SKETCH

Although my trip home is less eventful than Amy's (I actually get to leave the country on my first attempt) I did have some pretty hairy moments. My travels started out with the taxi showing up almost an hour before the confirmed time (5pm. Aka 1700).  But Vidjaya kept trying to tell me that I had actually asked for 4:30.  Which was a total lie. All my correspondence stated 5pm taxi for 9pm flight. So basically I felt like LVP was trying to get me out so that the next set of people could move in. The taxi is nice enough and the guy spoke a little bit of English.  I ended up leaving at 4:30 (decent compromise) and arriving to the airport a little after 5. I was thru security by 5:30 and bought my biscuits at the famous place, explored a little and was at my gate by 6 for my 9 pm flight....which was delayed to a 10pm flight.  I finished 3 cups of tea and started the kite runner and had a samosa and coke for dinner before I loaded the plane. 


So we are running behind but I still have 2 hours in Mumbai to go through customs, security, and make my international connection.  That should be enough.  Right??  Well, it probably is if the domestic airport is connected to the international airport!  Not so in Mumbai.  By the time I take the bus from the plane to the terminal I have 1.5 hours before my plane loads and an hour wait for a shuttle to take me 30 minutes to the international airport :(.  And apparently there is no priority based on departure time.  My only other option was to take a prepaid taxi (pay when you get in) and that was pretty much the only way I had any potential to catch my flight. Luckily another guy had the same problem so we went out to split a prepaid taxi. After we got in the car they charged us $40 USD for a 15 min drive. They drove around the corner and them refused to go any further until we gave them the money.  So sketch. They totally played us but we had no bargaining power bc we were in such a rush.  And then they made us switch to another car!!  If I was completely by myself I would have been TOTALLY freaked out. But I was so angry that they would have been fools to try to mess with me.

So I pulled an Amy and told the guy that I knew he had taken advantage of us and said that if he didn't get us there in 10 min that I would take a pic of him and the car and call the police. He drove REALLY fast!  When we got to terminal C I literally leapt from the car, grabbed my bag and sprinted into the terminal.  As I made a mad dash towards customs people were jumping out of my way. It was prob only 200meters but I ran like I was competing for the state championship back in high school.  Getting to customs I didn't know where to find the form to fill out so some guy standing by jumped to help me. It took 2 min to fill out the form and then he asked for a tip. All I had was a 10, 100, or 500 rupee note so I have him the 10.  He complained ab it being so small but all I did was offer a quick apology before rushing off to the line. Luckily the customs line moved decently quickly so I wasn't freaking out too much. I made it through security just as the flight was schedule to board. Arriving at the gate I find out that boarding is delayed by 30 min. Whew. I had a few minutes to relax and check my breath before getting in line again.


My layover in Munich was very unexciting...finally.  The flight was also nice and quiet and uneventful.  I watched like 5 movies and the time passed so quickly.  And my luggage actually made it with me!  After my crazy layover in Mumbai I expected to leave Charlotte without any luggage.  The best part was exiting the airport to find my family with welcome home signs.  It's always nice to feel missed because I missed them too.  Now on to my last rotation of medical school!!

India's Motto

Today I saw a guy wearing a shirt that I thought fully represented my experience in India:

IF YOU CAN'T CONVINCE THEM, CONFUSE THEM

I'm apparently difficult to convince because I am confused most of the time and today was no exception.  We spent the day trying to get everything together so that Amy can actually leave the country and not stay here indefinitely.  Starting out at the police commissioner's office to get her registered and then on to Emirates which was extremely unhelpful. Things were looking positive as we made it out of the police station before 2pm.  But not so much at Emirates Airlines.  Apparently, there are NO flights out of Hyderabad via Emirates until after March 1st. Poor Amy was going to be stuck here for another week!  Luckily Vidjaya, a woman from LVP, was helping us and got on the line with a travel agent who found Amy a flight out at 7am Saturday morning.  So...I have a roomie for another night!   But if not for Vidjaya poor Amy might have been sticking around for much longer.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that she actually gets to leave tomorrow.  While at the police station I checked about my visa and was assured that I should not have any difficulties leaving the country (whew).

