Thursday, August 26, 2010
home at last
Sorry it has taken so long for me to write but things have been hectic with school starting. My flights all went great...customs in Seattle was a joke! The first guy just asked me if I had meat or vegetables, and when I said no, he sent me to guy number 2 who asked me what I do for work, how long I was in India, and if I went with anyone or met anyone over there. After guy number 2, I was sent to guy number 3 who just motioned me through the barriers and that was the end of customs. I rechecked my bags at a kiosk right outside of customs and found my final flight to Anchorage. I will post my pictures to a picture sharing website and post the link on this blog. Thank you again for all your support and contributions to make this trip possible!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
final days
Last night we got home from the Uma Eye Clinic and dinner at Kumarakom to find that the cockroaches in our bathroom had bred and there were little baby cockroaches all over the bathroom sink. Thankfully we had the hotel staff clean it and I haven't seen too many yet.
Today, Anna, Jean, and I went to the Lasik Center instead of camp and since there were no patients, we watched videos of how it was done. That didn't take long at all and afterwards, we went to Spencers Plaza to do some shopping. Right after shopping, Anna and I went to the Uma Eye Clinic because there were free patients there and we could do more hands on work with them. The free patients are ones from the slums and villages that need cataract surgery. Again, the sanitation here is not as good as it should be. The instrument we were using was a probe that was touched to the pupil of the eye for a few seconds. Between patients, the probe was not washed, nor were our hands washed. I was able to do the exams/checkups mostly by myself and it was pretty cool to experience that.
In 24 hours, I will be at the airport in Chennai. I'm hoping I don't run into any problems in Mumbai, but we'll see. I heard that I also may have to go through customs in Germany even though all I have is a layover. I'm not sure if I will have to do that in Germany, Seattle, and Anchorage or just Anchorage. Hopefully just my final destination because that would be a pain.
Keep your fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong in Mumbai again! I'll see you all soon!
Today, Anna, Jean, and I went to the Lasik Center instead of camp and since there were no patients, we watched videos of how it was done. That didn't take long at all and afterwards, we went to Spencers Plaza to do some shopping. Right after shopping, Anna and I went to the Uma Eye Clinic because there were free patients there and we could do more hands on work with them. The free patients are ones from the slums and villages that need cataract surgery. Again, the sanitation here is not as good as it should be. The instrument we were using was a probe that was touched to the pupil of the eye for a few seconds. Between patients, the probe was not washed, nor were our hands washed. I was able to do the exams/checkups mostly by myself and it was pretty cool to experience that.
In 24 hours, I will be at the airport in Chennai. I'm hoping I don't run into any problems in Mumbai, but we'll see. I heard that I also may have to go through customs in Germany even though all I have is a layover. I'm not sure if I will have to do that in Germany, Seattle, and Anchorage or just Anchorage. Hopefully just my final destination because that would be a pain.
Keep your fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong in Mumbai again! I'll see you all soon!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Kanchipuram
We went to the Uma Eye Clinic two days ago and watched some eye exams. After that, we went to a Bollywood (Hindi) movie called Aisha which was supposed to be really good but it was TERRIBLE! It was about a girl named Aisha who decides she is going to be a matchmaker for all her friends. Awful movie. I ordered food at the movie and they brought it to me in the theater. It was like bears tooth but the food wasn't as good.
Yesterday, we woke up at 6 am to go to Kanchipuram. Prashanth's grandpa got a van and picked us up from the hotel. We saw many temples, including one that is the oldest in India. You aren't allowed to wear your shoes once you get to the entrance, but much of the temple is outside and the stone tiles badly burn your feet. Yesterday was hotter than usual so the tiles burned even more. At one of the temples, I paid 5 rupees to get blessed by an elephant (the elephant taps you on the head with its trunk) and 100 to ride it! It was so scary being up so high! I was sitting right at the back of its head and every time it moved its head I thought I was going to fall. I have many pictures that I will post in a few days when I get home. For lunch we went to an upscale restaurant. When we arrived, there was a cockroach on our table that was laying on its back and moving its legs in the air. It was supposed to be a vegetarian restaurant but they put meat in my food! There was a large unidentifiable bug in my ketchup and a worm in my noodles. The noodles tasted good though! After lunch, we went shopping for shawls. My bill was 5700 rupees but I was able to get it down to 4600. Part of that discount was because I was paying with cash and they don't tell the government about sales in cash, so they make a bigger profit. Jean and Sonia got their thumbs read after that, and for Jean it took 2+ hours. Everyone was bored to death. She didn't want us in the room while her past, present, and future was being told so 5 of us sat outside. A few times we were startled by loud firecrackers being lit off close nearby. When a person dies, there is a procession in the street and firecrackers are lit off, not pretty ones, usually just ones that are loud. After that, we went back to Chennai. It took about 3 hours because we didn't take the road we took to get to Kanchipuram. Apparently there are a lot of accidents and fatalities on that road, especially at night, because it is one lane and people try to overtake other vehicles when there is not enough room to do so.
Today, we went to a village camp. This is the only village camp I have had the opportunity to go to because they are far away and more difficult to organize. Anna and Caitlin handed out glasses while Jean and I sat with Dr. M. and looked at everything that people had wrong with their eyes. He is a very hands on teacher so when I shadow him, I get to do and learn a lot. On the way back to Chennai, all the doctors and volunteers stopped for lunch. I had chicken lollipops, which is the Indian version of a drumstick. They were delicious. Tonight we are going to the Uma Eye Clinic again.
