"Be the Change You Wish to See in the World"

     I have many issues with the current state of the IVHQ Health program. I was feeling very useless, very disappointed, and very frustrated with my lack of helping and interaction with the struggling people of Faridabad.  I still plan on eventually discussing my issues with everyone involved in the Delhi program.  But rather than complaining and cutting my stay short, I decided to make my placement worth staying for. 

     And now I am just about squealing with the excitement of what is before me!

     I just submitted a proposal to IVHQ for a grant to help fund my ideal project.  In the next few weeks I will be traveling to different schools in the poverty-stricken slum areas to teach them about health.  I will be doing seminars that include lessons and demonstrations on how to properly wash hands, properly brush teeth, how bacteria spreads, and basic ways to reduce the transmission of disease.  Knowledge is power. Morgan, who volunteers at an orphanage, shared a story with me that some of the girls were playing with a dead pigeon on the ground last week.  She told them not to because you shouldn't play with dead objects-especially birds that have diseases-and they said to her "why? It's just a bird."   Sanitation is a huge issue here, and if you dont know that drinking contaminated water will make you sick, sneezing on someone will spread germs, or that you shouldnt put your fingers in your mouth after playing in the dirt, then you are going to do it an not realize it is harmful. By learning these skills and making them habits, the quality of life of those in these communities can be increased.  Ideally, if my proposal is chosen, I will be able to create health bags containing a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, hand sanitizer, and multivitamins for all of the children in the school to pass out after my presentation. It will also help cover the cost of creating posters depicting hand-washing and tooth-brushing techniques as well as posters about covering your mouth when sneezing and coughing.  I intend on making at least one set of posters to bring with me as a visual teaching aid, but with more resources I could make enough to post around all of the schools to remain as reminders for the kids and staff. According to the website, one request is chosen at the end of each month, so I hope to hear back soon! And if I dont get it this month, I will try again next month since I will still be here.   

Regardless, I will be starting my seminars next week :)

Between the possibility of getting this grant, and the fact 4 of us did free check-ups for over 150 students in the local slum school this morning, I am pretty freaking happy right now.

Gandhi once said "be the change you wish to see in the world."  Well, world, here I am.

Much love, 

Alyssa

Week 13: Teaching in the Slum School

This past week was definitely a new experience for me, as I decided to take on teaching in the slum school. Rachel, a fellow volunteer, wanted to teach for a week so Sushma asked me if I would go with her so she wouldn’t be alone.  I figured why not, lets try something new.  It was equal parts rewarding and equal parts stressful.  I definitely understand now why people fall in love with teaching, and I also understand how it is a labor of love that can make you want to rip your hair out. 

The first day went fairly well once we got over “being thrown in the deep end.”  We walked into school, were shown to the class we’d be teaching, then the girl teaching it left! We asked her what we should start teaching them and she just said “as you like.” We were dumbfounded. We had no idea what level the kids were at or what they knew and didnt know. Plus 4 grades were mixed together since it was the end of a holiday and many of the students stayed home.  We decided to start simple and began teaching the different kinds of nouns (common, proper, collective, material, abstract) from a workbook we found in the room.  Then we moved to math (addition and subtraction), then went back to English and  taught them Baa Baa Black Sheep .  All of this was on  large chalkboard only; the students didnt have books to follow along with and most of them didnt even have paper and pencil to copy down what we were teaching.  

The second day we were in the same mixed class, and it went a lot better. Our biggest accomplishment was teaching them fractions! We were able to use the little english they knew and draw on the board to help them understand how parts of a whole fit together. We only did adding and subracting fractions, and didnt teach them how to reduce since there was no way to explain it or have them visually understand equivalency.  We moved on to pronouns in our English lesson, since that was the next logical step after teaching them nouns the day before. We also attempted to teach some division, but that didnt go as well for all of the students.  A few of the girls in the front got it pretty quickly, but most of the class had a rough time. 

The third day we came in feeling pretty great, but they stuck us in a different class that then crushed our hopes and dreams.  All of the children were at school that day, meaning we had a full class of 25 students who wanted nothing to do with learning from weird white girls they couldnt understand.  They knew less English than the last class, and were absolute hellions. We had to break apart multiple fights, yell quite a bit, and went to get one of the older girls to come in and make them be quiet because we just couldnt. I dont even remember what we tried teaching that day, but I do know we left early because we were just done and couldnt take it anymore.  

Thursday was a public holiday due to the elections, so no school or placement for any of us. We decided to make a trip into Delhi to walk around and see stuff since we had the day to ourselves.  We got off the metro at a stop near Pahar Ganj, which was supposed to be a busy area full of shops and restaurants. Instead, the entire street was dead. I suppose we should have figured all of the shopkeepers would be taking the day off as well.  Luckily a few restaurants were still open so we were able to get a seat and eat some food.  By the time our late lunch finished, some of the shops were opening.  But we had more to see before going home for the day, so after buying some jalebi at a corner stand we walked back to the metro. The next stop was at Chandni Chowk, a famous market I had heard much about from other volunteers. I dont know if it was the fact it was election day so the usual affairs werent going on, but it was seriously one of the sketchiest places I have walked through. We were trying to find the spice market, which was supposed to be 2km down through Chandni Chowk.  We ended up not being quite sure if we found it or not since everything was (surprise) dead.  Getting to the spot, though, took us through dark and damp sidewalks and down the road past huge groups of staring men....not a woman in sight.  We stopped a few times to get reoriented and decide which was the best direction to keep walking in, and of course as soon as we stopped the men started taking pictures of us.  The sun was getting low in the sky too, so as soon as we found where we thought the spice market should be we decided to take a tuk-tuk back to the metro rather than walking past the creepers again.  We got home with no issues, and all was normal the rest of the night. 

