Eat, Sleep, and Shop

June 20, 2015 and June 21, 2015

            This Saturday we decided to stay in Trichy for the weekend, partially because we were running out of money and partially because we were still exhausted from last weekend’s travels to Pondicherry. My body still hasn’t adjusted to the time difference, so I enjoyed staying up until 6am and then sleeping until lunch. I wonder if once I get back to NC, my body will finally decide to adjust to Trichy time, leaving me stuck in the same situation. I don’t know if I would laugh or cry, maybe both. We spent Saturday afternoon shopping in the street market, even though it was hot, and the market was crowded with hundreds of people, I was happy to be living in that moment. I don’t know if it was the thrill of blowing my money on inexpensive knick-knacks, or the pollution fumes making me delusional, but I enjoyed myself on those streets. I wonder if I could organize a market for the school, in which different clubs could have the opportunity to sell their handmade goods along Stanford Mall. It would be during homecoming week, in order to reach to the parents who come for the football game. Definitely an idea I should suggest to the homecoming committee.

                I would think by now that I would be used to the employees following us around every time we shop, but I’m not. It’s very uncomfortable to shop with a constant presence next to you, trying to get you to buy every item possible. I am an indecisive shopper. I don’t go into a store knowing what I want, I just hope to stumble upon something cool. It is very hard to make a decision when you don’t know what you want, and there is somebody breathing down your neck. For this reason, I have been led to make many hasty decisions that have resulted in my acquisition of multiple odd knick-knacks. I don’t regret any of my purchases though, because now every gift I’ve bought has a funny story to tell each receiver. One of the girls I met at a store, gave me a free henna book, and that pretty much made my day. I was proud of my achievements today. I found the skirts the girls from last year bought. I bought gifts for all of my friends and family, and even bought backup gifts for people that I forgot. Overall it was good. Sunday came around fast, and I spent all of Sunday sleeping and occasionally getting up to be feed rice and nom. It was much need resting day.

    Day 21 and 22 in Trichy and I’m feeling accomplished. 

Good Talk

June 19, 2015

            Several days ago I made a little boy cry. How? I’m not sure. My theory is, that to him, my face resembles a monster. However, I saw him again today at the clinic, because his mom was due to give birth in a day or two, and yet again, when he saw me, he burst into tears. I hope I get to see him again, my goal is either to befriend him or make him cry harder. It’s surprising how a country filled with people with beautiful brown skin, seem to find beauty in only light skin. Even Dr. Jeremiah unconsciously made an insensitive comparison between dark skinned and light skinned. Since it was a slow day at the clinic, she was telling me stories about babies who have been abandon by their parents. One child, Ruby, was born to an unmarried 17 year old girl, whose father wanted to kill the child, rather than face the shame. As a result, Dr. Jeremiah kept the child at the hospital. Another, name unknown, was also a girl, a light skinned baby, abandoned on their church steps. The only description I got for Ruby, was that she was a dark skinned baby and that was it. For the other baby, she described her as a very beautiful baby with fair skin. I know she probably didn’t think that Ruby was ugly, but the difference in description made me think about how big of an issue skin color is. I have seen multiple TV commercials about skin lightning cream, and all the female stars are light skin girls. I can see that light skin is valued and I want to say that I understand, but I don’t. As an African American female, whose skin color is much darker than their own, I wonder what they think of me. Hopping off of my soap box, the two babies had a happy ending. Ruby was adopted by a Swedish couple and the other baby was taken in by a nurse’s aunt. Dr. Jeremiah showed me pictures of the girl all grown up, and she is a very pretty little girl.

Day 20 in Trichy and I don’t know how I’m feeling. 

Seventh Godchild

June 18, 2015

            Today I witnessed the birth of my seventh godchild. The mother, who came in yesterday, decided to give birth early, as her child was smaller than average and lacking in fluids. For a premature baby, the baby boy seemed healthy and there weren’t any complications during the surgery. Dr. Jeremiah surprised me when she suddenly stuck her finger into the baby’s rectum. I wasn’t sure what to make of that, I have never seen another doctor do that before. I guess it was to get the baby to defecate or to start crying, I’m not sure, but it was very shocking. Afterwards, the mother underwent the process of sterilization. Of course, after the operation there was tea, juice, and snacks for everyone. I have officially decided that once I become a doctor, I will require tea and snacks after every surgery. Another woman came in because she was experiencing abdominal pain. After examining the patient, Dr. Jeremiah concluded that it was an abdominal wall hernia. Apparently, she had had a hysterectomy completed a couple years ago, but the stitches weren’t completed correctly, so now there are multiple holes opening up in her abdomen. As a result, some of the contents within the abdominal cavity, like the intestines, are protruding out. To me, it sounds painful, but the lady didn’t look like she was in pain. In terms of treatment, she will need to undergo surgery to patch up the holes. I am glad that Dr. Jeremiah explains the medical conditions we see so well. Not only have I learned a lot about the female reproductive system in these past 3 weeks, but I have also learned the qualities that it takes to become a successful doctor.

