Don't Worry!

It’s painful for me (both literally and figuratively) to be stuck in my apartment and writing a blog update on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.  I should be on lying on a beach somewhere, or maybe riding an elephant, or perhaps frolicking in waterfalls.  But being that I just spent three days in the hospital for a bacterial infection, I don’t really have a choice.  An insect bite quickly went from being itchy to being infected, and Tuesday morning, I woke up with an extremely swollen, red, and sore foot, as well as a high fever.  My school coordinator took me to the hospital, and they diagnosed me with a bacterial infection from an insect bite that had already reached my blood (!).  They wanted me to stay overnight but didn’t have the room, so they hooked me up to an IV for an hour and gave me a bunch of antibiotics to take home.  I was also instructed to come back each of the next three days for an hour-long IV treatment.  All was good in my mind, until I woke up Wednesday morning and the insect bite had gotten bigger and turned into a white oozing crater (abscess- ugh)!  Back to the hospital I went, and this time they admitted me.  A surgeon drained and packed the abscess, and the nurses hooked me up to an IV (I think I received more antibiotics than one person should be allowed to receive in a lifetime).

My foot- Day 3 (no, I don't normally have cankles)!

During these three days, I was constantly told by the doctors, nurses, and staff at my school, “Don’t worry!".  I’m not sure if they repeated this statement to me because I’m a farang (foreigner) or because I had a general look of fear on my face, but it definitely made me feel better. And let’s face it, I WAS worried!!  Really, really worried.  And you would have been too. Let me say, though, that I received excellent around-the-clock care at Aikchol Hospital; the nurses and doctors were extremely accommodating, and I always felt like I was in knowledgeable hands. They went above and beyond their call of duty for me. And hey, they even had an American menu which contained a cheeseburger and fries from McDonalds :-D 

Now I’m back in my apartment with a healing foot, and I’m just thankful that the worst of this event is (hopefully) behind me.  Before this happened, I was having a great time and had really started settling into life here.  Last week, Thailand (and some parts of Myanmar and Laos) celebrated Loi (Loy) Krathong.   'Loy' literally means 'to float,' while 'kratong' refers to a lotus-shaped receptacle which can float on the water.   All across the country, people gathered beside canals and rivers, lit candles, put coins in their kratongs, and made a wish as they placed their kratongs in the water.  The flame is said to signify longevity, fulfillment of wishes, and release from sins.  Lanterns are also released into the air (Khom Loy- floating lanterns) as part of the celebration.  We had a huge Loy Krathong celebration/talent show at our school; it was a fun afternoon.

Kindergarten kids putting their kratongs in the water

Kids getting ready for the festivities

That night, Pooja, Audrey, and I headed to Bang Saen beach for their LK celebration. Taking a picture of floating lanterns is kind of like taking a picture of fireworks; it doesn’t always turn out. We did manage to snap a few photos though.

These things are hard to get up in the air!

Getting ready to put our kratongs in the water

Not the best picture but you can see kratongs in the sky and the water

Running into my co-workers Bin and Pop on the beach!

We headed back to Bangkok over the weekend for Pooja’s farewell and got to do some things we didn’t do during orientation.

The biggest Buddha I’ve ever seen at Wat Intharawihan

The Golden Mount

Met him on the way down the mountain

Good times in Bangkok on Friday and Saturday nights with other friends from our program

 
I’ve been meaning to do a post about general life in Thailand, and I think I’ll do that later this week because I won’t have any good pictures to post from this weekend.  I definitely plan to make up for lost time though and get out and about next weekend!  Until next time….Sawatdee kah!