                Teaching on Friday went as well as it could, seeing as we refused to teach that second grade class again.  We had the 3^rd and 4^th grade mixed class, who were still rowdy but a lot more respectful and willling to learn.  We went over verbs, subtraction where you needed to borrow, read some English stories, then played hangman with words from the story.  The last hour of the day, we switched classes and all taught alone.  I ended up teaching a computer class to a group of incredibly well-behaved first graders.  Now keep in mind, I am teaching a computer class to children in the slums who have probably never seen a computer before. I ended up drawing a computer on the board then labeling all of the major parts and having them repeat the names (CPU, monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc). Then I erased the labels and we went through all the names again until they could spell them all out and label pieces when randomly called on.  Then I drew a huge keyboard with all of the keys in the proper order (I had a diagram to go off of), drew a smaller monitor, and had the kids each come up and “type” their name by touching the keys then writing their name on the monitor.  I think they get the general idea, though it would be great to actually be able to show them in real life. 

Much love,

Alyssa

An American Perspective on Indian Life

     I've written entries about my travels and my medical placements, but very rarely have I mentioned my observances of Hinduism, healthcare practices, daily life, or the general culture here in India. So here it goes, an American 12-week perspective:

     In regards to my family, they are Hindu.  It has been difficult gaining much knowledge about how or what exactly they practice because they do not flaunt it nor do they always know how to thoroughly answer my questions about things (For example: why they cant have eggs certain days of the week. I asked and got the response "because its our god's day." When I asked "but why eggs specifically?" My host mom said "It's just our religion.")  They belong to a sect of Hinduism that are vegetarian. Although all Hindus do not eat beef, not all are vegetarian.  Meat cannot be purchased at all in my neighborhood, which is called the Sainik Colony.  My family particularly worships one god, which I have gathered to be Lord Shiva since the Sainik Colony is home to the biggest Shiv Mandir in Faridabad and it is right down the road.  Tuesdays and Thursdays are their particular god's days, and on these days the family does not eat eggs for whatever reason.  On Thursdays they always go to the temple.  The first bit of whatever is cooked at every meal is given as a gift to the gods and placed in the shrine, located in the grandfather's room.  The shrine has a picture of a god in it (probably Shiva, though I havent spent much time looking at the shrine so I am not certain), as well as a picture of Dr. Prabhat's deceased mother.  The grandfather chants every morning in front of this shrine, and an oil candle is always burning.  Since being here, there have been a few holidays.  The bigger ones that I've seen are Shivratri, Holi, and now Navaratri. There have been a few more that we got days off of volunteering for, but the family didnt do anything special on those days.  For Shivaratri, so many people came to worship at the Shiv Mandir.  The street perpendicular to the Shiv Mandir that led to the market had a small festival with a mini ferris wheel for the kids, juice stands, food stands, and a few people selling things on blankets on the ground.  Sam and I walked down to check it out, and saw the line to the temple was ridiculous so gave up our ideas of going there.   For Holi, I already wrote an entire entry: Holika bonfire the night before, then a day of happiness and color play.  For Navaratri, the family fasts for 9 days.  Fasting is different here though, because it doesnt mean no food: they are allowed to eat potatoes, certain vegetables, and milk, they just can't have chappatis or rice or other vegetables (and most likely not eggs either).  On the last day of fasting, my host mom said the family won't eat anything, but will offer food to women on the street to honor females because the god celebrated during these 9 days is female.

     In regards to healthcare, India does have a system of public and private care. From speaking with a doctor at the surgical placement hospital, I discovered that there are public hospitals where the poor people go (but anyone can go), medium-sized hospitals that the middle class normally go to, then large upscale private hospitals where the rich go to.  The "rich" hospitals have the better doctors, better medications, and better accommodations.  The surgical placement hospital (Ghai Hospital) is a middle level one and has some decent doctors and okay accommodations, though they lack the funds for everyone to wear gloves or have other materials we would call standard.  The public hospitals supposedly have doctors with questionable degrees, some questionable sanitary practices, and get cheap items provided from the government.  At Ghai Hospital, there are 40 beds and no specialty wards; some patients do get their own rooms, but there are also rooms with 6 beds.  The doctor was telling us how it is especially dangerous treating tuberculosis patients since they dont wear masks or have any way of quarantining the patient. I would not call the surgical procedures at Ghai Hospital completely sterile, but I do give them credit for keeping things aseptic and trying to be conscious of those practices. The surgeons do scrub in using proper technique, and their scrubs are put on warm after having been sterilized by pressure in large silver cylinders.  Gloves are worn by all involved in the surgery.  The equipment used is sterilized in a solution of Cidex.  The operating rooms get fumigated every 2 weeks.  However, cell phones get answered all the time, the doctors and surgeons drink chai in the OR following the surgery, and its no big deal for people to come in and out. You must remove your boots and put flip flops on in order to enter the OR, and if you are not the surgeon or his immediate assistant then you dont need your hair pulled back, to wear a mask, or wear scrubs.  I have been in one government hospital, working in a lab with a lovely bubbly woman who lets us actually do the tests and draw the blood when needed.  Though she thankfully wore gloves, the methods of testing were ancient, creative, and sometimes questionable.  Basic pregnancy tests were given, and the women had to pee in the little pouches that the tests came in since there werent any sterile containers ( I thought that was pretty creative, working with what you have).  The blood-typing test was the same one I did in lab at school: 3 drops on a micro slide then drop Anti-A, Anti-B, and Anti-D and look for coagulation.  The lancets were all sterile and came from an individual package, which was good. The hemoglobin test especially worried me, though: she used an old method where you drop in 4ml of a HCl solution, add in .02ml of blood, then drop in distilled water until the blood solution matches the color of a tinted tube next to it. The test being old part was fine. The scary part was that she used the same glass pipette to drop in the HCl, blood, and distilled water...quickly rinsing it in the same little cup of distilled water in between solutions. She also used the same pipette for the HIV tests.  This was conflicting for me: is the risk of cross contamination here more dangerous than the help they could provide from the results of this test? The people getting these tests wont get them done unless they are free, but the free facilities dont have the materials to do the test any other way. Its a tough situation.  I personally wouldnt let her do that test. But if I was living in the conditions of many of these people, and this was the ONLY way I could get it done, then would I? Would I even know that there was a risk, or would I assume the water cleaned it sufficiently due to my lack of education?