Day 19 in Trichy and I’m grateful for this wonderful opportunity. 

New Friends

June 17, 2015

            Now that our family has 5 members in it, as the self-proclaimed head of the household, it is my responsibility to show the newbies new things. Today we took a trip to my favorite ice cream shop and we showed them the wonders of IBACO ice cream. The workers were probably surprised to see our numbers increasing. Even though there are slight language barriers, we are still able to communicate together well. Later on, we taught them how to play our favorite card games. Alex the French student has become quite competitive, but I’m still the reigning champion.  

            Today at work, a lady talked to me in Tamil for a good five minutes. I didn’t have the heart to interrupt her and tell her I couldn’t understand, so I let her continue. I assume she was talking about her daughter’s pregnancy. Her daughter was about to give birth to her second child, however, the baby’s weight was lower than average, and the baby wasn’t receiving enough fluids. Dr. Jeremiah plans on delivering the baby early so I might see another cesarean section operation soon. It still amazes me how many people forget to take their pills properly and then complain that the medication is not working. A lady came in today after being prescribed hormone medicine to regulate her period, she was supposed to take the pills for two weeks in order to see results. Yet, after less than a week, she returns claiming the pills aren’t working. Another important lesson learned: as a doctor, you can’t have a short temper, because sometimes you will have difficult patients. Patients won’t follow directions, they will complain, but as their doctor, you still have to give them the quality healthcare they deserve. I guess my current job working in a customer service setting is preparing me to be a good doctor.

Day 18 in Trichy. 

All I want is ice cream!!

June 16, 2015

            Our international student family is getting bigger, today we welcomed a new student from Indonesia. Now we have five people sitting at our dining table which has made things much more exciting. Today work was slow, we didn’t see as many patients but Dr. Jeremiah and I had great conversation. We talked a lot about the difference between Medical School in India and the U.S. It is incredible that Indian students apply for medical school at the age of 18 and once accepted, are in medical school for five and half years. Whereas in the U.S., we apply for medical school at the age of 22 after 4 years of undergrad. They find the idea of doing undergraduate prior to medical school confusing here in India. I have developed a nasty craving for sugar in India, and all I want now, is every sweet available to mankind. Emily and Sarah find it hilarious that I occasionally start talking about all the sweet things I want to eat, but all I really want is some ice cream. Maybe tomorrow my wish will come true.

Day 17 in Trichy and I need sugar. 

Disappointment comes in many forms

June 15, 2015

            We only have two weeks left of our amazing adventure. I have a feeling they will go by fast. Since I don’t have the ability to slow down time, so I will have to savor my time here in Trichy. We arrived back at Bishop Heber from Pondicherry at 3:30am, so I was very tired going into work, but work was fun as always. Dr. Jeremiah has become my hero and getting to spend time with your hero is every kids’ dream. So I guess I’m living the dream. Per usual, most the patients that came in to the clinic, were pregnant women having their monthly checkup and infertile women trying to become pregnant. Once in a while, we had patients that didn’t have problems dealing with pregnancy. A woman, her husband, and her eldest daughter came in today, the mother had a tumor growing on her brain and was experiencing multiple seizures. They have gone to multiple doctors but received the same answer, it would be too dangerous to operate because the operation could leave the mother paralyzed. Becoming desperate, they came to Dr. Jeremiah because she has been their family Ob/Gyn for two generation and they trust her. She advised them that the best solution currently, was to wait it out and see if the growth becomes cancerous, if it does, they would operate. It was awkward to watch the family cry, so I kept my head down the entire time, hoping to make myself invisible. Not quite sure if it worked…

            I treated myself to two scoops of ice-cream tonight, I thought it was well deserved after making it back safe from our crazy adventure in Pondicherry. It might just be my sweet tooth craving tons of sugar. India has given me a crazy sweet tooth and I’m not sure if my weight will ever be the same after this trip. A worker at the ice cream shop was very disappointed to see that I was only wearing one ankle bracelet, instead of one on each leg. She couldn’t understand why I chose to only wear one. I must have looked unstylish in her eyes. If I ever had a list of people I’ve majorly disappointed, this woman would be on the top of that list.

