canberra ramblings

The weather in Canberra is sooo dry. Without fail, in the Spring months of each year, I get eczema and hay fever. However, this year has been the worst my eczema has ever been. I know people aren't supposed to put band aids on their eczema, but there was puss coming out (eww). If I didn't have band aids on and handled a simple thing such as bed sheets, my hand would start bleeding in a few minutes.

Over a few months, I used natural and pharmaceutical eczema cream (the latter has hydro cortisone which is known to be bad for your body), and antiseptic cream. I also avoided foods that are apparently triggers of these allergies, like dairy. A dairy free diet wasn't too bad - I could still enjoy a hot chocolate but with soy milk (which I'm used to), melted dark chocolate (such as Lindt's 70% dark choc which is dairy free) and honey. This was bliss.

Anyway, I'm currently in an introspective mood, so I'm gonna let myself vent then I will return to food blogging. Canberra's dry environment is incompatible with my body - this frustration adds to my fleeting resentment of Canberra. At the worst, I find Canberra isolating. For weeks, I may only speak to 1-2 good friends. I become a slave to work and there is little thinking/activities outside this realm.

Although I'm not fully satisfied with Canberra, it doesn't mean I'll be moving back to Sydney any time soon. Initially, I found it novel to be away from my friends and family as I'd speak to them on the phone, on Facebook and they'd visit me. Now, I forgot how how these relationships worked. How did we interact? How comfortable did I feel? Do we still have similarities?

If I left Canberra tomorrow, I'm not sure what I'd do. I could travel overseas, visit some of my friends interstate, go to the NT, work in an NGO, do a Masters degree. There are many options... however, knowing me I'll still do everything that I aspire to do - it's just the order/timing that would vary.