Last Friday was a Food Festival! On the last Friday of every month, the women-groups (one from each department) prepare different Lao traditional food dishes and sell them at the hospital. I tried soo many different dishes, most were very good but some I couldn't get myself to try and some were not really my idea of delicious. I had an awesome fried rice kind of dish that had coconut and peanuts in it and your ate it with all kids of leafy herbs inside a bigger leaf like a taco kind of. I also had the coconut gummy candies that were really good, and some rice with custard that they all think is very nice, but I think te custard could just be alone without the rice and it might be nicer...lol The one thing I really didn't care for was an egg that was cooked, then mixed with a bunch of seasonings and put back into the egg shell and boiled. I don't know if it was the texture or the seasonings, or the combination of the two, but I could only take one bite which is saying it was pretty gross cuz usually I can eat anything. haha I also did not try to egg that contained a baby duck. Even if it did taste delicious I don't know if I could get over it. I was too afraid to try. Besides that their were a ton of various vegetable salads, meatball-type things, rice of course, and some seaweed that is "river-weed" (algae) as they insisted since Laos is a landlocked country--duh Sabrina.
Last weekend I went to Vientiane, the capital city of Laos. It is really quite a small city--about the size of Davis, but with more tall buildings, busy markets, monuments, and temples of course! I pretty much just walked around a bunch, took a couple pictures, ate food, went into shops. It was a nice weekend overall. Nonglak drove me from the hospital since she was going to Udon Thani in Thailand anyway. On Friday night we had dinner with Dr. York (definitely not how you spell his name but w\e). Dr. York is from Germany but has been working with the same agency as Nonglak for 3 years. He worked at Maria Teresa until 2 months ago, but has since decided to do something different. He is currently negotiating a contract with someone who is trying to open a new hospital in Vientiane for the rich of the country, because currently they just go to Thailand for medical care. He thinks this hospital is a start to elevating the health care in Laos, because it will bring in new medical technology and eventually Lao doctors will gain skills and knowledge from the new hospital. Dr. York says that currently in Laos they can do nothing for patients with heart conditions because they don't have the training\facilities for stinting, pace-makers, or any of that stuff that is pretty common in US. The only trauma center in in Vientiane. Also, for some diseases they are only able to treat symptoms because they don't have the funds to obtain the better treatment options. On top of this I have noticed that language is real barrier to the hospital. Most drug information and current research is published in English and sometimes French--but definitely not Laos. Of course many of the doctors can speak and read English, but not all of the staff is proficient, and if you've ever read a drug information sheet it is riddled with technical terms and usually very high-level vocabulary, grammar and sentence structure. Yesterday, one of the nurses, Keota, and I spent over an hour just on the side effects of a particular drug, translating so the nurses will know what to look for and what to warn the patients about. We will finish with the rest of the information today, but of course its just one drug, and I am not usually here to explain, and though some Drs have very good English the translation is a lot of time-consuming work. All in all, I don't know if this elitist hospital will help elevate the level of care in Laos, but I think it is a way to keep Lao money in Lao as well as introduce higher medical technology to the country.
On Sunday night I came back to the hospital and have since then been visiting various wards, helping where I can, but mostly watching and talking. On Wednesday, Dr. Penoulad took me to see the Nam Ngum Dam which generates enough hydroelectric power to serve all of Laos and still have some left over to sell to the Chinese and Thai. Very impressive scenery at the dam, complete with grounds for picnics. We also stopped at a restaurant that is famous for their BBQ duck. It was saep lai lai (very delicious)! Yesterday I visited the nursing school that is next door. Of course the staff were extremely welcoming and took me to lunch and everything. One of the women that works there acutally has family in the US--her mother is currently staying with some cousins there--though I did not understand where she said they were. Oh well. Also, the director of the nursing school is from Vang Vieng, and her brother runs a guesthouse near the river. Since I am going to Vang Vieng next week I think I'll stay there! :-)
So yeah, this weekend I'm just hanging out at the hospital, and then Tues afternoon I'm leaving for Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang, until Friday when I will meet up with Nonglak again in Kasi District to head back to Thailand. I now have a confirmed flight for the 19th, so I will have a couple days to spend down in a nice beach town near Bangkok called Hua Hin. Nonglak recommended the place, said it was a better place for a girl alone to spend time at the beach than on Ko Samet, and it looks like there is tons to do. If I get tired of the beach I can take a trip to the nearby caves, waterfalls(which by the way is what I'm planning on checking out in Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang--there are amazing mountains there to explore!), or to see the royal palace that the royal family uses for vacationing. It looks like an awesome place to rest after a week of heavy duty travelling and spend a few days before the long plane ride home! :-)
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Maria Theresa Hospital
Hello, greetings from vientiane province of laos!
