Ramblings from the Land of Holy Cows

The End of India

2009-03-15T23:54:00.000-07:00

I have been in Goa for this last weekend! Goa is basically a crazy Russian party influenced India. It’s Russia’s Mexico. Because India has no rules (yeah there are laws but no one really cares that much about enforcing them or following them you could expect that Goa is a very strange mix of partying Russians and local Indians trying to sell them things. It is my last day here in India; I fly out in about 3 hrs. It has been great, I have learned a lot about medicine traveling, and Indian culture. I have enjoyed it immensely. From my travels I have concluded that India must be the hardest country to govern because of the non-shilant attitude that everyone has. Yesterday I was at the beach sitting in a bungalow a paraglider came down and landed on the crowed beach, kind of crashed, had his sail hit some lady on a sun chair and no one even cared. Everyone one was just like, what ever. Even the person that got hit. This event embodies India, and its attitude towards everything. While here at the beach I have relaxed become a bit more sunburned (yeah, skin cancer, ouch!) while watching the butt loads of people wandering around, being hassled by sunchair-wallas (walla means person that sells or provides something). Seafood here is great, and Indian style, which means that it is very spicy. Last night I had the spiciest meal of my life. My head was like one of those cartoons, all red with my ears shooting fire. I pulled a Ben Benson and sweated through my shirt and my hair looked like I had just taken a shower with sweat dripping off my nose. It was wild. I am excited to come back to the US, with all its amenities and familiarities, but I will miss India, with all its exotic sights, sounds, smells and people. While here I have read 7 books watched over 14 surgeries, and seen more deification, sick people and disparity of wealth then I am able to describe. I have no idea who has been reading this blog so if I start repeating stories then just tell me and I will come up with one that I did not write about. As the Indian tourist board says it’s truly Incredible India.

Mumbai and Holy Holi

2009-03-12T22:44:00.000-07:00

I am leaving Mumbai! In about two hours I leave to spend the weekend at the beach. My original plans to visit a temple on the India Pakistan boarder have been foiled by difficult and expensive travel requirements. So I have opted out for a relaxing time in the sun, I have already been to the beach once while here, but I think a little more relaxation will be nice from all the work I have been doing (I mean come on guys, its like, hard work watching people, and I have to, like, write on this every once in a while, ha!). Anyway so this week I have been going to clinic on the edge of a slum. The number of people has been less due to the fact that during this week there was a holiday called Holi. The day before Holi everyone starts celebrating, and because its India there is some confusion on when Holi actually is and so people start celebrating the day before as well. People run around colored green, red and all the colors in between, yelling and trying to color other people. As I was going to clinic a man in business clothes and trendy glasses saw me as a white person and jumped in front my bumper-to-bumper traffic bound rickshaw and demanded me to drink a glass of some colored liquid. Being close to the train station that I needed to go to, I got out of the rickshaw. The man gave the driver some of what I could only assume was juice, who drank it happily. Outside my rickshaw a huge stage with color liquid mixers standing around doing just that, with music blasting my ears out, stood before me. The persistent man was as you can imagine very adamant that I drink his juice thing along with the huge crowd, and you can bet your behind that I did just that, thinking, that if I was afraid of becoming sick I wouldn't be in India in the first place. After I finished the yellow drink the man and the crowed cheered, and throwing my cup in a huge growing pile of plastic gave me a red drink which I downed as the mixers on the stage exploded with glee. I think that this was for Holi due to all the colors, but on the same day there was some Muslim holiday so who knows what they where happy about. While walking around past traditional bone fires, non-traditional techno-blasting speakers, I was hit in the back. Well hit with a red watery paint from a spray gun. The paint that stained my shirt, ran down my pants staining me everything else. I whipped around seeing some fat middle aged man running behind a car giggling. I yelled "It was him!" pointing at the man. Of course absolutely no one cared, in fact a group of people just laughed at me for having a reaction. I walked off eyeing the man, and everyone else at this point. It was great, people where very excited. The next day we stayed inside, sleeping in and being lazy because nothing was open. When we did leave the apartment, gangs of colored people where walking around, but not that many and it was eerily quite. People are still stained from all the paint and you can see it on the side walks. It was quite cool to see. Now I am off to the beach, this time I am not sick (knock on wood) and have sunscreen.