     Daily life in India is going to be a few paragraphs of miscellaneous things I remember to tell.  The most familiar part I have participated in is transportation. Modes of transportation include walking (yo legs), rickshaws (a small seat-cart pulled by a man on a bicycle), auto rickshaws (the famous tuk-tuks I talk about), bus (crowded, smelly), metro (train through the city with stops every few minutes. mostly aboveground), taxi (usually a van), and train (various classes, for long trips).  A typical trip into Delhi from Faridabad would involve walking to the gate of the colony, catching 2 different tuk-tuks to get to the nearest metro stop, then taking the metro where we need to go and mostly likely having to switch metro lines at least once. A typical long weekend trip would involve all those steps except either getting off the metro near a bus stand or a train station, then getting on the bus or train.  I have not taken a city bus around Faridabad, as I am too nervous to do so. The roads in general are pretty terrible. If taking a tuk-tuk, expect to gain a few bruises and end up with crazy hair. Even the few paved roads are rough and in need of repair, which makes even a car ride quite the jostling experience. And the traffic....oh boy. Road rules are mainly suggestions, the honking never stops, and it seems to always be the other car's fault-even if you're the one in the wrong lane about to hit oncoming traffic. I am both terrified and impressed whenever riding through it because there seems to be almost choreographed chaos amidst the cutting people off, overtaking at any point, and constant near-misses of pedestrians and cars alike.
     There is not much to do for me to keep busy after placement, but my host mom (Sushma) is always busy.  Most women are housewives, though some hold jobs (like Subhi, the lab tech) and some opt to go to school and have a career rather than getting married (like the girls that live on the top floor bedrooms at the IVHQ orientation house).  My family's daily routine consists of the family getting up when the boys have to get ready for school, the boys go to school, Sushma makes breakfast, Dr. Prabhat and his Dad go to work, we manage to roll out of bed and eat breakfast, we go to placement, we get home, lunch gets finished by Sushma, we eat, Dr. Prabhat and his father and the boys get home and eat, Dr. Prabhat and his father leave, Sushma and the boys nap while we amuse ourselves, late afternoon chai, Sushma makes dinner, Dr. Prabhat and his father get home, we all eat dinner, the grandfather watches TV at volume levels causing ear damage, we amuse ourselves some more, the boys might study, then bed time. When a woman gets married, she moves into her husband's house, so that is why the grandfather also lives here. The grandmother did as well, but she passed away years ago.  Some families have large houses where they all live together as multiple nuclear families, but I think its just this small immediate family here since they need room to host volunteers.
     This now brings me to FOOD.  Everyone keeps asking me about how great the food is, or if the food is even more amazing than what you eat at Indian restaurants at home, or if real chai is just as awesome as they imagined it. If you're one of those, please sit down for this.  Food at Indian restaurants is pretty much the same.  The flavors are more authentic of course, but the dishes are the same.  The biggest shock to you, though, will be to know that Indians do not make restaurant food at home. Yup, that's right. Naan, a lot of rich paneer dishes, anything tandoori, biryani....it's only something special you order when out.  Food in the home is very simple, though it is spicy as you might expect.  Breakfast is always different for us (toast, paranthas, potato sandwiches, noodles). Lunch and dinner are interchangeable: one will consist of daal (lentil soup) and rice or chappati, and one will consist of mixed veggies with rice or chappati.  Sometimes Sushma will switch it up and make stuffed bell peppers, fry the chappati, or do something different like that. Dessert is not common, but we have been given rice pudding or sweets from a sweet shop a few times.  Sweets are very different here, and contain spices like cardamom or cloves. They are either very pasty, or soaked in a syrup. Cake isnt common, but we have discovered a few Western style bakeries that do cakes and recognizable confections.  Chai is also different: American Starbucks has played up the heavy spices when in all actuality the spice is pretty subtle.  Sushma makes hers using milk, normal black tea leaves, and ginger; that's it.  But it IS still delicious.
     I also feel the need to say something about the clothing. On men, the most common thing to see are pants and a nice long-sleeve shirt.  Very rarely do the men dress traditionally.  Women, however, all almost always in traditional dress: a sari or a punjabi suit.  Some will wear jeans and a shirt, or leggings and a tunic, but it is still mostly traditional.

