Saturday, February 21, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
EAT!
After a day of binging and a huge last diner at our canteen full of all of our favorite things there we went over to a nurses house, just expecting to pick up some paper work. We walked in and she had a whole table full of food for us to eat. Including: pizza, dal, dosa, cake, bananas, cookies, a hard-boiled egg, two crunchy snack filled plates, chocolate doughnuts, fanta, and tea. She kept saying just finish up this one little bite… We mustered it up and ate it anyways so we weren't rude why the nurse, her two children, and her mother all sat around and watched us eat. Leslie just puked and I actually feel full (even with my Dunbar sized belly). You have to leave a little on your plate to show that you are not still hungry, but if you leave to much it shows that you didn't like their food. They all kept saying that they had already eaten even though we knew that they hadn't. Her poor kids were starving and every time their mom left the room we tried to make them eat something, but they knew better and said that they were not hungry. I swear that her daughter was trying to telepathic control to make me leave a doughnut on my plate so she could eat it later. The kids were really cute though at ages 8 and 9. They lived in Milwaukee for three years and just moved back in September. The kids only speak English and they told us that they hate it here and want to go back to America and eat a hamburger. Their dad stayed there and is trying to get residency for them so they can go back when they are older. The nurse felt really bad that she had not made us a proper meal because she had had been too busy. Her maid had just quit, and her mother had fallen the day before, and her husband had just left after a visit home. She is extremely busy with raising two kids, working 6 days a week, taking care of her mother, and a household. We were really glad that she didn’t have time because we couldn’t have fit anymore in for sure! She was so incredibly sweet to us while we were here!
Today we are packing and getting ready to head. We are going to go to the pool and swim laps to burn off our huge meals. Rough life indeed… We go to Varkala tomorrow. We have 9 days to do what ever all around Kerala as long as we end up North of Varkala in Cochin on the 24th. We fly out of Cochin on that day to Delhi. After that we are going Agra to see the Taj on the 25th. Then we will go back to Dehli to fly home on the 27th at 12:45 AM. If I get the internet I will write again. Otherwise I will see you all very soon!
Today we are packing and getting ready to head. We are going to go to the pool and swim laps to burn off our huge meals. Rough life indeed… We go to Varkala tomorrow. We have 9 days to do what ever all around Kerala as long as we end up North of Varkala in Cochin on the 24th. We fly out of Cochin on that day to Delhi. After that we are going Agra to see the Taj on the 25th. Then we will go back to Dehli to fly home on the 27th at 12:45 AM. If I get the internet I will write again. Otherwise I will see you all very soon!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Maybe the last one for awhile...soak me in!
Well we are leaving this weekend for our two weeks of travel. I am sure that we will be safe, but you might not hear from me for a few days because of lack of internet access.
This week we I went out to a village. It was a neat thing, but not nearly as mind blowing as what I had hoped. Most of the homes that we went to weren’t very villagy for my expectations. Most of the homes that I went into were actually quite nice. On Monday I went to a clinic with three other nurses. They do them once a month. We sat in a plain room and patients came to us looking for care. Most of the women that came were pregnant. They came into the room and we shut the door, making the only light provided being a small window, and then the women were examined. They shut the door so that no men can see their bellies get examined, which I still don’t really understand because they walk around with their stomachs out every day in their saris. A prenatal examination includes measuring of the abdominal girth, blood pressure, measuring of where the uterus is lined up with the belly button, feeling on the tummy to see which direction the baby is, checking for edema, peeing on a stick to check for blood sugar and proteins, and listening to the babies heart rate with a stethoscope. That is it for the entirety of the pregnancy. They can also get prenatal vitamins. The nurses are allowed to give out the things that we would be able to get over the counter. If they can afford it, the patients will pay a rupee or two. If not it is free. The nurses can give also one antibiotic to children. But even though there is defiantly no germ aphobia here, the kids do not get sick very often. They get worms though. Which is why they also do de-worming of the children every month. They all get worms.
Most of the time the patients that come through are only looking for peace of mind. The nurses take everyone’s blood pressure, and will even give them a placebo, if it will make them feel as though the nurse is doing something. If they feel as though a person needs more treatment, they give them a referral and send them into town to CMC. A community health nurse is assigned to two areas to which she always goes. My nurse was in charge of looking over 3,000 people between the two of them. They have these clinics once a month and also do home visits every week to check on blood pressures and such. It is great because the villagers get to know and trust the “sister” and will come to her for any problems. Nurses are called sister here. People even call me sister whenever I am wearing white. Each village also has a health care worker. This is a woman that that makes 125 rupees a month to be there to watch over the village. They are there to tell everyone when the nurse is going to be there, tell the nurse if there are any pregnancies births or deaths, and to teach the village. Teaching is the main thing that is needed in the village and they spend so much time on it. They have to teach parents so many things that we take for granted. Things like why it is important to keep your food away from bugs and waste, or how to recognize when your child has worms. The nurses nurse here are amazing and do so much for all of the inhabitants. They also were quite inquisitive about America life so it was a really fun day to be with them. Everyone here is so hospitable too, forgive me if I had told you that already. Even the poorest people want to treat you to something. Our healthcare worker went and bought me sweets, snacks, and flowers for my hair. Also whenever I went into a house they brought out their plastic lawn chair for me to sit on. If they have these chairs they are their special for company only. Everone else sits on bamboo mats on the ground. I would not have a problem sitting on the ground, but they insist, which makes me feel a little strange. Another woman asked me if she could go buy me a Fanta or coffee, even though they do not have enough money to pay for any care from the nurses. It is extremely kind of them.
I also went to two schools. One was an elementary school. This class room had 47 children in it from ages 5-10 with two teachers. After that if they want to go to school they have to go to a different village. When I got there they also stood up and saluted me and the teacher picked on that got to shake my hand and say “Good morning how are you.” I also went to a Balwadi which is for all of the children 2-5. This one had 50 children in it with one teacher and one cook. When I went there, two children were sleeping on the floor and the rest of them stood up and saluted me. The teacher then had them recite baba black sheep in horrible English. It was quite cute. The Balwadi is a government program set up to make sure that the children do not get malnourished. If they go there they are guaranteed a meal in the afternoons and are also given two high calorie protein balls to eat. They have to eat them at the school to ensure that it is the children that are eating them and not the parents.
Wednesday sucked. I went to a village and watched a inauguration of a new village leader for 2½ hours that consisted of a speech in Tamul.
Well we are off to another Thursday at the pool. I will try to write again before we leave….not promises though.
This week we I went out to a village. It was a neat thing, but not nearly as mind blowing as what I had hoped. Most of the homes that we went to weren’t very villagy for my expectations. Most of the homes that I went into were actually quite nice. On Monday I went to a clinic with three other nurses. They do them once a month. We sat in a plain room and patients came to us looking for care. Most of the women that came were pregnant. They came into the room and we shut the door, making the only light provided being a small window, and then the women were examined. They shut the door so that no men can see their bellies get examined, which I still don’t really understand because they walk around with their stomachs out every day in their saris. A prenatal examination includes measuring of the abdominal girth, blood pressure, measuring of where the uterus is lined up with the belly button, feeling on the tummy to see which direction the baby is, checking for edema, peeing on a stick to check for blood sugar and proteins, and listening to the babies heart rate with a stethoscope. That is it for the entirety of the pregnancy. They can also get prenatal vitamins. The nurses are allowed to give out the things that we would be able to get over the counter. If they can afford it, the patients will pay a rupee or two. If not it is free. The nurses can give also one antibiotic to children. But even though there is defiantly no germ aphobia here, the kids do not get sick very often. They get worms though. Which is why they also do de-worming of the children every month. They all get worms.
