First post from India. . .

Two days after the scheduled departure date of July 31st, I sit in an empty house trying to eat a banana with a spoon, and no I'm not in India.  Not what you expected to read huh?  Well me either.    You see a week and a half before I was suppose to leave I got in a kayak accident.  My hard side boat rolled and i puckered up to a large stone underneath the water.  The end results was five broken teeth along with a broken alveolar process of the maxilla (the bone that your teeth connect to.)  

After the incident I got the lovely experience of observing medical work from the patient end of the spectrum.  I was whisked up by an ambulance and taken to Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee. As the oxycodone began to deactivate the action potential of my nociceptors and flood my synaptic clefts with dopamine, the reality of this disaster slammed in to me like a giant sunken boulder.  But soon I was out of that ER with a Rx for percocet and doxycycline.  Next stop the dentists office.  I was fortunate enough to get a hold of my dentist on a sunday evening.  He was willing to come in to his office right away, where he proceeded to stand me on my hand grind my teeth down cover them in plastic and attach a wire.  At this point my central incisors are both broken in the middle forming a jagged arch, both lateral incisors were shattered and jammed into the gums so far they were visible.  I could feel the left one somewhere behind my nose giving me lots of pain and discomfort.  The left canine had the front and back completely broken off, and the right canine is in perfect shape.  Wahoo alright done at Dr. Knapp's office, with a face full of marcaine i stumble back to my parents car.  For the amount of shots i took to the gums and/or roof of my mouth you'd think things would be pretty numb, well not the case.  You would also think that their would be a pharmacy open in the columbia basin, also not the case.  So it was to the Ephrata ER for a dental block, shot of Demerol in the ass, and a take home pack of Vicoden.  

Fast forward nine doped up days of sleeping, movies, and PS3.  It was now time to get those lateral incisors out of my face.  Dr. Laney would be the oral surgeon doing the operation, he said that removing the teeth should relieve some of the pain.  In all honestly that was an understatement.  I haven't taken a pain pill since those teeth came out.  

So now im back in ellensburg and sure, things could be worse.  But when the one thing you've been looking forward to, the one thing that got you through the last two quarters of school with all A's is suddenly ripped away, it is hard to deal with.  

The next step is on monday.  I will have two root canalls started on my central incisors.  Whatever starting a root canal means.  Then its a waiting game for the bones to heal.  Eventually the central incisors will be removed and i'll get 4 prosthetic teeth and a crown over the damaged canine.  Dr. Knapp estimated about 1.5 years until everything is done and permanent. 

Check back in a year for a blog thats actually about a trip in India.

13 days and still no word of where I will be

On July 10th, 2008, 21 days prior to departure; James Taylor, my contact in India replied to an email concerning my living arrangements and volunteer placement.  James said " . . .apologies for the delay in uploading your placement and accommodation details to your myprojectsabroad webpage; I fully anticipate that it will be done within the next couple of days." 8 days after receiving that email, I have yet to hear back from Projects-Abroad.  

Everything on my end of things has been taken care of.  I have obtained a 6 month multiple entry visa for the country of India.  received four vaccinations for: polio, meningitis, Hep. A, a tetanus boost, and just started an oral typhoid vaccine.  I also have prepared for the mosquitos of India by obtaining a mosquito net for my bed, 4 cans of Off backwoods, and most important a prescription for 80 pills of doxycycline. 

Soon I will be setting up a Pbase account which will store all of my photos from my trip and I will be putting up a link to that site from this blog so that everyone can view my pictures.  Also be on the look out for video blogs once the trip has begun.

Three weeks and no accommodations or placement. . .

Three weeks until the adventure begins, yet I still don't have any more details about where I will be staying or what I will be doing.  

Lately I've been thinking about how living in India will be different from living in the States, and I think I've come up with something that will be different.  This list is based off of what I've been told, what I've read, and what makes me laugh.   Once I'm in India I'll make another list of what the biggest differences actually are.

so here goes ( In no order):

-Height.  Average height of a male in India: 5'5". Average height of a male in the State 5'11"- 6'0"

-Lack of eating utensils.  

-"Restrooms" that are a squat toilet, and a bucket of water instead of TP

-The amount of animals that roam the streets freely

-Polio,  India is one of the few areas that has not eradicated the crippling disease.

-Monsoons.  

-Clothing.

-No eating beef and/or wearing leather

One Month Untill Departure

June 31st, 2008, exactly one month from today I will be boarding a plane for the first time in 8 years.  The plane will take me to the famous O'Hare airport in Chicago then on to Brussels Belgium and finally, two days after leaving Seattle, I will arrive in Chennai India.  

At the moment I have no idea of were I will be staying or where I will be volunteering.  All that I know is that I will be in or around the city of Sivakasi, which is located in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.  As far as my living accommodations are concerned.  Their are several option including: living with a host family, staying in a hostel,  having a room at a hospital, or living at the projects-abroad office.  Each one has its own unique pros and cons, and i look forward to finding out more about my living accommodations. 

This trip will be giving me the opportunity to see a whole new aspect of medicine that will vary greatly from the western medicine which I am currently being exposed to.  More then anything, this trip will be an adventure.  Living for six weeks in a 3rd word country and traveling alone will hopefully provide me with a life changing experience. 

This blog is to share with everyone back home my adventures and shenanigans in India