Inoculated

I just received my shots for yellow fever and hepatitis 'A' at a clinic in Portland. It seems like such an innocuous and inconsequential chore to a westerner like me nested in the modern medical system. But what a powerful notion... these small needles, mingling their noble scientific elixirs with my body, are like liquid space suits! It makes me wonder, "How do Ethiopians avoid getting yellow fever?" There in lies the question of what divides civilizations, I suppose.

I only hope that the protections I'm afforded (starting with these inoculations and undoubtedly extending to other dimensions of my westernized and privileged self) don't protect me so much that nothing sincere gets in. I certainly don't want yellow fever, but I want to be honestly touched by Africa. Not just by its beauty and charm either... but by all of the genuine things that make it real.