Most of the time the patients that come through are only looking for peace of mind. The nurses take everyone’s blood pressure, and will even give them a placebo, if it will make them feel as though the nurse is doing something. If they feel as though a person needs more treatment, they give them a referral and send them into town to CMC. A community health nurse is assigned to two areas to which she always goes. My nurse was in charge of looking over 3,000 people between the two of them. They have these clinics once a month and also do home visits every week to check on blood pressures and such. It is great because the villagers get to know and trust the “sister” and will come to her for any problems. Nurses are called sister here. People even call me sister whenever I am wearing white. Each village also has a health care worker. This is a woman that that makes 125 rupees a month to be there to watch over the village. They are there to tell everyone when the nurse is going to be there, tell the nurse if there are any pregnancies births or deaths, and to teach the village. Teaching is the main thing that is needed in the village and they spend so much time on it. They have to teach parents so many things that we take for granted. Things like why it is important to keep your food away from bugs and waste, or how to recognize when your child has worms. The nurses nurse here are amazing and do so much for all of the inhabitants. They also were quite inquisitive about America life so it was a really fun day to be with them. Everyone here is so hospitable too, forgive me if I had told you that already. Even the poorest people want to treat you to something. Our healthcare worker went and bought me sweets, snacks, and flowers for my hair. Also whenever I went into a house they brought out their plastic lawn chair for me to sit on. If they have these chairs they are their special for company only. Everone else sits on bamboo mats on the ground. I would not have a problem sitting on the ground, but they insist, which makes me feel a little strange. Another woman asked me if she could go buy me a Fanta or coffee, even though they do not have enough money to pay for any care from the nurses. It is extremely kind of them.
I also went to two schools. One was an elementary school. This class room had 47 children in it from ages 5-10 with two teachers. After that if they want to go to school they have to go to a different village. When I got there they also stood up and saluted me and the teacher picked on that got to shake my hand and say “Good morning how are you.” I also went to a Balwadi which is for all of the children 2-5. This one had 50 children in it with one teacher and one cook. When I went there, two children were sleeping on the floor and the rest of them stood up and saluted me. The teacher then had them recite baba black sheep in horrible English. It was quite cute. The Balwadi is a government program set up to make sure that the children do not get malnourished. If they go there they are guaranteed a meal in the afternoons and are also given two high calorie protein balls to eat. They have to eat them at the school to ensure that it is the children that are eating them and not the parents.
Wednesday sucked. I went to a village and watched a inauguration of a new village leader for 2½ hours that consisted of a speech in Tamul.
Well we are off to another Thursday at the pool. I will try to write again before we leave….not promises though.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Sorry
I am so sorry. We have been really busy, so I have not been able to write. We went to Pondicherry on Friday morning on a bus. It was a 4 hour ride that was very bumpy, but it was not very bad. Really all we did there was eat drink, and shop. It is a city that used to be inhabited by the French, so it still has a European vibe to it. There are great places to eat pasta, crescents, and cakes. On Friday when we pulled into town there was nowhere open to eat and we were starving so we went and bought a pineapple eon the beach and ate that until diner. That night we went to a restaurant and splurged for a 500 rupee a piece meal of penne pesto pasta, lots of veggies, and a banana daiquiri and then went off to our hostel. The hostel that we called did the whole switcheroo on us and we ended up staying in a homestead and paying way too much for it. But after we got settled in we went back to the same restaurant and got the same waiter and ordered dessert. While we were there one of the girls that we were with noticed that her necklace had broken. On it had once been her great-grandmothers engagement ring that had been made into a pendant that her grandmother (who just passes away in November) had always worn. So we all crawled on the floor of the restaurant and then walked the streets of Pondy looking for this pendant. No one really thought that we would find it, but she was really upset so we kept trying. Well…we found in lying in the middle of the street 5 blocks away from the restaurant that we had been eating at. It was defiantly a miracle!
The next day we did lots of shopping and eating. We went to a place and I got chocolate chip pancakes that were filled with Nuttella. Delicious! We also went inside of an Ashram. It was really interesting. There were flowers all around and a bunch of locals meditating, with their eyes rolling back into their heads. That night we met on a rooftop bar/restaurant with a bunch of other people that we knew for Vellore. We sat there for hours and drank Mojitos, listened to music, and talked. There are a lot of people here from America now, so we have all instantly become friends.
On Sunday morning we went to Singi. There is where the rulers of Tamil Nadu (the state that we are in) used to live. We had to stand the whole bus ride (2 hours) but finally got there. We walked around and looked at the ruins. It was neat to see that they were using the same brick techniques that we use today. There were also lots of Monkeys around the fort that came after us for our sacks of souvenirs. They learn that most bags have food in them so they try to go for them when you walk by. They also steal bottles and drink whatever is in them. They are defiantly not nice monkeys, but if you throw a rock at them they go away.
When we went to the bus station to get a ride back to Vellore, the bus station was mass chaos! There were hundreds of people there all trying to get somewhere. It turns out that there was a festival in Singi that many people came to go to and they were all trying to get back home to go to work on Monday. We finally found out that we needed bus 216. Well three of them came by, but they were all turning around and going back to Villapuram because more people wanted to go that way. One came that was going to Vellore, and so many people tried to get on it that there were people hanging out on the side of the bus and hitting each other to try and get a seat. We decided that it was not quite worth it, so we went to a hostel and had the owner get us 2 taxis for 9 people which got us safely back to Vellore.
We are in the community now and it is wonderful! I will have to tell you all about it later though. We still have much to do before we leave Vellore and we are leaving on Saturday. I am not proofing this either, so I hope it makes some since. I just wanted to let you know that we had a great weekend, and I am still alive! 17 more days to go…
The next day we did lots of shopping and eating. We went to a place and I got chocolate chip pancakes that were filled with Nuttella. Delicious! We also went inside of an Ashram. It was really interesting. There were flowers all around and a bunch of locals meditating, with their eyes rolling back into their heads. That night we met on a rooftop bar/restaurant with a bunch of other people that we knew for Vellore. We sat there for hours and drank Mojitos, listened to music, and talked. There are a lot of people here from America now, so we have all instantly become friends.
On Sunday morning we went to Singi. There is where the rulers of Tamil Nadu (the state that we are in) used to live. We had to stand the whole bus ride (2 hours) but finally got there. We walked around and looked at the ruins. It was neat to see that they were using the same brick techniques that we use today. There were also lots of Monkeys around the fort that came after us for our sacks of souvenirs. They learn that most bags have food in them so they try to go for them when you walk by. They also steal bottles and drink whatever is in them. They are defiantly not nice monkeys, but if you throw a rock at them they go away.
When we went to the bus station to get a ride back to Vellore, the bus station was mass chaos! There were hundreds of people there all trying to get somewhere. It turns out that there was a festival in Singi that many people came to go to and they were all trying to get back home to go to work on Monday. We finally found out that we needed bus 216. Well three of them came by, but they were all turning around and going back to Villapuram because more people wanted to go that way. One came that was going to Vellore, and so many people tried to get on it that there were people hanging out on the side of the bus and hitting each other to try and get a seat. We decided that it was not quite worth it, so we went to a hostel and had the owner get us 2 taxis for 9 people which got us safely back to Vellore.
