Wow, so sorry for the delay! It's been a crazy couple of weeks. I'm going to run through it quickly, but I only have a bit of time, so I apologize.
I left Patna on a day with flooding waist deep! We waded to get a taxi from a higher area carrying our bags on our heads!
I spent the day in Delhi, which was fun.
Flew back to Europe which I'll run through in a few sentences.
Amsterdam
-fun but I got sick from the western food after the month in India
Paris
-fun but again I got sick from the food. the Eiffel tower is gorgeous at night, and I love the musee d'orsee. made friends with people from toronto, australia, madagascar and more.
Grenoble, France
-beautiful. made me miss the mountains, so i went to switzerland next. hung out with some local french kids at a music festival though, which was cool
Bern, Switzerland
-cool ogre fountain eating babies. made a new zealander friend
Gimmelwald, Switzerland (near interlaken)
-AMAZING. Hostel with a hot tub under the mountains and hiking was so awesome there. I stayed an extra day. went hiking with some sisters from chicago who i wore completely out by the end of the day since I wanted to hike more and more.
Bologna, Italy
-cool to see the KE stuff. hung out with some italian people my age who spoke no english. fun time though
Venice, Italy
-got lost a lot, had a picnic by a canal, made a new australian friend, spanish friend and ecuadorian friend
Vienna, Austria
-saw the freud museum (cool) and wandered around. im about to go eat what is apparently the best chocolate cake in the world. I'll let you know.
After Vienna, I go to Salzburg, then munich, then I leave for Ghana on July 31.
I'll try to upload some pictures tomorrow or tonight from salzburg. I just ran out of memory cards, so I have to get more. (I've used up 12gb worth....thats over 4000 pictures).
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Patna
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012577&l=10a43&id=1295520212
Some pictures- the internet is slow, so consider these a preview. One of my personal favorites:
Some pictures- the internet is slow, so consider these a preview. One of my personal favorites:
It's raining. That's putting it very lightly. It's barely stopped raining for more than a few hours since I got here on July 1. We're in the middle of Monsoon season, and Patna has poor drainage. That means a ton of flooding. When we walk, the water is above our knees usually, and when we drive it feels like we're in a boat- we have a wake and everything. I should have brought my wakeboard or waterskis.
It also means the power goes out constantly. It's pretty amazing to be in surgery (sometimes with a needle stuck in the eye) when the power goes out. An assistant holds a flashlight and they perform surgery by flashlight until the generator kicks in.
Patna is a lot different than Chennai. I am the only white face here (that we have seen), and everyone stares at me everywhere. The patients often ask me about myself in broken english, but mostly people here don't know any english.
I'm living with the Sinhas, a family with 3 ophthalmologists and a gynecologist. Really inspiring, smart people who are teaching me everything from diseases of the eye to indian food and life to other ways of the world.
Our daily schedule is rigorous. We wake up early and have tea at 8, followed by breakfast (usually a mix of both indian foods and eggs and toast). Then we head to the AB Eye Institute, where we see private paying patients. At the clinic, Asim (the other Unite for Sight volunteer here) and I take patient histories (in Hindi-I'm learning, but I am butchering the pronunciations) and make preliminary diagnoses for the patients. It's interesting- in the US or Canada, you wouldn't normally see many cases during these private clinic hours besides check ups and such, but since preventative care is not as wide spread in India, we often see cases of mature cataracts, pterygium, glaucoma, and other severe eye diseases in addition to normal check ups and glasses prescriptions. This is also when we get to see surgeries- we've already gotten to see several cataract surgeries and many injections of anti angiogenesis drugs into the eye for various reasons.
Then we have lunch at home at around 4pm. Lunch is usually indian food with a dessert of fresh mangoes. After lunch we head to a charity clinic, which takes place at a different location each day of the week. These are very busy clinics where we see up to 50 patients in a few hours, and these patients are so poor they have probably never seen a doctor before. Often we ask the patients to come into the clinic for further testing or treatment, which they do the next Saturday, when we see all charity patients at the AB Eye Institute.
After the charity clinic, we return to the AB Eye Institute to see more private patients until dinner at around 830 or 9 pm- again, Indian food with fresh mangoes. Then we get some much needed sleep.
