My new style of Medical Care....

So, here a few pics from my lovely hospital stay.......the first one is me trying not to die or throw up everywhere. Cute, I know! The second is the bucket where they throw all their used needles. I think they also use it at the beach on the weekends. The third is the bed I stayed in. Rust and old blood stains included, no worries. The last is the bathroom. It was.....not clean. You can see for yourself. Enjoy.

No, that's not a swastika......

Medical care in India......Yikes.

So, I've been MIA for a few days b/c I got really sick. My lovely sickness culminated in a hospital clinic overnight last night, which was absolutely bizarre. The hotel staff arranged a motorcade to take me the three blocks to the 24 hr emergency care place, and it was seriously like I was a celebrity. I mean, I was definitely really, really sick, but I don't think it warranted a two car and motorcycle parade to take me there. Once I got there, the doctor ( I hope he was a doctor??) decided I had food poisoning and a migraine, but also thought I might have an infection of some sort. So the nurse (that they call sisters here) tried for way too long to get an IV, and she was INTENSELY rough. I've had IV's before, but nothing like this. And now I have a HUUUGE bruise to show for it. Then they gave me all these injections. But I don't know what they are. That's safe, right?? I know that one was an anti-convulsion medication since I'd been throwing up for the past 6 hours, and one was an anti-nausea, b/c I could have continued for another 6 hrs, or more. and then they came in and gave me a painkiller for my headache (which happened to be the worst headache of my life, I can say. I was crying and shaking and just a big mess, basically). So when they gave me the painkiller, they put it in my butt, and then massaged it in. A lot. It was incredibly weird, and more than a little awkward. So, after getting all my meds, I got hooked up to some saline and spent the night getting fluids, and at least two other medications that I remember.....although there may have been more. I was really out of it. In the morning I had to wait like 4 hours for the doctor to get done working out to see me....not everything is different from the U.S........And then he decided he needed blood from me, and to check my blood pressure a lot ( which was completely normal, so i don't know why they kept checking.......) When the bloodwork came back, they decided I had an infection of some sort, and gave me a prescription for like 4 things of which I have never heard. So the worst part about the clinic/emergency care place was how....dirty it was. seriously not clean. I was really worried about new needles being used, but they were all new, so that was good.
I'm tired, so I'm ending this post. More later, but I am better, and recuperating at the hotel slowly now.

It's like my first day of school......

So today was bizarre and awesome and crazy all rolled up in one. My roommates and I slept through our first Indian breakfast - which sounds like it may have been a wise decision since breakfast was rice and veggies; not sure that I am ready for that quite yet. So, after about 5 hours of sleep that was NOT enough, I got up and got ready in the very Indian bathroom for the first time. I'm not even sure where to start with my description of the bathroom. There is no shower spot or bathtub to speak of. Instead, the showerhead is just hanging off one of the walls betweeen the sink and the toilet. The hotel did provide us with a used bucket to assist in our bathing, should we need it. Also there is no hot water, but since it is hot and muggy here, that really isnt an issue. The exhaust fan in the window is a little rotary fan mounted into a rough hole in the wall that goes directly outside, so you can hear the cars honking while in there. (side note: cars honk constantly!!!!! and traffic blows my mind) It was difficult to remember not to let any water get in my mouth - trying to avoid dysentery, for now. The toilet comes with a little attached hose that most American sinks have for rinsing dishes.....interesting.
After getting ready in my weird little bathroom, we went for a tour of some interesting things in Chennai, since we are leaving here tomorrow for Pondicherry, where I will be most of the time I'm here. The largest tree in the world is supposedly here, but the guards wouldnt let 50 Americans in to see it......we couldn;t really discern why, but it wasn't happening, so we moved on. We went to the St. Thomas Basilica church here - one of three churches in the world built on the tomb of one Jesus Christ's apostles. Everyone reading this surely knows my opinion on religion, so I won't go into that. But the architecture and actual tomb were amazing. And, regardless of the religious implications, this was a really interesting piece of history. It was very eye-opening to me the number of Catholics that live here - it is much much more widespread than I thought.
After seeing the tomb and church, we went to one of the widest (i.e. from road to water) beaches in the world. Seriously - it is second only to Rio apparently.......That experience was intense. I think this is likely one of the first times in my life that I have really felt like a racial and ethnic minority. We were stared at, laughed at, touched........I think it was the first time a few of the kids had seen blonde hair. I did find a vendor that sold Coke - and I realllly enjoyed my liquid caffeine. There were hundreds of vendors selling everything from tea sets to jewelry to fans made of toothpicks on the way from the street to the water.....Unfortunately, part of Indian culture is not throwing much away in garbage cans. Rather, everything pretty much just goes onto the beach or ground, so there is trash EVERYWHERE. So, we took the long walk to the water and tried to avoid stepping on anything too hazardous.
After our adventures out int he city, we came back to the hotel and decided to walk to find a restaurant. Let me tell you....this was terrifying. There aren't traffic lanes here, and stoplights actually are only a suggestion. There also aren't sidewalks. You walk in the street with all the rickshaws, motorcycles, and busses coming at you from front and back. More so, it was getting dark out and only three of us went out for dinner, so it didn;t feel particularly safe anyway. We couldn't find the restaurant that a bellman had recommended, so we ended up just walking about a mile and turning back. We did somehow get caught up in a department store, and there were the most random things there.....tampons next to hair dryers next to fruit loops....i was confused. I also stopped by an ATM and pulled out 9,000 rupees. Doesn't that make me sound rich???? Too bad it's only about $180.......Then we went to our hotel restaurant and I learned the hard way that even when Indians SAY "no spice," they MEAN "I'm going to try to burn your tongue so you can't taste anything ever again." My entire meal (paneer butter masala, butter naan, and soda) cost 110 rupees....i.e. just over two dollars. And this was an upscale restaurant.
Ok, that's all I've got for now. It's only 9:30 p.m. here, but my body has no idea what is going on. Yay jet lag!