We are in the community now and it is wonderful! I will have to tell you all about it later though. We still have much to do before we leave Vellore and we are leaving on Saturday. I am not proofing this either, so I hope it makes some since. I just wanted to let you know that we had a great weekend, and I am still alive! 17 more days to go…
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Our last day in the hospital
Answers to mom’s questions: Yes it is really bubble wrap and no it is not sterile. Blankets are not sterile when they use them on newborns, so it is really kind of the same concept. They also use saran wrap to put over the tops of the warmers because they do not have enough isolates. It keeps the air from blowing over the top of them. PT is physical therapy.
The fashion show was a lot of fun. They had a Indian wear, Western wear, Talent, and answer question round. The saris were beautiful, but the western wear made us all laugh immensely. They had such ridiculous things that they thought were western. There were even a few short skirts with wrap up sandals. For the talent portion there were five dances and two songs. The dances were all Bollywood style, but the songs were lovely. Leslie did a great job judging, but there were two Indian judges that overruled everything that she wanted. I think she decided that it would have been a lot more fun to just watch the show.
After that we went to an international meeting. They had a speaker that knew the woman that started this hospital so she talked a little about that. Then they had some garland makers come in and talk about what the different garlands mean and let us try to make them. It was really hard, but the men that do it all the time were fun to watch. They also told us that there are 64 talents that they use to make money in India. Garland making is one of them, so if we can learn that there are only 63 to go. I have no idea what the others are…that is just what they say. It was a good night though. We didn’t get to see the Super Bowl after all. That’s okay ….always next year. I am not sure what the next few days hold for us….I will be sure to let you guys know though. We are starting to get a little worn out, but are still looking forward to what lies ahead! Pondicherry on Friday for sure…other than that we do not know.
The fashion show was a lot of fun. They had a Indian wear, Western wear, Talent, and answer question round. The saris were beautiful, but the western wear made us all laugh immensely. They had such ridiculous things that they thought were western. There were even a few short skirts with wrap up sandals. For the talent portion there were five dances and two songs. The dances were all Bollywood style, but the songs were lovely. Leslie did a great job judging, but there were two Indian judges that overruled everything that she wanted. I think she decided that it would have been a lot more fun to just watch the show.
After that we went to an international meeting. They had a speaker that knew the woman that started this hospital so she talked a little about that. Then they had some garland makers come in and talk about what the different garlands mean and let us try to make them. It was really hard, but the men that do it all the time were fun to watch. They also told us that there are 64 talents that they use to make money in India. Garland making is one of them, so if we can learn that there are only 63 to go. I have no idea what the others are…that is just what they say. It was a good night though. We didn’t get to see the Super Bowl after all. That’s okay ….always next year. I am not sure what the next few days hold for us….I will be sure to let you guys know though. We are starting to get a little worn out, but are still looking forward to what lies ahead! Pondicherry on Friday for sure…other than that we do not know.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Sorry All
So…it has been a few days since I have written anything, because I have not really been doing very much. We only went to school one day last week. That day we went to the developmental disability ward and pediatric casualty. The developmental ward was actually a very nice unit. They had many things that can be used to assess a child and help them catch up. There are 6 inpatient beds and they do several outpatient treatments as well. Casualty is what they call their emergency department. It was just full of a bunch of kids with fevers and diarrhea. We did see one child that was having a lupus flare up and her legs were three times the size that they should be. We also watched a spinal tap with no anesthetic. It was a little brutal. Then this weekend we had to say goodbye to 6 of our friends. Saturday night we had a great night though. We went out to dinner and then over to one of the med student’s houses for cocktails on the roof and played some games. We didn’t find our way home until 3AM. It was quite fun. Then Sunday when we got out of bed we went and found the pool. It was quite lovely! It was scattered with palm trees and bamboo lounge chairs. It was hard to think that just on the other side of the wall there are streets lined with goats eating trash. We laid there all day and it was just like we were not in India, but in a luxury resort. It cost 150 rupees so there are really only travelers there. So we are free to wear our suits and everything. It was grand!
Today we went up to the nursery. It is nice too. It is a 60 bed unit that has three tiers. They only have 5 ventilators and 8 incubators, but they can manage. Another difference is that there are no bottles or breast pumps. Moms have to extract their milk and then they use cups to pour it into the kid’s mouths. It was also EXTREMLY hot there. About 40 degrees hotter than our NICU and they cover the infants with bubble wrap for insulation. They have to get them used to being hot if they have a chance of surviving India. All of the children walk around in fleeces and hats as well, when we want to be wearing shorts. Their babies are so tiny as well, even when they are healthy. I have heard many people say that "Women have natural births all over the world, so we should do it too." Well today I thought a lot about that because it is probably a lot easier to squeeze a baby out when they weigh under 5lbs then the 12lbs kids people are having in the states. We are also going to a beauty pageant across the street for PT girls. I will keep you posted about how that goes… Leslie is being a judge and I have to give a speech about skin care. It should be fun.
Today we went up to the nursery. It is nice too. It is a 60 bed unit that has three tiers. They only have 5 ventilators and 8 incubators, but they can manage. Another difference is that there are no bottles or breast pumps. Moms have to extract their milk and then they use cups to pour it into the kid’s mouths. It was also EXTREMLY hot there. About 40 degrees hotter than our NICU and they cover the infants with bubble wrap for insulation. They have to get them used to being hot if they have a chance of surviving India. All of the children walk around in fleeces and hats as well, when we want to be wearing shorts. Their babies are so tiny as well, even when they are healthy. I have heard many people say that "Women have natural births all over the world, so we should do it too." Well today I thought a lot about that because it is probably a lot easier to squeeze a baby out when they weigh under 5lbs then the 12lbs kids people are having in the states. We are also going to a beauty pageant across the street for PT girls. I will keep you posted about how that goes… Leslie is being a judge and I have to give a speech about skin care. It should be fun.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
I am a meat eater
Sorry I forgot to tell you guys about the cows! They are everywhere in Vellore, but today was the first time that I have actually heard one Moo. They really do just hang out on the side of the road as cars drive by and will walk right next to people. I have heard that the ones in the city actually belong to villagers but they just let them roam so that they can eat trash off the street. Many shops will feed them too, so it is not rare to see a cow climbing the steps of a store and waiting for a snack. If you watch when people walk by a cow they often touch the cow and touch their own forehead and heart as a way to say thank and bless this creature. The cows are not afraid of people or cars and there are really no worries about walking behind one. You just have to watch your step in the street. They are on the beaches as well. When I was in Mamalapuram I saw two that got spooked and ran down the beach, but other than that they are really docile. I would be much more afraid of any dog that I have seen. I really have not eaten a ton of meat here. I am CRAVING some BBQ really bad. Or even a cold turkey sandwich with lettuce (Veggies are rare here too). Most places we eat are vegetarian restaurants and I have only seen beef on a menu once. If it is called a hamburger, than it is a chicken sandwich. I find it hard to trust meat here because I know that they do not have a lot of standards for raising, selling, or serving. I have also seen shops where they hang butchered things out in the sun all day with flies all over them for people to buy, so it kind of takes away your appetite. With chicken, it is usually really small pieces that are mostly bone, and you are never sure which part or animal it is coming from. So, I have been getting most of my protein from nuts and eggs. I have tried the meat...it just weirds me out. You can get omelets at any meal and they do egg sandwiches as well. Fish also usually has a lot of really tiny bones too, so it is hard to eat. I really want some beef brisket or a hamburger now....
