Week 2

It’s been another week that I have been abroad, and one might think that I’m getting the hang of this whole India thing.  That person would be mistaken.  Let me first tell you the Lizard Story…

A Lizard Story

Thursday night began like any other night – I arrived home around 9:00 after my placement at a pediatric hospital, I shoveled food into my face, and I took a shower from a bucket of water that I had the forethought to fill up earlier that day, counting on the water being out (I’m uncannily good at predicting when certain utilities will not be available for my use, and I think it’s because of my desperation to never be without a shower for four Indian days again.).  After washing away the dirt and perma-sweat of the day, I was feeling fresh and happy, like a Dove shampoo commercial, you know?  And I was completely in my own world, gliding out of the washroom with the scent of anything but dirt and perma-sweat accompanying me.  I can’t say for sure, but I think to think that my mind was in a far-off state of peace and wonder, defining and compartmentalizing the new aspects of Maharashtran culture I was being exposed to each day and allowing them to permeate and affect me, as any big ass culture shock should.   My state of relaxation was interrupted, however, by the sight of the lizard, nay a dinosaur.

A really small dinosaur...

Anyway, it was right by my foot when I noticed it and it effectively scared the hell out of me.  I then made one of those reactionary noises you usually make when you’re scared, not a scream or a gasp or a jump, but a totally unattractive combination of those three, resulting in kind of a burp-spasm.  It was enough to get the attention of my Canadian comrades who were assuredly doing more important things downstairs, but nevertheless came to my aid, by which I mean, helped me chase this lizard around my room with a plate and a pot, attempting to humanely capture the imposter.  After ten minutes of failed attempts and screaming (and one moment of shocked silence when we were sure that it was dead after it shed its tail still writing and twitching, in the vain hope of escape), our plight was alleviated when a Woman In Charge, who we had woken up at this point, walked in the room, unaffectedly scooped up the lizard, and placed out outside on the balcony, and then went back to bed.  I was left to dispose of the tail.

À la Eat Pray Love, I’ve discovered a lot about myself in India, namely that I am not the hot shit I once thought I was.  It was such a small lizard…

A Week of Proceedings

Overlooking the Lizard Incident, I’ve been adjusting pretty well to India.  I spent this past week at two hospitals, Kamat and Parakh Hospital, observing different clinics, procedures, and patients.  I was able to get more hands-on this week, listening to hearts and breathing (OMG, I feel so cool using a stethoscope) and palpating for an enlarged spleen or a fetus’ head, and I’ve learned a lot about diagnosis in such a rural and financially limited environment.  Blood and urine tests are taken sparingly, and if a diagnosis can be determined (somewhat accurately) without one, are an unnecessary financial burden to most patients.

One of my placements in Lonavla, Kamat Hospital, where there are two Dr Kamats,
a husband and wife who are goddamn adorable.

Parakh Hospital is a pediatric hospital and like most places here,
isn't as dumpy on the inside as it looks on the outside.

I often think about the differences between Indian and western health care, the benefits of each setting, and how it could be improved.  It’s a lot of tedious rambling, so I won’t go into it, but one of the reasons I was so excited for this opportunity was because I wanted to see if this area of healthcare was one that I would be interested in and could effectively be a part of as a foreigner, and only two weeks in, I am inspired and excited because I truly believe that it is.  I don’t know how or if my opinions will change during the next 10 weeks, but there is a whole fucking world of opportunity here and it is enthusing as hell.

Catching up…

As I’ve mentioned, I have company now (thank god) in the form of a group of ten students from Toronto in design school.  As an aside, in my experience of the last week, people from Toronto don’t have the respect for their mayor that I do.  They are working with a few women and children-focused organizations and I don’t see them much during the day, but they’re all really great.  We had a Bollywood movie night (spoiler: there’s dancing and they fall in love), during which I discovered what can only be described as the PBR of India (it’s called Kingfisher and is cheap and does the job –the job of being beer) and met an ex-Bollywood actress (which is kind of common, I’ve discovered, they’re everywhere).

Also, I just noticed I’m using a lot of parentheses that I’m not going to go back and change, but might be a stylistic faux pas.  So, sorry, linguists?

The whole group, the Canadians, all the people in charge, and I, went to dinner at a Punjabi dhaba the other night, which is like an Indian roadhouse, which was cool, because so. much. food.  And that’s all I have to say about that.

The Sighu Punjabi Dhaba, where there is butter chicken.
I do love butter chicken...

The three liquids one needs in India:
Chai, water, and beer

I really love the area that I’m in.  Lonavla is an interesting mix of bustle and rural, offering both clothing, fabric, jewelry, produce and general shops while being only a few kilometers away from centuries old Buddhist caves.  Malavli is absolutely beautiful as well and sometimes reminds me of Southern Utah (with a lot more green).  Here, have some pretty pictures of these amazing places!

A really beautiful river, whose name I cannot honestly remember
that runs through Malavli

The Baja Caves, which were built in the 2nd century BCE
and is a Buddhist temple carved into the rock

Nothing has been restored, so the carvings and wood panels are all
original BCE dated.

I posted this to Facebook, but I really do love this picture
Lonavla from the train station right at sunset

Because I have weekends off, they are a great time to travel and do fun things, you know, like weekends generally are.  I have a list of places all over India that I would like to go, and will really try to get to eventually.  The main thing holding me back is the fact that I don’t really want to go alone… As much as I see myself as a brave and adventurous and competent international traveller, I think I may overestimate myself.  So, if and when I do get to Goa and Jaipur and Delhi and Agra and Chennai, I’ll let you know, but in the meantime, it’s solo trips to Pune.  Which reminds me of yesterday.

A Day in Pune

The group from Toronto went to Mumbai, leaving me alone for the weekend.  Pune is only an hour train ride away, and I had been there for a grand total of an hour before, so, “Shit,” if figured, “why not?”  I made a list of all the places I wanted to see and got on the train.  I wanted to start with the Katraj Snake Park at the Rajiv Gandhi Zoo because it was the furthest away and I figured I could make my way back to the train station, stop by stop.  Long story short, I am not as good at bartering in Hindi as I thought and am not as good at standing my ground as I thought.  One thousand rupees later, I got a ride to the zoo.  One hundred rupees later, I had one ticket for me and one ticket for the autorickshaw driver to the zoo.  Two hours later, I had gotten to know Swish personally and had been invited to have dinner with his family and to meet his son, who was a lawyer and available.  I politely declined.

Also I would like to note that only an hour and a half of my time was spent looking at snakes and other animals, and the other half hour was spent taking pictures with locals.  People, especially children, would run up to me from the distance to ask for a picture.  Parents would point me out to their children and then photograph them with me like I was an animal from the zoo that had somehow escaped its cage and was wandering around the promenade.  It sounds like I am complaining, but I’m not.  It was just shocking.  I don’t know if it was simply because there aren’t many white people in the area, because I’m so tall, or because I was being confused with someone else. In any case, it was exhausting, so by the time I left the zoo, I was ready to shower (of course) and sleep.

One of many group pictures with groups of people at the zoo
They insisted I take one with my camera as well, and now I realize
just how tall I am...

I was planning on a new attack on Pune today, armed with new negotiating Hindi phrases and American overpowering confidence, but then I got diarrhea (or the loose motions, as it’s referred to here).  So I haven’t left the house today.  It’s good catching up, huh?