stopped to admire the view of the Adriatic ( Donna and Al Blair in the car ahead of us) and walked across to the edge of the hillside. The car door is open and I Try is playing on the radio. Interestingly, I have talked to Daren about this and he has the same vivid memory of the song and the location. Later that morning the four of us were on a deserted beach and Daren and I succumbed to the temptation of stripping down and running into the Adriatic.

I took this photo while Macy Gray blared out I Try from the car radio behind us on the road.

September Morn – Neil Diamond. I am driving my new 1983 Oldsmobile home from Goderich to Kincardine. It is the first car that I had with any decent sound (or one that ran quiet enough to hear what was on the radio). With the car came a GM cassette tape that opened with this song – lots of bass. Loved it.

Quetico Canoe Trip 2001

Crackin’ Rosie – another Neil Diamond song. I am standing at a campsite in Quetico Park in August 2001 with Catherine Mikhail. We are the designated clean up crew after our camp dinner. Brian Perkins had brought a little transistor radio and we finally found a station. We both sang along to Cracklin Rosie as we scrubbed the soot off the pots. Good times.

Top of the World – The Carpenters. It is November 9, 1973. I am in my green 1969 Volkswagen stopped at the lights at the corner of Cheapside and Adelaide Streets in London, Ontario at about 8 in the morning. I am heading to Victoria Hospital to see my daughter, Kate, who was born the previous afternoon.

Holding my one day old daughter – November 9, 1973. Top of the World.

Top of the World

Such a feelin’s comin’ over me
There is wonder in most every thing I see
Not a cloud in the sky, got the sun in my eyes
And I won’t be surprised if it’s a dream

Everything I want the world to be
Is now comin’ true especially for me
And the reason is clear, it’s because you are here
You’re the nearest thing to Heaven that I’ve seen.

I feel the same 40 years later when I sing along to this song. And now that my kids have kids of their own, they will understand this feeling.

Tangible results

Posted on April 13, 2014 by johnageddes

I have written several times about successful CanAssist projects that help children and communities in East Africa to acquire improved sanitation facilities – or, in some cases, ANY sanitation at all.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, let me proudly tell you about another CanAssist-African community success, achievable through Canadian donors, the CanAssist African Relief Trust and responsible African community leaders.

Last July, our Kenyan field representative for CanAssist, Dan Otieno, made a visit to the Twiga school in Ruriru district of Kenya.

Boys toilets at the Twiga School before CanAssist intervention.

There he met with one of the officers of the Murera Community Empowerment and Support Organization. He visited the Twiga school where sanitation facilities were, like in so many East African schools, sub-standard. Disgusting and deplorable might be better adjectives.

The toilets for boys and girls and staff were falling apart and in some cases full of excrement and unusable. there are about 500 kids and 13 teachers using these latrines. I want to ask my Canadian teacher friends if you can even imagine this.

I have asked this question before. Would you want your kids (or you if you are a teacher at this school) using these latrines?

Through donations to CanAssist from individuals along with a $3000 dollar donation from the British Columbia based Grey Gates Foundation, we were able to secure the funds to repair the girls toilet and to build new latrines for the boys and staff. We sent the money to do this (about $7500 in total) to the community in February 2014.

Only a few weeks later we have received photos of the new installations at the school, including refreshed girls toilets, new toilets for the boys and the staff and a hand-washing station to be used by everyone. It is intuitively obvious that these improvements will be both more aesthetic and sanitary for the school and will also provide better privacy for toilet use and help reduce the spread of gastrointestinal illnesses.

I will let the photos speak for themselves.

New CanAssist-funded boys toilets at the Twiga School in Ruriru District. Kenya

New hand washing station at the Twiga school, funded by CanAssist. Handwashing has been shown to markedly reduce the spread of disease so it is an integral part of any school sanitation program.

Refurbished and reconstructed girls toilets at the Twiga School.

Our revels are now ended.