Yesterday, we woke up at 6 am to go to Kanchipuram. Prashanth's grandpa got a van and picked us up from the hotel. We saw many temples, including one that is the oldest in India. You aren't allowed to wear your shoes once you get to the entrance, but much of the temple is outside and the stone tiles badly burn your feet. Yesterday was hotter than usual so the tiles burned even more. At one of the temples, I paid 5 rupees to get blessed by an elephant (the elephant taps you on the head with its trunk) and 100 to ride it! It was so scary being up so high! I was sitting right at the back of its head and every time it moved its head I thought I was going to fall. I have many pictures that I will post in a few days when I get home. For lunch we went to an upscale restaurant. When we arrived, there was a cockroach on our table that was laying on its back and moving its legs in the air. It was supposed to be a vegetarian restaurant but they put meat in my food! There was a large unidentifiable bug in my ketchup and a worm in my noodles. The noodles tasted good though! After lunch, we went shopping for shawls. My bill was 5700 rupees but I was able to get it down to 4600. Part of that discount was because I was paying with cash and they don't tell the government about sales in cash, so they make a bigger profit. Jean and Sonia got their thumbs read after that, and for Jean it took 2+ hours. Everyone was bored to death. She didn't want us in the room while her past, present, and future was being told so 5 of us sat outside. A few times we were startled by loud firecrackers being lit off close nearby. When a person dies, there is a procession in the street and firecrackers are lit off, not pretty ones, usually just ones that are loud. After that, we went back to Chennai. It took about 3 hours because we didn't take the road we took to get to Kanchipuram. Apparently there are a lot of accidents and fatalities on that road, especially at night, because it is one lane and people try to overtake other vehicles when there is not enough room to do so.
Today, we went to a village camp. This is the only village camp I have had the opportunity to go to because they are far away and more difficult to organize. Anna and Caitlin handed out glasses while Jean and I sat with Dr. M. and looked at everything that people had wrong with their eyes. He is a very hands on teacher so when I shadow him, I get to do and learn a lot. On the way back to Chennai, all the doctors and volunteers stopped for lunch. I had chicken lollipops, which is the Indian version of a drumstick. They were delicious. Tonight we are going to the Uma Eye Clinic again.
Monday, August 16, 2010
So we didn't get pizza the other night with Dr. M. At the city camp that day, I sat with him and he showed me several things and explained diabetic retinopathy. It was very interesting and he is hilarious. For lunch, I was craving non-Indian food so when we went to Saravana Bhavan, I got Indian Chinese food instead and it was pretty good. That evening Jean, Anna, and I all went exploring. Not too much happens on Friday nights here but we still had fun. At 3:30 am the next morning, we were woken up by our doorbell being rung incessantly. Indian doorbells are extremely loud...much louder than need be. Apparently slept through all but the last time the doorbell was rung, so Anna opened the door while I was still in my bug tent. She wasn't too pleased to be woken up so early and the hotel guys were outside our door so she opened it and said, "What?!". They responded with, "Police!" and then several men with machine guns came into view. I was still in my bug tent and they walked over and said, "Two ladies?" and then just walked off. They were there because Indian Independence Day was happening in a few days and they were doing room searches. They didn't search our room or give us any trouble but they searched Jean and Sandra's room. Apparently they were looking for terrorists.
Waking up the next morning after not much sleep was rough. We went to a city camp where I first handed out glasses and then sat with the doctor, Dr. Katherine. That camp was particularly difficult for me because as soon as I got out of the van, I saw a baby goat that had bow-legs, was so skinny, and could barely walk. It obviously was dying and seeing that just really affected me. Thinking about it makes me tear up. It was one of the saddest things I have ever seen. I didn't really enjoy that camp much because I kept thinking about the baby goat but the people were very nice at the camp. That night for dinner, we met Dr. M at an Italian place, called Zara. He made reservations for 7:30, the volunteers showed up at 8:30, and he showed up at 10:00. That's Indian time for you! I had chicken alfredo for dinner and it was so amazing! After eating so much Indian food, I was thankful for something else.
The next day was Independence Day. Thanraj gave us all flags of India to pin on our shirts. We went to a city camp that was sponsored by Rotary. Before camp started though, they raised the Indian flag. There were a bunch of flowers tied in the flag so when they rose it, they all fell out. They wanted all the volunteers right next to the flag and in all the pictures with the prominent figures at the camp. After camp, we went to the Cottage Imporium, hoping to find cheap souveniers. No such luck. What I bought for 100 rupees in Mamallapuram was 850 at Cottage Imporium and it wasn't as high of quality. What a ripoff! Jean wanted some things so she bargained with the workers. The men there were very nice (only the carvings guy...the scarf man was very rude!). They were Muslim and recognizing Ramadan. Surprisingly though, even with the lack of food all day, he was very friendly and joked easily with us. While we were there, the sun went down and he didn't wait two seconds to start eating. After the Cottage Imporium, we went to dinner at Tuscana, the pizza place Dr. M recommended a few days ago. I got a calzone with mushrooms and spinach in it and it was also very good.
Today, we went to a school camp. The kids asked for our autographs and we went in their classroom and spoke some English for them. One of the women that worked at the school was very grateful for our assistance and gave us gift packs of pens. We also introduced Thanraj to craigslist today. He seemed very interested in it...I'm sure he will be looking things up on there for hours tonight. I think the volunteers are going to Uma Eye Clinic tonight and maybe a Hindi movie since we didn't go the other night.
Now that the time to come home is closer, I don't want to leave. There is so much still that I want to do! I'm having such a good time and the people are just so nice.
Waking up the next morning after not much sleep was rough. We went to a city camp where I first handed out glasses and then sat with the doctor, Dr. Katherine. That camp was particularly difficult for me because as soon as I got out of the van, I saw a baby goat that had bow-legs, was so skinny, and could barely walk. It obviously was dying and seeing that just really affected me. Thinking about it makes me tear up. It was one of the saddest things I have ever seen. I didn't really enjoy that camp much because I kept thinking about the baby goat but the people were very nice at the camp. That night for dinner, we met Dr. M at an Italian place, called Zara. He made reservations for 7:30, the volunteers showed up at 8:30, and he showed up at 10:00. That's Indian time for you! I had chicken alfredo for dinner and it was so amazing! After eating so much Indian food, I was thankful for something else.
The next day was Independence Day. Thanraj gave us all flags of India to pin on our shirts. We went to a city camp that was sponsored by Rotary. Before camp started though, they raised the Indian flag. There were a bunch of flowers tied in the flag so when they rose it, they all fell out. They wanted all the volunteers right next to the flag and in all the pictures with the prominent figures at the camp. After camp, we went to the Cottage Imporium, hoping to find cheap souveniers. No such luck. What I bought for 100 rupees in Mamallapuram was 850 at Cottage Imporium and it wasn't as high of quality. What a ripoff! Jean wanted some things so she bargained with the workers. The men there were very nice (only the carvings guy...the scarf man was very rude!). They were Muslim and recognizing Ramadan. Surprisingly though, even with the lack of food all day, he was very friendly and joked easily with us. While we were there, the sun went down and he didn't wait two seconds to start eating. After the Cottage Imporium, we went to dinner at Tuscana, the pizza place Dr. M recommended a few days ago. I got a calzone with mushrooms and spinach in it and it was also very good.