My Brain Might Boil Over!

So i just got settled in our..."hotel" for lack of a better word.......I think im in culture shock already. i thought i was going to have about 6 heart attacks on the drive here from the airport. stop lights dont mean too much here apparently, since no one stops at them. also i got my first mosquito bite already.....malaria here i come!!!! :-)
In Brussels i almost got strip searched.....as it was i had to go to a separate room and take off my shoes and shirts down to my tank top and definitely got felt up about 6 times. it was really weird. then they decided my ipod was safe and let me through. and then the customs guy in Chennai didn't even look at my visa or declarations page......he asked if i voted for obama and when i said yes, just let me pass through.....thats normal and safe right??...the last 30 hours have been so fucking random. i got flowers at the airport. people are EVERYWHERE. its 3:15 am here right now, and the city bus is still running, people are sittin in the middle of the street....the streets aren't paved, and everything is in a weird state of construction, or maybe deconstruction??.....my head cant really deal with all of this at once. ack. i cant really believe i am going to do this for a month, but I guess I havent slept since saturday at 2:30 am (iowa time), so that might be a mitigating factor at the moment. hopefully some sleep will make this all seem more normal??? I am going to sleep for awhile!!!

Tomorrow is very soon...

So it is Friday evening, and in about 16 hours I will be on my way to India. Holy crap. I have a million things to do, and I'm positive I am going to forget at least two thousand of them. Today I had to go to 4 different places to find contact solution in a bottle small enough that I am able to take it on the plane. 30 hours of traveling without taking out my contacts? I don't think so.
My tasks for the evening include packing (ahhhhhh, that's an important one!!!), making sure Mykle won't starve to death while I'm gone (joking, I hope), making copies of all of my important documents so someone here can vouch for my citizenship should that be necessary, and probably making a last run to WalMart to get whatever I've forgotten.
I'm guessing the next time I write anything I will be in India, so ta-ta for now, I will see you on the other side!

Words to exercise my mouth......

My word of the day is DETAILS! I just had to make a list of the lists I need to make before I leave. A list of lists. And then I actually have to do the things on these lists, which is why I have been avoiding these lists. Once I write all this down, then I will actually have to do it!!!!!!! So, I'm going to take a nice trip down Fantasy Lane.
What if, instead of me even having to make my own lists, I had a personal assistant to do this for me???? My personal assistant would be named Al, because her parents named her something atrocious like Aloquin, and she can't stand that, so she goes by Al. (Tisk tisk to all of you that assumed Al would be a man. Let's be gender neutral since this is my Fantasy World.) Al would know me so well I wouldn't even have to tell her what I need on my lists. And she would make them on nice paper with purple ink in ledgible (but not gross and twirly) handwriting. And the pieces of paper wouldn't get all crumply and worn out like my lists do.
Here comes my favorite part:
After making the lists, my life would be miraculously organized. Al would follow the tasks on the list, and I would be packed completely correctly with all of the appropriate items in my carry-on, and my important documents would be copied and in a folder for Mykle, and I would be packed in a medium sized suitcase that won't be too bulky but will allow for all of my stuff. Al would know what things I was overlooking, and what things I won't need even though I'm packing. She would know what shoes I should bring, and whether I want to buy new socks. She would tell me it's ok that I just spent $20 getting my eyebrows waxed, b/c it is vitally important taht my brows are shaped and smoothed for this trip.
But even more important than all of this, Al would make me feel like I accomplished all of this, and didn't need a personal assistant to do all of this, but she still did all of it so I wouldn't have to. I would feel independent, ambitious, satisfied, and super productive.
Shoot, I wish Al were a man after all. I would marry him.