Up until 48 hours ago I was lucky-the only effects of being in India were a lot of sweating and many mosquito bites, but then I got a fever, severe diarrhea, and a bad headache until this morning. The Ciprofloxin I took helped a bunch, but I'm worried to go back to eating everything, so I'm taking it easy on the food (yes, even the mangoes, although it hurts to say no when they offer).
The Sinhas are very inspiring- they keep this same schedule with or without Unite for Sight volunteers, and on top of it are active in the community- starting a full charity eye hospital next door to the AB Eye Institute, and with some funding from UfS they've started a charity School for Blind girls- we went there the other day...pretty amazing. More then 60 students, with graduates going on to prestigious Indian Universities- otherwise these young girls would be forced to beg on the street or worse.
Anyway, I have 9 more days here in Patna before I head off to Delhi and then to Europe. I'm still planning for Europe, so if you're there, let me know via facebook or email and maybe I can work my trip to be able to see you.
I'm starting to miss everyone in the states! If you haven't talked to me online since I left, shoot me an email to let me know what you're up to. The internet here is kind of spotty, but I'll do my best to respond!
It also means the power goes out constantly. It's pretty amazing to be in surgery (sometimes with a needle stuck in the eye) when the power goes out. An assistant holds a flashlight and they perform surgery by flashlight until the generator kicks in.
Patna is a lot different than Chennai. I am the only white face here (that we have seen), and everyone stares at me everywhere. The patients often ask me about myself in broken english, but mostly people here don't know any english.
I'm living with the Sinhas, a family with 3 ophthalmologists and a gynecologist. Really inspiring, smart people who are teaching me everything from diseases of the eye to indian food and life to other ways of the world.
Our daily schedule is rigorous. We wake up early and have tea at 8, followed by breakfast (usually a mix of both indian foods and eggs and toast). Then we head to the AB Eye Institute, where we see private paying patients. At the clinic, Asim (the other Unite for Sight volunteer here) and I take patient histories (in Hindi-I'm learning, but I am butchering the pronunciations) and make preliminary diagnoses for the patients. It's interesting- in the US or Canada, you wouldn't normally see many cases during these private clinic hours besides check ups and such, but since preventative care is not as wide spread in India, we often see cases of mature cataracts, pterygium, glaucoma, and other severe eye diseases in addition to normal check ups and glasses prescriptions. This is also when we get to see surgeries- we've already gotten to see several cataract surgeries and many injections of anti angiogenesis drugs into the eye for various reasons.
Then we have lunch at home at around 4pm. Lunch is usually indian food with a dessert of fresh mangoes. After lunch we head to a charity clinic, which takes place at a different location each day of the week. These are very busy clinics where we see up to 50 patients in a few hours, and these patients are so poor they have probably never seen a doctor before. Often we ask the patients to come into the clinic for further testing or treatment, which they do the next Saturday, when we see all charity patients at the AB Eye Institute.
After the charity clinic, we return to the AB Eye Institute to see more private patients until dinner at around 830 or 9 pm- again, Indian food with fresh mangoes. Then we get some much needed sleep.
Up until 48 hours ago I was lucky-the only effects of being in India were a lot of sweating and many mosquito bites, but then I got a fever, severe diarrhea, and a bad headache until this morning. The Ciprofloxin I took helped a bunch, but I'm worried to go back to eating everything, so I'm taking it easy on the food (yes, even the mangoes, although it hurts to say no when they offer).
The Sinhas are very inspiring- they keep this same schedule with or without Unite for Sight volunteers, and on top of it are active in the community- starting a full charity eye hospital next door to the AB Eye Institute, and with some funding from UfS they've started a charity School for Blind girls- we went there the other day...pretty amazing. More then 60 students, with graduates going on to prestigious Indian Universities- otherwise these young girls would be forced to beg on the street or worse.
Anyway, I have 9 more days here in Patna before I head off to Delhi and then to Europe. I'm still planning for Europe, so if you're there, let me know via facebook or email and maybe I can work my trip to be able to see you.
I'm starting to miss everyone in the states! If you haven't talked to me online since I left, shoot me an email to let me know what you're up to. The internet here is kind of spotty, but I'll do my best to respond!
Delhi
Stayed at a really sketchy hotel right behind Jamu Masjid, a huge mosque in Old Delhi. Only 300 rupees a night ($1 USD=42 Rupees). Jamu Masjid is enormous- it holds 25,000+ people.
