Important stuff in life...

One of my best friends, Eefje, is doing her PhD in mediaval literature. I travelled with her the first time I was in NZ and I discovered then that she has an absolute fetish for gossip magazines. The really bad ones...She even read some stories to me while we were in bed...Is this important? No not at all, but I think it is hilarious that a literature researcher actually is addicted to gossip magazines...Can you see the paradox here? Anyway, besides all this, Eefje is also a famous actress in Belgium. At least she will be in the next 5 years. Why? Because I say so. You want proof? Well go to www.sinthome.be, click on 'kortfilm', and then click on Eefje (the angry woman: bottom row, in the middle - with the red earrings). Sorry, no subtitles for the monolingual people...

Less important but massively important to me personally are my teeth. I'm not sure whether you can comprehend what my teeth's well-being mean to me. I have been told that I am a 'cool' girl, I'm tough and Im a dare devil [I've been told...]. There is only one thing I am really really really -from the bottom of my heart- scared off and that is the dentist. Why? I don't know, because I am 28 and I never had anything done to my teeth: no braces, no fillings, no nothing. My teeth are fine.
But since I was a kid I would seriously stay awake for hours knowing that I had to go to the dentist the next month. I would have total stress moments knowing I had to go into the office and SMELL the dentist. I would seriously question every single move the dentist made to be sure I was prepared...for nothing in those 28 years. Was that dentist horrible then? I don't know, because he never did anything...

And this week the moment had arrived of which I have been utterly terrified for, for seriously YEARS and YEARS! I had a tooth ache and it needed to be fixed...So what do you do? Exactly, you ask every single person you know about their dentist: what is he/she like, will they be gentle, would you recommend them, why, why not....please help! So Nigel turned out to be the ultimate dentist (3 people praised him!) and today was the day.
Result: the tooth that was aching probably had a tiny hole 5 years ago and now turned into a massive one. Before you guys start screaming 'you should have gone to a dentist earlier!', I have. The last time was just before I started travelling and nobody picked it up...So now Mr. Nigel repaired that tooth and seriously, I feel so stupid, because get this: it did NOT hurt (ok ok with anesthetic of course). I have been terrified for something, crying myself to sleep since I was 5 (no jokes there) for something that is not a big deal?! For fuck sake, get a life Maaike...I know, I am pathetic. But thank God I found it out now, so I can happily live my life without that fear...

Or....maybe there is still a little bit of fear...My best friend Nigel may have repaired that tooth without any tears on my side, but...he is not sure whether it did not effect my nerves, so I might need a root canal treatment...

[oeeeeeeeeehhhhhhh] [that's you in the background]

Don't worry, it's ok. It's going to be horrible if needed, but Nigel and I go a long way back (8 hours to be precise) and I trust him completely. So, in 2 weeks time I will go back, I will have a filling done on the other side of my mouth (a filling: piece of cake!) and he will check the other one.

So like every Greek myth, I want to end this story with some wise words (In dutch 'het moraal van dit verhaal'). Please tell every 5 year old that going to the dentist is not scary and that getting a filling does not hurt. If only I knew back then what I know since today...

[and if you now think that my parents didn't tell me that...Of course they did, but I was too terrified to listen...]