To celebrate out last night in India Amy, Helen, Louise, Emma, and I danced the night away in a little replication of an English pub in Hyderabad.  On a crazy rickshaw ride there with all 5 of us stuffed in the backseat we realize that the driver doesn't actually know where he's going and is just driving down the road.  After a rather long lecture by Amy about how this is considered kidnapping, we finally find someone who can tell him how to get there.  This time it was both Helen and I who were cracking up in the backseat and trying not to detract from Amy's oh so scary monologue.

It was a little cramped!
Left to Right: Emma (with her bum hanging out), Louise (getting crushed by my bum),  me, Helen, and then Amy with her feet dangling about a foot off the floor

Louise and Emma look right at home at 10 Downing St.

Amy and Emma.  Right before Amy drops it like it's hot!

I'm hoping that tonight was the last big adventure and that Saturday and Sunday will be fairly uneventful as I finish packing, run some last minutes errands and start my journey home.

No No No, No Exit for You

So today another two girls headed back home.  Amy (my roomie) headed out early this afternoon to head back to Rochester, NY.  Christiane left early evening to head back to her home in Germany.  Only an hour after Amy left it already seemed lonely in my little room.  After dinner, chatting in my room with my next door neighbor, Helen, I heard a knock at the door.  And surprise surprise...it was AMY.  At the airport she made it through customs but not immigration.  Apparently she (we??) were supposed to registrar somewhere within 14 days of arrival.  She (we) didn't because she (we) thought registration was only for visas over 180 days and ours are only for 90 days.  Well, either we were wrong or they messed up at the airport.  Either way Amy arrived back at LVPEI instead of boarding the plane home :(
I was happy to have her back but it's a horrible situation for her to be in.  Right now we don't know when she will be able to get this taken care of and be able to fly home.  We are both heading to the US embassy or the police station or something tomorrow to try to get this figured out (with the help of people from LVP).  I'm honestly not sure if I was supposed to register as well or not.  There are small differences on her visa that hopefully means the same doesn't apply to me.  I'll find out tomorrow.  Plus, Saturday is a Hindu holiday...which means the station will not be open.  So, if things don't get sorted out tomorrow then we can't do anything about it until Monday and then the earliest she could fly home would probably be Tuesday.  I feel awful for Amy and am truly hoping that I don't end up in the same situation.

Girl's night in with ice cream and coke to say goodbye

Cheers.  

After a long frustrating day at the airport all Amy wants is some club soda but it  had other things in mind...like explosions!

Talk Nerdy To Me

Today I had to opportunity to spend the day in the OR again, this time watching cataract surgery.  In the US, all residents are trained in the technique of phacoemulsification (or phaco, for short).  Here in India, residents are trained in phaco and SICS (Small Incision Cataract Surgery).  So today I spent the day in the fellow OR watching SICS surgeries.  Phaco requires a very expensive machine but SICS is done essentially manually so it is much less expensive.  This technique is also used for cataracts that are so dense that phaco is difficult.

Dense brown cataract from today.  It was the consistency of a frozen  m&m (ie, very hard)

Last week I spent a few days in the retina ORs.  It was interesting to see the difference in the vitrectomy machines between the retina ORs.  They seem to be from different eras!  I honestly expected that the paying patients would be operated in the room with the newer machine and the non-paying patients, but that was not the case.  I saw both paying and non-paying patients in both ORs which goes along with LVP's mission "to provide equitable and efficient eye care to all sections of society."

OR 3

OR 9

Not evidence based medicine...I took this picture from the ante chamber outside the OR.  Apparently the head nurse in OR 3 feels that 6 is the maximum number of people allowed in the room when the patient is under general anesthesia.  Sometimes it's hard to find an OR with fewer than 6 people at UNC!

