Blogs from North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 14

Another beautiful day in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The view of the large rolling mountains gets me every time. The weather was cool, but not cold like it had been a few days ago. For breakfast I had bunny bunny (the stuff that tastes like funnel cake), a banana, some rice, and cabbage stir-fry. The first place everyone visited today was the community clinic hospital. I was expecting the hospital to be run down and look similar to Nakonping hospital, but i was so wrong. This community hospital was beautiful! The atmosphere was peaceful and the people were friendly. The layout of the hospital was open and it incorporated a lot of nature. This hospital is a primary care facility, meaning if people need to see a doctor or get a check up, they come here. People ... read more

I no longer can complain about waking up at 9am on Saturday mornings at school anymore since I had to get up at 630am this weekend. Fortunately we do have a bit of a break this evening since we were all beginning to feel the business of the weekend as it was coming to a close. Saturday morning we went to a Thai cooking class. It was fun to learn how to cook with ingredients much different than we use in America, and it gave me a better appreciation for Thai food in general. There were so many steps, yet it seems like many of my friends here know how to prepare the meals. I definitely want to get better at blending species, and I especially appreciate their ability to not waste anything they use. I ... read more

January 12 I’m feeling a little better, probably due to the 16 hours of sleep I got last night. I decided to go to the hospital, since it was our last day and I could not miss this opportunity if it killed me. As soon as we got on the unit, a woman was arresting and we got to bag her. We also learned about what they do when someone arrests and when CPR is initiated and how that all happens. They don’t have a code blue button like we do in the states anywhere so they just have to yell “help!” and people come immediately because they are so team oriented. I also got to dress at least 5 different wounds, all pretty decent sized. Some even had a penrose drain (which I’ve had experience ... read more

Today was a day filled with adventures and new experiences. We woke up around 6:30am to get ready for the elephant camp. On the ride to the camp I had Melissa braid my hair. That was a funny experience because the roads were so bumpy and my seat was broken in the laying down position. When we arrived at the elephant camp we watched some elephants get washed in the river and then watched an elephant show. The elephants did a variety of tricks. Some painted pictures, another kicked a soccer ball, and others posed in cute positions. One trick a few elephants did really hurt my heart though. An elephant would be chained up to a wooden log and it would drag the log to a location on the ground. Then two other elephants would ... read more

Today started off with an amazing Thai cooking class. We met a lady who took us to the local market to buy ingredients to make Pad Thai, green curry, mango sticky rice, and papaya salad. The market was very interesting as there was a lot of raw meats that looked like they had just been killed. Gross! Then we went to the woman’s house and she had a complete cooking class set up. We each had our own cutting board station where we minced garlic and chopped veggies. We each had our own electric burner with woks that we cooked most of the food on. She went through each step of the process to make the different foods and then we shared the food together! It was absolutely delicious, and it was so fun to be ... read more