bina

hi all,

im starting an botanics/medicine class this coming week given by one of israel's leading herbalists, botanist,specialist in micro biolgy and chemistry , anyhow, she is giving her course in the botanical gardens here in jerusalem.  ..im. finally doing something other then work, herbs have always been a love of mine, since i was a young girl trying to make rose oil and concocting herbal thingys with my mortar and pestle.

at any rate, ive always been reading up on all sorts of herbs/chinese meds etc and have tried to glean info on thai folklore/herbal rememdies etc.  Here in israel we have a wealth of medical folklore/remedies from the yemenites, beduins, morrocans, various other arab countries and their herbal remedies; persia, etc... although hubby is reluctant to try them since they arent thai (he believes that thai acamol is better then israeli acamol even if the chemistry is the same, but thats his problem).

hubby mentions certain plants to me but is very vague and unclear about what they are and their names, since it seem sthat like most countries, it is the women who deal with herbal concoctions.  apart from galangal, ginger , kfir lime leaves, lemon grass and the various peppers and basils, anybody know of the names and latin names and uses (with pics) of the medicinal herbs (i forgot betel)

for instance, he mentioned some plant that is horribly bitter and makes u vomit but is supposed to strenghten you, among others that his father would use. his parents mostly use things they find in the fields and forests rather then buy meds, but he never bothered to learn about them, like most kids of 'backwards' parents.

any sites in thai with the botanic /latin name? or anyone out there that has first hand knowlege? this doctor apparently is well travelled and collects info from around the world but people tend to skip thailand and go to more 'exotic' places like tibet, or the amazons and i like to bring new or different info to courses, it gives a different perspective especially here where people prefer 'mystic' sources (india, tibet) for their medical knowlege.

im not interested in chinese medicine but in the thai /lao/khmer folklore/herbalist plants from upcountry thailand.  the things that a rice farmer in issaan would go out and gather as a tea to drink for upset stomach, etc.

any ideas?

bina

hubby (thai ) is  getting his upper jaw sinus augmented or something of that sort (not sure what its called in english,just in hebrew)- due to poor dental hygiene and treatment, his upper front of the bone is all eaten away. he did a CT, the dentist (a surgical dentist) consulted and on thursday he and a specialist are doing a bone thingy in hubby's mouth. the teeth there are all ok (including the one that caused all the decay in the sinus area from an old work accident in thailand) so not needing a tooth replacement.

what i need is a sheet of insturctions in thai for the after treatment, and /or maybe a site that explains in graphics or easy to understand langueage (thai) the process.  since hubby is not a compliant patient it is important that he gets the insturctions in thai; my translation of the hebrew is not enough.  

i know that the post op treatment is mostly the same: refrain from blowing nose (IMPOTANT THAT HE UNDERSTANDS THIS), SPITTING (SAME SAME), washing mouth with dental solutions given by the doc, soft mushy foods (important), brushing teeth properly next day, etc. im sure the instructions to be found in hebrew and in english are the same as in thai since there doesnt seem to be much difference in the operations. (pain, swelling, take NSAIDS, blablabla)>

for this to work i realy need it written in thai officialy from some site - if someone could snip or clip the relavant info/instructions i would really appreciate it.

not sure how much hubby understands what they are going to do; and this is jsut he beginning since he will need more teeth in the back of mouth later next year to prevent additional jaw problems... so far, has done two months of treatments every saturday (fortunately we have a wonderful arabic dentist, reknown in our entire area, that works on saturdays , long hours and comfortable payment plans, and a wonderful person who has managed to gain hubby's trust to do so much dental work)just root canals, crowns, fillings, cleanings, the works.  4000 shekel if someone wants to compare prices (one month's wages hubby makes, sometimes he makes less)....

also, do thais (country thais -hubby is not high tech, well read or educated) have a problem with human bone transplant? not sure which ingredients will be used: animal, mineral or human... taking in to account superstition etc...?