WEEK 9 and 10!!!!!!!!

2009-03-10T02:33:00.000-07:00

Wow, week 9 is over and I have started week 10! This second half of the trip has gone by very quickly, like a speeding rickshaw it almost knocks you down. During the last week I observed at a clinic in the slums, or next to one. It was really amazing to see, so many people coming in being over worked, malaria, TB, general sickness, or worrying about their libido (yeah it makes the top 5). In the mornings I went to spiritual training, at the BSES hospital, run by the Brahma Kumaris, which is a religious organization. It was interesting to learn about them and some of the other religions that are here in India (every kind is here, its freaky). After learning how to meditate on a red dot with your eyes open (which was hard with the ferocity that the fans churn the air here) I was done with it, and my week was over. I promptly went to the bus station to go to Hampi, which is full of ancient ruins, only to have to wait 4 hours to get on regular bus (this means a school bus with smaller seats) for the 10hr trip to Hubli which left at 5 for a very uncomfortable trip. In Hubli I bought a 1/2 kg of cashew nuts and ate them (yumm..) and talked to some Indian kids during the 3 hr wait for my 4 hr. bus trip to Hampi. Yeah it was full of waiting, but the worst part was that on the bus from Hubli to Hampi my camera went missing, which I only realized the next day. ARGG! luckily I have been saving all my pic's to my laptop so I have them all. I don't know if I lost it or if it was stolen, but it is the first thing down on this trip and with only 6 days left, I hope the last. The weekend was good, I was able to see an amazing landscape that is around Hampi. Banana plantations and jungle pierced by huge boulder outcroppings. It was a really cool trip and it was nice to catch a sleeper-bus on the way back.

Today, after my Mumbai morning routine, I went to a foot drop surgery on a leper. This consisted of cutting a major tendon in the guys foot, splitting it in half, tying it (they used a standard knot) to two different tendons on the top of the foot and then cut the Achilles. It took 40 min. and was sweet! It basically gives me the idea that your body is a machine, that can be tinkered with, and is very flexible to being switched around with. I will be going back to the clinic by the slums during the evenings this week for my last Indian medical system observations. I hope to see some very colorful Indians due to this week being the festival of Holi, which, from what I have gathered, means everyone just throws paint on each other and most of the country either stops, or goes on tye-dyed. It seems like it will be a crazy last week here, I would expect nothing less given the last nine.

Pictures!

2009-03-04T02:19:00.000-08:00

Heres a link to some pictures. Ill post more to this album later but I cant take sitting in this internet cafe any longer (uploading takes too long).
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=37095716&l=f692f&id=11513397