Today was my 3rd/4th day in laos and prob the best yet, despite having a killer headache/cold. I am making friends with the nurses and drs and can almost order my own food in the cantina. ;) in the mornings I usually observe and help minimally in a dept of the hospital, and in the afternoon hold an informal english class for the staff. They can basically speak but conjugating and specific words are difficult which is totallyunderstandable since english doesn't follow simple patterns! So far I've been in the ANC (ante natal care) OPD (out patient dept) and lab. I also visited the provincial hospital in kasi where nonglak (Bea, the woman I've been emailing) is working now. I went with the hospital director, dr virack. He calls me his oldest daughter. Lol. He has 3 real daughters, the oldest is 16 and just started college--dif school sys I think. I met a lot of cuban drs as well. Dr. Virack told me they have a health care exchange program w cuba. Pretty cool. So drs from here go there, and there come here usually for 8 months. I have been reading the vientiane times (english version of course) and really like reading what they print. Great way to learn about laos, southeast asia and really the whole world! New perspective.
On a new note, though I'm having a great experience over here, I've decided to cut my trip short and head back to cali after my hospital work around aug 20th. I've realized that I need to spend some quality family and friend time before the rush of fall quarter. This was a Difficult decision for me to make bc it felt like I was giving up on the experiences I would have here, but I've come to the conclusion that enjoying the company of friends and family is not a part of life that should be sacrificed. I can always come back to thailand and take care of elephants! Hell I'm only 20 that's like a fifth or quarter of my life :)
Sorry if this blog sucks. I'm on my phone and its hard to type! Damn touch screen!
I'm going to visit vientiane (the city) this weekend. Check out a temple or
2, rent a bike, eat baguette sandwiches (french influence), be a farang (nickname for foreign...means guava fruit I think).
Love love love to u all!
Sabrina
Today was my 3rd/4th day in laos and prob the best yet, despite having a killer headache/cold. I am making friends with the nurses and drs and can almost order my own food in the cantina. ;) in the mornings I usually observe and help minimally in a dept of the hospital, and in the afternoon hold an informal english class for the staff. They can basically speak but conjugating and specific words are difficult which is totallyunderstandable since english doesn't follow simple patterns! So far I've been in the ANC (ante natal care) OPD (out patient dept) and lab. I also visited the provincial hospital in kasi where nonglak (Bea, the woman I've been emailing) is working now. I went with the hospital director, dr virack. He calls me his oldest daughter. Lol. He has 3 real daughters, the oldest is 16 and just started college--dif school sys I think. I met a lot of cuban drs as well. Dr. Virack told me they have a health care exchange program w cuba. Pretty cool. So drs from here go there, and there come here usually for 8 months. I have been reading the vientiane times (english version of course) and really like reading what they print. Great way to learn about laos, southeast asia and really the whole world! New perspective.
On a new note, though I'm having a great experience over here, I've decided to cut my trip short and head back to cali after my hospital work around aug 20th. I've realized that I need to spend some quality family and friend time before the rush of fall quarter. This was a Difficult decision for me to make bc it felt like I was giving up on the experiences I would have here, but I've come to the conclusion that enjoying the company of friends and family is not a part of life that should be sacrificed. I can always come back to thailand and take care of elephants! Hell I'm only 20 that's like a fifth or quarter of my life :)
Sorry if this blog sucks. I'm on my phone and its hard to type! Damn touch screen!
I'm going to visit vientiane (the city) this weekend. Check out a temple or
2, rent a bike, eat baguette sandwiches (french influence), be a farang (nickname for foreign...means guava fruit I think).
Love love love to u all!
Sabrina
Monday, July 20, 2009
New Volunteers, Toilets, Clinics, and Hill Tribe Kids
Hey all.
