Kodaikanal and Projects

The past few days have been crazy (isn’t this how I start off every blog?). We spent them in the mountains, part of the Western Ghats, in Kodaikanal, and finishing working on our proposals for our projects.

1-On the way to the mountains I swear we almost died at least twice. First of all, the traffic is nuts here. Again, I feel like it is because the volume of people. The only road signs I have seen (granted, most are in Tamil, which I can’t read) say ‘go slow’ and that’s it. People pass, go on the wrong side of the road, turn-whatever goes, just about whenever. Also, there is never really an open spot to turn onto the opposite side of the road, so you normally just drive into traffic and hope they slow down. With that said—that type of traffic whipping around a mountain was a little scary. At one point we were going down the mountain and a big bus was coming up, but we didn’t see it and when we turned the corner we had to basically stop right away because we either had to run into the bus, go into a cemented off hole, or go off the other side of the mountain. You just honk when you are approaching a corner to let someone know you are coming, and sometimes other people do, sometimes not. Also, I learned that if someone coming towards you flashes their lights it means to not go on the wrong side of the road to pass someone because there is a large vehicle coming. Sometimes though, all of the traffic will fill up the road and everyone will be going the same way. Olivia was on skype the other night and she said she could hear honking. I was inside a nice hotel, past midnight, when the roads aren’t as busy…. That’s how loud the traffic is.

2-On our way up and down the mountain there were monkeys everywhere. They would be on the road or just sitting on the side of the road. One monkey was, ironically, a cleft lip monkey, which our doctor had seen before. I think they were bonnet macaque monkeys: http://www.vigyanprasar.gov.in/Planetearth/K.A.Subramanian/images/Bonnet%20Macaque.jpg. One of the girls in our group got out her video camera to video tape it and it jumped on her the minute she started to tape it. A bunch of other girls walked up to some other monkeys and they started mating.

3-Kodaikanal is the town we went to see the mountains. Here is a waterfall we saw on the way: http://www.maduraitourstravels.com/images/kodai.JPG and here is a view of the lake we stayed on: http://getaway2india.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/kodaikanal.jpg. We were behind the green building on the lake.

4-When we got to the lake, we went around shopping etc. and they were selling, what I would have called field corn. They charred it on a grill and then sold it. It looked exactly like our field corn, so I asked Uma (our doctor) what it was and he convinced me to get one. It was very good, actually, but I told him how soft our sweet corn is.

5-Male to female contact in public is forbidden. It is not uncommon, however, to see males holding males hands or vice versa with women. It has no sexual meaning whatsoever.

6-I think I forgot to tell you this earlier. When we went to Marina beach, there was this guy that must have followed us back to the bus. Once we all got inside (like 30 or more of us) he just stood outside of the bus on the other side of the street and stared inside the bus. When he would catch one of our eyes, he would lick his lips or do something flirty. At first it was funny, but then he started to adjust himself, and then he unbuttoned his pants. That’s when the bus curtains closed. Weird.

7-Once again, I got really excited for an American meal on the way out of the mountains. On a menu at a café it had a section for hot dogs and they had veggie dogs!! I immediately ordered one, but when I got it, it was steamed red and green peppers and onions on a long bun…none of which I like. I was so excited, anyways, that I warfed it down. Uma said they don’t have hot dogs here, as I learned.

8-Everyone here trying to sell stuff to me on the streets says ‘Madaam Madaam’ and then tries to sell me something. If you stop walking on the streets, you are such an easy target.

9-On the way back from the mountains I saw two men who looked like they have rickets, one biking and one walking with a cane. I thought it was from Vit D deficiency and more common in children, but apparently lack in calcium (could be from diarrhea) causes it too. This is what it looked like: http://www.humanillnesses.com/original/images/hdc_0001_0003_0_img0220.jpg. The legs were bowed and the men were either biking or walking on the side of their feet. Which reminds me: remember when I told one of you that goiters are fashionable in some developing countries? I learned today that iodine deficiency is common here too. Here is what a goiter looks like, though I haven’t seen any: http://saysomethingfunny.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/goiter.jpg. Iodine is important for your thyroid gland, so it causing swelling with deficiencies.

10- We ate at a really nice hotel when we were in Kodaikanal. After the meal, we were given a tray full of fennels, sugar, and betel nuts. The fennels looked like dried grass, but tasted minty and the betel nuts were these red things that I didn’t eat. Apparently, they are very common and contain nicotine. One of my friends said that a lot of people chew them and that’s why people have brown/red teeth. All along I thought it was bleeding gums from poor dental hygiene. Nice to know.

11-English is used a lot here. Many words are spelled differently though: program=programme, center=centre, behavior=behaviour, merry (as in merry Christmas) I have seen as merri, gynecology=gyneacology, etc.

12-I learned in the meeting with the Aparajitha foundation (which was developed to help teach children life skills that aren’t taught in the classroom, like hygiene, communication, etc) that…

-it is polite to stand up when someone of higher status enters the room. (In that case, I should always be standing)

-interruption is common and shows interest

-people show concern by asking personal questions. The example he gave is that someone might ask you if you are married and your age. If you say no and they think you should be married at your age they will ask why you don’t have a husband yet. The lady in gynecology said that some girls get married at 15, but legally I think it is 18 for girls and 21 for boys! Different for different sexes!

-Noise is common for fun and excitement, but may seem overwhelming to us

-People are very uncomfortable with receiving compliments or gifts. I think he brought this up because there was a module over it.