The Beach

2009-03-02T00:18:00.000-08:00

This last week has been fairly uneventful. I went to the rural rotation, which was at the end of a 2 hr. metro/train line on the edge of Mumbai. I don't actually know if it would still be called Mumbai but no matter, because the only difference was that the buildings where a lot smaller (no lack of people, remember its India I am talking about). The natural medicine clinic had some amount of hectors of land that I cant remember, on which they grow all their own food for people in the community and the students at the large school that they run. It was cool to see. Our guide was very confusing, even now I am not sure if he was working there or was just some former drug addict patient who knew a spattering of English, so I don't know too much about the place. Unfortunately due to events out of my control we could only spend one night so I cant really say much more about the place. The rest of the week I just hung out here in Mumbai, did some sight seeing, which means that I spent more time in traffic then in temples. I traversed bazaars in which you could really find anything, its kind of freaky, think; goats, smart phones, antiques, car repair, food, all packed an old alley.
This weekend I went to Goa! Goa is basically a tropical paradise, with picturesque golden sand beaches, palm trees and clean warm ocean water. It was great, all except becoming sick just as we left, and only getting better as soon as I got back! Just my luck. My advise; try not to get sick on an overnight train in India. If you can imagine, you don't get much sleep. By the time I got to the beach I was exhausted and promptly fell asleep on the beach, thinking 'ahhhh... how peaceful'. When I awoke the damage was done, and I am currently the color of a beat. I didn't really feel bad at that point so ran around in the sun, went for a swim in the perfect water and enjoyed the place. By night I hardly had any energy to move. The 2nd degree burn covering most of my body, of course, only added to the effect of any intestinal problems that I was suffering from. Now 24 hrs later, after this near death, I am feeling great, albeit my movement is inhibited from searing pain. The beach was every nice though and was not very crowded, a real surprise here, with only Europeans filling some of the sun chairs. I did enjoy the trip, not as much as I could have, but it was great to get out of the city and in to a (much) less smelly area (I only realized this upon returning).

A sweaty experience

2009-02-23T01:01:00.000-08:00

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!

Rolling on

2009-02-14T22:46:00.000-08:00

The weeks are falling like flies. Unfortunately here in Mumbai I am having to deal with mosquitoes, which are impossible to kill. When I have not been chasing these pesky pests, and then subsequently running from them (a doctor burst in a fit of laughter after seeing this process, saying something about westerners) I have been walking around the city, getting my self lost in the all the hustle and bustle. In an attempt to reach the beach by foot I ended up walking in circles (as I found out later) for an hour and a half until I waved down an auto rickshaw, and it was long ride to where he dropped me off. The beaches in Mumbai are done completely Indian style, that is to say, one of them was covered in people, the other covered in trash.
Besides expending energy in my personal locomotion, I have been using it to stand for long periods of time watching surgeries. I have been able to watch a tipple bypass, several angiograms and the removal of a large tumor from the intestine of an unlucky recipient. I have been stationed at a BSES hospital here, which is a strange cult like organization, but harmless only due to the fact that they only want to help people. I went to a TB clinic for the poor, which was amazing, because I observed every kind of TB in the span of 2 -ish hours. My best attempts to breath as little as possible to avoid catching the airborne bacteria where thwarted by a giant celling fan that churned the air with such force that it would blow the paper off desks and cause my hair to assault my eyes. The doctors did tell me that after decades of working there they have never caught TB, and with my impeccable health record (ignore all the broken bones and injuries) I hope to join them in not getting infected.

Pics.

2009-02-10T03:14:00.000-08:00

So here are some pictures, I know it been a long time coming. The first one is of The Taj hotel, that was attacked. The second picture is of the kids at Than Goan preforming on Republic Day (mom you would have loved it). The Agra Fort is the next, then the detailed ruby, emerald and other gem inlayed in white marble at the Taj. The last is of the Taj through the enterance gate. I have taken 757 pictures thus far, and have 94 from people that I have been with, so do the math, and I have been averaging over 21 pics a day. I do have several bad copies for one good copy of a picture (on some of them), but still I can take 916 more, yeah 4gb camera memory. I am also creating a link to another album that is online (I hope it works) so you can check out 60 more! Eat it up. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2217630&l=d7bb7&id=11513397

