An incredible summer in India

After staying up until 4 am my last morning in Bombay, catching a taxi to the airport, two 9 hr flights (through Frankfurt, Germany), due to delays - missing my connecting flight to Charlotte, NC, taking an extra flight to Philadelphia, due to more delays - missing my next flight to Raleigh, NC at 11 pm, sleeping in the airport on the floor near my gate, taking the first flight out to Raleigh at 6:30 am, getting a stomach virus, and getting picked up at the airport (where they lost one of my bags) early in the morning, I finally reached UNC Chapel Hill.

Besides the return trip, this summer experience was one of the best I've ever had in my life. It's unexplainable how much I learned both medically and culturally. Through this amazing journey, I've learned a lot about myself in the process. When I look back, it feels like a dream; one that I still can’t believe came true.

I learned about hundreds of ways in which Indian veterinary medicine is different. Some people believe that they do not have the right equipment or technology to decently practice medicine in many rural areas, but I learned it is much more about motivation and attitude. I met some amazing veterinarians that put their heart and soul into what they do, and personally make it a successful practice. Whether they continued a surgery with no lights during a power outage or they disinfected a butterfly catheter by autoclaving it (just because there was no money to buy a new one for each animal), it was turned into a successful procedure and an animal was treated. I hope to better myself from what I’ve learned in the advent of the next chapter in my life.

Until school starts, I will be busy completing my veterinary school applications as well as studying for the G.R.E.

God bless

amazing haircut

I decided to get a haircut this morning. After breakfast I walked down to the hair dresser shop and asked for a regular haircut. This guy was just amazing. After he cut my hair with insane speed and accuracy, he asked if I wanted him to shave my beard as well. At this point I just said, "Sure.." In the next 10 mins, I got the cleanest shave I've ever had in my life! After that was over, I asked him to rub coconut oil in my hair. This was where the fun started. He then began rubbing coconut oil in my hair and asked if I wanted a head massage. I said once again, "Sure!!" For the next 30 minutes I got the best massage ever. He rubbed that coconut oil in my hair and massaged my neck and my back. The other 3 people in the shop were laughing because they saw how much I was enjoying it. I actually fell asleep for a good 10 mins because it was like I was floating on a cloud the whole time. In the end, about an hour after I entered the shop..he said, "50 rupees please." Wow, it's amazing how good of a job they do with haircuts in India.

Me, after my intense one hour experience..

A few more pics from Goa:

Meeting Supriya in Panjim, near the river where the Ferry Boat crosses from Betim to Panjim.

At the Assagao International Animal Rescue Shelter. Helping to treat sick/injured cows and calves.

Our lovely, Saligao village church lit up at night.

One of the Saligao village roads, leading up to Uncle Allen's house.

Another small road leading to Uncle Allen's house.

Crossing on the ferry boat (to Panjim).

Palm trees near the church.

Visiting Dr. Ravi's family.


Also...I've put the other 350 on facebook so check it out.

time just flies..

Yesterday, after a lovely journey on a city bus from Saligao to Betim, a ferry across the river from Betim to Panjim, and another city bus to Campal, I visited Supriya and her family in the Geetanjali building. It was the most beautiful ride being on the ferry boat and I took a lot of pictures :) We ate at this nice restaurant (mutton masala of course, chicken, paneer tikka, mmmmmmm). At first, it was funny seeing someone else from America and Supriya definitely noticed that I talk like an typical Indian kid now. My sentence structure is completely different and I automatically shake my head when I talk to anyone or agree to something. I'm sure it will wear off after a week back in the States.

Tomorrow, the bishop is coming to our Saligao Church and my little cousins are singing for mass. I'll be going to the church early and spending a few hours there meeting people that I haven't seen in years. For lunch I will be visiting Dr. Ravi and his family. I haven't seen the two children (23 and 27 years old) in a long time and now they are both basically doctors themselves.

The time is just flying by around here, but I am enjoying everybit of my stay. I definitely love Goa :)

Family and Animal Rescue

Goa has been incredible thus far! I am getting one of the best experiences here in the clinic. I have been working for only three days at the Assagao animal rescue facility and I've already done so much. The other day, I was basically in charge of giving all of the post surgical injections (ivermectin, enrofloxacin, meloxicam, and benzathine) and also helped a lot with pre anaesthesia. For the first time in my life I also put in the trachea tube! It was awesome. It is a lot of fun helping with the out patient cases (OPD) and I've been learning a lot about different treatment methods and why certain medications have been administered. There are many differences between Indian and American methods which I've noticed repeatedely.

There are 6 veterinarians that work here and 3 nurses. The total staff is very large, because they also have many kennel assistants and cooks, etc.. They do about 15 sterilizations a day here, along with 10-20 out patient cases.

I've also been visiting a lot of family and it's been wonderful. I am staying with my Uncle Allen, Aunt Henrietta, and cousin Neil. However, I've had the chance to see many other relations including Aunty Theresa, Bertha, Olive, Muriel, Eric, and cousins Avito and Ashwin! The days are filled with hard work at the clinic (usually 9 am - 5:30 pm) and the nights with visiting family, eating awesome food, lifting weights, and studying a little for the G.R.E.).

