Vegan? ... Last day at the hospital :(

I am ashamed to say that after almost a year of a strict diet, I have given in here in India. This was not by choice at first, but with the language barrier and not being able to cook meals for myself, it has become a daily issue. The cooks at the hotel prepare 3 meals a day for us which, unbeknownst to myself, have contained milk and butter.

We also caused some concern in the community when we didn't accept the drinks and food that were offered, therefore, I have given up on my principles. If the option is there to eat vegan, I will take it. BUT I will accept chai when offered.

Yesterday was our last day at the hospital unfortunately. I will probably spend some more time there independently in our last week, once we're back from Jibhi. We did rounds in the morning and then we sat in with the doctors in OPD. The others left for lunch at 1 but I decided to stay until class. 

I saw a baby that had almost blonde hair which was quite fascinating and even more so when I discovered that was a sign of malnutrition. Sooo I did a little research.

http://www.keratin.com/as/as011.shtml

I also learned how to look at an x-ray and which way to hold it. It only took about 10 x-rays before I finally remembered what the parts were called. Americans...

Around 2, Dr. Parvesh took me into what I thought was going to be a delivery. She was only dilated 6 inches, so she had a little while to go. Going back to my recognizing people entry, I had seen the woman several times before in the hospital. That was really neat. 

Well then I learned how to put on sterile gloves, which is apparently much harder than I had originally thought. I had also thought he was joking when he asked if I would like to give a pelvic exam...

Apparently that wasn't a joke because I did! And it was an amazing experience. 

Perhaps I will get my chance to see a baby born in real life versus the hundreds of videos I have had to watch for classes.
During this, the others in my group were in surgery. This one was on a young boy and I had no interest in getting upset. If I wasn't sure before, I am definitely sure now that I could never be a surgeon. His dad kept crying which was the hardest part to watch. As Allison and I frequently say, those father-child relationships hit home a little too hard. 

Speaking of, FINALLY got my phone working so now I can make/receive phone calls. I called my dad which was really nice :)

Well then I headed back to the hotel for class, had dinner, and then we all went back out to Johnson's. There was a private Israeli dance going on there but apparently it was okay for us to join, so we did. It was really fun but I got tired very quickly. I came back to the hotel and fell right to sleep.

This morning our trek with Dr. Tashi fell through so instead we all hung around, took a scenic path up to Old Manali, lounged around at Dylan's. When I decided to walk back, I was stopped about 6 times by people asking for a picture with me. I usually just say no now, which I guess one guy didn't like since he first told me I was sweet and then told me I was "strange looking"...

I suppose being strange looking is better than looking like everyone else, as I do in America.

Now I'm back at the hotel. Bored. Wanting to do something productive other than reading up on anatomy and pre-med requirements. Is that productive?

Tonight I am "hosting" karaoke at Drifters in Old Manali haha I think that means I will be the only one singing. This should be very interesting. When we went in last week, the owner told me if I agreed, he would advertise. And that he did. We saw posters hanging up at Dylan's and a few shops during the walk. 

I'm not ready to leave.
Perhaps someone will put me up for an extra month...