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Kerala Trip
Well it was a really big weekend so I am sure that this will be an extremely long post. On Thursday night 8 girls got on a train to Varkala. I have decided that night sleeper trains are the only way to travel! It was awesome. The chairs fold into beds so you can sleep flat while you are on your way across the country. You just use your stuff as a pillow so that it is safe. The only problem was that we thought that the train would stop for longer than it did and half of us could not get off when it came to our stop. So, the other half of us stayed on the train until the next stop (45min later) which happened to be in the middle of nowhere. So we jumped off in a field and walked to the street and found a Rickshaw to take us to the bus station and headed back to Varkala. When we got there we went straight to the beach and walked around but we didn’t stay for long because we wanted to get on our suits. It was a really touristy beach- so skin was okay. In India hotels will always tell you that they have rooms even when they are full. They make deals with surrounding hotels to ship over the business for a profit. So they did that to us- but it wasn’t a bad deal because we didn’t want to spend a long time there anyways. There was no hot water, sheets, or pillows, and the only source of light we had was a red light. But it was relatively close to the beach, and that was all that we wanted. So we got changed and went to eat lunch at a place called the juice shop. We got pancakes and omelets and wonderful juices. When you order juice in India they actually put fruit in a blender and make you juice. Sometimes it has sugar and water in it, but others times it is pure juice. It is SO good. The one I got at the juice shop had coconut juice, orange, pineapple, banana , and peanut butter in it! After that we went to the beach and laid out for a few hours underneath an umbrella. We even saw a whale of some kind. We didn’t get in the water to much because the current was REALLY strong and it was a little scary, but it was still a lot of fun. Then we went and got some lunch and drinks on the beach (first beer in public we have seen in India). They brought out the beer bottle wrapped in newspaper and served us in coffee cups. They have to be discrete because it is too expensive to get a liquor license, so they just do not get one. It was quite funny. We stayed on the beach until sunset and showered and went to a place for dinner called the Kerala Coffee House where we got amazing fish and prawn dishes as we listened to the beach and watched the fisher boats float across the water. After that we walked down the beach and found a place that was playing music. They led us in to the front of the restaurant where we took our shoes off and sat around a table on the floor. There we drank Mohitos and watched Indian boys dance. They don’t dance like white boys- so it was extremely entertaining. We got up and danced too and they tried to play American music that they thought we would like, but it was a lot of Techno. We danced anyways. There were a few power outages while we were there, so we became very good at traveling by flashlight or torch as our friends would call it.
The next day we got up and got on a bus to Kolum where we did a back water tour. It is the main thing to do in Sothern India. We got in a little canoe and a local took us around the waterways of his village that they use as streets. It was amazing to see that people lived there. It was a spectacular tropical surrounding and they lived a very simple life there. Some in thatch houses, and others in more modern ones. They do have cable TV though. The government provided that to most of the country to win over votes and use it as a persuasion technique. Our guide was great though. He showed us touch me not plants, cashew trees, tapicioca plants, prawn farms, jack fruit, mango trees, pineapple bushes and more. We also stopped and watched them make rope out of coconut hair. Further down the river we stopped and a coconut farmer climbed a tree and cut us fresh coconuts for us. We drank the milk and ate the meat from the middle. We also saw a few king fisher birds which are very pretty bright blue. Steve and Jean you would have loved it. Google it. That is really all that we did in Kolum so we went and got on a train to Allopy where we stayed at a Hippy. It was run by a bunch of men our age that live there and just hang out. They have this big open atrium with hamocks and Christmas lights and they play really good music there all the time. We ate dinner and breakfast there and it was glorious to just hang out, listen to music, and watch the other people around us. It was a lot of couples. We then got on another bus to Kochi.
There we ran into some problems. We went to our hotel to check in and were very excited because we had sheets, towels and beds that were not made of straw. But we went down to give them our passports and they told us that we couldn’t stay in the city because of a warning put out by city about terrorist. One of our girls had a Sri Lankin passport. Even though she has lived in Australia for 10 years and has an Australian Visa they were afraid she was a terrorist. So the hotel sent us to the police station. One of the police were going to give us the paper work we needed but- just like the rickshaw drivers do- they talked amongst themselves and the one guy was talked out of it. So we had to get in a ferry and cross the bay to another office that was quite nice about it and gave us the paper work and told us that there was no need for them to not allow us to stay. They really thought that one tiny Sri Lankin, 3 white American girls, and a little girl from Singapore were going to blow up the country…it was stupid, but no one wanted to take the responsibility for anything if it were to happen. I hit my head really hard on the fairy too so I had a headache for the rest of the night. It sucked and we were a little afraid that we might get arrested, but at the same time it was just another really good awakening that the world is not perfect. It was another storey that was scary at the time but makes a great memory afterwards. That night we went to a Kathakali dance in the oldest theater in India. It was cool, but not as cool as we were hoping… But it could have been because we were tired, hungry, thirsty, and mad about the persecution. For diner we go two plates of desserts because we were so fed up with the day.
In the morning we found the most wonderful place EVER! It was just what we all needed. For breakfast they served us an omelet with potatoes green peppers onions and tomatoes, whole wheat toast with butter and watermelon. The best part of all was that they had AMERICAN BREWED COFFEE! Coffee here is watered down with tons of milk and sugar. It tastes okay, but it is not nearly the same as we can get at home. We even got it iced which was great because you cannot get anything with ice in it, so it is usually room temp. We sat there for a really long time too. For lunch we went to a tea shop where they had actual proper chocolate cake! Cake here sucks! There is not nearly enough sugar and they are quite dense and dry. This one was actually good. I ate two pieces…
We didn’t eat dinner and got back on the new night train and came back to Vellore. This train was not nearly as nice, and it was a rough night’s sleep so we did not go to school today. Plus it is Leslie’s birthday. So we are going to catch up on all of our stuff and head to school tomorrow.
It was basically a weekend of relaxing, eating, and drinking, and more relaxing. But it was really a great way to spend our halfway at CMC point! The new girl from Zimbabwe came with us too. She goes to school at Oxford. You think India is rough, you should try living in Zimbabwe. She got whipped by the police around Christmas time because she didn’t stop fast enough for the president’s car she handles it well and still wants to move back there after school so she can make a difference but it is really messed up there and we got to learn about that too. Hope all is well in America. I got a Hindi paper cover with Obama on it. I think I am going to frame it and put it in the basement...
The next day we got up and got on a bus to Kolum where we did a back water tour. It is the main thing to do in Sothern India. We got in a little canoe and a local took us around the waterways of his village that they use as streets. It was amazing to see that people lived there. It was a spectacular tropical surrounding and they lived a very simple life there. Some in thatch houses, and others in more modern ones. They do have cable TV though. The government provided that to most of the country to win over votes and use it as a persuasion technique. Our guide was great though. He showed us touch me not plants, cashew trees, tapicioca plants, prawn farms, jack fruit, mango trees, pineapple bushes and more. We also stopped and watched them make rope out of coconut hair. Further down the river we stopped and a coconut farmer climbed a tree and cut us fresh coconuts for us. We drank the milk and ate the meat from the middle. We also saw a few king fisher birds which are very pretty bright blue. Steve and Jean you would have loved it. Google it. That is really all that we did in Kolum so we went and got on a train to Allopy where we stayed at a Hippy. It was run by a bunch of men our age that live there and just hang out. They have this big open atrium with hamocks and Christmas lights and they play really good music there all the time. We ate dinner and breakfast there and it was glorious to just hang out, listen to music, and watch the other people around us. It was a lot of couples. We then got on another bus to Kochi.
