WELL
Yesterday we only visited one school but we were there for quite some time. This was a much larger school than the previous ones, with children ranging from toddler to about 10 years. Unfortunately, these kids were probably the most sick of all the ones we had seen. The doctors were writing up prescriptions and referrals for several of them. Dr. Kathleen thinks that 1 may even have tuberculosis. The kids all had runny noses and many sounded very congested. They cried for the majority of the time we were there and one girl wet herself in the corner and no one addressed it. She just stood there for several minutes until I had to leave the room and step outside.
I went out and attempted to assist the boys with getting the gps system to work. No luck there. I ended up watching some of the older kids who were showing off by doing cartwheels and backflips. I was totally impressed, couldn't hide it.
Then Heather spoke to us some about grad and med school which was very insightful to hear. Especially since she is doing her masters in public health, which I plan to do as well.
It was our last day in the community. I wish I had gotten a picture/video of our car rides out to the villages. 11 of us in one van. Kelly sitting on top of 4 of us in the back and 4 people stuffed in the front going over roads compiled of huge jagged rocks. No air flow in the back and the car sickness begins to hit hard. It was pretty hilarious, and horrible. But lots of bonding going on when you're forced to be that physically close.
When we got back to the hotel, Liz (the supervisor from UMD) had arrived! We're all really excited to have her here. Liz lived in India for a while and has done some work here already. She has great stories and experiences to share and is really interested in getting to know everyone.
We have another rotation on monday, so a group leaves for Jibhi :( we will miss them!! But my birthday is apparently tuesday so we are celebrating all weekend! Last night we hung out in the boy's room and talked, played some music, ate WAY too many cookies, and then we headed out to a lounge called Johnson's. They were playing a lot of techno music so the boys told the DJ it was my birthday and he announced it and started playing American music instead haha! So we all danced and made fun of each other cause we're all terrible, and had a wonderful time!
When we got back we had a wonderful disney sing a long for about an hour and a half. What better way to celebrate my birthday than disney music in India?! It was kind of silly on our parts to have done this the night before our 7 hr trek :/ Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep but we all were at breakfast by 8 and left at 9 am. We trekked an INSANE mountain! It was so steep we had to take breaks every 10 minutes because no one could breathe! It was the most crazy work out my poor body has ever taken on. And the view was of course gorgeous. We hiked up to a spot that overlooked Manali which was awesome. We had dinner at Bella Vista in Old Manali which was really funny cause the seating arrangements consist of cushions and couches so we all just fell asleep! Haha
When we came back to the hotel, everyone took showers and I brought my computer out to the tables outside. The boys surprised me with 2 vegan almond honey cakes!!! Oh my goodness I was so surprised! It was so sweet of them to do that, I can't imagine how long it took to hunt something like that down. Everyone sang happy birthday and then I made Mili sing it in Hindi! It was really exciting and the cake was so delicious! I ate 3 pieces...
Now the girls are out shopping and the boys are taking naps. Not sure what's in store for tonight. Hopefully just sleep.. Tomorrow we are leaving around 10 for a day trip to Nagar. Dr. Kathleen recommended it to us. Only a 30 minute trip and the girls want to get Thai massages and henna on our hands! But mostly we just wanna get the heck outta Manali for a day!
Yesterday we only visited one school but we were there for quite some time. This was a much larger school than the previous ones, with children ranging from toddler to about 10 years. Unfortunately, these kids were probably the most sick of all the ones we had seen. The doctors were writing up prescriptions and referrals for several of them. Dr. Kathleen thinks that 1 may even have tuberculosis. The kids all had runny noses and many sounded very congested. They cried for the majority of the time we were there and one girl wet herself in the corner and no one addressed it. She just stood there for several minutes until I had to leave the room and step outside.
Then Heather spoke to us some about grad and med school which was very insightful to hear. Especially since she is doing her masters in public health, which I plan to do as well.
It was our last day in the community. I wish I had gotten a picture/video of our car rides out to the villages. 11 of us in one van. Kelly sitting on top of 4 of us in the back and 4 people stuffed in the front going over roads compiled of huge jagged rocks. No air flow in the back and the car sickness begins to hit hard. It was pretty hilarious, and horrible. But lots of bonding going on when you're forced to be that physically close.
When we got back to the hotel, Liz (the supervisor from UMD) had arrived! We're all really excited to have her here. Liz lived in India for a while and has done some work here already. She has great stories and experiences to share and is really interested in getting to know everyone.We have another rotation on monday, so a group leaves for Jibhi :( we will miss them!! But my birthday is apparently tuesday so we are celebrating all weekend! Last night we hung out in the boy's room and talked, played some music, ate WAY too many cookies, and then we headed out to a lounge called Johnson's. They were playing a lot of techno music so the boys told the DJ it was my birthday and he announced it and started playing American music instead haha! So we all danced and made fun of each other cause we're all terrible, and had a wonderful time!
When we got back we had a wonderful disney sing a long for about an hour and a half. What better way to celebrate my birthday than disney music in India?! It was kind of silly on our parts to have done this the night before our 7 hr trek :/ Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep but we all were at breakfast by 8 and left at 9 am. We trekked an INSANE mountain! It was so steep we had to take breaks every 10 minutes because no one could breathe! It was the most crazy work out my poor body has ever taken on. And the view was of course gorgeous. We hiked up to a spot that overlooked Manali which was awesome. We had dinner at Bella Vista in Old Manali which was really funny cause the seating arrangements consist of cushions and couches so we all just fell asleep! Haha
When we came back to the hotel, everyone took showers and I brought my computer out to the tables outside. The boys surprised me with 2 vegan almond honey cakes!!! Oh my goodness I was so surprised! It was so sweet of them to do that, I can't imagine how long it took to hunt something like that down. Everyone sang happy birthday and then I made Mili sing it in Hindi! It was really exciting and the cake was so delicious! I ate 3 pieces...
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