I'm also unsure of the evidence supporting this rule.  No shoes are allowed in the OR.  Everyone has to wear these flip flops which are communal property.  I choose the oh so fashionable look of socks with sandals.  The idea of wearing shoes that 100 different people have worn is just a little too much for me!

The Final Countdown

Sitting down after dinner talking to my grandmother on her 80th birthday (happy birthday Grandma!!) via skype, I realized how few days I have left in India.  Amy (who flies out on Thursday) and I are frantically trying to fit in the last few things we want to do/experience before we leave.  Tonight we finally made it down to Coco's, a roof side restaurant down the road with live music every night.  I actually tried an Indian version of Italian tonight, penne alfredo.  It was...ok.  A little spicier than I had expected, but I should be been expecting spicy.  The music was a largely disappointing version of some American songs.  I heard more "check check" and feedback than actual song, so we left not long after they started playing.  Before dinner Amy and I did some last minute shopping at a store down the road.  We are a good haggling team.  It was a fairly nice store at which hospital employees get a decent discount.  They initially told us it's a 30% discount but we said we had been told that it's actually 40% so the guy checked with the manager and we actually did get 40% off (it wasn't a lie, I was actually told 40%, I was just excited that we semi-haggled them down).

Tomorrow we are planning on going back to the marketplaces at Charminar.  Although there for a little bit on Sunday, it's the sort of place that you can spend all day without realizing it.  I'm hoping that it will be slightly less busy than it was on Sunday and that we won't attract as much attention as we did last time!

These are also my last few days to experience LVP (the hospital).  The past two days I've spent the morning interpreting for a Spanish speaking couple and the afternoons in the research facilities learning about all the laboratory research that occurs here.  The research facility takes up the 5th floor and desperately needs more space.  Apparently they are in the beginning stages of building a whole research facility.  Although, I've had very few clinical experiences with patients (only a few days in the OPDs and ORs), I've really enjoyed learning about the vast extent of LVP's work.  It is really quite impressive.

These are also the last few days of hard beds, squatting for showers, hospital food, and living out of a suitcase :). But sadly the last few days to spend with all the great new friends I've made during my time here.  Without my roomie, all the other international guests and the amazing short term fellows, I think this could have been a very lonely month.  But instead, I am always cracking up, enjoying great food and new experiences!

https://picasaweb.google.com/109695259305851757594/IndiaAnnaJones

I'm Gonna Wash This Man Right Out of My Hair

Well, today was as much, and even more, fun than I had anticipated.  Out and about the city for almost 12 hours today, I think we hit most of the main attractions around Hyderabad.  Many thanks to Ashik and his new bride, Isha, for giving us (me, Amy, and Helen) a beautiful tour of the city and haggling us some fantastic deals in the markets.  I actually survived the day without a sunburn and thanks to my spf 55 I don't think I really even got much of a tan.

We actually started our day out by driving to a local park which contains a large lake with a HUGE statue of the budha in the central.  For only 45 rupees (~90cents) each we took a boat out to the center of the lake to the little island that houses the statue.  The entire statue is from one large piece of granite that was carved and then transported around 60km on a structure with something like 140 wheels.  The entire feat is impressive, from the single piece of granite to the actual transportation of the statue.  I still am not sure how they got the statue out to the middle of the lake.

Budha and me

Next we headed to Chowmahalla Palace where the nizam (king of Hyderabad) and his family lived and entertained guests for centuries.  While the palace and grounds were beautiful, the best part of the tour was the yellow Rolls Royce (behind protective glass) that was displayed along with a series (of inferior) vintage cars!  It was at the palace that an occurrence that repeated again and again and again throughout the day began.  A group of young adult Indian guys asked to have their picture taken with me.  The funny thing is they have like 1 or 2 cameras and all take turns in the picture so it actually takes a few minutes to get all the pictures taken.  It was hilarious, they actually asked Ashik for permission to take the picture.  And I found out later that apparently they were stalking around behind us taking pictures that included me without me knowing.  Apparently white girls are popular here!