Posted on April 6, 2014 by johnageddes

One of the marvels of participating in theatre is watching a bare stage become washed in light and colour and sound and movement and then, when the production is done and the set struck, usually within a couple of hours of the last performance, the stage returns to blank walls and a bare floor. It is over. Never to happen in the same way again.

In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Prospero says some of my favourite theatrical lines.

Legendary Canadian actor, William Hutt, at age 85, portrays Prospero in the 2005 Stratford Festival production of The Tempest.

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp’d tow’rs, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.

The Tempest Act 4, scene 1

It is always bittersweet to put a theatre production to bed. Obviously Shakespeare knew this feeling, too. Like every minute of our lives, the words and actions and innuendos of every performance are unique and will never be repeated the same way again. Ever.

For the past few weeks I have been part of the King’s Town Players production of the Classic Canadian story by Margaret Laurence, The Stone Angel, faithfully adapted for the stage by James W. Nichol. It has been a pleasure to work with my theatre friiends to explore and interpret this piece, one that resonates with everyone.

Our final performance of The Stone Angel was last night. The stage is now bare and dark. Revels ended. But the experience of participating in this drama has been enriching and hopefully our audiences found it a thought-provoking piece of local theatre.

Stage of The Stone Angel before the last performance and one hour after the show was done.

Here are a couple of video montages of our production.

Here is how I imagined Jason Currie in front of his General Store in Manawaka, Manitoba in the late 1800’s

Prescribing medical marijuana – An April Fool joke on Canadian Family Physicians ?

Posted on April 1, 2014 by johnageddes

This year, Health Canada is playing an April Fool joke on Canadian physicians. Only it is no joke. Starting April 1, licensed medical practitioners will be able to prescribe marijuana for their patients, something that previously had to go through more elaborate scrutiny by Health Canada.

Last week in the mail I got the first advertising supplement for a company now producing it, complete with a tear-off prescription pad that allows me to just check off the dose and type that I want to prescribe…or more likely that the patient wants me to prescribe.

I have no training in the appropriate use of this drug as a medicine. In fact, there have been no good studies that have shown where to use it or how. Most of the time it is the patient that comes to the physician to say they have been buying it illegally and finding it helps them with their nausea, chronic pain or muscle complaints. Perhaps it does. But the benefits of using this drug are generally subjective and for poorly measurable outcomes. How can I evaluate who needs it for medical reasons and who just wants to have medical sanctions to use it for recreational use?

Most users of marijuana don’t use it for medical reasons. They use it to get some psychological benefit or a “high” on some level. It provides temporary relief from life’s trials and tribulations. For some it becomes a regular habit, an escape and perhaps an impediment to solving problems in a more constructive way.

I smoked marijuana on a couple of occasions several years ago. (Should I run for Prime Minister?) I have no qualms about others using it responsibly and occasionally to relax. I like the smell of it. But it makes me feel horrible! Either it does almost nothing to me or it makes me extremely anxious and nauseous. Not a sensation I ever want to repeat. I will stick to a glass of red wine for my relaxation, thanks. How long will it be before I am asking my doctor for a prescription for Chateauneuf-du-Pape?

Already, doctors are in an unenviable position of being a gatekeeper for some narcotic prescriptions that are often abused, trafficked on the street. The problems with Percocet prescription in Ontario are huge. Granted, there are some patients who may get relief from painful medical conditions by using this drug but the consensus is that it is not appropriate for chronic non-malignant pain, that it has a significant potential for dependency and abuse and that much of the Percocet prescribed by physicians ends up being sold on the street. And we know that regular users will suffer significant symptoms of withdrawal or acquire it on the street if the medication is stopped suddenly. It is a troubling dilemma for many physicians. Often the drug has been started by another physician and the patient is already dependent and reluctant to change their use of the narcotic when he enters the practice. The new doctor inherits a problem she did not create and then is stuck trying to deal with it. Will the same happen with medical marijuana? Narcotic abusers can be very manipulative, demanding and even threatening.