     As far as general culture goes, I am going to focus this on noticeable progress as well as continued concerns.  Of course I have a pretty narrow view, having not spoken to many people to ask them personal questions, but this is just based on my observations.  To an outsider like me, women seem to be improving their station in life from how things used to be.  India has a long way to go, and this is by no means good enough, but it is a step in the right direction.  On the metro, there is a women only carriage so that they can feel safe when traveling alone; there are also a few seats in every other carriage marked for ladies, which men will sometimes get up to let them sit in.  Dowries still happen even though they are illegal, but ads now exist shaming men into being good enough to support his wife on his own and encouraging him to say no to a dowry.  The caste system is still in place in people's minds, but it is more common for parents to be won over and allow inter-caste marriages for love.  Because of past issues with aborting females, it is now illegal to reveal the sex of a fetus before it is born.  Women can gain a stronger voice in some families: in the case of my orientation host mom, she now just takes the car and goes somewhere rather than having to ask her in-laws and her husband for permission.  I have seen a few girls driving scooters or cars around alone.   I could sit here and be infuriated at the still-present injustices, but even slow progress is something, and all we can do is hope the momentum continues as more independence and confidence is gained among the female population.  
     As for continued concerns, I am beyond infuriated in regards to the treatment of the LGBTQ population.  It is not only taboo to admit you are homosexual, but also dangerous since it is a criminal act to engage in gay sex.  But I have never been more enraged than one specific situation at the small slum clinic: a man dressed as a women came into the clinic. Words were exchanged, then a man (our driver, who speaks some English and is friends with the doctor) angrily drove him out. He turned to me and said "That man is crazy."  I asked him "Does he actually have a disability, or is that just his life choice?" to which he looked at me very confused and said "He's just crazy."  It is absolutely baffling to most Indians that sexual desires can be towards the opposite sex, that gender is different from sex, or that some people simply feel better when cross-dressing.

     I've just hit some highlights here, and I'm afraid I may bore my few readers by continuing.  But feel free to message me asking for my reflections or observations on anything else :)

Much love,
Alyssa

Week 12: Second Slum Camp, and my Dharamsala Weekend

   

      I know, I know, it's been a while since the last entry. Nothing happened after Holi during Week 11 that was worthy of writing about: we had 3 days of placement (one of which I was sick for), then a trip to the mall in Gurgaon that Saturday.

     And before officially starting this entry, can we just take a moment to think about the fact I have been in India for 3 months?! It's crazy! And I still have 2 more to go!

     Okay, back to the task at hand.

     Week 12 is very blog-worthy because we had another slum camp!  Remember back to my first week following orientation? Same kind of deal, but new people and new location.  Rather than being in the slum near the Sainik Colony like last time, we were a few minutes down the road in a different community.  The camp was set up inside a temple, with tables for different stations.  Like last time, there was someone doing intake forms with Name/Age/Chief Complaint, but unlike last time the same person also ended up doing blood pressure. At the next table, one person was in charge of pulse oximetry and blood sugar. Then there were 3 people each at 2 stations for full body examinations: exam table 1 did head/neck/chest, and exam table 2 did upper limbs/lower limbs/abdomen.  We got so busy, though, that each table ended up doing 2 patients at a time and doing the full exam themselves.  I was at exam station 1 the entire week except for Friday when things were all switched up and chaotic.  We saw 48 patients Monday, 56 patients Tuesday, and probably around 50 patients per day the rest of the week though I didnt ask the exact count.
     I wish we were able to do more slum camps here.  The observation is nice, and the hands-on I got to do in the small slum clinic was great.  But none of that is even close to the impact we are making by providing free healthcare to those who need it yet cant afford it.  There are a lot of factors in play such as Dr. Prabhat's ability to donate time and having enough money for supplies, so I understand why the camps can't occur more often.  But in Alyssa's perfect little volunteering world, we would be doing these camps every week and going to a different area each time.

    The great slum camp week made a smooth transition into a fantastic weekend in Dharamsala! Right after camp on Friday, Morgan, Samantha, Sam, and I grabbed our bags and took the metro to Khan Market to eat and spend some last few hours with Sam before he left for Europe. We had a delicious lunch at a multi-cuisine restaurant, followed by a delicious desert at The Big Chill Cafe.  Then came the not so great part: a short metro ride followed by Sam leaving to the airport :( The girls and I continued to the closest metro stop to our bus stand, then made our way over to the crowds of people and Tibetan monks waiting to board the bus to Dharamsala.  The bus was late, but we boarded with no issue and were off.  12 hours later, at 7am the next morning, we arrived in the quaint Himalayan town of McLeod Ganj just north of Dharamsala.  After securing a room for the night and finding a cafe to eat breakfast, we hired a taxi to take us 2 hours to Bir for paragliding!  The day was clear and sunny, making the mountain drive absolutely breathtaking! We had no idea that the view coming up would be even more so.  Upon arriving in Bir, we had to purchase the paragliding tickets then get a different taxi to take us up the mountain to the take-off point. And when I say "take us up the mountain," I literally mean up the mountain: the car drove us along narrow roads (with scary hairpin turns) up and up and up all the way to the very peak! I would be lying if I said I wasnt nervous looking over the edge at the large valley and neighboring mountain peaks below.  And my heart really started pounding when my pilot informed me I would need to run off the edge to take off!  It turns out I had nothing to fear though: the wind caught the parachute before my feet reached the edge, so there was no terrifying sensation of falling.  The only sensations I experienced were joy and freedom as we soared through the air...riding the wind above and between the beautiful Himalayas.  After a while of lazily soaking in the majestic view, my pilot asked if I wanted to experience some acrobatics. "Hell yeah!" was barely out of my mouth before he took us into a series of corkscrew dives that left me laughing and dizzy.  Then came the lazy descent back to solid ground, and a perfect landing that some other pilots congratulated me on for doing beautifully (See, I CAN be graceful sometimes!).   After the ride back to McLeod Ganj, we decided to eat an early dinner then hit the streets for some shopping...both a good and bad idea. I wish hadnt gone shopping in other cities because this place was the street-wares jackpot. We passed tables upon tables of gemstone jewelry, shops of tapestries and scarves, tables and shops with marble figurines, tables of bronze bottle openers and pendants, every size of Tibetan singing bowls, and so much more I can't even remember.  I spent way more money than I should have, but it was justified by the fact that 90% of the purchases were souvenirs for others, and that I (of course) got good deals. We ended up shopping until dark then grabbing desert at a different cafe before watching some TV and heading to bed.