Mumbai

2009-02-09T04:24:00.000-08:00

So I am here in Mumbai! It is much like the rest of India that I have seen but the streets and buildings are bigger, and if it possible it is more crowded. I am told that it is a very safe city in general, I mean you try robbing someone with hundreds of people watching you from every street corner at every hour. Yesterday I went to go see the Gateway to India! It was cool, you know, some big arch that the British built for themselves, or rather that they made Indians make for them. From there I went to Elefanta Island, where there where these really old Hindu caves carved into extravagant temples. They where awesome, but it is freaking hot, and all the smog does not help make one feel cleaner as you are sweating all over your self while looking at the brown water that surrounds Mumbai.
Indian trains are a thing of legend, and let me tell you that there is a reason. They get absurdly full. Think of sitting on a train, with the bench seat, add five people to that seat, then add as many people that can standing in front of you (between you and the seat in front of you) which is about 5 more, and extend that into the isle until people have to hang out the door, which they have to keep open, because if it was to close it would kill and dismember 6 people. When you pull up to a station it is like the running of the bulls into a wall of people trying to get off, but without the bulls (and there must be less shoes).
Today I went to the Hindu (I think its Hindu) hospital that I will be working at for the next week. I observed an angiograph and then angioplasty. It was amazing!

HALF WAY!!!!

2009-02-06T21:33:00.000-08:00

This is much like the last post, I am halfway done with the trip. I am currently in a shady Internet cafe at the end of a dark, small walkway, off an alley, off an on/off ramp (traffic direction has little meaning here) from the highway that my hotel is on, in Delhi. The last week in Than Goan was nice, it was the same as the previous week, full of peaceful walks, yoga at dawn and dusk, intermixed with reading and playing with Shoe. We did go on what they call the "Super Hike", on Tuesday. It was over a 2,000ft climb up the hill behind Nature Quest (the place I was staying) to a small village where we held clinic. It took us 4 hrs, it would have been quicker, but Dr. Paul is old and the guy carrying all the meds (80-ish lbs?!) had to rest frequently. It only took us 2 hrs to come hike down, when I say hike you should be imaging a kind of running semi-controlled fall, down a mountain. The week was nice and I left Than Goan happy that I had spent the last two weeks there, and after letting Shoe attack my Birkenstocks for one last time I made the journey back to the labyrinth hotel (my room is the one at the top of right hand stair case after the diangle stairs) in Delhi. I have my flight details and I am flying to Mumbai in 3 hrs (I cant forget to get food first). If the first half of the trip was any indication the second half should be a ride, because thats what the trip has felt like, being shot though space or something, with me screaming AAAHAHHHHHHH the whole way. Anyway I am off to one of the biggest cities in the world which has the largest slum population on Earth (I am sure you can wiki some other cool facts too). Look out below: AAAHHHHHHHHH.

One Month!

2009-02-01T22:49:00.000-08:00

This is day 30! Oh how time flies. The last month has been wild. At first I was amazed at everything, it was all so different, but I realized today on the bus back from Rishikesh that I was not cringing as we passed trucks overflowing with sugar cane by playing chicken with on coming traffic, that I was becoming used to it all. I knew it was just the way everyone drives. I can now navigate through towns, do a bit of bargaining, with a sense of knowledge behind my actions, which is much different from the first week. I don't have too much to reflect upon, I have learned a lot while having fun and getting exposure to incredible India. I don't know what happened to the last post but it appears to be placed below the previous one.

Different Strokes

2009-01-30T19:24:00.000-08:00

This week was quick. I spent it at a school and medical center in Than Goun, a very small village. Here the medicine is free and is all grown on the property. There are tons of trees, bushes, and other plants that all serve some propose. The students are very well behaved and when ever they pass an adult they say "good morning Sir" or Mame, so there is always a chattering of Mame's and sirs and mornings and afternoons ect. as they pass every morning. Each morning I wake at 6:30 to do yoga as the sun rises, which was hard the first day, but now I am kind of used to it, and is freakin sweet! We have hiked to several near by villages to hold clinics, and around the general area. Everyone calls the area a jungle, but because it is winter, thus the dry season, it is kind of brown, and the underbrush is not as thick as it would be in summer, when it rains every day. There is a small puppy here that I have named Shoe, because it attacks your shoes as you are walking, or doing anything else. So far the name has not stuck with the staff, who think that it will just get eaten by the leopards, the ones who have had most of the past puppies for midnight snacks. This means that after killing the mega spider in my room I lay listening to all the dogs in the area barking all night at various wild animals, or each other, but who really knows. This all occurs after catching the gecko (that I named Willy) and also doing yoga at sunset, so I am becoming much more limber with yoga twice a day. I will spend the next week in Than Goun, but for now I am back in Rishikish to go to a wild life preserve and some big sheva temple.