I view this change now allowing me to prescribe what is currently a common street drug as the start of another ethical dilemma for me and for all physicians. It is not what I signed up for when I became a doctor. Maybe I am just too old to be doing this any more. Or, like the referees I read about this week who are leaving junior hockey because the job has put them in unpleasant situations, maybe I should just retire.

Cranking up the old turntable…

Posted on March 16, 2014 by johnageddes

As I mentioned in my last post, the sight of records spinning on a turntable at The Screening Room and in American Hustle made me feel reminiscent.

I found my old Technics BL 220 turntable and a week later, after cleaning the dust off and replacing the rotted belt, I was ready to explore the dozens of 33 LP’s stored in crates in the basement. My kids will remember me sitting on the floor in front of the stereo and playing track after track of my records as relaxation. The advent of CD’s and now iTunes music has made that personal handling of the medium with little pops and crackles a lost pleasure, akin to the difference between reading a book on a Kindle versus holding it in your hand and turning real pages.

I beamed from ear to ear when I put on my favourite album of all time – Dr Music. This short-lived Canadian group had about 15 members in it and their tracks are all rich with harmonies and full instrumental arrangements.

Some of The Canadian Band – Dr Music

I enjoy every track on the album that was released in 1972 – 41 years ago(!). I was in medical school then, Pierre Trudeau was Prime Minister of Canada, Richard Nixon was the President of the U.S. but the Watergate arrests that led to his 1974 resignation happened that year.

As a group, Dr Music lasted only a couple of years and then disbanded. Some of the members moving on to another Canadian band – Lighthouse.

One advantage of this digital age is that I was able to I look up the names of the several members of the 1972 Dr. Music band. I sent a brief note to Bruce Cassidy, who played trumpet and flugelhorn in both Dr Music and later in Lighthouse (and also Blood Sweat and Tears). He kindly responded with a photo of the band as they were going on tour in 1972. There are very few photos of this band online I was delighted to see this one and appreciate his response. I have ended up downloading some of his recent music, heavily influenced by time he lived in South Africa.

Photo of the Dr Music band heading off on a cross Canada tour in 1972. Supplied by Bruce Cassidy, one of the members of the band.

I found the Lighthouse album as well, with songs like Sunny Days and One Fine Morning. And also discovered that the band, with many of the original members, is still playing occasional concerts. In fact they are performing at Hamilton Place at the end of this month.

I have had a very enjoyable Saturday night listening to these and other old albums – the Beatles, Bob Seger, Fleetwood Mac. A blast from the past.

Of course, this was well before the days of Music Videos. But here are a couple of Youtube links to some of the music.

And have a look at the photo of Lighthouse above and see these guys still at it in 2012. Less hair but just as much energy and talent!

Sunny Days – Lighthouse – Music and Lyrics by Skip Prokop, the drummer in the band

Sittin’ stoned alone in my backyard
Askin’ myself “Why should I work so hard?”
Sittin’ dreamin’ ’bout the days to come
Half-undressed, just soakin’ up the sun

Sittin’ here, I hope I don’t get fried
Two years ago, you know, I almost died
And yet, there’s nothin’ better for your soul
Than lyin’ in the sun and listenin’ to rock ‘n roll

Sunny days
Oh, sunny, sunny, sunny days
Ain’t nothin’ better in the world, you know
Than lyin’ in the sun with your radio

More on movies…

Posted on March 9, 2014 by johnageddes

This weekend I saw the last Oscar-nominated film that I had not seen yet – American Hustle. And that’s where it ended up in my list.

Although it was entertaining and I loved Jennifer Lawrence -what’s not to love there? -the movie was a typical “sting-going-bad” movie in the same category as movies like Oceans Eleven ( or twelve, or thirteen or…) I did enjoy the 80’s music and resolved to get out my turntable and some old LP’s this week. I thought I should look up the soundtrack when I got home in iTunes but also realized that somewhere in my collection of LP’s and 45’s and CD’s I likely have all the tracks that were on the movie. It would work just as well as a Saturday night rental as on the big screen.