1911 made to order Rolls Royce

Mecca Mosque was next on our list but my sleeveless blouse got us kicked out as soon as we crossed through security so I took a couple fast pictures and then we ran out and down the street to Charminar.  Charminar, which literally means four towers, was packed and was surrounded by very busy marketplaces.  Charminar, like all other places we visited, charged much for foreigners than for nationals.  It only cost 5 rupees for Ashik, but was 100 rupees ($2) for each of us.  I know, I know, still really cheap.  But it's amazing how stingy I get when dealing with rupees!

Amy and I surrounded by the pack of men waiting to get their picture taken with us!

Our last stop was Golconda Fort.  The oldest structure in Hyderbad, it housed the royalty at different points along its history.  We climbed 329 steps to get to the top for some amazing views of the city and to walk around the ruins of the building that the royal family claimed as home.  It was at the top of the fort that I got my good luck charm of the day....while (again) taking a picture with some Indian guys a bird pooped on my head.  I knew I felt something at the time but Amy checked and nothing was there.  Unfortunately, when I checked a few minutes later, my hand came back with some very dark bird poop.  I guess the good luck was that I only got stopped once or twice more for pictures.  I really felt like I spent half of my day posing for these requested photos.  I'm not sure if it was the curly hair, the pretty green tunic, or the very white skin (most likely option), but I was very popular today!

View from the top of the tower

Start of the light show that tells the history of the fort

The Bobble and The Waggle

I've been trying to incorporate the well know Indian head bobble into my everyday life.  When I first arrived three weeks ago I found that my neck was WAY too stiff for the ambiguous bobble.  My neck only turned from side to side (no) and up/down (yes).  Here, there is side to side (which actually means yes), up/down (which means no), and the famous bobble (still unable to interpret).  I've heard that you also have to watch the speed of the bobble and the facial expression for clues as to the meaning of the bobble.  But all my hard work of neck exercises and practice in the mirror (not really) has finally paid off.  According to my roomie, my bobble seems quite natural now.  I finally feel that I can leave India feeling that I have accomplished something ;)

I am also learning the waggle.  But, this is not an Indian expression.  No, this is straight from Rochester, NY.  Ok, practice with me: extend your arm, flex your wrist, make a fist and extend your index finger, now move it side to side while saying "no, no, no."  This is the expression my soon to be famous stand up comedian roomie is famous for.  Although no where near as good as she is, I practice every day.

We should get lots of practice with both expressions tomorrow as we are finally getting our tour of the city!  Ashik, a researcher here at LVPEI who has some projects in conjunction with UNC, is showing Amy, our friend Helen, and me around town.  We are starting out at Charminar (which literally means four towers) is an iconic structure here in Hyderabad.  It also happens to be surrounded by some famous markets which used to be known for pearls but now deals mainly in bangles and clothes.  Then, off to a nearby museum and palace and ending the day at Golconda Fort which, built in the 1500s, is one of the oldest, if not the oldest structure in Hyderabad.  Tomorrow should be a lot of fun but hot.  The high tomorrow is 97!  Time to break out that 55spf sun screen!!

Girls Night Out at the local mall.
From left to right: Farzana, Helen, Deepti, me, Amy, Desy

You Know

Kidnapped at the Tower of Babel

Today has been one of my most interesting and fun days so far.  Yesterday and today I went out to the ICARE facility ( International Center for Advancement of Rural Eyecare) to learn more about the community healthcare delivery program that LVP has created.  The building is only about 15 kilometers away but takes 30-45 minutes travel because of traffic.  It was pretty interesting to learn about the vast network of centers that LVP has established with the help of the local villages and towns all over Andhra Pradash.  I hope to be able to visit one of the rural villages sometime next week to experience healthcare at the grassroots level.