Day 16 in Trichy and I must buy another ankle bracelet. 

Adventures in Pondicherry

June 13, 2015 & June 14, 2015

Our beautiful hotel room

My goat friends

            Ever since we arrived in Trichy, Emily, Sarah, and I, had our eyes on Pondicherry. Last night we made it to Pondicherry safe and sound. I am very proud of us for getting all the way to Pondicherry. The bus ride might have been scary and the environment a little bit dangerous, but we made it. When we first arrived in Pondicherry at around 3:30am, we were little bit scared because we didn’t think our hotel was going to let us check in eight hours early and we would have to wait in the street until morning. There were people burning stuff out on the streets. Thankfully, the hotel manager allowed us to check in early and we didn’t have to spend the night with pyromaniacs. If you ever find yourself in Pondicherry, the Richard Hotel is an amazing place to stay. The staff are amazing people and the hotel itself is beautiful. Even after a tiring journey we were up by 9:30am and ready to explore even in the torturous hot sun. The beach was beautiful, but what I enjoyed watching, was the herd of goats walking along the beach. Why were there goats? Not sure, but did I want one? Yes!  

Mahatma Gandhi Statue

          We spent most of Saturday going store to store and spending our money on anything and everything that caught our eye. By Sunday, we had become more conscious shoppers, as we were running out of money. I have officially become a loyal customer for a lovely restaurant called Le Chateau, the food is delicious, the service is excellent, and they had great A/C which was a bonus. We spent Saturday night along the beach with hundreds of other tourist, it was quite chaotic with all the people there. At one point, this man came up to us with his child asking for a photo, not being able to say no, I ended up with a child on my lap for the picture. It was the last time we took a picture with a stranger.

Walking around Pondicherry

            Sunday was a little rough. We clocked out of our fabulous hotel at 12pm but our bus wasn’t schedule to leave until 11pm, as a result we had several hours in the unbearable heat. We started out strong in the heat. We went to the famous bakery, Baker Street, and walked around to the shops we hadn’t hit. Unintentionally, we found the park, where we took a nice stroll around, then we toured the museum. The museum wasn’t exactly like any museum you would find in the States, but it had a lot of interesting history. I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn’t dying from the heat, as the building didn’t have A/C. After a few hours in the heat, we started to fall apart so we took shade at Le Chateau, my favorite restaurant, which had A/C. We spent the rest of the evening lost in Pondicherry, but it was alright, we eventually found our way back and found some great shops along the way. We made it to 11pm without losing anything, or anyone, and found our bus pickup spot, which was a major accomplishment. Overall, our Pondicherry adventure was amazing, a little bit hectic and terrifying, but fun.

Day 14 & 15 spent in Pondicherry and I’m feeling reenergized.  

The Power Couple

June 12, 2015

I think I look good in Scrubs

            I witnessed a hysterectomy today, it was the first one I’ve seen since coming to India and it was extremely cool. The woman had two tumors growing on either side of her uterus and they were becoming malignant, the only option left was to remove the uterus. There I was in the operation room, about to watch the woman get her spinal tap and the most amazing thing occurred, the woman reached out her hand to me. I don’t know why I felt happy that she held my hand for support, but it’s a moment I will never forget. Once she was unconscious the operation began. Dr. Jeremiah and her husband were the surgeons on the job and it was fun to watch them work together. At certain points, I could tell that they were arguing about something related to the surgery. Most of the time, however, they worked together as if they were one person. If you think Beyoncé and Jay Z are a power couple, then Dr. Jeremiahs are a super power couple.

