I still hate ants.

And currently, they are taking over our kitchen. I kind of feel like they might take over the world in the end.

Thankfully this wasn’t taken in our kitchen. It’s still creepy how systematic they are.

I know, we haven’t been writing recently.

Well, I haven’t been writing recently. Stephen never really made it a regular practice.

And now I’m really here just to tell you how much I was won over to the Canadians in the last ten days.

Our last team was pretty incredible. They were a team of eight “young adults” and two leader, which really meant they were all our age and then two leaders.

We knew they were great early on, when we told them Thursday that we’d be planning activities with 500 children for 90 minutes on Friday afternoon. When we arrived at the migrant school, we found the plans had changed, and they’d be breaking up into groups of two to help with various classes that included art, primary school aged kids, and violin–to which they were told, “Don’t worry. They’re not very good anyway.”  And as the team patiently prepared for a new plan, they were escorted into a different room. Here they were given a group of about thirty kids and told to “talk to them until someone comes to get you for the classes”.  And then no one came, the group grew to about 100, and the time was extended to about two hours.

And they still left smiling.

They were unbelievably flexible, and it could not have been more necessary. Nearly every plan we made was changed in some way.  Their “encouraging word” at church became a full-fledged sermon and five songs in the service we arrived early to because it started at 11:30 instead of 10:00 “because it rained”.  (Please note that this Mae Sot and we are in the midst of rainy season. It might have been expected.)

We loved opening up their eyes to Burma, praying with them, and singing with them in our home.  It reminded us of why we’re here and why this role appealed to us. We love sharing our hearts, sharing about the Karen, enabling people to serve wholeheartedly, and praying for people to go home changed.

We loved laughing with them, too. I looked over in the car so many times to find Stephen laughing harder than he has in so long.  They were great.

I actually found myself wishing that some might stay. I think we could be friends.

 

Stephen thought it was funny to find ice scrapers in Thailand.

We also visited the mall one day, along with a lot of other motorbikes.

After about seven months without a keyboard or piano, the one in the store was quite appealing.

And so were the blenders. So we bought one!  And made these dragonfruit smoothies later.

On Saturday night, we went to see a movie! We saw Captain America, which a) turned out to be pretty good, but perhaps because of my low expectations going in and b) was a little odd to watch among so many Thais, with many American culture jokes and an anthem to the king at the beginning.

It was fun.

There were other treasures to purchase in Chiang Mai. After just six months here and already breaking 11 of our starting 18 glasses, we splurged $6 on the super strong version.

And Stephen’s big purchase: red pants!

Pretty fun until I forgot about them, came home and threw them in the wash. The inside of all his other pants (the waistband & pockets) are now pink. And quite a few other things.

I suppose it had to happen sometime, but perhaps now, when we can’t replace most of what was dyed, wasn’t the best timing!

We also went to hike at Doi Suthep, the mountain to the west of Chiang Mai.

It was hot.

And beautiful.

We also drove up Doi Suthep for orientation with the team a few days later. And it was still beautiful 🙂

And we’re back at the hospital, but in Chiang Mai this time.

And most unfortunately, it was both of us.

While we were getting ready to head to the doctor this morning, Stephen managed to get a half inch splinter inserted under his nail, where you could still see it. Both of us got lightheaded just looking at it, and after a few attempts of getting it out ourselves realized it was far bigger than a home operation with tweezers.

When we arrived at the hospital, I went to the ENT section while Stephen waited to hear more about his finger. I told this doctor about my other two visits to ENTs and the resulting three rounds of antibiotics I’ve already taken; I told him about the pain medicine I was on but explained it was still significantly painful. And after looking in my ear, he seemed surprised that I was still standing. He took a sample from inside my ear for the lab, as well.

I’m now on two more antibiotics, an antibiotic ear drop, and Tylenol with codeine. The Tylenol is really helping currently, but has caused Stephen to create a new rule: that whenever drugs are involved, he wins the argument because “your memory may be better, but drugs overrule that.”

I also have another appointment for tomorrow morning to see how its improving.

I exited the room and was led to pay, at which point I realized I didn’t have any money without Stephen there. I tried to explain this to the nurse, but really probably just left with her confused.

And then I found Stephen in the emergency room, with a local anesthetic and a surgeon removing the splinter from his finger.

He recovered well, and though both of us have been lightheaded for nearly four hours now, we haven’t passed out yet.  He has some pain medication for the next few days, and I’ll be back for take four of Thai hospitals tomorrow.

Oh, and the funny part. This is the appointment slip I got for tomorrow.

I’m not sure what the remark section is for, but hopefully I wasn’t a problematic patient.

Well, it’s official. We’ve survived six months in Mae Sot, Thailand.

So we celebrated.

We had a dinner date out at Khaomao Khaofang, or “the jungle restaurant” . The restaurant is situated in a jungle setting, with a river running through, a marsh in the back, and a small waterfall. It’s the nicest place in Mae Sot, complete with a parking attendant that tells you where to park — when there is no one else in the parking lot — and provides you an umbrella.  And we ate for just $12.