Monday-Oh my

Since this is a journaling of my malady, you might want to skip it...or come on in!

Well, all you Facebook folks already know that Monday was not a good tourist day. : ) After a wonderful Sunday and what felt like a good evening winding down to sleep, I woke up at 3 a.m. with an upset tummy. Kind of nauseous, but not really. After a bit of tossing and turning, I finally ended up with severe diarrhea over the next several hours. I felt like if I could throw up, it would better, but couldn’t seem to bring it on.

Martha had given us a sweet welcome packet of things she thought we might need which included activated charcoal capsules that she felt worked well for her whenever her insides were upset. I had brought quite the drug store including Imodium (thanks, Jen), but not sure that was the right thing to do. My sister in law, Sandy Reisinger is with Mennonite Central Committee in Cambodia, which means she is roughly in my current timezone. : ) I messaged her through Facebook and was so thankful for her quick response. Part of the thankfulness was not feeling quite so alone. She agreed with the Charcoal as a first step and looked up the dosage for me since what Martha gave us was written all in Thai, of course.

Martha arrived for breakfast with Indira and then, making sure I was okay left alone here,  left for a day of wandering the markets--fruit and flower--and other sundry places including the Monsoon Tea Shop.

I ached so much it was hard to actually rest once the diarrhea stopped. Late morning I got up and took a shower and dressed, thinking I would go down to the “lounge” where I can connect to Wifi, but all I could do was lay down again. Slept a little better, so that the next time I woke up I did go down for a short time. I was thinking I was feeling maybe a little better overall, so decided to take some Advil in addition to my third dose of charcoal. Figured the worst that could happen was that I would throw it all up!

I slept lightly, but much easier for the rest of the afternoon. Indira and Martha came back and then went off again for some supper...not at all appealing to me. I did have them bring me back a coke, which I thought might help a little (or not) but sounded good.

We chatted a while and I went down to the WiFi region to try to solve the problem with my phone texting--or actually the lack thereof. So that has been frustrating. I signed up for “Passport” for a month through AT&T which would give me international texting. Thailand was on the list of countries for which it worked. When we got to Bangkok, Phil and I texted back and forth a few times. I thought, “Cool! It really works.” Well it hasn’t worked since. Not a clue what is wrong. So last night I went on the Chat help line for 1 hour and 20 minutes while he had me check all kinds of things on my phone. He could receive my text, but I couldn’t get his. However he called me and my phone received his phone call. After all that time had passed, I needed to get back up to the room and bed. He was ready to turn me over to higher level help because he thinks it is a “local” issue, whatever that means. But I was done for the night! So I don’t know if I’ll ever get it fixed or not. I don’t have hours to sit on line while they figure it out.

I do however have email, Facebook and Facebook messaging, which all work fine whenever I have wifi. Actually my international data plan is enough that I’m even taking the Facebook messaging when I receive them...though I don’t always seem to get them when folks send them.

So that was my Monday in Chiang Mai. Not my plan, but part of the adventure. I’m thankful for the positive outcome. Thankful for all the prayers and virtual hand holding. I appreciated being able to share my need with so many of you via Facebook and know that you purposed to pray for me and hold me (virtually) close.