The surgery took much longer than I expected, we were in the room for two hours but I didn’t mind it was fun watching. It was my first time seeing a uterus in its natural state size, it’s still amazing to think that that small organ holds tiny humans in it. Dr. Jeremiah would occasionally describe to me what she was doing and would gesture for me to come closer to get a better look inside. Sometimes I would see other organs pop up, but I could never identify what they were. I’m very thankful that I am not scared of blood because there was a lot of blood everywhere. They use cotton cloths to soak up the blood so they were all these bloody cloths everywhere. During the surgery, the anesthesiologist’s phone rang multiple times and he would talk on the phone like he wasn’t in the middle of surgery. I found the situation to be hilarious, no one was bothered with the fact that he was on his phone, so I guess it was a normal thing. Afterwards, the nurses provided the surgeons and I with snacks and tea, it was great.

Day 13 in Trichy and I’m loving the time I spend watching surgeries. 

Marriage Counselor

June 11, 2015

            Last night I slept very well, maybe my body is finally adjusting to the time change. Today at Rathna was eventful. Dr. Jeremiah had many patients come in for pregnancy check-ups, and others for hormone imbalance. The saddest moment was when a mother came in requesting help for her daughter. Her daughter had been in a marriage for less than a year and had been unable to conceive. As a result, the mother-in-law and the husband had become extremely unkind to the daughter. This prompted the mother to come in to ask Dr. Jeremiah if she would act as a marriage counselor for the couple. It was a sad sight to see the mother crying over her daughter’s sad situation. It’s amazing to see how much trust and respect Dr. Jeremiah’s patients have for her. Dr. Jeremiah and Dr. Victoria have taught me a lot these last couple days. The most important lesson, is the ability to communicate well with your patients in order to create good relationships. I know that is something I currently lack, and I will work hard to develop these skills in order to grow as a person.

Day 12 in Trichy and I'm feeling inspired. 

I made a child cry today

June 10, 2015

            I started my first day at Rathna today. Unlike Janet, Rathna isn’t bursting with patients. They might have thirty patients a day. I like the fact that Dr. Jeremiah is able to have one on one session with her patients, unlike Dr. Victoria, who is always surrounded by twenty patients in her office. The patients who come to see Dr. Jeremiah don’t only come for pregnancy issues, but rather for a variety of other things. A lady came in today to get medicine for her fever and it turned out that she had diarrhea problems. Another lady came in for weight counseling, being diabetic, her blood sugar was too high and Dr. Jeremiah advised her to change her eating diet. It was surprising and odd that many of the females coming in had irregular period problems. I’m not sure why that was the case, but many of the females were having a hard time conceiving because of their irregular period problems.

            Around noon, a little boy, his mom and grandma came in for a consultation. The child took one look at me and burst in tears. I’m not sure why, I guess I wore my ugly face today. Every time I made eye contact with the little boy, he would start to cry again. I found it hilarious, but the little boy, not so much. I’ve only been at Rathna for a day but I’m already liking the environment. When I become an older doctor, I want to be like Dr. Jeremiah. We welcomed a new student at the international hostel today, a French boy from Paris. We took him to get ice cream with us, not sure if he enjoyed the ice cream trip, but I know I did. The ice cream shop here is the best. I might write my paper on the different flavors of IBACO ice-cream. Thank the heavens for ice cream, after being sick for day ice scream is always the best remedy.

Day 11 in Trichy and I am considering staying here a little bit longer. 

I shouldn’t have eaten the food

June 9, 2015

I regret eating the food. I don’t know if it was the mango, the spinach cookie, Sweet Bada, or a combination of all three that is upsetting my digestive system, but I feel like I’m slowly dying. I might be a little over-dramatic, but it’s terrible. I won’t go into detail but if I could I would never step into another bathroom. I spent the entire day at Janet sitting on a chair, it wasn’t a fun experience. Ironically, Emily is also sick, but she has it far worse than I do. Today was painful and uneventful.

Day 10 in Trichy and I’m feeling sick. 

American Snacks

June 8, 2015

            I have been in India for more than a week and my body still refuses to adjust to the time change. Every day I wake up around 3 or 4 am and remain awake until 8 am, but by that time I have to wake up and eat breakfast. I recommend to anyone traveling abroad, to bring sleeping pills, it will make life much easier. It’s hard for me to enjoy my time here in Trichy when I’m running on less than 4 hours of sleep per day. I’m surprised I haven’t fainted yet. Besides the sleeping problem I am thankful that I haven’t gotten ill yet and I am praying that I remain healthy.