     We woke up at a decent hour the next morning, ate breakfast at our usual place, then went back to the streets to see the rest of the tables that darkness kept us from discovering the night before.  After being fully content with our purchases, we made our way down the street to the Dalai Lama Temple complex. No photography was allowed or I would have taken a picture to share the visual experience.  It was definitely cool and humbling to be walking the same quiet floors that the Dalai Lama walks, and to be seeing the same places he teaches from.  After the temple, we went back to the hotel room to check out, then to the cafe for a snack before Samantha and I went to cooking class.  I had the most delicious soup called Thenthuk Thupka, which had vegetables and pieces of flat noodles.  Cooking class came next, where we learned how to make Channa Masala, Mutter Paneer, and Vegetable Biryani! I was very excited.  The Biryani can also be made with meat to create a non-veg dish. So essentially we added 4 new recipes to our Indian cooking repertoire! At the end of the lesson, we had 3 dishes to eat between the 2 of us that proved to be a much more daunting task than expected. But it was so good!  From class we went down to the bus stand, then it was a 12-hour trip to Delhi, and a metro and tuk-tuk ride back to Faridabad home.

     Today's placement was also good, but I will wait until the week is finished before I write about it.

Much love,
Alyssa

Holi!

     Holi is the happiest holiday on Earth, and some of the best fun I've ever had!

     The morning began with a wake-up-call from the whole family coming in shouting "Happy Holi!" and attacking us with a bit of colored powder. We quickly jumped out of bed and joined them up on the roof to have our very first color play! Dr. Prabhat got each of us first: swiping a line of pink across each cheek and wishing us a happy Holi.  Then it was a free for all! The twins had water guns that they were all-too-thrilled to soak us with, and colored powders of pink and blue were in small bags to be put on each other. Sushma (my host Mom, if I havent used names before) put some green on top of our heads that dripped down and actually dried a gold color on our faces. We ran around with the boys, throwing buckets of water to combat their merciless water gun attacks. Sushma brought up breakfast for us next that consisted of lightly battered and fried potatoes, onions, and mashed potato sandwiches, and of course chai.

     After the family fun, we quickly got changed into some new clothes and took our taxi to the Holi party.  The party was held in a lovely green garden called Khanna Farms on the outskirts of New Delhi.  A table sat in the middle of the field containing bowls of green, blue, red, orange, and pink powders as well as multiple kinds of water guns. Next to the table were 3 large bins of colored water to refill the guns with (or go jumping in, as we did a few hours later), and sprinklers were set up in various places around the yard. There were only 20 or so people there when we arrived, but we wasted no time in getting the fun started!  We selected our weapons, selected some powders, and didnt stop laughing for hours! Every few minutes we would all look different as new colors were wiped on by both strangers and friends and other colors rinsed off by the water-spray counterattacks. A rainbow haze settled over the crowd, and each new arriving group found themselves colored and sprayed down by those of us already there. I can't even begin to describe how infectious the happiness became! The sun was shining, laughter filled the air, and a smile never left my face! There was a DJ playing a variety of music, and men came around with trays of finger foods and drinks to keep the crowd satisfied until the meal was served. Around 2pm, we made our way to the other end of the yard where a nice buffet of Indian food was spread out to enjoy. Things got a bit more chill after the food, and people tended to migrate into smaller groups in the shade to keep cool. The happy feeling didnt leave though, and we settled into silly conversations enjoying each other's company until it was time to go.

     I left sunburned, exhausted, and completely colored. And even though I am now sick with the cold I was trying so hard to fight off, I would do it again in a heartbeat

Much love,
Alyssa

Week 10: Halfway There

     I have been in India for 10 weeks now. It seems like ages, but at the same time not very long.  I find myself much more at ease with the country and less of a tourist.  I know what it should cost me on public transportation to get around certain areas, what a hostel should cost, and how to haggle banana's down.  I know how to get to and use the New Delhi metro with my reloadable metro card.  The twins I live with have learned my name, call me "Alyssa didi" (didi is the term for big sister), and want to play daily.  I have a limited Hindi vocabulary, but it is much more than what I started with. The biggest smile broke across my face this week as an indescribable feeling of independence rushed through me: I was able to take a tuk-tuk to a popular stop, not find what I was looking for, walk around a while in a neighboring market until I found that shop, then get home...never once feeling lost, and all safely by myself.  I am now the old seasoned volunteer, helping the new ones out and explaining how things work.

