Monsoons and Motorcycles

As you could have probably guessed, the rain has continued. Today it was raining when we left Pasam  for lunch and to come back to the volunteer house. Arun and I were pretty wet by the time we made it home on his motorcycle. The power was out when we got back too. As I mentioned, I spent the morning at Pasam. The majority of my morning was spent in the dressing room helping to change the dressing of the man whose eczema became infected. Sadly, his condition has gotten much worse. According to the doctors he is both an alcoholic and heavy smoker. Both of these habits diminish the effects of antibiotics and impede healing. Today, his leg had a large swollen bump on his shin that was completely filled with pus. Cleaning out this and the infected pockets in his leg was one of the grossest things I have ever witnessed so I'll spare you the details. Unfortunately for this man, the consequences of his limited healing are very real. Much of the tissue on his leg was in a state of necrosis, there was apparent muscular atrophy and his best hope of avoiding further infection and the possibility of septicemia is amputating his leg above the knee. Obviously this news was very upsetting and by the time his dressing was done and the doctors had talked to him he was in tears.

The outside of Pasam's main building.

For lunch, Arun and I hit up my favorite lunch spot which is just up the street from Pasam. We beat the rush today and didn't even have to wait for a table. I think today's lunch may have been the best meal or at least lunch I've had so far in India. The typical South Indian lunch is alll-you-can eat rice with various curries and two veg sides. I posted some pictures before of these kinds of lunches when I was talking about eating rice with your hands. Today, this restaurant had switched up their sides to a beet dish and a bean dish. Beets and beans are two foods I wouldn't normally want to eat but they were both SO GOOD. Best part is they keep serving you more and its healthy too! With my rice I had sambar, which is a lentil and vegetable kind of soup, and egg curry. I usually get those two when we eat there and they are both delicious although pretty spicy. This restaurant also offers a lot of non veg sides and Arun got a fish to go with his rice.

The aftermath of Arun's lunch, teeth and all.

This morning I took some pictures en route to Pasam, which I think you might enjoy:

Women carrying wood on their heads. Not an easy job.

One upping the women and going hands free.

A shot of a hillside in town with a beautiful church at the top of the hill. (Notice the change in weather from the first picture!)

I'm waiting for the rain to let up to see any patients come to the clinic this afternoon. Otherwise, the only work I have left for the week is to finish up my project proposal.

Here's to hoping its sunny where you are...

Liz

Rainy Days in Kodai

The past couple of days have been kind of slow and very rainy. As I approach the end of my second week here, I have been working more on organization work such as my project proposal. I still have some work to do on my proposal but I should finish it up this weekend and then send it to the FIMRC headquarter for approval. Other projects I am helping Arun with are the end of month video report for May and preparing for the creches to reopen next week.

This picture pretty much sums it up.

Once again, wifi has been glitchy but I have finally been able to get my iPad to connect again! In other fun news, a cat was found hiding out in the volunteer house for the second time and it appears to have decided to make a snack out of our bread! This morning when I woke up, I found the bread on the ground again so the cat must have snuck back in during the night. We have not been able to figure out how the cat is sneaking but we are determined to keep it away from our food! I'm hearing meows as I write this... I think they are coming from outside though. 

Anywho, the past couple of days I've been at Pasam have mostly been filled with more dressings and helping Dr. Mascarenhas with ophthamology cases. After a few failed attempts, I think I finally mastered how to use the ophthalmometer to check patients for astigmatism. The afternoons have been filled with helping with the FIMRC clinic. Wednesday is the busiest day for the clinic because Dr. Arun, who works at KHMS another hospital in town, works the clinic. There are usually about 20 cases but this Wednesday it was both raining and a temple festival so there were a lot fewer patients. Apparently it is superstition that you shouldn't go to the hospital etc. on a festival day because it will anger the gods. Rain not only makes coming to the clinic more difficult but people want to collect rainwater because Kodaikanal is currently in a water shortage so people who may have come to the clinic will stay at home to collect as much water as possible. What may be the best part of clinic is when the nurse, Salin, makes "coffee" for everyone. I put coffee in quotes because it is really an extremely delicious combination of hot, frothy milk, lots of sugar and some coffee. It's basically a dessert... I'm not complaining though!

