Bubble Note #35

Just a quick yarp...I know you've always wanted to eavesdrop on emails (slightly altered for your enjoyment), so here is your chance:

To my most awesome Dentist (in Thailand)  I had my wisdom teeth removed on January 6th (at 5pm), to which I would like to thanks the oral surgeon and the staff there for doing a wonderful job. The procedure was pain free and much more enjoyable overall than I ever expected it to be.  It has been 3 weeks since the surgery and just tonight the left bottom jaw has begun to hurt again (there was a lump by the jaw bone, I assumed since they had to drill into it to pull the tooth it would be a bruise or something of the sort) and there appears to be slight swelling (there has been no pain since the first week until now). The stitches have been removed and there is no pain in the gum, only a tightness when I open and close my mouth. If you could let me know how I should proceed that would be wonderful.  Beth   -  Dear Ms. Friessen,  I would like to thank you for your compliment. I am sorry to hearing your post-operative complication. As your mention, the lump on the left lower jaw would be an early sign of post-operative infection which is commonly present in a few weeks after paralell wisdom teeth surgery. One side tends to be infected due to food impaction. In this case, the abscess may be formed at the tooth socket. It would be nice if you are able to see me. However, I would recommend you that the abscess need to be simply drained by a dental profession under local anaesthesia. ...  Best regards, The Awesome Dentist  

So Tricia made a call for me and I have an appointment tomorrow morning (to do...whatever it is they need to do). Woohoo. If you could yarp, the stitches experience wasn't too thrilling, so I'm hoping this facility is a little cleaner and...well, if I have really high hopes, accommodating.

Blessings,

Beth

Bubble Note #34

Hi, my name is Bes and I've been renamed by a 2 year old. Yes, my friends, Josiah (almost 2) still cannot say 'Beth' and therefore my name is slowly being converted to 'Bes'. Stephen started it all and the kids soon caught on.

Has January flown by for anyone else? Last I remember I was laying in my bed in Thailand trying to remember the importance of staying up until midnight because of New Years. I fell asleep thinking of the reason why. And now, it's almost February. Just in the last month I have:
    -flown internationally (note to any flyers out there: the arm rests in the two seats next to the emergency exits don't actually come up; and sleeping may prove awkward if you try and sit in one and throw your legs in the other seat, best to find a whole 'nother seat.)
    -had my wisdom teeth pulled and stitches taken out (which I'm SURE your sick of hearing by now, but really...it was kind of cool.)
    - travelled into another national state
    -frolicked through tea plantations (don't assume I'm lying. I do frolick.)
    -seen a massive male elephant with about 6-foot long tusks grazing close to the road
    -swam laps in a relatively warm pool while thinking about all of you trudging through snow
    -had good discussions with Abba through highs and lows
    -learnt that driving outside the city is much more frightening than bungy jumping (except there's no insurance this time.)
    -been to government offices to be registered

So we spent this last weekend up in the mountains with a couple here that Stephen and Tricia are working with. It was an amazing time and the area is beautiful, calm, quiet and clean. Everything I had not yet experienced. We drove 9 hours southeast (we were told it took about 4 hours ;-) ) into the hills. Despite the hairpin turns that were counting down numerically to the bottom (20/27), the awkward passing (sometimes a little breath taking.) -this is a two way road, and the sometimes confusing directions we managed to arrive at our destination at tea time. Yes, that's right, there was a 4 o'clock tea waiting for us. And the next morning we had porridge, eggs and tea. I felt like I should be wearing a frock and a parasol. Never have I felt so British in my life.

The rest of the weekend was rejuvenating and relaxing. Well...how could it not be with a view like this?


We are now back at home and at school. We have been completing 2 days in 1 for the past week or so, just to get caught up and back on track (this means the kids are working until 3pm, which they believe is absolutely dreadful! haha...oh I am a slave driver).

As far as yarp requests goes? I'll put a few just in case you would like specifics:

-To get caught up in Biology (a course I am taking while over here...mostly so I don't loose the academic side of my brain)
-To be able to conquer personal struggles that I have been...revisited with recently (right when I think I've overcome an obstacle, I'm humbled once again to see that I have not)
-To be able to encourage the kids in the area they need it most
-To make friends in the area
-To press on towards the goal to which He has called me (this is general...just because...well..I think general prayers give me a little more room to allow Him to decide what He wants that to mean, haha)

I'm heading up north this weekend to spend some time with friends that I haven't seen before Christmas. Funny how excited I am to see friends that I really only knew for 4 months.