     This week passed fairly quickly in a surgical placement at Ghai Hospital. I was able to see a cesarean section (my 4th one), the removal of 2 tumors from a woman's ankle, 2 laparoscopic cholecystectomies (my 2nd and 3rd ones), and check up on all of the hospital's patients.  Today, Caleb and I were able to talk with the doctor about health care and sanitary practices in India, which was interesting to learn about.  The doctors here don't use gloves unless they are touching a bad wound, coming in contact with blood, or performing surgery. In my surgery shadowing, I was happy to see sterile practices used for the equipment, but a few things still surprised me: the surgeon and his assistants were the only ones wearing scrubs ( just for the surgery, then they changed), the anesthetist commonly answered his cell phone during the procedure, if someone wasn't actively involved in the surgery they didnt need to have their hair covered or a mask on, and to enter the operating room you have to remove your shoes and put on flip-flops! Hand sanitizer is not something used at all by any of the staff.  When the hospital gets a tuberculosis patient, there is no separate ward for the patient or any special practices used to protect the physicians treating him/her.  India has government-run hospitals that treat the poor for free, but those hospitals do not always have properly-trained staff, and someone could be on the waiting list for 3 months just for an ultrasound. The hospital we were placed in is a private hospital that has 40 beds and charges prices typically paid by the middle class.  There are also larger private hospitals with even better physicians that are more costly and typically serve the upper class.

    There is much excitement among us volunteers, because Holi is this Monday! Holi is the Hindu festival of colors. It is held around the spring equinox to celebrate the victory of good over evil, and is a day to forgive any animosity in your relationships and make up and be happy. It is celebrated by a Holika bonfire the evening before, followed by the day of Holi where people throw colored powders and spray each other with colored water so that everyone is a giant rainbow mess.  If any of you have heard of or done a Color Run, this is where that comes from.  A few of us volunteers are going to a party being held in a farm house in New Delhi that is supposed to have many foreigners and expats in attendance.  There will be food, music, and of course color play.    

     I will post another entry after Holi to talk about all of the holiday shenanigans.

     And now....on to my last 10 weeks in India!

Much love,
Alyssa

Week 9: Kashmir-the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

     Alternate titles for this entry could be: "The 6 Days of Travel for 2 Days of Activity" or "OMG It's Freaking Cold Up Here" or "What the Hell More Could Possibly Go Wrong?" or "Alyssa Sucks at Skiing" or even "Bro, Secure Your Chickens."  But I went with "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" because of the bits of good fun and hilarity hidden between aggravation and bad luck.
     I don't even know where to begin with this trip. Nothing went right, starting from the first tuk-tuk we hailed to bring us to the metro. So I suppose I will begin at that point on Friday night.  We left the house Friday around 6pm to take the metro into Delhi, eat dinner, then catch out 11:45pm train up to Jammu. We all piled into the first tuk-tuk, drove along for a little while, then all of a sudden he pulled over and made us get out. We were told to get into a different tuk-tuk, which was odd but hey we didnt have to pay any more so it was alright. After this one drove for a little while, he pulled over and made us get into yet another one! Slight annoyance, but no harm done. It had been raining in Faridabad, so we had to drive through quite a bit of flooded road....which splashed water up into the engine and stopped this new new tuk-tuk. The driver managed to get us out though, and we eventually reached the metro.  We check what lines we need, get on the metro...then are told to get off at the next stop because they are closing that one down for the day.  So we walk out of the station, back around, and get on the next one going where we needed it to. Dinner was at a Mexican restaurant in Khan Market, then we had the BEST dessert ever at an ice cream shop and bakery down the road. We got back on the metro and made it to the train without complication, then off we went!
     For the 3 of us girls, the 14-hour train ride was boring and long, but otherwise fine. For Sam, though, it was a lot worse. His shoes were stolen at some point during the trip, causing him to walk barefoot on the train and slip in vomit on the way to the bathroom. He had to borrow my shoes and awkwardly walk half in them to the bathroom once I came down to his compartment to see how things were going and hear about the theft.  The train dumped us in Jammu mid-afternoon Saturday, where we excitedly bounced over to the bus stand to start the next leg of our journey: the short trek up to Srinagar. The excitement was short-lived though as we soon discovered this "short" trek to Srinagar would be about 9 hours by taxi or about 12 by public bus.  We determined we didnt mind arriving in the wee hours of the morning, but even the idea of getting to Srinagar late was shot down upon being informed that traffic only goes one way each day! And of course today just happened to be the day that traffic LEFT Srinagar to come to Jammu, forcing us into a hotel for the night. We went on the hunt for a room and settled on a lovely hotel with the building still under construction, paint peeling off the walls, and water that randomly turned on in the middle of the night. We dumped our bags, Sam found some "best quality" cheap sandals, then we walked to an internet cafe to contact our other smarter friends who flew in the morning before to let them know we would be delayed.
     The next morning, we were up at 4:30am to catch our arranged 5am taxi. We get in the lobby and wait...and wait... until a family of 7 comes down around 5:30 telling us they are also riding in the taxi to Srinagar. Great.  We get fed up of waiting and start worrying about the fact that not everyone and their luggage will fit in this taxi, so we stop the next one that comes by who agrees to take us for 800 rupees a piece.  Of course to actually be on our way at this point would be too optimistic.  The taxi driver asks us if we can take on more passengers, so we agree that yes these 2 men in question are able to ride in the front seat because we are nice and it doesnt affect how much room we have in the back.  The driver stops at a hotel to pick the guy up, who has about 10 boxes of chickens! He tries to load them in the backseat/trunk space with Samantha but we say hell no to that and the chickens end up secured to the roof after much maneuvering. Finally the car gets on its way, but we are stopped by traffic only a few kilometers in. Seems everyone wants to get up North.  This driving for a few kilometers then stopping for 15 minutes continued throughout the trip, though the stops got less frequent the farther North we traveled.  The scenery was second to none: gorgeous green mountains with valleys and rivers appeared, followed by the enormous snowy mountains and white-coated pine trees reminding you of a winter wonderland.  It would have been nice to relax and enjoy this first glimpse of the Himalayas, but that was rather difficult due to the fact our driver had a bad case of road rage and decided that a great time to get stoned was while  speeding around sharp mountainous turns and overtaking cars on the narrow road.  Our only source of amusement were the road signs:  Border Roads Organization (BRO) had posted multiple signs warning against speeding and reminding drivers of safety. Every sign started with BRO then had on it a saying such as "Speed Thrills but Kills" "Speed is a Knife That Takes a Life" "Peep Peep Don't Sleep" "Drink Whisky Drive Risky" etc. We thought it was way too hilarious to read the signs by emphasizing Bro, then continuing in our best cheesy slogan voice.  What turned out to be the opposite of amusing was the fact that stoned driver decided to try and renegotiate the price of the taxi multiple times throughout the trip. He tried pleading the case that there were empty seats and we needed to pay 5,000 rupees rather than the 3200 that was agreed upon, and even went so far as to start crying and pull over in a traffic jam to have some young (and super attractive, by the way) guys come try and translate for him.  Obviously we did not back down. 13 hours later, we rejoiced at our arrival in Srinagar and set off for the next task: getting another taxi up to Gulmarg. This same taxi driver offered to drive us to Gulmarg but we very emphatically declined. After trying to find a bus up there and being told none were running, we went price hunting for a taxi and were informed that we could get a taxi to Tanmarg but not quite all the way to Gulmarg since we needed a taxi with chains on the wheels to get up the mountain. Discouraged and annoyed that we STILL wouldnt be able to get to Gulmarg, we found a reasonable taxi to Tanmarg then tried to find a hotel for the night.  In a huge stroke of luck, though, as we were walking to check the prices at one hotel, we found a taxi driver who said he could take us up to Gulmarg right then! So off we went up the snowy mountain and finally arrived in the little ski village. In another stroke of luck, we happened to pass a Canadian Heliski employee who recommended a good affordable hotel, which happened to be the same hotel our friends were staying in! However, this hotel had no central heat, the space heater only worked every now and then for a few minutes at a time, and the stove heater in the room was useless since the staff couldnt make a fire. The fire-making attempt was actually entertainment in itself: the staff (who we are pretty sure smoked weed if not participated in other recreational drugs) literally just doused large logs in kerosene inside the stove then lit it. No kindling at all. And when that burned out, they just put in more kerosene. The pipe that went into the wall to take the smoke out was evidently blocked since the room got super smoky. So we were left with burning eyes and a room just as cold as it was before the fire-making attempt.  Luckily, we had an electric blanket on the bed, so when all 4 of us squished into the one queen-sized bed to sleep, the 2 in the middle actually ended up sweating during the night.