Now for some random pictures I've taken recently...

Monkeys are India's squirrels... At least thats what I've decided!

Fabric from freshly washed sarees hung out to dry.

Laundry day in Kodai means a trip to the river for many locals.

With the arrival of another ambassador and the opening of the creches next week, things should really start to pick up soon so keep your eyes out for some new posts!

Liz

"She looks more Indian than American!"

I think that's a tough sell but this morning during tea Dr. N proclaimed that I looked, "more Indian than American". Once again, Salin had kindly given me flowers for my hair and when I arrived to Pasam and Sangeetha saw them. I explained to her that I had to take them out to wear my motorcycle helmet and had just put them back in myself. She said she would help me fix them and next thing I know, she has taken out my braid and is completely redoing my hair. It is was this new hairstyle that prompted Dr. N's remark. 

My new 'do. (I did take this myself so apologies for the quality.)

I spent most of my day at Pasam in the dressing room with Sangeetha. I assisted with a dressing for a leg wound, flew solo on a nebulizer setup and even assisted with a cyst removal operation. I may have just been responsible for holding gauze to dab the blood coming from the incision and passing fresh Q-tips to Sangeetha, but I think this is the first time I can legitimately say I assisted in surgery!

After returning to the volunteer house, I helped Salin with one patient in the clinic. It was a woman complaining of severe back pain. According to Salin, she is maid who works for several families. The brooms maids here use are very short and they have to bend over, which is usually the cause of the pain. She received a pain killer injection and some pills so that she would be able to return to work tomorrow. I then headed up the street to pick up some groceries for breakfast. There are a handfuls of small stalls near the volunteer house which sell staples as well as a variety of snacks. I picked up eggs, bread and milk. The milk came in a small plastic bag, which I found very bizarre. I'm still not sure what the most effective way to store leftover milk after I open the package.

A rooster I saw on my way back to the volunteer house.

A better shot of the front of the volunteer house. Yes, it is pink!

After getting a few odds and ends done, I was called on by Arun to help prepare dinner. He had made dough for chapatti and I was assigned to cut up vegetables for potato masala. A little while later, while I was finishing up in the kitchen our maid, Ish, showed up and I told her we were making chapatti for dinner. She started talking to me telling me how to cook the chapatti and I'm sure what else she was saying because she pretty much only speaks Tamil (she is the one who wants me to learn Tamil). Next thing I know, she has taken over and fresh chapatti are being made! She kept telling me what to do and I kept trying to follow her instructions although I had no idea what she was actually saying. Two people trying to communicate who understand little to none of the other persons language is really an entertaining time. I couldn't help but laugh at the situation and Ish kept giving this look as if to say, "You silly girl why don't you understand me and why do you keep responding in English?" Sorry Ish! I promised her I was working on my Tamil. Not sure she understood that though. Eventually Arun returned from town and we finished up the potato masala. It turned out delicious and is definitely one of the best things I have eaten since coming to India. but almost anything will taste great with some homemade chapatti!

Dinner is served!

Hope Everyone back in the states had a great Memorial Day! I appreciate the US of A even more now that I am living abroad.

Liz

Living Solo and a Look at Things to Come

Sunday marked the departure of the four other volunteers who I had been living with for the past week. I have to admit I was a little jealous they were headed home. Although the volunteer house is definitely a lot quieter now, being the sole volunteer left meant I got my pick of beds. I was quick to move to the only double bed in the volunteer house!

My new digs!

 Being the only volunteer here also means we no longer need to be picked up and driven to work by Mubarak. Instead, I get to hop on the back of Arun's motorbike! This is also the first time I've ridden a motorcycle. It is a fun way to get to work and enjoy the scenery, however, the traffic in Kodaikanal is hectic so my first ride was a little nerve-wracking. I was definitely glad to have a sturdy helmet unlike most of the locals who forgo helmets! I took a video of part of my ride to work this morning but I'm not sure how to add a video to a post. Instead you get this gem:

Rocking the motorcycle helmet.

