10/31/17

Today we visited the Duang Prateep foundation in the Klong Toey slum. The foundation was started by two sisters to help the disadvataged children of the slum. The name of the foundation means "guiding light".  The foundations work is very important to help educate the kids and watch after them to give their parents a chance to work and make money. In addition they provide help to those involved with drugs, aid to the elderly, and projects to better the living conditions of those in the slum

Previously the school run by the foundation was not approved by the government and met resistance. Now, the school is run by the goverrnment. This is both a blessing and a curse as some of the extra activities cost money for the families 

The picture below are some of the children playing wih puzzles. They are taught that they can only play with one toy ar a time, and they must return it if they want a different toy.  

It was a very humbling experience to visit the foundation and the klong toey slum. 

Week 1: First Days

Hello from Bangkok!

สวัสดี [sah-wah-dee-ha] - That’s hello in Thai!

We have been in Thailand for two days now! We were so excited (and well rested from all the sleep on our flight), we decided to explore the region of Bangkok we are staying in immediately upon arrival! We came across a few different shopping centers with elaborate entrances. Below is a photo of one of the entrances. At night, there was gas lanterns light all around this area, with music synced to the jumbo screens on the buildings.

For dinner of our first night in Thailand, we went dinner at a restaurant called Condoms & Cabbages. Upon entering we notice all the decor are in condoms, including the elephant, lamp, and mannnequins pictures. The gift shop even included all different souvenirs. We were told this restaurant has been here since the 70's, and assisted in bring safe and healthy sex awareness to the Thai people during the HIV & AIDS epidemic. They were successful on lowering HIV prevalence, and continue to promise safe and healthy sex. I tried many new foods at dinner, unfortunately I do not remember any of the names, but enjoyed them all. One of my favorites was the dessert Dr. Kreb ordered for us which was mango with sticky rice (warm sweet rice). After dinner, instead of mints, the server distributed a condom to each guest at the table.

             

   

Today we went to the Grand Palace, where the King used to reside. This building was unique as it had French architecture unlike other buildings amongst it. The future King will live in a palace 5 kilometers from this location. This building is now the royal guest house, and has house President Bill Clinton and Queen Elizabeth. We also saw the Jade Buddha which changes by season. We are currently in the end of the rain season, and it will switch to the winter season. There are three seasons total.

  

We walked the ground and saw elaborate temples. This photo below are display three temples with different architectures. The first on the left is a Sri Lanka style, the center is a Thailand style, and the final is a Cambodia style temple.

     

 

This guard pictured below protects the temples. We also saw this guard in the airport as a symbol of protection.

  

    

We also went to Wat Pho today. There was a giant Reclining Buddha. I couldn't believe it's size! Wat Pho had the original schools of Medicine & School of Thai Massage.

The Thai people loved their King who passed exactly one year ago. Yesterday was his cremation ceremony. There were flowers all over the town with the late King's photo. He was the ninth king and ruled for 47 years. He studied in Cambridge, MA and lived in Massachusetts before he became King. For one whole year the body is embalmed mummified) until the anniversary of his death, where they then hold a cremation ceremony. For the last month the Grand Palace & Jade Buddha were off limits to the public, and today was the first day they allowed visitors! We are so lucky, because it wasn't as crowded as it could be. The country is still mourning the death, as we were told to wear an all black outfit to the Grand Palace (royal grounds) and the Temple of the Jade Buddha.

  

ขอบคุณค่ะ [khob khun kha] - thank you in Thai,

Reesha

Hello from Thailand-Day 1!

Today we drove to the Grand Palace where we got a guided tour of the amazing temple! We had a fabulous guide who told us the history behind every piece of the temple such as how the demons in their culture wear shoes and the good people do not.

We got to see the Jade Buddah which is changed out every season but pictures are prohibited inside the temple unfortunately. An interesting part of the culture is to remove the shoes before entering any of the temples (probably because of the demon theory), so they gave us little bags to carry our shoes around in and everyone had to go barefoot. We also had to opportunity to bless ourselves with holy water before entering the temple. The 9th King of Thailand passed away exactly one year ago, and we got to see where his body was kept until his cremation which happened this past Sunday (yes, they mummified the body for a full year!).  The palace was the most ornate, beautiful place I've ever seen.

We then went to a second temple called Wat Pho where we found the Reclining Buddah and some magnificent statues and garden areas. 

We then went to lunch where we sampled some local Thai cuisine at the suggestion of our permanent tour guide Am. It was all very spicy in my opinion but all still really tasty! The food is very different and they eat a lot of rice with every meal-even as a dessert with mango! It is undoubtedly warm here, but it definitely beats the cold New England weather!

Sawasdee (hello) from Thailand!

Today was our first official day of the rotation, which was focused on seeing more of thailand and learning more about the culture. We visited the grand palace which was built in 1782. The palace was amazing with several intricately decorated buildings that had influences from sri lanka, cambodia, and thailand. The palace had been previously closed for the past month to the public for the kings cremation ceremony.

After the palace we went to Wat Pho and saw the famous reclining buddha which is 46 meters in length!  The picture attatched is one of the many buddha status throughout the temple. Overall I was blown away by the amount of detail that goes into the buldings and statues.