I've had an awesome couple of days. The new volunteers, two brothers from Canada, finally arrived. It's been really nice to have someone more my age and culture to talk to, even if they are city-boys who've never been camping ;). So we went up to a village in the hill tribes and stayed there for 2 days (we came back to base to pick up 2 more volunteers tomorrow). The first day, before breakfast we dug a big hole for a toilet. We ate showered, ate breakfast, and trucked to a church where we set up a clinic for the hill tribe ppl. We got to fill prescriptions that Dr. David gave, which prob doesn't sound that cool but made me feel very important and trusted :-).
When we got back to the village we continued with toilet building by smoothing out an area for the foundation, carrying bags of sand and carrying a bunch of concrete blocks. A lot of the hill tribe kids helped out which made it a lot of fun. Sometimes we raced with the sand bags! haha
After the work, we showered, ate dinner, and played bingo with the hill tribe kids. It was pretty fun for bingo.
The next morning we cleared another area for a toilet foundation and layed the foundation down. The hole was already dug, but all in all, it took us 3 hrs! We ate breakfast/lunch, talked for a bit, and then trucked back to base camp. Did some laundry, and here I am! :-)
I did take pics (and so did one of the kids...his are prob better than mine. lol), but I don't feel like uploading any right now! I promise to get a good pic of our toilet building (finished product hopefully) Gma! :-)
Hugs and Kisses to all
I've had an awesome couple of days. The new volunteers, two brothers from Canada, finally arrived. It's been really nice to have someone more my age and culture to talk to, even if they are city-boys who've never been camping ;). So we went up to a village in the hill tribes and stayed there for 2 days (we came back to base to pick up 2 more volunteers tomorrow). The first day, before breakfast we dug a big hole for a toilet. We ate showered, ate breakfast, and trucked to a church where we set up a clinic for the hill tribe ppl. We got to fill prescriptions that Dr. David gave, which prob doesn't sound that cool but made me feel very important and trusted :-).
When we got back to the village we continued with toilet building by smoothing out an area for the foundation, carrying bags of sand and carrying a bunch of concrete blocks. A lot of the hill tribe kids helped out which made it a lot of fun. Sometimes we raced with the sand bags! haha
After the work, we showered, ate dinner, and played bingo with the hill tribe kids. It was pretty fun for bingo.
The next morning we cleared another area for a toilet foundation and layed the foundation down. The hole was already dug, but all in all, it took us 3 hrs! We ate breakfast/lunch, talked for a bit, and then trucked back to base camp. Did some laundry, and here I am! :-)
I did take pics (and so did one of the kids...his are prob better than mine. lol), but I don't feel like uploading any right now! I promise to get a good pic of our toilet building (finished product hopefully) Gma! :-)
Hugs and Kisses to all
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The Hill Tribes' School
I just returned from 4 days at the Hill Tribes' School. I don't know if it made the sitting and waiting in Chiang Rai worth it, but I definitely had a great time. I taught English to the kids. I taught the 6th graders all day Mon and Tues, and the 4th graders on Wed. I was sooo nervous the 30 minutes of Monday (especially since David didn't tell me I would be teaching them until 5 minutes beforehand), I don't think I've ever been so sweaty from nerves! lol But I got over it and after lunch I actually felt comfortable and like an okay teacher. I got attached to the sixth graders though, and when they told me I was gonna do the 4th graders on Wed morning, I felt cheated. I was just getting to know the 6th graders and they had really started getting stuff I was saying and teaching and then I never came back! I even had a spelling test for them that day! :-( Oh well, c'est la vie. The 4th graders were harder mostly because they would talk and not sit down and they didn't understand me as well. They just had shorter attention spans I guess and I think everything I was doing was hard for them. There were always about 5 kids who were really interested and trying to learn, but 5 others are talking and yelling and getting up it is hard to teach anything! Props to any teacher that does it full time cuz it is exhausting, and these kids were way better mannered than those I've encountered through school (or was at times...)
Outside of class time I played with the kids a lot. We played ping-pong and badmitton, and a kind of jump ropish game...it was wish a long chain of rubberband links and you tried to jump over it either without touching if it was low to the ground, or just to get over it when it was high (like above their heads!) I was pretty bad at the rubberband jump rope game, but the kids were awesome at it!
I also made friends with the teachers. They were all really nice, though most of them could barely speak english. It was okay though. On Tuesday, a teacher that speaks english showed up and translated for us sometimes.
