Day 22:

Today we woke up and went to a talk about economics and businesses Laura set up through someone she knows from study abroad. I didn’t really have enough background information to actually understand everything, but it was still interesting! We spent the afternoon out shopping for various gifts and work clothes. Tonight, we had a really great dinner. It was Matt’s birthday, and some of the girls made a really great dinner and dessert!

More blood pressure!

Cows literally have right-of-way all the time!

Days 19, 20, 21:
(6/7, 6/8, 6/9)

Thursday I spent the entire day in bed trying to recover from this terrible cold I seem to have woken up with, but Friday I was feeling better so back to work I went! I and this other kid who showed up the other day (who’s in Bangalore visiting family and is apparently doing an internship at RMH while he’s here) were in the Early Intervention Center most of the afternoon. Early Intervention provides services to children ages 0-6, at which point they can then begin receiving services through school. It was really interesting because we were able to watch the therapists conduct sessions with children with a variety of different disabilities. It was also interesting talking to the therapists and hearing their point of view on their job…because of the hospital being funded by donations (and patients paying a very minimal fee each week), the center’s resources are severely limited in the services they can provide. In addition, the expenses of therapies for disabled children can add up really fast, so the center tries to provide as many types of therapy as possible. This way, parents limit the amount of time they need to take off work to attend therapy and reduce the amount of centers they need to visit. Also, parents are encouraged to attend the sessions so that the therapists can teach them exercises and skills to work on at home.

After work we went out for Tibetan food, which was really good!

Today has been spent relaxing but also planning trips for the remainder of our time here. Time is flying by, and we’re running out of time to figure out all our plans!

Day 18:

I spent this morning at the eye care center, where the doctors were doing post-op checks on all of the patients. I helped put eye drops in and gave them sunglasses, and then the patients were bussed back to their village. They’ll receive one final check-up when the RMH doctors return next month to hold another clinic in the town.

This afternoon was spent working with some of the social workers. I was able to observe a young girl’s disability evaluation and then spent the afternoon working on a pamphlet the center wants in order to tell people about all their services.

In other exciting news: we had the first rains of the monsoon season today!

Giving eye-drops

Done with surgery!

Day 17:

Today was a much better day! I thought I was going to be on ICU this week, but apparently I’ll be spending it in the eye care center. After an extremely slow morning, I was able to observe surgeries all afternoon! The surgeries were to remove cataracts from the patients who were brought in yesterday afternoon. I helped put drops in the patients’ eyes, watched them receive local anesthetic (yes, they are awake during surgery), and then was able to observe all the surgeries! There were also two women doctors, so it was really nice talking to them. I think I must have explained the American education system at least a half dozen times while I was waiting for the surgeries to start. India goes about college and med school slightly different, and everyone here thinks I’m already in med school, so I have to explain!

In other exciting news, I was proud of myself because I managed to get to and from work using the buses all by myself, and trust me, it's a lot more complicated than any bus system in America!

Waiting for surgery

Operating Room

View of an eye

Day 16:
(6/4/12)

Yesterday I spent the day at a village where doctors were testing people for cataracts. I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting, but it was kind of a let-down and slightly boring. The village was not what I had pictured, more like a town, although still very rural and lacking resources. The doctor was just testing people really quick in an attempt to get through everyone (there were probably close to 100/150 people there), and I found myself just sitting and watching most of the day. Also, it was kind of annoying because all these different rotary members (rotary helps fund both RMH and this rural hospital) kept coming into the room and just wanted to get group pictures with all of us, seeming to care more about the picture and talking with us than the actual clinic being conducted. This town was also three hours away, meaning it was a very early morning and a late night. Still, it was nice to experience something different. Apparently staff from RMH travel to this town once a month to provide care. The people that need cataract surgery and bused back to Bangalore, receive the surgery, are bused back, and then receive a follow-up when staff members return the following month. I know it is appreciated as well because one of the doctors was telling me that they had very few specialists on staff, which was why people from RMH come, but it sounds like it’s making a huge difference!

