“There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” Well, Mr. Roosevelt, I would like to add a small addendum to that. “There is nothing to fear but fear itself AND wild monkeys.”
Last week I went to the Center for Disease Control to get all of the vaccines necessary for my journey around the globe. In all, I was given 6 shots, all in my left arm. Up to this point in my trip preparation I have been a brave little soldier and I have faced every challenge with a stiff upper lip and an eager desire to start upon this adventure all while pushing every fear to the farthest corners of my mind. However, as I sat in the CDC office with a lanky Nigerian doctor with a think accent discussing polio, small pox and other terminal illness I could possibly contract, I began to lose it. It was a very noticeable unravel of strength. As our conversation continued about side effects of malaria medication, ways to avoid contracting meningitis and HIV/AIDS I was becoming more and more overwhelmed. All the possible dangers of the trip started to creep into my conscious. For the first time, I was 100% cognitively aware of what I was getting myself into. 
Six shots later and I was more or less a wreck. I was trying to massage out the large bolus of drugs in my arm and I was on the brink of total melt down. Trying to be helpful my kind CDC physician told me to wait because he had some information he thought would help me. He returned and handed me a pamphlet, complete with colored photographs and vivid descriptions, which was entitled, “How to Properly Care for Monkey Bites.” At this point I lost it. As though I was 4 years old, I cried uncontrollably on the little bench in the small office of the CDC. I felt so bad for the little girl sitting in the waiting room, waiting to get her shots for the family vacation to Spain. She must have been mortified.
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