On the way to church, I took granola with me in a mug. I started to take my first bite as I approached a large roundabout in town. I paused, realizing the horrible driving that occurs at roundabouts in Mae Sot; in particular this one. I set down my cup, as I continued thinking that this might be the most dangerous driving spot in town.
No, I corrected myself, what about the intersection just up the road? Semi trucks coming off the mountains often burn up their brakes. As they enter into town on that highway, they’ll honk at that intersection–which means they are plowing right through, no matter what light shines at them. We can hear these honks from the swimming pool we frequent, and…well, the honks are pretty frequent, too.
Oh, wait, I corrected myself again, what about that intersection near the hospital? That’s just a free-for-all! …Or at GHz! That intersection has rules all to it’s own!
By then I picked up my granola and realized it’s just a miracle we’re still alive around here.
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Last week a friend in town was quite sick but unable to determine what it was. After many tests, she learned that Zika virus made it’s way into Mae Sot sometime in January; they said that could be what it was.
This resulted in a few other friends chatting and then contacting us. Stephen had a mysterious rash at the beginning of the year–which we thought could be an allergic reaction to some medicine, or measles that was going around at the time (supposedly the measles vaccine from America “might not work” for here; they “aren’t sure”)–but friends now questioned if it could have been Zika.
Honestly? I don’t know. We were glad when it went away.
If was an allergic reaction or measles or Zika, I’m glad it went away. If it was Zika, I’m glad I’m not currently pregnant. If it was Zika, I’m glad we’ve welcomed three new healthy babies into our community since then.
And I’m still seeing it’s a miracle we’re still alive around here.
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I’ll just add to this that while out for a run two weeks ago, a car parked in at a coffee shop on the main road decided to back up without looking, and thus, into me! I jerked my knee out to the side so that the car just brushed me (rather than a good hit), but had to leap over into the traffic to my right, hoping they happened to be watching where they were driving.
They were. But the theme continues.
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I relayed these realizations to Stephen on the motorbike a few days later. His response?
“Yeah, sometimes it feels like Oregon Trail. Except every day it’s, ‘You don’t have dengue today! You don’t have Zika today! You survived driving today!‘”
#stayingalive
#hopingwemakeittooregon
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