Outside of the ppl, the hills are seriously beautiful. Here's a pic from the school area:
There is so much I have to say, or rather feel/think that I can't seem to express it. I will try.
First of all, David is incredibly caring and very open-minded when it comes to the poor, but it seems he is highly intolerant of more civilized people and choices they make regarding the Hill Tribe peoples. For example, a year ago a solar panel company came and put in a solar panel for each family in every village of the hill tribes. David is upset because many of the tribes don't even have proper toilets or water supply, so electricity is not really a top priority esp since a generator for each family would be much cheaper. I tried to explain why the solar panel company would do what they did i.e. (1) they make solar panels so thats what they feel they can provide, (2) they have never lived in the villages so they dont really know that they need water and toilets the most, (3) they imagine living without electricity to be very difficult and see that as a legit contribution and (4) as most of you know, petroleum use is essentially considered unsustainable and we, as humans, are working (albeit slowly) to cut its use. It's most likely just the different ways we have been raised, and different things we have seen and learned about, b/c to him, the poor hill tribe people are a huge part of his life and I think represent his family that he's left in Burma to him, so helping the hill tribes is how he can help the Burmese ppl (the hill tribes are refugees from the militant Burma/Myanmar...like illegal Mexicans in the US if they built villages in the deserts near the border...which is uninhabitable, but it gives you an idea anyway).
Another thing is how helpful the hill tribe kids are. They literally clean the entire school everyday. They have a little flag ceremony in the morning, and then they go in groups and each do a little chore, like picking up garbage, or sweeping and mopping a specific classroom. Since about half the kids actually live at the school, before dinner they do they same thing, but different chores like cleaning the bathrooms. Given things up there aren't as clean as your home because it's like a summer camp (lots of mud and dirt!), but they help a lot! And this is all the kids, ages 6-11. They eat in a dining hall, here's a pic:
A group of kids cleans up the mats and floor after every meal. Don't be alarmed that they are sitting on the floor to eat because everyone does that like me and the teachers and I think many families around here too.
Oh! And I did find a Thai boy mom....well not really, he is Burmese (from one of the hill tribes), and a teacher at the school and I don't like him at all. lol. well he is nice but yeah. anyway, he speaks very little english and yesterday he asked if i wanted to go to the store (a hill tribe store is essentially someone's hut that has some candies and fruits and spices to sell). It sounded fun so we rode his motorbike through the hills and he asked if i had a boyfriend and if we could be friends (he meant like boyfriend girlfriend). lol it was funny. it took the whole trip, there and back, for him to ask and for me to tell him no i dont have a boyfriend but no I don't want to be your girlfriend and for us both to understand! haaha. he was not upset though, but props to him for trying. there's guys that can fully speak english who are to scared to ask a girl out...and girls for that matter. short story: go for it! it's not that big of a deal to be rejected.
Here are some final pics from the school yard, just because they are pretty. :)
Outside of class time I played with the kids a lot. We played ping-pong and badmitton, and a kind of jump ropish game...it was wish a long chain of rubberband links and you tried to jump over it either without touching if it was low to the ground, or just to get over it when it was high (like above their heads!) I was pretty bad at the rubberband jump rope game, but the kids were awesome at it!
I also made friends with the teachers. They were all really nice, though most of them could barely speak english. It was okay though. On Tuesday, a teacher that speaks english showed up and translated for us sometimes.
Outside of the ppl, the hills are seriously beautiful. Here's a pic from the school area:
There is so much I have to say, or rather feel/think that I can't seem to express it. I will try.
First of all, David is incredibly caring and very open-minded when it comes to the poor, but it seems he is highly intolerant of more civilized people and choices they make regarding the Hill Tribe peoples. For example, a year ago a solar panel company came and put in a solar panel for each family in every village of the hill tribes. David is upset because many of the tribes don't even have proper toilets or water supply, so electricity is not really a top priority esp since a generator for each family would be much cheaper. I tried to explain why the solar panel company would do what they did i.e. (1) they make solar panels so thats what they feel they can provide, (2) they have never lived in the villages so they dont really know that they need water and toilets the most, (3) they imagine living without electricity to be very difficult and see that as a legit contribution and (4) as most of you know, petroleum use is essentially considered unsustainable and we, as humans, are working (albeit slowly) to cut its use. It's most likely just the different ways we have been raised, and different things we have seen and learned about, b/c to him, the poor hill tribe people are a huge part of his life and I think represent his family that he's left in Burma to him, so helping the hill tribes is how he can help the Burmese ppl (the hill tribes are refugees from the militant Burma/Myanmar...like illegal Mexicans in the US if they built villages in the deserts near the border...which is uninhabitable, but it gives you an idea anyway).
