deltadivajp's Xanga

My Mexican Dental Vacation 2009 :-)

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:11:35 GMT

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I think this may be the first time I actually pulled my laptop out while on a plane..maybe not. Anyway, I figure I can kill some time as I fly from Tucson to Houston. It’s been a minute since I’ve had the chance to travel and boy am I glad that God blessed me with the opportunity to make this trip. On August 18^th, my mom and I flew to Tucson for my “dental vacation.” Last year shortly before I left Japan, I started to have some pain in one of my teeth. I went to see the dentist in Japan who to make a long story short, did a terrible half-a$$ed job of a root canal on my tooth. The tooth gave me trouble back when I got home so I went to my mother’s dentist. Thankfully she didn’t charge me too much (I don’t have dental insurance) to check it and give me some antibiotics and pain killers. She then referred me to an endodontist who also agreed that he had never seen such a poor partial root canal done. He said that I would likely need to have that tooth pulled and since it was a molar in the back of my mouth (but between two other teeth), I would need an implant or a bridge. He also said that the tooth behind it would likely need a root canal in the future. When I called around to get quotes for the work I’d need done, it looked like I’d have to pay $3000 plus since I don’t have insurance. As most of you know, I haven’t had a full time job since I moved back to Pittsburgh in August 2008.

Thanks to my girl D in Japan who I traveled to Thailand and Vietnam with, I became aware of people traveling to have medical/dental procedures done. Feeling rather weary about Japanese doctors, she visited a few doctors in Thailand while we were vacationing. SOOO when I found out how much my dental work would cost, I immediately thought I’d do some research to see how much it would cost to have it done in Canada. I looked online and found that Canada pretty much costs the same but someone suggested going down to MEXICO! I too was hesitant at first, like I’d be getting bootleg dental work from a dentist that could be a crook and so on. But then I did some more research and found that I could get the work done for almost half the price of what I’d have to pay in the states.

I was not very familiar with Mexico’s geography and the only place that really came to mind was Tiajuana?, a place I didn’t think I’d want to go. I looked up some more info and found that there was a city in Mexico, Nogales, about an hour from Tucson, Arizona! GOOD NEWS! I have an aunt and uncle that live in Tucson so I figured I could pay them a visit (the last time I was down there was when I was 6 years old) and hop down to Mexico to get my dental work done. At first I thought it was going to take a lot to convince my mom to feel okay about the trip but when I posted something in reference to it on Facebook, a lady who used to live in the neighborhood I grew up in that moved to Phoenix, AZ said that she knew of people that went down to Mexico for dental work. I figured that would give my mom some more assurance. So when I told her about it, she didn’t hesitate to make this a vacation with me. She said we could go visit my aunt and uncle and make the trip down to Nogales for my teeth.

On the 19^th , my mom and I got up and caught a shuttle from Tucson to Nogales for $10 each. The ride ended up being about an hour and a half because a few other passengers had to be picked up. When we got to the border we were a little nervous as we weren’t sure what was going to happen and although we had a map, we weren’t certain where to go. Thanks to the help of a guy who rode the shuttle with us, he directed us to some taxi drivers who charged us $5 to take us to the dentist’s office. We later learned that it was only about a 10 minute walk from the border but it made it easier to be driven there the first time.

When I got to the dentist office, I was greeted by Dr. Velazquez and his assistant. I was given medical history forms to complete and then taken into the back to be examined. I told him that my dentist back home said that I needed a root canal in my back molar and a 3-unit bridge. He looked at my teeth and said that he didn’t think a root canal was necessary. He also inspected under my tongue, something that I never recall being done in the states OR in Japan. He found a bony protrusion under my tongue called a TOR..something…anyway, he said that it’s normal but that he had to let me know it was there because he found it. After that, he said that he would examine the tooth that I was concerned about the root canal again more closely but from what he could tell it did not need one. SO, I would need the bridge which would consist of 3 crowns. If any of you have ever gotten a root canal done, you know those suckers cost about $600-$700 and crowns cost even more at about $1200+. He also showed me some other teeth that had filings that were old and that will eventually need crowns too (go figure). For this trip, we decided to have the bridge, a filling and cleaning which would cost me a total of $1675. Much cheaper than in the US. So he went to work and the following week I went back and had the work complete.

I am very satisfied with the work of Dr. Velazquez…he is very compassionate and does what he can to assure you are comfortable along the way. He even gave me a souvenir (my teeth molds and temporary crowns ) lol.

Tucson is not the most exciting city, as my mother and I couldn’t really find much of interest to do. My aunt and uncle have lived down there for 30 something years but they just do their regular routines, work, church, and whatever. My aunt is a shop a holic so that is pretty much all she did with us..from swap meets to all the malls…walmart about 5 times…I swear I’m not going shopping until 2010.

