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

Today we started out our day on our units at the hospital. It was kind of crazy how different the unit was since Professor Debbie was with me this time. They seemed afraid to work in front of her and therefore pretty much had her precept me instead of another Thai nurse, as I had done previously in the week. Instead of doing more tasks, we spent a lot more time talking. The nurses and physicians explained different patient cases and care plans to Debbie, so I listened alongside here. Fortunately, I was able to squeeze in blood work (no butterfly needle!), NG tube insertion which came out her mouth the first time ahhh, wound dressing care, and catheter observation since the sterile field is a little different than what I am used to. Debbie was ... read more

Well Tomorrow morning will be about one week since we left D.C. but it feels like I have been here much longer. 1: Because I already feel so close to my bodies. 2: Because our days are so packed I feel absolutely exhausted. I woke up with horrible allergies today which is such a bummer because I love Thailand, but I’m not sure I would ever be able to live here for a long period of time because well I seem to be allergic to everything! My nose is twice the size. I feel drowsy without medication. My eyes are burning and itching non-stop. I hope that the air-conditioning in our room (which we finally figured out the right setting) will help and maybe some Benedryll. Fortunately, I was given the opportunity to be in the ... read more

Well, it’s 10:51pm now. I meant to get some great journaling in today since we had more free time, but I ended up talking to “Ajon" Debbie and one of my roommates, Mary, instead. I’m definitely an external processor, so though it was extremely helpful, it didn't help me get my journaling completed. I finally started to process all the thoughts running through my head from this past weekend. Though we spent a lot of our day touring and orienting to Nakornping Hospital, I really spent most of my time thinking about the values and spirituality that lays at the core of this culture as well as my personal believes in relationship to these. For example, I started thinking about the values that lie at the foundation of Buddhism. I am almost embarrassed to tell people ... read more

Today was our first full day in Chiang Mai. Though we were still tired from our long hours of traveling, we managed to shimmy our way down to breakfast. As we walked to breakfast, extremely humid air flooded into my face. I was already feeling tired and a little week so this did not help my case. I forgot how much of a wimp I was when it came to humid weather. I tried to suck it up and keep moving. This was not going to ruin my hope for a great experience. We scooped up purple sticky rice and pork on a stick wrapped up in a leaf. I loved the presentation, despite being unsure of eating such hardy foods for breakfast. I just want to say the pork was amazing and by far the ... read more