Hell Breaks Loose in Chiang Mai

Hello family! I would do a recap of all the amazing things I did in Chiang Mai, but words can't describe how amazing it was to hang out with elephants, tigers, and to do some pretty scary ziplining through the Thailand jungle. Instead I'll write about what happened at the very end of our Chiang Mai trip. After visiting Tiger Kingdom on Sunday morning, we decided to go and see the koalas and pandas at the Chiang Mai Zoo. I had been looking forward to this for months. We got ice cream at Tiger Kingdom and I had just finished my cone in the tuk tuk on the way to the zoo. All of the sudden, there was deep rumble in my stomach and a queasy feeling came over me. The bumpy tuk tuk ride with 6 other people also didn't help. "I think I need to throw up," I said suddenly. Everyone suddenly leaned away from me. I don't blame them. I clutched my stomach and bent over the rest of ride, but I actually didn't end up throwing up. We got to the zoo and I felt terrible, but I still wanted to see the pandas. We bought our tickets and I stopped in the bathroom before going in. I kept thinking I needed to throw up, but I couldn't. The rest of girls went into the zoo and Kim stayed behind with me. After 10 minutes of waiting to throw up, I concluded that I wouldn't. Kim and I headed toward the pandas, but I began to feel really weak. I felt so weak I didn't even think I could make it to the pandas. I sat on a bench and broke down in tears, I felt so sick. Kim was so sweet and just sat with me while I cried. Tanner and Lindsay arrived at the entrance but decided they weren't going in and were just going to wait outside for us. I didn't want Kim to miss out on the zoo, so we decided that I would go sit with Tanner and Lindsay. I felt so weak, I didn't even think I could make it to the entrance. On the way to the entrance, I felt something coming up. Kim handed me a 7-11 bag and I puked into it in front of dozens of staring people. Then I couldn't stop. I made it to the bathroom at the entrance and continued to puke into the disgusting toilets. When I could catch my breath, I started crying again. I was so sick, but had no home or hotel to go back to. I only had a 7 hour bus ride back to Phichit that night. At some point, Courtney came in to check on me. After a couple hours, I emerged. The 7 hour bus ride to Phichit was terrible. It was long and bumpy and I felt like I was going to pass out. Poor Kim had to sit next to me the whole ride. The illness lasted until Tuesday night. The only benefit was that I didn't have to teach for 2 days. Don't worry Mom! I'm all better now! So that was my adventure in Chiang Mai. Thailand is definitely making me stronger! I hope all of you are well!