We headed to Pasam for the day. I first headed up to Dr. Mascarenhas' office to observe some general consultations. We had a little bit of a late arrival to Pasam due to a flat tire, so 11:00 tea time came quickly and I headed downstairs to join the rest of the staff. Today's tea was complemented by some delicious homemade chocolates (chocolates are one of the specialities Kodaikanal is known for). After tea, I headed into the dressings room to assist one of my favorite nurses Sangeeta with a fresh dressing for the epileptic woman (can't remember if I mentioned her before). After we finished up the dressing, Sangeeta told me that was the last dressing for the morning but it was clear she didn't want me to leave! I decided to hang out with her for a while and helped her make some medicine covers from old newspapers. You basically tear up newspaper into 16ths and then cut, fold and paste the rectangles into little envelopes that will slide over strips of pills. Sangeeta kept talking out the windows to the nurses passing by below telling them that she had a friend (aka me) hanging out with her. I told her I was 19 which she thought was pretty young but she is only 23 so we are actually pretty close in age.

Arts and crafts Pasam style.

After hitting up a nearby lunch joint with Arun, we returned to Pasam and I observed Dr. N's cases for the afternoon. He saw 15 cases including multiple instances of worms, fungal infections and a 20 year old girl with gestational diabetes. It's a little scary to think I am almost the same age as her! We then headed back to the volunteer house for the night.

As a FIMRC ambassador, I am responsible for planning and implementing a project during my internship. I have to submit a proposal to the FIMRC headquarters in a week so I started brainstorming today. I think I am going to work on starting up an after school program at the creches (daycare like programs for children ages 2-5) for older children who have graduated the creches and are in grades 4th-6th. According to Arun, these kids already can come to the creches in the afternoons but there is no structured program in place. I am hoping to implement a program that combines health education and fun activities especially those that give the kids a chance to get in some exercise! The creches are closed in the month of May because that is the main summer vacation month for schools in India so I haven't been able to visit any of the creches yet. However, starting in June we will be visting the three creches we partner with once a week. In other things to look forward to, another ambassador, named Shaelagh, is coming June 3rd and staying for 8 weeks. Two volunteers are also coming from June 8th to June 22nd. It will be nice to have so more company soon, especially now that I have secured prime sleeping location!

Also, our maid just told me I need to learn Tamil (the local language) so I going to try and see what I can pick up over the next couple weeks.

குட்பை 

Liz

(goodbye in tamil, spelled phonetically kutpai)

Trekking in Kodaikanal

Today, was my first day off since getting here and we decided to go on a hike. We walked away from the main part of town and into a more residential area. There were a lot of large beautiful houses built on the hills. As we walked further, it became more of a calm village with a lot less traffic and commotion than downtown Kodaikanal. 

An old house and some hydragenas. I was kind of surprised there are hydragenas here but they are so beautiful!

A random cow we passed. Cows are everywhere here. EVERYWHERE.

After walking for a good two hours, we got to a spot with the most amazing view of the surrounding hills and the plains beyond. It was seriously breathtaking. I'm not sure I have ever seen a better view while hiking.

Taking it all in!

The pictures don't do it justice. 

After sitting and enjoying the view for a while, we started the trek back. Walking uphill, much less a very steep mountainside, is pretty taxing at an altitude of 7,000 feet but hey it's a good workout, right? We had been hearing thunder of in the distance for most of the walk and as we got closer to home it started to pour. Hello monsoon season! Luckily, I had packed my rain jacket so I was somewhat dry but honestly I still got soaked. Mom, the oh-so-fashionable trekking pants you bought me are definitely not waterproof but I wore them just for you! After a quick lunch, we finally made it back to the volunteer house where I my smart wool socks and flannel pajama pants were waiting for me. As well as a lack of power and wifi so this probably going to be posted via the Internet cafe in town.

Liz

The Swing of Things at Pasam and the FIMRC Clinic in Action!