All in all I had a very nice trip. It was nice seeing my aunt and uncle and spending some quality time with them. We also had the chance to attend Rising Star Baptist church which was truly a blessing. We heard this young minister preach during the youth service the first Sunday we were there and it was so moving! I also go to go see the daycare where my Aunt works…cute little kids.

One thing I do know for sure is that I could not see myself living in Tucson. It is way too hot, too dry and not very visually appealing. There also didn’t seem to be much to do. I might complain about the cold of Pittsburgh but I like the city much better than down in the desert lol.

Yep, so God is good. I really enjoyed my trip but am looking forward to getting back to home and returning to my regular routine!

Light at the end of the tunnel kanaa (perhaps)

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 04:33:47 GMT

Yesterday after the whole ordeal with the application situation, I called a person from the HR Dept that my cousin knew. This morning they returned my call and to make a long story short, the HR guy changed my answer so that my application would at least get processed SOOOO there may be hope..THERE IS HOPE! Next funny thing is when I went to ask the HR guy his last name, it really stuck out and turns out that he married a girl I went to school (elem-h.s.)! Small world.

After that, I put in some part time hours, counseling my distraught roomie...I tell ya God works in mysterious ways and in regards to her situation a good thing worked out. I'lll tell you the story later, maybe.

Anyway after that I took a nap cuz for some reason I always wake up at 530-6 cant get back to sleep then have to nap later to let my body catch up on his loooovely sweet sleep. When I got back up, I pumped out another resume and cover letter for another position at a school here in Pittsburgh, again I think I'm a perfect fit! But we'll see what God has in store. I kinda feel a change coming.

Fruitless

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:32:27 GMT

So what else has been going on in my life since I came back to the states almost a year ago. Nothing really. I have spent the past year looking for a full time job, which as many of you know or have heard, SUCKS. When I first got back I found a job with the Japan America Society of PA. It was a part time position but I felt like it had so much potential for me. HOWEVER, as time went on and I got to see how nasty, incompetent and money hungry the executive director was, I quickly had to look for another job.

My next job was teaching Japanese, again part time, at an elementary school. I've been doing that but I really am not satisfied with the job. I don't feel as if it gives me a chance to grow professionally and it doesn't do much for my Japanese since is such a basic level that I teach. The children frustrate me a lot too...there are discipline problems and I just don't have the patience anymore to spend 20 of 45 minutes trying to get students to listen and follow directions. BUT this is my only source of income so I am kinda stuck between a rock and hard place. I have been applying for so many jobs this year and have only had ONE interview (obviously with no luck). I know I am intelligent and I've worked so hard to get where I'm at and again I'm feeling like no one is appreciating or taking advantage of the opportunity to have a hard working person like me work for them. I know there's a lot of BS with the job hunting world..positions advertised that you actually don't have a slim chance in hell of getting because they already have planned to hire someone in house but just HAVE to give others opportunities to apply for, the list goes on.

Again, this is a very tiring process.

I have been quite sad lately and feel kinda hopeless. I am doing what I can to try to get a job and am seeing no results. I don't even know if my resume gets read. I thought that my life would be back to *normal* when I came back to America. I had no clue it would be almost impossible for me to find a man here and even worse, a job. BUT I'm alive, and kinda healthy...with no medical insurance even if I wasn't.

The next thing you'll probably see me blog about is my dental vacation to Mexico....that should be worth sharing. Peace yall and thanks for reading my blog and praying for me if you do!!

hisashiburi

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:27:42 GMT

I haven't been on here in forever...and I miss reading my buddies' blogs...I just browsed thru some...I have to come back and leave comments...I'm still alive and kickin tho.

Glad I was home for this one baby!!

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:46:56 GMT

Words cannot justly describe...

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:31:09 GMT

what I experienced tonight .

Yeah man....AWESOME..AMAZING...TRULY; SPIRITUAL, MENTAL, EMOTIONAL, SEXUAL, eeeeeeeverything all wrapped in one. I wish I could have had someone video tape me and somehow type my thoughts as they came through my head.

I came home from work (an actually productive one despite me being on the verge of quitting VERY recently..but that's another story). Anyway came home, checked email and my daily routine sites lol then decided I wanted to RELAX which to me = (-.-)y-., o O + a hot bath with moisturizing bath beads...yeah I'm gully like that haha (knowin damn well it ain't THAT serious lol ). Anyway so I put some music on a 90s old school remixtape and was jammin a bit, got in the bath and was just relaxin...stretching (I want to become more flexible..good for your joints n 'at) I reaaaaaly stretched my neck by doing slow neck rolls and I made sure to really rotate it and hit every angle/degree. I have never stretched my neck like that and it felt GOOD.

