Something New

So, I have been sending out periodic email updates of my life for several years. I get feedback from people that they enjoy these newsy messages. I know some people are offended by the impersonal nature of them and I assume some people just delete them, but it seems to have worked OK to this point. Now, however, several people have asked if I have considered blogging. The answer to that question is "yes". In fact, I set up this blog in January shortly after I arrived in Thailand. I never managed to get anything posted, however, because the perfectionist in me (who I actively try to beat down) was never satisfied with the product. Trying to create something that was current and something I wasn't embarrassed about was just too much pressure. I returned to my previous periodic email updates. Now with some more encouragement, I have decided to give it another try. I am not too optimistic, but maybe I'll get the hang of it.

After being a medical trainee for so long, I had forgotten what weekends were all about. To have two whole days every week where I don't have any real responsibilities is still amazing to me, even though I have been enjoying full weekends for 3 months. Last week was even a semi-holiday in Laos and I also stayed home one day sick. So, my work week was pretty short last week. With all this time, however, you'd think I'd get more accomplished. It once again demonstrates that my productivity is inversely related to the amount of time I have. Now entire weekends can go by and I can't exactly say what I have accomplished. This one has been a bit like that. Although, I have not been feeling well so I will use that as an excuse.

Today I did accomplish something as I made my monthly journey across the border to Thailand. My visa must be renewed every 28 days so I use the opportunity to go to Tesco Lotus in Nong Khai, Thailand which is like the Thai version of SuperTarget. This trip involves driving the 17 km to the Friendship Bridge, waiting in line at the Lao passport control, waiting in line to pay the exit fee, getting the ticket for the bus to cross the bridge, waiting for the bus, crowding onto said bus for the drive across the bridge. Once in Thailand, there is the waiting in line at the Thai passport control and then finally negotiating a ride to the desired location in Nong Khai. The return trip is even more tedious--negotiate ride to bridge, wait in line at Thai passport control, buy ticket for bus, wait for bus, load and unload bus, wait for forms for Lao visa, fill out forms for Lao visa, wait for visa, wait for Lao passport control, wait to pay entry fee, wait to prove that you have paid entry fee, traverse the hoarde of tuk-tuk drivers and drive back from the bridge. Today's return trip was even more unpleasant due to the creepy French guy who went on a tirade about the evils of Christianity and how ridiculous Americans are for paying attention to Christianity. His monologue continued all the way from Tesco to the bridge and was only briefly interrupted by our arrival at the bridge. He then set out on a rant about American politics and how the world hates Americans. You can imagine how fond I was of this man by now. Didn't his mother teach him not to talk about religion and politics as small talk? I thought I had escaped him, only to find that the immigration people had stapled his paperwork into my passport. His paperwork was returned to him, but the paperwork in his passport belonged to some third person and mine was never located. I was quite relieved to finally get back to the truck and enjoyed the silence of the trip home. On the bright side, I can now stay in Laos for another 28 days and I bought a desk lamp to make it possible to see the book I should be studying for my nephrology boards.

Ok, so that wasn't a very good first post but it's a start.