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