Today, we went to a school camp. The kids asked for our autographs and we went in their classroom and spoke some English for them. One of the women that worked at the school was very grateful for our assistance and gave us gift packs of pens. We also introduced Thanraj to craigslist today. He seemed very interested in it...I'm sure he will be looking things up on there for hours tonight. I think the volunteers are going to Uma Eye Clinic tonight and maybe a Hindi movie since we didn't go the other night.
Now that the time to come home is closer, I don't want to leave. There is so much still that I want to do! I'm having such a good time and the people are just so nice.
Friday, August 13, 2010
gokarting, coconuts, emus, and the beach
So yesterday after the hospital, we all rented a car and went exploring. We went gokarting an hour away from Anna Nagar first and it's way better here than in the States! They were fast so we wore helmets but they also had cushions so my back didn't get brusied again. The track had u-turns and sharp turns but they weren't so bad that I spun around on them. After gokarting we drove 30 seconds down a back road to Prashanth's dad's farm where they have coconuts, almonds, flowers, and several other things. His uncle manages and watches the farm so he cut open some coconuts so we could drink the juice and eat the fruit. It was delicious! After that, we went to a really lame petting zoo that had love birds, cats, rabbits, emus, and geese. I went in the cage with the emu. There was a restaurant affiliated with the petting zoo (it was legit!) so we ate there. I just had a lassi because I was still full from my chicken biriyani lunch but the lassi was good! Our waiter had a terrible cataract in his left eye. After we left the restaurant, we went to Marina Beach. There is a fisherman slum right next to the beach and as we were driving through it to the safe, nicer part of the beach, our driver told us that at least 2 people get killed there a night. The beach was beautiful. I stood right where the tsunami hit, and it was incredible! The waves were so big so close to shore. Since it was dark when we were at the beach, someone lit off firecrackers in the distance. It was very pretty. Today I think we are going to a Bollywood movie, unless Dr. M gets pizza with us.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
pictures of Chennai
This is the room Anna and I stay in. My bug net is the one by the window. They do a fairly good job of keeping most of the mosquitoes out.
This was my very first camp. It was a school camp.
This little boy was so scared but nobody knew why because he couldn't talk! The girl beside him is Kim, another volunteer.
Giving a kid an eye exam
Me with some boys at a school camp
The kids at the school camps are so excited to see us!
The slums in the city
I took this picture on our way to a village to pick up patients for cataract surgery. The scenery outside the city is so different.
In India, the garbage is burned so the air is often thick with smoke.
This kid helped me give visual acuity exams at the school camp.
This is me giving visual acuity tests.
This was a little boy getting his vision checked.
This was a little girl getting her vision screened.
This was at one of the school camps. Kranti is the girl in the back. She is visiting her grandparents and wanted to help out. The girl on the left is another volunteer Jean, and the girl in the middle is 19 years old and was the optometrist.
This is a typical southern Indian meal. It cost me 140 rupees plus another 40 for the watermelon juice.
This was the first slum I went to.
Here is more of the first slum.
This little boy was at the camp. He was so shy but he eventually warmed up. You can see the black band around his waist to protect him from evil.
This is several of the optometrists, opthamologists, Jean and I, and the man beside me is Muthu, our driver and bodyguard.
This was the second and worst slum I have been to so far.
The people live in little huts like this one.
The sun peeking out from behind the clouds was beautiful.
This was on the bus ride to Mamallapuram. Worst bus ride of my life.
People in India just throw their trash out wherever they please.
This was the view out of the bus on the way to Mamallapuram.
This is the baby goat in Mamallapuram. Isn't it so adorable?!
The rock carvings in Mamallapuram.
This is the town of Mamallapuram.
Cows on the beach in Mamallapuram.
This was the beach in Mamallapuram.
This was me doing the phaco on the goats eye.Jean, Anna, and I went to the hospital this morning at 8:45 to help out with the hair implantation surgery. Indian time is so frusterating! We waited there until 11:00 for the surgery to start only to be told that the patient was embarassed and didn't want anyone but the doctor in the room. Apparently the doctor had just found that out. So this morning was a big waste of time, but we did get to meet Dr. Hande who I guess at one time was the most influential doctor in India.
shadowing at the hospital
Well on Monday, Anna, Jean, and I watched cataract surgeries for a little bit. The hospital is unsanitary...the doctor didn't even change gloves between patients. It was interesting but also pretty boring to see the same procedure over and over. For dinner, all the volunteers went to a new place. I don't think it will be a place we will go back to. The food was pretty gross and thankfully I noticed that when Anna ordered a juice, they put tap water in it. I have a huge canker sore on my lip that hurts all the time. The spices in the food here just aggravate it more. I went to the pharmacy to see if they have cream for it and they tried to give me pills! I decided I would rather be in pain haha.
Yesterday, 3 new volunteers showed up and one old one, Kim, left. The new volunteers all went to a different camp than us though so we haven't had a chance to get to know them yet. The camp the rest of us went to was a camp for hermaphrodites, prostitutes, cross-dressers, and abused women. Apparently all these people are shunned in society so it was nice to help the people nobody cares about. At the camp, they gave us a veg puff (the plate was newspaper) and some orange soda. Both were delicious. Since I didn't get sick from the food, I would assume I can eat street food now but I don't want to risk it. After camp, Kim, Jean, Anna, and I all did phaco (cataract surgery) to the goats eye. It was hard! And apparently my goats eye was bad cause they'd had them since that morning and we did the surgeries around 4 pm. We all paid 200 rupees for the cost of the goats eye. I went to a different pharmacy yesterday too and they had some numbing cream for my canker sore. It helps a bit.