            Today was the nursing students last day at Janet Nursing Home. To thank them for befriending me, I brought them some snacks that I had brought with me from home. At first they refused to take it, but I wasn’t taking no for an answer and they finally gave up and took the snacks. I had brought a lot of snacks with me, so I also gave some to the staff members. A terrible mistake. I have planted a craving for American snacks, as the nurses like to call it, within them and they will probably continue asking me for more. I feel like I have introduced them to an addicting drug and I have become their dealer. Indu, the head nurse in the labor room, has already made a request for me to bring in more American snacks tomorrow. I guess I have to say goodbye to my junk food stash.

            In return for the American snacks, the student nurses gifted me with a Fruit and Nut Dairy Silk Chocolate bar, it is by far the best chocolate bar I have ever had. It’s sad they are already moving to a new location, even though I just got to meet them, but I know the new girls coming in tomorrow will be awesome as well. The two elder staff members in the labor room keep trying to feed me their lunch. I appreciated the nice gesture but I didn’t want to take the chance. I kept refusing her offer for food but the lady ended up shoving a baked good into my hand, so I really didn’t have any choice but to eat it. I don’t know what it was, it had the appearance of a cookie mixed with spinach, but it tasted like wheat bread. Overall, it wasn’t my favorite. Afterwards, she gave me a slice of mango. I didn’t want to be rude, so I accepted but I knew that I was going to regret my decision later. Today has been full of bad eating decisions. Earlier, our driver Raaj gave me a something called Sweet Bada. It was wrapped in a banana leaf and it had something inside of it. I was told that it was sweet but it wasn’t and I almost threw up trying to swallow it. It makes me happy to know that people here want to feed me and I don’t want to reject their kindness, so I guess I might just have to get sick.

Day 9 in Trichy and I am sad to see my new friends go.

I rode on the back of a motorcycle

June 7, 2015

Srirangam Temple

Today was another sightseeing day. We went to Srirangam Temple and Jambukeswara Temple. They are both beautiful temples filled with rich history.  Srirangam Temple is actually a temple filled with multiple different temples and we walked around the some of the different sites, and Srirangam is the water temple. At the temple I got blessed by the elephant which was a great experience. Once again even though we were surrounded by rich history my hair once again stole the show. One of my goals for India was to ride on the back of a motorcycle, and today I have achieved that goal. I have never been happier, and I might just buy a motorcycle.

Getting blessed by the elephant 

Day eight in Trichy and I'm considering blowing all my money on a motorcycle.  

I climbed Rock Fort

June 6, 2015

            I got up this morning with a smile on my face even though I had been awake since 4:00 am. This didn’t matter though, because I was going to see the beautiful Rock Fort. However, like all my time here in India, nothing happens the way I want it to happen. Instead of spending my beautiful Saturday morning shopping in the streets of Trichy, I found myself waiting behind the reception desk at Janet Nursing Home, waiting for Dr. Victoria to appear. I was upset because I wasn’t supposed to be there and due to miscommunication, I was stuck there. It wasn’t a pleasant start to my morning but looking back at it, I am glad it happened. I would have missed the birth of my sixth godchild, plus, as a bonus I got to see the mother get sterilized. 

            At 4:00 pm, Emily’s bird watching friends took us to see Rock Fort. We took the public bus to get there, which was an amazing experience. There were too many people on the bus and it was cramped and hot, but somehow I was having the time of my life. The walk to the entrance of the temple was like being on the streets of New York City, there were tons of people and tons of vendors trying to sell their stuff, it was chaotic. I kept trying to stop and shop, but everyone else was focused on getting to the temple entrance. Once at the entrance, we removed our shoes, greeted the god Ganesha, lit a candle, made a wish, and then started our long hike up the stairs. I have never sweated so much in my life until today. I had underestimated the Indian heat, never again shall I complain about North Carolina’s weather.  If you ever find yourself in Trichy, please make it your goal to visit Rock Fort. Even though we were in the presence of this wonderful temple, my hair was still the main attraction of the day. Everyone wanted to take our picture, I felt like a celebrity. Later on in the evening we got to do some shopping and it was amazing.  We ended our night at a little restaurant near the temple. I’m not sure what we ordered but the food was delicious and the ice cream was even better. 

 Day seven in Trichy and I'm falling in love with the city all over again.

