observations pt 2

contd from pt 1
please excuse the slippage from first to third to first person randomly throughout.

• for the most part people are friendly and try to help you. most know english and even if its poor english they still try. even given the fact that some people are scammed (including some in our group), i still think that overall the indian people are just curious (hence all the staring) and genuinely friendly.  [dont get me wrong though, there are plenty of people that are just out to make a rupee or 10, and they are often TOO friendly - gotta listen to those spidey senses]
• the power goes out randomly all the time. this is just a part of life. i feel like when the power goes out in the states, its like all hell has broken lose and people become completely dysfunctional. you get used to it pretty quick, the trip coordinators werent kidding when they said bring a torch (flashlight). you have to adapt and plan accordingly, but it is frustrating when its scalding hot at night and the power dies and therefore the ceiling fan.
• monkeys.everywhere. the baby monkeys are absolutely adorable. sometimes im scared for them when they cross the street. at first it was exciting to see monkeys but that novelty very quickly wore off. especially after being chased down by them in rishikesh. 
• when it rains it pours. true - it was monsoon season while we were there. i love me a good monsoon! the thunder is beyond fabulous. there was a torrential downpour lasting pretty much all night in than gaon village, we were in tin roofed bungalows so the sound was deafening, literally. ive never slept so well. (no sarcasm) i love watching the streets turn into rivers, i love that it doesnt even matter if you have a rain jacket, cuz everything is drenched in milliseconds, i love that no one really cares, and while lots of people scurry to get out of the rain, ultimately life keeps keeping on as it if it werent downpouring. the gross part was how the streets turned into rivers... rivers full of all the trash that is laying around. ick. we definitely washed our feet when we got home at the end of the day, and sometimes in the middle of the day. the monsoons became really predictable after being there for awhile, it was easier to tell which clouds were the real threat and when they were going to burst. i love that insanely intense humidity right before the cloud breaking point.
• its HUMID! everything feels damp. all.the.time. its kinda creepy when your mattress is damp all the time. everything smells of mildew, prob cuz its damp. its the everything, and everyone, is constantly sticky type of humidity. sometimes the air was so thick it felt like we were "swimming through it~josh". i actually didnt mind the humidity, there were only a couple times where i felt like 'ok, im done, get me into some ac'.  humidity makes you lethargic, its very draining. ive never been so diligent at drinking so many liters of water a day. 
• its HOT! the heat is worse in the direct sunshine, of course, so it was a good thing that it was cloudy quite often thanks to the monsoony clouds. but the cloud cover does make the humidity worse. so really theres no happy medium. it was hot, humid,  and humidly hot. the air temp was significantly cooler higher up in elevation - the city of mussoorie was almost chilly in comparison.
• the longest eyelashes in all the world exist on the babes/children of india! even the guys in our group commented on the eye lash length.
• oily hair. sadly, i made assumptions as a child about the oily hair i saw on the indian kids at school in california. i always attributed it to poor hygiene. they oil their hair on purpose. sometimes with oil that contains wonderful herbs. this actually keeps the hair quite manageable and really its a brilliant idea. after my hair was oiled during an aryuvedic massage i think i repelled water for at least a week, even after shampooing immensely several times. it was easier to keep my very curly hair under control in the heat/humidity though.
• jungle. i dont know why i wasnt expecting india to be so lush and green. i guess i forgot about the movie 'the jungle book'.  everywhere has lots of plant life, so many shades of green! when we were IN the jungle, it was ... jungle. twas awesome. 
• its a mans world. hands down, no questions asked. testosterone is in charge. but some instances proved being female has its advantages. for ex, women dont have to que up in lines - this came in handy several times, especially when in a rush!

and it was all fabulous!
to be contd ...

