Today finds me in a motel way up in Mai Sot, which is about a 20 hour bus ride from home. Why? Well, I am not real sure! I came up here in order to pick up Memewah, since we all felt that it would look too suspicious for Jason to bring her down himself when child traffickers abound in Thailand. But, on my way here, we found out that it is just as bad for me to do it as for him, and the penalty is something like 15 years in a cozy Thai prison! My boys don’t like the idea of me having that much time to myself, so here I am a long way from home for no apparent reason.

I was REALLY tempted to feel sorry for myself, since an overnight bus ride is never my idea of fun, and my knees couldn’t agree more…but here is the rest of the story. When I left home, I was feeling pretty sick. I had spent the night racing to the outhouse and back, and therefore had not gotten much sleep. Just because I don’t get to sleep at night is absolutely no reason for Hannah and Meme to leave me alone during the day so that I can rest, at least in their minds. So, the outlook was not all that promising. When I got here, there was nobody who could come and pick me up, which should not have been a problem, since I am a veteran at this Asian travel thing by now, and could have taken a songtow. But, I was so sick that the thought of riding in the back of one of those things on a curvy road for hours on end did not appeal to me at all. Even though it means having to miss seeing my two wonderful boys. (now that is what I call really being sick!) So, I holed up here in Mae Sot in a really nice motel. It is the nicest thing I have seen in Asia so far, almost rivaling Super 8! (and, I could still afford it) They let me in at an absurd hour of the early morning, did not charge me extra, and I got to rest all day long! And, to make it even more interesting, since I have to be in Bangkok on Wednesday, I have to stay here two days instead of just one. Imagine, two whole days of resting in a quiet place….it approaches pure bliss, doesn’t it? Add to all this the fact that the last few weeks I had been feeling so burned out and tired, and I could see no way of getting away for some much needed rest. So what do you think? Is it a trial, or a blessing?