Babies Everywhere

June 5, 2015

            So far I have witnessed five births at Janet Nursing Home and I feel like a proud godmother. From my point of view, I don’t think they keep the patients heavily sedated, because they look like there are in a lot of pain. Women giving birth the natural way probably feel 90% of the pain. Furthermore, women here don’t push the baby out, instead the baby is forced out of the uterus by the nurse pressing down on the upper abdomen. It’s a spectacular sight to see, it makes the whole birthing process much quicker. The baby is out in less than 5 minutes, maybe all births in the U.S should be done like this. Today I also got the opportunity to watch the process the baby undergoes once it’s out. At first, I was shocked to see the nurse handle a new born baby in such a way. She held the baby boy by his legs and held him upside down, while she rubbed/slightly slapped his back. Then, she inserted a long tube down the baby’s mouth and nose multiple times, it looked quite painful. I was confused during the entire process and I felt bad for the tiny human, but I know she is a trained nurse and she wouldn’t do anything that would jeopardize the child’s life. It was later on that afternoon that I learned why the babies undergo the treatment. Apparently, babies are filled with some sort of substance when they are born, so they use the tubes to remove the tar from the baby and the remaining substance the baby poops out.

            I have been in India for a week now and every day has been a struggle, but also a learning experience. Some days I’m happy that I have three more weeks left, other days I want to pack up my bags and catch the next flight home. Luckily, I haven’t done it yet. I don’t know what curve ball life might throw at me in the next three weeks, but I still have my smile and my curiosity, so I think I’ll be ok. 

Day six in Trichy and I don’t want to give birth any time soon.

Can you take me to America with you?

June 4, 2015

            Today I saw my first Cesarean section operation. It was amazing. The doctor gave me a front row view of the operation, right at the feet of the patient. I have come to the conclusion that I’m not afraid of blood, or the sight of an open human body; instead I find it to be quite fascinating. The operation was much quicker than I expected it to be. The doctor cut open the lower abdomen, then the uterus, pulled out the baby, pulled out the placenta, and then sewed everything back together. It took less than an hour for the operation to be complete. I enjoy being in the Operation Theater, I love to watch the patients undergo surgery.. Most of my time in Janet Nursing Home is spent watching patients get ultrasounds and vaginal examinations. If I had it my way, I would always be in the Operation Theater or the Labor Room, where it is much more exciting. This has led me to the conclusion that I would not enjoy being an OB/GYN, rather I think my future lies in general surgery. That being said, now that I have realized that I don’t want to become an OB/GYN. My time spent at Janet is never miserable. I have made friends with some of the staff members and nursing students at the clinic. They are still asking questions about my hair, which never

Took a picture with the surgeon, got in trouble for it by the nurse.

 ceases to amaze them. The nursing students also enjoy looking at the pictures on my phone. One of the students is determined to come back to the U.S. with me, she asks me often about the possibility. If I had the ability to get her to the U.S., I would, but sadly I don’t have that power.

            Living at Bishop Heber College has been great, stressful, and eventful. They keep us well fed with all sorts of Indian food. I am still adjusting to the spicy food. When we are not eating or at work we spend most of our time here playing card, and I have officially been crowned the Phoenix of Egyptian Rat Screw, a card game which Emily and Sarah have yet to beat me. Today out of boredom we went to the bakery and had some delicious bake goods. Mine was way too sweet and I was unable to finish it. It still surprises me to see all the bakery they have on one street. I looking forwards to the weekend because I’m getting tired of being stuck at the college and I want to be able to see what Trichy has to offer.

Day 5 in Trichy and I’m already tired. 

My Sweet tooth is in Heaven

June 3, 2015

Mango ice cream from our new favorite ice cream shop

            My body is still adjusting to the time difference. It’s awful. I’m always feeling tired and I’m always sleepy around 3pm but I’m always wide awake around 4am. It’s making it difficult for me to enjoy my stay in Trichy and I hope that my body will soon adjust. The other girls find it hilarious that I’m always asleep and I can fall asleep anywhere. However, I’m thankful that I’m going through this experience with them. Emily and Sarah are always waking me up for breakfast and dinner, if they didn’t I would probably sleep through all the meals. I’m surprise we haven’t gotten sick of each other because we spend all our free time together. We have found the location of the ice cream shop and it has become our new hangout place. The ice cream there is amazing and it has become my personal goal to try all the flavors. Sarah and I took a stroll around town and found around 6 different bakery shop on the same road. It was amazing, there were so many yummy looking pastries. I ended up buying a slice of the caramel cake for 15 rupees which is like 20 cents. I might gain 15lb before I leave India or a cavity…    

Caramel cake.