Today, Jean and I went to Hande Hospital. We watched cataract surgeries, a hand surgery where the lady had inflamed tendons and a circumcision. We also saw a man with elephantiasis! It was so crazy to see in person! I'm sure I'll never see that again. When we were done at the hospital, Prashanth's grandpa brought us all food and the three of us ate in my hotel room. Apparently his grandpa didn't think there was enough food so while we were still eating he went out and bought more food! He came back with chicken biriyani and more chicken. He put a handful of the biriyani on my plate and reached for another handful but I was getting really full so I said I didn't want another handful. He looked offended so of course I had more, and 2 extra pieces of chicken! I don't normally eat big meals so that meal was 7 hours ago and I'm still not hungry. The food was very good though. Normally there are no eye camps in the afternoon/evening but today Thanraj called and wanted Prashanth, Jean, and I to go to the piston factory again. We were there from 1:30 to 6:30 and it was the third and final camp there. Tonight we are all going out to an Italian restuarant for dinner. Everyone is pretty tired of Indian food.
Tomorrow we are supposed to help with a hair implantation surgery (like actually scrub in I think!) and then we will probably go speedkarting and picking coconuts at Prashanth's uncle's coconut farm. I'm still enjoying myself. Apparently it's really cold in Alaska. I'm starting to get used to this 100 degree weather. :s
Yesterday, 3 new volunteers showed up and one old one, Kim, left. The new volunteers all went to a different camp than us though so we haven't had a chance to get to know them yet. The camp the rest of us went to was a camp for hermaphrodites, prostitutes, cross-dressers, and abused women. Apparently all these people are shunned in society so it was nice to help the people nobody cares about. At the camp, they gave us a veg puff (the plate was newspaper) and some orange soda. Both were delicious. Since I didn't get sick from the food, I would assume I can eat street food now but I don't want to risk it. After camp, Kim, Jean, Anna, and I all did phaco (cataract surgery) to the goats eye. It was hard! And apparently my goats eye was bad cause they'd had them since that morning and we did the surgeries around 4 pm. We all paid 200 rupees for the cost of the goats eye. I went to a different pharmacy yesterday too and they had some numbing cream for my canker sore. It helps a bit.
Today, Jean and I went to Hande Hospital. We watched cataract surgeries, a hand surgery where the lady had inflamed tendons and a circumcision. We also saw a man with elephantiasis! It was so crazy to see in person! I'm sure I'll never see that again. When we were done at the hospital, Prashanth's grandpa brought us all food and the three of us ate in my hotel room. Apparently his grandpa didn't think there was enough food so while we were still eating he went out and bought more food! He came back with chicken biriyani and more chicken. He put a handful of the biriyani on my plate and reached for another handful but I was getting really full so I said I didn't want another handful. He looked offended so of course I had more, and 2 extra pieces of chicken! I don't normally eat big meals so that meal was 7 hours ago and I'm still not hungry. The food was very good though. Normally there are no eye camps in the afternoon/evening but today Thanraj called and wanted Prashanth, Jean, and I to go to the piston factory again. We were there from 1:30 to 6:30 and it was the third and final camp there. Tonight we are all going out to an Italian restuarant for dinner. Everyone is pretty tired of Indian food.
Tomorrow we are supposed to help with a hair implantation surgery (like actually scrub in I think!) and then we will probably go speedkarting and picking coconuts at Prashanth's uncle's coconut farm. I'm still enjoying myself. Apparently it's really cold in Alaska. I'm starting to get used to this 100 degree weather. :s
Monday, August 9, 2010
my adventures
On Thursday, I went to my first slum. We handed out eye glasses in their tiny little church. After camp, the other volunteers and I went to Spencers which is a mall here. While I was walking from where our auto share dropped us off to the entrance of the mall, a man tried to sell me a pretty cool drum. He wanted 400 rupees for it though and I was not willing to pay so I got him down to 100 rupees (which is about 2 US dollars) but still I wasn't sure if I truly wanted it so I said no and walked into the mall. He had the most devastated look on his face and kept yelling, "madam!". The shopping inside the mall wasn't that great but we found a little shop outside the mall called "ye old shoppe of curiosities" and I got some shopping done.
Friday, Jean and I went to a piston factory about an hour and 15 minutes away from the eye clinic's office. It was a very nice setup: we were inside an air conditioned room and we even had access to a bathroom! At the factory, there was a full scale health screening. The workers got their eyes examined, their lung capacity measured, chest x-rays taken, and their blood drawn. I was working the autorefractometer so I focused on their eye, lined up the circle of the machine and pressed a button which recorded their visual acuity. We ate lunch there in the factories cafeteria. I was concerned I was going to get sick. To get food, you grabbed a food platter that had been somewhat rinsed off and then you went outside, cleaned it with the nasty water outside and then loaded it with food. Jean and I wiped ours with napkins after we washed them to get all the water off. They had a food line set up and one of the optometrists piled food on our plates. It was way too much but there were signs on the wall that said "DO NOT WASTE FOOD" so we had to eat it all. They have some pickle dip/sauce here that is absolutely disgusting! After we ate our food, we went out to the same place where we washed our dishes off and rinsed them off again and then put them back where we got them from. Not the most sanitary, but neither of us got sick thankfully. We saw about half the workers that day so we will have to go back another day. We got back from camp really late that day. Most days, we are done with camp at 1:30 but this camp was much longer and we didn't get back to our hotel until 5:30. Long day. After we got presentable, we met Jean's friend, Calvin, who was touring through several southeastern countries. We met up at a cafe coffee day, which is India's Starbucks, and then went exploring. I live in Anna Nagar and it is a more upscale part of town. Where Calvin was staying though...it was a very shady place. There were lines and lines of people sleeping on the streets, right next to all the trash. I was thankful that I did not have to live in that part of town.
