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!