Another thing is how helpful the hill tribe kids are. They literally clean the entire school everyday. They have a little flag ceremony in the morning, and then they go in groups and each do a little chore, like picking up garbage, or sweeping and mopping a specific classroom. Since about half the kids actually live at the school, before dinner they do they same thing, but different chores like cleaning the bathrooms. Given things up there aren't as clean as your home because it's like a summer camp (lots of mud and dirt!), but they help a lot! And this is all the kids, ages 6-11. They eat in a dining hall, here's a pic:
A group of kids cleans up the mats and floor after every meal. Don't be alarmed that they are sitting on the floor to eat because everyone does that like me and the teachers and I think many families around here too.
Oh! And I did find a Thai boy mom....well not really, he is Burmese (from one of the hill tribes), and a teacher at the school and I don't like him at all. lol. well he is nice but yeah. anyway, he speaks very little english and yesterday he asked if i wanted to go to the store (a hill tribe store is essentially someone's hut that has some candies and fruits and spices to sell). It sounded fun so we rode his motorbike through the hills and he asked if i had a boyfriend and if we could be friends (he meant like boyfriend girlfriend). lol it was funny. it took the whole trip, there and back, for him to ask and for me to tell him no i dont have a boyfriend but no I don't want to be your girlfriend and for us both to understand! haaha. he was not upset though, but props to him for trying. there's guys that can fully speak english who are to scared to ask a girl out...and girls for that matter. short story: go for it! it's not that big of a deal to be rejected.
Here are some final pics from the school yard, just because they are pretty. :)
Friday, July 10, 2009
Train, Tourists (damn I'm one?), and Chiangrai
What's up ya'll?
Sooo I just spent my first full day with Dr. David who works with the hill tribes near Chiang Rai. We (obviously since I'm on the comp) have not gone to the hill tribes yet, just drove to a boarder town near Burma (Myanmar) to pick up some medicine. I'm calling in Burma b/c he is Burmese and left to finish med school in India due to the military government. They are the ones that changed the name to Myanmar, and he assures me that the Burmese ppl do not accept this and when the miltary government is overthrown, the ppl will have it renamed Burma. He has been gone from his country for 21 years and is unable to go back or contact is family b/c they would get in trouble with the government who screens all incoming email, mail, etc. Sad. Makes my homesickness quite pathetic.
I took an overnight train to Chaing Mai and then a bus to Chiang Rai. First of all, I need to say that the ppl in the dang forum about travelling in Thailand are complainers! The bus I rode was like an airplane it was so nice! They served us Oreos, water and I little wipe to cleanse our hands. AND the toilet was totally western (like with a seat), not a bucket like some dummy in the chat room declared (though many of the toilets in Thailand are squat toilets, which means there is rough edges on the side to grip your feet, then you squat and pee, and rinse it down with a few scoops full of water that is sitting nearby. It's not too bad). Hmm... Anyway, I am not worried about taking an overnight bus to Udon Thani in 2 weeks anymore. Yay!
Next to me on the sleeper train were 4 girls from the US and Canada that were on a guided tour (I heard them talking about prices and this one ran at $4000!!) and they were soooo annoying. I hope that Thai ppl don't think of me that way, though I'm sure they do. :-( Ugh. Anyway, one thing in particular that appalled me was that the tour was taking them to see the "long neck Karens" which if you've watched the Discovery Channel at all, it is a tribe that thinks it is beautiful to have really long necks and so the women weld metal ring around their necks as they grow up, so that it stretches out their necks. I can't believe they take tourist to go LOOK at these ppl!! They are like zoo animals! They are ppl! I talked to David about it and he said that they actually moved the tribe from their native place in the jungle-y hills, to within 15 miles of the city, and they are fenced in a small region, and they told them to build all their houses and everything, and then they bring tourist to come and look at them. Hmmph.