On Saturday, I went to another city slum camp. It was by far the worst I have seen here. The people lived in little shacks and many of the children were wearing no clothing. Most children wore a black band around their waist. I asked Prashanth, another volunteer who actually lived in Chennai until he moved to the States when he was 5, about it and he said that it was to keep the bad spirits away ad to protect the children. The temperatures are very hot. I believe they are in the upper 90s or 100s. Most of the camps we are at have a building for us to do exams in that has no ac but has a fan. At the slum camp, we had neither. There was a blanket set up to block the sun but Kim and I were outside for several hours. Needless to say, I drink a lot of water. About 2 liters a day. I went back to the hotel after the slum camp just feeling disgusting. I was filthy and there is no way here to properly get clean. After a quick "shower", I grabbed some food from the Kebob Court with Prashanth and Kim and then Jean, Calvin, Anna, and I were off to the bus station and Mamallapuram, a tourist trap a couple hours south from Chennai. We waited for our bus for about 45 minutes before it showed up (that's everything in India) and I wanted to go to the bathroom first so I wouldn't have to on the bus. That was my first experience with an Indian toilet. First off, when I walked in there, the entire bathroom was flooded so I had to walk through 4 inches of water to a stall, trying to breathe through my mouth because the smells were nauseating. The bathroom stalls do not lock so you have to hope you find one with nobody in it. (The first one I tried was definitely occupied!) Once I found an empty stall, I opened the door and there was a hole in the floor with places for your feet on either side. The stall doors are floor length. There was water dripping from a hose on the wall (hence the flooding!) and it was just gross in there. I got out of there as fast as I possibly could. After meeting up with the others, I was introduced to an Australian guy that Calvin had met a few cities back and he was going to Mamallapuram too. When our bus arrived, I thought people would be civilized and climb on patiently like Americans do. I was shocked to see that before the bus had pulled into its parking spot, people were rushing the bus and trying to get on! I also thought that because I am right behind the person getting on the bus, I will be next. That was also not the case. People behind me would push me when I was stepping onto the first step and knock me off the bus and then they would climb on. There weren't many free seats on that bus so we got off and went to another slightly nicer and more expensive bus. It was 22 rupees for a 2.5 hours ride from Mamallapuram to Chennai on that bus. The second bus was not so packed but it didn't stay that way. We made many stops on the way to our destination and there was ZERO room in there. On a 3-4 foot long bench, I had myself, my backpack, a lady with two children, and another lady. When we got to Mamallapuram, people got on before others got off so I had to push my way through a sea of people (the aisles were completely full too) or get trapped on the bus. I learned that it is necessary to step on feet and shove people (including children!). I did get to see the sunset on the bus ride through the windows. The windows were just open holes, which I was thankful for because the body odor of everyone was overwhelming. In Mamallapuram, we found cheap (1000 for a 2 person room) and "nice" hotel rooms. They were very big rooms but they were dirty like everything else. The blankets had dirt and blood on them. There were many nice restaurants in Mamallapuram (they all have a hippie atmosphere) and after settling in, we went to one overlooking the beach. It was storming and we sat in our little hut and watched the lightening strike. A fight broke out though and ruined the mood so we called it a night shortly after midnight. The hotel room turned out to be a nightmare. It had air conditioning but the temperature remote wasn't working so after the first few minutes in the room, it was freezing! Ana and I were so cold that we set the ac to 30 degrees Celcius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) and it was still so, so cold. It was so cold that I halfway woke up in the middle of the night, got my rainjacket out of my bag (the only jacket I have) and wore it back to bed. I drink so much water here that every night I have to get up to go to the bathroom. Well when I walked into the bathroom, my feet got soaked so I looked down and the whole bathroom floor was flooded. I had heard a sound when I halfway woke up for my rainjacket that had sounded like a waterfall in our bathroom but I was too tired and too out of it to care enough to go investigate. Turns out the waterfall sound was water just pouring out of the bottom of the tank. The bathroom would have been more flooded if it hadn't been for the drain right under the toilet. After using the bathroom, I went out, changed my socks, and then mumbled something to Anna about the bathroom being flooded. She got the bright idea that she was going to go fix it because apparently she knows a bit about plumbing. As soon as she flipped the light on in the bathroom, the power went out and so she grabbed her flashlight and went to see what she could do. Meanwhile, I still don't care in the least about the flooding so I pass out while she's doing her plumber thing. Turns out, she wasn't able to fix it and the power being off meant the ac was off so it went from unbearably cold in the room to unbearably hot. We were woken up at 5 am by the mosque which is actually a relaxing sound and then some drummers outside started going crazy beating their drums. It was so loud and so obnoxious!
The next day (Sunday) was, in my opinion, hotter than any we've had so far. For breakfast I wanted something other than Indian food so I had a spanish omlette and a coconut lassi. We went sightseeing around Mamallapuram, saw the beach, huge rock formations and ancient carvings, bought souveniers and gifts and I saw the most adorable baby goat. It's head was smaller than my fist. I got a little burned in short amount of time we were out and about. When we left for Chennai, we rode a deluxe bus with glass on the windows and air conditioning. It was 73 rupees so it wasn't nearly as packed.
In Mamallapuram there were many white people. None were American that I noticed but there were many Europeans and Australians. It was interesting and entertaining to watch them interact with the beggars. It was interesting for me to be around other tourists and other white people. I hadn't seen anyone but Indians since I've been here and I think I had nearly forgotten white people exist. I didn't feel like I associated with them. I feel like I have been here in India for so long. There are no white people in Chennai though. Everywhere I go people stare and take pictures. I was in the grocery store a coupe days ago and someone asked to take a picture with me and the other volunteers. We are celebrities here.
Jamie told me that mosquitos with malaria have a hard time sucking your blood so they will bite several times in a small area. After hearing that, I am thankful for my malarone because I woke up a few mornings ago with 4 bites close together on the knuckle of my index finger.
India is such a beautiful place but the people have ruined the beauty somewhat by throwing their trash everywhere. On the bus, the little girl sitting beside me ate some chips and reached over me to throw the bag out the window. The doctors will eat things on the way to eye camps and throw their trash out the window. It is a completely different mindset here. There is also no escaping the grime and filth. First thing I do when I get back to Alaska will be to take a 3 hour scalding hot shower to wash all this dirt off of me.
Cows, goats, dogs, and people live together in harmony here. They are all over the streets, trying to find what food they can. I saw a cow eating cardboard yesterday.
One thing I really like about Indian people is that they are for the most part very trustworthy. I bought some souveniers from a man in Mamallapuram but he wasn't quite finished with them so I paid him for the items and said I would be back later and when I came back, everything was ready for me. He didn't try to rip me off or steal my money and run. My general impression is that this is what most of the population is like here. It is nice not to have to worry about that.
