Female Buddhist Monk and TB Hospital

I hope everyone is happy in their nooks in the world You are probably getting sick of my emails but here is the next one whether you like it or not. We are in the beach town of Sa-am which is only about 3 hours from Bangkok. It rained a little today and the waves aren't that great but it is nice to be able to relax a little from the schedule that we have had lately. We just went to a restaurant where a woman was singing Karen Carpenter and John Denver songs. It has a different feel when it is in a Thai accent and L's sound like R's; other than that she sounded pretty good.Yesterday we went to the Chest Disease hospital and met with the smartest man that I probably have ever met. He treated the doctor that was the first doctor to treat SARS and is important in the control of the avian flu. It sounds pretty scary this bird flu. they estimate 300 million deaths if it ever turns into a pandemic becuase it kills over 1/3 of the patients with the disease. At least I will probably be working in the hospital then and exposed to the patients with the disease at that point and won't miss all of the excitement. He then took us to see patients and tested our clinical skills (which I don't really have after one year of medicine). We saw HIV patients with Pneumocystis pneumonia which you don't see in the states because of the availibility of antiretroviral drugs. A rare case of fibrocystic lung from scleroderma. And a man who has to get a lung removed because of tuberculosis that had ruptured one of his lungs. It was pretty sad, but he will feel much better after he gets it out.That night we went to Siam Center which was a fancy mall in Bangkok. They had all of the stores of an upclass new york department store: Armani, Ferarri, Lamborgini, etc. We then took Tuk-tuks (motorcyce rickshaws) to the golden palace in bangkok. It was pretty intense as they raced through traffic, cut off cars and weaved to get in infront of the first line of cars at the stop light. Definitely an awesome way to experience Bangkok.This morning we went and saw the only ordained female monk in Thailand. She was ordained in Sri Lanka because they aren't allowed to be ordained in Thailand because of tradition. It was interesting because she was a mother to 3 kids and a grandmother of 1. She was also a TV reporter back in the day. When her kids were grown she left and became a monk which means denying yourself of all attatchments like family. They come and visit now and again, but she isn't as involved in their lives as a normal Thai grandma. She has two ladies studying under her at the monestary. She was very intelligent. She had a PhD in philosophy and religion from a university in canada. It was interesting because we were able to ask her very frank questions. She said that she believes in providence meaning that things always work out in the end. She said that she didn't know if it was God or not (buddhists don't profess to believe in diety.) But she felt that providence, karma, and/ or God was helping her do her work. When asked about Buddhist philosophy about the beginning of the world such as evolution or creation she said "Why ask questions about things that we will never be able to prove either way. The solution will not change how you live your life. Focus on what is happening now and fix what you can." They said that their focus is about fixing yourself through medition and work.Interesting philosophies, and I think that the middle road concept is a good idea and would think that it could help the obesity problem in our country.Well I will probably write again next week. Scott