The weekend

2009-01-30T08:25:00.001-08:00

This weekend I spent in Rishikesh. I am exhausted because I went river rafting and kayaking for most of the day. I did this on the Gangies river, and because it was hot I went swimming, and so I have been blessed for some amount of time (I think it is measured in lives). We where going to a Wild Life preserve near by, but because rafting took too long and other reasons that where out of my control we where unable to. I took a tour of the Ashrams here, the place to study yoga and get natural treatment of what ever you want. It is really awesome. Everyone here is really nice, and all about yoga, its kind of like a cult of something. Everyone has on orange clothes and is muttering some chants as they do some meaning full act. I have learned that Hinduism seems to be the most complicated and interesting religion ever. I am simply blown away by it. I will be leaving in the morning for Than Goun for the next week, my final week here in northern India before leaving for Mumbai.

The Taj Mahal

2009-01-24T23:28:00.000-08:00

I left for the Taj Mahal promptly at 8pm, which is an Indian rarity, on a sleeper bus. Because I did not have time to get dinner I had a bag a Masala Munchies (Spicy Indian chip-sticks) to eat while I sat watching oncoming traffic narrowly missing the bus, or the movie Diminished Capacity (don't watch it, very bad). The road to Agra was terrible and I think that part of it must be broken rocks (not gravel, its too smooth) because it was so bumpy which lead to very little sleep. We got into Agra at about 4am at the bus station, but it took us another 2hrs to get through town to the station where we needed to get off, which turned out to be the bus garage. We where met by our arranged auto-rickshaw driver, had something to eat and then went to the Taj Mahal! We met some friend of a friend of someone that I don't know and took a butt load of pictures. It is really sweet! There where not that many people there, partially because it was about 8 in the morning, winter, and there have been less tourists because of what happened in Mumbai. The building its self is as people describe it, with all its intricate stone work of flowers and designs, from rubies and other rare gems. It is so amazing because there is so much detail carved in to jewels and white marble, each inlaid with more stones. The only thing in it was the tomb of the Raj's wife, with some other rooms that would have housed whatevers. We did not get a guide because we where told by basically everyone that they where a waste of money, but I should have looked all the facts up before hand because historical references are nice. Anyway there where some cool mosques that there as well. We then went to the Fort where the Raj of the area lived. It was also amazing, yet they had taken out much of the jewels and such. The driver then took us to a carpeted making factory (because I believe that he must be on some kind of pay stipen), which was cool to see, "hand made carpets of the highest quality". They where freaking cheap to, so it if you want a cuppla thousand dollar carpet for a 1/6th of the price delivered to your door let me know. I felt bad for the sales man because he literally rolled out the red carpet (tons of them) for me until there was this awkward moment when I said that I had no money and no house to put one in. The drive back was just as long and tiring but I am glad that I did it, and after a nap I am ready for the a week of hiking to remote villages and yoga in Tangown. I wont have internet for the week, so you'll have to find some other way to fill the time that you have allotted to read this (HA!).

Day 21!

