I spent last weekend having fun in the snow. I will be spending this weekend, and the next week for that matter, floating in the pool of a resort, or floundering on the coastal waters of the Dominican Republic.

The stark contrast is not lost on me, and I am thankful for the opportunity to experience such different lifestyles. One of the bigger things to wrap my head around are the differences in preparation.

Last weekend, I had to worry about which pair of pants would provide the most protection against the cold and at the same time would be the sacrificial pair that would suffer many a tumble as I tumbled down the hill on various objects. That pair happened to be the pair of jeans I'm wearing. Still intact, and possibly more comfortable before thanks to the "working in" provided by the workout.

Neither here nor there.

This week, I'm scrambling to get my immunizations in order so I don't come back to Canada as a bearer of very bad gifts. And here's where the story (I was telling a story? I'm not very convincing, even to myself) gets, uhm, one notch above 'kill me this is boring'.

I wake up this morning for a 9:40am malaria consult with the part-time campus doctor. Turns out, the area I'm heading to (Puerto Plata - for my online records, you don't really need to know) does not present much of a risk of malaria. Furthermore, the malaria prevention pills were to be taken two weeks prior to the trip and would have minimal effect, unless I took stronger ones with potentially adverse side effects.

So I walked out of the clinic with a prescription for diarrhea pills (you can't ever be too prepared) and a bill for TWENTY DOLLARS.

Things You Can Do For Twenty Dollars
A) Eat 10 pieces of Kentucky Fried Chicken

B) Download "Bad Day" 20 times from iTunes and wonder what in the world Daniel Powter was thinking, and then question your own motives (20 times? seems excessive)

C) Talk to a doctor for five minutes

And just like any responsible University student that guesses on multiple-choice exams, the answer should never ever be C.

Ever.