Adventures

Tonight is the last night that the remaining members of the October travel group will be here with us at Promise Home. They have done so much work while they have been here and we have had many adventures too.

The first and most stressful adventure for one of the group was the emergency appendectomy that she had to have last Friday night. Shana missed had been sick with a cold and Thursday she began to feel better so she came to visit with us at the home. As the afternoon wore on, she started to look like she felt worse and worse so we took her back to the hotel. She was in pain and remained so for the entire night. When I went to get the group on Friday morning, she did not come down and was in a lot of pain. The staff at the hotel kept a watchful eye on her during the day and make sure that she was not getting worse. As a group, we decided that we needed to take her to the clinic that evening, however when we arrived, a staff member had already taken her. We arrived at the clinic in time to take her to the hospital to take an X-Ray.

There was a large group of folks who stayed with her during the x-ray and then the other procedures she needed to determine what was wrong with her. It was around 9:30 in the evening when they determined she indeed need an appendectomy and that surgery would be necessary that night. They decided that surgery would be at 10:00 pm. Shana was wheeled into the operating room and Max, who had volunteered to stay overnight with her, went as well. Some of the group went home for a few things and to make calls to family back in the states. Our friends, Jermsak and Da took me back to Promise Home to collect some blankets and a pillow for Max and then took them back to the hospital. They promised to call me just as soon as they heard she was out because I stayed behind with the kids. Surgery was successful and took at little over an hour and a half.

Shana spent the day on Saturday recovering and when we visited, she walked the hallway with us. She looked so much better than she did on Friday. She was ready to be released on Sunday and she looked even better then. We picked her up and spent the afternoon at a local coffee shop with a friend. She said it was great for her to be out and getting around. Monday and Tuesday brought even more improvement and she looks great now. I can't imagine what she must have been feeling with all of this, being in a foreign country and having surgery but she was in good hands at the hospital, the hotel and with the members of the group. Shana is much better now.

Yesterday we spent the afternoon wandering around town. We left home shortly after lunch and found a place downtown to park. We walked around for a bit then headed to the coffee shop we all enjoy. It is Doi Chaang and they have marvelous free trade coffee that is grown high in the hills north of here. It is some of the best coffee I have tasted. The coffee shop is a warm and welcoming place and Sunday while we were there, students from the the Chiang Rai Youth Orchestra string section played a selection of music for the patrons to enjoy.  After coffee, we wandered to the area where the night bazaar is located to see if it was open yet. It was not, so we wondered to a massage place to get foot massages. We found a very nice one located on the street across from the bazaar and settled in for an hour of relaxation. Once the massage was over, we wandered over to Destiny Restaurant which was a pleasant find for us. This restaurant is run by volunteers for a group called Destiny Rescue and their focus is to take hill tribe girls and teach them a life skill so they can gain meaningful employment. The girls are the servers, cooks and kitchen staff. They are learning to speak English and the hospitality business. They also have a hair salon next to the restaurant which is teaching the girls another skill. The restaurant serves both Western and Thai food. The Western food we have eaten is delicious. They have a coffee shop in the front of the restaurant as well, so I am sure I will be spending a lot of time there. I do plan to go to the salon and have them do my hair.

After dinner, we wandered the night bazaar for a while so those who are leaving could take them back with them. We spent about an hour and a half at the bazaar looking the many stalls of goodies. We stopped at the wood shop that my friend Judy is so fond of so I could check on the owner. When Judy was still here, we learned the owner was to have a C section two weeks ago. I found the owner who was back at work and she even had her baby girl with her at a "nursery" next door. The baby's name is Fern and she is a tiny little thing. As of today, she is 13 days old. Mom told me that she followed Judy's advice and took a week off from work but she is now back at it. She needs to have her shop open to survive. Both Mom and Fern are doing well.

I was able to drive us all over downtown and where we needed to go. I am more and more comfortable with driving and knowing where things are in the city. I think I will be a pro at Chiang Rai in no time....
:)

Until next time.....

God Bless,

Heather