It's been a while since I last posted mainly because the wifi at the FIMRC volunteer house has been pretty spotty. Otherwise, everything else has been going well. I've spent the last couple of days working mostly at Pasam. Every Wednesday, Pasam holds an ophthalmology clinic. This encourages people to come get their eyes examined and basically just entails Dr. Mascarenhas (Pasam's main doctor who is Indian and 83 years old) focusing on ophthalmology cases. I first observed Dr. Mascarenhas perform a pterygia surgery. Pterygia is the growth of extra "scar" tissue on the eye usually cases by over exposure to UV light. If the scar tissue starts to grow close to the pupil it can impair the patient's vision and requires surgery. The surgery is fairly simple. The extra tissue is scraped away using a small scapel with the patient under local anesthetic. Antibiotic ointment and a simple gauze dressing are then applied to the eye. I then assisted with some dressings. The first patient was a male burn victim whose hands were extremely disfigured. The story of his injury was very sad. Long story short, his wife tried to commit suicide by lighting herself on fire and he tried to save her and suffered severe burns. The reason his wife tried to kill herself was that her mother in law was torturing her but in her final statement to the police before dying, she said her injuries were an accident. After helping two other patients, I went upstairs to help with the ophthalmology clinic. Dr. Mascarenhas saw cases including glaucoma, cataracts, astigmatism and dry eyes. I learned how to use an ophthalmometer to test for astigmatism and perform a tear strip test to measure how the tear ducts are functioning. 

The set up for the ophthalmology clinic.

In the afternoon after all the ophthalmology patients had been seen, Dr. Mascarenhas told me about the earlier years of his life and how he started Pasam. After studying in Germany, he realized money did not make him happy and he wanted to come back to India to help the poor. When he first returned to India, he simply wandered the streets wearing his stethoscope. He said people would see his stethoscope and come up and ask for medical care. He would get patients to sit in line of the side of the road and wait to be seen. He said he would sometimes build a small thatched hut to work out of. Later, he began operating out of a van and then established his first hospital which was simply a large thatched hut. Eventually he established Pasam hospital in Kodaikanal as it is today. He said he doesn't even know where the hospital came from because he had never intended to open one. He says we would have preferred to continue wandering and not be boxed in by four walls. He also told me how he started Pasam's annual plastic surgery clinic. German doctors volunteer their services and travel to Pasam to perform the surgeries. He said that thousands of patients come to the clinic each year but that the doctors pick the 200 most severe cases to operate on. Many of the patients are burn victims who are severely disfigured. The operations performed at Pasam's plastic surgery clinic have allowed many of the patients to become functioning members of society again.

The whole FIMRC gang in front of the Pasam sign.

On Thursday, I once again returned to Pasam and observed Dr. N. He saw a bunch of general cases including worms, an ear infection, chest pain and a follow up on the pterygia patient. I also got to hang out with the nurses for a little which was fun. They are all so nice and want to talk to us although they don't speak much English so it can be difficult to communicate. They all wear plain sarees to work and are very jealous of our scrubs and said they want to have scrubs as their uniform too.

Hanging out with some of the nurses at Pasam.

We walked to a really good Tibetan restaurant to eat lunch. Then we walked around the lake in town. The lake is surrounded by a bunch of vendors selling a variety of goods. I bought an awesome Christmas sweater for 100 rupees which I will definitely be breaking out at school come winter!

Some of the vendors at the lake.

The lake... looks prettier on Wikipedia.

Then we walked back to the volunteer house from the lake. When I got back the FIMRC clinic, which is in the same building as the volunteer house was in full swing. There were a few patients including a young boy who needed stitches in his foot removed and an older woman with an upper respiratory tract infection. The clinic is able to provide convenient and low cost medical care to local people. Instead of having to spend about 200 rupees for a cab to the hospital and another 200+ rupees for consultation and medicine, they can get the same care for 50 rupees. The clinic operates on a case by case basis sometimes providing care free of cost based on the patient's family situation.

The building for both the volunteer house and the clinic.

The setup inside the clinic.

Later that night we decided to walk to town and go to an Internet cafe because our wifi had been down for a while. If you didn't notice, this day was filled with lots and lots of walking. I would guess I walked a solid 6 or 7 miles. The walk back to the volunteer house is all uphill and is actually pretty tiring!

On Friday, my morning at Pasam was occupied helping with dressings. Some patients we saw earlier in the week came in for new dressings and we also had a few new patients. We also administered asthma medicine to two patients using a nebulizer. Most excitingly, it was Dr. Mascarenhas' birthday! He was turning a young 84 years old. At tea time, we had sang to him and had cake and other snacks.

The setup of the dressing room at Pasam.

