Lessons from the Day

First Lesson of the Day: It Ain't Over Til It's Over

Lenny Kravitz once sang:

So many tears I've cried
So much pain inside
But baby it ain't over 'til it's over

What he failed to mention was that he meant nightmares, not relationships. Today, I relived a nightmare. Figuring something was wrong with my Visa (the fact that the new passport doesn't show up on the online database was a good sign), i decided to go back to the Australian High Comm. Fortunately, only 5 minutes away as opposed to the half hour drive to Putrajaya. Just so you have an idea of the mixed responses I have been receiving:

Girl from First Embassy Encounter: "Oh, your details should be updated by the end of the day. It's all done.

First e-mail from eVisa people: "You must send us your details to be processed. Do NOT go to the high commission until we tell you to. Do NOT pass Go. Do NOT collect $200."

Girl from Second Embassy Encounter: "Look, I don't understand what you are talking about. You must wait for the e-mail from Australia. We can't do anything. [me: But what if i don't get it in time? I'm flying on Sunday] Then you have to postpone or cancel your flight. You cannot go into Australia without your Visa." (gee thanks, noone heard that in this open room.)

Second e-mail from eVisa people: [what second e-mail?]

Gggrr... she was so unfriendly that nasty girl. Put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day.
This whole holiday has been chasing after government offices, i can understand now why people go on killing sprees.

Which leads me on to my Second Lesson of the Day: Worse Things Could Happen
After dealing with the embassy, I went with my mum to PWTC to check out this War Crime Exhibition. If anyone is looking for a good horror movie, don't. This exhibition is really really chilling. It wasn't just the eerily deformed mannequins of babies, the maimed plastic limbs sticking out of mock rubble, the haunting recorded screams and cries of men, women and children alike and the splattered red paint on the walls and floor. What scares you the most in the exhibition is the fact that all those things had happened, at some point in time and, for all we know, are still happening today. We all know (or should know) about the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the Iraqi War, the Intifada and Abu Ghraib. It's pretty much stats and facts and stories i hear in Arts all the time, but they made it really graphic so it had a big impact.
I wanna talk about something i learned today.

DU. Depleted Uranium
It is: what is leftover when the more highly radioactive substances are taken out for use in nuclear weapons. That means a use needs to be found for it and its density and ability to penetrate easily means it's ideal for artillery and armour.
However, DU still has levels of radiation high enough to affect the people exposed to it. DU is, particle-wise, smaller than a white blood cell, therefore gets absorbed into the bloodstream really easily.
Like it's notorious cousin, Agent Orange, used excessively in the Vietnam War, its impacts are often only noticed long after the war - in the form of birth defects, cancers and other health complications.
You can read more about DU here. I can just say that the pictures in the exhibition were disturbing, to put it extremely mildly, and it was difficult to go on doing what we do everyday knowing that people did that. People who mostly went unpunished.

If you would like an insight into the depth of human misery. Go to this exhibiton.
If you think that your life cannot get any worse. Go to this exhibition.
If you need to feel passionately enough to make a difference. Go to this exhibition.
If knowing the world is cruel makes you manic depressive, consider just reading up the matter.

I think it's worth just taking a walk around. Doesn't cost anything but gives you something to think about. Be warned though, graphic imagery is rather gruesome and there were times when i felt like just bolting outside. It's on at PWTC until Feb 11th.

i'm sorry this is all a little wordy but we've all seen and heard enough about wars and war crimes in the paper and on TV. The pictures are too gruesome for me to put up here.
If you INSIST on visual imagery, google Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, Agent Orange and Landmines. You know they're all products of a dirty war.