Things Move Fast…Finally!
The Pregs made it into Thailand!
It was amazing to watch how things went from stuck in the mud to happening really fast. At the end of July, we were given permission to send in our Visa paperwork and were approved four days later. At the same time flights for August were released and we were able to snag one out of Atlanta for Friday the 7th. The school booked our quarantine hotel and then we were actually able to request and receive our Certificate of Entry before our passports had even been delivered back to us!
The next exciting challenge involved getting COVID-19 tests with negative results issued within 72 hrs of departure. Our first results came back too early, so we scrambled to get tested again the Tuesday before flying and the results came back within 36 hrs! That’s when we officially knew we had everything we needed to get on the airplane and the sleepless nights changed from worried to excited.
The Journey
We arrived early to the airport Friday morning and were the first in line when the ticketing counter opened. Glad we had plenty of time, as it took an hour to check-in for the flight – foreshadowing what was to come! The first flight was 14 hrs from Atlanta to Seoul and the second was about 6 hrs from Seoul to Bangkok. The real “fun” began when we landed in Bangkok and were greeted by a long line of long lines. Over three hours, five different people looked thoroughly over our documents at checkpoints moving through customs and immigration control. That was just to get out of the airport!
Bangkok Arrival
We finally got into our hotel room around 2 AM local time, roughly 32 hours after leaving the house in Atlanta, were greeted by a host of suited up nurses, and then had to set up our phones for medical communications. We are on day 2 of 16 in state quarantine. The room is comfortable and the food is delicious! We are, however, SO excited to explore the scene for ourselves in the fresh air as soon as possible. The view from our little window is a heartbreaking tease.
Current Status
Jonathan’s open house is today. He will be attending remotely from our quarantine room and has a substitute handing out his welcome letters and covering his classes for the next two weeks. Syllabi are completed and classes begin Thursday. Jonathan was given a recent addition, AP art, and is excited to begin teaching his four subjects.
Lyndsey will be working with Imagine Thailand on Maternal Nutrition projects! Currently, she is writing proposals for our sending organization, Asian Outreach, through which you will be able to support us soon. Things will begin rolling in September, more details to come, but for now she is excited to cheer Jonathan on, dive into the community, and explore what life looks like in Thailand!
Please Pray for two negative COVID-19 tests for each of us while in quarantine. (If we test positive we get transferred to the hospital for two weeks and must self-quarantine for another two weeks thereafter!) The first will give us permission to schedule an hour of outside time each day and the second grants us a certificate of quarantine completion and allows us to leave on the 23rd.
J+L
