Thailand

Conclusion

In regards to being a doctor, this trip really showed me that I really do want to be a doctor and that all the years of school will be worth it. The main reason this trip confirmed this for me was after watching how poorly patients received treatment, and that’s just in a developing country, let alone a third world country. Being a doctor would give me the chance to go to less fortunate countries and help in their healthcare systems. While in Thailand, I was always feeling the urge to help patients in a more American style, such as using gloves and being sanitary around patients. It seriously was painful to watch the doctors and nurses use such negligent care with wounds. They would always touch with no gloves after just putting on some hand sanitizer, which does clean their hands, but still not enough to be safe to touch an open wound.

I also developed my want to be a doctor after watching a bunch of surgeries. I could stand there staring at the surgery going on for hours, never getting bored. It was all so interesting and I feel as if I could never get bored with my job as a doctor. 

I really want to go back to Thailand once I’m a doctor to help the patients myself. I also want to go back just because it’s absolutely amazing. I highly suggest anyone who has the chance to go to Thailand should take that chance without a doubt. Maybe on my return to Thailand, I’ll go visit worse off countries and volunteer at those hospitals and clinics as well. This trip opened my eyes to how amazing the US healthcare system is and how clean and safe operations and surgeries are in the US, compared to most other countries.

This trip exceeded my expectations in every way possible. This trip opened my eyes how kind Thai people are and how welcoming they are to foreigners, the happiness beyond money, and how much joy I will one day receive from helping others in need.

Phuket

Sorry it’s been a while since I posted, but I’m finally back in the US! And it’s been busy ever since. The last week in Thailand was amazing, spent in Phuket, a well known beach area. The first day we went walking around the town and went to Patong beach. It was absolutely gorgeous, but the sun was so intense and sunburn was unavoidable. We then went to Bangla Road that night, which was a few miles of just bars and was really fun and full of tourists. We ended up just sitting on the beach later that night and relaxing.

The next day, we took a tour of the Koh Phi Phi islands, including Maya Bay and many other famous beaches. The best part was that we took a speedboat out to the islands for about an hour, and the whole way, we were going through a storm, so the swells and waves were huge. We were going 70 knots, or 80 mph, through the ocean, and since I was one of the men who was strong enough to hold on, I was pushed up to the very front of the boat, exposed to the rain and the huge ups and downs of the boat. When we would hit waves, all of us in the front would come off our seats by a foot or two, then slam back down. Despite the fear of flying out and dying, it was the best adrenaline rush ever and one of my favorite memories of the trip. Just looking out at the ocean with absolutely nothing in sight, and only huge waves and storm clouds, with music blasting in my ears, I could not have been happier. The first stop was Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi Ley. Then many other bays and sights. The water was so clear and turquoise and you could see straight to the bottom of the ocean floor. By the time we arrived, the storms had passed and the weather was beautiful. The whole day passed by with seeing other small islands, Monkey Beach, Koh Phi Phi Don (the bigger island of the two) and many other places. We went swimming, snorkeling, and sat in chairs on beaches everywhere. It was an amazing tour and the best part was the speedboat ride.

The day after, another guy and I decided to rent motorbikes and go around the island of Phuket and explore. It was really cheap too! We already knew that driving in Thailand was quite a difficult task due to traffic and the scooters weaving through cars, but we luckily picked up on the driving style pretty quickly. We found a highway that was like the PCH in California, and it weaved along the ocean and had beautiful views. That night, we walked along the beach for a while and just talked and it was really relaxing. There’s just something about the beach and the sound of waves that just makes everyone relaxed.

The final day in Phuket, we didn’t do much besides relax and nap. One of the other volunteers and I decided to rent another scooter that day and go to Cape Promthep, the southernmost part of the island of Phuket. Words can’t even describe how amazing it was.

The next day we took a flight back to Bangkok and hung out with all the other volunteers and said our goodbyes. As sad as it was to leave Thailand, I was also very happy to be heading back to the US, even if it would take 40 hours of traveling to get home.