There we ran into some problems. We went to our hotel to check in and were very excited because we had sheets, towels and beds that were not made of straw. But we went down to give them our passports and they told us that we couldn’t stay in the city because of a warning put out by city about terrorist. One of our girls had a Sri Lankin passport. Even though she has lived in Australia for 10 years and has an Australian Visa they were afraid she was a terrorist. So the hotel sent us to the police station. One of the police were going to give us the paper work we needed but- just like the rickshaw drivers do- they talked amongst themselves and the one guy was talked out of it. So we had to get in a ferry and cross the bay to another office that was quite nice about it and gave us the paper work and told us that there was no need for them to not allow us to stay. They really thought that one tiny Sri Lankin, 3 white American girls, and a little girl from Singapore were going to blow up the country…it was stupid, but no one wanted to take the responsibility for anything if it were to happen. I hit my head really hard on the fairy too so I had a headache for the rest of the night. It sucked and we were a little afraid that we might get arrested, but at the same time it was just another really good awakening that the world is not perfect. It was another storey that was scary at the time but makes a great memory afterwards. That night we went to a Kathakali dance in the oldest theater in India. It was cool, but not as cool as we were hoping… But it could have been because we were tired, hungry, thirsty, and mad about the persecution. For diner we go two plates of desserts because we were so fed up with the day.
In the morning we found the most wonderful place EVER! It was just what we all needed. For breakfast they served us an omelet with potatoes green peppers onions and tomatoes, whole wheat toast with butter and watermelon. The best part of all was that they had AMERICAN BREWED COFFEE! Coffee here is watered down with tons of milk and sugar. It tastes okay, but it is not nearly the same as we can get at home. We even got it iced which was great because you cannot get anything with ice in it, so it is usually room temp. We sat there for a really long time too. For lunch we went to a tea shop where they had actual proper chocolate cake! Cake here sucks! There is not nearly enough sugar and they are quite dense and dry. This one was actually good. I ate two pieces…
We didn’t eat dinner and got back on the new night train and came back to Vellore. This train was not nearly as nice, and it was a rough night’s sleep so we did not go to school today. Plus it is Leslie’s birthday. So we are going to catch up on all of our stuff and head to school tomorrow.
It was basically a weekend of relaxing, eating, and drinking, and more relaxing. But it was really a great way to spend our halfway at CMC point! The new girl from Zimbabwe came with us too. She goes to school at Oxford. You think India is rough, you should try living in Zimbabwe. She got whipped by the police around Christmas time because she didn’t stop fast enough for the president’s car she handles it well and still wants to move back there after school so she can make a difference but it is really messed up there and we got to learn about that too. Hope all is well in America. I got a Hindi paper cover with Obama on it. I think I am going to frame it and put it in the basement...
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Wednesday Jan 21st
Not only did we get to watch the whole inauguration…but HBO showed the MLK day celebration at the Lincoln memorial. So we got to see it all! He even made front page of the Hindu paper. I haven’t seen any for sale yet, but I am going to try to buy one if I do. It was an Washington article, but it was still exciting.
Not quite as fun but….
I am on the medical floor now. I like it a lot better because it is much more like how I would run things at home. Nurses actually wash their hands, so that is cool! The nurses are also a lot more concerned with teaching me. The mornings are nice because we walk around with the nurses for rounds and they explain every patient’s disease process. The Doctors are really great at explaining disease processes too. They all like teaching foreigners and are much more inviting to us than their own students giving us coffee and samosas at break time. I went back to the ICU today as well. They have a boy with Tetanus and a little girl with Haemophilus Influenza. Both of which we are immunized for in the states. It is really sad because sometimes it is like they use the patients for experimental purposes and then give up on them and let them die. I have an American friend that is a Fellow at Cinnicinati Children’s hospital. She is really great about confronting the Indian doctors about their care choices. She and I also have stepped in a few times to intervene. When a child’s oxygen level starts to drop, no one seems to do anything, so we go in and play with the ventilators to help them out. It has been really good for me to start to understand vents. Today I also saw a 6month old child that only weighed 7lbs. They called it failure to thrive but it has to be some kind of rare dwarfism because it doesn’t look emancipated. It just looks like a small newborn. They are not sure what to do with him yet…
Let’s see I have not told you about how we are perceived here. Children either love us or hate us. Some women throw even their babies into our arms or turn them around and make them shake our hands. Indians do not shake hands at all, so the kids get a little freaked out about it. A lot of parents and older children try to talk English to us. Sometimes they are understandable- and sometimes I just smile and nod. Most of them are very eager to uncover their kids to show you their injuries and you just smile and say it looks good no matter how bad it looks. Sometimes it feels like we are in a zoo. We are either the extremely weird looking creature that no one has seen before. Some people just stare as we walk by. Others treat us like we are awesomely rare monkeys and smile, wave, and tell their friends that, “there are Americans over there!” We just smile and wave back. Everyone loves to have their picture taken. There is no concept of privacy in the hospital and many of the students take pictures. It still makes me feel really weird though, so I cannot do it. Beds are four feet away from each other and every child’s diagnosis is on the foot of the bed with a plan for the day. Charts are also spread around for anyone to look at. As an American I could go through the entire hospital without any one ever questioning me. I could probably even steal a child if I could get the mother away for a bit… There are guards at every door, but I am not sure what they really do. They more keep extra visitors out. They do not have guns or radios so I am not sure what protection value they have.
I guess that is all for now… we have a big trip planned for the weekend with 8 girls. It should be fun! Tonight we have to say goodbye to yet another Aussie friend named Shree that lives in our hostel, and 4 other Aussies that live in a different one. Shree has taken such good care of all of us girls, and it will be sad to see him go. We have met a new girl that is from Zimbabwe. Her name is Rossie and she is extremely nice. Let me know what else you are curious about. It is hard for me to remember to tell you everything and there is no way I could tell you it all. Sometimes we still feel like we are in a movie just as bystanders because what we are experiencing is so unbelievable…
Not quite as fun but….
I am on the medical floor now. I like it a lot better because it is much more like how I would run things at home. Nurses actually wash their hands, so that is cool! The nurses are also a lot more concerned with teaching me. The mornings are nice because we walk around with the nurses for rounds and they explain every patient’s disease process. The Doctors are really great at explaining disease processes too. They all like teaching foreigners and are much more inviting to us than their own students giving us coffee and samosas at break time. I went back to the ICU today as well. They have a boy with Tetanus and a little girl with Haemophilus Influenza. Both of which we are immunized for in the states. It is really sad because sometimes it is like they use the patients for experimental purposes and then give up on them and let them die. I have an American friend that is a Fellow at Cinnicinati Children’s hospital. She is really great about confronting the Indian doctors about their care choices. She and I also have stepped in a few times to intervene. When a child’s oxygen level starts to drop, no one seems to do anything, so we go in and play with the ventilators to help them out. It has been really good for me to start to understand vents. Today I also saw a 6month old child that only weighed 7lbs. They called it failure to thrive but it has to be some kind of rare dwarfism because it doesn’t look emancipated. It just looks like a small newborn. They are not sure what to do with him yet…
Let’s see I have not told you about how we are perceived here. Children either love us or hate us. Some women throw even their babies into our arms or turn them around and make them shake our hands. Indians do not shake hands at all, so the kids get a little freaked out about it. A lot of parents and older children try to talk English to us. Sometimes they are understandable- and sometimes I just smile and nod. Most of them are very eager to uncover their kids to show you their injuries and you just smile and say it looks good no matter how bad it looks. Sometimes it feels like we are in a zoo. We are either the extremely weird looking creature that no one has seen before. Some people just stare as we walk by. Others treat us like we are awesomely rare monkeys and smile, wave, and tell their friends that, “there are Americans over there!” We just smile and wave back. Everyone loves to have their picture taken. There is no concept of privacy in the hospital and many of the students take pictures. It still makes me feel really weird though, so I cannot do it. Beds are four feet away from each other and every child’s diagnosis is on the foot of the bed with a plan for the day. Charts are also spread around for anyone to look at. As an American I could go through the entire hospital without any one ever questioning me. I could probably even steal a child if I could get the mother away for a bit… There are guards at every door, but I am not sure what they really do. They more keep extra visitors out. They do not have guns or radios so I am not sure what protection value they have.