Highlights of my one day in Delhi include:
-Jamu Masjid
-The Red Fort
-Gahndi's cremation site
-Canaught place (a market)
-dinner at United coffee house (very old- the guide book recoomended it- i thought it was over rated)
-gave my leftovers to a street family with about 6 kids.
I tried to DHL my tablas back, but it's $275!! They only do overnight shipping, and that's much much more than the tablas even cost! I guess I'll wait until europe.
When I woke up at 5 to go the airport for my flight to Patna, it seemed that most of the city's 40,000 street inhabitants were sleeping on the sidewalk outside my hotel. I had to step over and around them to get to the cab. quite an experience. remember, there are also goats, cows, stray dogs, horses, autorickshaws, bikes, and more on the streets here. Pretty different than Colorado Springs.
Highlights of my one day in Delhi include:
-Jamu Masjid
-The Red Fort
-Gahndi's cremation site
-Canaught place (a market)
-dinner at United coffee house (very old- the guide book recoomended it- i thought it was over rated)
-gave my leftovers to a street family with about 6 kids.
I tried to DHL my tablas back, but it's $275!! They only do overnight shipping, and that's much much more than the tablas even cost! I guess I'll wait until europe.
When I woke up at 5 to go the airport for my flight to Patna, it seemed that most of the city's 40,000 street inhabitants were sleeping on the sidewalk outside my hotel. I had to step over and around them to get to the cab. quite an experience. remember, there are also goats, cows, stray dogs, horses, autorickshaws, bikes, and more on the streets here. Pretty different than Colorado Springs.
Summing up Chennai
Sorry for the delay in updates here- I've been busy. I'm going to sum up Chennai quickly day by day, then put another post about Delhi (where I was for one day) and Patna, where I am now.
Chennai- Day 1
A city eye camp- saw 174 patients, gave 99 glasses, 36 cataract patients id'ed
went to an indian rock concert (pretty fun), then a nice restaurant called Casa Picolla for dinner, where we met Shahul for the first time
Day 2
Another city eye camp- started learning Thamul so that I could do visual acuity screening and better communicate- saw 196 patients, gave 86 glasses, 25 cataract patients id'ed for surgery
that evening we went to Shahul's beach house- beautiful. he was there when the tsunami hit- was swept 1/2 km away and the house was destroyed but has since been rebuilt
Day 3
Went to the Hande Hospital- saw 2 cataract surgeries- Dr. Varman makes it look incredibly easy
went to Pondi Bazaar, a music shop (got tablaas!!)
ate at a terrible restaurant- most of the volunteers got sick overnight and my room mate Eric got hives- everytime he ate anything with spices (masala) he got hives. he's a big guy too, so eating naan and rice all week was rough- he got some protein shake stuff though, which helped.
Luckily, I haven't had any reactions (besides the typical light diahrea-sorry...too much info, i know) to any of the food here yet, which is great, because I love indian food.
Day 4
Day off
went to Mamalapurum with Senthill (volunteer coordinator) and some other volunteers. indians are charged 10 rupies, and foreigners 250....pretty ridiculous, huh?
anyway, it was some cool ruins and a temple on the sea. I climbed a coconut tree.
Day 5
Village camp (about 1.5 hrs away) saw 126 patients, gave 48 glasses, id'ed 29 cataract patients for surgery
went to a nice chinese restaurant that night called cascade with Shahul and Ajas before dancing at Pasha. fun stuff-ask for more details. the fried ice cream was amazing at cascade!
Day 6
Fishing village on the coast- eye camp- saw 110 patients, gave 44 glasses, 29 cataract surgeries.
beautiful village with cute kids all over asking us to take their photo and then crowding to see it.
went to St. Thomas cathedral downtown Chennai- interesting. went to seashell rest. for dinner right near Hotel Assai.
Day 7
Hande Hospital- 5 cataract surgeries and 1 retinal surgery
afternoon- did a goat's eye cataract surgery- so hard. I can really appreciate the skill and care it takes to do these now, and it makes Dr. Varman's quick and perfect surgeries seem even more amazing.
Casa Picolla again with Shahul and Ajas, then Cafe Mocha.
