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click on pictures to see 'some' of the 2400 pics i took!!

Hello family and friends.

I have some exciting news! But first, a brief update. I just completed my third year of study in naturopathic medical school at the National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. Last August, I sat for the NPLEX basic science board examination and found out in October that I passed! After 2 more years of intense study, along with numerous clinical rotations, and another seat for the three-day clinical board examinations, I will be a doctor! I have also been working on the didactic curriculum to earn a certificate in obstetrics/midwifery.

Now for the exciting part! I have been selected, along with a small handful of my colleagues, to travel on a medical volunteer trip with Naturopaths Without Borders [NWB] (in conjunction with Nature Quest India) to Northern India. For three weeks in August and Sept, we will be rotating through villages and clinics providing healthcare support. We will stay for one week in Thangaon village, where we will experience the Himalayan medicare at a grass root level, one week in Dehradun city with the urban Indian medical system, and one week in Rishikesh Ashram where will be exposed to Ayurvedic Medicine.

NWB’s mission is to provide naturopathic health care to impoverished communities, while empowering those communities through education, supporting growth and cultivating sustainable resources. The Nature Quest India mission is to provide very basic health care and build a community health care infrastructure for all the surrounding villagers.

I have created this blog to journal my trip and to post pictures so that you may follow along and share this adventure with me. I will update it as often as I can while in India. I hope that I will be able to accurately capture the experiences, sights, sounds, and feelings of this trip! Please share the blog link with those that you feel would enjoy it.

Over the last three years of my medical studies (and various international pleasure travels) I have found myself to be more and more drawn to global health and the opportunities that lie outside of our prosperous country to bring health, education and much needed compassion to my beautiful brothers and sisters in need. This experience in India with NWB will no doubt be a determining factor in how I choose to use my gift as a doctor after graduation. I am beyond excited to venture on this journey. I know that no matter what, it will be a life changing experience that I will always treasure, and that I will come back from India with a renewed spirit, a fresh perspective, and a deeper appreciation for what I have been blessed with. I will be staying with a host family and I cannot wait to be immersed in their wonderful culture.

If you find it appropriate to help support me with this unique opportunity, I will gladly accept your gracious donations. Click on the donate tab above for more info! Any amount will help! The cost of the trip is $1500.00 and the cost of the airfare is $1500.00. The money that we pay as volunteers goes directly to the clinics and host families, as well as the public health needs for the communities that Nature Quest India primarily works with.

Thank you endlessly for your support, love and encouragement. namaste ~desha

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

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 ...
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