2009-01-23T00:33:00.000-08:00

The trip is going by very fast! This week most of all thus far. It doesn't seem like I have done much, yet I have been busy. On Tuesday Paul, Erin (two others in my rotation) and I decided that we did not want to finish out the week with our evening doctor because he was not the most helpful, or talkative person. The two days we observed him we mostly just sat there in his office as he filled out forms, sat and looked at the floor, or not in the room at all. So instead we arranged it so we could observe Dr. Vorha (pediatrician) in both the morning and evenings for the rest of the week. So I have spent the last few days with babies staring at me, which they seem to like do if I don't accidental don't scare them. Most kids here are bundled up to the max, which is funny because it is warm here (I am in a T, and not just because that's all I packed!) but the mothers are very concerned about the cold. Also the mothers are not the only worriers because most mother-in-laws take charge of their grandchildren, telling the mother how to raise her kid. Family dynamics are very different.
On Wed. I watched the presidential inauguration! YEAH! It was cool to see here in India. Most people are glad, but some say that Bush was good for India, so they don't care too much. Though in the news paper I did see how an entire class of a school wore Obama masks (it was creepy), so in general I think people are very happy, but it is hard to tell because Indians are very diplomatic in everything they say (always with the head wobble).
This week I have spent much of the week looking for a cord to connect my camera memory card to the computer, which I got on Wed. I would use it now....but I cant find the connector cord from the card holder thingy! HAHAHA! I know what you are all thinking, and I cant help but say, what do you expect! HAHAHA! Its got to be in or near my stuff, its just a matter of time (or ill buy a new one HA!). How I got to this country, or not choke on my own spit, Ill never know. HA!
In about 4 hours I am going to the bus stop and taking a bus to Agara, to see the Taj Mahal! It is something like a 10 hr drive so Ill be pooped. I will meet a driver at the bus stop and he will take me around all day, then back to the bus stop where I will get back onto a bus and take the drive back Derhadun so I can be back on sunday morning to leave for Tangoun. For the trip I am taking a bag with: ipod, camera, jacket, and basically nothing else, yeah, its called an adventure, I hope to not fall asleep in the middle of it.HA! That's week 3.

Derhadun

2009-01-19T02:39:00.000-08:00

I am back here in Derhadun! The end of the week in Missurie was nice. I walked around looking at the view of Doon valley, the mountains while listening to music (this ipod has been a god send! and it plays movies!) and reading. I observed two more tubectamies (how ever you spell it) and then a surgery on a kids wrist who had an axe accident (ouch!). Two tendons and a major nerve where repaired, it was amazing. So in total I witnessed 3 tubectamies, 1 hip replacement (as I was leaving the old man was walking with a walker!) a C-section and this hand thingy. So six total. The drive back down the hill was uneventful, besides the old car only having one wiper that only kind of worked (yes I know if I say more I am a hypocrite), as it rained for the first time. This week I am working with a pediatrician and an internalist, so its back on the wickrams, which I just found out are actually Vickrams but people pronounce the V as a W. I just booked my flight to Mumbai on the 7th for 60 bucks! It will take 2 hrs and Ill be in a city which when I say I am going to people gasp and say "Oh, Mumbai is crazy"! Until then I will be here in the north, I am thinking that I will go to the Taj Mahal for the weekend, which takes an overnight train so I will go, take a picture and then get back on the train (HA!). Oh well, it may be my only chance. For this next week I am going to a small village which has very little power and no Internet. Ill have an update of the week before then.

The Day Did Not End There

2009-01-15T05:36:00.000-08:00

So after the last post I took the long steep walk back to Landoor (yeah that's it real name) community hospital. There I ate dinner and watched a pirated version of Quantum of Solace (there was little sound) and then as I was about to fall asleep I was shocked awake by morning and yelling, not quite screaming but almost. I let this go on for a min. and then lept from my hospital bed, to see if anyone needed help. See my room is right next to the operating theater and so I knew there had to be some surgery about to happen and it turned out to be some crazed pregnant lady who was going in to have a C-section. I was whisked in to observe. As I was watching the doctor cut the mother open and a huge burst of liquid came shooting out at me. It did not fly far enough to hit me, and I made an attempt to dodge it anyway, I was very glad that it did not because I would have thrown up, passed out or a combo move of both. Any this all happened at 11:30, the baby was fine but it was good to do the c-section because the cord was wrapped around its neck! Afterward I got some sleep, at least a bit.

