A sweaty experience

The past week has been like the others here in Mumbai, going to clinics, seeing sick people, while attempting not to succumb to the heat or the crowds. Getting from one place to another is like summer in Disneyland, trying to get from Space Mountain to Splash Mountain. You are pushing, being pushed, while all you really want to do is slap the stupid idiot blocking your way, sit in the shade and drink an ice cold lemon-thingy and then just get on the ride. Except here there is no ride at the end of the line, just a hotter, more crowed train.

After taking such a ride this week I would end up in a leprosy clinic. If you wish to feel no pain, just have to leper sneeze on you and vua-la, within six months you wont feel your hands and feet. The amount of leprosy has decreased by a huge amount here in the past 20 years, but has had a slight resurgence in the past 3-ish, but have no fear, I can now recognize the signs. Also I have been going to a small clinic by the worst smelling dried fish market imaginable, where I listened to the collapsed lung of a woman, who had Extremely Drug Resistant TB! AAAAHHHHH! I will have to tested when I get back, but it is not as contagious as some (KELAN) may think.

For the weekend, I went to caves in Ellora and Ajanta which was an 8 hr train ride to get to. It was worth it! They where all carved from about 200 BC to 600 AD, from the from Jain, Hindu and Buddhist religions. The weekend started with breakfast on Friday which was some spicy potato-thing, sending me in to a fit of fire breathing sweats, which would be the theme of the whole weekend. Every bit of it involved me sweating all over, from eating in an air conditioned restaurants, to hiking in between the caves, and in an attempt just to avoid heat stroke I had to keep sucking down water and limca (their lemon fanta) with lots of grunts, sighs, and ARRGG's. The caves were amazing, thats all I can really say. For every bit that the Vatican is awe inspiring for its grandness these caves where in their details. Each was cut out of the cliff face in two sets of some 30-odd caves. The largest single cave was created by removing 3,000,000 cubic feet of rock! Yeah it was wild! Many of the caves (particularly Buddhist) had paintings, that where still intact, which along with the giant Buddhas, Shivas, ornate columns and shrines made it quite an experience.

This week I am off to some town on the outskirts of Mumbai (I dont believe there is such a place) where I am to work in some other medical clinic and, you guessed it, see more sick people. But today I was informed that there is a doctor strike (I am also not sure of the existence of this) to I have the day OFF! Yeah more walking!