Plan(s)

For a while now, I've been varying degrees of unhappy with my living situation. Even before the shitshow that was society in 2020, I was ready for a change. I had seriously considered traveling abroad, specifically England and the Iberia peninsula, in the spring of 2020, but the shutdown happened and those plans were scrapped. I won't go on too much about what I've been doing, but I've reached the point once again of needing a change of scenery, so I'll outline my ideas in the following paragraphs.

At work recently, I was discussing language and the fact that I'd studied Spanish in college. The relevance here is actually two-fold, which I'd come to learn. The guy I was speaking to is Mexican from Texas, but didn't grow up speaking Spanish, though he knows enough to converse and what not. He was explaining how he and his wife had taught English for a couple years in Vietnam, and this triggered in my mind one of the ideas that I've been pondering but haven't taken up yet. That idea, obviously, is to teach English abroad. Now, I suppose the best option would be a Spanish speaking place, due to the fact that I know the language decently well, and I prefer Central or South America to Asia. So that's one of my ideas. I was looking at discounted flights the other day, and two destinations could be Colombia, which I've always been fond of, and Peru, which I know less about. The point of that would obviously be to get life experience, which is something the current situation world wide is stripping from us, especially those in our "younger" years. Brush up my Spanish by using it, and teach people English to earn a bit of a living, or at least cover costs.

The other international idea is something more drastic, I think, that would take a bit more planning and dedication. For one, it's more expensive to get there, and for two I'd have to figure out how exactly I'd get to do what I want to do. So yeah, I'm black, meaning I have "roots" in Africa. They have those DNA tests that supposedly pinpoint where your genes or whatever originate, with the major English speaking country being Nigeria in my heritage. My idea comes back to my passion for pregnancy and birth. To put it bluntly, America is going to shit, if it wasn't before, and I reckon the recluse lifestyle will become more and more common. I've been thinking for months now just how braindead people must be in this country to be having babies, given the circumstances, unless they can live sovereign. By that I mean, not relying on a company that could go under at any time for your income, not relying on the government for pretty much anything, and not relying on companies for food/water/energy/etc. What I see, in contrast, is the same as before; people desperately relying on external sources to support themselves and their offspring, which to me is idiotic. I'm sure this is the case in other countries, mind. The point here is I don't see myself being able to work in that field at this point, in this country. Like I said though, I'm not trained to deliver babies, and I don't know what the standards are like out there in various African countries. I wouldn't be against learning, it must be said. At the same time, I think I can bring something to pregnant and birthing women regardless, based on my psychology background. I could also do the English thing, if it came down to it.

But yeah, my long-term idea is to have birth centers in places with high birth rates, since that makes the most sense. Niger, for example, has a birth rate of 6.9 babies PER WOMAN. That's mad to me, given that here in the "enlightened western world", most women have between 1 and 3. Nigeria is up there as well, with a nice 5.4 babies on average per woman. The other top nations by fertility rate all speak other languages, so the English thing could be a way in. Another thing with Nigeria, at least according to the stats I found (from 2019), they have the third highest infant mortality rate worldwide (74 per 1000), behind Central African Republic and Sierra Leone (both 81/1000). That's to say out of every 1000 babies born, the number present is how many will die.

When I work with people with "mental health" problems, I tend to struggle to care about it, for lack of a better way of saying it. I'm of the mentality that people in general are stronger than they think, and most of their problems can be dealt with internally. If not, they have to want to change for someone else to help them. I can't go up to you and say, you're a drug addict and alcoholic, and you need to change that, and expect you to change. You have to want to change before I can help you. With birth, I still have similar beliefs, but it's not just one person anymore. It's at least two, with mama and baby, as well as potentially other babies in the case of multiples, and usually a father in the picture one way or another. Thus, it's not just one person ruining his/her own life, it's a mother who has the power to birth one or more babies at once, so there should be more emphasis on education and better services available in less developed locations. Nigeria is my ideal spot, given the language and lack of competent birthing institutions (given the mortality rate). At some point in college, I was in a class where we were discussing the fact that in various fields, it's BETTER to be classically trained, meaning the theory and reasoning behind bodily mechanisms and physiology, but learning the actual techniques can be equally effective. This is to say, it's 100% not a requirement to go through med school, rotations, residency, and whatever else to deliver babies. You can bet your ass that back in the day midwives and what not weren't trained at some bullshit institution driven by money, to work at a hospital driven by money. However, society has been driven into a state where people are ripped off for everything, including permission to legitimately help people. Think of how ironic it is to have to go into debt for higher education in fields that are meant to help people. I was looking at mission type trips to Africa and other such destinations and YOU are the one paying thousands to help people. Think of how backwards that is. I get the travel costs and what not, but holy shit imagine going abroad to spread some debatable religion and having to pay to do that. Clown world, as they say.

To recap, the point is I want to do something else for at least a little while. Things are opening up, thanks to the gracious world governments. Next step is getting a way into wherever I decide to go. I could afford to fly to South America, I think, or could even drive to Mexico. Africa is a tougher ask, and we'll have to see about getting a sponsor or some kind of discount. On my end, I'll be studying up on what I can with birth-related info, as well as brushing up on my Spanish.