Gosh, there is so much to talk about but I will have to end this entry, because I need to catch a bus back to my home village...SALIGAO :)

From Bangalore to Goa

After 26 hrs of buses, I have finally reached Goa..

After taking my 10 pm bus from Trichy, Tamil Nadu...I finally reached Bangalore around 6 am. I spent about 12 hrs in Bangalore just walking around and eating in a few restaurants. It's a really beautiful place. At 5:45 pm I caught my bus to Goa and reached at 11 am to the capital, Panjim.

What can I say...I LOVE GOA!!! :) They have redone a lot of the roads and buildings here, because of the large number of tourists mostly. It's such a beautiful place. I really love the spanish/portuguese architecture seen in most of the buildings and homes here, which makes it quite different than the rest of India. Can't wait to enjoy some fish curry!

I have uploaded most of my pictures on facebook, so you can check it out.

Pictures!

So, I finally got to transfer some of my pictures to a small memory key, because most of the internet cafe computers here don't have CD ROM drives. I decided to use this entry to just show you some pictures, the first few are from Kerala. Here ya go..

My bedroom at the visitor's center (Animal Rescue Kerala). I really love the palm trees in Kerala.

Mani cooking rice for all of the dogs. Yes, that good lookin' meal is for the many dogs in the compound, not for us!

A view of the kennels from the balcony of the puppy house. A full row of new kennels can be seen on the left. These are much cooler for the dogs and slightly more elevated.

Playing with a few of the dogs. I'm holding Susy and I think Bruno is getting jealous!

On the roof of Avis Lyon's house. It's a beautiful view and the dogs love hangin' out up here too.

Here's the girl that asked if I was married (in the middle). Her mom is sitting on the floor. Also, the cute little girl on the right always asked for a school pen everytime I walked by her house to go to the main road, so I finally got her a black pen two days before I left. She was so happy, it was great!

The beautiful Kovalam Beach in the afternoon.

A few pictures from Tamil Nadu:

My hotel. It's not the greatest hotel, but it's near the Central Bus Station and that is very convenient for transportation.

The "children" watching some world cup futbol at Dr. Deike's house. I think Brazil was winning, ahemmmm.

Now that's a good 'ol South Indian Paper Masala Dosa!

A nice Christian Church in Trichy, Tamil Nadu.

Picture from inside Rockfort Temple.

A gorgeous picture of the city of Trichy, taken from the Rockfort Temple.

Loading up some Thiopentone for the next sterilization surgery.

Well, that's all for now. 3 more days in Tamil Nadu, then on to Bangalore and Goa.

Rockfort Temple and more

It's been over a week since I've been here in Trichy. The animal shelter work is going really well. Each day I usually help check the animals and give appropriate medications (tablets, skin sprays, antibiotics, etc..). Then we begin the sterilizations. Here, we usually do 8-10 sterilizations each day (spays/castrations of dogs mostly). I have been assisting the veterinarians with injecting the pre-anaesthesia, pre-operations (shaving operations area, betadine scrubs, alcohol scrubs), and during the surgery administering NS (sodium chloride) drip speed, giving more Thiopentone injection when needed, checking the animals color for oxygen monitoring, etc.. It's an important job to secure the animal's condition here considering no inhalant anaesthesia is used. This is the same as it was in Kerala. Due to cost, only Xylazine is given IV and Atropine is used as well. During the operation, Thiopentone is used to prolong the anaesthetic effects. The work has been a lot of fun and the staff is great. Dr. Padthma is the other veterinarian, Sivamani is the nurse, and Anuda is the driver. It is a small, but very efficient and fun staff to work with so far.

I also have been helping Anuda release dogs, because sometimes it is a difficult task to use the dog catcher and operate the sliding door at the same time. The other day, we released 10 dogs to their respected areas. They seemed extremely happy to get out of the van!

Today, being Sunday, there was no work to do at the clinic. Sivamoni, Anuda, and I decided to go see the Rockfort Temple. After about 500 steps, we got to the top and it was an amazing view of the whole city of Trichy. I took a bunch of pics which I will upload soon. The best part of the day was on the way back down the stairs when we were receiving our chappels back, we saw the temple elephant. We all took 5 rupees out and stood in line. I felt so great as I gave the elephant the money (grabbing it with his trunk and leaving a little slobber in my hand) and then he blessed me on top of my head with his trunk!

This is my last week here in Trichy. Friday evening (the 23rd) I am taking a bus to Bangalore (leaving 10 pm and reaching 6 am). I decided to stay in Bangalore for a little while, because I remember how beautiful it was as a child. Now it will be great to see as a grown up (well, big child). On Saturday evening (24th) I will take a bus to Panaji, Goa (leaving at 10 pm and reaching 5:30 am). Now, it's time to see Brazil kick some butt!