Things here are very cheap. I spend about 130 rupees on dinner every day. That includes curry, naan, and a juice drink. Breakfast every day consists of a couple granola bars, some cashews, and some water or a 100% juice box. I am SO tired of Indian food. I feel like the smell is emanating from my pores.
I went to the Hande Hospital today and saw some cataract surgeries. The sanitation here is not very good. There were 2 patients in the OR at one time and the doctor would just go from one to the other without changing his gloves.
I miss home and I'm kinda ready to come home. I'm having a good time but I miss certain comforts like the ability to have a cold bottle of water. That is a luxury here.
Friday, Jean and I went to a piston factory about an hour and 15 minutes away from the eye clinic's office. It was a very nice setup: we were inside an air conditioned room and we even had access to a bathroom! At the factory, there was a full scale health screening. The workers got their eyes examined, their lung capacity measured, chest x-rays taken, and their blood drawn. I was working the autorefractometer so I focused on their eye, lined up the circle of the machine and pressed a button which recorded their visual acuity. We ate lunch there in the factories cafeteria. I was concerned I was going to get sick. To get food, you grabbed a food platter that had been somewhat rinsed off and then you went outside, cleaned it with the nasty water outside and then loaded it with food. Jean and I wiped ours with napkins after we washed them to get all the water off. They had a food line set up and one of the optometrists piled food on our plates. It was way too much but there were signs on the wall that said "DO NOT WASTE FOOD" so we had to eat it all. They have some pickle dip/sauce here that is absolutely disgusting! After we ate our food, we went out to the same place where we washed our dishes off and rinsed them off again and then put them back where we got them from. Not the most sanitary, but neither of us got sick thankfully. We saw about half the workers that day so we will have to go back another day. We got back from camp really late that day. Most days, we are done with camp at 1:30 but this camp was much longer and we didn't get back to our hotel until 5:30. Long day. After we got presentable, we met Jean's friend, Calvin, who was touring through several southeastern countries. We met up at a cafe coffee day, which is India's Starbucks, and then went exploring. I live in Anna Nagar and it is a more upscale part of town. Where Calvin was staying though...it was a very shady place. There were lines and lines of people sleeping on the streets, right next to all the trash. I was thankful that I did not have to live in that part of town.
On Saturday, I went to another city slum camp. It was by far the worst I have seen here. The people lived in little shacks and many of the children were wearing no clothing. Most children wore a black band around their waist. I asked Prashanth, another volunteer who actually lived in Chennai until he moved to the States when he was 5, about it and he said that it was to keep the bad spirits away ad to protect the children. The temperatures are very hot. I believe they are in the upper 90s or 100s. Most of the camps we are at have a building for us to do exams in that has no ac but has a fan. At the slum camp, we had neither. There was a blanket set up to block the sun but Kim and I were outside for several hours. Needless to say, I drink a lot of water. About 2 liters a day. I went back to the hotel after the slum camp just feeling disgusting. I was filthy and there is no way here to properly get clean. After a quick "shower", I grabbed some food from the Kebob Court with Prashanth and Kim and then Jean, Calvin, Anna, and I were off to the bus station and Mamallapuram, a tourist trap a couple hours south from Chennai. We waited for our bus for about 45 minutes before it showed up (that's everything in India) and I wanted to go to the bathroom first so I wouldn't have to on the bus. That was my first experience with an Indian toilet. First off, when I walked in there, the entire bathroom was flooded so I had to walk through 4 inches of water to a stall, trying to breathe through my mouth because the smells were nauseating. The bathroom stalls do not lock so you have to hope you find one with nobody in it. (The first one I tried was definitely occupied!) Once I found an empty stall, I opened the door and there was a hole in the floor with places for your feet on either side. The stall doors are floor length. There was water dripping from a hose on the wall (hence the flooding!) and it was just gross in there. I got out of there as fast as I possibly could. After meeting up with the others, I was introduced to an Australian guy that Calvin had met a few cities back and he was going to Mamallapuram too. When our bus arrived, I thought people would be civilized and climb on patiently like Americans do. I was shocked to see that before the bus had pulled into its parking spot, people were rushing the bus and trying to get on! I also thought that because I am right behind the person getting on the bus, I will be next. That was also not the case. People behind me would push me when I was stepping onto the first step and knock me off the bus and then they would climb on. There weren't many free seats on that bus so we got off and went to another slightly nicer and more expensive bus. It was 22 rupees for a 2.5 hours ride from Mamallapuram to Chennai on that bus. The second bus was not so packed but it didn't stay that way. We made many stops on the way to our destination and there was ZERO room in there. On a 3-4 foot long bench, I had myself, my backpack, a lady with two children, and another lady. When we got to Mamallapuram, people got on before others got off so I had to push my way through a sea of people (the aisles were completely full too) or get trapped on the bus. I learned that it is necessary to step on feet and shove people (including children!). I did get to see the sunset on the bus ride through the windows. The windows were just open holes, which I was thankful for because the body odor of everyone was overwhelming. In Mamallapuram, we found cheap (1000 for a 2 person room) and "nice" hotel rooms. They were very big rooms but they were dirty like everything else. The blankets had dirt and blood on them. There were many nice restaurants in Mamallapuram (they all have a hippie atmosphere) and after settling in, we went to one overlooking the beach. It was storming and we sat in our little hut and watched the lightening strike. A fight broke out though and ruined the mood so we called it a night shortly after midnight. The hotel room turned out to be a nightmare. It had air conditioning but the temperature remote wasn't working so after the first few minutes in the room, it was freezing! Ana and I were so cold that we set the ac to 30 degrees Celcius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) and it was still so, so cold. It was so cold that I halfway woke up in the middle of the night, got my rainjacket out of my bag (the only jacket I have) and wore it back to bed. I drink so much water here that every night I have to get up to go to the bathroom. Well when I walked into the bathroom, my feet got soaked so I looked down and the whole bathroom floor was flooded. I had heard a sound when I halfway woke up for my rainjacket that had sounded like a waterfall in our bathroom but I was too tired and too out of it to care enough to go investigate. Turns out the waterfall sound was water just pouring out of the bottom of the tank. The bathroom would have been more flooded if it hadn't been for the drain right under the toilet. After using the bathroom, I went out, changed my socks, and then mumbled something to Anna about the bathroom being flooded. She got the bright idea that she was going to go fix it because apparently she knows a bit about plumbing. As soon as she flipped the light on in the bathroom, the power went out and so she grabbed her flashlight and went to see what she could do. Meanwhile, I still don't care in the least about the flooding so I pass out while she's doing her plumber thing. Turns out, she wasn't able to fix it and the power being off meant the ac was off so it went from unbearably cold in the room to unbearably hot. We were woken up at 5 am by the mosque which is actually a relaxing sound and then some drummers outside started going crazy beating their drums. It was so loud and so obnoxious!
