grenades and beaches

We made it to the beautiful coast in the south, a painful but pretty uneventful 25 hour journey (about 20 of which were on a bus)...but here's a clip from the news about what's happening in Bangkok.  Hopefully things will improve by the time we need to fly out:


A string of grenade attacks targeting state-affiliated facilities occurred in Bangkok on March 28. Unidentified assailants fired two M79 grenades into the compound of the 11th Infantry Regiment headquarters in Bang Khen district on the northern outskirts of Bangkok at around 0400, wounding four soldiers. While one grenade fell on the lawn near the main gate, the other fell on a parked army truck in which some soldiers were sleeping. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has been living and sleeping at the infantary barracks since the start of the United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) or "red-shirted" protests on March 14.

A grenade also exploded outside the home of former Prime Minister Banharn Silapa-archa near Soi Charan Sanitwong 57 at around 2220,  injuring one person. Banharn, who was premier from mid-1995 to late-1996, is now chief adviser to Chart Thai Pattana, one of the parties in the government coalition led by Abhisit. A grenade was launched at a Bangkok Bank branch near Soi Borromratchonnanee 24 in Taling Chan area at around 2300.  Earlier in the evening, an unidentified gunman fired several shots at the Bangkok Bank's Saphon Khao branch on Lan Luang Road. No casualties or injuries were reported in both these attacks.

Mae Tao Clinic

We finally were fortunate enough to set foot in the famous Mae Tao Clinic run by Dr Cynthia (who was not there on our first day, so we haven't met her yet).  Our collective first impression was WOW.  Compared to what we've seen and experienced over the last 7 weeeks in Kenya and Lebanon, this clinic is so well organized, structurally appealing, clean, well staffed, FULL of patients who are calm and quiet, and incredibly multi-disciplinary (i.e. - in addition to the standard adult and pediatric wards, they have a fully functional dental clinic, acupuncture clinic, mental health clinic, prosthetic clinic, and school for unaccompanied children.

This clinic has been around since 1989, and was started by Dr Cynthia Maung and six "students" (referring to educated people within Burma who were part of the opposition, not specifically medical students) after a brutal military crackdown in Burma.  The clinic, or what would now more closely resemble a hospital, started out in a small rickety wooden building with only the medical instruments and medications that Dr Cynthia packed in a woven bag that she carried with her when she escaped through eastern Burma over the course of 10 days.  Today their budget is $2.9 million and has a staff that is primarily Burmese and Thai, but includes many foreigners.  They see 2,500 deliveries per year, and have been able to work with the Thai government to give these previously stateless newborns a birth certificate, which does not grant them citizenship or nationality, but does allow them to access the Thai education system (for regular tuition fees) and to have an identity.  Something we all take for granted - just to have an identity on paper.

We have been coordinating our time here with a woman named Eh Thwa, who introduced us to Kun Way, our liason on our first day.  As if a thick Burmese accent was not hard enough to decipher, add to it the local tradition of chewing Betel Nut and what you get is a conversation peppered with "what was that?" "i'm sorry, can you repeat that?" "huh?"  but he was great and very patient with us as we asked all kinds of questions about the clinic!

We ran in to a doctor in the OB/Women's Health department from UC Davis who frequently works at Mae Tao, named Terry Smith.  The maternal mortality rate within Burma is approximately 1/100.  That's insane.  Fortunately many women are able to come to the clinic here to give birth, and the clinic also helps train Traditional Birthing Attendants to be able to assess high risk births and know when to bring women to the hospital.  The woman laying next to her newborn was in the room for women in labor and recently delivered, she will be going home soon and will take part in a teaching seminar held under the shade of a tin awning, informing women on what to expect, and giving them options for family planning.  One thing I remember noticing was how many fathers were present for these teaching sessions, they seemed incredibly involved.

We came across the crowds of mothers and babies who came to the clinic on this sunny saturday morning for the vaccination clinic, which has been around for over a decade.   Despite the cries of the babes, the endless string of parents were so relaxed while they waited, and the set up was so streamlined.

The other photos are from:
- an empty 2L Sprite bottle holding all the used acupuncture needles at the acupunture clinic, which was started by a german MD/acupuncturist several months ago.  He says he gets sent all the patients who have failed all other treatments and are at their last resort.
- the lab where bloodwork is done, however they only have the resources available to check for malaria, check hemoglobin levels, check blood glucose, and one other test i'm blanking out on.  Some tests can be sent off to the Mae Sot Hospital (the local Thai hospital), but it's really frustrating when you have a patient with suspected liver and kidney problems and you can't even get basic liver function tests, urinanalysis, or basic chemistry panel.  They had a visiting hematology fellow from the U.K. who had taught them how to do a manual CBC (counting blood cells under the microscope - done by machines in developed countries), but they no longer do them.
- the eye clinic, where trauma to the eye, glaucoma, and cataract are common.
- the dental clinic...fun.

