World travelers
It's no secret that Americans aren't the best-traveled folks in the world (I don't know if it's true, but I think I read recently that only 20% of Americans even have a passport). It's quite the opposite here, on the other hand--I think a lot of people here (I'm including Germany in "here") tend to be pretty hard-core travelers to exotic locations. Of course, it helps that most people have 5-6 weeks of vacation, but that's a whole other story. You even notice it in the travel section of local bookstores--there are an impressive number of travel guides in German for places that probably 95% of Americans haven't even heard of (present company included).
I raise this because now that I'm getting ready to do some work travel to developing countries, I realised I should probably get my vaccinations in order. So this afternoon I went to the local Tropeninstitut (they provide advice and vaccinations) to see what I needed. Much to my surprise, it was packed. And not just because they're open once a week--it's open every afternoon, but was bustling with people of all ages (and seeing as how the prevalence of tropical diseases in Basel is relatively low, I'm thinking most of them weren't there for their annual yellow fever booster shot). It's hard to imagine too many U.S. cities of 200,000 being able to support a busy tropical medicine institute. Oh, and despite having to get dip-tet (which always reminds me of one of my favorite movies, Raising Arizona--"He's gotta have his dip-tet, honey!") and hepatitis A shots, I don't have to take malaria pills (our Vanuatu guidebook said malaria was prevalent, and while the thought of malaria isn't very pleasant, neither is the thought of malaria pills, some of which are supposed to have side effects that make malaria itself seem fun by comparison).
I raise this because now that I'm getting ready to do some work travel to developing countries, I realised I should probably get my vaccinations in order. So this afternoon I went to the local Tropeninstitut (they provide advice and vaccinations) to see what I needed. Much to my surprise, it was packed. And not just because they're open once a week--it's open every afternoon, but was bustling with people of all ages (and seeing as how the prevalence of tropical diseases in Basel is relatively low, I'm thinking most of them weren't there for their annual yellow fever booster shot). It's hard to imagine too many U.S. cities of 200,000 being able to support a busy tropical medicine institute. Oh, and despite having to get dip-tet (which always reminds me of one of my favorite movies, Raising Arizona--"He's gotta have his dip-tet, honey!") and hepatitis A shots, I don't have to take malaria pills (our Vanuatu guidebook said malaria was prevalent, and while the thought of malaria isn't very pleasant, neither is the thought of malaria pills, some of which are supposed to have side effects that make malaria itself seem fun by comparison).
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