On a positive note, we did get to see the countryside on our way to the town and boy is it beautiful! Palm trees, rice and sugar cane growing, green everywhere, and a clear blue sky to boot! I think it’s the first time I’ve seen the sky since I arrived in India!

For dinner, a small group of us met Laura (GSE TA) to talk about how the trip is going so far. We ended up at this American place and I had pizza, which was a nice break from all the spicy Indian food! We also had a nice conservation about some of the issues we’ve been dealing with so far. I think at least for me, even though I’m still having a great experience, the novelty has started to wear off a little. It’s starting to set in that I really am living here halfway around the world from Ohio. I’m still unsure about how to interact with my co-workers based on Indian standards. My workplace is extremely male-dominated and I wish there were more women around. The pollution really sucks and public transportation is definitely not that exciting anymore. It’s frustrating and tiring have to deal with such a big language barrier everyday all day. I think some of this is to be expected though, and it’s not like I’m the only one here feeling this way!

Town where the clinic took place

Beautiful countryside

Days 14 & 15:

(6/2/12-6/3/12)

Two weeks! Hard to believe we’ve already been here two whole weeks! Most people would be ending their vacations by now, and we’ve still got another six weeks left!

Yesterday Yoshi, Phu, Maria, and I decided to take a little trip outside the city. Our destination was this place called Nandi Hills, which according to the guidebook is a big weekend get-away for people living in Bangalore. After a late start, we managed to get to the Central Bus Station, where we took two different buses and eventually ended up at Nandi Hills after a two hour trip. Once there, it was definitely different than I was expecting. The books made it sound like there would be hiking in the hills, but turns out it’s basically just a park/campground on top of a hill! Nevertheless, it was still really nice to get out of the city and see something other than buildings and trash.

We had the entire afternoon, so we walked around and ended up at one of the temples on the hill. It was actually a really old but interesting temple! We started talking to the man in charge of it, and he ended up inviting us to his house. We thought he was going to show us the artwork he makes from tree roots, but instead we saw his entire coin/bill collection! It was actually real neat- he has a ton of stuff and even coins from hundreds of years ago! We took another bus back from the hills and got back into Bangalore late last evening.

Think these monkeys are cute? Don’t let them fool you! These little suckers are evil! They will go to any extent to steal your food, and one even jumped on top of Maria’s backpack in an attempt to steal her food!

View from the top!

Maria and I

Today we’re just relaxing and doing laundry before heading off to tea at an incoming Wooster freshman’s house.

Day 13:

Today was my last day on the dialysis unit, and it was definitely a great way to end this week! I took almost all of the patients’ blood pressures on rounds (supposed to be done every half hour), watched sutures getting taken out, assisted the nurses with a variety of procedures, and also got to take out the needles once dialysis was finished!

I also spent a lot of my time just talking with the nurses, which was nice! They tried to teach me kannada (the local language), and basically laughed at my failed attempts to speak anything! I hadn’t had time to get food for lunch, so they offered to share their food once lunchtime came around. Each person brought a different dish, so we all shared the different types of food! If anything, I learned how hospitable Indians are this week, but I also learned that they are extremely nosey!! Mr. Ramesh brought a letter to the unit (it’s for Navee, so she can register), and each one of them asked me about it and who the man was. They also attempted to read the letter, but unfortunately for them it was stapled shut!

It’s crazy how quickly you can make friends with people, even when you really don’t even share a common language. It’s hard to believe I blindly followed half of the nurses to lunch just on Monday, when by the end of the week we can at least talk and laugh together! Everyone was so nice, and I’m hoping maybe I’ll see them around the hospital in the coming weeks. However, even though the staff was great, I will not be sad to move onto a more exciting unit other than dialysis!

Two of the nurses I worked with

Hard at work taking blood pressure on rounds!