What Dreams May Come..

An incredible summer in India

2006-07-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

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

2006-07-07T03:47:00.000-07:00

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..

2006-07-01T02:12:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-29T02:54:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-26T02:34:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-06-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-18T06:59:00.000-07:00

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!

It's pretty hot

2006-06-12T04:45:00.000-07:00

So, I arrived safely in Tamil Nadu..

As I pulled up to the Trichy bus station at 4:45 am, I woke up from some bad sleep and could not find my chappels, so I got off the bus barefoot with all of my bags and took a rickshaw to Dr. Deike's house.

I stayed at Deike's house for a couple of days. They are a very nice German family who have started the International Animal Rescue shelter here. I played with the many kids at the house. The two small children have lots of Indian friends who always come to play at their house. It's been great!

Today I moved into the hotel Anaandh in Trichy (the bigger city area). I'm going to be on my own now, taking the busy buses to the shelter each morning and coming back in the early evening (4:45 pm). It is a new experience being so independent in a very populated place, learning the bus schedule, and finding my way in a place where almost no one seems to know any other language but Tamil. Not even Hindi.

It has been extremely hot here! Today, I took the bus for the first time to the rescue shelter and walked around for 2 hrs from the last bus station to find the shelter building. I was walking in the blazing sun and it was about 45 degrees Celsius today. This road had almost nothing on it, just farmers, cattle, and goats for miles. Thankfully I found the place and got some water.

I realize it is so much better to wash my clothes by hand frequently, instead of waiting until half the wardrobe needs washing. Time to go back to the hotel. Thankfully I have a tv as well so I can watch world cup futbol. Go brazil!

I am getting very dark!

And on to Trichy, Tamil Nadu

2006-06-08T01:30:00.000-07:00

I am leaving for Trichy tomorrow afternoon. I cannot believe that my time here in Kerala is almost over for this summer. It has been one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. Before I go, I want to close with a few things I have learned.

One thing I think we take for granted (at least I have) is the ability to communicate with people (friends, family, etc..) so easily. In America it is so easy to understand and carry on a conversation. Here in Kerala it has been a little bit more "interesting" than that. Sometimes the person doesn't speak very good English, so I find myself cutting out extraneous words like "is" or "and" sometimes. Basically, only stating the words in the sentence that carry the most meaning to what I am trying for the person to understand. Other times, the person doesn't speak english at all, so I have used more hand jestures (pointing, number of fingers, etc..) to communicate. Sometimes, a simple smile or a laugh conveys 1000 words and a common understanding is met. Communication here has not been too difficult, but it does make you appreciate the ability to talk quickly and using a lot of new age slang with friends back home.

Every day I walk to the Kovalam Junction for a meal, etc, I always say hi to everyone. The village people sitting in their houses are so nice and love to say hi and ask you to come talk. One house in particular has two girls (about 18 and 19 years of age) and they are very nice to me. I can't remember a single time I have walked by without them running to the door to wave or yell "HALLO" or "BYEEE BYEEE!" The other day I was walking (conveniently wearing a banyan) and stopped to talk to one of them. Her name is Chyma and she loves to watch cricket and loves the Kerala Hero, Mohan Lal. Her mother came to the door as well, but she doesn't speak any English. Then...the girl said..."Are you Marriage??" (meaning, are you married) and I said, "No, no marriage." After that she turned to her mother and they both giggled. It was pretty funny for all of us I think. Many girls there are constantly on the lookout for boys to marry around here. It is very different than in America...or is it???

I walked to a nearby lake the other day with my friends Linnea and Lal. Linnea is another volunteer here who is originally from Sweden. It was a lovely lake and you can see it from the roof of Avis Lyons house. There were some very small boys swimming and playing the water and I took some videos. It was priceless to see the boys run out of the water to me to see the video. They all watched the videos and laughed and wanted me to keep taking videos so that they could do it again. The look on their faces was just wonderful...they couldn't have been much happier.

Today I took a vitural 20 min tour of the whole Animal Rescue Kerala Shelter. I am currently transferring all of my pictures and videos to give copies to some of the staff members (Dr. Arun, Avis Lyons, Lal, etc..). I have had a very good experience here and it's sad to leave. I am going to be catching a bus tomorrow at 6 pm to Trichy...

Dr. Sequeira at work

The lake in the evening

Cute little "putty cootie" (puppy).

