February 3, 2021:

I was not able to predict what the trade-offs would be.

I was injured, so that staying in a resort held its attraction. There was the confidence I'd be taken care of. I was certain there would be people who speak English, that I'd be fed, and that activities could be arranged for me which I'd be able to handle granted my diminished capacity. In fact I guessed, correctly as it turned out, that a spectrum of options would be available. I imagined I could relax, do easy sports, or participate in excursions where I would be transported with virtually no physical effort on my part.

I did not realize I would lose, firstly, any sense of what life is like for the people, because I'd be very carefully screened from ever meeting them. I also did not understand that I would not be afforded the most important opportunities, essentially random, to encounter those wonderful, rare individuals who are simply being themselves.

Because the package was, at bottom, theatrical. So that while I appreciated the chance to rest, I left with spectacular photos and absolutely no sense that I'd actually been somewhere.