dentist + heading out

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so i had such a good experience with pharmacies and clinics here that i thought i'd try my luck going to a dentist. i haven't been to one in 4 years, so i was a little apprehensive. dental work+language barrier = yikes.

so the clinic is only open from 5pm to 8pm. and apparently they consider a "dentist's office" to be another country because i had to show my passport to get an appointment. i made an attempt to joke that i wanted a stamp in my passport for the dentist, but my humor was met with a vague chuckle of uncertainty.

once in the chair, they covered my face with a little blanket that had a hole only for my nose and mouth and instructed me to open my mouth. it probably looked as if they were about to perform surgery on the patient, and the incision just opened itself. but it meant i had no idea what they were about to do. they informed me that i had one cavity and they were going to fill it. ok so i have only had one other cavity before. and i remember from before that the dentist asked if i wanted local anesthesia, but that it wasn't big so it shouldn't hurt too much. and i felt so brave that i said i didn't need it, and stupid a few moments later as i had my tooth drilled. but see here, i was never given the option. i was not told anything. they wedged foam in my mouth to keep my jaw open and fired up the drill. which you KNOW is a terrifying sound, and just imagine being blinded this whole time. i suddenly appreciated the good bedside manner of previous dentists. just a little "i am about to drill" or "this shouldn't hurt too much" or "now hold still", just anything so i know what is going to happen is so comforting. but nothing but blackness and suddenly "RREEEEEEEEEEE!" and then the horrible feeling of a drill going into your bone and the smell of drilled tooth and the sensitivity that makes you squirm and having no idea how much longer it will go on for, or how much more it will hurt before they stop.

i should never be a spy because if i was caught, i wouldn't last a minute under some kind of dental torture.

but it did end! and she cleaned my teeth. so checkup and cleaning and a filling and an x-ray, all without any insurance, cost me a grand total of about $40. i feel pretty good.



so then yesterday i went to do another visa run to burma. but when i got there, i was told i couldn't cross the border into burma! see, if you don't apply for a visa outside of thailand, you can only be in the country, renewing visas in burma, for 90 days within a 6 month period. and i had been in thailand for 87 days. i was told that i could either take a 2 day trip on a bus down to malaysia and apply for a visa there, which is a couple thousand baht, or i have to leave the country by wednesday. wow. so it seems i wasted about 10 hours on a bus and a bunch of money to be told i had to get out. which is frustrating because i checked with my landlady before i went, and she called someone, and said it was ok, i could get another visa. twas not the case.

so i said my goodbyes to the trainers and such this morning at training, and i leave in a few hours on a bus to bangkok. depending on my luck and flight prices, i will perhaps try to go to bali for a little while before i make my way back to the US, stopping first in ireland.

it was frustrating to hear all this and have to leave rather suddenly, but its a good kick start to get me going, so i don't get too comfortable in one place. this is a place where it can be easy to relax to the point where you really lose steam and get lazy, but i guess i can't be too lazy because THE LAW is shipping me out of here. long live the king.

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