I guess that is all for now… we have a big trip planned for the weekend with 8 girls. It should be fun! Tonight we have to say goodbye to yet another Aussie friend named Shree that lives in our hostel, and 4 other Aussies that live in a different one. Shree has taken such good care of all of us girls, and it will be sad to see him go. We have met a new girl that is from Zimbabwe. Her name is Rossie and she is extremely nice. Let me know what else you are curious about. It is hard for me to remember to tell you everything and there is no way I could tell you it all. Sometimes we still feel like we are in a movie just as bystanders because what we are experiencing is so unbelievable…
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Happy new beginning...
HAPPY GET A NEW PRESIDENT DAY! It is almost 6pm here and we have already turned on our CNN which usually only talks about India and is now showing a live picture of the White house! We are going to be able to see the whole thing! There are so many people there! On our CNN they are interviewing locals, and they all seem hopeful that it will make a positive change and are saying a lot of good things. For the first time in my life I feel so privileged to be LIVING in this part of history!
In reading back some of my blogs, I am really sorry I have not proof read anything. They are hardly legible…I will work on that. Sorry Steve- I cannot write every day! We have a lot of socializing to do!
In reading back some of my blogs, I am really sorry I have not proof read anything. They are hardly legible…I will work on that. Sorry Steve- I cannot write every day! We have a lot of socializing to do!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Well we decided to not go to Bangalore this weekend after all. None if were feeling that great and we figured we could do with a weekend of rest. Everyone said that Bangalore is an extremely westernized city, with actual traffic lights and all, so we thought we could save it until we are extremely homesick. So on Friday night we did the coolest thing ever! We went to a cheap tacky magic show. I really wish that I could have gotten a picture of this man because my words can not describe him. He was a pale pasty Indian man with a few missing teeth and of course a thick bushy Southern Indian mustache. He even had about 6 costume changes that consisted of head to toe (literally even his shos) sequins. After every trick he turned to the audience and raised his arms with a sly grin curling under his stash. He had everything that a magic show should have, but it was off a little bit. He pulled animals out of boxes- even a Peek which made me happy to see. He made an elephant appear out of “thin air.” He even had 4 scrawny female assistances, but they looked really sad and depressed. There were even 3 male assistances and a midget. All of which did a ravishing bollywood dance at the end of the show while the magician levitated above them all. He even did a tribute to Copperfield and made the Statue of Liberty “disappear,” crawled through a moving fan, and cut one of his assistants in half using a giant rotating table saw. It was well worth the 100 rupees. They took us up front too because we are Americans. One of our girls even got pulled on stage to have a knife put into her throat and to be levitated. It sounds decent, but it was just plain funny.
Saturday morning we got up and went to the Leprosy clinic. They call it an Ulcer center now because there is such a stigma about Leprosy. They also call it Hanson’s disease now. We saw a lot of people that had it in the past but are recovered and learned a lot about it. What happens is that the bacteria gets in the skin and destroys nerve endings. When the nerves are damaged the blood does not get to the bone cells and the they go nuts. The ones that build, do not build enough and the ones that destroy, destroy too much so they shrink. Originally it was thought that the fingers fell off, but they just shrink into their hands. Also the bacteria gets into the blood stream and effects the cartilage. This is why their ears get malformed and their bridges of their noses fall in. Eyebrows also disapear, but know one knows why…. But it was really interesting to see. We also saw a few nasty foot injuries from walking around barefoot. Shoes are always optional in India. Even in the hospital ICUs…I don’t know if I told you that yet. You have to take of your shoes and wear certain hospital flip flops or go barefoot. Took some getting used too….
Saturday afternoon we went and bought our tickets to Kerola at a travel agency. I am not sure how to spell that, but it is a lovely beach town that we are going to next weekend. We are taking a 14 hour night train on Thursday night and getting back Tuesday at 7am and getting on the bus to go to school by 7:30! It will be worth it though. I hear that it is the one place you have to visit in the South. We are going to be staying on a house boat and all I think. It will be a good half way break through our CMC stay. Last night we went to a carnival. It was kind of like a middle school dance. There were games to play and lots of Western songs playing. We were really only there long enough to get henna drawn on our hands and eat some seasoned corn. The henna is Beetle wood and smells like menthol. It is this chocolate looking stuff that they draw on. You leave it one for an hour or so and then when you take it off it is red underneath. The design satays there for a week or so. It is mainly used for brides on their wedding days, but we thought while we were in India we had to do it.
So that is it for this weekend. I am not sure what we will do today…everyone is still sleeping.
PS thanks for updating me on local news :)
Saturday morning we got up and went to the Leprosy clinic. They call it an Ulcer center now because there is such a stigma about Leprosy. They also call it Hanson’s disease now. We saw a lot of people that had it in the past but are recovered and learned a lot about it. What happens is that the bacteria gets in the skin and destroys nerve endings. When the nerves are damaged the blood does not get to the bone cells and the they go nuts. The ones that build, do not build enough and the ones that destroy, destroy too much so they shrink. Originally it was thought that the fingers fell off, but they just shrink into their hands. Also the bacteria gets into the blood stream and effects the cartilage. This is why their ears get malformed and their bridges of their noses fall in. Eyebrows also disapear, but know one knows why…. But it was really interesting to see. We also saw a few nasty foot injuries from walking around barefoot. Shoes are always optional in India. Even in the hospital ICUs…I don’t know if I told you that yet. You have to take of your shoes and wear certain hospital flip flops or go barefoot. Took some getting used too….
Saturday afternoon we went and bought our tickets to Kerola at a travel agency. I am not sure how to spell that, but it is a lovely beach town that we are going to next weekend. We are taking a 14 hour night train on Thursday night and getting back Tuesday at 7am and getting on the bus to go to school by 7:30! It will be worth it though. I hear that it is the one place you have to visit in the South. We are going to be staying on a house boat and all I think. It will be a good half way break through our CMC stay. Last night we went to a carnival. It was kind of like a middle school dance. There were games to play and lots of Western songs playing. We were really only there long enough to get henna drawn on our hands and eat some seasoned corn. The henna is Beetle wood and smells like menthol. It is this chocolate looking stuff that they draw on. You leave it one for an hour or so and then when you take it off it is red underneath. The design satays there for a week or so. It is mainly used for brides on their wedding days, but we thought while we were in India we had to do it.
So that is it for this weekend. I am not sure what we will do today…everyone is still sleeping.