FYI - "Betel chewing has been claimed to produce a sense of well-being, euphoria, heightened alertness, sweating, salivation, a hot sensation in the body and increased capacity to work."

The beautiful children of Mae Tao

I'm a little biased, going in to pediatrics and all...  but these children are so gorgeous!  The girl at the top posed spontaneously when she saw me with my camera.

Saturday night in Mae Sot

Photos from a random festival we came across on our way home from dinner tonight...

Mae Sot market

The Mae Sot market is just up the street from us, so we are lucky enough to be able to buy fresh produce any time we want.  The market is constantly busy, and they have the widest array of products one could want.  We haven't yet bought our own chicken, but it's nice to know that we could if we wanted.  Something new that I'd never seen before in my travels is the platter of egg yolks of different stages of development, that at first glance had me thinking they were little golden cherry tomatoes.  They were tangled amidst some other inner parts that none of us could really identify but had some guesses nonetheless.  We also aren't sure how one goes about preparing the yolk clusters, or if there's any noticeable difference in taste or texture as the yolks age...

I bought some garlic from this little boy who was entrusted with his father's cart, who was keeping watch from a short distance, but was quick to come help him with the price calculation!  We all initially assumed that the yellow paint on the faces of the children and adults here must have some religious or ceremonial history, but when I asked someone they told me it was for skin protection from the sun...  Many people wear it in decorative patterns and it's always the same color, but we have yet to find out what it's made from.

This is a stall where people sit down for a quick meal.  We tend to linger just by nature, but most locals come, order, eat within 10 minutes, and leave on their way. For dessert, which seems to be a huge affair here with endless selections, there are rows upon rows of colorful sticky goo-like paste with various fruits or corn mixed in... I can't remember the name of it.  I wanted to try it since we see it on every street corner, and while some of the flavors are great - sweet corn, or black beans - the consistency of goo leaves something to be desired.  I'm sticking with the mango and sticky rice for now.

An epic hourney to the land of sensory overload, otherwise known as Thailand

When you first arrive in Thailand you might notice, as we did, the fascinating written characters.  They're so loopy and curly, almost a silly looking language but silly in a good way.  From a distance if you blur your eyes, sometimes it almost starts to look like English, but soon you realize it's definitely not.  It's almost feels like what I'd imagine it would be like to be illiterate, where none of the symbols make any sense no matter how long you stare at them.

After leaving Beirut and stopping over in Abu Dhabi for an hour, we took a red-eye to Bangkok and landed around 7:30am...not leaving us much time to get our bags, get through customs, get money out, take a cab to the bus station, and board the 9am bus to Mae Sot.  But we're awesome and we made it with about 10 seconds to spare.  The bus ride was long, we arrived around 5:30pm, but the fact the roads are well maintained made it a completely different experience from Kenya.  That, and there was air conditioning, and people weren't crammed standing up in the aisles for 10 hours throwing up onto the floor or into marika's lap.  We took a tuk-tuk to the main market and after wandering around with all our backpacks we finally got some help and found our new home.  It's a 2-story traditional thai looking house on a side street in between two major one-way roads through town.  THe long alley way that leads to the house is home to two raggedy old dogs with raggedy old barks, if you can even call them barks.

We rented bikes to get around, which sounds great, and it is because you get a little breeze going which makes the 96 degree humidity a little less stifling, but there is SO much to take in on the streets that it was a little dangerous at first.  The smells coming from all the roadside chefs, preparing their soups and satays and other tasty looking concoctions with colorful ingredients.  You also have to navigate the visual stimulation from all the young people strolling around, the little grannies standing and watching life go by, the old men lining the clothing and electronic shops staring you down as you pass by, and not to mention the plethora of potholes, people carrying babies on their scooters, and other bicycles.

Our first stop was a this little roadside shack with the two old ladies who didn't speak a single word of English, and our Thai was limited to hello, thank you, pad thai and basil chicken.  After a long game of charades, and providing much entertainment to the 15 or so locals who came/ordered/ate/and left while we were trying to order, we finally just pointed to the bowl of the girl sitting next to me and decided to try whatever she was having. 

The bowl of noodle soup was interesting, with a strong fishy flavor and miniscule dried shrimp, but was not filling.  I guess I forgot to mention that we hadn't had anything to eat since the airplane ride and were absolutely famished and delirious when we got to Mae Sot.  Next on our culinary adventure was the Night Market in Mae Sot.  Imagine a block lined on both sides with food stalls selling everything from soup, fruit, juice, noodles, and unidentifiable meat on a stick.  We found a stall that was packed with locals so we sat down for some pad thai (for 20 Baht, less than a dollar for a generous size plate).  This trip is going to make it all the more painful to pay $14 for a place of pad thai back home, that doesn't even come close to the rich flavors we found here.  They always give you a whole plate of sprouts to add to your pile of noodles, and there's a wide assortment of hot sauces - my favorite is the orange-colored one in front - it cuts the sweetness of the pad thai and makes it more savory, but giving it a nice kick with the peppers.  yummmmmmmmmm.  For less than a buck, I know we'll become regulars here.  After getting mango and sticky rice for desert, we had spent a grand total of $4 among the 3 of us for our 3 courses.