Thank you all for your yarps and letters, they helped enormously in overcoming my temporary homesickness. Now I feel like being back in Canada for one day would be a nice change, but I would certainly want to come back (not like before where I was honestly desiring to hop on a plane and dash home). Your love, more than anything else, means so much to me.

In Him,

~Bes

Bubble Note #33

We're Home! Here's what happened: We flew to Bangkok and Stephen went to the embassy and presented our case to the people there. Even though they did not give us a different type of visa they did give us an exception stamp. This stamp stated that we were allowed to return to the country before the required 2 month period but it also stated that upon return we would have to register with the country. Since I have to be careful in my wording, I'll once again copy Tricia's email, "This does mean that we have to register in the country now, which we have never had to do up to this point.  That can be a complicated, frustrating process in which we see the parts of our country's bureaucracy which we don't wish to see. :)" We are expecting this to take multiple days to complete, and since the office we have to go too is a 2 hour drive (through exhausting traffic) away, we can't just run back home to pick up a document that we may be required to show. Please yarp that all of us, but especially Stephen will have patience and energy to deal with...everything.

It is good to be home, though, to be honest I think I am beginning to culture shock. I was warned that it normally comes between 6 and 9 months after being here, but I think that returning from Thailand triggered it ;-)  With this comes intense emotions, homesickness and sometimes bitterness, please yarp that I will be able to overcome this with joy. In no way do I regret where I am, but that doesn't mean that I don't miss my family and friends. After a conversation with Tricia, I realized (even though I 'knew' this before, it hit me again strong) that true love only comes after I hit the bottom and love becomes a choice, and not a result of emotions. The same applies to culture and countries. I'm willing to move forward into that.

On another note, I had my stitches removed this morning. Perhaps I'll narrate it to you. But to do that I have to go back in time. The oral surgeon in Thailand told me that anytime after a week I should go to a dentist and have the stitches removed, 'no biggie' I thought. The past couple days the stitches were beginning to get annoying so I decided to google a place and try and find a dentist. After searching a little bit Tricia and I decided on a certain one that had a fairly good website, so I called them. "Can you come at 630 mam?" (This was at 5 o'clock)
"I'm sorry, I'm busy tonight, do you have room tomorrow?" (We had a new years eve party on our compound which ended up being 5 hours long with performances and then food served at 930)
"Ok madam, 1030 tomorrow?"
"That works."
"Ok mam, then 630 tonight or 1030 tomorrow"
"I'll come tomorrow then."
"Ok mam, 630 tonight or 1030 tomorrow."
"Ok. Thanks."
So waking up this morning I almost jump out of bed around because..well...things here take time and I thought I may be late for my appointment. Take a quick shower (first hot one since we've been back, a pipe was broken. Ah, bliss.), run downstairs and down a breakfast. Stephen, Elizabeth and I head out of the door around 10, with a google map mentally recorded. When we arrive at the area of town where it is, we start looking. "Beside Syndicate Bank and Coffee Day" said the website. We soon see a sign leading to the dentist. Getting out of the car we follow the sign down some stairs (this is still outside, they often have little shops in the basements on other buildings). "Dentist" it reads outside (as well as "please leave your shoes outside".) Stephen okays the place (as that is what Tricia wanted him to come along for) and heads off to grab coffee. Lizzie and I take a seat and wait (ends up...appointments aren't needed in basement dentists). The dentist walks briskly in from the outdoors 45 minutes after opening time. Within 5 minutes they call be back to the little double patient room. In the back was one room with two dentist chairs (you know...so you can converse with the other patient while having your work done. Naturally). I told them what was needed (they were very professional, I just tried not to look at how clean everything was). Near the beginning the woman pulled out a syringe and liquid (sitting on a shelf in the cupboard). Not quite at ease with the hygiene of the place I quickly said, "I don't think I'll need any anaesthesia." "Oh no." she replied, "this is just the cleaning solution." A sigh of relief escaped from my lips (All I could think of was how I was going to explain to my mother that I got AIDS from having stitches removed). The rest of the procedure went fairly smoothly. At one point (this 10 minute procedure hurt more than the whole surgery) he asked me if I was in pain, I nodded and said yes. "Okay." he replies and continues working. I half laughed, rejoicing that I didn't have the teeth pulled here. Just another average day in my life. So here I am. The teeth grew in in Africa and Canada (at least...they tried too), removed in Thailand and the stitches removed here. I have an international mouth ;-)

Let me know what is happening in your lives! It helps the homesickness (guilt-trip...did it work?).

