More Mumbai Fun
Well, as usual, a lot has happened since the last post. After our adventures in South Mumbai, we came back to the hotel, and Jesse and I just chilled downstairs, had some Tandoori Chicken, and smoked the hookah (see Jesse's note on this, yes, I know, it's smoking and it's bad, but it's also India, and it was a cool cultural experience). It was great to just hang out and chat for a while, as everything has been pretty fast paced so far. Relaxing and doing nothing has been a rare commodity, and it was definitely nice to relax and shoot the shit for a while. Again, to echo what Jesse said, he and I make a great travel pair, as neither of us gets too worked up about things, and we can hang out and get along pretty much stress-free. There are other great kids in the program, too, but sometimes people get a little too excited, and it's nice to have the chance to get away from all of the hustle and bustle.
Anyway, yesterday we moved to the university dorms, where we'll be staying until the end of the program here in Mumbai. The dorms are nice, although not quite as nice as the hotel we've been at. We have A/C, though, and we get breakfast, lunch, and dinner cooked for us. The food is good, and still no GI problems. The mattresses have the softness of a block of concrete, but whatever, at least we're not sleeping under a tarp on the shoulder of the highway. My roommate for the next few weeks is a guy named Marcus from North Carolina who seems like a very chill dude. So far so good with the living situation.
After coming over to the dorms yesterday, we had our orientation for the program. I'm in a group for clinical rotations with Jesse and 5 other dudes, along with a girl named Sarah who goes to med school in Ireland. Anyway, during orientation, we were waiting for the program director to come over to talk to our group, so we decided to go outside to kick around the hackey sack (thanks Lindsay, this thing rules!). No more than 2 minutes after starting to kick it around, about 15 kids descended upon us with their soccer ball. They were so excited to meet us, and they kept wanting high fives and asking us our names. Ultimately, we decided that we would play soccer with them, and it ended up being Jesse, Marcus, and me against the entire crew of kids. I think the kids won, although I don't remember. I ended up looking like an idiot because I was trying to dribble past a 5 year old kid, and I slipped and fell onto the concrete (yes, I got schooled by a 5 year old). All the kids were so sweet, asking me if I was ok, etc. Of course, I was fine, it was just a hilarious moment. I got some pics of us with the kids, which I'll post later when I have a better internet connection. This was definitely the most fun I've had on this trip so far.
After a chill night last night and a good night's sleep, I got up at about 7:30 today for breakfast before heading out to our first clinical rotation. We started out at Acworth Leprosy Hospital, where we arrived today at around 10:00. As it turns out, there aren't a whole lot of patients there anymore, and it's really more of a leprosy museum. It used to be a huge leper colony, but they've gotten a pretty good handle on the disease now, so they don't have a lot of inpatient treatment. We didn't see any patients today, just had a few lectures on health care in Mumbai and a bit of an introduction to leprosy. It was interesting, and it will be cool to go through these rotations. We were done around 1pm, and we came back for lunch at the dorm. I'm leaving in about 30 minutes to spend the early evening at a community-based clinic, which should be a little more hands-on and hopefully interesting too.
Anyway, that's basically it for now. Hopefully I'll be able to get to an internet cafe with a faster connection to upload some more pics, especially the ones of the kids we played soccer with. I hope all is well at home...Namaste!
Anyway, yesterday we moved to the university dorms, where we'll be staying until the end of the program here in Mumbai. The dorms are nice, although not quite as nice as the hotel we've been at. We have A/C, though, and we get breakfast, lunch, and dinner cooked for us. The food is good, and still no GI problems. The mattresses have the softness of a block of concrete, but whatever, at least we're not sleeping under a tarp on the shoulder of the highway. My roommate for the next few weeks is a guy named Marcus from North Carolina who seems like a very chill dude. So far so good with the living situation.
After coming over to the dorms yesterday, we had our orientation for the program. I'm in a group for clinical rotations with Jesse and 5 other dudes, along with a girl named Sarah who goes to med school in Ireland. Anyway, during orientation, we were waiting for the program director to come over to talk to our group, so we decided to go outside to kick around the hackey sack (thanks Lindsay, this thing rules!). No more than 2 minutes after starting to kick it around, about 15 kids descended upon us with their soccer ball. They were so excited to meet us, and they kept wanting high fives and asking us our names. Ultimately, we decided that we would play soccer with them, and it ended up being Jesse, Marcus, and me against the entire crew of kids. I think the kids won, although I don't remember. I ended up looking like an idiot because I was trying to dribble past a 5 year old kid, and I slipped and fell onto the concrete (yes, I got schooled by a 5 year old). All the kids were so sweet, asking me if I was ok, etc. Of course, I was fine, it was just a hilarious moment. I got some pics of us with the kids, which I'll post later when I have a better internet connection. This was definitely the most fun I've had on this trip so far.
After a chill night last night and a good night's sleep, I got up at about 7:30 today for breakfast before heading out to our first clinical rotation. We started out at Acworth Leprosy Hospital, where we arrived today at around 10:00. As it turns out, there aren't a whole lot of patients there anymore, and it's really more of a leprosy museum. It used to be a huge leper colony, but they've gotten a pretty good handle on the disease now, so they don't have a lot of inpatient treatment. We didn't see any patients today, just had a few lectures on health care in Mumbai and a bit of an introduction to leprosy. It was interesting, and it will be cool to go through these rotations. We were done around 1pm, and we came back for lunch at the dorm. I'm leaving in about 30 minutes to spend the early evening at a community-based clinic, which should be a little more hands-on and hopefully interesting too.
Anyway, that's basically it for now. Hopefully I'll be able to get to an internet cafe with a faster connection to upload some more pics, especially the ones of the kids we played soccer with. I hope all is well at home...Namaste!
posted by david.m.marcus at 3:29 AM
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