Hello from Chiang Mai -
Exciting news; I passed my written and practical test for the WFR course, so I am certified with a laminated card and everything - yes! Our whole class was able to pass, and I really have to admire the Thai staff who took an entire course and test on medical terminology in a second language. The actual test day was on Thursday, and that finished off chapter one of my time in Thailand. The ISDSI director, Mark Ritchie, took some video which I am excited to tell you you can watch at http://www.isdsi.org/wmi.html to get an idea of what the past 10 days have been like. Notes about the background music; the first song is (ironically, you'll see what I mean) one that has the right rhythm to get a rate of 100 chest compressions per minute, so we would have it playing while we practiced CPR on our Actar dummies. We were cautioned not to sing that (or "The wheels on the bus go round and round", another song with the right beat) out loud in an actual emergency situation. Indeed. The second song is country because our Australian instuctor impersonated Billy Bob the country hick to simulate angina pectoris, and it was absolutely hilarious. You can also see the car accident scenario I mentioned in the last post at the end of the video. We had amazing instructors and a really great group of people, so I am kind of missing it!
Thursday night some of the Kalamazoo students who have just finished up their semester were getting rid of clothes and other items they don't want to take back to the states. So I inherited some school uniforms, a gym membership, and a cell phone! It was great to hear some of their expereinces and I am impatient to begin the actual semester.
Here is some contact information:
cell: 081-168-1004 I am still figuring out how to check messages, so no guarantees there.
mailing:
Melissa Blosser
ISDSI
PO Box 222
Prasingh
Chiang Mai, 50205
THAILAND
package:
Melissa Blosser
ISDSI
48/1 Chiang Mai-Lampang Road (Superhighway)
Muang, Chiang Mai, 50300
THAILAND
(if you are shipping, ISDSI recommends DHL)
Dennis picked me up on Friday from the guesthouse, so I am now staying with the Layman family. After staying by myself in a guesthouse for 12 days, it is nice to be back in a home. Bread is now a part of my life again (there is a sandwich shop in Chiang Mai that with the tagline - "A Shady oasis in an ocean of rice". I have been swimming in that delicious ocean since I came and loving it, but it is also good to experience american food after 2 weeks.) Plans for this week: I am going to try to get in touch with SIL people and define some more concrete details for this summer internship. I have some phone numbers from Houghton people, Dr. Ritchie, the Laymans, and I could probably ask the Gallmans too, so there is a good web of connections. Apparently this city is a huge SIL center. Sarah and I are going to do some exploring of the city and I will probably go with her for a day or two to the children's home in a city north of Chiang Mai where she volunteers. We are going to check out a night safari at the zoo here (since I didn't end up going to Tanzania........) and maybe also another night bazaar similar to the Sunday walking street. So, good plans.
Friday I will be going back to the guesthouse and the semester will begin. My fellow classmates are rolling in on the 6th and we will all spend the first night at Mountainview. Saturday we will meet our Thai host families and stay with them for the weekend, and then Monday morning we will begin intensive Thai in our first course. I am so excited about the language learning after wandering around for 2 weeks, illiterate and only able to say "hello" (incorrectly) and a word that just indicates politeness and I don't think has any definite meaning.
The Laymans live in a lower traffic area, which also means I will be able to go for runs while I am here. There are so many cars, motorbikes, bikes, and tuk tuks zipping around every street and corner in the main city that running is really difficult. I went one day for 30 minutes and spent 20 running and 10 waiting to dart across intersections, probably to the amusement of all onlooking Thais who somehow stroll through the rush of traffic like it's a field of daisies.
So enjoy the video and look for anther update in a week or so. Hope you are all doing well.
And - - - hooray for 27 years for Mom and Dad! Each year you celebrate is a gift for me and Erik too.
With love,
Melissa
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
blood and trauma (but not mine!)
Hi there friends and family,
It is time for a break from wound care and fractures to update you on my first week in Thailand. Thanks for everyone who has been e-mailing and facebooking; it is so good to hear from you!