PS thanks for updating me on local news :)
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
It has been a really easy week. We had the day off yesterday for Pongal. It is kind of like Thanksgiving where they bless all of the old and new crops for the year and eat lots of rice and sugar cane. I hear that they decorate their cows today too and have cow runs. We always have Thursday and Fridays off too, so I am not sure what we are going to do today. Maybe lay out on the roof of our Hostel…. rough life! We are going to go to Bangalore this weekend. We could have gone early- but it is a lot more fun to travel together. Other than that there is not much to say. We had an international party in our room on Tuesday night to say goodbye to the boy from Tasmania. We also had to send our Malaysian friend home on Sunday. It is going to be really sad to see everyone else go before we do. I think I might have to make a trip to see some of them! I have come down with a little cold. It isn’t too bad though. Really that is about all I have this time….I will let you know how our trip goes.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Monday Jan 12th
We just got back from a wonderful weekend around midnight last night. We got to Chennai around 7:00 on Friday night. From there we went to eat some Malaysian food. We had a student here from there and he wanted to go to that restaurant to show us what his food was like. It was nice to have some different food for a change. After that we went to meet some of our other friends that went to a conference there at a swanky hotel. They had a whole room reserved in the bar part, and one of the girls uncles worked there, so we got hooked up with some free food. We had a drink and then went down stairs where they had a little night club. We were the only ones that were there so we danced for a hour or so without having to worry about any locals thinking we were unlady like. It was a lot of fun. There was 10 or so of us. From there we went to our hostel. This is where we learned that in India you get what you paid for when it comes to places to stay. It was really dirty and gross. We almost didn't stay, but it was getting late so we put shirts on our pillows for cases and made it through 6 hours there with 3 girls in a room. We probably wouldn't have stayed there if it was not for our two male friends that we have. They both have Indian parents and lived here for a bit when they were kids- so they know how to work the system. They live in Australia and Tasmania now and are med students. We woke up and set off to find a better place. It cost a bit more but it was worth it. At least we could shower and pee! We left our stuff there and went to get some “American Coffee” at a Starbucks place and then we went to the beach. The Chennai beach is really dirty and loaded withstand of homeless people’s homes and shops. We didn’t stay there long. We then went to do some shopping. Nothing here has a set price and they tell foreigners that everything is worth a ton more than it should be because they know that we have money. You have to bargain everything you buy. Getting rides from a rickshaw is the same way. It is defiantly a skill, but we are slowly getting better at it. After some shopping we went to the Chennai open and watched some Tennis. It was very nice and relaxing. The USA lost to the Swiss in doubles- but we got to cheer for them at least. There weren’t many cheering for them- but it was still fun. After that we went to a five star hotel. Hotel bars are what people our age does for fun here because they are safe and they can get their drivers to pick them up. So we hung out there for awhile. They close at 11:30 here.
After a well needed clean sleep we got up and got on a bus to Mamalapura . They had a very pretty stone carved temple there and a beautiful beach. Also some good shopping. It was really a nice town- we might even go back there for a few more days. There are lots of touristy things there to buy- but of course its all bargaining.
Hospital wise I moved to the PICU today. It is kind of sad because they have so little money, so they use so little pain meds and other things that we use to help our patients. Another doctor from Nepal and I taught local doctors about balloon pumps and Echmo. They spend so much of their time and money on Primary care that their ICUs really suffer. It is also so hard to get patients here—that many traumas die that we could keep alive. It is very primitive care. Same dry dressing for every wound- which means that they pull off a lot of fresh skin when they do dressing changes. They do have the same monitors that our ICUs has, and ventilators though. They do the best they can with what they have.
Well that is about all for today. I am very sleepy so I am going to grab some diner and head to bed!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Wednesday Jan 7th
The hostel I am staying at has the tradition of going to a restaurant every Wednesday night after we pay our rent, so I just got back from there just a little while ago. It was delicious and we only spent 5 American dollars! It is a great place for an American to travel financially... Today I went back to the hospital. There are so many differences there, I really would not know where to start to tell you. One thing I saw today was way different.
They are performing a new procedure that is called Amnion Therapy for burn patients. They take amniotic membrane from a donner mother's placenta and wash it off and put it on burns as a dressing. I watched them "clean" it, and I could not imagine that it was at all clean enough to put on a burn. IT kinda grossed me out a lot to watch- and even made me a bit squeemish... They do soak it in Gentamiacin for 2 hours- but that doesn't kill everthing... pluss they just wash it in a bowel in the sink with tap water. It was a little gross. The Drs. took me around to all the patients today which was nice and told me about their conditions and surgeries. They even opperate a bit differently than we do. Most of there problems are conginital due to malnutrition and probably polution. There was a lot of hypospadius repair and colonostomies done. Drs. are actually semi sterile. The nurses suck at it. This is proof that bacteria are good for you. These are people that are around bacteria all the time- and they do not get infections as much as an american would if they had to be opperated on here. There is no MRSA scares or VRE. The only kids that they put in Isolation are the burn kids. No one gowns or gloves though like we have to do (There is only on box of gloves on the unit- and it is Latex). They just treat him like a normal kid. They even blow on the burns to cool them and wash them with normal soap and water in a really gross bath tub. There are a lot of scald burns here. We have a kid that is 85%.
We are going to Chennai on Friday Morning. There is the Chennai open there that we might go to. Other than that, we are just going to hang out and see a lot of stuff. I will let you know how it went when we get back on Sunday. We were going to try to sleep in this morning, but there is a jungle right outside my window. There are dozens of birds and monkeys that squack and our neighbor ties his puppy out back to whine for a few hours every morning. There is also religious chanting at around 6everymorning. So we are getting up and getting ready to do a little shopping in town. Everyone else has to go to the hospital today, so we are waiting for them to leave town.
They are performing a new procedure that is called Amnion Therapy for burn patients. They take amniotic membrane from a donner mother's placenta and wash it off and put it on burns as a dressing. I watched them "clean" it, and I could not imagine that it was at all clean enough to put on a burn. IT kinda grossed me out a lot to watch- and even made me a bit squeemish... They do soak it in Gentamiacin for 2 hours- but that doesn't kill everthing... pluss they just wash it in a bowel in the sink with tap water. It was a little gross. The Drs. took me around to all the patients today which was nice and told me about their conditions and surgeries. They even opperate a bit differently than we do. Most of there problems are conginital due to malnutrition and probably polution. There was a lot of hypospadius repair and colonostomies done. Drs. are actually semi sterile. The nurses suck at it. This is proof that bacteria are good for you. These are people that are around bacteria all the time- and they do not get infections as much as an american would if they had to be opperated on here. There is no MRSA scares or VRE. The only kids that they put in Isolation are the burn kids. No one gowns or gloves though like we have to do (There is only on box of gloves on the unit- and it is Latex). They just treat him like a normal kid. They even blow on the burns to cool them and wash them with normal soap and water in a really gross bath tub. There are a lot of scald burns here. We have a kid that is 85%.
We are going to Chennai on Friday Morning. There is the Chennai open there that we might go to. Other than that, we are just going to hang out and see a lot of stuff. I will let you know how it went when we get back on Sunday. We were going to try to sleep in this morning, but there is a jungle right outside my window. There are dozens of birds and monkeys that squack and our neighbor ties his puppy out back to whine for a few hours every morning. There is also religious chanting at around 6everymorning. So we are getting up and getting ready to do a little shopping in town. Everyone else has to go to the hospital today, so we are waiting for them to leave town.
Okay- thats all for now. Off to town. I might not write again until Sunday.
