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.
Monday, August 16, 2010
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Aww, yeah you leave in 5 days and it does sound like you're enjoying yourself! Which is really good and I am glad to hear. Indian door bells are loud huh? lol, I wonder what their alarm clocks sound like lol. You should bring some rupees back, if you could. Show and tell haha. Hopefully you're still getting pictures of all around India. Hope the final week there is a real good one for you Sara!
ReplyDeleteVery cool. Your mom and I might go to Namaste' tonight and pretend. Keep seeing and learning, sweetie, and we can't wait to have you home.
ReplyDeleteTommi hangs in your room a bunch.
RAZA is still junk.
Honey, I've tried several times to send you a msg, but w/o success. Now you're heading home. We'll catch up then. Can't wait to see you. Love you, Gramma and Grampa
ReplyDelete