Monday the 14th of March

Today has been a day of cultural events. We started the day at the facade of St Paul's Cathedral, and architectural landmark that has become the emblem of the city. It was constructed in the 16th century by early Jesuits and burned in 1834. It was associated with a school that was regionally important, and was said at the time the to be the most beautiful cathedral in the world after St Peter's in Rome.

We went on to the adjacent Fortress, also constructed by the Jesuits, interestingly, with fabulous views of the city of Macau, as it is at the top of a prominent hill. Here we had a class in Tai Chi presented by Mac Chio Leong, a master, who, in spite of the language barrier was very interesting and drew us all in to participation. It was a great learning experience, and all of us saw direct clinical applications of Tai Chi not only to our personal lives, but to our work. He even volunteered to send us a VCR to help guide us after we get home.
Lunch was another wonderful dim sum ("delightful morsels") meal in a local restauraunt. We have all conquered chop sticks, much to the detriment of our growing waist lines. The GSE coordinator here, DGN Kenneth Wong says that the measure of a good GSE experience is measured by the weight of the departing team, and it appears that we are measuring up!

In the afternoon we visited one of the many Temples of A Ma. China is a polytheistic culture, and A Ma is the Goddess of fishermen and merchants on the sea. It was our second experience with use if incense and the burning of intentions. This temple location is high on a hill and has a hugh statue of the Goddess looking out to sea. The temple yard has a fountain with Koi and turtles (symbols of good luck).

We went on to the village of Coloane, a very provincial Portuguese town that felt like it had been unchanged from the 19th century, town square, church, civic buildings, shops, and all. We sampled egg custard tarts that are made best at this location over all of Hong Kong and Macau. Delightlful. We ate in a small park overlooking a 1/4 mile wide waterway separating Macau from Mainland China. We we were told that there was a regular stream of swimmers crossing to Macau, but that this has ceased since the improvement of the employmment sitation in Mainland China.

After a short (civilized) rest we were the guests of the Rotary Club of Taipa, a new and small club with only 18 members. Inspite of the fact that the club's meetings are usually held in Cantonese, were well received and had a good interaction over healthcare issues in Hong Kong/Macau and the US.