Today I joined to community health diploma and masters students for a tour of Devnar school for the blind.  Apparently Dev means god and Nar means man.  So the name of the school means god within self.  The moto for the school is that blind individuals deserve opportunity, not sympathy.  It was a great experience to see the children running around and playing, smiling and carefree like children should be.  We even joined in one of their dance classes to have a little fun in the midday heat!

I might be off by a count or two ;)

One of the neatest things was a room filled with large 3D science models so that the students can actually feel out a structure.  There were multiple systems of the body, photosynthesis, malaria transmission, all sorts of models.  The title of each structure was posted next to it with braille over it.

I don't quite remember but I don't think I learned about nephrons until college! 

After a nice lunch at the ICARE facility (much better than at the KAR campus) I excitedly caught an early shuttle back to KAR campus thinking how nice it would be to relax, read and get some work done in the early afternoon.  However, I hadn't even put my bag down before I was summoned down to clinic.  Apparently there was a patient that speaks Portuguese and I am the only person in the WHOLE hospital that speaks a lick of Spanish.  And somehow, the rumor that I am fluent is Spanish was circulated around the staff, which is really sad since my Spanish is so poor.  Thus I spent my entire afternoon trying to interpret and explain medical conditions and procedures.  It was exhausting since it took so much concentration from me to remember any of the Spanish from my medical Spanish class a year a a half ago.  In the same patient encounter English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Hindi, and Telugu was spoken.  It seemed that no one spoke that same language.  But, at the end of the day, I felt that I had actually contributed something which is always a nice feeling.

After clinic though, my roomie (Amy) and I got some nice shopping done before meeting up with our UK buddies (Louise and Emma) for a tasty dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe Hyderabad.  I know, I know, coming all the way to Hyderabad and going to an American food joint....but it was SO good.  So nice to have a good grilled chicken sandwich.  Listen to good American music that I could sing along with.

Left to right: me, Amy (the roomie), Emma (the silly one), Louise (the "I can't keep my eyes open so we have to take 5 of same picture" one ;) )

The ride home on the auto rickshaw was lots of things, but mainly just comical.  Amy is the supreme goddess of haggling with the rickshaw drivers.  It's awe inspiring to see her at work.  Originally we had to stop by the saree shop to pick up her new saree.  Amy haggled the price down from 100 rupees to just 50 rupees (which was probably still overpriced).  However, we arrived at the shop 20 minutes too late and they were already closed.  Since the shop was on the way back to the hospital anyways, we told the driver to just keep going...this is where it gets interesting (it's probably a "you had to be there to appreciate it' kinda story, but it's too funny (to me) to keep to myself).  Of course since we were going farther, a new price had to be settled upon.  Once again, the guy tried to charge us 90 rupees which was outrageous since we were already pretty close to the hospital.   No matter what Amy said, the guy wouldn't give us a fair price.  So...Amy told the guy to stop the rickshaw...and he kept driving.  Amy began to lecture him on the fact that we're at a disadvantage because he's driving and we're stuck in the vehicle.  He still wouldn't budge.  Once again, Amy told him to stop the vehicle...and he keeps driving.  Amy then proceeds to tell him that he is technically kidnapping us since we asked him to let us out but he won't.  At this point I can't keep it in any more and I start (quietly) laughing in the backseat.  Then come the threats.  Not from him but from Amy.  She threatens to take a picture of him and his rickshaw and call the police on him.  At this point, it's so ridiculous that I explode in laughter.  Amy continues to threaten to call the police as I am doubled over and crying because I am laughing so hard.  Apparently the driver finds it comical as well because he's laughing from the front seat.  She continues to lecture him with the definition of kidnapping and threats to call the police.  Somehow we settled on the price of 75 rupees for the whole price.  Mainly because we told the guy that's all we had so he could take it or leave it.  Not a single time during that whole ride did I ever feel threatened or that my safety was at stake.  I can only imagine what would have happened if we had actually called the police.  He probably would have tried to charge us extra money too!  This ride was definitely the funniest experience I've had so far on this trip.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Gig

After a 6 1/2 hour trip (half of which was in the dark), I have arrived safely back in Hyderabad.  I thought that traveling during the day was stressful, but driving at night was terrifying.  Kumar (the driver) did a great job but there were lots of moments where I was holding my breath and/or grabbing onto the handle to keep from falling onto my seat mate.  Travel goes surprisingly well considering that pretty much all the roads we drove on (even the major ones) were under construction.  We literally just went back and forth from one side of the road to the other because of the detours where the road is still being constructed....not repaired, but constructed.