My first surgery

2009-01-14T05:06:00.001-08:00

So today I observed a hip replacement on a 95 year old man and a tubectimy. Both where cool, but the hip replacement was insane. The conditions where not that bad but I am told not up to par with what would be seen in the US. Here in Missurie I am working in a hosptial which is not really that busy due to winter, so I have been walking around and taking in the views of the Himalayas (awesome!). That is about it. The doctors here are all every nice, which has been my experience thus far with everyone I have met, from the random people on bus's to store owners, everyone is kind. Here are some pictures I hope they work, I can only put on a cupple so I will try to put up more later.

Rishiskesh and Hardwar

2009-01-11T04:38:00.000-08:00

For Saturday I went to the Holy city of Hardwar which was about an hours drive from Rishikesh but because for some reason unknown to me there was stop go traffic so it took much longer. The only note worthy thing that happened on the ride was that I almost passed out due to fumes from the wickram. While there I went to see the Mera Devi (or some spelling) temple via rail car. It was up on this big hill which gave me a view of the valley that Hardwar is in along with the Ganges river. Most of the buildings in Hardwar are pink, or a dark dirty pink any, which gives the town a very organized feel although it is very much not so. There where lots of people asking for money which made me feel like I was a walking wallet to everyone. Along the Ganges there was the classic stairs in to the water that you see in pictures and everyone was sitting, bathing, and everything else in the river. Because the current was so strong here they had chain fence area's in the water so people would not be swepted away. I was very excited about the river, so I stuck a foot in, I couldn't do more for fear of contracting some disease. In both Hardwar and Rishikish I went into many Hindu temples (including one that was 17 floors), and was blessed by many priests who all wanted money donated to their temple as soon as they had my head and had blessed me. It was all very cool to see. Right now I am in the hill town of Mussoire in the foot hills of the Hymalayas at 6,000 feet. It is very cold and I can see my breath (I am regretting not bringing my snow jacket). I will be here for the week in a small hospital sleeping in a hospital bed! I'll let you know how it goes.

Rishikish for the weekend

2009-01-09T19:51:00.000-08:00

I am here in Rishikish for the weekend! It was a short trip from Derhadun on a twisted road, which the bus driver drove on like he was driving a car 100x smaller. It was insane, and all the more so because I was having Ghostland Observatory blasted into my ears, while trying not to gasp at the driver or scare the old Indian lady that sat next to me on the most cramped bus I have ever taken. On Wed. I went to a Buddhist temple, which was huge and grand. There where tons of monks and Pilgrims everywhere, and yet has been the most peaceful place I have been in India. Because it was so sweet I set off to go to a Hindu temple the next morning which my host mom told me about (Alibaba or something). She told me to take wickram 8 to its end and then get on wirkram 1 to its end and then its just right there. Awesome I thought! I soon found that I could not find wikram 1, but because I was determined to a to a freaking temple and I was not going to let anything stop me I convinced myself that the host mom had meant to say wirkram 2, because there where lots of those. So I got on and rode it to its end and found that I was really no where and there was no temple. Still I was determined that I could find it so I just started walking straight down the road as some little boy began to follow me. It was amazing, after walking for about 15 min. a small temple stood right in front of me! Sweet! I took some pictures and the monk there gave me a banana and a dry sweet nut mush ball. I was very content that I had found the temple, which I found out later that night was not the right one and the others had no idea about it. Only in India could I just go straight and find a temple. HA! Well I will now have to find the one I was actually looking for another day, but I am happy that I found my own.

