Visa Run!

From within the borders of Thailand's neighboring country, I am writing to you from Laos! Jorge and I's visas were expiring within a week of each other, and we were both approved to get the special letter of approval that's needed in helping us acquire a non-immigrant multiple-entry visa! Yay! Possession of this type of visa means that we will be able to leave and reenter Thailand as many times as we like for up to the next 12 months (not like we're going to be here that long, but you know). With a simple tourist visa, we're allowed in the country for up to 60 straight days at a time, and then we must exit the country in order to get a new visa, or "renewed permission" to be in Thailand. Hope this helps to explain what I'm having to deal with in being here. Student missionaries are usually able to get this extended type of visa, as most go to places that have already been established as witnessing grounds. However, that is not the case for the student missionaries in Thailand, as most of the projects that we are helping with here are newly developed and have never taken foreign student missionaries before. That makes us the guinea pigs! This means, of course, that we have no "footprints to follow" so to speak, and so we're getting the exclusive "weed whacker" roles through EVERYTHING we do. In other words, we're trail blazers, and it's awesome! Extraordinary levels of patience, endurance, and flexibility are oftentimes needed, but I tend to take more joy in the tasks that require these things, which I give God the glory for in blessing me with these tolerances.

So I'm in Laos! Actually, it's like Thailand's twin when it comes to language, religion, and culture. People from Laos can usually understand the Thai language because of the extreme extent of borrowing that happens with Thai goods and media. However, people from Thailand cannot always understand people from Laos, as enough significant words are different. The major difference between the two countries is the government structures. Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, and Laos is straight-up communist. Because of this, culture is much more retained throughout, i.e. no fast-food chains or modern-styled companies. Sure, there's some typical gas stations, banks, and mall stores clumped together in one small building. A few small billboards are scattered throughout the capital of Vientiane, which is where Jorge and I are staying, and they drive cars here, but laws keep most of the western world's style and culture out. Busses and tuk-tuks are the only forms of public transportation, so biking is the other alternative to walking. Trains are not allowed anywhere in the country. So even though Vientiane is a long-established city with the same modern-day technologies, it doesn't appear to be. Especially to me coming from the great city of Bangkok, this capital seems like an ancient village.

Only three religions have "permission" to be practiced here in Laos, and those are Buddhism, Catholicism, and Adventism. There is a two-year established English school here which is dependent on volunteer teachers and has provided housing for both male and female teachers. Since Doug Venn (whom Jorge and I work for in Bangkok) was introduced to a member of the school's faculty by the name of Greg at a meeting in Ahyuttaya, Thailand, we were able to make contact with him before we made the 10-hour bus voyage north. Contacts are golden treasues amidst an endless underground cave when it comes to working in a foreign land, really. So Jorge and I have been staying with the volunteers here in their homes and it's been FABULOUSLY fun! Wow. We've been riding bikes everywhere, checking out the fresh markets, cooking tons of American-style food, and of course the best part of all - making some new friends! Woo hoo! And you know, God is so good... only His timing could have caused the expiration of our visas to coincide with the end of the school's teaching term! Then next week, some of the teachers are flying home to America for Christmas. Crazy timing, huh? :)

We've been enjoying Laos for about five days now, which I guess there isn't too much to see within the immediate areas of where the school is located, but Jorge and I might explore a little bit up north before heading back to Thailand. It's a definite forced vacation for us, and the first chunk of time off we've had since we got to Thailand, so we're going to try and enjoy it the best we can - especially after paying for our tourist visas in order to come to Laos in the first place! But anyway, Monday we headed over to the Thai Consulate to submit our visa applications. (Keep in mind that Wednesday is a Thai holiday and the consulate would therefore be closed). After biking around the entire city for a couple hours beforehand in attempts to find the place, we all arrived about 5 minutes to 11:00, which was when they were going to shut the gate on people submitting applications. The miracle in this was that Jorge got separated from the rest of us in trying to find the Consulate, but God provided both of us with a map and we ended up finding the place at the exact same time! And THEN, after waiting for a full hour in the plenty-long line, I finally submitted my application. Then the guy in the other line submitted his. Then Jorge submitted his. As the Thai lady was checking over his application, an alarm went off. She then stood up, put the pile of visa applications into a little box, and stated that anyone who didn't get to submit their application would have to return the next day. There were only like 8 or 10 more people! I wish you could have seen their faces... but if Jorge and I hadn't gotten our applications in Monday and would have had to go back Tuesday, then instead of picking them up Tuesday (the next day) we would have had to wait until Thursday afternoon, which means our travel plans would have gotten messed up for seeing northern Laos. It takes a couple days to get up there, see things, and come back, because the closest tourist spot is 10 hours away. It's also not smart to travel in a foreign country without a passport. We would have to leave Wednesday night or Thursday morning in order to be back in time to catch a bus back to Thailand to be back by Saturday night or Sunday morning. Once again, God proves His faithfulness to those in need who abide in Him, Psalm 142:16 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=29&chapter=25&verse=1&version=31&context=verse)...

I guess there's a flu bug that's going around the city. How did I find out about this bug? By catching it, of course! :) Monday night we all headed to a Swedish bakery for some funky pizza (and by funky, I mean with bananas, curry, cashews, and other interesting things...) When I awoke from my sleep at four in the morning, my mind was telling me that my body wasn't right, but I didn't know in what way - wierd, huh? So I got up, went to the bathroom, drank a bit of water, and went back to sleep. I woke up a few hours later to the start of an entire day of, oh, I'll just say typical flu symptoms. Although I do feel extremely lucky for not throwing up, even though I wanted to, so I'm sure I stayed way more hydrated because of that. I was also lucky for being able to drink water and some coconut juice, praise God, because keeping fluids down can be a real battle sometimes where nausia looms. In any case, it was nice to visually take part in the extravagent Italian meal that everyone prepared last night and then wake up to a renewed and healthy body. Three cheers for getting the flu in Laos! Not many people I know can say that's happened to them, haha :)

Thanks for joining me here! I really appreciate the little pieces of home that you all share with me when you leave me comments. Just knowing that people are reading this and remembering me is good enough to keep me going strong. I'd love to hear about what's going on in your life, how the Thanksgiving holiday treated you, and what your upcoming plans for Christmas are! Also, if you're at school, I'm intersted in how you've been doing this past semester. So sneak me a peek at sqwilds@hotmail.com. Love you guys, and I hope things are going well.