So now a recap of my whole trip and how it changed me. Well to start, I am much more appreciative of hot showers, air conditioning, and nice beds. I also can’t wait to finally not be living out a suitcase. I also learned that Thai people are by far the nicest people you will ever meet. Every experience I had in Thailand was made so much better by how kind the Thai people were. I also did everything I would ever imagine to do in Thailand so I would say the trip was a success. I have found that not worrying and stressing makes everything better. Backpacking through Thailand and not even knowing where you would be sleeping that night could be very nerve-racking, but by not stressing, everything worked out better and easier. Similar to this, I’ve learned that living in the present is the best way to go through life. Your past is your past, and you shouldn’t carry that baggage with you. It can’t be changed and will only slow you down. Your future will come and the only way you can influence it is through your present, so in life, we should try to live our lives in the moment - from the wise words of the Buddha. I was also taught how to meditate! I might not be good, but it’s still fun to do and if anyone wants to learn, let me know! Oh and don’t worry, I’m not converting (despite how cool it is). So that’s my trip to Thailand! I feel as if all of my blogs have barely scratched the surface as to how much I experienced and learned, and if you want to know more, please let me know and I would love to tell you more about it! It was a life-changing experience and more exciting than I ever could have imagined.

I’ve officially lost eight pounds so far… A result of no substantial protein in any meals, and only being able to do some push ups and sit ups at night. This makes me sad :( but today is the last day at the hospital, then tomorrow I’m teaching English to a class of little kids. And tomorrow night, flying to Phuket for the rest of my time in Thailand!

I’ve only learned a little bit about Buddhism so far, but I want to learn so much more.

Chiang Mai

So over the past weekend, the plan was just to go to Chiang Mai with the other two people at my hospital and just try to find things to do. Luckily, on our way up there, some other people from the program who were up in Chiang Mai doing Buddhist meditation for two weeks happened to text us saying the got done with their program early and wanted to hang out with us. So now we had more people to hang out with! And even better, Friday night as we were in the city, we ran into four more people from the program who just happened to be there too. So it went from just three of us in Chiang Mai to 10, which definitely made the weekend more fun. Friday we traveled to Doi Suthep to meet with the Buddhist group. We just walked around and went to one of the backpacker roads in the city. Saturday, we all took a tour to Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in Thailand. It was amazingly beautiful and had a bunch of waterfalls. We also saw a Hill Tribe, which are refugees from Burma living in the mountains. And they had bags of freshly roasted coffee beans that they grew and roasted themselves, so I bought some for a whopping $6. Later that night, our whole group explored the city more. On Sunday, we went to a few markets, got foot massages, had sushi from stands on the street (and still didn’t get food poisoning!) and bought some small souvenirs. We just got off the overnight train back to our homestay towns so back to the hospital for the week to see some more surgeries and watch nurses. We just had another group of first year medical school students join us at the hospital, so that’ll be nice to have more Americans around to talk to. On Friday, a group of us volunteers are meeting at Phuket for a week long beach vacation to end the trip, then it’s back to America!

Second Week in the Hospital

So this past week, I’ve been observing the lab, ER, and OR and seen some amazing things. Lab was pretty boring, as you could imagine. We took our own blood and learned how to do some tests. And I found out that only 0.2% of Thai people have my blood type (O-) and I can only receive from O-. So let’s hope I don’t need blood while I’m here! The ER was surprisingly boring. Just people with chest pains and small cuts needing stitches. The OR was cool though. We saw a man with mouth cancer, so they removed half of his jaw and replaced his jaw bone with his fibula from his leg. It was a 12 hour surgery, but we left after three hours. I couldn’t imagine staying there for so long. Soon we’re learning how to give Thai massages, then tonight we are taking an overnight train to Chiang Mai to see all the other volunteers from our group! And if you watch the Bachelorette (Stephanie, Jacqui, Brandon, and family), they go to Chiang Mai on next weeks episode. Only two more weeks left in Thailand, and it’s a little bitter sweet. Time to leave the coffee shop with free wifi that we found. Be back Monday!