observations part 1

• women hold their children. in their arms. there are no strollers or moby wraps or carriers or car seats or anything of the sort. im surprised that they dont wrap the children onto their backs
• where are all the cats?!? there are next to no feral cats, after being in the country for 3 weeks i had counted literally 12 cats. 
• delightful endless rich bright color. no two saris or punjabis are the same. so many different colors and patterns. gorgeous! 
• lots of muslim influence in architecture - palaces, temples, forts, (taj mahal) and even in things like turbans 
• cows and more cows everywhere --> cow shit. everywhere! sometimes the scent of fresh cow pies is a very welcome one! not as many cows in dehradun as other places travelled but still plenty just roaming around - in the streets, in the medians, in the doorways, on the sidewalks, in the fields, in the trash piles, on front porches... everywhere. 
• the indian people sure do love to stare at us white people, esp the men and children. many have asked to be in pictures with us and then they want to see the picture (being digital and all). one family in jaipur wanted me to hold their small child for a picture, the child of course screamed bloody murder and will probably have ptsd towards white people from now on.  
• filth. everything is dirty. everywhere is dirty - the air, floors, streets, the linens, the bathrooms, the floors, the walls, the coke bottles. mold grows everywhere and most walls in most establishments had visible mold growing. trash piles everywhere, the few garbage cans seen were tipped upside down so that no trash could be put in them. sometimes the trash was conglomerated into piles of trash. pigs cows monkeys dogs and donkeys search the trash piles for food. when it rains (monsoon style mind you) the streets become rivers of trash, literally. the humans do not distance themselves from the loose trash nor the huge piles of trash. 
• unreal smells, except they were. often you get a particularly pungent whiff of  rotting putrid acridness of carcass/food remains/feces-of-all-different species/diesel/burning plastic/god-knows-what-else + the thick humidity and scorching heat... the nose is assaulted. 
• no traffic rules, at least not any that are willingly followed (with the exception of jaipur) its crazy! british influence left behind round-abouts. no intersections means no red lights, no stop signs and no real 'right of way'. one driver told us that you need a good horn, good brakes and good luck to drive in india - SO TRUE. the road is clustered with cars, trucks, busses, motorcycles, rickshaws, autorickshaws, vikrums, bicycles, pedestrians, cows and donkey/camel/horse drawn carts. 
• rarely did i see helmets being worn until i went to jaipur (where it was enforced). most cars and motorcycles etc were stuffed with way more passengers than there were seats for- the most i saw on a motorcycle was 7 (2 adults, and kids/babies)  and the most i saw in a minivan sized car was abt 18 (it was full of school children and the seats had been removed). the women and kids dont hold onto the back of the motorcycles - they must have amazing balance because the roads are full of potholes. 
• lots of the roads are hardly 'roads'. pot holes are huge craters and not really patched up, lots of rocks and gravel, when it rains this creates massive lakes... none of hte vehicles have much int he way of suspension and this all makes for a very bumpy ride, often injuries were incurred - hitting head on top of roof, elbows/shoulders/knees/fingers crushed/bumped/banged/squished while commuting to clinic! 
• vikrums are the mini buses we rode to clinic while in dehradun. they are kinda like the jeepenys in the philippines, but smaller. they are supposed to seat 6 but always hold at least 8 people and often bags. a very squished and very bumpy ride, but affordable! only 5 ruppee (55:1 US$) walking was often preferable, even if it was a 30-45 min walk because the bumps of the bad roads were so uncomfortable. 
• drivers honk incessantly, if youve ever been in asia, then you know what im talking about. they honk to let you know they are there, for passing, for starting and stopping, for right of way... basically for all communication you could ever need to convey while driving in mindblowingly insane traffic. but in india they also honk when there clearly is NO reason to honk ie we are driving/walking/riding down the st, the st is completely empty of all other motorized vehicles at that moment and a motorcycle/car comes from the opposite direction, and both parties lay on the horn from abt 50 ft infront of each other until abt 10 ft past, as if there was any possible ay they didnt see each other without honking. situations like this and regular/busy traffic habits leads to constant honking and the horns are obnoxiously loud. being anywhere near a street is an assault to the ear drums. 

and it was all fabulous.
to be cntd.... 

home sweet home

got home 2 days ago, and its been a whirlwind of a weekend, school starts tomorrow morning at 730 am with grand rounds.

ive been trying to get thru pics and organize them for posting/sharing, so be patient! i will also be typing out my journal entries from the trip so that my adventures can be shared with you all!

india was a fabulously intense experience in every sense of the word. india will forever hold a piece of my heart and i look forward to the day i return. 

