somewhat crazy idea but hey

Yesterday I went to the West Coast Blues n Roots festival - and yes, it was my first ever festival experience...

I know, some of you are like "how on earth did you get to 28 and never have gone to a festival?!"

Rather than me trying to explain my period of ignorance we shall skip over this and go on to the next thing...

I wanna do it again! So why not aim for the mother of all festivals, Glastonbury!

So I am officially putting this on the list, and if you want to join me in this jaunt then the more the merrier I say.

How much money will you need to save?

Tickets will cost £215 (approx AUD $385), and registrations will open later this year. You can look at the 2014 ticket info here.

Flights will be about AUD $2000 return if you book early enough.

The ticket price includes being able to pitch a tent in the camping fields (woohoo!)

There'll be the bus to/from the festival which'll cost about £50 (approx AUD $90)

You can take your own food and alcohol in, and there are markets and shopping there too.

Let's go to Glastonbury 2015!

where I've been

When I lived in London I had a huge map of Europe on my wall and I would often lie in bed planning where to next...

So when I found out that amazingly clever workmates got me a subscription to the National Geographic magazine, and with that came a world map, I was super excited! Now I can dream of not just Europe, but Africa and Asia and South America... 

Places I've been - so many places to go still!

My map is now located next to my desk on the wall just under my two degrees (soon to be three - thesis countdown is 225 days). Whilst I'm not married or have a house or kids, or even full ownership of a pet, I feel like the more dots I've got the more I've achieved. 

The world is a book and those who do not travel only read one page - St Augustine

2007

Busan, South Korea (CM07)

2009

Moved to London, UK

Warminster, Bath and Stratford-upon-Avon, UK
Barcelona, Valencia and Bunol (La Tomatina), Spain 

Beziers and Nice, France

Varese, Italy

Lugano, Switzerland

Dublin, Ireland

Edinburgh and Doune, Scotland

2010

Brighton, UK
Budapest, Hungary

Bratislava, Slovakia

Istanbul and Gallipoli (Anzac Dawn Service), Turkey 

Lyme Park, Cheshire, UK

Athens, Greece

8 day sailing tour of Greek Islands - Mykonos, Ios, Naxos, Santorini, Irakleia

Busabout - Berlin (Germany), Prague and Český Krumlov (Czech Republic), Vienna and Salsburg (Austria), Milan (Italy), Lauterbrunnen (Swtizerland), Neuschwanstein and Munich (German), Venice and Rome (Italy)

Varese and Lake Como, Italy

Lugano, Switzerland

Birmingham, UK
Poole, UK

Oonstede, Diksmuide Beer Festival and Brugge, Belgium

Avebury and Bath, UK

Frankfurt and Berlin, Germany

2011

Gibraltar

Malaga and Granada, Spain

Varese, Italy

Kamuka tour - Paris (France), Interlaken (Switzerland), Florence and Rome (Italy)

Moved to Melbourne, Australia

Newcastle and Sydney, NSW

Moved to Perth, Western Australia

Margaret River, WA

2012

Geraldton, WA

Margaret River, WA

Bangkok, Thailand

G Adventures tour- Siem Reap, Angkor, Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville (Cambodia), Chau Doc and Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)

Singapore

2013

Canberra, ACT

Sydney, NSW

Margaret River, WA

Albany, WA

Denmark, WA

New York City, NY, USA

2014

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
London, UK
Bristol, UK
Varese, Italy
Canberra, ACT

Sydney, NSW

*Buenos Aires, Argentina

*Iguassu Falls, Argentina/Brazil

*Montevideo, Uruguay

*July/August 2014

e-bowl-argh

You've probably heard all over the news recently that there is an outbreak of Ebola in West Africa and have no idea what is going on or where on earth Guinea is.

First let's put the location into context - Guinea is in West Africa, it's capital is Conkary, they officially speak French and there's about 10 million people there.

source

So know that you know where it's happening, let's talk about Ebola...

Some of you might instantly be thinking of that terrible Dustin Hoffman movie where a monkey gets let loose and everyone gets infected...

or maybe that movie "28 Days Later" where everyone turns into a zombie...

Let me put you at ease, this is not the start of the zombie apocalypse.

Ebola is a Filoviridae that is closely related to the Marbug virus and causes severe haemorrhagic fever. It was first recognised in 1976 and so far no reservoir has been discovered. There is a 90% fatality rate.

What are the symptoms? Basically it starts with sudden onset of fever, maculopapular (flat and red) rash, malaise (feeling blergh), myalgia (sore muscles), followed by pharyngitis (sore throat), vomiting (puking), diarrhoea (3 or more bowel movements in one day) and if not treated progresses into severe diathesis (abnormal bleeding from everywhere), hepatic (liver) damage, renal (kidney) failure and death.

It is spread person-to-person by contact with body fluids - blood, semen, saliva etc and has a 2-21 day incubation period. Spread of the virus is preventable through isolation and the use of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), especially for those healthcare workers looking after the patient and any lab staff working with infected samples.

There is no specific drug for the virus; treatment is based upon the symptoms - replacing fluids, electrolytes, pain management etc. There is no vaccine available.

So there you go, now you know all about Ebola. Always feel free to ask me questions about infectious diseases - my twitter handle is @catanita

References:
Ebola virus disease, WHO fact sheet no. 103, available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/ (accessed 4/4/14)
Heymann, DL (editor), Control of Communicable Diseases Manual, 19th Edition, American Public Health Assoc. 2008

¿por qué no?

So imagine if you were in a serious relationship with this guy, on the verge of thinking he's the one.

Then you find out something terrible, like your cat has cancer, or your going to lose your job, or you have had everything stolen, or something else terrible that I pray never happens.

But imagine that in this situation, you don't speak the same language, at all.

How do you communicate? How do you express your pain and anger to him? How do you move on? How do you make decisions together?

Sounds far fetched, right? But to me, that's how I view the idea of being in a relationship with a non-Christian.

Because whilst you might think that being a Christian is just that thing I do on a Sunday, to me being a Christian is my whole entire life, shaped by my love for and faith in my God and Jesus Christ.

Sure I don't 'act' like the perfect Christian, trust me I know I consciously make stupid decisions, and it's not like I'm 'religious' or anything, but how can I explain to someone how I make decisions or why I have certain values when they don't even believe in God, or the same god as me. How can I explain that my trust is entirely in my faith, and not in them?

Yes, non-Christians can have Christian-like values, and they might even like the idea of going to church, but if they don't love and have faith in my God, it's never ever going to work for me - we will never be able to communicate exactly on the same level. It's not like I haven't tried, trust me I have, but it comes to a point where you just don't see eye-to-eye on something that is a deal breaker.