Phrae Ram Hospital.

And this time it wasn't because of me!!
You know how something happens in an instant and you just react and then time is moving so fast that when you take a second to breathe, you realize you are sitting in a Thai emergency room hospital with someone else's blood all over you?? No? Well, that is how my weekend went!
Let's start with Friday...We met up with some other farangs, (Westerners) who live in Phrae, and got to talk in English with them! It was awesome. They picked us up on some motorbikes and by the end of the night had convinced us that we needed to rent some the next day in order to get around easier.  We definitely agreed, it is so hot to walk everywhere and besides, everybody is doing it! (peer pressure) They gave us other tips and we had a lot of farang fun! We got home around 3am and since it is 1pm at home I decided to call my momma! She let me know that, at work, one of my friends would be having her baby soon so they were having lunch for her! I called the front desk, yo Nicole, and had a great time catching up with everyone! (shout out to GameReady!)

The next morning we slept in, had lunch with our new Irish friend Owen, and then headed off to the motorbike shop! We were jazzed but nervous, I had ridden one in Taiwan but this was Mel's first time.  We were able to rent two cute red bikes for 1,800 Baht a month each, got a quick lesson, and then headed out on the main road.  We were planning on stopping at one of the deserted alleyways so we could practice a little more, but of course we had to get off of the main road first...
We were not driving on the road for twenty seconds before Mel started turning into a nearby hotel, the Maeyom Palace Hotel.  In just a quick instant the bike was on top of her and they had skidded.  She told me later that as she was turning she hit the ignition instead of the breaks, and now it is an image and video that I will forever have stuck in my mind.  I couldn't just jump off of my bike and over to her even though I wanted to, I had to properly stop it, park and get off without burning my leg on the hot pipe thingy! As I was doing this, Mel had gotten the bike off of her and she was walking over to me with a face that I swear still haunts me, confused, hurt, traumatized? I looked at her arm and saw a LOT of blood.  I went into rescue mode, I brought her over to the shade, got her bike out of the street and over by mine and her shoe, which had fallen off, and other items over by us.  I got out my water and poured a little on her arm and that's when I saw her bone. Yes, her scrape had been so deep that her skin was hanging down and I could see where the bone was just below her elbow.  I didn't want her to see my terror but I was seriously scared, I had no idea where we were in relation to a hospital! Who could we call to help us? What was I going to do?? Meanwhile, Mel is saying she thinks we might have to go to the hospital (yes, I think so!!!) and generally freaking out.  I got her phone and called our school coordinator Nongnoot, she had absolutely no idea what I was saying so I hung up on her mid sentence.  I then called our new friend Owen, "Hi, nice to meet you, can you please take us to the hospital??" He has been in Phrae for a year and a half and knows his way around.  I managed to choke out where we were and how bad it was and told him to hurry! He got there asap, explained he was taking her to the Phrae Ram Hospital by the 7/11 (of course) and gave me directions.  They sped off on his motorbike (ironic now...) and I rushed to get our stuff together and jump back on my bike.  I was shaking the whole way there, replaying what I had just seen over and over and thinking, if that happens to me, what will I do?!?  Alas, I made it and found Owen trying to explain our stupid INext insurance that CIEE/OEG gave us.  I found Mel in the emergency room laying on a bed and crying :-( This was her first time ever in the hospital! They took her away to get X-Rays and that is when I was escorted to the waiting room and saw her blood all over me.  It is seriously unsettling to have someone else's blood all over you.  They gave her some stitches, lots of bandages, and told us to come back every day to have them cleaned.  Meanwhile the nurses, doctors, and other patients were staring, laughing, and pointing at us. "Oh farang! Farang motorbike!"  I don't mind being a spectacle everywhere else, but in the emergency room when my friend is crying was a little to much for us.  I kept closing the curtain, but they would peek around the corner! It was crazy!
It was a really nice hospital though, just like one you would see in America. And the whole thing cost about $100 and 3 1/2 hours! Not bad. The ambulance dropped Mel off at our apartment and I drove my motorbike back in rush hour traffic, shaking in my bones
! I got home, skyped with my sister, Kel, and just cried. I was exhausted.
On Sunday, we did all of the things we planned to do on Saturday! Mel was a little sore and bruised but we walked back to the hotel and took a 3- wheeled Rickshaw ride around old Phrae.  We saw old Wats, (temples) Teak houses that Phrae is famous for, and another area of Phrae.  My rickshaw driver was wearing a San Jose Sharks hat! It was fate.  He had no idea what I was talking about though :-( Then we walked to the Tesco Lotus and got some groceries and had a nice night in. (PB and Js!!!)
Nongnoot and Nonglak were most upset that we went to the Phrae Ram Hospital instead of the Phrae Christian Hospital because Ram is more expensive...Phrae Christian is all the way on the other side of town and we were not worried about the money, thank you very much! The school is going to be getting us some bicycles now though, so hopefully no more hospital trips for us!
That's it for now! Love you all!