Much love.

In Him,
Beth

Bubble Note #32

Quick Update: They would not give us the visa's we desired, therefore tomorrow morning at 7am (5pm Calgary time) we are flying out to the capital in an attempt to get an exception letter from the embassy there. It sounds like the embassy personal may be over-run with frustrated foreigners, therefore their hospitality and generosity may not be at 100% tomorrow. We'll be staying at a guest house for one night, after that, I can't rightly say where we'll be. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a movie; you may call me Indianne Jones. My life is cool.

In Him,

Beth

Bubble Note #31

Hey again,

Read that again; except, this time imagine me saying it with a swollen face and with a lisp. Okay so the surgery went great and between the laughing gas and your prayers all four teeth were removed almost pain free. And true to it's name, I did start laughing at one point during the surgery, and I'm still not sure why.

Post-op is going fine. I'm not very good at being bed-ridden, but I have been drinking lots and eating soft foods. Sticking (somewhat) to the rules set by the dentist and my mother.

Even though our leaving date back to 'home' was today, we are still in Thailand. The reason? Well I'll just copy Tricia's words, "... the visa issues here continue to become more stringent, and our leadership has decided that instead of trying to get back in, we need to see if Tricia and the kids can change their visas to something different.  There is a consulate in the city where we are staying, so on Monday morning Stephen will go and try to change them.  Please ask Dad for favour with government officials for both our family and for Beth.  Until now, the visa issues have not affected Beth, but the rules have been changed, and she is also now in danger of not being allowed back in the country for two months.  We'll be in Thailand for a few more days at least as we seek to find a more permanent solution to the situation for our family."
There are many possible options for what could happen, including flying back to the country and being turned away (in which case we would have to fly back), it all really depends on what happens in the next couple of days. I told the kids that wherever we are, we are starting school back up on Monday (as we have been on 'holiday' for about a month, with the move, Christmas and trip here and all). There were groans until we agreed that school, in it's most educational atmosphere, should take place beside the pool while prepared for spontaneous PE breaks. That may make math a touch more pleasant ;-)

As far as what I have done here while on break? Well, many touristy type stuff and sometimes leaps of faith. My biggest accomplishment was daring to jump from a 50 metre tower while attached at the feet with elastic bands; otherwise known as the bungy jump. Was it a thrill? Yes. Would I recommend it? Depends who you are. Would I do it again? Definitely. It was also good to be able to get out of the city atmosphere and play in nature. It may be hard to go back to buildings, street, garbage and a small gym after hills, trees, rain, rushing water and wooden cabins.

I have recently felt incredibly blessed with all that is surrounding me. My cup isn't just overflowing, it's spewing everywhere. Thank you all for your continued support; your thoughts, letters, conversation and yarps mean so much to me. I have almost hit the 1/2 way mark of my time here, and I bet the last half will go much faster than this first half (even though it feels like it has flown by). I feel like I should have some really incredible stories to tell you, and I kind of do, but really, the mundane day is so much more interesting. Maybe I'll tell you about it sometime...

In Him,

Beth

Bubble Note #30

Hello Everyone,

This will just be a quickie because we are headed out to do some biking.
We did manage to leave the country without being stamped with the 2
month stamp. Praise Dad! But the real test will come upon entering the
country this next Saturday, so yarp that once again we will be willing
to accept Dad's will.

Other big news, my wisdom teeth are coming out today. I am slightly
nervous as I will not be put under and it will be done with laughing gas
and local anaesthesia. If you happen to be up at 4am Calgary time,
please yarp that I will have peace; I get pretty nervous around needles.
And that the recovery time would be short.

Much love to you all, I'll update you on what I have been doing here
(Bunnnnnggggyyyyyy) when I have more time.

Beth