From the hills of Chiang Mai to the back alleys of Bangkok, these have been some of the greatest four weeks of my life. As this is an educational trip I'll start first with the essentials. Engaging with the pharmacists, doctors, and faculty at the hospitals we visited helped us gain much more of an appreciation for Thailand than had we just been another group of American tourists. Eager to learn about America as much as we were about Thailand, our conversations covered all walks of life. From the utter confusion of American health insurance to the increased role of hospital pharmacy in Thailand, we covered a lot. The Thai people are curious, engaging, and always polite.
What we learned on this trip is so much more than the purely academic, however. Learning how to communicate with those who often speak only broken English was both frustrating and rewarding at times, but is a skill that can be molded to many an occasion. It takes a lot to live in a totally foreign world for so long, from navigating a city of eight million to finding food that won't set your mouth on fire to bartering at the market much like your grandmother used to do when she'd drag you to the yard sales. I know for all of us that we've made great friends along the way and would go back in a heartbeat.
Until next time Thailand,
Peter
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