Despite spending my morning and early afternoon at a temple on a mountain that overlooks the city, I was still too excited about all the scenery to try to fall asleep on the trip back.  I was sad to leave Charita's family (whom I grew to love even over just a few short days) but I'm glad to be back in my own room, sharing my bed with just myself (and not two other people).  I'm so thankful for the fun break from the work at the hospital.  I would have been very disappointed if I had not had the opportunity to play and sight see and little bit while here.  Speaking of work, it's after midnight so I should probably get to sleep so I can get up and wash my clothes before heading to the OR tomorrow.  Another day in retina.  Yay.

5am Sunday morning.  Getting ready for the morning blessing ceremony at the bride's house.

Me with some of Charita's family at the blessing ceremony Sunday morning.  In order from left to right: Grandma, me, auntie, grandfather, cousin, uncle.  I'd list the names but I'd completely butcher it since I only heard them, never saw them written.

The mighty warrior with her weapon.  Many mosquitoes  met their maker  after meeting my quick hand of death

At the temple this morning.  Again, not sure how to spell the name of the goddess.  The temple was impressive.  Behind me, the top of the temple is made of gold.  The temple itself is on a mountain that looks out over the city.

Indian Lovers

They are everywhere and no matter what I do I can't seem to get away.  I'm so glad I stopped by student health to pick up some prophylaxis before I left because I've needed it more than ever on this trip.  I'm talking about malaria prophylaxis,of course.  I am loving my malerone right now because these mosquitoes are loving me!  There are swarms of them surrounding me, especially in the evenings.  Mornings aren't as bad but I still have to run around in the shower trying to escape them as I bathe.  This morning was so bad that I had to take the electric mosquito killer to the toilet with me to keep from getting attacked as I did my business.  The worst however was at the wedding last night.  My arms and ankles are covered in bites.  Thankfully the multiple layers of my saree kept the rests of the legs mostly safe.

The wedding itself was lots of fun.  We actually woke up at 4am to get ready for the morning blessing ceremony at the bride's house.  I put on my new dress and leggings (which is just funky enough to probably look normal in Carrboro, NC) and headed out to watch all the older women in the community pour all sorts of stuff over the bride as a blessing.  It was very interesting to watch and as the only white person there I attracted a lot of attention and ended up being in a lot of family photos.  I have lots of photos but no way to upload them right now so it will have to wait until I get back to the hospital tomorrow to put them on my laptop.

Donning my new saree for the wedding wasn't very hard work at all.  I basically just stood there and let one of the women put it all in place for me!  It's kind of confusing and took a lot of safety pins to keep it in place without me having to do too much work.  The wedding itself didn't start until around 8pm that night...and lasted until almost 1am.  There were a lot of rituals that I didn't understand  but it was still interesting to watch.  Sadly my camera battery died as soon as we got there so I'm having to rely on Charita to pass along all the photos I made her take.

It was crazy all the bling that these women wear.  I wore more bling than I ever had in my life and I was outdone by even most of the kids!  I heard that the bride spent $40,000 just on jewelry for the wedding.  She wore a belt made out of gold worth around $10,000.  It was CRAZY and beautiful.  I definitely have a little bling fever right now.  The variety of sarees was amazing.  I didn't see any two alike and all were gorgeous in their own way.  I definitely hope that I get invited to more Indian weddings so that I have more opportunities to wear my new saree!