13-Here is the website for the hospital I am working with. Dr. Sethuraman is the one on the front page and the one who accompanied us around Madurai a few days ago. I will also be working with the Mahasemam women, women that receive microfinance loans. http://www.mahasemam.org/client.html is the website where you can see what the women have done with their loans.

14- I saw this much more in Chennai, but some babies wear these diamond thong things and that’s it.

15-I still don’t have a camera. The one I have doesn’t hold charge and I have tried to go out twice to buy one, but the first time I didn’t know I could use my credit card, and the second they were closed. It sucks!

16-The cows seem so happy and tame here. It is because of the ideas of reincarnation of Hinduism, I think. They will walk calmly down the side of or on the road and have cars/motorcycles/rickshaws honk and whip around them and never blink an eye. We saw one cow on the way down the mountain that looked like it had fallen and twisted its neck weird and couldn’t get up. It was disturbing. I was surprised people weren’t more concerned.

17-People on the streets must get paid if they bring you into people’s shops. There has been the same guy for the past few days that tries to convince us to go into different places.

18-Incense is burned everywhere—shops, temples. There are also places to adorn gods everywhere, including in the hospital. The aravind eye clinic had a meditation room too. People buy the garlands around my neck in my facebook profile picture and put them on gods.

19- The trek back from the mountains seemed to be a more dangerous than usual because a lot of people had grains/plants spread out on the road sorting and working them. You would just have to swerve around them. There was also tons of laundry being done in bodies of water and being hung out to dry on the way down, because it was Sunday. It was actually very pretty! I wonder if that is how they do the laundry at my hotel, because it comes back with a very unique smell.

20-There was a man (whom I would have presumed homeless, but after my talk with Uma, who knows!) that was sitting on the street that was yelling something at us as we walked by. I usually have a hard time digesting what they say, so it took me a few seconds to realize he had said “marijuana, marijuana, want to smoke marijuana?” The other two girls with me just looked at each other….

21-New Years is a big deal here. Decorations are put up everywhere and beautiful sand designs are made on the floors of entrances of different buildings. We saw one shop on the side of the road that had written ‘Happy New Year 2010’ in the oranges and apples that were stacked.

22-I am learning to listen to people more and not get so excited with what is going on in my mind. I feel like the people here listen so well and are very relaxed.

23- Two people in the other group went to the hospital and a lot of the people in our group are sick too. We got a bunch of oral rehydration packets at the hospital today. I still haven’t had the slightest problems (except for a little motion sickness in this traffic). I will pray that it stays that way!!

24-There is a lot of construction going on at the hospital and we noticed many people were working barefoot. People were barefoot and had cloths wrapped around their waist in a situation that people in the states would have steel-toed shoes, jeans, etc. on. The hard hats they were wearing had a flat part on the top to carry things on their head with. Lots of women carry bags/buckets/baskets etc. on their head.

25-There is a leper colony that we are going to visit later this week. There are 300 people quarantined there. I have no idea what I’m in for, I know.

26- I wish I could come back here after medical school. My background is in chemistry and biology and physiology, not so much in epidemiology-which would be VERY helpful to my adventure here. I feel sub par to the epidemiology students, but I guess everyone is here with different backgrounds.

27- I am working on my project, which is final now. Essentially, I, with my friend Emily, will be developing a ‘flip book’ to inform women of rural areas of what cervical and breast cancer is, what preventative measures are available, and why it is important to long-term health. Sounds so very simple, but it really isn’t. First, only 60% of the women in Mahasemam are literate and I don’t think any of them speak English. Therefore, our flipbook will be mostly pictures and will be translated into Tamil. We will also have a translator there. Also, there are a lot of barriers that keep women from getting preventative care (pap smears/mammograms etc), such as cultural (not acceptable/scary to these women to have someone to do a vaginal/breast examination), social (they do not want to have anyone know there is something wrong with them, not even there husbands. Our doctor said when he does camps (they use, basically a bus that has hospital equipment in it, and go to rural areas) he calls them women’s health camps instead, because women wouldn’t come if it said ‘pap smear, cervical cancer screening, etc in the name) financial, and simply being uneducated about it. Only 50% of women in rural areas know have heard of cancer. We will be educating them about the screening procedures, easing their anxieties about the screenings, why it is important, how to so self-breast exams, and more. We will also teach the village nurses how to teach women using our flipbook so that she can educate other women in her village. The gynecologist said that most women in rural areas feel more comfortable with going to their village health nurse. If we have time we will be making a poster (not sure which ideas we will put on it yet) for rural clinics.

28- I felt very discouraged today when I went to talk to the gynecologist. All of the answers I was expecting were not what I got and it was very difficult for me to understand her. I am trying to remember that she is coming from a clinical view where the doctor that is with us, Uma, is coming from a public health view, so they see the way women approach reproductive health to be very different. I have a lot to accomplish tonight, so I am going to go continue to work on the book and getting more logistics hammered out.

29-Thank god for family, health, food, and a home. They are all so so precious. Also remember that every person in this world helps it to function and that every person is important in their own way. I think these are the two most important things I have learned so far while here.

-Last, I’m sorry if skype is doing weird things. I don’t know what’s up with it, but I will continue to try to talk to you all back homeJ

P.S. It’s been a solid 85 degrees the whole time we have been here!

Love you all!