Blogs from Chiang Mai, North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 10

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Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai January 18th 2018

Today was our last day of clinical in the community and we attended an elderly group at a local temple for their weekly Thursday meetings in the morning. We arrived at 9 am and participated in their morning ceremony, which included raising the Thai flag with their anthem, praying with Buddha and worship, sharing goodness or good thought, and a morning “walk” swinging our arms and marching around the temple. This was fun yet confusing, the BCNC professors weren’t attentive to the fact that we couldn’t understand and had no idea what was going on! The PT student from Chiang Mai University and she helped us when she was available. When I first arrive, they asked for a volunteer to help with taking blood pressures and pulses. I was hesitant but volunteered and I was so ... read more

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai January 17th 2018

January 14 Today we went to an elephant camp. I have mixed emotions about it. Elephants are one of the most amazing creatures ever and God had a sense of humor when He made them. They have rubber skin and huge trunks that they use to put food in their mouths. They also just have tons of skin just hanging out underneath their belly, which is kind of funny. Their personalities are my favorite. They think they're small when in reality they are these massive creatures that can crush you in a second. Seeing the elephants in the camp was also extremely sad. Like I said before, I've never been to the zoo and there's a reason for that. I don't like seeing animals in cages. These elephants weren't in cages but they were being ridden ... read more

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai January 17th 2018

Today I woke up at 0700 to get ready in my clinical uniform for the day. We ate some leftovers from pork pan for breakfast and headed to the center for elderly. We got there and were given a presentation on the elderly center. It was cool to hear about the work they are doing there. They are able to bring in elderly people in the community free of charge to their facility and take care of them. They have a building for female clients, a building for male clients, and a building for the disabled clients. They have a number of criteria that the clients have to fit in order to be admitted to the facility including being over 60 years old, no major mental illness or behavioral problems, and being able to complete ADLs ... read more

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai January 17th 2018

I can’t believe it’s Wednesday already! I’ll be leaving Thailand in 8 days. How crazy is that? I feel like i just got here and got adjusted to Thai life. I’ve been learning so much, especially about the language and culture. I’ve gotten more comfortable speaking Thai and exploring the city. I guess nothing can last forever. This morning we visited an elderly care facility in the heart of Chiang Mai. This facility is free for senior citizens who meet the specific criteria, which include: being over 60yo, no major mental illnesses or behavioral problems, being able to complete ADL’s, no contagious diseases (like TB), and are homeless/poor/or have lack of family support. The facility provides free housing, food, physical therapy, and activities. It’s a really nice facility for being government run. The residents live there ... read more

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai January 17th 2018

Another day in sunny Thailand and a beautiful one too! I woke up later than I was planning today, which gave me another rough start to today . . . I was so tired! We drove to downtown Chiang Mai and got to see the intricate walls of the old city as we entered our location for the day . . . an elderly center for Thai individuals over 60 year old and meet the qualifications. Some background, I worked at a retirement community all through high school and over the past few summers as a CNA. I love the elderly and find the fascinating, endearing, and a source of great wisdom, even when they are not cooperative. I love being around them, asking them questions, hearing about their lives, and making their day. Therefore, I ... read more

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai January 16th 2018

Today I woke up at 0730 and got ready to head to the community center for the home visits. We had some eggs, snow ball dumplings, and rice and ground pork which was all delicious. We started the home visits off with a 63-year old lady who had been in a car accident 17 years ago and had gotten paralyzed from it from the neck down. It was interesting to hear her story because the rescue team who came to remove her from her car which had flipped upside down did not stabilize her neck when they took her out of the car which may have added to her injuries from the accident. She had a very sweet caregiver with her who has been with her for the past 17 years and who has taken care ... read more

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai January 16th 2018

I’m currently stuffed to the rim with food in my belly! I feel like i gained 10lbs after eating our dinner tonight. We had our buddies come and make pork pan with us outside on mats in the driveway. I wasn’t all to excited about pork pan because I thought it was just going to be pork, but i was wrong! Pork pan is a pan over a coal fire in a terra-cotta pot. The pan has a moat with a dome in the center. The dome has slits in it so the heat can cook the food. Meat (chicken, pork, bacon, fish) is placed on the dome, and the juices of the meat run down into a broth that sits in the moat. Veggies and rice noodles simmer in the broth and meat juice, creating ... read more

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai January 16th 2018

I woke up today to settle into the routine we have discovered here in Thailand: get ready, eat breakfast, depart to embrace the day by 8 or 8:30 and be ready for whatever happens! We have been here about 12 days and I am fully over the time distance and fully in Thai time, schedule and mindset wise. The people here are friendlier and don’t complain, encouraging me to have a more positive mindset and more flexible. I have different yet less stressors here and overall feel more relaxed now that I have gotten over the major culture shock. Today we visited three of Donkaew Community hospital’s patients at their homes and explored their health status and how they are being cared for at home. The volunteers, nurses, and, sometimes, doctors go to the patient’s house ... read more

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai » Doi Suthep January 15th 2018

Today we visited two locations: Donkeaw Health Center and the Bagkok-Chiang Mai Hospital. The morning went so well, and I could have cried by the beauty of all I was seeing and experiencing. The community center was ranked number one for community hospitals in Thailand for good reason. They showed us a movie clip about their hospital and offered facts about all they do. It was unbelievable how they got to where they are now. First they took the risk of shifting from ministry of public health to ministry of internal services in hopes of getting more money in the long run even though they could not be promised dependable and stable financial income. They also went from house to house in the district to survey what each household’s conditions were such as disabled and bedridden ... read more

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai January 15th 2018

January 13 Today was a little rough in the sense that I still wasn’t feeling well and it was go go go. I was in the shower when we were leaving to go to a cooking class, so that was quite the rushed morning. We went to a popular market to pick out food to make for the Thai cooking class, then we headed to make some food. The market was hard for me—there were pig’s head and frogs and fish and I’m pretty sensitive to smells as it is. It was an experience, though. For lunch, we made green curry, papaya salad, pad Thai, and sticky rice with mango. You need a wok for basically all Thai meals so my mom already offered to buy one. It was quite a process to make (it took ... read more




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