In the afternoon, I once again helped with the FIMRC clinic. It was a slow day with only a few patients. One of the patients was a six year old boy who had fallen while playing with other children and had a small cut on his forehead. Unfortunately for him, he had to get a tetanus injection. He was so scared but he said it didn't end up hurting very much.

The patient at the FIMRC clinic.

For dinner, Erika (one of the other volunteers) and I decided to try and cook vegetable lentil soup. We didn't really have all the right ingredients but we decided improvise and make it "Indian style". We even made the vegetable soup from scratch. I am pretty proud to say that it turned out delicious! We got rave reviews from all the other volunteers.

The final product... maybe I have a future in cooking if the whole doctor thing doesn't work out!

Later that night, we got word that a parade was passing by outside for a random Hindu festival. I'm still not sure exactly what the occassion was, but I think it had something to do with the local temple that is up the street from us. It was definitely a fun and lively scene regardless of whether I knew what was going on.

The main "float" in the parade.

The locals dancing in celebration.

I hope you enjoyed the updates and pictures! If the wifi cooperates, I will try to post more regularly.

Liz

 

My First Day at Work!

After waking up around 8 am and changing into my FIMRC scrubs, I cooked up a quick breakfast of an egg and a slice of bread. We then all loaded into Mubarak's car and headed out to the two local hospitals. I went to Pawsam hospital, which was founded by a German man and gives free medical care. The view from the hospital is incredible!

I spent the morning observing Dr. N (there is no way I can even attempt to spelling his name). He is a 70 something Indian doctor with a lot of wisdom. He started off the morning sharing some of his personal philosophy on life saying that each day your life starts over and you are only one day old. He told us to always look for new experiences to find happiness in life. He could have gone on for hours. but Arun then reminded him to get back to the patient and Dr. N remarked "Duty first!". We saw a variety of patients and sometimes it was hard to know what was going on because they were speaking mostly in Tamil (the regional language). We first saw a young boy who was bitten by a cat and had to get a tetanus shot. He was screaming bloody murder when he had to get the injection. I'm pretty sure everyone in the hospital could hear him! Some of the other cases we saw included anemia, is allergic rhinitis, rheumatic fever, skin infections and toothaches. I also got to watch two minor surgeries. The first was the removal of a lipoma on a girl's wrist. They used local anesthetic to numb the area and then made a small incision to remove the lipoma. The surgery seemed kind of unnecessary since the lipoma wasn't causing any ill effects but apparently it was removed for cosmetic reasons because a scar is viewed as better than an abnormal bump. This actually matters since India still operates under the dowry system, so if your daughter had a bump on her wrist you would have to pay a bigger dowry than if she had a scar which she could probably hide. Indian women take physical appearance and beauty very seriously because of the dowry system so they are always wearing gold jewelry, different bindis and flowers in their hair along with their beautiful saris. A nurse who works for FIMRC, Salina, actually brought flowers for me and the other girl volunteers to wear in our hair. The second surgery was the removal of a stye from under a woman's eyelid. Once again local anesthetic was used and injecting it into her eyelid looked really painful. The doctor then used an instrument to flip her eyelid and cut out the stye. In the morning we had a tea break and we also had a lunch break at 1 pm. At 5 pm we went out the street to be picked up by Mubarak, but time frames in Indian are viewed fairly loosely. "Indian time" usually means add at least a half hour. Accordingly Mubarak ended up picking us up around 5:30 and then we headed back to the volunteer house for the night. 

                     

                       This is a picture of one of the streets in town. 

That's all I have for now! Hope you enjoyed the updates!

Liz

Travel Day 2: Mumabi to Kodaikanal

I had a 9:40 flight out the domestic airport in Mumbai, so after a quick breakfast of roti, jam, a fried egg and tea, Ronald drove me to the airport. This time around check-in went pretty quickly. After going through security, I bought a bottle of water (my first purchase in India) and headed  to my gate to board. I found out that my flight was actually stopping in Chennai before Madurai. It was a transit flight though, meaning I didn't have to get off the plane.

        

                                                   Great inflight entertainment!