My favorite movie last year was Dallas Buyers Club. It didn’t have the epic and guilt-ridden theme of 12 Years A Slave or the glitzy technology of Gravity but I liked the performances, the story and the presentation. It is the only film in the Best Picture category that I have seen twice and would happily see again. I also really enjoyed Philomena and Nebraska but both of these were too understated to win votes. But good entertainment, nonetheless.

As I looked at the films on the Best Picture list, I wondered where The Railway Man disappeared to. I saw this film at TIFF in September last year and it had many of the elements of 12 Years without the Americana. It turns out that the film has not been released yet but will appear in theatres in North America in April. If you liked 12 Years, you will like this one too. It has many of the same elements. Part of the movie is set in a prisoner of war camp forced into hard labour (and torture) to construct the Thai-Burma railway in during the Second World War. The story, like so many in movies this year, is based on a true one and at TIFF the real Patti Lomax, who was played in the movie by Nicole Kidman, attended the Q&A along with Colin Firth who plays her husband, Eric.

The story is well told, with some spectacular scenery shot on location at the site if the real railway in Burma. In the movie, as in real life I surmise, Lomax suffers from PTSD after his war endurances and eventually has to decide how to deal with his past by returning. No spoilers. See the movie.

Replacing the word “Draconian” with “Musevenian”

Posted on February 25, 2014 by johnageddes

As my friends know, it is not like me to be “speechless”. But I have had great difficulty finding the right words for this blog article. I will try.

The word draconian seems an understatement when it is used to describe the anti-homosexual law signed two days ago by Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni.

(Draco,by the way, was a legislator in ancient Greece who is renowned for passing laws that called for particularly harsh punishment for offenses that were minor.)

In the past few months a large divide has developed between countries that see the rights of gay individuals as being basic human rights and regions where homophobic rhetoric has led to laws that are punishing and restrictive. The debate over Russia’s laws punishing anyone who “promotes” homosexual lifestyle became overshadowed by the fireworks and glistening white snow of the Olympics. The Olympics are done but the law remains.

In Arizona, recently, the state government passed a law that would allow restaurant owners to refuse service to gay clients, the argument being that it could be against the restauranteur’s religious beliefs. This law has not yet been signed by the governor but it was obviously supported by the legislature.

This week, in Uganda, the president signed a law that called for imprisonment up to 14 years for individuals who participate in homosexual acts and life in prison for “repeat offenders” or individuals with HIV who have gay sex. (The original version of this law actually called for the death penalty for some homosexual “offenses”.) The current law also calls for imprisonment of anyone “aiding or abetting” homosexuality and makes it a criminal offense not to report someone for being gay.

Museveni claims that homosexuality is unnatural behaviour that can be controlled. He claims that the west is trying to lure Ugandan youth into a deviant homosexual lifestyle and has directly thumbed his nose at he U.S. and Obama in particular over this issue. He claims to be resisting “Western social imperialism.” Although it is hard to believe, in an interview with Stephen Fry, one Ugandan government minister reportedly has even said that rape of a young woman is less problem than consensual gay sex because it is more “natural”.

In neighbouring Kenya, there are laws in place that outlaw homosexuality but they are rarely enforced. Still, there is a widespread intolerance and disapproval of homosexuality in Kenya and there are reports of people being brutally killed in some African countries because of their sexual orientation. But let’s not be too smug here. “Gay-bashing” has been (and still is) alive in North America, too.

Today, the day after the law was signed, a prominent newspaper in Kampala, printed names of 200 Ugandan homosexuals, many of them prominent citizens and not publicly “out”. This may lead to a backlash of not-so-subtelly-sanctioned harassment and even violence against gays. At least one gay activist was brutally murdered a couple of years ago after a similar newspaper outing. Many gays in Uganda claim to have been beaten and are understandably afraid. There are disturbing photos posted online of one fellow being burned alive, children watching, ostensively getting his just desserts for being homosexual.