After that, it seems like the stress/tension that was in my neck moved into my shoulder and made it hurt. I tried stretching that out but it wouldn't work so I gave up. Now, in all this stretchin, I wasn't really paying attention to the music...but for some reason a song came on...Method Man - Ice cream somethin...I never listened to it but BRAY used to always say this verse from it so when I hear it, I immediately think of Bray.

At first I was like, "ahhhh I gotta turn this off cuz I don't like it at all" but then it really made me feel fuzzy thinkin about Bray spittin that verse so I HAD to listen to it. I got back in the bath and relaxed and just thought about him tryin to sound like a thugged out rapper (sorry Bray it's true! lol :oP ) and just cheesed thinkin about that memory. After that it was like this heaviness came over me and I just started to cry thinking about Bray and I got kinda caught up and felt this kinda pressure in the left side of my chest and I just KNEW that Bray was in my heart..I mean I knew he was when he passed but this was the first time since then that I REALLY felt him..like "I'm still here with u Shakey (that was my nickname)." <deep breath> And like RIGHT AFTER THAT I just had a FLOOOOOOOD of memories about Bray. It was soo crazy but so good and just something I never felt. I mean from back to the first day I met him, sooooooo many things that happened in between...places we'd been, things we'd done, fights, holidays, his lil cousins, him dancin, clubs, TIGGAs (that's an inside joke), all the apartments I had, his mom's house, aunt's house....JUST SOOOOOOO MANY MEMORIES that it felt so SURREAL to be there in the bath having them all overcome me.

I don't want to make it sound like it was a release in the sense of letting Bray go from my heart. In my heart, I feel like it was something I needed to put me in check with what a GOOD LIFE I've had so far. Although I may feel lonely at times now, I am lucky to have had such an experience as I did with Bray...GOOD AND BAD. But whatever, that boy LOVED ME sooooo much and I just think of all the little things he would do just to try to get me to smile and I would be all grumpy and selfish and push him away when he tried to smother me with his love.

BUT, the crazy thing is that it wasn't just the love that he showed me but EVERYONE AROUND HIM. I swear he is the most SELFLESS (polar opposite of selfish)person I know. He showed his love to everyone and would really do anything he could to help people out and PEOPLE KNEW IT...they could feel it with Bray.

To have had a person like that in your life is just beautiful. I DO and will ALWAYS miss Bray but I have the love he gave me deep in my heart and it just gives me a standard for which my future husband will have to supersede (I hope I used that word correctly, I mean to do significantly better..higher, out-do, exceed maybe lol).

Wow so now my stomach is roaring like an African Lion but I just had to document this experience...and share it all with you. I KNOW it's a VERY PERSONAL...probably the most personal thing I've ever blogged about, but it's such a BLESSING, that I feel obligated to share my joy with you all.

My sincerest apologies if I bored you shitless with my ramblings but if you KNOW me (maybe if you don't), then you KNOW how SOMETHING had to happen to me for me to have the courage to share such an intimate experience with others.

Life's just CRAZY like that.

hilarious

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 03:56:40 GMT

It's about time I update...

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 04:55:25 GMT

Well it's been a month since my last blog entry..I've been THINKIN about writing an entry but have either been too lazy, rather do something else or am just thinking of IF I want to talk about it and HOW to talk about it. Well let me stop talking in circles. So my last entry was talking about being blessed with a J-O-B with perfect timing and I THINK I wrote about it, but I found an apartment around the same time. It's on the East side of the City (I live in SW now) so everyone was a bit concerned when I said where I'd be staying but TRUST, it had to be good for me to really want to live there. I was quite impressed with the house...I'll be sharing with 2 Chinese grad students....lovely girls. I just moved my stuff this weekend so I have to go unpack and organize...NOT FUN but I'm tired of living in a suitcase so I need to get that done ASAP.

Yeah so I've been working part time for almost a month now. I am new so there has been a lot to learn and there are only 3 of us in the office so we are very busy. I like it though....I will probably have to find some other means of making money because part time ain't gonna cut it. Yep..so all is cool on the work front.

Next, my love life if you may call it that...you know what...this deserves it's OWN post so let me stop this one here and start a new one....

!!!TRULY BLESSED!!!!

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:08:57 GMT

Okay yall I know I have been so negligent of my xanga blog for the past 2 years....I guess because I am a LOT busier than I was my first 3 years in Japan..rambling.