a fabulous week in the jungle

last week we were in than gon village, which is in the jungle.
Nature Quest campus is located there and they have a school for younger children and a clinic, as well as a garden with herbs and some veggies, and the living quarters for the staff and people that come to help. the jungle is beautiful. so lush and green and full of wildlife, loved the sounds of crickets and cicadas and birds/parrots etc.
the villagers come from all over, more villages than just than gon, to be seen by the dr. the clinic will see and give medicine to anyone that walks thru their doors.
some of the patients had walked for days to be seen, because this clinic is the closest one to them. some of the cases were VERY intense. the need these people have for medical care is remarkable, even with all that nature quest has done in the area. a lot of the people wait so long to come see the dr that the disease has manifested quite severely by the time theyre actually seen, making it an urgent case, whereas if they had been able to be seen early on it wouldnt have been a big deal to treat/heal.

it was a fast paced crazy rush during clinic hours and a serene relaxing place to be when not in clinic, a very stark contrast.

of course i will expound on our experiences when i return home.

dehra dun

this week my group will be in dehra dun, it will be very busy with multiple clinics every day. we are excited though! rishikesh was spectacular and there is certainly lots to tell, but im having a hard time finding an internet cafe that stays open late enough in the day to do any sort of decent post. all is well! more to come... eventually ;-)

quick update

as of last night, i am in rishikesh for my first week rotation, it is lovely, the ganga river is incredible.
the internet speed however is not.
the first clinic shift will be tomorrow, today is some classes in yoga and naturopathy. we are staying at a naturopathic care center/ashram.
such amazing energy here!

namaste

made it!

well, josh almost didnt. lol he had it in his head that we were leaving on tuesday instead of monday, good thing i texted him asking what our flight number was since my itinerary was packed in my checked bag.
but we made it. the plane ride was long, 11 hrs to korea from seattle and 7.5 hrs to delhi. i was an unconscious zombie for most of it.

from the airport we immediately went to the train station, which was not an ideal place to hang out for 2 hrs while we waited for our train, but thats ok. the train ride through farm lands to agra was interesting. lots to see out the window, not all of it worth dwelling on.

we explored taj mahal and the agra fort yesterday, it was indian independence day and there were literally millions of people around. i was fascinated by the red structures to the east and west of the taj that are never shown in photographs.  all of it reminded me so much of turkey so i was in heaven.

we spent the night in a nice hostel with AC. it is really muggy here, humid and sticky but certainly not unbearable... yet.
this am we are headed to khajuraho to see the famous 'sex temples'. the train to get there is a long one and will be an adventure in the least to get on it.
we head back to delhi on saturday to meet up with the program director from nature quest and receive our orientation.

oh and the food is most delishious!

departure day is fast approaching!

i leave for india on august 13... its coming up quick! (i will return to the states on September 14th)

My india travel visa is secured, one of the longest applications ive filled out!, an appt has been made for a few vaccinations, and im currently researching the things i want to see and do when im not in clinic. (ie taj mahal)

people have been asking me about:
the weather- it will be monsoon season - something to look forward too, haha! so it will be hot and wet!
i will mainly be in northern india, in the foothills of the himalayas. there will be mosquitos and i plan on swimming in deet regularly to keep them away!

the food - i love indian food, but the area is mainly vegetarian, so i am a lil worried i will starve to death with no meat ;-)

the water - we will have filtered water in our host homes and im well aware of water purifying methods and safety. apparently the indians like to reseal water bottles with super glue so that it makes a cracking sound as if it were properly sealed when you twist the bottle open. im not worried!

will i get to see any births - i really hope so, but it will depend on what 'happens' the particular days im in particular clinics. 'anything goes' as far as i can expect as to what i will get to see.

luggage - i will be carrying all my gear and any medical supplies i take on my back, which means im spending lots of time at REI debating over which backpack to buy.

souvenirs - yes! i absolutely plan on bringing home some beautiful reminders of my time in india. I plan to get a sari, but it will be hard to decide on the color of fabric!

safety - dont worry! it will be safe. i will not die (which my baby sister is absolutely convinced of). i will be traveling with a male classmate before and after the clinic rotations. while we are in the care of nature quest, we will have cell phones provided to us, and explicit directions and guidance of where to go and how to get there, etc. i will be in good hands and i am a smart savy experienced world traveler!

sickness/disease - we are all expecting diarrhea at some point on our trip! and weve all planned accordingly with supplements, probiotics and plenty of tp! lets hope that no one experiences anything else in the 'under-the-weather' dept. knock on wood!