            I got to spend a lot of time with the staff today at Janet Nursing Home. They invited me to their break room (which is essentially the area behind the reception desk) for lunch. It was hard to communicate with them because I don’t speak Tamil, but they tried their best to make me feel welcome. Mona, who has become my new best friend, is always interested in seeing pictures on my phone. Like usually everyone is still very amazed by my hair, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I am the first African American female most of them have ever met. I want to improve my Tamil so I can communicate with them better, they are trying their best to talk to me in English, and so I should try my best to learn little bit of Tamil.

Day four in Trichy and I might already have a cavity.

Can I touch your hair?

June 2, 2015

I walked in on a lady giving birth today. It was interesting experience. Instead of telling me to leave the doctor and nurse welcome me to stay and watched, which was unexpected. I have never experienced a birth occur before, so I enjoyed watching the process it was amazing. I’m surprise that I didn’t faint, instead I found myself slowly creeping forward to see the action. Unfortunately, this birth didn’t end well.

 I also got the opportunity to meet the Naturopathic doctor. She uses holistic practices to help infertile women to reduce stress level or reduce weight in order to increase their chances of conceiving a child. It’s interesting how in India after one year of marriage and you don’t produce and child you are considered infertile, and being infertile is a bad thing here. Marriages will be torn apart if a women is infertile which is odd from my point of view but I understand that it is the way their culture works. The naturopathic doctor also had a patient in her office practicing breathing exercise in order to help reduce stress and tension during the actual birth. I was amazed with the Naturopathic doctor because I’ve never heard of one prior to coming to Janet. It was fun experience and I’m happy that I got the chance to meet her.

The rest of the day was uneventful, I watch Dr. Victoria perform multiple ultrasound scans and inspect multiple vaginas. Sometimes something interesting would pop up and Dr. Victoria would explain it to me. For example, this one woman had a tumor in her uterus which is called a fibroid and apparently it’s common with many patients that are ages 34 and older. However, while I was finding my whole experience at Janet interesting the staff was finding my hair to be more interesting. They couldn’t understand how African American female’s hair works when it comes to braiding even though I tried to explain. They were amazed with how long it took to do my hair and they were very interested in how I was able to maintain it. All day I was bombarded with questions about my hair and everyone wanted to feel my hair. I don’t like people touching my hair so I usually don’t let people touch my hair. However, I am now immune to random strangers touching my hair. Being in India is changing me, but I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or bad thing.

Day 3 in Trichy and I’m ready to change my hairstyle. 

Are you from Kenya?

June 1, 2015

            First day at Janet Nursing Clinic was eventful. The only thing I didn’t get see on the first day was a women giving birth, but I was I got the wonderful opportunity to witness multiple vaginas tests, ultrasound scans, and intrauterine device insertions. I have never seen another women’s vagina until today when I was introduced to around 50 different women’s vagina. It was shocking at first, I felt uncomfortable looking down there, but I also felt as if I was intruding. In the U.S ultrasound scan seeing are usually a private moment between the expecting parents and the doctor, so I felt bad being present during this private moment. However, things are different here in India and privacy isn’t a priority. For example, a lady came in today for an ultrasound, but before she even got the news, I was shown that that the baby wasn’t alive. It was a sad moment, and I felt weird hearing finding out the baby wasn’t alive before the mother. The mother did cry when she found out the news, and I didn’t know how to handle the situation as I watched her cry surrounded in the room with 10 other patients. It made me realize that I’ve never considered the emotional stress that comes with being a doctor. I’ve always dreamed of being of being a doctor and saving lives, but I never considered the fact that I wouldn’t be able to save every live. I don’t think any amount of schooling can prepare you to watch a mother grieve over the death of a child, or prepare you enough to deal with the emotional stress. I guess that is something every doctor has to learn how to cope with on their own.

Dr. Victoria, the amazing doctor that I’m shadowing, sees all her patients in her office. I deeply believe that she is a true wonder-woman. I don’t know how she manages everything, but she does. There always a minimum of ten women in her office and she alternates between giving an ultrasound, proscribing prescription, collecting payment, and occasionally shooting babies with their first Hepatitis B vaccination. There is always something going on in her office but she handles all of her patients efficiently and with care. The system they have when it comes to patient care is different from the U.S but it works for them and it’s efficient. Also about every hour she takes a trip to the labor room to tend to the patients there. I witness her break a water sac/membrane today on multiple occasion, and I watched her insert a intrauterine device. It look like an arrow but it supposed to kill the sperms to stop fertilization from occurring. She explained to me that many of the women come in the get the device implanted so they can have space between their first and second child. While other women come to get sterilize to stop having kids. It’s interesting to see that these are the methods they tend to use avoid pregnancy instead of practicing other methods commonly seen in U.S like the use of condoms.