Anyway, as you may have PRAYED :0) or guessed, I made it back to the States safely. Besides going to a friend's wedding, I really haven't doing MUCH...until now so let me tell my story!!

1998/1999 - I won 2nd place in a Japanese Speech Contest held in Pittsburgh and hosted by the Japan-America Society.

2003 - Got accepted for?by the JET program. I wanted to know more about what to expect living in Japan so I went back to JASP for info.

May 2008 - Started lookin at potential jobs when I moved to the states. I emailed JASP to say I'd be moving back to Pittsburgh and was wondering if they had or knew of any positions using Japanese.

May 7 - get an email from a W. Bennett (yep, same last name) saying she was new to the position, didn't know of any positions but that she would be working on a grant to try to get another person hired. She also told me to contact her when I got back to Pittsburgh.

August 12th - I surf the net looking for Japanese jobs..googled "Japanese Pittsburgh" or something like that and stumbled upon the JASP website...I looked through it (b/c I wanted to get connected with the Japanese community as soon as possible (damn I sound like a Japanophile..it ain't THAT bad!) Anyway, so I saw they had a position for an Education Outreach Coordinator...I got excited and called Ms. Bennett and she said right off that she remembered me (b/c of our names) and that she wanted me to send her my resume, cover leter, references....good to go...got those together ad sent em off!!

August 21st - I had an interview at JASP from 2:30 and didn't finish until 5...showed me around the building, the gym etc. I wanted to get excited and think she really liked me and would want to hire me but as a defense mechanism, I decided to try and not expect anything specifically good to happen. Rejection SUCKS like a mug!! Was told that she had to interview some others but that she would keep me posted. BUT in the mean time, she welcomed me to volunteer at the JERO concert held at Pitt. Because this would get me behind the scenes, VIP etc, it was much better than just going as a guest. At the concert, she would see how I interact with the people who volunteered and belonged to the Pittsburgh-area Japanese community.

August 27th - JERO concert. Got there at 4:00 ...long story that is already too long for me to say to make a long story short... and hung around talking to some of the other volunteers. At 5 something, Ms. Bennett called me over to talk to me and basically offered me the position!! After the JERO concert, she introduced me as the new Educational Outreah Coordinator for the Japan America Society of Pennsylvania...GO ME GO ME!!

SOOOO on Tuesday September 2nd will be my first day working..it's not full time...I'll have to tell yall later why it's so good that it worked out that way ANOTHER DAY...I'm tired and gotta get up early to go to the grand opening of a new outlet mall in the area!!

No but GOD IS GOOD...I haven't been home a good 30 days and I've been blessed with a job using Japanese IN PITTSBURGH (I just knew I'd have to move to NYC to get a job using Japanese). The best thing about this is that I'll be close to my family (especially my Nana (grandma)). I figure I can always move to NY in the future if that was meant for me.

So, for now, I will be living and working and NETWORKING no doubt...in Pittsburgh, who know's where it will take me!!!

Busy Bizzy BZ

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 04:18:51 GMT

Yeah buddy...so I have less than a month left in Japan and things are hectic as hell due to the lack of efficiency at the local Board of Education here. I didn't find out who would be taking over my apartment until about a week ago, contacted her and found out that she doesn't want to buy most of my stuff...I can't blame her..she already lives in Shiga and her successor isn't buying her stuff so she might as well just bring the stuff she bought...although it's inconvenient for both of us. Yeah so I'm trying to sell stuff...probably have to take it to a recycle shop and get pennies for it..sucks sucks sucks.

To tell you the truth, as much as I will miss Japan, I can't wait to get done moving. My mom gets here Wednesday and she'll help me out with cleaning and stuff but I don't want her whole vacation to be spent doing that. I am so not looking forward to saying goodbye to everyone...I'm going to miss the heck out my little bratty students. I'm going to miss the folks I've met in Nagahama, especially my girl DP (but she'll be joining me stateside next year so not too long)...and I'll really miss my new friend Kazuo...I hung out with him again last Saturday and caught the last train home (10pm)...I knew I was going to cry...tried to ignore it but when I gave him a hug I couldn't help but to cry. He tried to get me to stop saying we could meet again and that it wasn't goodbye yet but still, just the thought made me so sad. I cried on the train for a good hour or so...saying goodbye sucks...that's why I don't like to do it. I just really hope our friendship will be the same even when I go back. He's such a kindhearted, funny, generous guy and we have become so close that I would HATE for distance to fuck things up. (sigh).

I have quite a bit to do over these next few weeks too..dentist, doctor, (sigh)...It's gon be alright..It's gon be okay...right?

How's everyone's summer going? It's hot as ball here...