The next day (Sunday) was, in my opinion, hotter than any we've had so far. For breakfast I wanted something other than Indian food so I had a spanish omlette and a coconut lassi. We went sightseeing around Mamallapuram, saw the beach, huge rock formations and ancient carvings, bought souveniers and gifts and I saw the most adorable baby goat. It's head was smaller than my fist. I got a little burned in short amount of time we were out and about. When we left for Chennai, we rode a deluxe bus with glass on the windows and air conditioning. It was 73 rupees so it wasn't nearly as packed.
In Mamallapuram there were many white people. None were American that I noticed but there were many Europeans and Australians. It was interesting and entertaining to watch them interact with the beggars. It was interesting for me to be around other tourists and other white people. I hadn't seen anyone but Indians since I've been here and I think I had nearly forgotten white people exist. I didn't feel like I associated with them. I feel like I have been here in India for so long. There are no white people in Chennai though. Everywhere I go people stare and take pictures. I was in the grocery store a coupe days ago and someone asked to take a picture with me and the other volunteers. We are celebrities here.
Jamie told me that mosquitos with malaria have a hard time sucking your blood so they will bite several times in a small area. After hearing that, I am thankful for my malarone because I woke up a few mornings ago with 4 bites close together on the knuckle of my index finger.
India is such a beautiful place but the people have ruined the beauty somewhat by throwing their trash everywhere. On the bus, the little girl sitting beside me ate some chips and reached over me to throw the bag out the window. The doctors will eat things on the way to eye camps and throw their trash out the window. It is a completely different mindset here. There is also no escaping the grime and filth. First thing I do when I get back to Alaska will be to take a 3 hour scalding hot shower to wash all this dirt off of me.
Cows, goats, dogs, and people live together in harmony here. They are all over the streets, trying to find what food they can. I saw a cow eating cardboard yesterday.
One thing I really like about Indian people is that they are for the most part very trustworthy. I bought some souveniers from a man in Mamallapuram but he wasn't quite finished with them so I paid him for the items and said I would be back later and when I came back, everything was ready for me. He didn't try to rip me off or steal my money and run. My general impression is that this is what most of the population is like here. It is nice not to have to worry about that.
Things here are very cheap. I spend about 130 rupees on dinner every day. That includes curry, naan, and a juice drink. Breakfast every day consists of a couple granola bars, some cashews, and some water or a 100% juice box. I am SO tired of Indian food. I feel like the smell is emanating from my pores.
I went to the Hande Hospital today and saw some cataract surgeries. The sanitation here is not very good. There were 2 patients in the OR at one time and the doctor would just go from one to the other without changing his gloves.
I miss home and I'm kinda ready to come home. I'm having a good time but I miss certain comforts like the ability to have a cold bottle of water. That is a luxury here.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
days 3 and 4
Well Monday when I was walking back to my hotel after the internet cafe I saw my first accident. A motorcycle hit another head on and then a pedestrian. I was wondering when I would see my first accident. I woke up in the middle of the night 2 nights ago with a bunch of little blisters on my face that popped when I scratched them. Of course me being the paranoid type, I worried that they may be from some bug that laid eggs in my face. Actually that probably wouldn't be too unlikely but its probably not the case. I still have them today...they are more bumps now than blisters. I think if they don't go away in a few days I will go to the doctor. Yesterday and today we went to another school camp. The kids are so loud. The boys are all troublemakers! I have some very cool pictures but I have no way to post them now because I can't get them off my camera. Thaanraj gave us local cell phones yesterday. We get spam texts all the time. One of the girls got one advertising delivery from McDonalds.
Men hold hands here when they walk down the street. Apparently it just signifies that they are friends. I saw one man holding anothers pinky yesterday. I have only seen one man and woman couple holding hands though. Chennai is pretty traditional in many senses.
Last night we went to the Skywalk mall and saw a movie in the nicest theater I have ever been in. We saw a movie in Tamil called Madharasa Pattinam and it actually wasn't bad. Of course it was a love story. The theater was very roomy with reclining chairs and a lot of leg room. The sound was phenominal! The only problem was that they keep the ac on like 60 degrees! I was freezing and of course bollywood movies are so long! Ours was 3 hours and had an intermission.
I have been eating a lot of delicious food here. There is a really nice restaurant here called Saravana Bhavan. The first day for dinner I had aloo gobi masala which is potato and cauliflower with yellow gravy. They call many curries here gravy. The second day for lunch I had dal butter fry which is fried onion, tomato, and yellow dal. They were both very good. We also tried the restaurant under our hotel two nights ago. It seemed pretty shady but nobody got sick so its all good I guess. Yesterday for lunch we tried this Hot Chips restuarant where I tried what Depak recommended to me: dosa. I had dosa with a little twist. It was called masala dosa and it was a fried tortilla thing with a potato mixture inside. It was pretty good but I don't know that I would get it again. I also had an apple juice which is just an apple crushed into a cup. It was thick and very tasty. Today I had the meal they eat most often here in southern India for lunch. When you order it you just say you want a meal and they bring you out a big platter with about 12 little curries and sauces as well as some rice. You eat it with your hands (only your right one actually) so it is very messy. I had a watermelon juice today. So so good.
I have been having strange dreams from the malarone but no hallucinations or psychotic episodes yet thankfully!
I will definitely post pictures as soon as I can but I don't think it will be any sooner than the 20th.
Men hold hands here when they walk down the street. Apparently it just signifies that they are friends. I saw one man holding anothers pinky yesterday. I have only seen one man and woman couple holding hands though. Chennai is pretty traditional in many senses.
