the hill tribes

so, we are back on the mountainous, windy road from Nan to Chiang Klang. we arrived in time for dinner and got to truly see the facilities of the property. there are several houses and a building with individual rooms to house the clinic's nurse aids, nurses, and volunteers like us. julie is in room 6 and i am in room 7 on the first floor. we have an outdoor bathroom just outside our door, which means the sink is outside, but the toilet and heated shower are inside. everything is so nice, i mean great tiled floors and rooms with ceiling fans. we are blessed to have these living conditions. it is so rural here b/c we are surrounded by beautiful green rice feilds and have a view of the foothills to the mountains. the tropical lush around here is so great with such green foliage and brilliant fuscia colors for flowers. i love brushing my teeth outside and looking at the scenery knowing there is no one around. it is so peaceful and serene here and safe. they have a nice pond and the tennis courts are in the middle with buildings surrounding its perimeters. the clinic is on one end. it is so nice. tuesday morning we went to work for the first time with Dr. Ashburn at 8:45 am. oh, every morning at 6:30 am you can hear the thai news/propaganda on loud speakers being blasted from the village. it is strange to hear that. the last time i woke up to loud sounds was in college and it was the Aggie band practicing. no, this is not quite as musical. that is the only way the villagers get news though. the houses they live in vary from nice stucco structures, to more rugged buildings. we followed Dr. Ashburn for two patients with him and then were on our own. dr. tom, julie, and i each separately went in the three rooms of the clinic with a nurse aid who translated for us and after we examined them and took a history and physical we would give our assessment and plan to dr. tom and he would agree with us or go back in the room for more clarification. we saw things from scabies (i'm itching at the thought), well woman exams, diabetes, HTN, musculoskelatal pains to a very interesting case involving a mother and a daughter. you see, these two were coming in b/c the 16 year old was pregnant by two months and they already made the decision to abort. well, this is not exactly the clinic that would condone that. we want to promote the life of God's children. it was interesting to hear Dr. Tom explain scientifically and medically the statistics about how the risks of breast cancer, infertility, and depression significantly go up with abortions. they raised their eyebrows a few times, but were not phased by it. their decision still stood. you can't just tell them but what if God has a plan for your child, b/c culturally they don't believe in God. things we take forgranted in the states, even if people don't believe, they at least know about it. he did say, your child could be the next prime minister of thailand. hmm. stuff to think about. i prayed silently for them the whole time. we asked to pray with them and they declined. you never know, a seed was planted and maybe they will go home with second thoughts. then we went over to Jerry's house, right next door to the Ashburns and ate lunch. Jerry is a single missionary from Colorado and such a great lady. She wasn't there then so we tried to communicate with the cook who only speaks Thai. We learned how to say "thank you" kapoonkut. we also learned how to say "hello" or "goodbye" greeting--sawadeekah. you say that with your hands in the praying position and you bow your head down. i love it! so polite! thai has five intonations, but we can't go there.