Finally, a lazy Sunday to relax and do nothing...I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the summer.
Week 1 at the hospital is now over and we are all weighing in on the experience so far. I think the consensus has been that everything we are learning is fascinating, but that the limiting factor continues to be language. Communication is working for big picture ideas, but when it comes down to the nitty gritty questions that we inevitably have, things get a lot murkier. It's frustrating at times. However, I just keep reminding myself that this experience is for broadening my understanding of medicine, not to learn traditional Tibetan medicine in its entirety. Once I remember that, it's easier to go with the flow.
Friday night we were all feeling a bit nostalgic, so we went to "Casa Mia" an "authentic" Italian "home away from home." Needless to say we didnt have high expectations, but the meal was fantastic (relatively, I guess). We had two bottles of wine (wine is very hard to come by here because no one drinks it) and I ordered eggplant parm which tasted great. It turned out to be by far the most expensive meal I have had here. My share was 100 RMB (divide by 6.8 to get canadian dollars). Things are so cheap here!!! Most of our meals do not exceed 20RMB per person, and there is always wayyyy more food than we can eat.
Yesterday we had our first field trip to Kumbum Monastery. The trip there was interesting as the cab driver was half asleep at times (we resorted to singing the theme song from "fraggle rock" very loudly whenever his eyes closed for more than 2 seconds. Mom, I know you are going to send me a special email now warning me to be safe, but trust me, we are doing our best!). This Monastery is at the center of the Gelugpa sect of Buddhism, the sect which HH the Dalai Lama follows. It is situated about 30 minutes from Xining, nestled into this little valley. There is of course a very touristy town around it, which caters to the vast amounts of tourists that come here. Hard-core Tibetan tourists sort of scoff at the place, now that it is so overrun by the Chinese. We visited several temples as well as the Monks' own hospital. The temples were so incredibly beautiful, and the doorways were painted in the most striking and detailed way. I took some pictures and am uploading them to my Picasa account (see below). The level of intricacy was astounding. One of the temples is dedicated to Tsong Kha Pa, the founder of Gelugpa Buddhism. There is a large stupa (term for a commemorative structure) built at the site of his birth, housed inside one of the temples. It is a huge, 3-story structure made entirely of silver and other precious metals and countless jewels. As the story goes, Tsong Kha Pa's mother was carrying water jugs when she felt labor pains. She put down her load and gave birth right there. The blood from the umbilical cord then mixed with the ground and from it a Bodhi tree sprung up. This tree is contained in the stupa. Pretty awesome. When you enter a temple or walk around it, you always have to walk clockwise, as this is the direction of earth's rotation. There are also these large prayer wheels on the outside of temples that you spin as you walk, which contain various religious/spiritual teachings written inside. We capped off the day with a Tibetan/Chinese lunch. The cab driver on the way home was way more animated. When I let out a mild shriek at the oncoming traffic we were headed straight toward, he slapped my thigh and them held my hand. I can only suppose that this meant I should relax.
As a side note, the taxi drivers in Beijing have all been given a tape, from which they are supposed to learn 100 English words. Apparently, one of the words is "Look out!" to which the tape responds in Chinese "Don't worry, if your passenger yells 'look out' as they are simply not used to Beijing drivers."
When we got back yesterday we were all a little tense, so Rohit (Canadian guy who goes to Queen's) and Katie (Canadian girl who goes to U of Manitoba) and I went to get a massage. But this was no regular massage, this place is run by blind people. Yes, all of them blind (except for one lady who deals with money and sets up the massage tables...There was a little confusion at first because at one point she told us that she loved katie's red hair and blue eyes. After a few seconds I was like "wait a second!" but then we figured it out). I wouldnt necessarily say the place was "clean" but in China you really have to let go of Western standards (i.e. Chinese toilets...). They don't speak English but they just sort of motion you onto the table. It isnt really relaxing as there was a lot of loud cell-phone talking and yelling but it did relieve some tension. And you cant beat the price: 35 RMB for the hour (remember, divide by 6.8). But on a more serious note, this is a really nice way for these people to make a living, which would otherwise be very difficult for them.
Finally, last night we went out for dinner for "Indian" with our clerkship director, Renchen. This guy is really an enigma. He is a Tibetan doctor, former/current Tibetan club owner (we call him the "Don") and one of the most stoic people I have ever met. With time we have all really grown to really like him and respect him and understand him better. He can be very serious at times, but then breaks out into this huge smile when he finds something funny. Overall, it is obvious that he really cares about us and the rotation. We finished dinner at around 10:30 and felt like going out, so we asked him to take us somewhere where we could dance. The cabs pulled up to this place that sort of looked liked a casino. The waitresses were wearing gold 80's prom dresses, yet everyone started at us. This place was so random. There were entertainers performing dances/skits with this cheesy host who would sing ballads every now and then. At one point, a guy came running out in a full tuxedo and played violin pieces for three sets. The place was so weird and I could not stop staring. What made it weirder was that there was a strip club component as well (which we did not enter!)...that added significantly to the sketchiness factor. We finally made it out of there around 1:30, dazed.
Wow, if you made it all the way here you probably really are interested in my life. Thanks for reading.
Miss you all,
Tyler
P.S. Tibet is officially open to foreigners!
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