Okay so I'm done ranting, and talking about depressing things that none of you prob care about but me, but I still think you should be aware of how NOT to act...and if I ever hear any of you participating in human zoos, you can't come over to my house anymore! ahha, i'm just kidding, didn't you ever say that as a kid? well, it would just make me think less of you, maybe. I don't know, I would probably rationalize your actions in my head somehow but it would give me a lot to think about anyway.
I looove Chiangrai! It is super hot, but it is very green and much more peaceful of a city. I can't wait to go to the hill tribes, and I will let you know how that goes when I get back!
XOXO
(Sorry no pics)
Sooo I just spent my first full day with Dr. David who works with the hill tribes near Chiang Rai. We (obviously since I'm on the comp) have not gone to the hill tribes yet, just drove to a boarder town near Burma (Myanmar) to pick up some medicine. I'm calling in Burma b/c he is Burmese and left to finish med school in India due to the military government. They are the ones that changed the name to Myanmar, and he assures me that the Burmese ppl do not accept this and when the miltary government is overthrown, the ppl will have it renamed Burma. He has been gone from his country for 21 years and is unable to go back or contact is family b/c they would get in trouble with the government who screens all incoming email, mail, etc. Sad. Makes my homesickness quite pathetic.
I took an overnight train to Chaing Mai and then a bus to Chiang Rai. First of all, I need to say that the ppl in the dang forum about travelling in Thailand are complainers! The bus I rode was like an airplane it was so nice! They served us Oreos, water and I little wipe to cleanse our hands. AND the toilet was totally western (like with a seat), not a bucket like some dummy in the chat room declared (though many of the toilets in Thailand are squat toilets, which means there is rough edges on the side to grip your feet, then you squat and pee, and rinse it down with a few scoops full of water that is sitting nearby. It's not too bad). Hmm... Anyway, I am not worried about taking an overnight bus to Udon Thani in 2 weeks anymore. Yay!
Next to me on the sleeper train were 4 girls from the US and Canada that were on a guided tour (I heard them talking about prices and this one ran at $4000!!) and they were soooo annoying. I hope that Thai ppl don't think of me that way, though I'm sure they do. :-( Ugh. Anyway, one thing in particular that appalled me was that the tour was taking them to see the "long neck Karens" which if you've watched the Discovery Channel at all, it is a tribe that thinks it is beautiful to have really long necks and so the women weld metal ring around their necks as they grow up, so that it stretches out their necks. I can't believe they take tourist to go LOOK at these ppl!! They are like zoo animals! They are ppl! I talked to David about it and he said that they actually moved the tribe from their native place in the jungle-y hills, to within 15 miles of the city, and they are fenced in a small region, and they told them to build all their houses and everything, and then they bring tourist to come and look at them. Hmmph.
Okay so I'm done ranting, and talking about depressing things that none of you prob care about but me, but I still think you should be aware of how NOT to act...and if I ever hear any of you participating in human zoos, you can't come over to my house anymore! ahha, i'm just kidding, didn't you ever say that as a kid? well, it would just make me think less of you, maybe. I don't know, I would probably rationalize your actions in my head somehow but it would give me a lot to think about anyway.
I looove Chiangrai! It is super hot, but it is very green and much more peaceful of a city. I can't wait to go to the hill tribes, and I will let you know how that goes when I get back!
XOXO
(Sorry no pics)
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Ayutthaya
Okay, now that I've gotten the randomness out, I can hopefully spit out something more interesting.
Yesterday I spent the day exploring Bangkok...kind of. I found a gym, which if you know me at all, you know I'm stoked about. I also found a delicious Indian restaurant. Here's a picture with the owner. :-P And she's Thai, but her Indian food is prob the best I've ever had!
I also had these AMAZING grilled bananas from a street stand. The ones grilled in peel are like pudding but 80x better (no white sugar, haha) and the ones grilled outside their peel are firm on the outside, so the sugar is carmelized and... kind of firm on the inside too-pretty much like a banana. lol Anyway, I'm totally trying that when I get home. Cept the bananas were smaller, but I think its the same just not on steroids :)
It is Buddhist lent right now, which to my eyes means that the people give money, food, and flowers to monks as well as on shrines (which are everywhere by the way). They also bow to the shrines and buddhas and burn incense and put gold gum wrappers (not really gum wrappers but they look like it. foil-y stuff) on the buddhas and hold flowers to them as they pray. They seem a very religious bunch, but then again that's coming from me. There are a lot of rules about the different places I have been since a lot of them are related to Buddhism (since its the main religion of Thailand, duh). First of all, no shoes in royal or religious places. The king is kind of like a demi-god. You cannot tower over buddha. I think that's why most of the shrines are built so tall or up on pedestals. Here's some pics of various Buddha's/shrines (sorry everything is sideways).