It’s amazing to the see difference in age when women get pregnant here and in the U.S. Many of the ladies coming in pregnant were between the ages of 20-24.. Also, there were a lot of young girls coming in to see how fertile they are and checking to see when would be the best time for them to conceive a child. It’s interesting to see these girls the same age as I starting to raise a family, yet I’m still learning how to raise myself.

            I’ve learned a lot in one day from Dr. Victoria. I made the mistake of not bringing a notebook on my first day because I was overwhelmed with information. I learned they track pregnancy in the terms of weeks not months and there are 40 weeks. From 0-12 weeks is the first trimester, 13-28 the second, and 29-40 is the third. I loved seeing ultrasound scan of women in their 14 weeks of pregnancy an up because by then the baby has already formed limbs and a spine and you can clearly see its heart beating. One lady came in with triplets which was an amazing sight to see all the babies within the sac. I also got to learn the different sitting positions the babies can be in. There was a lot of learning occurring today and it was fascinating. Tomorrow I won’t make the mistake of forgetting my notebook.

            I guess the funniest moment that occurred today was in the labor room. Dr. Victoria was introducing me to the staff and one of the elder doctors, who I later found out was Dr. Victoria mother in-law, was staring at me for a long time and then ask “are you from Kenya?” The question caught me off guard, but it also made me wonder if most of the Indians I encountered today think that I’m from Kenya.

Day two in Trichy and I’m feeling overwhelmed.

Ladies and Gentlemen Welcome to India

         After two days of living in the airports Emily, Sarah, and I had finally reached our destination, Trichy. Even though my body and mind were exhausted after two days of flying, I enjoyed the experienced I gained from flying internationally. There were many times where I felt frustrated with different airports policies and regulations, for example, Mumbai international airport lacked instruction and signs to where we should pick our baggage. Also we didn't know we had to go through immigration first, but within all the chaos and confusion I learnt that patience is important and following the crowd is even more important.

         I recommend to anyone flying to India for the first time to fly with Jet airline. Their staff members where amazing and helpful and they kept you well fed throughout all the flights. During our flight from Brussels to Mumbai they served us lunch that contained rice with a mix of chicken and vegetables, yogurt, dessert, bread, and potato salad. It was delicious. Then a couple hours later they served us dinner and gave us ice cream afterwards. I thought the Indian meals they served were amazing and I loved that they would always asked if you would prefer vegetarian or chicken.

First Indian meal provided by Jet airline. 

          Besides the food, the plane ride over to Mumbai was great as well. I got the great opportunity talk to the Indian man next to me, he was returning home to see his father in a city over from Mumbai. He was excited to learn about what I would be doing in India during the summer, I guess the summer is an odd time for India to be receiving foreigners. He also was curious to see an Indian visa, being an Indian citizen he never needed a visa, but he had an American visa that he showed me. During the flight I indulged myself in as many Bollywood movies as I could trying to get a glimpse of the new culture I was going to enter. While the Indian man next to me enjoyed Hollywood films like Legally Blond, I found the situation to be interesting and a bit ironic.         

Prior to boarding the final flight to Trichy.

Entrance to Bishop Heber College

     Once I entered the final plane to Trichy, it finally became surreal that my new home for the next month would be in the city called Tiruchirappalli. Now that I am here it seems odd, my parents are no longer just across the hallway but on the other side of the world. I think I might have cold feet, like a bride before her wedding day but my wedding day is lasting a whole month and I marrying the Indian culture. However, I plan on making the best of this great opportunity that has been gifted to me. I'm nervous but It's okay to be nervous, as long as I maintain a positive attitude everything will be fine. I'm not going lie, the heat is miserable and the bugs are everywhere, but I give myself a week before I get used to it all. I've only been here a day but I already like the staff and students here at Bishop Heber College. They have been helpful, understanding, and patience with us. Bishop Heber College is a beautiful campus. 

First meal at Bishop Heber College.

Day 1 in Trichy, India and I am feeling adventurous .