Day 8
Camp in the outskirts of the city- 106 patients, gave 48 glasses, 19 cataract id'ed
went to Pasha again with Shahul, where we met a girl who is 20- she gets married in 2 weeks to a guy she's never met and she might run away to the US. it was crazy to hear about her life- so different than western girls.
Day 9
Day off- no camps. no clinic, no surgeries.
slept in, then went to fisherman's cove with Shahul, Ajas, Eric, and Abrar. that's the fancy resort where bill gates stays when he's in india. had dinner at the park hotel, then went to hotel assai to drop off eric- his flight left that night. went to cafe mocha, where Senthill and Thanraj met us to say goodbye.
My flight left at 635 am the next day, so i went with Jennifer (who left at 500 am) to the airport at 2. fell asleep waiting for my flight and woke up 5 min after it left -oops! luckily, i was able to get on the next flight to Delhi with no extra charge (i still can't figure out how I managed that) and reached Delhi at about 1100.
Chennai- Day 1
A city eye camp- saw 174 patients, gave 99 glasses, 36 cataract patients id'ed
went to an indian rock concert (pretty fun), then a nice restaurant called Casa Picolla for dinner, where we met Shahul for the first time
Day 2
Another city eye camp- started learning Thamul so that I could do visual acuity screening and better communicate- saw 196 patients, gave 86 glasses, 25 cataract patients id'ed for surgery
that evening we went to Shahul's beach house- beautiful. he was there when the tsunami hit- was swept 1/2 km away and the house was destroyed but has since been rebuilt
Day 3
Went to the Hande Hospital- saw 2 cataract surgeries- Dr. Varman makes it look incredibly easy
went to Pondi Bazaar, a music shop (got tablaas!!)
ate at a terrible restaurant- most of the volunteers got sick overnight and my room mate Eric got hives- everytime he ate anything with spices (masala) he got hives. he's a big guy too, so eating naan and rice all week was rough- he got some protein shake stuff though, which helped.
Luckily, I haven't had any reactions (besides the typical light diahrea-sorry...too much info, i know) to any of the food here yet, which is great, because I love indian food.
Day 4
Day off
went to Mamalapurum with Senthill (volunteer coordinator) and some other volunteers. indians are charged 10 rupies, and foreigners 250....pretty ridiculous, huh?
anyway, it was some cool ruins and a temple on the sea. I climbed a coconut tree.
Day 5
Village camp (about 1.5 hrs away) saw 126 patients, gave 48 glasses, id'ed 29 cataract patients for surgery
went to a nice chinese restaurant that night called cascade with Shahul and Ajas before dancing at Pasha. fun stuff-ask for more details. the fried ice cream was amazing at cascade!
Day 6
Fishing village on the coast- eye camp- saw 110 patients, gave 44 glasses, 29 cataract surgeries.
beautiful village with cute kids all over asking us to take their photo and then crowding to see it.
went to St. Thomas cathedral downtown Chennai- interesting. went to seashell rest. for dinner right near Hotel Assai.
Day 7
Hande Hospital- 5 cataract surgeries and 1 retinal surgery
afternoon- did a goat's eye cataract surgery- so hard. I can really appreciate the skill and care it takes to do these now, and it makes Dr. Varman's quick and perfect surgeries seem even more amazing.
Casa Picolla again with Shahul and Ajas, then Cafe Mocha.
Day 8
Camp in the outskirts of the city- 106 patients, gave 48 glasses, 19 cataract id'ed
went to Pasha again with Shahul, where we met a girl who is 20- she gets married in 2 weeks to a guy she's never met and she might run away to the US. it was crazy to hear about her life- so different than western girls.
Day 9
Day off- no camps. no clinic, no surgeries.
slept in, then went to fisherman's cove with Shahul, Ajas, Eric, and Abrar. that's the fancy resort where bill gates stays when he's in india. had dinner at the park hotel, then went to hotel assai to drop off eric- his flight left that night. went to cafe mocha, where Senthill and Thanraj met us to say goodbye.
My flight left at 635 am the next day, so i went with Jennifer (who left at 500 am) to the airport at 2. fell asleep waiting for my flight and woke up 5 min after it left -oops! luckily, i was able to get on the next flight to Delhi with no extra charge (i still can't figure out how I managed that) and reached Delhi at about 1100.
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