What also angers me even more about this, whether it is in Arizona or Uganda is that it seems to be a sentiment that is pushed by Christian Evangelists. The anti-homosexual rhetoric in Uganda certainly has its foundation in religious zealots who may be losing their cause in the West but turning to vulnerable communities in Africa to promote this kind of intolerance and hatred. Even the head of the Anglican Church in Uganda has expressed support for this law. This is “Christian”? Really? I find it incomprehensible.

In some reports, I have also read that the Ugandan law calls for jail terms for directors of non-governmental agencies that support gay rights or gay individuals. Although the charity that I work with has no connection with any gay rights groups, we do support clinics and schools where we hope that all individuals will be treated with respect and dignity, regardless of their race, religious beliefs, age, sex or sexual orientation. We support the rights of all people. Will all clients and students be treated with respect? We do expect that. We may have Canadian supporters who are gay and who wish to visit our project partner sites? Can they be safe to do that now?

As a fall out, several countries, including the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway have announced today that they will withdraw governmental aid from Uganda. Canada has expressed disagreement with the new law but the official stance is not yet clear. To withdraw aid may make a principled statement but, as usual, those who will suffer will be the vulnerable people who live in poverty with no political power.

Societies differ. I can understand certain groups rejecting the idea of homosexuality or disapproving. It may be totally outside their sphere of understanding or culturally “wrong”. But punishment with life imprisonment for simply being homosexual is not tolerable. The argument that sexual orientation is a choice, that gays are “recruiting” Africans to their lifestyle or acting like pedophiles is ludicrous.

Where will this all end? In Canada, we have debated and had strong disagreements whether same-sex marriage will have the same legal rights as marriage between a man and woman. In some countries the debate is more whether a homosexual has the right to exist. Centuries from now laws like this may be termed as Musevenian, not Draconian.

(Photos were taken from recent internet news feeds)

Bosnia Reflections – Part 4 … Renewed unrest

Posted on February 16, 2014 by johnageddes

Not only were lives and buildings destroyed by the four-year Bosnian war, the economy was decimated. What international companies was going to invest in a country torn by ethnic violence, widespread corruption and uncertainty?

The move to privatization that happened in the years immediately after the war widened the gap between the rich and the poor. People with money had power and politicians in all sectors used their political influence to fill their pockets. A political appointment was a ticket to financial influence. Bribery was common and almost accepted by everyone. The tripartite government that was born after the war was/is cumbersome and inefficient.

While I was working in Bosnia from 1998 to 2009, it was not uncommon for nurses or teachers or doctors to go several weeks without receiving their pay. The government leaders claimed lack of resources as they drove around the country in black SUV’s with a police escort. Government workers were threatened with losing their jobs if they did not show up to work despite not being paid. It astounded me that there was not more backlash from the mistreated workers.

For a few years, this may have been chalked up to a post-war recovery process. But it appears that things have gotten worse in the past few years.

Scenes of protests against the government in Bosnia last week . They took a violent turn.

Depending on the source, it is claimed that there is 25 to 40 per cent unemployment now in Bosina. Young adults are particularly hard hit. Poverty and boredom and hopelessness are a bad combination that can lead to unrest. Last week in Bosnia the tension boiled over and protests in many cities turned violent with government buildings being burned, police using tear gas and several people injured.

I can’t say that I blame the protesters for being fed up with corrupt and ineffective governments. But I deplore the vandalism that is particularly sad when it takes place on the streets so recently destroyed by war and so painstakingly rebuilt. Sometimes it feels like this country is bent on self-destruction.

I have been been making plans to travel back go Bosnia this spring. I would really like to reconnect with all the friends that I met while worked there. I had visions of sunny afternoons in a street cafe in old Sarajevo or overlooking the Neretva river from the reconstructed bridge in Mostar.

