on my way to Beirut…

April 1, 2006… while on the plane I am reading the NYtimes articles chosen by LeMonde: Learning How to Find a Little Bit of Home Away From Home which tells us that “the best way to cope with homesickness is to bring along mementos that evoke the comfort of home, like a digital l image of your dog on your laptop screen or a tape-recorded message from a child, Dr. Turovsky said. Psychologists call these keepsakes “transitional objects,” though they may colloquially be thought of as security blankets.” (article by Perry Garfinkel) and again Travelers’ Illnesses: The Souvenirs Nobody Wants which gives us an idea of the lovely diseases one can bring back (for example the curious Larva Migrans “which is caused by a hookworm that usually penetrates the foot, creating an itchy, creeping eruption as the worm moves under the skin.” It has definitly some link with the BIO… (affaire à suivre) The other article, Rituals of Travelers to Ward Off a Sickness reminds us of how enclosed the environment we travel in are… Anyway, it seems also that “crowd and high-tech gadgets make travel an ordeal.” Can’t find the articles online… too jetlag :)