The head bob is real

2009-01-06T03:08:00.000-08:00

People are very nice here and when some are listening they do this little Indian head wobble back and forth rotating on an axis through their nose out the back of their head. So far no problems. Don't worry mom people aren't that nice. Just to let you all in, my mothers biggest fear was that I would go to India and marry some beautiful erotic India woman. People have not been that nice (although its a long trip and it is only day 4). HA! No, but the majority of people that I see are sick and luckily I have the immune system equivalent to ten men so I have had no problems so far. I mostly feel completely lost in the doctors explanations of what is going on with the patient and what is on the chart. Oh, well I am still and undergrad, and they don't mind explaining.

Just another Monday Morning

2009-01-05T02:28:00.000-08:00

I had my first Monday in the Derhadun Government Hospital. It was wild the doctor saw about 50-ish patients in 3hrs and he sees about 200 a day. There where lots of heart mummers to listen to and a lot of people who had who knows what. The doctor was a cardiologist so he was only seeing people who had been refered with a heart or circulation problem. The only way I had any idea what was going on was due to Erin and Paul, two 4th year med students at WSU from Alaska. The doctor would look at a paitent and chart say some stuff in Hindi and then tell us what was going on. Paul and Erin would then explain it to me. Dr. Yoashi said I was a baby cardologist. Anyway I have more to do tonight.
The host family is really nice, and the food is awesome. I am sharing a room the Paul and we have our own bathroom. It is suprizingly cold, but not cold enugh to wear a jacket just enugh so I wouldent want to wear shorts and sandals. Its funny everyone asks if I am cold because they are used to the heat.

Day One

2009-01-04T03:37:00.000-08:00

Well before I start with my first day in India I shall regale the flight. It was long very long, during the trip it was entirely night. I left when it was dark, got to Newark when it was dark, the fight was dark, and got to Delhi when it was dark. I had a very long night full of very small and physically cramped naps. While in Newark Sean (my cousin for those readers who don't know) took me to a sweet burger joint (called the burger joint) and I had a very American last meal of a cheese burger, fries, and a beer. awesome. I figured that people compared Mumbia to New York and crack so I should at least get a taste of New York without crack first.
Anyway the first night in Delhi was a long one because I couldn't sleep. The first thing you must understand about India is that all Indian should be def from all the honking. There are no rules to the road. For example the hotel I stayed at was on a one way street, instead of going around the block we simply just went towards on coming traffic horn blaring. When we got there I realized that there also seemed to be no block that we could have gone around anyway.
When I awoke at 4:50 am (actually I had been awake for some time) we barely escaped another gauntlet of cars, people running in the road, bikes (motor and peddle), buses and rickshaws to the train station (apparently people don't sleep in Delhi). So to cut this off kind of short we took a long train to Derhadun and I have met many people so far that I will be working with (they all seem great). They gave me a cell phone and told me that I get free incoming calls. I have no idea what this would cost anyone else but you all should call me at 0091 9358209745. If it is very expensive I can call you for cheap, it is only a cuppla Rt. a min. (so about nothing). Well that's it for now everything is great and Indian chi just somehow better here.

Location: India

2008-12-24T13:49:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I have created this blog so people can follow my every move (ha), I hope to have frequent posts. Anyway so after an amount of time that I am not going to divulge, I have decided on a blog name: Ramblings from the Land of Holy Cows, (tell your friends!) and thus this page.

I am posting a map of India and where Ill be living for the next 10 weeks (as dictated by the red arrows) Derha Dun and Mumbia.

If it doesn’t come out right here’s a google maps link

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=map%20of%20india&gbv=2&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=il

Anyway for those who don’t know here is a brief synopsis of my trip; my flight is out of Portland Jan. 2nd( AAARRGGHH 9 days!) to New Delhi via Newark. I will then spend the night in Delhi and a driver will then take me to Derha Dun. There I will be living with a host family for 5 weeks while observing doctors and working in hospitals. For the second 5 weeks I will be living in Mumbia, in my own flat doing the same.

I am now going to finish my smoothie, watch the blizzard outside and continue to listen to music that you should be jealous about not listening to.