On a Sarajevo street last week.

The images of police cars burning on streets that were so familiar to me have stunned me. My immediate thoughts were to postpone my return to Bosnia this May. But 24 hours of reflection have calmed my thoughts. Will I go? Of course, I will!

When I look at the news photos that I have posted here, I realize that many were all taken within a few blocks of each other. (I used to enjoy my lunch at a restaurant that is about a block from these burning cars.) The images are dramatic for sure. Disturbing. But are they representative of how 99.9% of Bosnia looked at those moments?

I know lots of sensible and peace-loving Bosnians in all districts. Did people stop coming to Toronto when images of the 2010 riots in Toronto at the G-20 conference hit the news?

I remember bringing some Bosnian colleagues to Canada for a study visit in the midst of the SARS epidemic that was getting widespread global news coverage. Did they back out in fear? No.

I booked my ticket this week. I will avoid mass gatherings and demonstrations and If things are too unstable I will relocate to neighbouring Croatia. Look here in May to see how I make out and what I find when I revisit Bosnia and Herzegovina.

(and for an update from my trip to BiH in 2014, the story continues here.https://johnageddes.com/2014/04/29/dobro-dosli-u-bosnia-i-herzegovina/ )

By the way, where was the photo below taken???

This shot was in the news from Toronto in July 2010. No country is immune to political demonstrations getting out if hand.

Bosnia Reflections – Part 3 … Lovers, a cat and the Mozart Café

Posted on February 9, 2014 by johnageddes

I found these two journal entries I made in September 2002 and February 2003. I have been writing about Bosnia this week. This one has a Valentine’s day theme … sort of. These are notes I made 11 years ago while I was visiting there.

Bosnia and Herzegovina September 10, 2002.

I am in Tuzla this week.

If Sarajevo is the Montreal of Bosnia, then Tuzla is its Hamilton. Not much to do here in the evenings except wander the streets with many of the rest of the people who live here. During the day I work teaching principles of Family Medicine to local doctors. At night I am on my own.

Last night was a bit rainy and I thought I would wander downtown for some dinner. While I was looking for some keys in my knapsack, I came across the Stuart McLean Vinyl Café book that friends had given to me for Christmas a couple of years ago. I had brought it along with me, knowing that it would be good for short reads on the plane or while waiting for my meal in a restaurant. I tucked it under my arm and headed out.

I ate in a restaurant called Cite del Sale, a Bosnian version of an Italian restaurant and I was actually able to order Vegetarian Lasagne – not bad in a country that sometimes seems to worship meat. The beer, a local Tuzla variety, smelled a bit sulphury but it tasted OK. I started into a story about Dave and Morley and Harrison Ford’s toes and smiled to myself, all the while hearing Stuart McLean’s distinctive voice tell me the tale.

After the meal I decided to head down to a café called Mozart that is a short stroll along the main walking street in the city. I often go there for a cappuccino in the morning – a replacement for my Canadian Starbucks habit. The café has a small outdoor section that was not busy since it was misting rain, another large main room and then a wicker- furnished salon at the back that is kind of separate from the rest. I usually sit back there in the morning and read a bit while having my coffee and at 8 am, I am often the only one there. In the evening, I discovered, the music is louder – sort of Euro Disco. I wondered as I ordered my tea if I would be able to concentrate on my book.

There were three couples spread around the room. I pulled out the Vinyl Café and started to read. Soon I was distracted, not by the beat of the music but by the sound of kissing which seemed to be going on all around me. I quickly realized that I had stumbled into a make-out area of the café. So, here I was, a middle aged foreigner, sitting at a little table in the middle of the room, reading Stuart McLean and trying not to look up at the couples surrounding me who were fiercely groping at one another. This felt worse than the week before when I had accidentally found myself in the middle of a Nudist Colony on the Adriatic coast! But that is another story.

