Lucky

Recent events:
- I got my kitten stolen by Vietnamese people
-I got new kittens
-Bringing my new kittens home I got a dog bite
-My new kittens are crazy
-I told my mom I got a dog bite
-My mom freaked out
- Chaos rained down
- My dog bite started turning green and got a little swolen
-I deduced I should go to the doctor
-I freaked out that I might have rabies
-I went to the doctor
-I don't have rabies.


  But the thing is that here in Laos if you do get bite by a dog it's no little thing and rabies are something that people here can die from.
  I could have died too, but I had medical attention and good medical attention.
  One day a ARDA one of the girls had a stomach ache. She had eaten payapa salad (which is pretty hard on your digestion, I would know I've gotten sick from it) and also pepsi. All the forgieners instanly thought oh it's just heartburn, but to the girls it was way more. She was rushed to the hospital and many of the girls were so worried that they cried. Going to the hospital is very serious here, due to the fact that the medical care for patients is not very good. For example my Lao grandmother. When I first came to Laos she was talking and walking and healthy, about two months later she was very ill she couldn't walk and talk and she was taken to the hospital multiple times. They ran tests and found that she had cancer. Then a couple weeks later she went back to the hospital and they said it was actually just an upset stomach. An upset stomach was highly unplausible due to the fact that she was close to death. And that is when I realized that the hospitals are trying but have now idea. Now to my point. I am truely so lucky to have health care and not be afraid when something happens because I have doctor and knowledgable people all around me. Where here the reality of getting sick might cause death. It again reminds me off how lucky we are in America.
This past week I read a book called Conflict by Nelson Rand, which talked about his experiences in south east asia as a journalist and seeing all the conflicts it holds. I hadn't even realized in the place I traveled to that there was so much conflict. Where we learn about World War 2 and all the horrors that happened there we don't even know of the horrible holocaust in Cambodia and the millions killed by the Khmer Rouge. In Laos hundreds of Hmong men were still fighting a war that was supposed to be finished almost fourty years before. In Thailand many were killed just for their race. It just amazes me the things we don't know and what we take for granted. While I was eating mac and cheese, Hmong families were eating tree pulp to stay alive. I am so lucky. I am also so thankful that I have a home and a family and a safe place to live with food and water. Where many families have no homes, no families and are never in a safe place and have to fight for their lives and even the food they eat. I recommend you read that book. It just shows how much we have to be thankful for. But also something to strive for to give back to others.
   The reality that I have a comfortable life back in America just keeps me accountable to what I am meant to do here. Millions of people don't have that reality. And it just reminds me that those millions of people are happy anyway. In the book it talks about how even in all their turmoil they still smiled and continued to strive for their freedom. The reality that we can be happy anywhere is something to also remember.
Things to remember: You are lucky, you can be happy anywhere and watch out for rabid dogs.