Erika
Monday, January 5, 2009
Monday Jan 5th
Today was a long day as well, and we can not believe that it has only been two days since we arrived. We decided that we would go to the school and find people ourselves since we still had not heard from anyone. This was a good thing because they were expecting us and had a whole day planned for us. We talked to many different stories about CMC and got a tour of the campus. It really is a wonderful storey. One American girl decided that Indian people needed help after she watched a women die in child birth because a man was the only doctor they could find. She came over with no idea of the culture or with any money and really built it up starting out of a car. It is owned now by 53 christian churches in India. The campus is very nice compared to the hectic streets, but it is nothing like KU. They do not put any money into aesthetics at all. They really use every penny to help as many people as possible. But even on grounds there really people EVERYWHERE. Whole families come and treat on patient so if you are admitted you are limited to one family member. You can treat people in hallways and on floors. Really where ever you can. Health wise they have the same types of problems we have from what it sounds like, and they are run in similar ways. Everyone we talked to was very nice and helpful and glad that we were here. We have also made many friends. We have some Swedes, Australians, and a Tasmanian so far. We also got the Internet password tonight!!!! I think that is all for today. I must shower and get to bed. We have to catch the bus at 7:30 to get back to school and start on the units. And for those of you who are still worried....the campus that we live on is so safe and empty that females can walk around by themselves in the night. They even have a pool. Of course I didn't bring my suit, so that is on the list to find something I can where.....other international students can even where bikinis here. That is how safe this is.
PS: If some one sees this before Corey, let him know I need him to do something for me at home and I sent him an email about it. I don't think he checks his email very often. Thanks!
I wrote this on Sunday when I could not get on the internet:
Well, if you don’t like roughing it, and you don’t like to be dirty, India is not the place for you! Our flights were very enjoyable. On the first one I had an old man that told me we were lucky that we didn’t die, on the second one I had a very nice 19 year old from Amsterdam that I talked to the whole flight and played photo hunt with while learning a little bit about Dutch life. The third flight I had two seats to myself so I got to lay out and sleep most of the way. The third plane had individual TVs that you could pick what to watch so that was nice. We got two meals on the second and third flights. All four were great tasting. 26 hours after I left KC we landed in Chennai. We had a 2hour delay in Belgium. When we got off the plane we had to do our first bargaining to get a Taxi. It was nuts with everyone trying to get us to pick them! They target Americans and when there are 4 young girls they think we don’t know anything and price us really high, but we can usually get them down quite a bit. Driving is exactly what you picture it would be. Scary. No lanes, no signals, and traffic lights are optional and honking is a warning that you are coming. But we got to where we were supposed to stay and they only had one room for us. SO we had to talk to them about that and got one with AC and one without. The one without had a lot of mosquitoes- but we were only there for a few hours and got up to eat breakfast at 6:30. The place was dirty- but we were just happy to be out of a plane! It was all decorated for x-mas too. It looked a lot better in the morning. We watched the sun rise, and felt like we were at the zoo. Oh---it is humid here- but it doesn’t smell all that bad. But around 10 we decided that no one was coming for us so we headed to the train station. That was an experience! So many people and sweaty and dirty! We found a few very nice Indian men that helped us out getting our tickets. Then we went and got on the train which was a bit like taking a herd of cattle to the sale barn. no air, no room, no seat, no AC, no water. I cannot lie- I was not sure that I could do it for two months by the time I got off of that! I almost passed out from heat exhaustion and I was in between the bathrooms with little air for 3 hours. But once again-some very nice men helped us out with our things and where to go. From there we took a Tuk Tuk to CMC. It is like a scooter minivan. Or guy stopped at a gas station though which was strange. He drove us all around Vellore and to our Hostel which was great because we agree on a price before we get in, and the rest was extra. But he got us HERE!
This place makes me think we can do this. It is like a resort outside compared to what we have seen- with lots of extra trash around. Vellore looks like an awesome place too. I already saw a stray cow, but I didn’t get a picture yet. But our room is cleanish and our beds are comfy. There is a shower head but it is useless, so we got to take a shower under a spout that is 2’1/2 feet off the ground. Fun when you are 5’10 and filthy! Everyone we have talked to has been nice though. There is a gate around here and there is a guard at our door-who didn’t talk to us when we got here…. But I feel like this will make a great home for 6 weeks. The food we have eaten has been good too…even though we are not sure what is in it. We will try to find the person that is in charge on Monday. It is Sunday now and everyone is on Holliday. There are lots of Mosquitoes though, even though I only have 2 bites…maybe the spices help. Good thing I have Malaria meds!
Once again it has been an adventure….but at this moment I am still glad I came.
Well, if you don’t like roughing it, and you don’t like to be dirty, India is not the place for you! Our flights were very enjoyable. On the first one I had an old man that told me we were lucky that we didn’t die, on the second one I had a very nice 19 year old from Amsterdam that I talked to the whole flight and played photo hunt with while learning a little bit about Dutch life. The third flight I had two seats to myself so I got to lay out and sleep most of the way. The third plane had individual TVs that you could pick what to watch so that was nice. We got two meals on the second and third flights. All four were great tasting. 26 hours after I left KC we landed in Chennai. We had a 2hour delay in Belgium. When we got off the plane we had to do our first bargaining to get a Taxi. It was nuts with everyone trying to get us to pick them! They target Americans and when there are 4 young girls they think we don’t know anything and price us really high, but we can usually get them down quite a bit. Driving is exactly what you picture it would be. Scary. No lanes, no signals, and traffic lights are optional and honking is a warning that you are coming. But we got to where we were supposed to stay and they only had one room for us. SO we had to talk to them about that and got one with AC and one without. The one without had a lot of mosquitoes- but we were only there for a few hours and got up to eat breakfast at 6:30. The place was dirty- but we were just happy to be out of a plane! It was all decorated for x-mas too. It looked a lot better in the morning. We watched the sun rise, and felt like we were at the zoo. Oh---it is humid here- but it doesn’t smell all that bad. But around 10 we decided that no one was coming for us so we headed to the train station. That was an experience! So many people and sweaty and dirty! We found a few very nice Indian men that helped us out getting our tickets. Then we went and got on the train which was a bit like taking a herd of cattle to the sale barn. no air, no room, no seat, no AC, no water. I cannot lie- I was not sure that I could do it for two months by the time I got off of that! I almost passed out from heat exhaustion and I was in between the bathrooms with little air for 3 hours. But once again-some very nice men helped us out with our things and where to go. From there we took a Tuk Tuk to CMC. It is like a scooter minivan. Or guy stopped at a gas station though which was strange. He drove us all around Vellore and to our Hostel which was great because we agree on a price before we get in, and the rest was extra. But he got us HERE!
This place makes me think we can do this. It is like a resort outside compared to what we have seen- with lots of extra trash around. Vellore looks like an awesome place too. I already saw a stray cow, but I didn’t get a picture yet. But our room is cleanish and our beds are comfy. There is a shower head but it is useless, so we got to take a shower under a spout that is 2’1/2 feet off the ground. Fun when you are 5’10 and filthy! Everyone we have talked to has been nice though. There is a gate around here and there is a guard at our door-who didn’t talk to us when we got here…. But I feel like this will make a great home for 6 weeks. The food we have eaten has been good too…even though we are not sure what is in it. We will try to find the person that is in charge on Monday. It is Sunday now and everyone is on Holliday. There are lots of Mosquitoes though, even though I only have 2 bites…maybe the spices help. Good thing I have Malaria meds!
Once again it has been an adventure….but at this moment I am still glad I came.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
We made it! We just got to Vellore 30 min ago and found our Hostel. It has been a really long trip, but we are at last here. We don't have internet here 24/7, so I won't be able to write much tonight. We have also not met anyone here yet, so we are not sure still what we are doing. I just wanted to let you guys know that we are fine. The college actually looks nicer than we were thinking. It is definatly different here though!!! I can not wait to tell you all my stories, we already have so many. I have to take my turn on the computer though. We have not gotten the internet password yet, so we can not use our own computers yet. Love you all! I will write again soon.
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