Just kidding the cat's not a Buddha. But to me it's a god ;-)
Most of these are taken in Ayutthaya, which is a province that's modern buildings are built around the ruins of the ancient city. We visited the ancient royal palace, where all the buddha's head are chopped off because the Burmese chopped them off during a war...sorry I'm not more knowledgable than that, but I believe it was around 400 years ago. I didn't think that was quite long enough to be considered ancient but hey, whatever.
We also saw some elephants dancing (some painted like koalas...WTF), and yes, I rode one Katie! :-) Here's the pic though you can't really tell I'm on an elephant. Two of the girls (women?) that were on this trip with me just finished me school in England! It was cool to talk to them. It's only 5 years since they don't do undergrad. And they can only apply to 4 medschools. iteresting. Anyway, they are going into residency for 2 years now. The other tour members were a wedding planner from Italy and her father. Cute.
One last random note: the mosquitoes here are STEALTHY! I've only seen ONE and have been bitten nearly 10 times. They are tiny and quiet. We breed some trollish mountain species at home I think. :P I need to start taking my B-vitamins so they'll leave me alone! And wear bug spray...haha
Observations
First, afew things I've noticed/learned about Bangkok:
1) there are a lotof people cleaning the city. This is good because it would probably smell a hell of a lot worse if they did not. Considering, I think they do a pretty good job. It's gotta be difficult to clean up after thousands of cooks on the street everyday ;-)
2) Parks are really nice. This is somewhat of a general observation, but I've really come to love the parks here in Bangkok specifically.
3) Bangkok has 2 types of police: tourist police and regulat police. We get our own police force we are so bad! haha Also, they have traffic police and sky train police. I'm not sure if these are in their own category as security gaurds are in CA, but that's how I think of them anyway.
4) On the topic of the sky train, I LOVE IT! It is an amazing way to get around and way better than the metro because it's above ground and you get to see the entire city as you zoom along. Not only that it totally beats sitting in Bangkok traffic or the awkward haggling for a reasonable price that accompanies taking a taxi, tuk-tuk or motorcycle. Whew!
5) There are pics of the king (and some of the queen) everywhere! On the streets, in my tour van, on shrines...some on the streets are building sized. TheThai love their royalty apparently.
I also need to correct myself from the last post: the current kingis Rama IX, named Bhumibol Adulyadej (and his wife Queen Sirikit). Interesting info: He is 84, she is 77 (or 76...) and he has been king for around 64 years (I can't remember precisely)
1) there are a lotof people cleaning the city. This is good because it would probably smell a hell of a lot worse if they did not. Considering, I think they do a pretty good job. It's gotta be difficult to clean up after thousands of cooks on the street everyday ;-)
2) Parks are really nice. This is somewhat of a general observation, but I've really come to love the parks here in Bangkok specifically.
3) Bangkok has 2 types of police: tourist police and regulat police. We get our own police force we are so bad! haha Also, they have traffic police and sky train police. I'm not sure if these are in their own category as security gaurds are in CA, but that's how I think of them anyway.
4) On the topic of the sky train, I LOVE IT! It is an amazing way to get around and way better than the metro because it's above ground and you get to see the entire city as you zoom along. Not only that it totally beats sitting in Bangkok traffic or the awkward haggling for a reasonable price that accompanies taking a taxi, tuk-tuk or motorcycle. Whew!
5) There are pics of the king (and some of the queen) everywhere! On the streets, in my tour van, on shrines...some on the streets are building sized. TheThai love their royalty apparently.
I also need to correct myself from the last post: the current kingis Rama IX, named Bhumibol Adulyadej (and his wife Queen Sirikit). Interesting info: He is 84, she is 77 (or 76...) and he has been king for around 64 years (I can't remember precisely)
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