After about 4 hours of flying, we arrived in Madurai. I collected my bag and headed outside to find my ride to Kodaikanal. I walked out and found someone holding a sign with my name right outside the door. It was the FIMRC driver named Mubarak. We hopped in his car and headed to Kodaikanal. We first had to drive across the plains before reaching the mountains. The car didn't have AC so this was a hot drive.

       

                                          The brown landscape of the hot Indian plains.

Before reaching the mountains, we stopped for lunch at a veg (vegetarian) restaurant. Mubarak ordered for me since I didn't really know what was going on. We got rice with a bunch of little side dishes to eat it with. In typical Indian fashion, we ate with our hands. It was great fun.

                                    

Attempting to eat rice with your hands isn't enough of a mess, so you mix it with dishes that are the consistency of soup. I also not sure how sanitary eating off a leaf is but it does look cool! After a very filling lunch (Mubarak kept getting the waiter to serve me more food), we hopped back in the car. We finally got into the mountains. The scenery was beautiful but the switchbacks were very windy. I was so tired at this point I was falling asleep in the car but the turns kept jerking me back awake. Around 6 pm, we finally made it to Kodaikanal and the FIMRC guesthouse where I am staying. I met Arun, the FIMRC site leader, and four student volunteers who were already there. We cooked some spicy vegetable rice for dinner and then I showered and headed to sleep.

  

 

Travel Day 1: NYC to Mumbai

After two long and exhausting days of travel, I have finally arrived in Kodaikanal! I have many updates to share but I'll start with my flights. My mom and I departed from our hotel in NYC around 11 am on Saturday morning and drove to JFK. The drive was surprisingly easy and we really didn't hit any traffic. I had been complaning about having to show up so early before my flight because I didn't want to be sitting in the airport alone. However, the line for the Air India check-in was insanely long. There must have been over 300 people in line. It ended up taking at least 2 hours for me to check-in and clear security. Luckily my flight didn't board on time because the crew was delayed, otherwise I would have been late for boarding! Eventually we boarded and were on our way.

This selfie goes out to Ashley as requested. L O L.

There was a pretty good movie selection which I really appreciated for the long flight. We were served dinner around 5 pm. Nothing like some good airplane food...

Dinner and...

 and a movie! (Yes it is Skyfall... memories.)

The rest of my 14 hour flight to Delhi was occupied by watching Silver Linings Playbook, listening to Dave Matthews Band and attempting to sleep. When we finally arrived in Delhi, they announced that it was 44 degrees celsius, which is over 110 degrees fahrenheit. I'm pretty sure that is the hottest weather I've ever experienced. After going through security again for international transfers, I reboarded the plane and flew to Mumbai. The flight was really short. I think it took about an hour. After disembarking from the plane, I had to clear customs and get my suitcase. Clearing customs took only 10 or 15 minutes, which was a pleasant surprise. I almost lost the customs form I need to leave as I was walking away but thankfully a kind Indian man told me I dropped it. After getting my bag, I headed outside to meet the Carol (my grandma's friend's sister) and Ronald (her husband) aka my ride and hosts for the night. I didn't really know where I was going and wandered around for a bit but luckily no one gave me any trouble and I eventually found them. It was so hot and humid in Mumbai, I was literally drenched in sweat even though I had only been outside 15 minutes or so. When we arrived at Carol and Ronald's apartment, I met the rest of their family and was able to call home and let my mom know I had made it safely. Then I got to take a shower. This unarguably was the best shower of my entire life. After a home cooked Indian dinner, I headed out with Rochelle and Charisse (Carol and Ronalid's daughters) and one of their friends for a night out on the town. We went to their neighborhood "club" for some drinks and snacks. The drinking age is 25 but apparently that is not enforced at all. When we were at the club, everyone was watching a cricket match. I think it was between Hyderabaad and Punjabi. Apparently, it decided which of them made it to the playoffs so it was a big deal. The IPL (Indian Premier League) is a big deal. The girls were telling me that there was just a big controversy about cricket players being paid by brokers to fix matches... Quite the scandal! After a hour or two at the club we grabbed a rickshaw and headed home.

                                 

                                             The view from the apartment in Mumbai.

Final Preparations!