Starting this past Tuesday, I have been spending most of my time in a Wilderness First Responder course that ISDSI, the organiation I will soon be studying with, is hosting. This is a mini course before the actual semester begins, and I am the only student from the spring semester that is here so far. Most of the other people taking the class are either staff from ISDSI or other people whose work involves outdoor recreation and travel in remote locations, and there is one girl who just finished a fall version of the program I am about to do. It is fascinating to hear the stories that a lot of these guys have from their work and travel around SE Asia.
This WFR class is one that I have been wanting to take since I came to college, so I am really enjoying it even though it is like trying to drink out of the proverbial fire hydrant:) Class runs from 8 to 5 every day and I am at the half way point with five days to go. NOLS staff is teaching the course through their Wilderness Medicine Insitute, and we have excellent teachers who are both knowledgable and hilarious. The format is really hands on, so maybe we will learn about musculoskeletal injuries and pracitce making splints, and then we will be put into a scenario where we have to respond to and assess a patient and try to treat them. Our most recent scenario was a car/motorcycle accident with multiple victims with injuries including paralysis, hand amputation, impalement, femur fracture, and severe head injury. I got to have open fractures on each of my wrists, complete with protruding "bones" (sticks) and fake blood everywhere (nice!). The instructors have all kinds of crazy makeup so injuries are often frighteningly realistic, and we use cars and other things as props to make a scene as true to life as possible. Pretty challenging, pretty sweet too. We have a format that we go through in any situation to help us be consistant and thorough in an emergency, and there is a lot to remember. Also, with this level of training we will not be able to solve a lot of the issues we can discover.
This class takes up most of my time and focus, so I have only explored the city a little but I will have more time in the coming months so not to worry. Today I was able to meet up with the Gallmans, two of my professors from Houghton who are teaching here for a few months, which was great. Later I explored the Sunday walking street, which is actually several streets blocked off to motor traffic and loaded with people playing music, performing, and selling handicrafts, food, and just about anything else. It is there every Sunday night so I will definitely be revisitng. And for those of you EMW's, I have found the Thai counterpart for sladoled, labelled enigmatically as "ancient ice cream". It comes on a stick in a frozen block of delectable and interesting varieties such as coconut, black bean, and lemon. My next flavor: sweet potato. And it is only 10 baht (US 30 cents)! Eat your heart out, 5 kuna:)
My my this post is getting long and the morning is coming soon. Our class location is hard to find so I have stopped trying to get there by songtaw (like a taxi/bus), which usually ended in getting lost, and am walking about 40 min to and from class. It is refreshing before and after long days of lecture, but due to insane traffic and the fleets of motorbikes that everyone seems to drive street crossings are never dull.
I am still really excited to be meeting so many interesting and remarkable people here. One guy in my class is a doctor for the Free Burma Rangers, an NGO that trains teams of medics to operate in places where the Burmese army is destroying villages and placing land mines. I had heard of them through people in Buffalo and have been getting their e-mail updates for a while. The teams are armed but only for defense and try to protect and treat villagers that are fleeing from the army. He had one story about a time when a group that had been previously attacked by the army had a chance to treat a group of soldiers, their enemies, who had been wounded. They chose to treat them in an incredible act of non-retaliation. Amazing. Some other people in my class are missionaries who travel to remote locations to bring Bibles to churches that can't get them, people working in adventure sports companies, people working at a local climbing gym (where I hope to go some during the semester!), and all the ISDSI staff (thai and american). So it is a great group.
Well, I am back to studying a bit and then sleep. I have been thinking of many of you and so thankful for your places in my life as I am far away and noticing some vacancies that you usually fill! However, I trust that God has good plans and people for me here and I am excited to start tracing them out as my life here for the next months unfolds. Pray for good relationships and discernment for me to listen as God is speaking, eyes to see like he does. And also for, as Todd wrote in an e-mail, and "extra absorbant layer" to soak in every detail and moment.
This has been in my mind this week:
Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
I am in good hands.
With love,
Melissa
It is time for a break from wound care and fractures to update you on my first week in Thailand. Thanks for everyone who has been e-mailing and facebooking; it is so good to hear from you!