would appreciate info, no scare stories etc of things gone wrong: just after care and tips for farther down the line...
he's getting it done on thursday evening... will he be able to go back to physical work on sunday or should he take an other day off? (field work, ATV transportation - not sitting in an office, so dont want him in pain or to prevent healing)

thanx
bina
israel

need some language help here: i need to help out a cousin of hubby's, who is working down south from here. the employer is having language problems since the guy is refusing to work with 'spray'... the employer is a certified organic agricultural grower and a nice guy (it turns out i know him from when he worked with organics with my ex husband) and he really likes my (present,thai)hubby's cousin as a worker. he gives all the proper equipment if needed. A. got a runny nose after using some spray, but since the flue is going around, could be that also...

the employer enlisted me to help explain to A. about organic materials, health hazards, etc.  if anyone is around on saturday 5 of march, jeruslame time (probably u will be asleep but u never know), i might post some questions, or if anyone can give me some sites in thai about organic chemicals (use of hormones, sprays, etc that are certified for organic agric.)with a short explanation in english i would really appreciate it. hubby is no help here.

actually i think the main problem is that A jsut doesnt want to be down south and work there, he wants to be up here near us... so this is the thai way of finding a reason to want out... but i will do the favour, and leave the rest up to the two guys to work out.

basic sites needed, or sites that have definitions, and no, the thaidict. sites are not what i want. i need actual info with explanations about organic farming (veggies).


thanx, bina
israel

after 4 years of marriage, youngest child (of ex husband) now 17 and less 'clingy' , and with me needing to renew american passport, i decided to do the name change thingy (too many of ex's family members here on kibbutz so mailbox and money alottment confusion due to last name, and wont bother youngest child to have different name than mom, whereas before it would cause problems...

first, i went to the israeli Min.of interior/population and declared my name change: since i am in the computer as being married to my thai husband , i just had to declare that i wanted his last name. i also added my original last name (as my middle name now, not hyphenated)... no muss no fuss, just a sticker and stamp in my israeli passport, no fees, and a new identity card, last name spelled same way in both, spelled in hebrew the same as it is spelled in husband's identity card (we are listed on eachothers id cards in israel, along with the children of my previous husband)

then i went to the US embassy in tel aviv, an event unto itself (security and paranoi wise), requested a name change and new passport since mine had expired anyhow. i had to prove that i used to have my previous last name (why?) and explain why i want to change my family name and explain why i spelled my maiden name phonetically in hebrew teh way we pronounce the name, but not the way it is actually spelled in english (my previous maiden last name before first marriage).  

now, the english version in my US passport will match the english version in the israeli passport (as i just noticed the spelling on the receipt i was given to pick up the passort when finished), but have noticed that it doesnt match the english version in anon's thai passport. the israeli version of the english left out a letter in the name which is th version that i used for the american embassy.
in addition, our thai marriage certificate and subsequent cerified translations  have me listed with my last name at the time (my ex's family name).  

i dont have the patience to start changing all the spellings again, the hebrew versions match and the english versions match on my passports. do i need to do something for the thai end of things, or am i being obsessive compulsive? going tomorrow to pick up US passport but dont think i can change the spelling as then it wont match my israeli passport english version


do i need to do anything as far as the registered name on the thai marriage certificate? im feeling a beurocratic nightmare here....

i did make sure this name change would not affect my youngest daughter's getting her new passport, since now we dont have the same last names.  

i have learned to never let anything expire ever again.  husband has to renew his passport next year to get his visa here, maybe he should change the english spelling of his last name to match the english on my passports now? ideas anyone?
all because of a missing K between two other letters....  
bina
israel

im having our birthday/visa/anniverseray day on new years and we are doing the food : all thai...

i need a good quick recipe for those jelly thingies from agar agar, or jelly (jello) and cocoanut cream : i dont have pandanu leaves or jasmine water here (we have orange flower or almond water but not the same flavours)... so need some ideas. we do have blueboy red juice concentrate (that thai red berry flavour)...

i also have regular jello type jellies, but in my experience they slither and slide and melt and loose their shape if not frozen before serving... and i need them to stay in their shapes (putting them in decorative ice cube containers until hardeded)... hubby is doing everything all thai style including the cooking but we dont have time for sun drying agar agar (no sun at moment)... any ideas or recipes.... KISS (keep it simple stupid)....

also,, doing segu (tapioca) and need some fancy serving idea (in a glass bowl , not individual portions)...

many thanx... (we have a zillion thai cookbooks, all in thai, but im doing the desserts, so need them geared for my kibbutz kitchen)

bina
israel