     We awoke Monday morning excited to actually experience Kashmir and do what we came to do: ski! After breakfast at the hotel restaurant (they actually had some breakfast food, surprisingly) the 7 of us headed over to the mountain to rent ski gear and start the day.  Morgan, Samantha, Abi, and I stayed at the beginners teaching hill, but the 3 boys went over to the ski lift/gondola to go up to the big slopes.  Skiing is definitely different.  Its not so terrible when the hill isnt steep because you can stop fairly easily and keep some control. Samantha and I didnt do too terribly, but Morgan decided she was done after once down the hill since she couldnt stop and wasnt very interested in skiing in the first place. Morgan went up to join Abi (who didnt want to ski again), and Samantha and I went down the hill a few more times, starting higher and higher each time until we did it from the very top. Then we went zorbing! They had one zorb ball at the end of the hill, so we asked about the price then decided we definitely wanted to do it. They dragged the ball to the top of the hill, strapped us in, then down we went! It was a lot of fun.  We decided then that we were done with our little skiing excursion and went to meet everyone for lunch at the top of the first lift. After lunch, the boys went up again but us girls took the gondola/lift back down with 2 Kashmiri guys who were singing and dancing and rocking it back and forth. The walk back to the hotel seemed to never end, and it was snowing so hard the entire time. We finally made it though, warmed up, waited for the boys, then we all had dinner at the hotel restaurant again. It was quite a trial finding something to eat since almost everything on the menu was not available. They didnt have any of the Kashmiri dishes, they couldnt make any of the meals with meat, and they had no cheese. Only a few breakfast items, some soups, and some of the Chinese dishes were able to be ordered.