Here's what we flew in to yesterday

"The Public Health Ministry has assessed that the smog situation in northern Thailand will likely continue in the coming weeks. Regional health officials have advised people to remain indoors, keep hydrated and wear facemasks, eyeglasses and long-sleeved shirts to prevent skin irritation."  GREAT!!   all I want to do when it's 96 degrees and humid is wear a facemask and long-sleeve shirt.

and...

"Bangkok is on high alert since March 12 when tens of thousands of UDD supporters converged in the national capital for a mass rally on March 14. The government invoked the Internal Security Act in Bangkok and seven neighboring provinces through March 23, allowing the military to ban public gatherings, impose curfews and restore public order if police cannot handle the situation. The UDD on March 18 announced plans to continue protesting in Bangkok indefinitely. UDD leaders stated that the group will continue to rally at the Phan Fa bridge and that protesters will follow Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to his appearances. Abhisit has continued to express willingness to hold talks with UDD leaders, but has refused to concede to the protesters' main demands and resign."

last day in Beirut :(

Yesterday Josh, Marika and I took a stroll around our neighborhood for a few hours to soak in the gorgeous weather and images of Beirut before leaving today.  The night before we had gone out to celebrate the fact that the 3 of us matched to one of our choices for residency and didn't have to spend our last night in Beirut on the phone trying to scramble for an unfilled spot somewhere undesirable.  We find out exactly where we match around midnight in Thailand (our flight leaves this afternoon for the next stage of our adventure).  So "mabrouk" to us for getting a spot!!!!!!!

We started off at the local organic farmers market near our place where we ate some freshly made Sage with greens, goat cheese, tomato, olives, and olive oil wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla type thing...yum.  I bought a jar of local honey, which is basically going to feel like a brick in my suitcase, but i can't resist the light molasses-consistency goodness...especially on a fresh piece of pita.

I had to include a shot of our favorite ice cream place, conveniently at the bottom of our apartment building, or maybe not so conveniently since all our jeans are fitting a little tighter than when we arrived a month ago.  There's also a tiny espresso booth where Ahmad sells 30-cent espresso (can't beat that after a late nght of salsa dancing before heading to work).  It's an extremely busy intersection where we live, taxis passing by ALL day and night, honking non-stop, cursing out the window at other maniac drivers.  What's cool about Ahmad's shop is that he knows so many people from working here on this corner, that cabbies will pass by and without even telling him what they want, he knows their usual order and runs out to the street to give them their desired brand of cancer sticks in exchange for the Lira he's owed.   Our first day here we stayed and chatted with him a while and he gave us our first espresso on the house, telling us he had the best coffee in Beirut, and even better - that they're open 24 hrs.  We'll miss his giant smile :)

We decided to walk down to the waterfront since the sun was shining brightly, and on the way we passed walls that were covered with all kinds of graffiti and posters, mostly political in nature, and some more blunt than others!  There's such a sense of political awareness and frustration with the state of things around the AUB campus, yet at the same time there are Syrian children trying to make a living selling roses on the street at night.  This city is so full of contrasts.

The wind really kicked up when we were at the water, and Josh had fun playing chicken with the waves as they crashed against the walls (we actually had quite a bit of fun watching him too), some of them went as high as about 50 feet!

It's really common to find fresh-squeezed juice of all kinds (even with avocado, carrot, etc) on every street corner here.  Another contradiction with people wanting fresh healthy fruit juice along with their 3 packs a day.  But this guy was irresistible with his orange-grapefruit combo, the juice sparkling in the afternoon sun, and it was as refreshing as it looked.   Near the juice man was two crowds of old curmudgeon-y types huddled around backgammon tables.  Their focus was so intense, and few words were exchanged between them, however the ones hovering around who were just observing waved me over and I couldn't not take their photo.  It reminded me of the giant chess set in the park downtown in Sarajevo that would be occupied by old men each afternoon in a quiet escape from their other obligations.

I want to thank all the new friends I've made here, Benoit, Nizar, Roudy, Mo, Michael, Sam, Salwa, and my old buddy Vladan, for making this such an incredible month and making it so hard for me to leave (only the thought of the beaches in Thailand make it a little easier...).  I hope to see all you guys again sometime soon, either here in Beirut or in some far off land!