The Dirty Details-- UPDATED

This experience is unique from most of my travels because there is so much to tell and explain, but there is also a lot that I take for granted. Being here is not NEW to me. When I was in Spain I wrote about every Cafe-con Leche and european plaza I saw. Here, I take the cafe-con-leche for granted. I'll walk you through a day so you get a picutre! Ok, so up until a few days ago I was sleeping on the rooftop terrace (now for fear of rain I sleep downstairs in Daxa Auntie's room). Everynight I would take my futon-like matress upstairs and a fan to ward off mosqitoes. I would usually wake up a little after sunrise (6, 6:30) and go down and make my breakfast. Unfortunately here it's like europe. They don't eat much in the morning. I have resorted to biscuts and milk with Bournvita (similar to ovaltine). Daxa auntie would usually wake up an hour or so later. We'd get ready and go to the clinic. The first few weeks I was out doing the surveys I mentioned before. Did I mention our findings? I will next time if I haven't already. I was working with two other guys, Sharad and Vinnay. I think Sharad is around 30 and Vinnay is 25. They're both older, but within my age range enough that we've become friends. They spent most of the day teasing me and I spent most of the day thinking of as many clever responses as I could in Gujarati.

By week three I was starting to get antsy and annoyed. I was sick of the surveys and I was tired of being a spectator. I was in conflict as to what to do, but I talked to Daxa Auntie and she was great about it! Starting next week I am going to go to the village schools and perform health check ups. There are so many schools that she can't go everywhere. She is going to teach me how to look in eyes, ears, throats and noses. If I find any problems I can refer them to the hospital or to her clinic. I will also play health education games with the children. We try to get simple messages across like how infection spreads etc. Daxa Auntie even wants me to give the kids a lecture on the digestive system. THAT makes me nervous, I have to learn all the relevant vocab, but I'm up for the challenge!

So now I am taking a mini vacation and visiting some friends and family in the city. I'm going to do some shopping etc. Then I'll go back to Dharampur. As soon as we are ready to start the health projects, I will move out into the villages and stay in guest houses. It will be easier than having to commute from the town every day.

Ok so I forgot to add the dirty details component of this entry! Let's see...dirty..well, I use a squating toilet. It's porcelin, in case you haven't seen one, and frankly, I have come to like it better! Squatting is much more conducive for well, the related bodily functions!

I actually don't wash my hair that often. You'd think in all the sweat and heat I would, but actually its the oppoiste. I keep my hair tied back all the time so if its greasy it doesn't really matter. I try to go at least 3 days without washing it. It's been glorious because now my hair is soft and shiny!

For lunch, I eat Gujarati made vegetbles with a lentil soup, rice, and rotis made from wheat. When I was littled I HATED this diet but right now I am loving the ready made food. My only compliant is that they only eat 2 main meals a day and its hard for me to stuff myself in one sitting.

Humm ok, that's all I think! Hope that's dirty enough..I keep checking for posts so let me know if there are questions!! :)

Monsoon

Last night we had our first monsoon rain! Some of you know exactly what that means and all the senses that are invoked. For the rest of you, I’ll tell you—it’s just an amazing phenomena. The weather since I’ve arrived has been hot, very hot but bearable. The past 24 hours, however, have been miserable. The air felt thick and stale, almost like wearing a body tight leather suit or something. Peacocks were calling out all day, and apparently even the snakes came out. Everyone, (everyone meaning every living plant and creature) seemed to know that the rain was coming. Usually I sleep out on the roof terrace. Last night I put out my bed and tucked myself in. Something felt unusually peculiar. I starred up at the sky and realized that for the first time since I’ve been here, the moon and stars were not to be seen. It was close to a full moon last night and still, I could barely see its outlining glow. I lied there staring at the sky just mesmerized by the ancient ritual migration of these massive clouds of rain. Like clockwork, (well almost like clockwork, apparently we are 10 days early this year), these clouds come rolling off over the ocean, and sorry to be cheesy, but they truly bring along life. There is literally not a drop of water in the rivers here. They are carved out gorges just waiting to be filled.

