India has been keeping me busy since the last time I blogged. We went on our first field visits on Thursday and Friday, and the rest of the weekend was quite an adventure. Homework is already pilling up and its 9:30 pm and im ready for bed. Such a loser.
On Thursday morning we met with Dr. Sanjay, our Maternal and Child Health professor, and he briefed us on what to expect in the class. The words live birth, crying babies and vaccinations were the main points of conversation and although the majority of these things terrify me I think I’ll really have a lot of cool experiences in this class. After the briefing, we were sent by bus to one of the Maternal and Child health centers a little ways outside of Manipal. We witnessed some polio vaccinations and a lot of babies coming in for their checkups. Most babies were accompanied by their mothers and their grandmothers. We only saw a few fathers but there was one grandfather who was so proud of his granddaughter that he wanted us to hold her and show her off which is so cute to see. Since we were there for a while, and we had to take turns going into the small rooms where everything was going on, I took the opportunity to play with some of the kids who were at a daycare center in the same building. Although they couldn’t speak English, playing is a universal kid concept so we had a great time regardless.
On Friday, we had our second field visit of the semester to a primary health care center. This time our teacher was able to come with us so it ended up being more informative than the trip the day before. He gave us a tour and lectured us the basics of India’s health care which is that the government pays for almost everything. No one is ever turned away if they can’t pay the nominal fees for drugs and surgeries, but the spending on the center itself is very low. The doctor who we were introduced to couldn’t stop seeing his patients while we talked because the center was incredibly understaffed. We watched him pay bills, take a man’s blood pressure, record all of the data and then clean up because he was one of two people on duty for a center that served an area of 30,000 people. He then told us he was in charge of 4 sub-centers also.
Friday evening we were invited to the Annual Day celebration for the Hospitality and Restaurant college on campus. After sitting through a lot of awards we were treated to a performance that featured a mix of hip-hop, traditional Indian dances, a lady gaga-esque fashion show and some fire jugglers. Then we were served a meal that consisted of over 27 different dishes. Too much decision making for me.
Then finally on Saturday we left for St. Mary’s Island. It took us two buses and a ferry to get there but after asking for a lot of directions and getting lost in a fishing yard we finally made it to the Spring Zouk Festival. It wasn’t what we thought it would be to say the least. There were a lot of foreigners there looking extra grungy with their backpacks and dreads. And we made a few acquaintances but for the most part we just enjoyed being on a beach for the sunset. The music was non-existent until around 8 or 9 which was a bummer but we made the most of it and left shortly after to go back to our nice clean beds. So no camp out under the stars for us but still it was an interesting adventure.
Today, Sunday, we went back to Mangalore to do a little more shopping. Ok a lot more shopping but it’s worth it once you consider the exchange rate (50 rupees for every dollar) and how beautiful all of the clothes here are!! Plus I found a few gifts to bring back home for my family that I think they'll love.
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