The stereo sound of smacking and sucking seemed to rise above the music. I was having trouble concentrating. I casually looked up. One couple, kind of fat were making most of the noise. The guy had a sort of Henry VIII look to him. I imagined that he makes similar noises as he tears into his chicken legs for dinner. Another couple had ordered both coffee and coke to drink. They must have wanted to stay awake. They smooched away between drags on their cigarettes. The third couple were in the corner and at first I thought they were having a bit of a tiff. I decided that if I had to look up, I would gaze in their direction. Soon, unfortunately for me, true love rose to the surface and they started kissing away, the woman also chewing gum between slurps.

I thought maybe I would leave but I had ordered a veliko caj (large tea), which came in a cup the size of a sink. So I was stuck, feeling a lot like a High School Hall Monitor.

Just as I was starting to feel sorry for myself, a small kitten appeared at my feet. It was a nice little grey striped thing that was sharpening its claws on the carpet. It started to pounce around and jump like it was being poked by an imaginary stick. I put my hand down to play with it but as it got closer, I noticed that its right eye was oozing and crusted and swollen shut. I withdrew my hand, thinking that I didn’t want to catch anything. But this didn’t deter the cat. Soon it was pouncing on my feet and grabbing at the laces of my sneakers and climbing my pant legs. I tried to look inconspicuous, periodically shaking my leg to detach the tiny sharp little claws from my pants. The kissers broke apart and looked over at me as I tried unsuccessfully to discourage the cat. I ended up downing the rest of my tea as quickly as possible and headed back to the hotel.

February 20, 2003

I am back in Tuzla.

I find the breakfast at the hotel simply annoying. It usually consists of dry buns, scrambled eggs that have turned greenish black from sitting in the warming pan too long and “orange juice” that is a cross between Tang and Fanta , a watery orange coloured sugar water that is sometimes even effervescent. My preference is to start the day on a more positive note, by walking to a local Pekara or bakeshop to pick up a fresh bread roll filled with cherry jam. I then head a bit further down the street to the Mozart café for some coffee. They don’t serve food there so they don’t mind if you bring your bun in a bag and eat it while you have your drink. And I usually go to the Wicker room at the back of the café that I have come to view as the nocturnal lair of lust. In the morning, however, it remains bright and cheery and almost empty. This morning was no exception.

I ordered my coffee, pulled out a journal to read, and got the cherry bun out of the paper bag. I put the bag on the chair beside me rather than have it obviously displayed on the table. I was trying to be discrete about bringing food into the café although I know that this is a common practice and the waiter really doesn’t mind.

I hadn’t counted on the rustling sound of me getting my food out of the bag to attract…the cat. Suddenly this little grey striped beast ran from the other side of the room and jumped up on my chair to quickly begin exploring the empty bag. Within seconds he was halfway buried into the bag. He pulled his head out of the bag and stared up at me. We hadn’t seen each other for five months. He had grown but was still scrawny and where his right eye should be was now a hollow socket.

We sat together, the cat and I, reacquainting. Periodically he would chase the shadow of a bird on the roof, bounding over the furniture as he ran around the room. I crumpled up the bag and he batted it around on the floor. We played and visited while I drank my coffee. When I got up to leave, he lay back on the chair pad and cocked his head to look up at me with his good eye. I imagined him thinking, “Nice to see you again”

This little cat has it’s niche in a café here in Tuzla. I travel all over but I can still come back to find this friendly kitten here several months later. “Strangely comforting”, I thought, “how small this world really is.”

johnageddes

A blogging safari

Category Archives: Uncategorized

Photos -I had a very good Friday in Italy.

Musical triggers.

Tangible results

Our revels are now ended.

Prescribing medical marijuana – An April Fool joke on Canadian Family Physicians ?

Cranking up the old turntable…

More on movies…

Replacing the word “Draconian” with “Musevenian”

Bosnia Reflections – Part 4 … Renewed unrest

Bosnia Reflections – Part 3 … Lovers, a cat and the Mozart Café

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