Trips to Trivandrum

2006-06-04T02:13:00.000-07:00

The past few days have been very, very busy. I think all of the days now are just a blur and it is difficult to remember what happened on what day! Maybe that is a good thing :)

Two days ago, my friend Lal took me to Trivandrum on his motor bike because we had to get some misc stuff done there in the morning. Trivandrum can be very dirty compared to Kovalum, just because of the large population of people and the pollution. That morning we stopped at a small restaurant where he and I beasted two bowls of mutton curry and porotta! It was simply amazing. I can't remember when the last time I had such a spicy breakfast was, but thankfully my stomach has been a lot stronger than I thought it would be since I have been in India. Hope it stays like that! I have to thank my dad for that one, since he always cooks extremely spicy curries at home.

Later that afternoon I booked my bus ticket for Trichy. I originally wanted to get a train ticket, but the trains are quite booked this time of the year. I was put on a waitlist (no. 42) for the Non AC train, but I decided not to take it and to just reserve a coach bus. I will be leaving on June 9th for a 10 hr trip to Trichy. Hopefully after a good nap and some sight seeing I will meet Dr. Deike Schacht at her home and learn more about the animal rescue shelter where I will be volunteering for 2 weeks.

For now, I am really enjoying my stay here in Kerala. Avis, Dr. Arun, Saritha, Lal, and the rest of the workers have been very welcoming and have been teaching me a lot about how the center is run each day. Avis works very hard trying to organize everything like the workers wages, having enough supplies, animal food, and also walking and taking care of many of the animals herself. I respect the staff here a lot for the hard work they put in each day to make these dogs and cats lives worthwhile, especially in such a place where people have enough to worry about as far as jobs and family income.

Yesterday was a pretty busy day. Lal and I went to Trivandrum and visited Adi's Grandfather. It took a little while to find the place, but we finally pulled up to the house where it was written "Additya" on the right side of the gate. I sat and chatted with him for about an hour and had a few snacks and it was nice knowing that I was able to see Adi's grandfather so many miles away from where we live in America. After helping out in the center throughout the morning and spending some time in Trivandrum in the afternoon, Avis, Lal, Linnea (another volunteer from Sweden), and I went to go see The Da Vinci Code in Trivandrum at 6;30 pm. This theater was absolutely amazing. I actually haven't been to a theater this large in America before. We had some nice seats in the balcony and I really enjoyed the movie.

I have taken about 200 pictures so far and 15 movies (some 3 mins long). My favorite movie is the one I took on the back of the motorbike through the city of Trivandrum. Since I decided to take my pictures at 5 MP instead of 8 MP, my 1 gb SD memory card has been doing extremely well for me. I can take about 150 more pictures on it and I have another card in my main bookbag for Tamil Nadu and Goa. I'll post the pictures later. That's all for now. Tata

Each day is a new experience

2006-05-31T01:00:00.000-07:00

The other day I was walking a dog down the street and I walked passed a man walking a goat down the street the other way (also with a leash). We just sort of looked at each other with a funny face. That's something you don't see everyday!

Things have been going very well here. Each day I find myself a lot closer and more comfortable communicating with the other locals and volunteers. Recently, however, we have had some problems with people trying to kill dogs and so I've been helping Avis run around and see what we can do to stop it.

Three days ago there was a dog fight on the beach and some people were said to be stoning the animals. We ended up talking to all of the restaurant managers so that they could inform us of another event like this in the future. We also captured 3 dogs (1 with bite wounds) and brought it back the shelter for treatments and rabies vaccinations.

Yesterday, Aseeb and I went to a beach about 45 km away to look for a dog named Ruby that was dumped there about a week ago. We looked for 2 hrs and could not find it, so we will be going back there today to see if we can find it. Some people can be very cruel here. Hopefully with our efforts we can try to change this in the next few years. Since this shelter opened (as I have been told), there have been many changes in the laws here and also people have been getting much better with showing more respect for the animals.

As for the A.R.K. shelter itself, I can tell that it has progressed rapidly over the past three years since its birth.

First days in Kovalam, Kerala

2006-05-25T01:56:00.000-07:00

The one thing I always look forward to when being in an airplane is the food! Gosh, I don't think there is anything better than getting served some mutton biriyani by a pretty Indian lady. Not once, but like 3 times on my many flights across the globe :)

So after a 40 hour journey of flights and waiting endless hours in the Mumbai domestic airport reading Angela's Ashes, I finally arrived in Trivandrum, Kerala...where animal rescue shelter owner, Avis Lyons, met me at the airport and took me to the animal shelter. To describe this state of India in one word...I would have to say that it is "beautiful!" I am finally getting used to the heat, but it has actually rained a good bit, which has helped cool it down somewhat. I love looking out of the house here and seeing nothing but palm trees and mango trees! It actually seems very similar to Goa.

