A Two-Things-Only Day....Wait, Make That One

At one point this week I started to map out my lists. 

As much wonderful fun as it is to be at Hot Springs, the true fact is that I am here primarily to fulfill the requirements of not just a Pastoral Internship, but also a Directed Reading and Research credit through Tyndale.  There's work to do.  And if I don't map it out, don't 'reverse engineer' it all, then by default I'll come to the end of my time here and it won't be pretty.  Not academically, at least.

Today is Friday.  I have to remind myself, because in the first-days disorientation of so-not-my-regular life, nothing feels like a normal day at all.  Not yet.  So today is Friday, and my first day here without Ken (the hard goodbye I'll save for another blog post when I'm over it, I think, maybe), and I had it in mind to start on the lists as a means of distraction.

But Yupa needed to go for a regular check up, scheduled with her doctor at Lanna Hospital in Chiang Mai.  Would I like to go?  This was totally optional.  Yupa warned me that she didn't know how long it would take, but she also said that afterward she'd like to go to the downtown core, uber-Thai-style food market for some regular groceries.  Having been to both the hospital and the market on previous trips, I knew more or less what I was in for, and I really loved that particular food market, so I said, Sure. 

The market is fascinating.  Think St. Jacob's Farmer's market only without any refrigeration, safety or health restrictions, and a lot of really weird things for sale to eat, like bugs and stuff.   And then jack up the temperature to about 45 C, cooking under a metal roof in cramped quarters.  Lots of fish.  Lots of flies.  Smells mostly like fish.  Yeah, like that.  And since I'm in for experiencing Thai life as much as possible, the food market was somewhere I was keen to go.  The hospital, not so much, although I learned a lot from my last visit.  And the wait, no worries.  I have my Kindle reader with a LOT of required reading loaded onto it.  I was good.

So, putting my own list aside, I embraced Yupa's Two-Things-For-The-Day list of the hospital visit followed by the food market.  

We left Hot Springs at 7:30 this morning.  Sky was overcast which helped to keep the temperature down a bit.  Dropped Bao off to school for 8, then headed through 20 minutes of stop and go construction traffic before arriving at the hospital.  Parking lot was full, so we added another 15 minutes by using the off site parking lot complete with over-sized golfing cart to take you to the front door.  Seats 6 but apparently up to 9 people can be accommodated....sort of. 

By the time we got into the building and took our number for the first station - #189 - it was 9 a.m.  And so began the waiting.  First bit we moved through quite quickly.  Yupa first had to register, then wait.  Then have her vitals taken, then wait.  Then have her blood work done, then wait.  After the blood work, she was told it would be two hours before the results would be sent up, and then the doctor would see her.  Bear in mind, this is her regular doctor.  Felt more like a walk in clinic, but no.  She had an appointment and this is how appointments with the doctor go. 

We found a spot (praise God for padded waiting room chairs) in the tight rows of benches, and set about to pass the time. 

Without a doubt, if Yupa and I were both bilingual or at least spoke the same language well, there would be no lack of conversation.  Even as it is, one of the things I enjoyed about today was the chance to just connect with my friend in a very relaxed sort of way.  We practiced English and Thai as we chatted together about the children's school progress (who's doing well and who's not), and about her mother's health (she had a small stroke when we were here last year), and reminisced about their time in Canada in January of this year.  Both Suradet and Yupa always ask about Highview, and specifically about people they now know.   The conversation is slow, as we struggle for words.  But we were waiting, so no hurry.  As we passed the two hour mark, she apologized, and thanked me for coming with her.  I said not to worry.  I was here for three months, so we had lots of time.  This makes us both laugh.

And besides, we only had two things on the list today.  This, and the food market.  Low expectations reduce frustrations, and I had already let go of my own list for the day, so.  Granted, the 'waste' of a perfectly good morning didn't entirely escape my notice.  I kept comparing what had been accomplished so far this day -  like, nothing - with what I might like to accomplish on any given morning at home.  I'm an early riser, and I do my best concentrated work between 7:00 and 10:00 a.m.  Lots can get checked off a list between 7:00 and 10:00 a.m.  But not today.

Approaching the three hour mark lunch was now being threatened.  But Yupa and I had both packed snacks, so we managed.  But - three hours?  This didn't feel like a walk in clinic any more.  It felt more like a trip to emerg.  But this wasn't random walk in accidents and the like.  This was a regularly scheduled appointment.  We were sitting where we could see people go in to sit with the doctor.   I started timing how long it took.  Thirty seconds.  Not a word of a lie.  The average time any one person actually engaged with the doctor was half a minute.  If something was really wrong, then you maybe got a full minute. 

At the four hour limit Yupa got the 30 seconds due her.  Good news is all her blood work came back normal and she was instructed to keep on doing what she's doing.  Yay!  Finally, we can go.  No, actually.  Yupa motioned for me to follow her to one more station where we waited another hour, no I'm not kidding, to pick up her prescriptions.

So now it's 2 o'clock in the afternoon.  I'm tired and I'm hungry.  But it's okay, because the second thing on the list is the food market, which is what I really wanted to do today anyways.  Except Yupa tells me, no, the market would be shutting down by now.  It will have to wait another day. 

Oh.

I am here to learn.  "Morning by morning he awakens me; he awakens my ear to listen as one being taught."  Isaiah 50:4  So, what did I hear today?

That a one-thing-only day is still a good day.  That Canadian health care is pretty amazing.  That some things are better accomplished by abandoning lists and letting life unfold.  That letting go of expectations, and in the company of a beautiful soul, frustration doesn't really even have to be entertained.  That my friend Yupa is enjoying good health and that is a gift worth devoting an entire day to.  That my list is still important, but it wasn't the boss of me today. 

However....I did get to check of "Blog about hospital trip with Yupa".   Sigh.  I'll get there.