Last night we went to the Skywalk mall and saw a movie in the nicest theater I have ever been in. We saw a movie in Tamil called Madharasa Pattinam and it actually wasn't bad. Of course it was a love story. The theater was very roomy with reclining chairs and a lot of leg room. The sound was phenominal! The only problem was that they keep the ac on like 60 degrees! I was freezing and of course bollywood movies are so long! Ours was 3 hours and had an intermission.
I have been eating a lot of delicious food here. There is a really nice restaurant here called Saravana Bhavan. The first day for dinner I had aloo gobi masala which is potato and cauliflower with yellow gravy. They call many curries here gravy. The second day for lunch I had dal butter fry which is fried onion, tomato, and yellow dal. They were both very good. We also tried the restaurant under our hotel two nights ago. It seemed pretty shady but nobody got sick so its all good I guess. Yesterday for lunch we tried this Hot Chips restuarant where I tried what Depak recommended to me: dosa. I had dosa with a little twist. It was called masala dosa and it was a fried tortilla thing with a potato mixture inside. It was pretty good but I don't know that I would get it again. I also had an apple juice which is just an apple crushed into a cup. It was thick and very tasty. Today I had the meal they eat most often here in southern India for lunch. When you order it you just say you want a meal and they bring you out a big platter with about 12 little curries and sauces as well as some rice. You eat it with your hands (only your right one actually) so it is very messy. I had a watermelon juice today. So so good.
I have been having strange dreams from the malarone but no hallucinations or psychotic episodes yet thankfully!
I will definitely post pictures as soon as I can but I don't think it will be any sooner than the 20th.
Monday, August 2, 2010
the first couple days in chennai
Well I made it to Chennai. On the 15 hour flight from Newark to Mumbai, I sat next to a very nice man who is a sculpture professor at the University of Mumbai. He had been staying in Colorado and when he found out I was from Alaska he had many questions. I met the girl I am now rooming with in Newark and we had the Newark to Mumbai and the Mumbai to Chennai flights together. When we landed in Mumbai, we had to get our bags, go through customs, and then take a bus to another domestic airport where we would recheck our bags and catch our next flight. Since I am volunteering with an eye clinic, they asked me to bring over some reading glasses to bring to the unfortunate. I had 650 pairs in my suitcase. The clinic emailed me a certificate of gift and said I should have no problems with customs. Well they were wrong! They kept me and my roommate, Anna, for three and a half hours, told us we needed to pay a duty of $8 per pair of glasses to bring them into India and when I told them there was no way I was paying that much they took them, said we could pick them up when we leave India and let us go. Them keeping us though caused us to miss our flight. We figured it wouldn't be too difficult to reschedule a flight but we were wrong. It took us 6 hours of being sent from one terminal to the other, one floor to the next, one kiosk to one down the hallway to finally find someone to help. We ended up having to buy a completely new ticket to Chennai which was disappointing but the only other option was to stay in the mumbai airport for another day and to pay a rescheduling fee to get on the nextAir India flight. Apparently they only have one a day from Mumbai to Chennai. We arrived in Chennai many many hours after we originally were supposed to and of course the person sent to pick us up was not there. We tried to call Dr. Senthil and Thaanraj (the volunteer coordinator) as well as the Uma Eye Clinic from Mumbai but nobody answered at two and the third number said it was out of service. It really made me doubt whether this program, despite all the research I had done, was a sham. Thankfully though, in Chennai we were able to reach the doctor and he sent a driver for us. We got to the hotel, which is called Hotel Aasai shortly after. It is an alright hotel. I am told the people there will not try to steal my things but still I would never leave anything out that would be a temptation. There is no toilet paper, only a bidet which I'm not inclined to use. I knew toilet paper may not be provided so I brought my own anyways. For the shower they have provided a bucket in the bathroom. You wash with the bucket and any water is just poured on the floor which has a drain. There are many mosquitos, but they are very small and very fast. We also have some cockroaches in the room. We have a supermarket next door and a street vendor selling fruit nearby and a nice restaurant that is only a 30 Rupee rickshaw ride away from the hotel. There is some sort of fish place next door to the hotel so any time you go to or leave the hotel I get to smell the nauseating fish. There are two beggars outside the hotel. They must have figured out that many foreigners stay there. One is a woman and her baby and another is a little girl. There are not as many beggars as I thought there would be but most do not hesitate to reach out and grab your arm or lightly smack you on the shoulder. They can be pretty persistant. Anna and I did some exploring yesterday looking for an internet cafe but we were not able to find one. We met 2 new volunteers today, Jean and Kim, and together we found one today. I feel very safe here walking around the streets. The drivers here are quite crazy. They honk at anything and nothing. They do not care if they are driving at oncoming traffic and there are no real traffic rules. There are no seatbelts but so far that hasn't been a huge problem. A volunteer that lives in the United States but is originally from Delhi took us to dinner last night at the restaurant I mentioned. Dinner is a little over 100 Rupees which is only a little over $2 for curry, naan, and a cold water. They have many juices there such as lime and watermelon juice. I want to try those soon. I also noticed they have Lassi which I am ready to try here.
Today we went to our first eye camp. It was at a school and the children there were so adorable and so excited to see us. They all wanted to shake my hand and when I brought out my camera they all needed their picture taken. They liked to compare their arms to mine and say "creama". They have barbed wire around the school. I thought that was a little strange. Someone said it was to keep the students in and to keep other people out. Some of the students offered me their lunches and kept asking if I had eaten but even if I did want to take their lunch from them, it wouldn't have been safe to eat.
I'm really enjoying it here. Its way too hot and there is a lot of dust which I am allergic to so my eyes are swollen, red, and crusty but hey, if it gets worse I'm working with eye doctors!
Today we went to our first eye camp. It was at a school and the children there were so adorable and so excited to see us. They all wanted to shake my hand and when I brought out my camera they all needed their picture taken. They liked to compare their arms to mine and say "creama". They have barbed wire around the school. I thought that was a little strange. Someone said it was to keep the students in and to keep other people out. Some of the students offered me their lunches and kept asking if I had eaten but even if I did want to take their lunch from them, it wouldn't have been safe to eat.
I'm really enjoying it here. Its way too hot and there is a lot of dust which I am allergic to so my eyes are swollen, red, and crusty but hey, if it gets worse I'm working with eye doctors!
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