fun with friends in february

after dropping liz off to the airport, i returned to our studio feeling that it was strangely empty and quiet. we have been living in quite close quarters the past ten days, and i haven't really had a moment alone, so it's easy to forget what it's like to be by yourself. it reminds me of college when people are moving out but you're still around, or after honors exams at swarthmore and not having ANY assignments to do.

liz has been *much* better about blogging through her thailand adventures, but i have semi-good excuses (work, etc.) so i won't try to go into as much detail as she did over the past week, but will try to capture some of the highlights.

movies:
we watched lots of them. some i'd already seen before, but some were new. in the theater, we saw Final Score, a movie that followed a group of 11th grade guys at Suankulab School in Bangkok the year before graduation (also the year of entrance exams). It was funny, realistic, and actually really good! I enjoyed it and am very thankful that we don't have to take entrance exams (of this magnitude) in the States....and happy that other things besides test scores count.
other movies we watched in the past few weeks: thank you for smoking, talladega nights, ice age 2, nine lives, monster house, cars, the breakup, a winged migration, and this film is not yet rated.

movie-like shows:
simon cabaret (see liz's blog for this one). i think phuket's is better, but it was still fun. going with the transgender/transsexual theme, we also saw part of a drag show contest/charity fundraiser titled 'Miss Queen of Chiang Mai' for Valentine's Day at the Night Bazaar last night.

national parks:
Day trip with Gig to Doi Inthanon (we also stopped at Baan Tawai, a handicrafts market similar to JJ weekend market in Bangkok on the way). Doi Inthanon featured beautiful waterfalls, two matching chedis and gardens built for the King and Queen's 60th birthdays housing relics of the Buddha, and the highest point in Thailand.

Weekend camping trip with Gig and Aum to Jae Sorn National Park in Lampang. Along the way, we stopped at Carrefour, ate at the food court though (buy 200 B, get 300 B free on the weekends), and drove through Bo Sang, the umbrella making district of Thailand. The camping facilities at Jae Sorn were great and we were able to camp in an isolated spot near a stream filled with frogs and have essentially our own private bathrooms. Like many other northern national parks, Jae Sorn featured hot springs, and we were able to get the guard to open a large public bath for just the five of us after dark. The ladies also enjoyed an hour-long traditional Thai massage while the guys soft-boiled eggs in the hot springs and set up camp. Camp food featured the ever-popular ramen (Mama), kao tom (Thai rice porridge with pork), omelets, & fried chicken.

On the way back from Lampang, we spent a few hours at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center and Hospital (the only one of its kind in SE Asia). We arrived right after a show had started, so had to wait for the next one. Gig was unhappy because all the food in the center was overpriced (and not very yummy); we tried to pacify him (and ourselves) by eating ice cream after a disappointing meal. Highlights of this trip included watching a traditional elephant show featuring elephants helping people log, elephants bathing with the help of their mahouts (or elephant handlers), and feeding elephants sugar cane. Because we were there so early, we also got to hang out and watch elephants eat and do their thing while waiting in open stables. I read some USMLE Step 2 Secrets, but need to get back into the groove of studying again since I haven't touched it since then :).

Farang food:

Liz and I enjoyed a Valentine's day brunch at Pie Sabai, a small outdoor garden bistro that Ben introduced Chris and I too last month. We attended the monthly 'Ladies Lunch Brunch' which I found out about through Chiang Mai Expat online magazine and it ended up being a lot of fun. We were the youngest people there by at least a decade or more, with most of the ladies in attendance being of retirement age (or close to it). We had a great Italian themed-meal, enjoyed tropical fruit punch, and had interesting conversations with other Americans, including an art history emeritus professor and author who was a Smith grad. On the way home, we also stopped for a 99 baht hourlong foot massage outside Wat Umong and explored the temple grounds. It was the first time I've been there when there hasn't been anyone else in the tunnels, and it was very peaceful and calming. I still would like to check out the informal Dharma discussions they have there one of these days as well.

work:

i was finally able to meet up with poo again about the crypto project and we're going to begin data collection this weekend. lots of stuff is actually kicking into gear, and hopefully i'll be able to start data collection at planned parenthood as well. at the last minute, i also decided to submit an abstract to the 2007 American Public Health Association meeting on access to second-line medications and compulsory licensing for Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir) in Brazil and Thailand. exciting stuff, and i hope it gets accepted - it will definitely kick me into gear and help me finish a tangible product from my time at the WHO this past summer.

ive also been on an application kick lately, and finished two applications - one for an elective at Dr Cynthia's Mae Tao Clinic during my 4th year, and one for an HIV psychiatry elective for minority students run by the American Psychiatric Association. I'm really excited about both opportunities, and want to thank EVERYONE who helped look over all my statements!

I can't believe there's less than three months before I'm back in the US, see many of my friends graduate from med school, and start off my 4th year on a sub-i! For anyone who's interested, my schedule for next year (right now) looks like this:

May- Gen med VA sub-i
June - CCMU sub-i
July - Endo consults
August - Dr Cynthia clinic
Sept - HIV psych (if i get it), if not Community Psych
Oct - Cards
Nov- Contemporary Issues: Abortion
Dec- Vacation (and interviews!)
Jan - Advanced Therapeutics (yay online classes!)
Feb- Radiology
March- Henry Ford ER
April- Vacation!