Last blog

It's been a while since I've written a new update. Things in generally have been more focussed on working at the hospital and writing reports in the afternoons and evenings. The weather here has changed. In June the monsoon starts, but we've got a nice preview of that already. We've had already quite a few days with lots and lots of rain, which cools things down here a bit. (I'd almost say it would get a little cold, but then that feeling passes away quickly) As I'm writing now it's again pouring with rain. I can't believe how quickly time has passed by! In some ways it seems like I've been here forever, but in others like I just arrived yesterday. I can tell you one thing, I don't think I understand much more about the Thai people. Of course I've only been here for a short while, but I've noticed it's really hard to get to know a Thai person, or understand how things work.

I've had a really interesting month at the hospital. I was at surgery and got an opportunity to learn a lot. It seemed to be the opposite of gynaecology last month where I meanly got to practise my sitting skills. They were really friendly and explained and translated a lot. They also challenged me by asking a lot of questions, which was especially challenging at 7 in the morning, as I don't have a full brain capacity in the morning and they start a bit earlier here than I'm used to in Belgium. I really enjoyed being there, and I was much more motivated to go there every morning. They spend some time to teach me some Thai in between also, but I haven't got the hang of it. Even though you think you know a word, the tunes come out wrong every time and they stare at you with this Thai smile (the one that doesn't understand what you're saying). But once they get the fact you're trying to speak a few words Thai they lighten up and you're rewarded by a flood of words in Thai. On the other hand, as I was able to understand more about what's going on, I also got to see more things that aren't going so well. Apart from the Thai people there are also quite a few Burmese people in the hospital. The Thai depend on them to do the dirty jobs, but are still illegal. This means they don't have any insurance and earn only a little money. It is really sad, as they often come to the hospital with an extremely severe form of a certain disease when it's already too late to treat, and there's not much you can do anymore. Or a patient that was admitted to the ICU with a stroke and many more medical problems, but she doesn't have insurance and there's not much that will be done. And even if they would treat her, she will need medication and physiotherapy she will not be able to pay for. So, even if she survives this, she will go home half paralyzed, not able to make money for her family or to take care of herself, or even to go to the toilet. And of course she's not the only one, there are so many that don't even make it to the hospital. The time at the hospital is finished now, and I'm looking back with mixed feelings.

A week ago Damaris' husband arrived here, and we've been on a few trips around Chiang Mai since then. I will put a few pictures, to give an impression what it looks like. For now we've only got 2 more days left in Chiang Mai, after that we will go to the beaches for a few days and we hope to arrive in Belgium the 6th of June. I think this will be the last blog from Thailand, thanks for reading and for the encouragement and messages from home; that really means a lot.

See you soon!