So, as I lied there, staring at these amazing clouds, wondering when they would drop their goodies, I felt a drop on my forehead. Before I had a chance to process what I felt, it began pouring! I leapt up and executed my previously thought out escape strategy. I rolled up my bed, slung my purse over my shoulder and ran downstairs. I told Daxa auntie it was raining and she went running outside—it’s good luck to “bathe” in the first rain. I personally, was not keen on soaking myself to the bone. She blasts the air-conditioning in her room, and I knew I would freeze. I just stood there in the corner, allowing the rain to hit my face. The smell is similar to the smell in the U.S. It’s a little different because there is much more rain, and much more dirt than concrete. For the most part, the smell is just much stronger, but generally the same idea. I have experienced many more rainfalls in the U.S. but for some reason, rain always reminds me of my grandparents’ home, and my grandmother. When I was little, teeny frogs used to come out when it rained. Of course I thought they would make great pets and would catch them in old Tupperware containers. My grandma pretended to be mad, but I knew she was proud of me. Ok, for those of you who have never experienced Monsoon, I hope I’ve painted a picture for you, and for those of you who grew up with it, I hope I’ve done it some justice!! Masis, kaka, kaki, foi and fua, comment on the blog with your experiences if you want. It would be fun for everyone to read!!

Arrival

Hello! I’ve been in India for over two weeks now. When I first arrived, I spent a day with Ach’s family in a city called Valsaad. I think it’s comparable to a city like Daytona or something like that. It’s not quite a town—definitely a larger city, but definitely more of hick mentality. The next day they dropped me off in Dharampur—a town about 45 minutes away. The doctor I am working with lives in the town, but her office and clinic is 2 kilometers away in a much more rural area on a river. There are villages that surround her clinic and this town, but given their proximity to Dharampur, they don’t quite qualify as rural. If you were plopped right into the middle of the village, you would want to classify them as rural villages, however, these people have easy access to the town resources and are thus classified as “semi-urban” even though there is nothing urban looking about them.

Since the day I arrived, I’ve been working in these villages conducing a Maternal and Child Health survey. The questions are centered around maternal health seeking behavior. In other words, the survey looks at illnesses in the household and where they went for treatment. Aside from illness, we look closely at reproductive issues, including everything from menstruation, to pregnancy, to delivery, to menopause. This is where it becomes evident that these villages are semi-urban. Most households seek medical care for any illness. A good number are even able to afford private health care. Most of the households were poor, but from my perspective, I would say that very few would have qualified as below the global poverty line (below the World Bank’s Dollar a Day standard). Majority of the homes were huts, but most were well equipped with furniture, televisions, farm animals, fans and running water. Honestly, I would prefer them to my cockroach infested NYC apartment!

About half of the people we surveyed had heard of AIDS and knew what it was. I think the number might even be higher but women may have been shy to respond. Still, there is much to be done, but I was pretty satisfied with what I saw. The important thing is that these villages have access.

Once a week we do a mobile clinic. These clinics extend health care to the truly rural areas. The people on these lands are generally oppressed tribal groups that have been pushed off onto unfarmable land, and in many cases, can be geographically isolated. There are villages, for example, that are completely cut off during heavy monsoon due to lack of proper roads and bridges. The difference between the villages I have been surveying, and the one for the mobile clinic is just outstanding. These people are not only poorly educated, but also have little world exposure. Their understanding of their body, health, and therefore healthcare, is extremely limited. One example of what mean by world exposure is that, Daxa Auntie (the doctor I work with) took tribal children on a field trip to the beach. Two boys emptied their water bottles and filled them with seawater. When she asked them what they were doing, they told her they were so amazed that water could taste so salty without needed to put salt in it, that they wanted to take some home to show their families.