     Tuesday came, and Sam and I got up to ski but Morgan and Samantha decided to stay in bed. I was going to stay in bed too, but Sam convinced me the day before that even though I wasnt very good he could definitely teach me. I hate giving up on things and was excited at the idea of getting better at skiing. The morning started out great, with a delicious breakfast at a local restaurant where we got fried eggs on Kashmiri bread. We headed over to the ski rental, got our gear, and I felt pretty good. That was, of course, until we got to the top of the lift and I realized what a horrible idea it was. The mountain wasnt too steep at this part, but it was way too steep for a beginner with the grace of a broken-winged butterfly.  For every thing I got right, I crashed and burned to even it out. I managed to turn and stop a few times, but I also managed to fall and be unable to pull myself up. It was awful.  Snow got into everything. I realized exactly how little arm and leg strength I have, especially in my left knee. Sam was a great teacher, I just could not make my legs move how I needed them too. After my 10th fall and us only being a few feet down the mountain, I had to give up. My limbs were like jelly, I was upset, and I was holding him back from actually being able to ski. I hired one of the guys with sleds to take me down the rest of the way, which was almost as miserable and not something worth writing about. I returned my skis, got my shoes back, and started on the walk back to the hotel freezing my butt off. When I got back to the room, I had to completely change because EVERYTHING was cold and soaked all the way through: all 4 shirts, both pairs of leggings, jeans, and the undergarments. It was so incredibly cold and took me so long to warm up again. Us girls cuddled in bed for warmth and waited for Sam to get back, then went out in the little village to check out the shops and walk around. We ended up finding one where I got a few gifts for people, but there wasnt very much in the area so we walked back to the hotel and built a snowman! He was awesome and we were quite proud of our little Lumpy. For dinner, we went back to that same restaurant Sam and I ate at for breakfast, then went to find an internet cafe so we could get new train tickets back home. We should have left that morning to make it in time for our original train, but there was 10 inches of snow making it unsafe to go down the mountain and we only had one day in Kashmir so all the travel wouldnt have been worth it.

     Wednesday we did have to leave though, but the trip back went much smoother than the trip up. Well, after we got down the mountain and after the check out fiasco. My phone somehow disappeared between when we left the room to walk down to the lobby and when I walked back up to the room to get it. After tearing the room apart I figured I may have just packed it without realizing, but later that turned out not to be the case.  The hotel owner also decided to put some of the food from the other room on our tab, which took more arguing for him to realize we were not responsible for their food and its the hotel's fault for not charging them correctly. We decided to take the public bus to Tanmarg to save money, but it was a little sketchy as to whether the bus would make it or not.  It got stuck multiple times in slippery snowy holes, and when it moved over bumpy areas (basically everywhere on the mountain) it rocked back and forth and bounced so badly. But we did make it to Tanmarg and got a bus no problem from Tanmarg to Srinagar.  Now, our original plan was to find a bus in Srinagar that went down to Jammu. But when stopping in Srinagar, we realized we got off at a stop we didnt want to and were not sure how to get to the tourist stop with all the taxis and buses. Since we were at a bus stand, we figured we would find our way from there and ask around. A seemingly nice guy told us we could hop on a certain small bus with him and it would take us to the pantha chowk bus stand which is where he said we wanted to go. So we did. An hour later we get off at this stop and realize yet again it was not where we wanted to go. This man asked what we needed and we told him we wanted to get to Jammu, so then he told us he knew of another bus we could get on to go to the railway station to get past the one way tunnel to go to Jammu.  Suddenly, as we are talking and walking past a crowd of men, the men start yelling at him and it seems like there is going to be a fight! We just backed away and kind of looked at each other.  The man pushes past them so we follow, but one of the men from the crowd stops us saying "Do not go with this man! He will kill you! He kills people!" .... We quit that plan, and luckily an actually-nice man from the bus who was chatting with me sees me and comes over.  I tell him we want to get to Jammu and he tells us we need to leave now so we can get past the one way tunnel since tomorrow traffic will be opposite and coming towards Srinagar.  We follow him over to a taxi, who charges us 200 rupees less a piece to get to Jammu.  We get in, play some human tetris to get comfortable, then off we went on the agonizing drive through the twists and turns.  This trip, though, we were actually able to relax and enjoy the view since our driver was very good and not on drugs.  Since we left late in the afternoon, almost no one was on the road. so the trip ended up actually taking the estimated 9 hours rather than 13, placing us in Jammu at 1am. Which meant we had to get a hotel...ugh.  The tuk-tuk driver who picked us up from where the taxi dropped us off took us to our old hotel, but they didnt have rooms. We walked next door but the tuk-tuk driver followed us in and started talking to the men at the desk who then gave us a ridiculous price for the room.  The tuk-tuk driver was just trying to make a cut of the money because he brought us here, so we yelled goodbye at him and told him to leave as we walked to the next hotel, who also charged too much.  The driver was still waiting outside when we went to walk to the next hotel that was around the corner, so we told him again to leave and he finally drove off...around the corner. We saw him walking out of the hotel we were about to go to as soon as we rounded the corner so we just turned around and went back, hoping to find more in a different direction.  About that time, a different driver passed us who said he knew a good hotel for 700 rupees so we got in with him and agreed that we would only pay him to take us there if the room was actually 700 like he said.  And it wasnt. But we were able to argue until it became 700, much to the driver's dismay.  As soon as we reached the hotel room, I removed everything from my bags to try and find my phone, but it wasnt there. That's when I remembered: I had put one of my scarves under the covers to warm it up before we left, but I forgot to grab it when we walked to the lobby to check out. And when I went back up to get my phone, we tore the bed apart and neither the scarf nor the phone was there.  So between leaving the room and walking back up, a staff member must have taken them both. I have quite a few names to call them, but none appropriate to write here.
     Thursday saw a leisurely morning, an adventure to find wifi to change our train tickets (again) so we could leave before midnight, then lunch at a pizza place.  I am never having pizza from a restaurant here again...my stomach was dying as we waited for the train.  But the train arrived on time, got to Delhi on time, and we made it back to the house 8:30am Friday morning after a week of travel.

I am quite excited for the calm weekend approaching.

Much love,
Alyssa