Thankfully I slept here and there on the planes so that I was not really affected by jetlag. The next morning I spent about 10 hrs at the animal shelter, which is just across the road from the visitor center in which I am residing. This place is a dreamland to me! I never thought people in India could take so much care for animals. This place was started about 4 years back to help reduce the population of street animals by sterilizing dogs and cats. From the few days I have been here I have witnessed this and much more. In the mornings the dog catchers will go out on the streets and find animals that have not been sterilized (as seen by the lack of a tatoo or a clipping of the left ear). They bring the animal back to the shelter, where Arun (the veterinarian) spays or neuters it and gives the appropriate vaccinations. Once the dog has been sterilized and is in good health, it is returned to the street in which it was found (the specific streets are documented when the animals is caught, so that it can be returned to that same location). I have been helping him a lot during the surgeries already and observing the main differences between surgical procedures as compared to in the states. Also, I was surprised at the food that the animals are given. In the mornings, a huge pot of rice, cooked with tomatoes, beans, and cabbage, is prepared. Also, eggs are half boiled and fish is cooked. This food is so cutely given to the animals in thalis all over the compound!

One of the most priceless aspects of the rescue shelter is that when you walk in the front gate you are attacked by about 20 dogs who just want to jump on you and lick you. These are all dogs that have been saved from the streets and medicated. The puppies are kept upstairs and are constantly monitored for viruses, infections, and also to make sure that they are eating right. Most of them are given bread soaked in milk, as well as dog biscuits and bones.

To tell you the truth, I could keep on writing for days with the amount I have learned thus far and the aspirations I have for the next couple of weeks.

Oh yeah, I live for the food here! I've been eating masala dosas, idles, biriyanis, and much more! Those of you that know how I eat Indian food will understand.

I will try to visit this internet cafe on the main road (about 20 minutes walk from the shelter) a few more times so that I can keep writing to you all. Right now, I'm going to get some Naan and Sada Dosa from Flora's Restaurant down the street and walk back to the animal shelter to help with the last canine neuter operation. Tata.

Last night in Chicago

2006-05-20T22:11:00.000-07:00

So yeah, I am leaving for India tomorrow! This week has just flown by. It was great spending time in Chicago with my mom and brother, but now...it's time to experience a wonderful summer in India. I've actually been studying a good bit and sending a lot of e-mails to different people that I am staying with this summer.

My flight departs at 9:30 pm tomorrow from Chicago O'Hare, so I'm going to get to the airport around 6:30 pm (very early for international flights). I will be traveling to London (Heathrow Airport) and then taking that same plane to Mumbai, India. From there I will get a ride to the domestic airport and then fly out to Trivandrum, Kerala in the afternoon. I'm supposed to be meeting the owner of the Animal Rescue Kerala Shelter, Avis Lyons, at the airport! It's gonna be fun! Wish me luck

The night before Chicago

2006-05-11T18:30:00.000-07:00

Ummm, yeah...
The more and more I think about the next couple of months, the more excited and scared I get. Excited, because I know I am going to have the time of my life. I just love India so much. I know I am going to enjoy the food and the scenary! The special thing about this trip is that I get to do something I love at the same time; take care of animals. I really can't wait to see the dogs and cats at many of these animal shelters as well as water buffalo and even pigs in Tamil Nadu and Goa!!! For now, however, I have so many things to take care of...passports, visas, boarding passes, laundry, having an adaptor for the voltage differences, umbrella for monsoons!?!?! There's a lot to do and I really can't forget anything.

One thing I've been kinda scared about lately is being in India by myself. Yeah, it's one thing being with your family (parents that speak fluent english, hindi, arabic, konkani, swahili, etc..). However, I speak English...and yeah, that's about it (I don't count my three semesters of spanish). I know that the people I am working with will be very helpful so I should be okay.

Tomorrow I fly to Chicago. My plane leaves Charlotte at 7:55 pm. I guess this is the start of the 10 week journey! Okay...well back to packing, wish me luck.

To India I will go

2006-05-09T14:57:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,
Here is a blog that I've started to help me document my trip to India this summer as well as let you all know what I'm doing. I'll keep you posted on my crazy journey into Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa, and Mumbai with "marlon" stories and lots of pictures. Right now I'm just sitting in my kitchen in the states, but I'm leaving for Chicago on May 12th and then for India on May 21st. Soon to come..