Tomorrow morning I will be driving up to NYC for a little fun in the city before flying out of JFK on Saturday afternoon. My mom, Mrs. Locey and I will be meeting up with Brent and enjoying dinner and a show. We are seeing Wicked, which I am pretty excited about because I have always wanted to see it! Not a bad way to spend my last night in the USA for eight weeks!

Now back to my preparations for India... Since getting home on Saturday, I have been running around Vienna to buy all the final items I needed. After numerous trips to the pharmacy, I finally have all the medicine I need. I started my malaria medicine today and didn't feel any bad side effects. Fingers crossed this remains the case throughout my trip! Thanks to some neighborhood friends with family in India, I was able to be hooked up with an Indian iPhone and some rupees to get me through the beginning of my trip. For those who are curious, one USD is worth about 50 INR.

My Indian phone and some rupees! A big thank you to the Choudhurys for the help!

The designs on the rupee bills are so beautiful. Foreign money always makes me think US dollars are so boring!

I also spent a lot of time figuring out what clothes are culturally appropriate for my trip. Unfortunately, this means I will be leaving all of my shorts at home! I tried to pack pretty light and am bringing only three pairs of pants and a handful of tops along with two sets of FIMRC scrubs that I plan to wear most of the time I am working.

#scrublyfe (shout out to Alysa)

My clothes ended up filling up about half of my suitcase. I was pretty proud of this as I tend to be an overpacker. The rest of the room was quickly filled up with various odds and ends such as toilet paper, mosquito netting and my first aid kit. I had just enough room for everything and think I will actually have room to bring home some souvenirs! 

This suitcase contains eight weeks of my life... supposedly.

Here's to hoping my suitcase is under fifty pounds otherwise I may have to throw away my towels before I even leave the USA (yes I'm looking at you, Pat). I'm unsure if I will have access to the internet while I'm en route from NYC to Kodaikanal so this may be my last post for a few days. 

Until then...

Liz

From Indiana to India

This summer I will be interning with the Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children (FIMRC) in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, India. Yes you read that correctly, INDIA. I'll be leaving the flatlands of Indiana to spend eight weeks in the hills of southern India. Most people, including myself a few months ago, have never heard of Kodaikanal or the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and are left to conjure up images of more widely known parts of India such as the city of Delhi to imagine where I am heading. However, Kodaikanal is far from and far different than cities such Delhi. 

The "A" marker is Kodaikanal. Notice Delhi is located in the north practically opposite of Kodaikanal.

It is a hill station in southern India, which is actually a used as a retreat from the extremely hot summers of northern India. Kodaikanal really seems like a beautiful place and is known for multiple natural attractions. I feel so lucky to be headed somewhere that does not have 115 degree weather daily! I a little over a week, I will be packing my bags and hoping on a fifteen hour flight to Mumbai. Thankfully, I will be picked up from the airport by friends of my grandma who live in Mumbai and they are kind enough to house me for the night. The next morning, I will be flying out of Mumbai to Madurai a small airport a few hours from Kodaikanal. In Madurai, I will be picked up by someone from FIMRC and will drive up into to mountains to Kodaikanal... I'm sure the drive will be something to remember! I will be staying in FIMRC's volunteer guesthouse attached to their rural clinic. Besides operating this clinic, FIMRC's Project Kodaikanal also works with local crèches (which are essentially day cares) providing medical care for children in the crèche system. I know I will be helping at the clinic and with visits to the various crèches but I will find out most of the details concerning my responsibilities as an intern when I arrive!

Here's some additional info about my trip:

• departing May 18th, returning July 22nd
• Kodaikanal is ten and a half hours ahead of EST
• will have access to wifi at the guesthouse, not sure how reliable it will be
• should be able to use iMessage, email etc... I would love to attempt to stay in contact with friends and family from home!
• will be posting on this blog every couple of days, maybe more often so if you're interested in my whereabouts book this page now! 
• interested/confused/had no idea this happening/just want to say hi? feel free to post comments and i will try to respond!

For everyone's entertainment, here is some advice from Julie, a friend from home of the one and only Mary Helen McStravick:
 

#indiaproblems

This probably was pretty disorganized, but I just finish my last final less than an hour ago so my apologies! Also I have never blogged before so we shall see if my attempts at formatting, links etc. worked. More to come soon as I head back to Virginia tomorrow and begin packing for my trip!

Liz