Starting this past Tuesday, I have been spending most of my time in a Wilderness First Responder course that ISDSI, the organiation I will soon be studying with, is hosting. This is a mini course before the actual semester begins, and I am the only student from the spring semester that is here so far. Most of the other people taking the class are either staff from ISDSI or other people whose work involves outdoor recreation and travel in remote locations, and there is one girl who just finished a fall version of the program I am about to do. It is fascinating to hear the stories that a lot of these guys have from their work and travel around SE Asia.
This WFR class is one that I have been wanting to take since I came to college, so I am really enjoying it even though it is like trying to drink out of the proverbial fire hydrant:) Class runs from 8 to 5 every day and I am at the half way point with five days to go. NOLS staff is teaching the course through their Wilderness Medicine Insitute, and we have excellent teachers who are both knowledgable and hilarious. The format is really hands on, so maybe we will learn about musculoskeletal injuries and pracitce making splints, and then we will be put into a scenario where we have to respond to and assess a patient and try to treat them. Our most recent scenario was a car/motorcycle accident with multiple victims with injuries including paralysis, hand amputation, impalement, femur fracture, and severe head injury. I got to have open fractures on each of my wrists, complete with protruding "bones" (sticks) and fake blood everywhere (nice!). The instructors have all kinds of crazy makeup so injuries are often frighteningly realistic, and we use cars and other things as props to make a scene as true to life as possible. Pretty challenging, pretty sweet too. We have a format that we go through in any situation to help us be consistant and thorough in an emergency, and there is a lot to remember. Also, with this level of training we will not be able to solve a lot of the issues we can discover.
This class takes up most of my time and focus, so I have only explored the city a little but I will have more time in the coming months so not to worry. Today I was able to meet up with the Gallmans, two of my professors from Houghton who are teaching here for a few months, which was great. Later I explored the Sunday walking street, which is actually several streets blocked off to motor traffic and loaded with people playing music, performing, and selling handicrafts, food, and just about anything else. It is there every Sunday night so I will definitely be revisitng. And for those of you EMW's, I have found the Thai counterpart for sladoled, labelled enigmatically as "ancient ice cream". It comes on a stick in a frozen block of delectable and interesting varieties such as coconut, black bean, and lemon. My next flavor: sweet potato. And it is only 10 baht (US 30 cents)! Eat your heart out, 5 kuna:)
My my this post is getting long and the morning is coming soon. Our class location is hard to find so I have stopped trying to get there by songtaw (like a taxi/bus), which usually ended in getting lost, and am walking about 40 min to and from class. It is refreshing before and after long days of lecture, but due to insane traffic and the fleets of motorbikes that everyone seems to drive street crossings are never dull.
I am still really excited to be meeting so many interesting and remarkable people here. One guy in my class is a doctor for the Free Burma Rangers, an NGO that trains teams of medics to operate in places where the Burmese army is destroying villages and placing land mines. I had heard of them through people in Buffalo and have been getting their e-mail updates for a while. The teams are armed but only for defense and try to protect and treat villagers that are fleeing from the army. He had one story about a time when a group that had been previously attacked by the army had a chance to treat a group of soldiers, their enemies, who had been wounded. They chose to treat them in an incredible act of non-retaliation. Amazing. Some other people in my class are missionaries who travel to remote locations to bring Bibles to churches that can't get them, people working in adventure sports companies, people working at a local climbing gym (where I hope to go some during the semester!), and all the ISDSI staff (thai and american). So it is a great group.
Well, I am back to studying a bit and then sleep. I have been thinking of many of you and so thankful for your places in my life as I am far away and noticing some vacancies that you usually fill! However, I trust that God has good plans and people for me here and I am excited to start tracing them out as my life here for the next months unfolds. Pray for good relationships and discernment for me to listen as God is speaking, eyes to see like he does. And also for, as Todd wrote in an e-mail, and "extra absorbant layer" to soak in every detail and moment.
This has been in my mind this week:
Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
I am in good hands.
With love,
Melissa
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